- Class act
In his column for The Indian Express, Sanjay Kumar writes that the AAP government had become somewhat unpopular in Delhi in recent years. The euphoria of voting for the party, and more so for Arvind Kejriwal, had vanished to a great extent, especially among Delhi’s middle-class voters who rallied around the party in a big way during the 2013 and 2015 assembly elections.
The recent judgment of the Supreme Court on the powers of the Delhi government and the lieutenant governor may not increase the popularity of the AAP among the middle and upper classes, but it certainly gives legitimacy to the party’s allegations that the LG unnecessarily interferes in the functioning of the elected government, at times making it impossible for them to take development work forward.
The judgment, in itself, seems balanced, which will compel people to read it in the right spirit. The five-judge bench of the SC unanimously held that Delhi LG is bound by the “aid and advice” of the elected government and both have to work together. It noted that there is no room for anarchy or absolutism in a democracy.
The AAP stands to gain from the judgment, though the BJP has sought to highlight that the judges stated that Delhi is not a state. Post SC order, the popularly of the AAP is likely to remain intact, if not rise, and the current level of its popularity is good enough to enable the party win another election in Delhi.
- Ambedkar’s warning
Emergency has been rightly decried in recent weeks, writes Dushyant Dave in his column for The Indian Express today. But he says that Babasaheb’s advice to a young republic on dictatorship must be heeded in post-2014 India.
Sustained attacks on minorities, especially Muslims and Dalits, since 2014 raise serious doubts about the working of democracy. It is no good to wish the attacks away, saying they happened earlier too. The BJP and Narendra Modi promised to change India. Killings by cow vigilantes or attacks on Dalits like in Una are shameful. The marginalisation of institutions of governance is a serious concern. The functioning of Parliament and legislatures leaves much to be desired. If the no-confidence motion proposed by the Opposition is not allowed to be debated and voted upon for weeks, can it not be said that parliamentary democracy is a sham?
The freedom and liberty of individuals stand seriously eroded with arrests for even critical posts on social media against the BJP and its leaders. Inter-religious marriages are termed by those who do not believe in secularism as love jihad. This negates the very basis of fraternity. Political parties and their leaders speak fondly about Ambedkar but pay only lip service to his philosophy, work and words. Let us remind ourselves of Ambedkar’s warnings and exaltations and strive to preserve our democracy, if need be, with the last drop of our blood.
- India is running out of options in Kashmir. Involving women in peace process can make the difference
Raghu Raman writes in his article for Scroll.in that the Kashmir imbroglio has plagued our subcontinent for several decades now. Billions of rupees and thousands of innocent lives later, the conflict is persistent as ever. The four main stakeholders – India’s political leadership, its security forces, militants (both indigenous and those supported by Pakistan) and the people of Kashmir – have all been through the sequence of violence, establishment of relative peace and its breakdown, in a relentless cycle.
India seems to have exhausted its conventional options. Surgical strikes, incessant shelling, admonishing Pakistan on international forums, backdoor diplomacy, unilateral ceasefires and informal visits by Indian leaders have all met the same truculent response of continued terrorism. Perhaps, more imaginative solutions are needed.
Finding common ground between enemies is more challenging but, unfortunately, every conflict zone has at least one commonality between foes – the grief of their women.
The script could either be an enhanced version of “iron fist in velvet glove” – a euphemism for hard military operations while trying to win hearts and minds – or co-opting those with skin in the game. Involving Kashmir’s women in the conflict resolution process might seem naïve to the hawks, but perhaps naivety should be given a chance where Machiavellianism has failed to deliver.
- Unthinking projects
Commenting on the recent ‘developmental’ projects taking place in Karnataka, Ramachandra Guha writes in his column for The Telegraph that other parts of Karnataka may be richer in terms of architecture and culture; but it is these western districts that were always the most endowed in natural beauty. But for how much longer one does not know.
Over the decades, I have seen the glories of the Malnad, the Ghats, and the coast being steadily chipped away through the destructive hand of man. Hills and forests have been chopped and cleared; rivers polluted or dammed; soils poisoned or washed away.And now even more destruction is on the way. One dubious project is a four-lane highway from Chitradurga to Dharmasthala that will kill more than 50,000 trees. This project is being promoted although there are already two roads linking the major towns in these districts.
Here, again, concerned citizens must ask some tough questions of their government. Why can’t the once numerous lakes of Bangalore be restored to provide some of the water the city needs? Why can’t far higher tariffs be charged for those bungalows and offices which use water lavishly for their gardens while the taps of slum dwellers run dry? And why, given that the bulk of the population lives in the countryside, are their water needs given a lower priority? Why has no serious attempt be made to restore the thousands of tanks that once sustained agriculture in the state?
- MSP is no magic bullet
Ajit Rande examines the latest announcement by BJP government on MSP for farmers in his column for Mumbai Mirror. He says that this week the government announced a massive increase in MSP (over last year) for kharif crops, notably 13 per cent for paddy and 28 per cent for cotton. One big constraint for the government is its warehouse capacity. Beyond a certain point, it simply has no space to keep the mountain of grain that will come to the mandi. Hence the farmer will be forced to sell the remaining unpurchased stock at much below the MSP.
The second constraint for the government is the fiscal deficit, which it had promised would remain below 3.3 per cent of GDP. The budget allocated for the MSP generosity is Rs 15,000 crore, whereas if it pays MSP for the full crop quantity produced, the total burden to the government could be more than Rs 1 lakh crore.
The third constraint is inflation. Paying MSP means raising the cost of food, thereby inducing food inflation. Of course, the country should not mind paying more to farmers, and accept a bit of extra food inflation if it contributes to lessening farm distress. But unfortunately, this is the year when oil prices are shooting up, causing inflationary pressures.
The bottom line is that the farm sector suffers numerous and constant interventions by the state. What is needed is to unshackle the farmer and allow him greater economic freedom in production, distribution, selling and exports. Until then, MSP spikes and other such actions will only achieve limited success, that too with unintended consequences like inflation and fiscal deficit.