<b>Paswan hails Govt's plans for Dalits </b>
Pioneer News Service/ New Delhi
Elated over inclusion of various Dalit causes, including a dialogue for reservation for them in private sector in the presidential address, Lok Jan Shakti president Ram Vilas Paswan on Monday said he would strive for time-bound implementation of the various programmes and policies announced by the Congress-led UPA Government.
Taking credit for the inclusion of Dalit-oriented measures in the presidential address, Mr Paswan hailed the Common Minimum programme (CMP) as "Common Men Programme", and said: "We will make all possible efforts to ensure early and effective implementation of the CMP announced by the Government."
On his demand for the reservation of SCs and STs in the private sector, he expressed satisfaction and said: "After mindless sell-off of public sector enterprises, job opportunities for Dalit youths were rapidly shrinking. The step towards reservation for them in the private sector is a right one in the right direction at the right time."
<b>Vocational course for child labourers in the offing </b>
Barkha Goel/ New Delhi
With the fight against child labour turning into an impossible task, the Government is planning to lure the underprivileged children to schools with curriculum promising to make them better workers and not just educated unemployed. With the objective in mind, the HRD Ministry is charting out a vocational course curriculum for the child labour in secondary schools.
A study has revealed that 5.5 crore of the nine crore children in the age group of 14-18 years don't go to schools and instead work as cheap labour in bidi industry, fireworks or bottling factories.
"For the last one year, we have been working on a vocational course at the secondary level which will train children in domestic skills, agriculture, making handicrafts and as security providers," said Higher Education Secretary S C Tripathi. But it seems unlikely that the course can be introduced in this academic session.
There are more dropouts at the secondary level than in primary school. "States like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal continue to lag behind in secondary education. Southern states, apart from Gujarat and Maharashtra, are doing well," said Mr Tripathi. With the new Government planning on greater investment in education to about six per cent of the GDP, the Ministry of Human Resource Development is also proposing expansion of secondary and higher education institutes. "Our target is to double the number of children in secondary schools from the present 3.5 crore. It would require expansion of infrastructure and more schools than the present 500 Navodyalayas and 900 Kendriya Vidyalayas," he said.
Although nothing has been finalised, the ministry is considering a characteristic change in seconary school policies. For example, there is only one Navodyalaya in every district with a provision for 75 per cent children from rural areas. More such schools could be introduced in every district.
<b>The changes in the pipeline for Kendriya Vidyalaylas include that instead of mainly catering to children of Government servants, they benefit public at large. The KV schools could employ additional staff and start a second shift to educate more children. The recommendations include introducing a ranking system to assess the performance of states in higher education</b>. It will help determine the number of children out of school, drop outs and failures in board examinations.
<b>Unveils Government's economic agenda</b>
Pioneer News Service/ New Delhi
Assuring economic reforms with a human face, President A P J Abdul Kalam on Monday unveiled the new government's agenda aimed at stepping up public investment, selective privatisation, far-reaching tax reforms, cess for education and changes in labour laws to attain 7-8 per cent growth. He also said that the interests of small investors will be protected.
Addressing a joint sitting of both houses of Parliament, Kalam said the common minimum programme (CMP) will be implemented during the next five years and agriculture, industry and services would be reformed to hasten social and economic development.
To root out corruption, black money will be tackled, he said adding major tax reforms with stable rates will significantly widen the tax base, increase compliance and make tax administration more friendly.
VAT will be implemented, revenue deficit wiped off by 2009 to release more resources for investments in social and physical infrastructure, he said.
Subsidies would be targeted, prices controlled and hoarders kept under check besides considering privatisation on a case-by-case basis. Loss-making PSUs would be sold or shut.
For boosting GDP growth and reviving the industry, the rate of investment will be pushed up by rejuvenating capital markets, deepening financial markets, encouraging FII and FDI and announcing a package for ssi sector soon, he said.
Kalam said India's negotiations at WTO will fully protect the interests and livelihood of farmers, textiles industry will be geared to meet post-quota regime challenges and measures will be taken to boost exports.
He said PSUs and nationalised banks will be encouraged to enter the capital markets.
Stressing that the UPA government was committed to "orderly" development and functioning of capital markets, he said market regulator Sebi will be strengthened.
<b>Terrorism doesn't cross Govt's mind </b>
Pioneer News Service/ New Delhi
President A P J Abdul Kalam on Monday said the outcome of the election is indicative of people's yearning for inclusiveness - economic, social and cultural, and their rejection of the forces of divisiveness. He said the verdict is for establishing the rule of law and repairing "our secular fabric". President APJ Abdul Kalam being escorted by Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the Parliament House in New Delhi on Monday - Alwin Singh/ Pioneer
What, however, raised eyebrows in political circles is that the presidential address to Parliament skipped the vital issue of cross-border terrorism which has agitated minds for more than a decade. Nowhere in the text, the Government has expressed its concerns on this issue. The Government has stressed on the need for a meaningful dialogue with Pakistan but ignored its nefarious activities altogether.
This is even more surprising as the PDP-Congress Government is grappling with the menace of cross-border terrorism in Jammu & Kashmir. While terrorist strikes continued in the Valley all along, a major tragedy occurred when over 30 people were killed the very day this Government assumed office. The first Cabinet meeting of the UPA Government was convened to discuss that terrorist strike.
Even in the context of internal security, the Government has not spoken its mind. It dwells on the misuse of the POTA and promises to repeal it but does not spell out its strategy to counter threats to internal security. The President, however, announced a new law to counter communal violence.
Giving the customary address to the joint session of Parliament, in which the Government outlines its agenda for governance, the President was extremely critical of the NDA Government on two points, communalism and inequitable distribution and use of resources. Other points in the United Progressive Alliance's common minimum programme, like pro-agriculture thrust in policies, the Employment Guarantee Act, accelerating economic reforms, decommunalising education and reservation for women in legislatures formed part of the presidential address.
