CLICK TO ENLARGETuesday, November 30, 2010
Friday, November 26, 2010
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Sunday, October 31, 2010
ANDHRA PRADESH: ADIVASI YOUTH KILLED IN POLICE FIRING
THE Karnataka state committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has sharply condemned the killing of an adivasi youth in police firing. According to a statement issued by the party from Bangalore on October 23, it was the police firing in a forest in H D Kote taluk of Mysore district that took the life of Raju, an innocent adivasi youth.
On October 19, Raju and his friends, named Krishna, Rama and Bola, went to the nearby forest areas to collect honey as usual. However, without any provocation, the police fired at Raju and he succumbed to the injury. It is surprising that the police, instead of handing the body over to Raju’s family, had cremated it in the forest itself, which act is unpardonable. This is the way the Karnataka police under the BJP regime is treating the innocent people.
At the initiative of the CPI (M), the Forum for the Rights of Adivasi and Tribal People held a powerful protest demonstration before the taluk office in Heggada Devana Kote immediately after this dastardly murder.
Hundreds of tribal people participated in the protest along with Thimmaiah Penjalli and B M Shivanna, president and secretary respectively of the Forum for the Rights of Adivasi and Tribal People.
Addressing the largely attended protest demonstration, CPI (M) state committee member and Forum leader S Varalaxmi told the gathering that the BJP government is not allowing the poor tribal people to earn their livelihood. In fact, the BJP was hesitant to bring in a legislation, during the NDA rule, to protect the rights of the tribal people. It was due to the pressure of the Left parties that the earlier UPA government had to pass the Forest Right Act in 2006, which allows the tribals to collect forest products. In future also, we have to continue our fight against police high-handedness, she said.
The Forum demanded compensation of Rs 5 lakh to Raju’s family. It also demanded stringent action against the police officials who caused the unwarranted firing leading to the death of an innocent youth. (INN)
Source: www.pd.cpim.org
Vol. XXXIV, No. 44, October 31, 2010
On October 19, Raju and his friends, named Krishna, Rama and Bola, went to the nearby forest areas to collect honey as usual. However, without any provocation, the police fired at Raju and he succumbed to the injury. It is surprising that the police, instead of handing the body over to Raju’s family, had cremated it in the forest itself, which act is unpardonable. This is the way the Karnataka police under the BJP regime is treating the innocent people.
At the initiative of the CPI (M), the Forum for the Rights of Adivasi and Tribal People held a powerful protest demonstration before the taluk office in Heggada Devana Kote immediately after this dastardly murder.
Hundreds of tribal people participated in the protest along with Thimmaiah Penjalli and B M Shivanna, president and secretary respectively of the Forum for the Rights of Adivasi and Tribal People.
Addressing the largely attended protest demonstration, CPI (M) state committee member and Forum leader S Varalaxmi told the gathering that the BJP government is not allowing the poor tribal people to earn their livelihood. In fact, the BJP was hesitant to bring in a legislation, during the NDA rule, to protect the rights of the tribal people. It was due to the pressure of the Left parties that the earlier UPA government had to pass the Forest Right Act in 2006, which allows the tribals to collect forest products. In future also, we have to continue our fight against police high-handedness, she said.
The Forum demanded compensation of Rs 5 lakh to Raju’s family. It also demanded stringent action against the police officials who caused the unwarranted firing leading to the death of an innocent youth. (INN)
Source: www.pd.cpim.org
Vol. XXXIV, No. 44, October 31, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
'LAND REFORMS KEY TO REAL DEVELOPMENT' - Yechury Campaigns in Bihar
WITH the largest number of landless people in the country, the real development of Bihar can take place only with implementation of land reforms in the state, and to ensure this the people must chose Left parties candidates in the elections to the state assembly.
This was the appeal to the voters made by the CPI (M) Polit Bureau member and MP Sitaram Yechury on his first day of election campaign in Bihar on October 19, 2010. He addressed three election meetings in Dalsingh Sarai, Hasanpur and Patsa in Samastipur district. The CPI (M) candidates, Ramdev Verma from Vibhutipur, Ajay Singh from Ujiarpur and Raghuvansh Mukhiya from Hasanpur constituencies also participated in the respective meetings.
Yechury, in his speeches, asserted that it is only the Left parties that have shown commitment in fighting for implementation of land reforms in the state. He cited how the Left Front government of West Bengal distributed around 13 lakh acres of land to the landless poor, benefiting nearly 35 lakh families belonging to SCs, STs, minorities and other downtrodden sections. Such measures would result in real development, not the kind of those undertaken by Nitish Kumar which are benefiting only the rich and the corrupt. He compared these with the 'Shining India' policies of central governments which have resulted in the doubling of dollar billionaires in the country. He said the main question people must raise is as to who this so-called development is benefiting.
Yechury attacked Nitish Kumar for the company he is keeping i.e. the BJP and Shiv Sena which are part of NDA. He called upon the people to question their chief minister as to why his NDA partner, Shiv Sena, is carrying out vicious physical attacks against Biharis in Maharashtra. The Biharis are forced to migrate, leaving their homes and families to far off places in search of work because they do not find employment avenues in the state. And attacks on such people who are contributing so much to the development of those areas cannot be tolerated. But the CM in hunger of power is continuing in the company of NDA, he charged.
Yechury criticised the government for allowing large scale corruption in the PDS, MNREGA and other welfare schemes. He also attacked it for not providing relief to the Kosi flood affected people and asked as to what happened to the Rs 1,000 crore relief money that had come from the centre. He demanded scrapping of the division of the poor among BPL and APL and wanted universalisation of PDS. In this context, he reminded people about the cruel attitude of the Congress led UPA II government which allowed rotting of foodgrains in godowns but refused to implement Supreme Court order for its distribution among the poor.
Yechury pooh poohed the Congress election campaign in Bihar about ensuring development, asking what they did in the 40 years of power they had. He also criticised RJD of Laloo Yadav for not doing much for the benefit of the people of the state and focussing only on casteist politics.
CPI (M) MLC and veteran teachers movement leader, Vasudev Singh, also addressed the gatherings. Yechury will campaign for the coming three days also in Bihar in the districts of Motihari, Chhapra and Begusarai. He will address an election meeting jointly with CPI general secretary A B Bardhan in Begusarai on October 22.
CPI (M) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat is scheduled to campaign in the state for two days on October 21 and 22 in Sitamarhi and Darbhanga districts. She had campaigned earlier on October 13 and 14 in Purnea and Kishenganj districts for the CPI (M) candidates. Party central secretariat member Hannan Mollah has also been campaigning in Begusarai, Supaul, Khagaria and Bhagalpur since October 18.
(N S Arjun from Dalsingh Sarai)
Courtesy: www.pd.cpim.org
Vol. XXXIV, No. 43, October 24, 2010
This was the appeal to the voters made by the CPI (M) Polit Bureau member and MP Sitaram Yechury on his first day of election campaign in Bihar on October 19, 2010. He addressed three election meetings in Dalsingh Sarai, Hasanpur and Patsa in Samastipur district. The CPI (M) candidates, Ramdev Verma from Vibhutipur, Ajay Singh from Ujiarpur and Raghuvansh Mukhiya from Hasanpur constituencies also participated in the respective meetings.
Yechury, in his speeches, asserted that it is only the Left parties that have shown commitment in fighting for implementation of land reforms in the state. He cited how the Left Front government of West Bengal distributed around 13 lakh acres of land to the landless poor, benefiting nearly 35 lakh families belonging to SCs, STs, minorities and other downtrodden sections. Such measures would result in real development, not the kind of those undertaken by Nitish Kumar which are benefiting only the rich and the corrupt. He compared these with the 'Shining India' policies of central governments which have resulted in the doubling of dollar billionaires in the country. He said the main question people must raise is as to who this so-called development is benefiting.
Yechury attacked Nitish Kumar for the company he is keeping i.e. the BJP and Shiv Sena which are part of NDA. He called upon the people to question their chief minister as to why his NDA partner, Shiv Sena, is carrying out vicious physical attacks against Biharis in Maharashtra. The Biharis are forced to migrate, leaving their homes and families to far off places in search of work because they do not find employment avenues in the state. And attacks on such people who are contributing so much to the development of those areas cannot be tolerated. But the CM in hunger of power is continuing in the company of NDA, he charged.
Yechury criticised the government for allowing large scale corruption in the PDS, MNREGA and other welfare schemes. He also attacked it for not providing relief to the Kosi flood affected people and asked as to what happened to the Rs 1,000 crore relief money that had come from the centre. He demanded scrapping of the division of the poor among BPL and APL and wanted universalisation of PDS. In this context, he reminded people about the cruel attitude of the Congress led UPA II government which allowed rotting of foodgrains in godowns but refused to implement Supreme Court order for its distribution among the poor.
