End of Federalism?

Ever heard a Governor and Election Commissioner (both of them tainted individuals in their respective tenures) tell a democratically elected state government on which ministers to remove from the ministry? Both the positions, Governor and EC report to the President and so come under the Central Govt influence. This is a serious departure from the set democratic norms. We can debate and even agree on the point of Reddy brothers mining activities and their presence in Karnataka Cabinet. But to be adviced on corruption by Governor H R ,Bhardwaj whose claim to fame is the clean chit to accussed in Bofors case or his shielding of tainted ministers like Laloo as Law Minister in UPA1, is like Baba Nithyananda teaching celibacy.

This is just one off case in a larger picture. Central Govt's refusal to sign the anti-terror bill passed by Gujarat govt, interference of National Advisory Council in state matters like law and order, the step motherly treatmeant to states ruled by opposition, Union Minister Mamata Banerjee dictating anti Maoist policy in WB, the support to the Maoists in Lalgarh, CBI hounding Gujarat Police and Home Minister on encounters of anti-nationals (inspite of the fact that Gujarat has seen far lesser encounters than Maharashtra or AP), scuttling National Highway projects in opposition ruled states, opposing construction of a dam in MP on environment reason while same has been cleared elsewhere, many more such examples to show how central government is trying to interfere in working of state governments.

One of the most important pillar of democracy is the federal rights that states enjoy and to cut those rights is a first step to dictatorship. Indira Gandhi in 70s followed the same path. She first interfered in state subjects and got duly elected governments dismissed. Then she clamped down on political rights and finally on individual rights. History is repeating itself after 3 decades. The federal character of India is being tried to change using all democratic and undemocratic tools. Today it is the right of some opposing states that are infringed upon. Tomorrow it will be me and you to suffer if we decide to be against the government on any issue. Also one of the other flip side is that whenever states rights have been threatened, regional sentiments have risen and so have the regional parties.

NREGS and inflation

While there can't be much debate on good intent of NREGS, one certainly is forced to think about it's implementation at a time when a few states have shown signs of failure. To start with lets just look at one aspect of how it fuels inflation.

The scheme guarantees the rural populace a fixed minimum amount of labour work within its area at a better daily wage. The problem here is that the dependence is completely on infrasturcture projects, be it state or centre sponsored. Now this can work well in a state where infrastructure projects are being undertaken thick and fast. And also where infrasturcture development does not just mean building of roads. But come to states where the infrastructure projects are far and few and those which are running show no signs of ending. This is where the imbalance starts. The labourers get their wages for miniscule amount of work. And landowners find labour at much higher cost since the minimum rates have been pegged. This means while the cost of foodgrains increases, the supply decreases due to lack of labour and lower productivity. The same time, the demand for the grains increases because you have more people with money to buy. This entire cycle pushes the start cost of foodgrains higher but still both the players in agri economy are left dissatisfied. The landowner is not satisfied because of higher wages, lack of labour and less productivity. And the labourer now finds the rising prices of foodgrains a burden and also has to live with Damocles sword on his head of losing the wages if no new infrasturcture projects are undertaken in the area. This is a dangerous cycle and has far greater impact than just inflation.

So if NREGS has to work well, a balance has to be found between labour for infrasturcture and labour for agriculture. The implementation has to be different. Infrastructure project need to be undertaken at a faster speed so that more work can be taken in an amount of time and this ensures the labourers have enough work for long. More spheres like agricultural labour, rural enterpreneurship, private corporate involvement etc have to be covered else NREGS will remain just a free sop>

why I support this bandh

These are the few reasons why I support the Bharat Bandh:

This bandh has not been called for trivial issue like desecration of statue or some cartoons or paintings. The reason for the bandh is something which is far more serious and is affecting a common man very badly. The inflation was one wound and the fuel price hike is like salt on it. In such extraordinary situation, an extraordinary method of protest it needed.
This bandh has come after all other means failed. Opposition parties recommended changes in budget, asked for debate, ran a signature campaign and moved a cut motion. But all this was met with either an arrogant no or misuse of power. This left the opposition with no other choice.
Media has been silent on price rise and is saving the government. Atleast now media is now talking about the issue.
If the bandh works the government will be forced to look into the steps to reduce the pain and act less arrogant.

Year 1 of UPA 2

Watching the PM address a press conference where answers have been smaller than those on Twitter, one wonders if the PM really means what he is saying because one year performance actually shows something else.


UPA2 started with a lot of expectations since Congress had won sizeable seats and there was no dependence on Left, Laloo, Mulayam etc. It was claimed in media that now Manmohan Singh will be allowed to implement his economic reforms, Sonia Gandhi her social ideas and Rahul Gandhi his vision for the future. Also one felt that this tenure around, PM will ensure clean cabinet. But has it really happened? Today we have a PM and his senior colleagues battling their own partymen, allies fighting other ministers, some allies making pots of loads of money, an ally working more as a regional satrap that national minister. So what has been done well and what has failed in last one year?