Dr Kalam said: "It is a matter of serious concern that the forces of communalism have been able to vitiate the atmosphere in the country leading to outbreak of riots, the most gruesome face of which was witnessed recently in Gujarat. The Government will adopt all possible measures to promote and maintain communal peace and harmony so that minorities feel completely secure.
My Government will enact a model law to deal with communal violence and encourage states to adopt it." The speech was also critical on the question of distribution of resources. It said: "It is a matter of concern that regional imbalances have been accentuated not only by historical neglect but also by distortions in Plan allocations.
The Government is committed to redressing growing regional imbalances both among states, as well as within states through fiscal, administrative and other means."The Government also envisages a structured and transparent approach to alleviate the burden of debt on states to enable them to increase social sector investments. It said: "All non-statutory resource transfers from the Central Government will be weighed in favour of the poor and backward states."
The Government will consider establishing a Backward States Grant Fund that will be used to create productive assets in these states but with performance parameters as well. The Government has also promised to set up a new commission for looking into Centre-state relations, keeping in view the sea-changes that have taken place in the polity and economy of the country.
The President, while saying that the Government was committed to providing the right ambience for fulfiling the aspirations implicit in the people's mandate, finally observed: "The mandate they have given is to treat power as a sacred societal trust to be used for the good of society, paying particular attention to the pressing needs of our farmers and other downtrodden sections.
My Government will stay faithful to this vision." The Lok Sabha will have a ten-hour discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President's address. The decision to start the 10-hour discussion from Tuesday morning was taken at an all-party meeting convened by the Speaker on Monday afternoon. At the meeting, Speaker Somnath Chatterjee appealed to all parties to avoid acrimony and maintain decorum and decency inside the House.
<b>Some points not so common</b>
Pioneer News Service/ New Delhi
The Common Minimum programme of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) definitely formed the bedrock of the presidential address to the joint session of Parliament, but some curious alterations once again point towards the inevitability of a delicate balancing act under pressures of coalition politics.
The presidential address, laden with promises for the poor, farmers, women and the minorities, and laced with stinging criticism of communal forces, at times deviated from the CMP, especially in the context of the sale of profit-making companies, Naxalites and the United States.
The nuances are perhaps indicative of the fact that the Government felt less of the Left's pressure while outlining its agenda than the allies did at the stage of making the coalition's programme. The CMP categorically says: "Generally profit-making companies will not be privatised." It also says the Government will retain existing `navaratnas' companies in the public sector.
There were no such categorical commitments in the President's address. While asserting its commitment to a strong and effective public sector, it said: "Privatization will be considered on a case-to-case basis."
The presidential address, however, was more forthcoming on the chronically loss-making companies, saying: "It will either be sold off, or closed, after workers get their legitimate dues and compensation." The CMP's tenor on this subject is different as it says: "While every effort will be made to modernise and restructure sick public sector companies and revive sick industry, chronically loss-making companies will either be sold off or closed."
The change of stance on the ultra Left-wing violence is very interesting. The CMP does not mention the word Naxalite in its entire text, obviously under pressure from the Left which is supporting the Government from outside. But the Presidential address clearly said: "The Government is concerned about the growth of Naxalite violence in various parts of the country."
The President described it as "senseless violence" but went on to show the required sensitivity to the subject as does the CMP, by arguing that such violence is symptomatic of a much deeper socio-economic malaise, which needed to be treated systematically. It vowed to put the Naxalite-affected areas on a higher trajectory of economic growth so that they catch up with the rest of the country.
On the question of the United States, the CMP takes care not to lay any special emphasis on India's relations with the super power. Stressing instead on seeking to promote multi-polarity and oppose unilateralism, it gives just a passing reference to the super power, saying: "Even as it pursues closer engagement and relations with the USA, the UPA Government will maintain the independence of India's foreign policy position.
"But the Government has opened up further in the presidential address, saying: "India attaches high importance to its relations with the United States of America. We will pursue a closer strategic and economic engagement with the USA, the European Union and Japan." The address did talk of reorienting non-alignment in the post-Cold War world and fostering multipolarity but did not speak of opposing unilateralism.
Although, even on these points, the shift was not substantive enough to raise eyebrows, other promises and programmes of the CMP have been fully accommodated in the presidential address. While President Kalam read the entire text of the speech before the joint session, Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat only read out the operative parts in Hindi.
India News > <b>Yet another pro-poor decision from new railway minister </b>
New Delhi, June 8 (IANS) :
Lalu Prasad, the new railway minister, has come out with yet another move aimed at benefiting the home-grown industry and promoting things uniquely Indian.
A week after he delighted potters by ordering replacement of non-biodegradable plastic cups with kullhars, or earthen cups, for catering beverages in trains, Lalu Prasad has come up with an idea that could spell a windfall for the traditional handloom weavers.
Lalu Prasad Tuesday issued directions to his ministry to replace all linen used in trains with home-spun cotton, popularly known as khadi.
His latest direction to promote khadi cloths would benefit millions of handloom weavers not only by generating employment, but also go a long way in reviving the indigenous industry.
Millions of indigent weavers were threatened with loss of livelihood and their art slowly forgotten after the emergence of the more efficient power-looms.
The khadi material, made popular by Mahatma Gandhi, will now adorn bedrolls, curtains and other furnishing items on the railways, an official release said here.
The new minister had earlier issued another well-received order to promote sales <b>of healthy and indigenous drinks such as lassi, or buttermilk, in trains and railway premises, edging out multi-national aerated drinks.</b>
Though in office only since May 24, Lalu Prasad has won wide acclaim from environmentalists and support of the economically weaker sections for his string of pro-poor decisions.