Yechury pooh poohed the Congress election campaign in Bihar about ensuring development, asking what they did in the 40 years of power they had. He also criticised RJD of Laloo Yadav for not doing much for the benefit of the people of the state and focussing only on casteist politics.
CPI (M) MLC and veteran teachers movement leader, Vasudev Singh, also addressed the gatherings. Yechury will campaign for the coming three days also in Bihar in the districts of Motihari, Chhapra and Begusarai. He will address an election meeting jointly with CPI general secretary A B Bardhan in Begusarai on October 22.
CPI (M) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat is scheduled to campaign in the state for two days on October 21 and 22 in Sitamarhi and Darbhanga districts. She had campaigned earlier on October 13 and 14 in Purnea and Kishenganj districts for the CPI (M) candidates. Party central secretariat member Hannan Mollah has also been campaigning in Begusarai, Supaul, Khagaria and Bhagalpur since October 18.
(N S Arjun from Dalsingh Sarai)
Courtesy: www.pd.cpim.org
Vol. XXXIV, No. 43, October 24, 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
MINORITY DEVELOPMENT, RESERVATIONS AND BENGAL LEFT FRONT GOVT – II - Moinul Hassan
ALTHOUGH the people of Bengal are well aware about the consistent role of the Left Front government in ensuring the development of the minorities in the state, the recent data available underlines this fact emphatically. In the recent state budget for 2010-11, it was announced in the budget statement: “In the sphere of Madrasah education and development of minority communities, special priority has been accorded to the improvement of vocational and technical education along with the expansion of education and improvement of standards so that the students belonging to the minority communities can have wider opportunities of participation in the production process, employment and income. With this objective, along with upgradation of 112 junior high madrasahs to high madrasahs and 196 high madrasahs to higher madrasahs during the current year, 75 more junior high madrasahs will be upgraded to high madrasahs and 100 high madrasahs to higher madrasahs the next year. Vocational training in 160 high and higher madrasahs is a part of the process of upgradation.
“In the sphere of higher education for Aliah University, stress has once again been given on modern vocational and technical education alongside teaching and research. A new campus for women in the university is being set up. In addition, a proposal has been moved from the state level for increasing the number of beneficiaries of pre-matric scholarship awarded to the students of the minority communities under a joint centre-state programme from 2.44 lakh in the current year to at least 5 lakh in the next year. In this case a special initiative will be taken so that students get this scholarship regularly through bank or post office accounts opened in their names. Honourable members are aware that 12 districts, including Kolkata, are covered under the joint centre-state multipurpose plan for development of minority communities. I am happy to announce that from next year, the state government has decided to implement this multipurpose plan with its own funds in every block in which there is a concentration of minorities in the remaining 7 districts. It is necessary to mention in this context that for the purpose of employment generation and training of minority communities, the West Bengal Minorities Development and Finance Corporation has sanctioned in the year 2009-10, 100 crores as against Rs 63.28 crore benefitting 1.09 lakh persons in the year 2008-09. According to the latest data compiled by the Ministry of Minority Affairs of the Government of India, West Bengal now ranks first in the country in this regard. Having regard to all these overall priorities, I propose to increase the plan outlay of the Department of Minority Affairs and Madrasha Education from Rs 121.0 crore in the current year to Rs 300.0 crore in the next year.”
Along with Muslims, Buddhists, Sikhs, Parsis and Christians who are regarded as minorities at the national level, even Jains are also recognised as minorities in Bengal. The Left Front government has been striving for the welfare and development of the minorities. For the development of the minority Muslims, there are nine autonomous bodies namely West Bengal Minority Development and Finance Corporation, West Bengal Minority Commission, West Bengal Wakf Board, West Bengal State Haj Committee, West Bengal Urdu Academy, Wakf tribunal, West Bengal Madrasah Education Board, West Bengal Madrasah Service Commission and Alia University. All these are engaged in various welfare and developmental activities.
The main activities that have been undertaken and the projects that have already been planned are as follows-
HOSTELS FOR MUSLIM GIRLS:
Many believe that one of the reasons behind the socio-economic backwardness of the Muslim community is the prevalence of illiteracy among Muslims in general and amongst the Muslim girls in particular. Keeping in mind this very reason, a decision to set up hostels for Muslim girls in remote locations has been planned long back. The plan covers building of more than one hostel in each of the twelve districts. Already ten hostels have been set up. In the financial year 2009-10, two new hostels have been planned. Rupees 50 lakh have been allotted for building of such hostels in the year 2008-09. The allocation has increased and in the year 2009-10 it amounted to Rs 4 crore. A total of 21 girls’ hostels have been planned, this benefiting a large number of Muslim girl students.
CONSTRUCTION OF BOUNDARIES FOR GRAVEYARDS:
Boundaries for 102 graveyards have been constructed in the year 2008-09 at the expense of Rs 3.77 crore in order to ensure proper maintenance of the graveyards. The allocation has been increased to Rs 4 crore in the year 2009-10 for this purpose. 16 boundaries have been constructed in 2009-10 and target has been set for construction of 50 more boundaries. Along with the government allocations, funds are also allocated from MP LADS and MLA funds for this purpose and the works are executed by the district administration. The Left Front government is sympathetically considering the demand for setting up another graveyard in the city of Kolkata.
EMPOWERMENT OF MINORITY WOMEN:
The loan scheme for women is a very effective tool in empowering minority women. Divorcees or utterly destitute women who are within the age group of 20-45 years and whose yearly income is up to Rs 45,000 are given loans at 3 per cent per annum.
WEST BENGAL MINORITY DEVELOPMENT AND FINANCE CORPORATION:
Rs 20 crore has been spent in the year 2008-09 by this corporation. Under the fund for rural infrastructure development, Rs 2 crore was allocated for development of minority areas. Of this amount, till date Rs 1.81 crore has been utilised. The corporation, which has been set up in 1996 for the development of minorities in the fields of commerce and industry, provides loans at low interest rates to economically backward minorities. In the year 2008-09, Rs 89.53 crore have been spent in this regard.
EDUCATION LOANS AND SCHOLARSHIPS:
The concerned department has been taking consistent steps in this regard. In the year 2008-09, 3336 students have received scholarship. Another 23,238 students received post secondary scholarship (central part) while 6935 got hold of post secondary scholarship (state part). The total number of recipients of pre secondary scholarship have been 64,924.
WEST BENGAL HAJ COMMITTEE:
This committee makes arrangements for the Haj pilgrims from the states of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Assam, Manipur and Tripura. The state government provides financial assistance for meeting the various expenses of the pilgrims. Rs 1.50 crores has already been allotted for the construction of the new Haj building near Kolkata airport. The building has been recently inaugurated by the chief minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya. The total expenditure for the construction of this centre will be Rs 5 crore. In the last season, the total number of pilgrims from the state was 7300. The state government and the Haj Committee are working together to make the entire journey of the religious people safe and comfortable.
WAQF BOARD:
The Waqf Board has been vested with more power to discharge its work in more developed and smooth manner. A total amount of Rs 20 crores has been allotted. It has been decided that all waqf property under adverse possession or illegal transfer shall be restored and the income, which will be incurred out of the same property, shall be spent for the welfare of the Muslim community. An amount of Rs 2 crore has been allotted for the board in the year 2009-2010. A total of 8737 properties have already been listed in the waqf schedule. The rent of famous Shaw Wallace Building and the Tollygunge Club building have been increased to Rs 7 lakh per month. The one time earning has reached to Rs 2 crore. Now, the process of computerised documentation of all waqf properties has been commenced.
URDU ACADEMY:
The prime aim of this academy is to propagate and encourage Urdu language and literature. The fundamental works taken by the Academy are educational programmes, announcing scholarships and prizes, printing and publication, running correspondence courses, and providing vocational training. The budget allocation for these purposes for the year 2009-2010 is Rs 2 crore. The Left Front government has decided that if someone writes the letter to the government departments in Urdu, it would be replied to in Urdu only. The government circulars have to be communicated in Urdu in certain places. Many more Urdu medium primary schools will be opened in the Urdu-speaking areas and soon the vacancies of the teachers will be filled in all Urdu schools. Already, Arabic has been included in Bachelors course in many colleges of the state. Now the priority is improvement of the quality of that education by appointment of efficient teachers. The government has already taken the initiative to appoint the efficient teachers.