Highs

• Right to Education - One of the positive steps one has seen government take is on education with right to education bill. Kapil Sibal has put a lot of effort on this reform which if implemented well can ensure a greater future.
• Women's Reservation Bill - The Women's Reservation Bill giving women 33% reservations was passed by the Rajya Sabha. One hopes the passage of the bill allows political empowerment of women. Though one has to credit the BJP and Left Parties without whose support this would not have been possible as some allies if the UPA looked certain to stop this bill. They did succeed in preventing the final passage of this bill by bartering their support in cut motions in lieu of postponement of the Bill in Lok Sabha

Apart from this, the government has made some right noises in Food Security Bill but that has been shelved for the time being due to differences between Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh.

Lows

• Naxal Violence- When P Chidambaram took over as the Home Minister, there was lot of expectation. Partly because the man he replaced was a total disaster and PC too showed quick learning abilities. So when post election, we moved into a phase where he started acting swift against naxals, he was supported by opposition too. But then came the big betrayal. First Mamata and her party played spoilsport when it came to taking on Maoists in WB and then the 10, Janpath ganang led by Digvijay Singh and backed by Gandhi loyalists. It is a shame that today on a crucial issue like Naxal violence, while opposition is standing strong with the Home Minister, his hands and legs too are being tied by his own people. And it only makes the matter worse that both PM and UPA Chairperson are silent over this sensitive issue.
• International Affairs - Pakistan still keeps poking us in the eye because it knows we dont have a will to hit back hard.The Mumbai attack masterminds are roaming freely in Pakistan, India continues it dossier diplomacy. At Sharm al Sheikh, while we absolved Pakistan govt of promoting terror, we threw our interests away with the acceptance on Baluchistan. One summit did not teach us a lesson and so we allowed them to delink terror from talks.A price to pay for PM's single minded obsession to come across as a statesman in Vajpayee mode. With China continuing it aggressive postures on the borders, we saw our union ministers like jairam Ramesh throw away national interests and lobby for Chinese telecom equipment companies. US on one hand makes allright noises with the show of mutual respect between Obama and Manmohan, and on other hand provides military aid to Pakistan as usual. The same US admin does not allow India to further its national interests and play a role in redevelopment of Afghanistan.
• Economy- The PM last during the elections last year promised to curb price rise within 100 days of coming to power. It is end of year one and prices have just increased. Specially sugar, pulses and other essential commodities. Agri Minsiter Pawar said prices to be controlled by June, then Finance Minister Pranabda said inflation will be controlled by Sept and in his press conference, PM said prices to come down by December. The governemtn seems to be playing a game of procastination while the poor man suffers and fights for 2 full meals. utOn commerce and growth many say India did not fare as badly in recession as others but what they forget is that India is an emerging power and so in that state, the systems are still strong to take punches. What surprises one is that the government in last six years has been silent on divestment of PSUs and on FDI. While one can blame Left for this not happening earlier, PM now has no excuse. Due to this the growth has been more subdued than it should be. This is the worst one could have expected from an economist minister.
• Corruption - If there is one point where this government seems to be totally in control, it is on corruption. They have allowed their ministers to go scotfree and almost institunionalised corruption. Telecom Minister Raja has broken all records when it comes to corruption. His multi-million crore telecom scam has hit the nation real hard but no one in UPA is complaining and even the 'oh so decent' PM is speechless. Add to this the IPL scam and the fingers pointed at Shashi Tharoor, Praful Patel, Sharad Pawar. While Tharoor being a lightweight had to go, the others are making merry. The pulses scam, the BT scam are all out in open but no action taken.
• Infrastructure - When NDA government was in powe under Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the amount of road development that used to take place was more than 15kms a day on an average and today, this is lower than 10lkms a day at the best. Now with Congress govts like Maharashtra, AP and others like UP showing no signs of ingrastructre developement, the road project seems to be heading nowhere. Very interestingly when it comes to infrasturcture like roads, ports, power etc, the states doing the best are all NDA ruled states like Gujarat (all over infrastructure), MP (Roads), Karnataka (Ports), Bihar (Roads, Power). All this while Sonia and Rahul go around the country lamenting lack of development.
• Other lows -The list of other lows would be Non-implementation of NREGS due to corruption and lack of infra projects. Telengana issue being mishandled completely leading to virtual shut down of a state for weeks. North East is reeling with violence and Manipur is on verge of being cutoff from the country due to blockade. The divisive voices have gathered momentum after government has spoken about implementing Sachar and Mishra committee reports. Only in the 70s and 80s, that CBI, IB, IT Dept etc were used to blackmail and pressure political allies and opponents to support the government. This is a throwback to the draconian days.