It is good for handloom weaver, but does that mean IR will dump existing material and get new contract, which means bribe for coming election.
>>> indigenous drinks such as lassi, or buttermilk
Lassi/Nembu pani made from toilet water as they used to do in 70s and 80s in IR
these "pro-poor" decisions can have the reverse effect that is sometimes not easily seen. For e.g. using home-spun linnen, is good for the people who make it, but bad for the people who make non-home-spun-linen. So, what have you essentially done? you have done the following --
you have replaced the jobs of the machine operator by hnadloom guys. let us say you have replaced 1 job by 10. sounds good right? wrong...
This implies that the cost of home-spun linen will be much more then the factory made one. So, the railway will pay more for the linen. The only way this can be done is by --
a) taking money away from the expansion of the railways
b) increasing the ticket price
c) increasing the railway budget deficit.
So, which do you think is more likely in laloo raj? You are right it is c)
Is that pro-poor? well you have to take the money out of the hands of the public and spend it somewhere else. The only thing that has happened is transfer of money from the effieent hands of public to the rotting and inefficient beauracracy, and then to the handloom weavers.
You might argue, that you have created new jobs, so all that is ok. But, that is a fallacy, because you overlooked the jobs lost due to --
a) less machine weaved clothes being produced
b) If the ticket prices are increased, then jobs are lost because whoever travels on trains will have that much less money to spend
c) If expansion of railway is not done, then the jobs are lost.
c) If deficit is increased, then common man has less money to spend, as govt. snatches away that money , and jobs are lost again. Also, the cost of industries to get money from the market increases, as the govt. will crowd them out due to deficits. And, jobs are loa once again.
So, yes visible jobs are created for handloom weavers, but many times more of the invisible jobs are lost due to increased inefficieny. When will these idiots like Laloo learn that jobs cannot be created by transfer of money, but only by increasing efficiency. But, then that requires an IQ level in at least double digits, and is too much to expect from these morons.
kautilya,
These politican don't know better option. They should train Handloom weaver on different products eg sarees, fancy bed spreads and fancy curtains. Handloom products are expensive and production is much less than demand.
Yesterday La-loo private train (MR) got struck somewhere in Bihar, coz of that other 12-13 long distance train got delayed.
Yesterday, in news they were showing now in railway booking counter(Bombay), person sitting at ticket counter straight away ask Rs 15 as rishvat, in front of TV camera. They are not afraid anymore, it is open and bold practice now.
It is Gonda Raj, very soon we will be back to those old days when at the airport custom officers ask for "vilayati wine" as a bribe.
Now La-loo want to investigate Godhara again. He will put blame on Hindus and especially VHP/Bajrang Dal.
Sonia has powers to call for Govt files, says Bharadwaj
Is there a precedence from the past parallel to this or are these nitwits creating rules on the fly <!--emo&:angry:--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/mad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='mad.gif' /><!--endemo-->
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<b>Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who has been appointed as the UPA Chairperson, will have the powers to call for files from any Ministry, now that she has been given the status of a Cabinet rank</b>.
In an exclusive interview to this website's newspaper, Union Law Minister H R Bharadwaj denied that Sonia Gandhi was an extra-constitutional authority. He said that this was the real purpose of conferring on her the Cabinet rank so that no one objected to her accessing the files
<!--QuoteBegin-Sudhir+Jun 8 2004, 07:30 PM-->QUOTE(Sudhir @ Jun 8 2004, 07:30 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin--> Sonia has powers to call for Govt files, says Bharadwaj
Is there a precedence from the past parallel to this or are these nitwits creating rules on the fly <!--emo&:angry:--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/mad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='mad.gif' /><!--endemo-->
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<b>Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who has been appointed as the UPA Chairperson, will have the powers to call for files from any Ministry, now that she has been given the status of a Cabinet rank</b>.
In an exclusive interview to this website's newspaper, Union Law Minister H R Bharadwaj denied that Sonia Gandhi was an extra-constitutional authority. He said that this was the real purpose of conferring on her the Cabinet rank so that no one objected to her accessing the files <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
from George "vindicated" on Kargil air strikes
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Fernandes also questioned the UPA government's decision to give Sonia Gandhi access to government documents.
"According to me only that person who has taken an oath should have the right to acsess secret files. I don't know how others can be given this right. And if something like this is being done, then it is in complete violation of the Constitution.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Law Minister "misquoted" on Sonia, says Cong
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->I spoke to the Law Minister. He said there is difference between what he said and what has been reported. What he said in response to a question was that Gandhi as the Chairperson of the UPA government's CMP implementation Committee enjoying the rank of a Cabinet Minister could call for status reports from concerned Ministries on the progress of the implementation of the programme.
"She has the right to call for status report from various ministries on the progress of the implementation of the CMP adopted by the UPA government", Party Spokesman Anand Sharma told reporters here in reply to questions.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
New Khullar and Khadi policies and its effect. <!--emo&  --><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
To get on kulhar track, caterers eye Bihar, WB
<b>No Khadi carpet for Rly plan</b>
<b>Govt to review Haj subsidy </b>
New Delhi
The Government on Friday announced its decision to review the restrictions imposed on the Haj subsidy by the previous regime and make far-reaching relaxations in the eligibility criteria for the emigration check not required (ECNR) status to substantially benefit Indians seeking employment abroad.
06-13-2004, 07:04 AM
(This post was last modified: 06-13-2004, 07:05 AM by acharya.)
National
Buddhadeb hopeful of cordial relations with PM
By Marcus Dam
Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee
KOLKATA, JUNE 12. The West Bengal Chief Minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, is looking forward to not just the <b>Left parties "advising'' the United Progressive Alliance at the Centre to pursue "a left-of-centre'' </b>line. He is also hopeful of maintaining his "cordial'' relationship with the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, even as he envisages an alternative model to Centre-State relations.