BOARD OF MADRASAH EDUCATION:
The Madrasah education in West Bengal has a glorious history and tradition. Keeping this in mind, the Left Front government extended autonomy to the Madrasah Board in the year 1994. The syllabus of Madrasah education has been upgraded and modernised with the commencement of the computer courses in 150 Madrasahs and inclusion of technical education in 89 others. The entire education system has been brought under the fold of Sarva Siksha Abhiyaan. The government has planned to build 10 Madrasahs as centre of excellences. A total number of 8 lakh students are getting themselves educated in 576 Madrasahs and 185 Centres for Madrasah Education through out the state. Affiliation has been given to 200 child education centres and 300 centres for higher Madrasah education. It is hoped that soon these institutions will achieve the reorganisation of educational institutions in the academic year 2009-2010. Now, let us look at the unique characteristics of the Madrasahs in West Bengal:
With a countable exceptions, almost all Madrasahs in the state have co-educational system, which is indeed very rare in other states.
2. Though the Higher Madrasahs are regulated by the Board of Madrasah Education, they come under the purview of state higher education council.
Almost all Madrasahs are having a large number of non-Muslim students.
A large number of non-Muslim teachers and non teaching staff are also appointed in the Madrasahs.
5. It can be found that a large number of non-Muslims apply for the examination conducted by the Madrasah Education Commission for the posts of teachers in Madrasahs.
All these characteristics are a reflection of the deep secular roots of tradition, education and culture of the state and they reveal the confidence of the people in the very spirit of secular democracy.
ALIA UNIVERSITY:
The process to establish Alia University has already been initiated, which will gradually become a modern university. The state government has extended all kinds of administrative and financial support to fulfil the dreams of the minority community that have been cherished for a long time. I personally dream of having Al Azahar University in our state in the near future.
[Source: The Economic Development Report 2009-2010 placed in the state assembly recently]
Courtesy: www.pd.cpim.org
“In the sphere of higher education for Aliah University, stress has once again been given on modern vocational and technical education alongside teaching and research. A new campus for women in the university is being set up. In addition, a proposal has been moved from the state level for increasing the number of beneficiaries of pre-matric scholarship awarded to the students of the minority communities under a joint centre-state programme from 2.44 lakh in the current year to at least 5 lakh in the next year. In this case a special initiative will be taken so that students get this scholarship regularly through bank or post office accounts opened in their names. Honourable members are aware that 12 districts, including Kolkata, are covered under the joint centre-state multipurpose plan for development of minority communities. I am happy to announce that from next year, the state government has decided to implement this multipurpose plan with its own funds in every block in which there is a concentration of minorities in the remaining 7 districts. It is necessary to mention in this context that for the purpose of employment generation and training of minority communities, the West Bengal Minorities Development and Finance Corporation has sanctioned in the year 2009-10, 100 crores as against Rs 63.28 crore benefitting 1.09 lakh persons in the year 2008-09. According to the latest data compiled by the Ministry of Minority Affairs of the Government of India, West Bengal now ranks first in the country in this regard. Having regard to all these overall priorities, I propose to increase the plan outlay of the Department of Minority Affairs and Madrasha Education from Rs 121.0 crore in the current year to Rs 300.0 crore in the next year.”
Along with Muslims, Buddhists, Sikhs, Parsis and Christians who are regarded as minorities at the national level, even Jains are also recognised as minorities in Bengal. The Left Front government has been striving for the welfare and development of the minorities. For the development of the minority Muslims, there are nine autonomous bodies namely West Bengal Minority Development and Finance Corporation, West Bengal Minority Commission, West Bengal Wakf Board, West Bengal State Haj Committee, West Bengal Urdu Academy, Wakf tribunal, West Bengal Madrasah Education Board, West Bengal Madrasah Service Commission and Alia University. All these are engaged in various welfare and developmental activities.
The main activities that have been undertaken and the projects that have already been planned are as follows-
HOSTELS FOR MUSLIM GIRLS:
Many believe that one of the reasons behind the socio-economic backwardness of the Muslim community is the prevalence of illiteracy among Muslims in general and amongst the Muslim girls in particular. Keeping in mind this very reason, a decision to set up hostels for Muslim girls in remote locations has been planned long back. The plan covers building of more than one hostel in each of the twelve districts. Already ten hostels have been set up. In the financial year 2009-10, two new hostels have been planned. Rupees 50 lakh have been allotted for building of such hostels in the year 2008-09. The allocation has increased and in the year 2009-10 it amounted to Rs 4 crore. A total of 21 girls’ hostels have been planned, this benefiting a large number of Muslim girl students.
CONSTRUCTION OF BOUNDARIES FOR GRAVEYARDS:
Boundaries for 102 graveyards have been constructed in the year 2008-09 at the expense of Rs 3.77 crore in order to ensure proper maintenance of the graveyards. The allocation has been increased to Rs 4 crore in the year 2009-10 for this purpose. 16 boundaries have been constructed in 2009-10 and target has been set for construction of 50 more boundaries. Along with the government allocations, funds are also allocated from MP LADS and MLA funds for this purpose and the works are executed by the district administration. The Left Front government is sympathetically considering the demand for setting up another graveyard in the city of Kolkata.
EMPOWERMENT OF MINORITY WOMEN:
The loan scheme for women is a very effective tool in empowering minority women. Divorcees or utterly destitute women who are within the age group of 20-45 years and whose yearly income is up to Rs 45,000 are given loans at 3 per cent per annum.
WEST BENGAL MINORITY DEVELOPMENT AND FINANCE CORPORATION:
Rs 20 crore has been spent in the year 2008-09 by this corporation. Under the fund for rural infrastructure development, Rs 2 crore was allocated for development of minority areas. Of this amount, till date Rs 1.81 crore has been utilised. The corporation, which has been set up in 1996 for the development of minorities in the fields of commerce and industry, provides loans at low interest rates to economically backward minorities. In the year 2008-09, Rs 89.53 crore have been spent in this regard.
EDUCATION LOANS AND SCHOLARSHIPS:
The concerned department has been taking consistent steps in this regard. In the year 2008-09, 3336 students have received scholarship. Another 23,238 students received post secondary scholarship (central part) while 6935 got hold of post secondary scholarship (state part). The total number of recipients of pre secondary scholarship have been 64,924.
WEST BENGAL HAJ COMMITTEE:
This committee makes arrangements for the Haj pilgrims from the states of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Assam, Manipur and Tripura. The state government provides financial assistance for meeting the various expenses of the pilgrims. Rs 1.50 crores has already been allotted for the construction of the new Haj building near Kolkata airport. The building has been recently inaugurated by the chief minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya. The total expenditure for the construction of this centre will be Rs 5 crore. In the last season, the total number of pilgrims from the state was 7300. The state government and the Haj Committee are working together to make the entire journey of the religious people safe and comfortable.
WAQF BOARD:
The Waqf Board has been vested with more power to discharge its work in more developed and smooth manner. A total amount of Rs 20 crores has been allotted. It has been decided that all waqf property under adverse possession or illegal transfer shall be restored and the income, which will be incurred out of the same property, shall be spent for the welfare of the Muslim community. An amount of Rs 2 crore has been allotted for the board in the year 2009-2010. A total of 8737 properties have already been listed in the waqf schedule. The rent of famous Shaw Wallace Building and the Tollygunge Club building have been increased to Rs 7 lakh per month. The one time earning has reached to Rs 2 crore. Now, the process of computerised documentation of all waqf properties has been commenced.
URDU ACADEMY:
The prime aim of this academy is to propagate and encourage Urdu language and literature. The fundamental works taken by the Academy are educational programmes, announcing scholarships and prizes, printing and publication, running correspondence courses, and providing vocational training. The budget allocation for these purposes for the year 2009-2010 is Rs 2 crore. The Left Front government has decided that if someone writes the letter to the government departments in Urdu, it would be replied to in Urdu only. The government circulars have to be communicated in Urdu in certain places. Many more Urdu medium primary schools will be opened in the Urdu-speaking areas and soon the vacancies of the teachers will be filled in all Urdu schools. Already, Arabic has been included in Bachelors course in many colleges of the state. Now the priority is improvement of the quality of that education by appointment of efficient teachers. The government has already taken the initiative to appoint the efficient teachers.
BOARD OF MADRASAH EDUCATION:
The Madrasah education in West Bengal has a glorious history and tradition. Keeping this in mind, the Left Front government extended autonomy to the Madrasah Board in the year 1994. The syllabus of Madrasah education has been upgraded and modernised with the commencement of the computer courses in 150 Madrasahs and inclusion of technical education in 89 others. The entire education system has been brought under the fold of Sarva Siksha Abhiyaan. The government has planned to build 10 Madrasahs as centre of excellences. A total number of 8 lakh students are getting themselves educated in 576 Madrasahs and 185 Centres for Madrasah Education through out the state. Affiliation has been given to 200 child education centres and 300 centres for higher Madrasah education. It is hoped that soon these institutions will achieve the reorganisation of educational institutions in the academic year 2009-2010. Now, let us look at the unique characteristics of the Madrasahs in West Bengal:
With a countable exceptions, almost all Madrasahs in the state have co-educational system, which is indeed very rare in other states.