Many channels have done their ratings and most of it has been average with some of it saying that the PM has not delivered on his promise yet. This one year has been a year of broken promises and more mess. UPA 2 so far is lucky because opposition is still finging its feet.

Nanaji Deshmukh - RIP

Ex-President Kalam lavished praise on this person's model of development calling it "the most apt model for rural India". Kalam also mentioned this model in his books and talks.
This person refused cabinet berth at a ti me when he was one of the tallest leaders and could have taken a very rewarding ministry. Reason - he wanted to implement his model of development in Chitrakoot on UP and MP border and take it elsewhere.
He gave the nation a litigation free district where all disputes are settled amicably
Highly influenced by Vinoba Bhave and Jayaprakash Narayan, he is supposed to have taken the lathis on him to save JP.
He spent a long time in jail in this fight against emergency and for democracy in the country.

In short, the man has done everything that makes him a Mahatma as JP used to call him fondly. The person is or rather was, Shri Nanaji Deshmukh. He passed away on 27th Feb 2010 amidst the same rural people with whom he had been staying for last 3 decades. The tallest leader Jan Sangh (now BJP) alongwith Vajpayee and Advani, Nanaji felt the call of his service much more tempting that trappings of power. He worked tirelessly and died working. Here's a tribut to the great man for whom Kalam said "What he does at his age, should be an eye opener for rest of the country"

To know more about him, visit - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanaji_Deshmukh

Same news for 50 yrs?

• India faces a year of drought and the crisis is deepened due to lack of food storage facilities and hoarders
• Terrible inflation seen in urban cities and lack of employment in rural areas pushing people to migrate
• China continues it;s evil designs on India border and there are reports of Chinese incursions in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh while Pakistan refuses to give up it's claim on Kashmir
• Linguistic passions run high is some states of India as states fight on basis of language
• Indian politics has become a tool in hands of feudal lords and has no grassroot infusion

Well, if you thought these were the news of 2010, you are just partly correct. Because these are the same things which troubled India in late 50s and early 60s. I was reading a book on Nehru by Walter Cocker on my way back from Delhi. While the author talks highly about Nehru as an individual, the questions he raised about the problem he faced as the PM shows that nothing has changed in 50 years. The same set of problem Nehru faced are faced by current government. Is it a lack of long-term vision or is it that whenever the GOP rules India, it brings with it the same set of problems? Whatver be it, the fact is that this is no India of 50s and 60s where people took it lying down (till 1975 when people finally revolted). This is the New India with it's new found confidence and strength to change regimes if they fail to perform.

Lack of accountablity - a throw back to draconian days

While UPA government has been doing flip flops on various issues like naxalism, Indo-Pak talks, price rise, fuel prices etc, there is place where it is extremely consistent. That is it's dictatorial opposition to being accountable.

In the recent CMs meet, when Gujarat CM Narendra Modi asked the government what it was doing to fulfill it's election promise of providing the poorest of poor with wheat and rice at extreme low prices, he was accussed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee of politicising the price issue. Excuse me Mr FM, every citizen in this country has a right to question unfulfilled promises and it's government's duty to respond. But one can pardon Pranabda for his regular outbursts because he is the proverbial best man, one who wished to be the groom (PM) but never got the chance.

In same vein, Home Minister Chidambaram refused to pass the anti-terror bill of Gujarat government accusing it of playing politics with terror. The proposed law is actually a complete copy of one used in Maharashtra by COngress government. But since the states are different, so is the government's stand on it. And this has been done with a criminal mind of bleeding Gujarat just because Narendra Modi is the tallest leader of the state,

While Congress questions Sharad Pawar of going and meeting Bal Thackeray, it itself goes on its knees for Indo-Pak talks. When asked if this is under US pressure, the reply is that those quesitoning don't want peace in the region. DOuble Standards, eh?

The only thing angelic about Sant Chatwal is the use of wor 'Sant' in his name. His earlier claims to fame were the numerous cases against him and his relaiton with the Clintons. But that iself made him worthy of winning the esteem Padma Bhushan. His notorious past and his dubious financial deals were ignored just because of his proximity with Manmohan Singh and his 'enormous effort' for Indo-US deal (which obviously means a money trail somewhere). Again no clarification either from Home Ministry or PMO. The poor President anyways is just a rubber stamp who can quesiton the master.

UPA and Congress is getting in a phase where it is trying to subvert all sorts of democracy in the country and rule it with their own whims. They are not questioned by the media and if questioned, they claim it is politicising of issues. SLowly and steadily, the pillars of democracy are being broken apart and we should wait a return of 60s,70s and 80s when they took the country to disaster.

It is high time, one looks beyond the phot sessions and huge statements and sees the action else it will be too late.