"I think we will understand each other," Mr. Bhattacharjee told The Hindu in a recent interview shortly after Dr. Singh assumed office. The very fact that he was the first Chief Minister to call on the Prime Minister a week after he assumed office is, perhaps, indication of the "understanding.''
<b>The Chief Minister has said he was not placing before the Prime Minister a "charter of demands."
He was not for petitioning for "a Bengal package'' even though there were outstanding issues relating to the State that needed to be addressed.
The Prime Minister's Office is "not a shopping mall'' and Mr. Bhattacharjee was not on a "buying spree" during his visit to Delhi.
Neither is he a Shylock "out to get his [Left parties] pound of flesh.'' </b>
It did not take a meeting between the two for Mr. Bhattacharjee to be informed of what Dr. Singh felt about the performance of the West Bengal Government. "The Prime Minister has already taken a positive stand about West Bengal and our policies, particularly in the agricultural field,'' Mr. Bhattacharjee had told this newspaper even before he called on Dr. Singh in Delhi. He also recalled that <b>Dr. Singh, before the Lok Sabha elections, had told a British journalist that he "would like to adopt West Bengal's agricultural reforms as a model.'' </b>
Supporting the Congress-led coalition at the Centre meant "having to work with a new team of Ministers at the Centre,'' adding that the support of the Left parties to the Government "from the outside will help us to come to an agreement on the major problems facing West Bengal for which we will have to work together.''
The "problems'' Mr. Bhattacharjee has in mind include the Ganga-Padma erosion in West Bengal, which has been resulting in floods in Malda and Murshidabad districts, as well as the setting up of a Indo-Bhutan Joint Commission to explore ways to prevent the scourge in Jalpaiguri district. He has already discussed the matter with the Union Water Resources Development Minister, Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi, and has also sought the cooperation of the Defence Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, in tackling issues concerning the State. "Then there are matters which urgently need addressing. These include the State's fiscal problems, those concerning coal mines and also ones connected with the Civil Aviation Ministry.''
<b>On matters of security in West Bengal, the Chief Minister believes in the need to "continue to work with the Centre and our bordering States to tackle naxalite militancy which is also affecting parts of the State.'' "Our problem is that these extremists are taking advantage of Jharkhand where they are sheltered and from where they enter parts of West Bengal... The Congress party is aware of the situation.'' </b>
Though there has been a renewal of the demand for a separate Gorkhaland state in West Bengal's Darjeeling hills by the Gorkha National Liberation Front [GNLF], Mr. Bhattacharjee does not "believe that it will get the support of the Congress-led coalition Government at the Centre.'' This, despite the support to the Congress by the GNLF leadership in the recent Lok Sabha polls which helped the Congress wrest the Darjeeling Lok Sabha constituency from the CPI(M). ``There are the problems of Telangana and Vidarbha [on the question of separate State],'' he pointed out. "I think that as a national party the Congress, with its promises of running a responsible Government at the Centre, will not play this card [carving out new States].''
UPA shld be referred to as "Ulta-Pulta Alliance" ( that was in Hindi .. = Topsy Turvy Alliance )
And soon Sardar Manmohan Singh PM shall be called "Rabri Devi Singh" all bcoz of Nehru-Gandhi Mafia.
<b>Lack of political coherence </b>
By Harish Khare
NEW DELHI, JUNE 15. It was not until June 13 that this newspaper printed a photograph of the new Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, paying obeisance at Gurdwara Bangla Sahib in New Delhi. Earlier, he made a solo appearance on the front page on May 23 when he was sworn in at Rashtrapati Bhavan. In between, he appeared in photographs with others, like on the occasion of the release of the Common Minimum Programme or in the Presidential procession on way to the Central Hall for the President's Address. Dr. Singh was not making news. The headlines and photo space was cornered by the Opposition, by the Samajwadi Party and by other members of the Manmohan Singh Government.
The Prime Minister has neither been seen nor much heard from and this is causing concern among senior Congress leaders as indicative of the fact that the new Government is yet to take off politically. The new Government has not been seen as dominating the political discourse in the country, leave alone setting its political agenda.
<b>Those in the know of things suggest that part of the problem is that the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has no political person who could ensure that the Prime Minister is seen as playing the role of the chief political executive.</b> There are some eminent and competent civil servants among the senior PMO officials, but there are no political operatives. There is a Minister of State in the PMO, Prithviraj Chavan, but he is too much of a lightweight to be able to bring about the political synergy between the Prime Minister and other Ministers and allies and the supporting parties.
On the other hand, there is not much co-ordination between the PMO and the Congress. Both the Prime Minister and the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, are reported to be reluctant to be seen interacting too often, lest there is talk of "two power centres." Ms. Gandhi has been particularly keen on not being seen as over-shadowing Dr. Singh.
Ms. Gandhi has also not geared herself for the Congress' new role and responsibility. The AICC itself stands depleted as a number of general secretaries â Ghulam Nabi Azad, Kamal Nath, Oscar Fernandes â have shifted to ministerial roles. Similarly, the AICC has lost the day-to-day services of leaders such as Pranab Mukherjee, Arjun Singh, Natwar Singh, Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi, Kapil Sibal and Mani Shankar Aiyar as they have their own ministerial preoccupations. Ms. Gandhi remains dependent upon the services of a limited staff at the AICC while the secretariat support that was available to her as the Leader of Opposition stands withdrawn. Her role as chairperson of the newly-created National Advisory Council on implementation of the Common Minimum Programme is yet to be fleshed out.