2. Though the Higher Madrasahs are regulated by the Board of Madrasah Education, they come under the purview of state higher education council.
Almost all Madrasahs are having a large number of non-Muslim students.
A large number of non-Muslim teachers and non teaching staff are also appointed in the Madrasahs.
5. It can be found that a large number of non-Muslims apply for the examination conducted by the Madrasah Education Commission for the posts of teachers in Madrasahs.
All these characteristics are a reflection of the deep secular roots of tradition, education and culture of the state and they reveal the confidence of the people in the very spirit of secular democracy.
ALIA UNIVERSITY:
The process to establish Alia University has already been initiated, which will gradually become a modern university. The state government has extended all kinds of administrative and financial support to fulfil the dreams of the minority community that have been cherished for a long time. I personally dream of having Al Azahar University in our state in the near future.
[Source: The Economic Development Report 2009-2010 placed in the state assembly recently]
Courtesy: www.pd.cpim.org
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
CPI (M) ON FOOD INFLATION AND FOOD SECURITY
THE POLIT BUREAU OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA (MARXIST) MET AT NEW DELHI ON OCTOBER 4 AND 5, 2010. IT HAS ISSUED THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT ON 5 OCTOBER 2010
The food inflation rate has again started rising and it touched 16.44 per cent in the week ending September 18. While the people are suffering from the price rise, the government is finding excuses such as floods and rains for the destruction of supplies. At this time of the season normally prices decline, this has highlighted the failure of the government to check price rise.
The food inflation rate has again started rising and it touched 16.44 per cent in the week ending September 18. While the people are suffering from the price rise, the government is finding excuses such as floods and rains for the destruction of supplies. At this time of the season normally prices decline, this has highlighted the failure of the government to check price rise.
The Central government has ignored the directive of the Supreme Court to distribute the huge stocks of foodgrains free of cost to the poor rather than letting it rot. On the contrary, it is pursuing the anti-people policy of pressurizing the states, to lift “additional allotment” at a price that is even higher than the present issue price of APL foodgrains. At the same time, the objectionable new scheme of further targeting being proposed by the National Advisory Council as well as the proposal to cut all subsidies to APL show the mockery that is being made of the concept of food security.
The Polit Bureau reiterates its demand for a universal public distribution system with a minimum allocation of 35 kgs of foodgrains at Rs. 2 per kg. The expenditure on this will still be less than 2 per cent of the GDP.
Source: www.cpim.org
Saturday, October 2, 2010
LIFT CURBS ON PAPERS IN KASHMIR VALLEY: DELHI UNION OF JOURNALISTS
THROUGH a statement issued on September 22, the Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ) has demanded that the undeclared ban on newspapers in Kashmir valley must be ended. It has also urged the Press Council of India to not only take suo moto notice of the assaults on the press there but also visit Srinagar, meet journalists’ bodies there and strive to aid the healing process.
In its executive committee meeting held on September 21 evening, the DUJ expressed grave concern at the reports received that for some time now newspapers have not been published in the Kashmir valley and electronic news bulletins have been banned. Only a token number of curfew passes have been issued to the newspaper offices because of which news reporting and production has been rendered almost impossible. Many reporters and photographers have been physically assaulted by paramilitary forces like the CRPF.
Unequivocally condemning these assaults on the media and media professionals, the DUJ has demanded that the ban and other restrictions imposed on the movement and functioning of media must be lifted immediately.
The special executive meeting further called for restraint in reporting on the conflict situations not only in Kashmir but also on the Ayodhya tangle in view of the judgement that was slated to come on September 24. It specially cautioned against rumour mongering, malicious reports and inspired leaks aimed at dividing the various communities.
Issued by the DUJ president Ms Sujata Madhok and general secretary S K Pande, the statement said that while calling for restrained reporting in volatile situations, there must be “immediate dialogue with affected journalists.” It urged the union home ministry to ensure that the police and CRPF are restrained from arbitrarily roughing up scribes.
According to reports received by the DUJ executive, the police and paramilitary forces recently thrashed and abused some staffers, even though they were carrying valid curfew passes issued by the district magistrate of Srinagar. The state government’s “influence” on the ground level got exposed when the forces tore to pieces the red-colour special curfew passes and even abused those who had issued them.
The DUJ expressed grave concern at the reports that three staffers of Greater Kashmir and Kashmir Uzma were ruthlessly beaten by policemen at Kaka Sarai in the Old City. They were travelling in the office vehicle which was intercepted by the police. The staffers were asked to show their curfew passes and identity cards, which they did. Yet, all of a sudden a policeman started beating a staffer who was admitted to the Bones and Joints Hospital. Other staffers fled from the spot in order to save their lives.
Source: www.pd.cpim.org
Unequivocally condemning these assaults on the media and media professionals, the DUJ has demanded that the ban and other restrictions imposed on the movement and functioning of media must be lifted immediately.
The special executive meeting further called for restraint in reporting on the conflict situations not only in Kashmir but also on the Ayodhya tangle in view of the judgement that was slated to come on September 24. It specially cautioned against rumour mongering, malicious reports and inspired leaks aimed at dividing the various communities.
Issued by the DUJ president Ms Sujata Madhok and general secretary S K Pande, the statement said that while calling for restrained reporting in volatile situations, there must be “immediate dialogue with affected journalists.” It urged the union home ministry to ensure that the police and CRPF are restrained from arbitrarily roughing up scribes.
According to reports received by the DUJ executive, the police and paramilitary forces recently thrashed and abused some staffers, even though they were carrying valid curfew passes issued by the district magistrate of Srinagar. The state government’s “influence” on the ground level got exposed when the forces tore to pieces the red-colour special curfew passes and even abused those who had issued them.
The DUJ expressed grave concern at the reports that three staffers of Greater Kashmir and Kashmir Uzma were ruthlessly beaten by policemen at Kaka Sarai in the Old City. They were travelling in the office vehicle which was intercepted by the police. The staffers were asked to show their curfew passes and identity cards, which they did. Yet, all of a sudden a policeman started beating a staffer who was admitted to the Bones and Joints Hospital. Other staffers fled from the spot in order to save their lives.
Source: www.pd.cpim.org
ON THE VERDICT OF THE LUCKNOW BENCH
The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement on September 30, 2010
THE Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court has given its decision on the title deeds suits and related issues on the Babri Masjid/Ramjanmabhoomi temple dispute.
This judgement requires to be fully studied. There may be questions on the nature of the verdict.
The CPI (M) maintains that in our constitutional secular democratic system, the judicial process which includes recourse to the Supreme Court should be the only way to resolve the issue.
The Polit Bureau of the CPI (M) appeals to the people of the country to maintain peace and communal harmony and not fall prey to any provocations.
Source: www.pd.cpim.org
THE Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court has given its decision on the title deeds suits and related issues on the Babri Masjid/Ramjanmabhoomi temple dispute.
This judgement requires to be fully studied. There may be questions on the nature of the verdict.
The CPI (M) maintains that in our constitutional secular democratic system, the judicial process which includes recourse to the Supreme Court should be the only way to resolve the issue.
The Polit Bureau of the CPI (M) appeals to the people of the country to maintain peace and communal harmony and not fall prey to any provocations.
Source: www.pd.cpim.org
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
CAMPAIGN TO DEFEND CPI (M) AND LEFT IN WEST BENGAL - Prakash Karat
The Extended Meeting of the Central Committee held in Vijayawada had given a call for a countrywide week-long campaign against the attacks on the Party and the Left Front in West Bengal. This campaign will be held from September 12 to 18. The entire Party should go amongst the people to expose the nature of the violent attacks on the CPI(M) and the Left Front in West Bengal and to mobilise the people to express solidarity with the Left and democratic movement in the state.
For more than two years, there has been a concerted attack on the CPI(M) and the Left in West Bengal. After the electoral reverses in the Lok Sabha election in May 2009, this attack has been intensified. All the rightwing and anti-Communist forces have united under the leadership of the Trinamul Congress to weaken the Party and the Left. They are doing so by resorting to continuous violence and attacks designed to sever the links of the Party and the Left Front with the people.