All this means that there is no political coherence in the functioning of the new Government. The allied Ministers have set out on their own pace; the Congress Ministers have caused embarrassment by seemingly speaking out of turn. Nor has there been any meeting of the Congress Working Committee, which could spell out the political thrust.
<b>In other words, the new Government has not been able to acquire a political profile. Neither the Cabinet Committee on Security nor the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs has met once. The Prime Minister is yet to make a political statement. </b>
<b>Dr. Singh is not a "political animal" in the classic sense of the term. Yet no Prime Minister can shun the role of the chief political executive. Sooner or later, Dr. Singh will need to beef up his office with political aides, communicators and spin-masters who can see to it that the Prime Minister is seen as playing the role of a maximum leader. </b>
Minorities find CMP not adequate -- important press release
ALL INDIA CHRISTIAN COUNCIL
Regd. Office: 8-2-601/B/17 Bhanu Society Banjara Hills, Hyderabad
500034 Andhra Pradesh, India
President: Dr Joseph D' Souza Secretary General: Dr. John Dayal
Please correspond with Secretary General at:
505 Link Society, 18 I.P. Extension, Delhi 110092 India
Phone (91 11) 22722262 Mobile 09811021072
Email: johndayal@v...
URGENT PRESS STATEMENT
DELHI, May 28, 2004
Christians, other Minority groups welcome CMP, but say their
security, welfare concerns not adequately addressed
[The following statement was issued today by All India Christian
Council secretary general Dr John Dayal on behalf of the All India
Catholic Union (President Dr M E Menezes) All India Christian Council
(President Dr Joseph D Souza), United Christian Action (President
Mrs. Kamlesh Jacob) and The Minorities Council (President Retired
Chief Justice Ahmadi, Secy Gen Prof Iqbal Ansari. Representatives of
these organisations had met to review the Common Minimum Programme of
the United Progressive Alliance of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
announced yesterday.]
We congratulate Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on assuming office as
Prime Minister of India, heading a secular government of the United
Progressive Alliance. We also congratulate Dr Singh, UPA chairperson
Mrs. Sonia Gandhi and members of the Alliance, particularly the Left,
for so earnestly having worked on Common Minimum Programme that
encapsulates their election promises to the People of India.
We particularly welcome the CMP promise to convene the National
Integration Council, which has not met for more than a decade. The
detoxification of the education system and its text books is a
natural consequence to the promise of "protecting and promoting
social harmony without fear or favour to deal with all obscurantist
and fundamental elements who come to disturb social amity and peace."
The minority communities will surely fully cooperate in this.
We also welcome CMP assurances on the revocation of the POTA, 33 per
cent reservations for women, the National Employment Guarantee Act,
Codification of All reservations including in the private sector, and
specially the implementation of Places of Worship Act which will
remove the Damocles sword hanging over many churches and temples
because the fanatics of the Sangh Parivar. These are in keeping with
the Human Face that the government has guaranteed both in the
economic and the social sectors. sector
We however regret that the CMP does not spell out qualitative
security and development assurances for the minorities, who are
seeking not just physical protection from marauding gangs of the
Sangh Parivar and its hate-mongering leadership, but are also seeking
their rightful place in the sun with opportunities of economic
development.
We therefore suggest some additions to the CMP to give it a more
force. Our suggestions include:
1. Urgent steps to ensure that Minority Education Institutions
are assured their Autonomy at all times.
2. A permanent empowered Equality Commission/Equal Opportunities
Commission to deal with the issues related to exclusion and
discriminations (As recommended by People Integration Council, which
was chaired by Mr. Arjun Singh last year.
3. Commission on backwardness and representation of religious
and linguistics minorities in the national life.
4. Benefits of affirmative action of the State to be available
to all persons belonging to S.C. irrespective of faith.
5. A Comprehensive Central Law on Communal Violence for (i)
Prevention (ii) Control (iii) Prosecution (iv) Adequate Compensation
& Rehabilitation as recommended by the Concerned Citizens Tribunal
2002.
6. Basic reform of the Policy System to make it function
independently accountable to law for impartial law-enforcement on the
lines suggested by the National Police Commission. (NPC 1978-81).
7. Basic reform of the administration of justice system
especially of the subordinate judiciary for delivery of prompt
untainted justice.
8. Use of force and firearms by the police to be brought into
conformity with human right standards.
9. Comprehensive Right to information law to make governance
transparent and accountable.
10. Review of the electoral system introducing measures enabling
underrepresented segments like women, religious minorities and
certain social groups get due representation in legislatures and
other elected bodies.
Released to the media by Dr John Dayal
ADVERTISEMENT
Two articles in the BUSINESSWEEK and one in the WALL STREET JOURNAL focus mainly
on economic issues:
BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE, May 31, 2004
India: A shocking election upset means India must spend heavily on social needs.
Is this the end of the boom?
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/conte...22/b3885015.htm
BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE, May 31, 2004
Spreading India's Uneven Wealth: To U.N. economist Santosh Mehrotra, the biggest
challenge for the new ruling party will be lifting 650 million Indians living in
poverty
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/conte...22/b3885022.htm
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, May 24, 2004
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1085363...6519242,00.html
Great Expectations
By JAGDISH BHAGWATI and ARVIND PANAGARIYA
May 24, 2004; Page A14
In India's favorite sport of cricket, fortunes change with startling speed.
Indian elections, too, can be mercurial affairs. The confident Indira Gandhi,
seeking to end her controversial Emergency rule and regain democratic
legitimacy, was roundly defeated in 1977 by a motley crew of opposition parties.
The diffident Sonia Gandhi, the leader of a seemingly lackluster Congress Party,
triumphed over a Bharatiya Janata Party which believed itself to be formidable
-- so formidable, in fact, that its leader called for elections earlier than he
needed to, in the belief that his party's reward for domestic economic
prosperity and international political success would be another term in office.