Till August 31, 270 members and supporters of the CPI(M) and the Left have been killed. The toll continues to rise daily. There is a two-pronged attack – one is led by the TMC combine and the other by the Maoists. The TMC-Maoist collaboration is an open fact. The Congress party acts as a junior partner of the TMC and its ministers in the Union Cabinet seek to cover-up the TMC leaders’ pro-Maoist stance.
Why is there such an attack on West Bengal? West Bengal is the strongest base of the CPI(M) and the Left in the country. The Left Front government has existed for 33 years after winning seven successive assembly elections. The distribution of surplus land under land reforms in West Bengal constitutes 22 per cent of the total land distributed in the country. The gains made by the working class over the last three decades due to their organized movement are substantial. The Left Front government has stood with the working people and sought to protect their livelihood and living standards in the face of the neo-liberal policies pursued by successive governments in the last two decades. The attack on West Bengal represents an effort to weaken the Left Front which will help the ruling classes to consolidate their neo-liberal project.
On top of this, the role played by the CPI(M) and the Left in national politics in the last few years has been marked by two specific features. Firstly, the Left’s consistent opposition to the neo-liberal policies. This is seen as an obstacle to the realization of the goals set out by big business and the ruling classes. Secondly, the Left is the only force which opposes the strategic alliance with the United States which has been unfolding in the last one decade. It is this role of the Left which has invited the attack on its strongest base in West Bengal. Weakening the CPI(M) and the Left Front in West Bengal would mean weakening the fight against the neo-liberal policies which are being promoted under the aegis of the strategic tie up with the United States.
In West Bengal, the aim of the anti-Communist combine is to oust the Left Front government and reverse the progressive measures which have been taken over the last three decades. The old landed interests wish to rollback the land reforms and get their power restored.
West Bengal has an exemplary record of defending secularism and isolating the communal forces. Weakening the Left will be the precursor for the rise of the communal and sectarian politics. Already we have seen how the divisive forces and identity politics are being fostered by the anti-Left gang up – whether it be the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha or the Kamatapuri movement.
The targeting of the CPI(M) by the Maoists is part of the overall gameplan. The brutal killings of the CPI(M) members by the Maoist gangs are intended to cripple the Party in some of its strongest base – in West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia. Those killed are Party members and supporters from the adivasis, school teachers, agricultural workers and poor peasants. In a recent incident on September 4, a school teacher who was a member of the CPI(M) local committee was dragged out of a class room in Salboni primary school where he was teaching children and shot dead. Even those who do not belong to the CPI(M) but refuse to cooperate with the Maoists are killed.
It is necessary to expose this brutality and vicious character of the Maoists – how they have become the instrument of the most reactionary and rightwing forces in West Bengal. The rally held in Lalgarh by Mamata Banerjee and the Maoists jointly on August 7 was a public display of this nefarious partnership.
The campaign to be conducted should expose those intellectuals, social activists and so-called civil libertarians who are supporting this murderous partnership. The likes of Swami Agnivesh and Medha Patkar are condoning the inhuman killings indulged in by the Maoist gangs by extending support to the Trinamul-Maoist gang-up. Many dubious NGOs are involved in this anti-Left enterprise. This is a common tactic of the rightwing forces, they enlist the support of the ultra-Left to provide a cover for their reactionary platform.
The campaign should highlight how the Party and the Left are fighting back this anti-Communist offensive in West Bengal. The CPI(M) is going amongst the people and is taking up their issues by launching movements and struggles. The Left Front government has initiated a number of measures to provide relief to the people suffering from price rise, unemployment and the agrarian crisis. Special attention is being paid to the poorest sections. In the areas affected by the Maoist violence, the people are mobilizing and resisting the Maoist depredations and intimidation. Thousands of people are now coming out in rallies and processions against the Maoists in the affected areas.
Though the Party and the Left have paid a heavy price with the loss of so many valuable comrades, their sacrifices will not go in vain. The CPI(M) and the Left in West Bengal cannot be suppressed by killings and violent repression. The defence of the Left in West Bengal is the defence of the gains made by the working people.
It is incumbent upon the entire Party to go amongst the people and rally them against the attacks on the Party and the Left in West Bengal. We should explain how for the working class, the peasantry and all democratic sections of the people throughout the country, the defence of the West Bengal movement will be a defence of their own rights and movements.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
PEOPLE’S MARCHES IN THE JANGAL MAHAL CONTINUE RELENTLESSLY - B Prasant
MARCHES of thousands of the villagers and townsfolk in the remotest and most corners of inaccessible jangal mahal in West Medinipur keep its flourish intact – and the rolling stream of the masses – the Red Flag-held high – continue its joyous sweep as the twenty-odd months of virtually siege-like conditions are finally lifted.
It was a very happy occasion for us veterans with advancing years to thrive and prosper on the occasion, and it was on 8 September. The place was Ramgarh. This is the cluster of villages amidst deep, dense forestry, where the killers, who call themselves ‘Maoists,’ had first committed the heinous crime of shooting and leaving to die painfully, muttering agonising but feeble cries for water to drink before passing away thence into history, the first martyr of a dark dawn, a CPI (M) worker and a poor peasant, Comrade Nandalal Pal.
The initial killing was followed by the taking of the lives in the cruellest manners imaginable of CPI(M) workers, and poor farmers all – Comrades Gopinath Murmu, Behari Bhunia, Sankar Hansda and Sankar Pal, all but Comrade Sankar Pal were members of different tribal communities. Many more such vile acts followed. Smell of terror hung over the villages as a pall of plague.
THE TERROR – NOW GONE
This is the place where the Trinamuli supremo had been driven around, a close week or so before, riding pillion to one of the PCAPA ‘leaders,’ on a motorbike, she back-slapping, as the TV cameras rolled, those very sinister creatures of the dim who had killed Comrade Nandalal.
The outpouring on 8 September of the poor and the toiling, the downtrodden and the anguished, the men, the women, the children, the victim and the ill, even the old and the infirm assured us that the jangal mahal would never ever be allowed to lapse back into a reign of terror, ever.
The moving scene for us was the moment when the Red Flag was hoisted and left fluttering in the breezy and hot summer-like conditions, under the intense blue of the open. That the process of the symbolic rally held afterwards at the very spot where the man-hunters had roamed even a fortnight back, made a great many of the marchers cry their hearts out in sobbing great tears openly, and not silently, was expected – but truth to tell, it was a rare occasion of basic emotional nature for us to witness the droplets of joy and relief roll down the gnarled cheeks of the old, and the taut faces of the young.
TRAGEDY - AND THE TRIUMPH
We recalled then with more-than-a-tinge of tragedy the manner in which the depradationists had run amuck for twenty long months, of the dark of the terror-filled days and death-ridden nights, here at Ramgarh area, for far too long this had gone, the villagers had decide then and there— and the CPI(M) had organised them as befitting a vanguard Party of the working class and the toiling masses.
The masses turned, no longer willing to be amidst the shadow of fear-- and the ‘Maoists’ were on the run - any police action was not in the calculation of the common of the dust and the dirt, the grass and the forest, the flower and the strongly-scented wild fruit. They were disgusted with the quality of low-life they had suffered and they chose to march, and the future, they knew, could only get worse, horribly, disturbingly, agonisingly so if they chose not to act and the time was now.
The local leadership of the CPI (M) told us in grave details the expected manner the attackers, complete with their baiters in such ‘political’ outfits as the Trinamulis, and the different gangs of common criminals (the ranks often merged into one another, we must put an interjecting note here, and their abetters in the ranks of the lurking former jotdars, smaller zamindars, and the money-lending sahukars) chose flight as the better part of valour. They fled, and fled and then fled again.
CELEBRATION- AND TEARS OF JOY
The villagers who crowded around in the rally came from the remotest hamlets with such quaint and to us, townsfolk, quite exotic names in their earthy linguistic deconstruction, tribal with each having a connation related to the tribal life at the centre of which remained the tree and the grass.
The villages were DhyangBhahara, Pitrakhuli, Balibandh, Patharnala, Belasole, Sitalpore, Neriah, Joaldanga, Birghasa, Shusunia, and Majurkata, and many others. During one of the sweeps, the villagers caught hold of the local criminal who had been made ill-famed by the left deviationists as ‘Bullet’ Mahato, his given name long buried in a mire of blood of martyrs. He was duly handed over to the police, untouched, unhandled but being forced to walk as a crowd of thousands looked intently at him, he with eyes low, shoulders in a stoop, walk reduced to a creep.
The marchers went on and rejoiced, sang, and danced, and beat up a storm of the resonance of the large kettle drum. We lingered behind, hope burgeoning, and despair in hasty, inglorious retreat. The people had spoken – the jangal mahal had given a grateful listen. Lalgarh is now at a distance of - a days’ worth of march - eight short kilometres.