What the two election surprises -- in 1977 and 2004 -- have in common is the
fierce aspiration of India's masses: political in Indira Gandhi's defeat, and
economic in the victory of her daughter-in-law. If we may hazard a categorical
explanation, Mrs. Gandhi was turned out by the people in 1977 principally
because she had invaded their personal autonomy through the abusive vasectomy
programs that her son, Sanjay, had bamboozled her into promoting. In the 2004
election, the people at the lower end of the income scale were, instead, pushing
principally for an acceleration in the rate of improvement in their economic
conditions.
Democracy is cherished by the poor in India. Whereas economic prosperity reaches
them only slowly -- no matter which policies are put into place -- the political
right to vote has an immediate, even electrifying, effect. Voting empowers the
poor: The election day is their day, when they can vote out those above them,
and richer than them. India's leading political scientist, Yogendra Yadav, has
shown that, indeed, the poor vote massively.
But the 2004 election turned not on political rights but on the economic
aspirations of the masses. And it is important to understand the texture of
these aspirations, since it bears critically on which way the government of
Manmohan Singh, the great architect of India's earliest economic reforms in
1991, should turn.
India's economy had virtually stagnated over a quarter-century until the early
1980s, with autarkic policies on trade and direct foreign investment. The
expansion of the public sector had turned into an epidemic, trespassing into
most areas of industrial activity, and not just utilities; and the licensing
system had become a maze of irrational restrictions. With growth at 3.5% and
population increasing at 2.2% annually, per capita income grew at a snail's pace
(the infamous "Hindu rate of growth"). It therefore failed to pull the mass of
people out of poverty and into gainful, sustained employment. We should then
have expected a "revolution of falling expectations": The poor could have risen
in revolt, bundling the ruling Congress Party out of power because there was no
hope of improvement.
Yet this did not happen. Perhaps, when little progress takes place all around,
the centuries-old Indian fatalism takes over. But when the poor begin improving,
then the "revolution of rising expectations" is likely to arise. This is a
direct result of the perception of real possibilities. Indeed, one of the finest
members of the ousted BJP government, former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha,
remarked on how difficult it was getting to find the resources to fulfill the
demands that he found in his parliamentary constituency for greater financial
allocations. This is also the view of people who work at the ground level: The
young of India, including children from the lowest classes and castes, have
enhanced expectations from life; and so do their parents, who vote. And this
phenomenon -- of expectations aroused but unfulfilled -- has cut across the much
exaggerated rural-urban divide.
One should note that the ratio of the poor to the overall population in India
has declined dramatically over the period 1987-2000, in both rural and urban
areas. If one goes by the official estimates, the decline has been to 26.8% from
39.4% in rural areas and to 24.1% from 39.1% in the cities. If we go by the
alternative calculations done by Princeton economist Angus Deaton, the rural
poverty ratio fell to 26.3% from 39.4% , and the urban to 12.0% from 22.5%. What
these estimates show is that the standard explanation, so dear to the Indian
novelists writing opeds on the subject -- that the rural areas have been
neglected by India's economic reforms and the ensuing development -- is contrary
to the facts. (But these writers do specialize in fiction.)
True, the BJP also lost ground in some states because the minorities -- and no
doubt many of the Hindu majority -- rejected its professions of secularism in
light of the slaughter of Muslims in Gujarat, and also because of the BJP's
at-best ambiguous position regarding dalit, or lower caste, rights (as
documented beautifully by Stéphanie Giry in The New Republic recently).
* * *
But the key to understanding the 2004 elections is the phenomenon of rising
aspirations. In this context, we need also to bear in mind that the Indian scene
is increasingly populated by non-governmental organizations that work
ceaselessly to energize the poor, reinforcing their ambitions and helping them
to translate their new needs into effective demands in the polling booth and in
local government. In the year 2000, there were an estimated two million NGOs in
India! They grow daily, with educated women often forming these groups, when it
was their fathers and grandfathers who led the reform movements in India
earlier. And so, as Manmohan Singh squares up to his challenges, it is important
that he remember that the reforms he initiated -- with the ensuing revolution in
material possibilities -- is what propelled the Congress into power.
But, if the Congress Party backslides on reforms, or pushes them forward much
too slowly -- so that, like Oliver Twist, the masses find that they ask for more
and get less instead -- then retribution will be swift. It is hard to imagine
that Prime Minister Singh, who led India forcefully into the reforms for which
he has become a national icon, will not appreciate this. Only by pushing reforms
still further, so that more of the poor are pulled up into sustained employment,
income and consumption, can he take India ahead in its historic war on poverty
-- and on its more recent path of impressive economic growth.
Mr. Bhagwati, a University Professor at Columbia and senior fellow at the
Council on Foreign Relations, is the author, most recently, of "In Defense of
Globalization," just published by Oxford. Mr. Panagariya is the Bhagwati
professor of Indian political economy at Columbia.
From Pioneer, June 18, 2004.....
Oh, what a lovely Minister!
M N Buch
Lord Cadogan started his career in the British Foreign Service as a regular diplomat and ultimately went on to become the Foreign Secretary (the British equivalent of our External Affairs Minister). Mr K Natwar Singh's career parallels that of Cadogan because he, too, started his service in 1953 as a direct recruit Indian Foreign Service officer, went on to be the Secretary of the Ministry, Minister of State under Rajiv Gandhi and now full-fledged Cabinet Minister for External Affairs in the present Government. I, myself, am a 1957 batch IAS officer and like Mr Natwar Singh we cut our teeth in the heydays of Nehru.
Even today I feel that had Nehru not introduced his brand of planning and state intervention in the economy, we would never have been able to achieve the level of capital formation necessary to provide the infrastructure of a modern state. Just as in the domestic field Nehru left his mark through the planned economy, in the international field Nehru formulated the policy of non-alignment which has hitherto been the cornerstone of India's foreign policy. The Nehruvian world view is the one which Mr Natwar Singh admires and to which he holds.
The world of the 1950s and 1960s, when Nehru was alive, was dominated by the Cold War in which the United States of America and the Soviet Union vied for world domination. All of Western Europe and a great deal of West Asia, together with Japan and Australia, allied with the United States. China went Marxist, but after an initial period of flirtation with the Soviet Union, adopted its own independent way.
So far as the weaker countries of Asia and Africa were concerned, both the United States and the Soviet Union tried to reduce them to puppet states, in which if America dominated Morocco, the Soviet Union had to dominate Algeria. It was a bipolar world in which many countries fell in line with one or the other power bloc.
The dilemma before Nehru was how a country as large as India should behave under these circumstances. He, very wisely, chose not to become a part of either bloc but to chart an independent path of Non-Alignment Movement (NAM) in which India steered a middle course of friendship with both without becoming a part of either. Of course, the American establishment, which was rabidly anti-Soviet, viewed India with grave suspicion because if it was not a part of the Western bloc, it must necessarily be biased in favour of the Eastern. This is the stage at which Pakistan openly sided with America, obtained American financial and military assistance and threatened to upset the balance of power in the subcontinent.
It is to the Soviet Union's credit that it built a strong strategic partnership with India despite the fact that we were non-aligned and did not approve of everything that the Soviet Union did. For example, we were critical of the invasion of Hungary by the Soviet Union.
A planned economy and a non-aligned foreign policy perhaps prevented the Indian economy from achieving the growth rates of countries such as South Korea, Taiwan or Singapore. But it did keep us out of the dirty politics of the Cold War and enabled us to create our own paradigm of development.
<b>The world of Nehru and the world of 2004 are very different creatures indeed. There is no Cold War, Russia stands emaciated to the point of being almost a second rate power, the Eastern Bloc countries of Europe have joined the European Union, the European Union itself is emerging as a powerful economic force and militarily the United States stands unchallenged. The choice now is not of non-alignment as between blocs but one of either becoming an American vassal or becoming economically strong so that, like China, in the world of diplomacy India can adopt an independent stance backed by real domestic strength.
This is not a situation which is amenable to Nehruvian solutions which were relevant during the Cold War period. This is the time for foreign policy to be oriented towards and made subordinate to a strong national will and effort to develop the economy to a stage where as a market, as a focal point of investment and a trading partner, India becomes so strong that the United States and other countries of the world treat us with respect.</b>
The present Government came to power less than a month ago. During this period, Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav notwithstanding, <b>Mr Natwar Singh is the Minister most heard because he will not stop pontificating about how his foreign policy will be based on Nehruvian policy.
This is almost like saying that the foreign policy of Britain during the Napoleonic Wars would be based on the foreign policy during the Thirty Years War. Every national policy has validity in the context of its milieu. Nehru's policy was valid then. Much of it is valid today as it keeps us independent of the sole super-power, but the name of Nehru cannot be taken like that of a Messiah, nor his policy be adopted as the Gospel. I wish Mr Natwar Singh would understand this.</b>
Then we have our relations with Pakistan about which Mr Singh has repeated ad nauseam that it is the Simla Agreement which will be the basis of our inter-relationship. The Simla Agreement dates back to a time of more than 32 years ago when Pakistan lay prostrate before us. No Pakistani likes to be reminded about that accord today because it brings to mind the shame of the surrender at Dhaka. <b>What is valid about that accord is that all discussions and agreements between India and Pakistan will be on a purely bilateral basis with no third party intervention.
We must stick to this regardless of what the Pakistanis feel about it and we must resist every attempt by the United States, Britain and other Western countries to try and influence the discussions. However, so far as the actual talks on our future relationship with Pakistan is concerned, we have to move beyond the Simla Agreement and work out the new parametres of discussion in the context of the situation today. Mr Singh must both stop living in the past and constantly reiterating his faith in it.</b>
In a recent interview to The Week, Mr Singh is alleged to have said that the American lobby considers him a hawk. What precisely does he mean? I am not a great fan of the United States and I feel that what it has done in Iraq is inexcusable and will remain so till doomsday. That, however, does not mean that the Indian External Affairs Minister should be described as, or describes himself as, a hawk or a dove. <b>He is a member of the Indian Cabinet, with India's interests being paramount, and he must deal with the United States or any other foreign country on merit, and according to what suits India best.</b>
I know that Mr Singh has come into the limelight as a Minister after a long gap. Would it hurt him to refrain from imposing his personal views and opinions on us innocent Indians for the next six months and instead buckle down to the job assigned to him? In other words, to quote Sanjay Gandhi (another person whose fan I was not), "Baatein kum, kam zyada", or "Talk less, work more".
Another in Pioneer...
Oppose the occupiers
CP Bhambhri
<b>Foreign Minister Natwar Singh has mishandled India's continuing dialogue with Pakistan and the UN Security Council resolution of June 9 on Iraq. He assumed office as Foreign Minister on May 22 and created total confusion with his statements on the UPA Government's "expected positive role in Iraq after the UNSC's resolution".</b>
He has made many statements and modifications in his policy statements on India's approach to Pakistan; however, he has not denied that he offered India-China model of bilateralism to Pakistan without realising that India-China and India-Pakistan disputes are qualitatively and fundamentally based on very different historical legacies. Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf was quick to reject such ill thought out and ill-conceived policy statement of the Indian Foreign Minister. A wise statement from Mr Singh would have been that the UPA Government would continue with the policy of "dialogue with Pakistan" and make every effort to strengthen friendly relations with it.