Courtesy: www.pd.cpim.org
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
THE EARLY KALIDASA SYNDROME
THE most valuable resource that a country has is its people. The poor are not a liability, but an asset; they are the producers of essential goods and services we use, they hold up the sky for us for a pittance of a reward. The least that a country can do is to ensure that its people get enough to eat, that already low nutritional standards are not compromised. The present government has achieved a dubious record: the level of per head cereal supply and consumption in India by 2007 at 174 kg fell below the 182 kg recorded by the least developed countries and was considerably below the 196 kg level of Africa. By 2008 Indian average cereal consumption fell further steeply to 156 kg owing to large exports and addition to stocks, and is likely to be lower still in the just-ended drought year.
Cereals account for nine-tenths of food grains, which provide three-quarters of both energy intake and protein intake for the average consumer. Average calorie intake and protein intake have both fallen since 1993. The fall in per head food grain supply and consumption is not new, it has been going on for over a decade, yet our leading economists and policymakers have contributed to increasing food insecurity by their refusal to remove the artificial barriers to distribution created by arbitrarily dividing the population into ‘below' and ‘above' poverty line.
They remain as unmoved as Kalidasa proverbially hacking away at the very branch on which he sat — they would rather let food grains rot than feed the poor. What explains this torpor, this near-comatose lack of response to a long-brewing crisis of increasing hunger? The answer is that they simply fail conceptually to recognise that hunger is growing because of the serious misconception they have regarding the behaviour of cereal demand in a developing economy.
ILL-ADVISED POLICIES
John Maynard Keynes had remarked that the world is moved by little else but ideas. Once a wrong idea gets into the head of a policymaker it is very difficult to get it out. Keynes's argument on the paradox of thrift — if every person saves more, the nation ends up saving less — is still not understood 75 years after the General Theory and finance ministers continue to behave like housewives, cutting back spending to balance budgets even though they have to deal with rampant unemployment. Many ill-advised policies we see creating havoc around us arise from incorrect but obstinately held ideas.
The crucial incorrect idea here is that there is nothing surprising about cereal consumption falling — as a country develops and its per head income rises, people diversify their consumption away from ‘inferior' cereals and towards ‘superior' food, including milk, eggs, meat, and so on. Most economists thus believe in what they call a ‘negative income elasticity of cereal demand' and this influences many others, so they actually interpret declining grain consumption in a positive light. Their idea however arises from ignorance and is factually incorrect. It represents a fallacy of composition, in which only a part of total cereal demand — that directly consumed (as boiled rice, chapatti and so on) — is taken into account and cereal demanded as livestock feed converted to milk, eggs, meat, and so on is ignored.
Fifty years of data from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation show that as average income rises in a country and diets become more diversified to superior foods, the per head cereal/food grain demand far from falling rises steeply, and average calorie and protein intake rise in tandem. This happens because much more cereals get consumed indirectly as feed converted to animal products.
The higher the average income of a country, the higher is its cereal consumption and the higher the share of the latter, which is indirectly consumed, as the Table shows. The richest country in the world, the United States, consumed nearly 900 kg per head of cereals in 2007 of which only one-eighth was directly eaten and three-fifths used as feed converted to animal products, with the balance being processed. Its cereal consumption was more than five times higher than the 174 kg recorded by India and its normalised calorie intake (namely, deducting 1000 calories as survival level) was two and a half times higher than in India.
China has been raising its income fast — we are talking of purchasing power parity adjusted US dollars — and by now it converts a massive 115 million tonnes of cereal output as feed to animal products, compared with less than 10 million tonnes in India. Its people consume directly as much as Indians do, but owing to more diversified diets they consume nearly 300 kg cereals per head, 115 kg more than we do and their average calorie and protein intake is higher.
Why has India's average consumption declined to such a low level despite rising average income? Since India and China have seen high growth rates, observers as disparate as Paul Krugman and George Bush (wrongly) explained the 2008 global food price rise in terms of fast-rising cereal demand in these countries. They were quite right to expect rising demand in India but quite wrong to think it had actually happened. The fall, which has taken place over the last decade, pushing India below Africa and the least developed countries, is not normal for a country with rising average income, and has resulted from the lopsided, inequitable nature of growth.
Krugman et al did not take account of the adverse changes in income distribution, owing to severely income deflating fiscal policies advised by the Bretton Woods Institutions and faithfully implemented by successive Indian governments after 1991, which sent agriculture in particular into a depression from which it has still not recovered. With unemployment rising, with the fruits of growth going to a tiny minority while the masses suffered income deflation, the effects of dietary diversification by the rich have been swamped by an absolute decline in cereal intake for the majority.
National Sample Survey (NSS) data show for all except two states an absolute fall in average animal products intake as well, along with falling direct cereal intake over the reforms period. No wonder average energy and protein intake have both fallen. People other than the rich are not diversifying diets; even the hungry are forced to cut back and are suffering nutritional decline.
By 2008, the situation was even worse despite good output. A record 31.5 million tonnes of food grains were exported plus added to stocks, reducing domestic cereal supply steeply to 156 kg per head. This happened because the global recession impacted to raise unemployment and food prices spiralled to lower real incomes, so that there was a fresh round of loss of purchasing power.
TIMID & RELUCTANT HALF-MEASURES
What is to be done? Bold measures are required, not the timid and reluctant half-measures we see. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) needs to be seriously implemented to raise purchasing power and extended to urban areas that have seen a steep rise in poverty. For example, in Delhi state the percentage of persons not able to afford 2100 calories per day rose from 35 to 57 between 1993-4 and 2004-5 and the situation by now is definitely worse. MGNREGS can be used as well for a crash programme of building storage facilities for food grains now rotting in the open.
Food distribution through the PDS should be universal, freed from targeting, from the shackles of arbitrary and incorrect official poverty estimates. The recent decision to do away with targeting only in some districts will help very little. The government wishes to restrict the food subsidy but fails to realise that a version of the paradox of thrift operates here as well — the more it tries to reduce subsidy by restricting access, the more the subsidy will rise uselessly to finance holding unsold food stocks as now.
This country can afford to feed all its people at a decent level — what is holding it back is not lack of resources but ignorant and incorrect ideas. Will the economists at the highest levels of policymaking abjure dogmas and think the problem through rationally? Or will they inflict more punishment on the people, subjecting this country to the shame of falling even further behind the least developed countries and Africa?
Cereals account for nine-tenths of food grains, which provide three-quarters of both energy intake and protein intake for the average consumer. Average calorie intake and protein intake have both fallen since 1993. The fall in per head food grain supply and consumption is not new, it has been going on for over a decade, yet our leading economists and policymakers have contributed to increasing food insecurity by their refusal to remove the artificial barriers to distribution created by arbitrarily dividing the population into ‘below' and ‘above' poverty line.
They remain as unmoved as Kalidasa proverbially hacking away at the very branch on which he sat — they would rather let food grains rot than feed the poor. What explains this torpor, this near-comatose lack of response to a long-brewing crisis of increasing hunger? The answer is that they simply fail conceptually to recognise that hunger is growing because of the serious misconception they have regarding the behaviour of cereal demand in a developing economy.
ILL-ADVISED POLICIES
John Maynard Keynes had remarked that the world is moved by little else but ideas. Once a wrong idea gets into the head of a policymaker it is very difficult to get it out. Keynes's argument on the paradox of thrift — if every person saves more, the nation ends up saving less — is still not understood 75 years after the General Theory and finance ministers continue to behave like housewives, cutting back spending to balance budgets even though they have to deal with rampant unemployment. Many ill-advised policies we see creating havoc around us arise from incorrect but obstinately held ideas.
The crucial incorrect idea here is that there is nothing surprising about cereal consumption falling — as a country develops and its per head income rises, people diversify their consumption away from ‘inferior' cereals and towards ‘superior' food, including milk, eggs, meat, and so on. Most economists thus believe in what they call a ‘negative income elasticity of cereal demand' and this influences many others, so they actually interpret declining grain consumption in a positive light. Their idea however arises from ignorance and is factually incorrect. It represents a fallacy of composition, in which only a part of total cereal demand — that directly consumed (as boiled rice, chapatti and so on) — is taken into account and cereal demanded as livestock feed converted to milk, eggs, meat, and so on is ignored.
Fifty years of data from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation show that as average income rises in a country and diets become more diversified to superior foods, the per head cereal/food grain demand far from falling rises steeply, and average calorie and protein intake rise in tandem. This happens because much more cereals get consumed indirectly as feed converted to animal products.