In the process, Mr Singh has created bitterness between India and Pakistan whereas the need of the hour was "quiet diplomacy". Does he expect Pakistan to not reiterate the "centrality" of the Kashmir dispute with India? Indians have lived down several extreme statements and actions, including wars on Kashmir by the Pakistani establishment. In spite of all the difficulties involved in resolving the "complex" issue, the two countries have always negotiated at the bilateral level.
General Musharraf has made a reasonable statement, "I am hopeful that composite, structured and sustained dialogue agreed to between India and Pakistan on January 6, 2004, would stay on course and meet the various deadlines." The response from Mr Singh should have been an affirmation of the General's statement that the dialogue will continue. The Indian public opinion is in favour of peace parleys between the two neighbours and it is recognised by every Indian that normalcy will develop if the two countries boldly confront and find solution to the Kashmir dispute.
<b>It deserves to be stated that after the 1998 nuclearisation of India and Pakistan, a completely new situation has emerged, and not only Kashmir but also strategies to deal with "denuclearisation" have to be negotiated. Then, the emergence of unipolar American-led International Global Order has serious implications for India and Mr Singh has to keep this in mind before opening his mouth every day on contentious foreign and security issues facing India.</b>
The confusion created by Mr Singh's pronouncements were worse confounded by his reaction on June 10 on UNSC resolution on Iraq. The Indian public opinion is in favour of complete sovereignty of Iraq and for the transfer of power to the Iraqi people. <b>The US's continuing military occupation of Iraq and establishment of a puppet Governing Council and an Interim Govern-ment sums up the events in the Gulf country since March 2003.</b>
The salient features of the UN resolution for the post-June 30 governance of Iraq clearly reveals that sovereignty for the Iraqis is a myth and presence of imperialist America is a reality, irrespective of the pious wishes of the Security Council. It has unanimously endorsed the Iraqi Interim Government to which the US-led coalition Provisional Authority will hand over power on June 30. Will Iraq be a sovereign country on June 1, 2004? The answer to this question is an emphatic No. According to the resolution, elections will take place in 2006 and in the meantime American puppet Interim Government of Iraq will "have full control over Iraqi security forces as also over its resources, including oil".
The cat is out of the bag and the resolution states the establishment of "multinational forces" to provide "security to Iraq" and fight against "resistance nationalist forces" described as "insurgents and terrorists" by the US. Further, a phoney suggestion is made in the resolution that the "Iraqi Interim Government can request the departure of the roughly 150,000 US-led troops" which are stationed in Iraq for the noble goal of "defence of Iraqi sovereignty". The only happy person after this resolution was the aggressor imperialist America and Mr George Bush celebrated the Resolution by observing, "The vote today in the Security Council was a great victory for the Iraqi people... The international community showed that it stands side by side with the Iraqi people."
Hopefully, Mr Singh will not again make a statement, endorsing President Bush's victory observations. India and Iraq have traditional friendship and the Indian Parliament is on record that it neither "approves" US aggression against Iraq nor will it participate in the so-called peace operations under the military command and authority of US-led aggressors. Incidentally, March 2003 aggression against Saddam's regime in Iraq by the Anglo-American forces was a "unilateral imperialist action" and the Security Council and Secretary-General Kofi Annan were completely ignored by the aggressors.
It may not be relevant to the Americans or the Indian Foreign Minister, but the Indian public opinion is definitely hostile to Interim Government of Iraq because it is a creation of US imperialists and does not have any legitimacy in its own country. Dr IIyad Allawi, who has been picked up by the Americans as the Prime Minister, has been a favourite of the CIA which had recruited him in 1992 and The New York Times (June 9) informs us that "Ilyad Allawai, now the designated Prime Minister of Iraq, ran an exile organisation intent on deposing Saddam Hussein that sent agents into Baghdad in the early 1990s to plant bombs and sabotage government facilities under the direction of the CIA."
The plea of aggression against Iraq in March 2003 because of its possession of WMDs was a fraud by the American imperialists who were involved in the entire decade of the 1990s to "destabilise" Saddam and Iraq. America has no intention of leaving Iraq because of its own "strategic interests" in West Asia and the Security Council resolution has "authorised US-led multinational force, now at 160,000 troops, to use 'all necessary measures' in 'partnership' with Iraqi forces to bring peace." A Minister of the Government which claims to be committed to the Common Minimum Programme should have kept himself miles away from US design, and American-sponsored Security Council's legitimisation of continuing occupation of Iraq.
<b>The UPA Government is committed to an "independent foreign policy" as mentioned in the CMP and in less than three weeks in office, it has messed up its foreign policy by unnecessarily "provoking" Pakistan and by not firmly and forthrightly rejecting any demand for India's association with US occupied Iraq. An "independent foreign policy" of India demands that pressure be built to secure for Iraqis their right to govern themselves and manage their own affairs and resolve ticklish ethnic problems of the Kurdish, Sunni and Shiite population.</b>
How can India entertain any proposal from a CIA-affiliated prime minister of a puppet Iraqi interim government for aid? Every principle of human rights has been violated by the Americans in Iraq and Abu Ghraib Detention Centre is a reminder to humanity that Iraqis are in serious trouble. In such situation, is India on their side? India should reject any request not only for sending any Army personnel on the specious plea of "the maintenance of security and stability in Iraq" because of the CIA affiliation of its puppet Government, but also serve notice to the US that it is the aggressor. India's foreign policy towards Iraq must be based on principles of "respect for the sovereignty of nation-states" and its logic demands that American aggressors be asked to leave Iraq.
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CP Bhambri is a well known journalist in Delhi. I think he was known for his pro Congress views. I may be mistaken.
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