The higher the average income of a country, the higher is its cereal consumption and the higher the share of the latter, which is indirectly consumed, as the Table shows. The richest country in the world, the United States, consumed nearly 900 kg per head of cereals in 2007 of which only one-eighth was directly eaten and three-fifths used as feed converted to animal products, with the balance being processed. Its cereal consumption was more than five times higher than the 174 kg recorded by India and its normalised calorie intake (namely, deducting 1000 calories as survival level) was two and a half times higher than in India.
China has been raising its income fast — we are talking of purchasing power parity adjusted US dollars — and by now it converts a massive 115 million tonnes of cereal output as feed to animal products, compared with less than 10 million tonnes in India. Its people consume directly as much as Indians do, but owing to more diversified diets they consume nearly 300 kg cereals per head, 115 kg more than we do and their average calorie and protein intake is higher.
Why has India's average consumption declined to such a low level despite rising average income? Since India and China have seen high growth rates, observers as disparate as Paul Krugman and George Bush (wrongly) explained the 2008 global food price rise in terms of fast-rising cereal demand in these countries. They were quite right to expect rising demand in India but quite wrong to think it had actually happened. The fall, which has taken place over the last decade, pushing India below Africa and the least developed countries, is not normal for a country with rising average income, and has resulted from the lopsided, inequitable nature of growth.
Krugman et al did not take account of the adverse changes in income distribution, owing to severely income deflating fiscal policies advised by the Bretton Woods Institutions and faithfully implemented by successive Indian governments after 1991, which sent agriculture in particular into a depression from which it has still not recovered. With unemployment rising, with the fruits of growth going to a tiny minority while the masses suffered income deflation, the effects of dietary diversification by the rich have been swamped by an absolute decline in cereal intake for the majority.
National Sample Survey (NSS) data show for all except two states an absolute fall in average animal products intake as well, along with falling direct cereal intake over the reforms period. No wonder average energy and protein intake have both fallen. People other than the rich are not diversifying diets; even the hungry are forced to cut back and are suffering nutritional decline.
By 2008, the situation was even worse despite good output. A record 31.5 million tonnes of food grains were exported plus added to stocks, reducing domestic cereal supply steeply to 156 kg per head. This happened because the global recession impacted to raise unemployment and food prices spiralled to lower real incomes, so that there was a fresh round of loss of purchasing power.
TIMID & RELUCTANT HALF-MEASURES
What is to be done? Bold measures are required, not the timid and reluctant half-measures we see. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) needs to be seriously implemented to raise purchasing power and extended to urban areas that have seen a steep rise in poverty. For example, in Delhi state the percentage of persons not able to afford 2100 calories per day rose from 35 to 57 between 1993-4 and 2004-5 and the situation by now is definitely worse. MGNREGS can be used as well for a crash programme of building storage facilities for food grains now rotting in the open.
Food distribution through the PDS should be universal, freed from targeting, from the shackles of arbitrary and incorrect official poverty estimates. The recent decision to do away with targeting only in some districts will help very little. The government wishes to restrict the food subsidy but fails to realise that a version of the paradox of thrift operates here as well — the more it tries to reduce subsidy by restricting access, the more the subsidy will rise uselessly to finance holding unsold food stocks as now.
This country can afford to feed all its people at a decent level — what is holding it back is not lack of resources but ignorant and incorrect ideas. Will the economists at the highest levels of policymaking abjure dogmas and think the problem through rationally? Or will they inflict more punishment on the people, subjecting this country to the shame of falling even further behind the least developed countries and Africa?
Courtesy:www.pd.cpim.org
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Friday, July 9, 2010
MANIK MAHATO REMANDED IN 10 DAYS' POLICE CUSTODY
08-07-2010
Jhargram: Manik Mahato, one of the alleged plotters of the Jnaneswari Express sabotage, was on Thursday remanded in 10 days’ police custody. Maoist leader Manik, who the police claimed was a “bigger catch than prime accused Bapi Mahato”, was arrested on Wednesday from Orissa.
MAIN ARCHITECT OF GYANESHWARI MASSACRE IN CBI NET
Bhubaneswar: Breaking News! In a major boost to the probe into the derailment of Gyaneshwari Express in West Bengal on May 28, a key accused in this case, Manik Mahato was arrested from Baripada in Orissa's Mayurbhanj district.
Manik Mahato is said to be a close aide of main accused Bapi Mahato, who was arrested along with others earlier. Manik was evading the arrest for a long time. At least 148 people were killed and over 200 injured, when some derailed coaches of Gyaneshwari Express were hit by a speeding goods train.
Manik Mahato was arrested during a joint operation conducted by the Orissa and West Bengal Police. One AK-47 rifle and some documents were reportedly recovered from him.
Manik Mahato is said to be a close aide of main accused Bapi Mahato, who was arrested along with others earlier. Manik was evading the arrest for a long time. At least 148 people were killed and over 200 injured, when some derailed coaches of Gyaneshwari Express were hit by a speeding goods train.
Manik Mahato was arrested during a joint operation conducted by the Orissa and West Bengal Police. One AK-47 rifle and some documents were reportedly recovered from him.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
JNANESWARI TRAGEDY: CBI NETS KEY PCAPA MEMBER - INDIAN EXPRESS
15-06-2010
The CBI arrested an 18-year-old youth late on Monday night who is allegedly involved in the Jnaneswari Express derailment case.
“Hiralal Mahato was present at the spot with prime accused Bapi Mahato and Umakanto Mahato,” said a senior official of the Railways. “He is a right hand man of Bapi and he used to move with Bapi wherever he went. He is a bigger catch than Khagen and Samir Mahato.”
A member of the People’s Committee Against Police Atrocity (PCAPA), he is also a resident of Rasua village where Bapi used to live, the official added.
A senior railway official said the youth was among the five people being interrogated by the CBI. The agency had zeroed in on the men following the interrogation of Khagen and Samir Mahato.
The CBI, the official said, is yet to get any evidence of a blast in the place. As per forensic experts, the sabotage was done by removing pandrole clips from the tracks. “We are investigating into the matter,” he added.
Bhupinder Singh, the Director General of Police, said: “The CBI has given us the names of a few persons they want arrested. We had these names with us as the CID was probing the case. But since the CBI has approached us, we will make the arrests.”
Courtesy: www.indianexpress.com
Courtesy: www.indianexpress.com
INNOCENT MAOISTS AND THE INCREDIBLE BUT FACTUAL TALE OF A HEARTBREAKING RAIL TRAGEDY
Wednesday, June 2, 2010Half minister Dinesh Trivedi always has a refined presence on television debates. Sometimes too refined one would say. He speaks chaste English, he can articulate his party chieftain’s feral “vision” in plain words which typically bear mordant remarks about the bête noire CPI (M). This half minister is seldom seen on TV to speak about his ministerial responsibilities as television producers are pretty aware about his mostly cliché and stupid half-ministerial talks. Therefore after the Maoists have successfully derailed the Mumbai bound Gyaneshwari Express near Jhargram in Bengal’s Midnapore district and caused several civilian deaths, this man’s clean and cold face kept flashing on various news channels. When asked about his opinion about the horrific incidence, Trivedi squarely puts the entire blame on the State government, parroting the Trinamool chieftain’s corrosive guideline and asks: Isn’t law and order comes under the state? When the anchor of the show asks him whether the Railways minister also owes some responsibility or not, the half minister thundered: How do you blame the Railways Ministry when the incidence has taken place in CPM ruled Bengal? After all Mamata Banerjee is not Bengal’s chief minister. He then delivered a gem of a dialogue. The half minister assured us, “The day Mamata Banerjee becomes the chief minister of Bengal, I can guarantee you there will not be any such problems”! (Source )
Indian politicians are habitually infamous for talking nonsense in public and Trinamool Congress is particularly notorious in this aspect. One might therefore think that Trivedi must have gone utterly paranoid to stupidly justify an awesome disaster on behalf of his party boss who unfortunately is the Railways minister of the country. One might also wonder how Trivedi is so sure about the administrative competency of Mamata Banerjee. Both the thoughts have a close connection. In fact, Trivedi was speaking according to an instant strategy derived from the fantastic brains of Mamata Banerjee and her present advisors. The script was plain and simple. First to put the entire blame on the state government’s failure to maintain law and order, then to spread the rumor that the incident was possibly the handiwork of the CPI (M) and finally, to obscure any feature that could draw attention towards the Maoists and their frontal organization PCAPA as the real culprits behind the tragedy and shield them.
Intellectuals, who claim to be representatives of civil society and are openly supporting both the PCAPA and Mamata Banerjee, immediately jumped on the bandwagon. Instead of assisting the hapless victims and standing beside their families, the so called intellectuals, many of them on payroll of Indian Railways, were more anxious to clear the name of Mamata Banerjee and the Maoists from any public suspicion. They called a press conference to condemn the deaths and offer condolence to the victims. But the event was instantaneously converted into a political platform where the “awake and aware” intellectuals accused the CPI (M) of being involved in the mishap. “The accident was made to happen at a time when people are preparing to ring in a change,” thundered painter Shuvaprasanna, chairman of the passenger amenities committee of the Railways and Mamata Banerjee’s Rasputin. Amid table-thumping approval from Shuvaprasanna, another jewel of the crown Debobrata Bandopadhyay unambiguously said that “the needle of suspicion is towards CPM, which is the only beneficiary of the accident.” During the press meet no one minced a single word about the involvement of the Maoists except Railways heritage and culture committee chairperson Shaoli Mitra, who monthly draws Rs. 50,000 and other perks from the Railways coffer. Posing as the most credulous among the lot, Mitra uttered, “Even though Maoists have denied their links with the accident, media is emphasizing the Maoists link. We are going through a dark time.” How bad not to believe the honest and truthful Maoists! However, the “intellectuals” refused to answer any question posed by journalists who asked them about the basis of their allegation. (Source )
Within hours after the now infamous “intellectual” press conference, Mamata Banerjee appeared into the arena to hold one more press meet with her matching message: “I don't know who has done the heinous crime. But whoever has done it, it's a political conspiracy. (Emphasis added) I have requested the union home ministry to conduct a probe,” she said briskly. She then added her punch line, “The accident has happened two days before the (civic) election. One may be politically against us, but I feel bad the way the incident was engineered to fulfill one's political interests.” (Source )
Why the Trinamool tricksters are so eager to put the blame on the CPI (M)? Is it just because they wanted to score brownie points before the civic polls? This logic seems valid and persuasive, but there is a more intricate mechanism that is working deep beneath the visible surface. During the Singur-Nandigram fiasco, a single enemy strategy was vigorously employed by the detractors of the CPI (M) which had helped the Trinamool Congress to evoke an innate fighting impulse against the Marxists. To some extent this fighting impulse has stimulated the common man’s mind and caused the party’s 2009 poll debacle. No one can completely deny that the CPI (M) as a party has made quite a few serious blunders during the land acquisition controversies. But it is also a fact that to serve the single enemy strategy and impale the Marxists as enemy of the people, the blunders have been trumped up on an enormous magnitude. The CPI (M) has been blamed for every malady and misfortune of Bengal. It was a well crafted strategy to cloud rational judgment and distract attention from the real causes. The vicious attack has worked extremely well in the recent past and eroded a substantial chunk of the Left Front and the CPI (M)’s support base. At the same time it has helped the Trinamool chieftain to emerge as the only unyielding voice against the single enemy CPI (M). Quite obviously it became the central strategy for the Trinamool and their rainbow allies which also include the Maoists as a vital but disguised ally. Blaming the CPI (M) have therefore served a dual purpose. It has augmented the single enemy strategy and also obscured the role of the atrocious Maoists in the train tragedy that has caused death of nearly 150 innocent civilians.
The “blame CPI (M)” ploy was initiated by the Trinamool MP Sisir Adhikari with his “evil forces are out to vilify Mamata” remark. Receiving the tip-off from Adhikari, the PCAPA convener and spokesperson Asit Mahato was quick to announce, “We had no knowledge about the attack on the train. Our people did not do it…. It was the handiwork of CPM goons. It was a conspiracy hatched by the CPM.” After denying any involvement of the PCAPA in the sabotage and strongly proclaiming about a “CPI (M) conspiracy” Mahato did not stop there. Sensing the ramifications of the tragedy, a concerned Mahato desperately attempted to vindicate Mamata Banerjee and said, “CPI (M) has plans to politically isolate Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee so that she is forced to resign”. (Source ) Then the Trinamool intellectuals started their synchronized chorus to deliver an identical message which was followed by a statement issued by the State Committee of the CPI (Maoist). The statement assured the railway authorities “Nothing will be done from our side” and solicited them to ply their trains without fear. Keen to distance themselves from the tragedy fearing public backlash, the Maoists also repudiated the charge against them by stating that, “We were not involved in the sabotage.” Shaoli Mitra’s argument about the “innocent” Maoists was based on this statement. The Maoists also “demanded” an independent enquiry of the incidence by “a neutral investigation team comprising intellectuals, scientists, engineers and unofficial experts” since the state controlled CID and the central agency CBI “both are biased”. The Maoists demand call in mind what Rabindranath Tagore once wrote condemning the violence perpetrated by Indian extremist groups during the freedom movement, “To light the fire and then complain that it burns is absolutely childish.”
Why the Trinamool intellectuals and the veiled backers of Mamata Banerjee so intensely struggling to shield the Maoists from the train mishap? It is only because the chronology of events clearly show how the Trinamool leaders, the intellectuals, the PCAPA and the Maoists are coordinated with each other. Within days, the Indian Express published a story on PCAPA leader Bapi Mahato who controls the Guimara-Lalgeria panchayat area where the Gyaneshwari train disaster took place. The 25 year young leader, charged as the mastermind behind the attack by the police and investigating agencies, has revealed that “…we targeted the goods train. But somehow, we were fed wrong information that the goods train would cross through this track and we removed pandrol clips from a long stretch.” (Source )
Here we must also mention about some “neutral” analysts like a learned economist turned talk-show star who was simply “unable to comprehend why the Maoists will attack a train if they are so intimate to Mamata Banerjee”. Are the so called “neutral” voices really so naïve to figure out that Mamata Banerjee has mounted on a savage beast to achieve her enduring objective of occupying the Bengal chief minister’s chair? A Maoist leader has explained her predicament to the media, “We had expected Mamata to pressure the Centre in withdrawing the joint forces from the Jungle Mahal area. But she did nothing… She took our help in Nandigram, but she didn’t help us and so we wanted to cause minor damage to the railways by targeting a goods train.” (Source ) These so called neutral voices are in fact deceitful to the core. By pretending to be naïve, they are actually trying to mislead the people from the clear nexus between the Maoists and Trinamool. People only see what they are prepared to see. Mamata loyalists and lobbyists are therefore trying too hard to preserve the post Singur-Nandigram milieu so that the opportunity of a “change” does not spin out of control. But here is a caveat. The savage beast will possibly stop only after consuming the rider.
Mamata Banerjee’s admirers adore her for the essentially ruthless fighter image she has fostered over the years and for her ability to enforce a creepy but effective anti-CPI (M) diatribe. In her ongoing business of deception, she is steadily assisted by her intellectual friends who are putting the final wrapping on her glitzy packages. Under her direction, incessant attacks of virulent deception are widely been used as a worthy weapon to win over different segments of the population and for keeping the support intact till the 2010 assembly elections.
Most of the arguments spearheaded by the Trinamool chieftain are essentially phony as their base substances are all lies. In unusual situations, even phony facts and phony arguments sound logical. The same is happening today in the post Singur-Nandigram political atmosphere of Bengal. The fallacies and lies she have mastered to execute her deception strategies will obviously fool some people for some time. Many of her enthusiastic supporters are unable to visualize the actual situation as their minds are besieged under the grand emotional appeals and fallacious arguments of the Trinamool Congress. But will it be possible for the megalomaniac Mamata Banerjee to keep this momentum till the 2011 assembly elections is a tuff question to answer. From the almighty chieftain to the creepy-crawly lower rank leaders, most of the Trinamool team is habitual offenders of democratic integrity. Their rhetoric is full of unsound reasoning. Their language is filthy and obnoxious. Their approach is unscrupulous and fascistic. Their outlook is reactionary.
The Trinamool chieftain and her destructive forces have launched a new brand of manipulative politics in Bengal where emotion instead of reason is used to prove a conclusion to every political argument. Her expendable pawns of today and her future day scapegoats are mostly unaware about the ulterior motive of this deceptive politics. By deliberately replacing reality with illusion, by appealing to people’s emotions and prejudices to cloud their thinking ability, she has converted political deception almost into an art form. Hence, for the time being, her every wrong seems to be right. The Trinamool intellectuals on the other hand, especially the most vicious among them have confirmed once more that greed and self-interest are truly great motivators. But the recent events have proved one more thing for sure. You really do not need enemies if you have friends like the ones who are buzzing around Mamata Banerjee’s spoilt hive.
As a continuation of their 2009 general election performance, the Trinamool has achieved a “giant victory” in the civic polls today. It is an expected verdict. Only a miracle would have turned the verdict in CPI (M)’s favor. But the writings have already started to appear on the wall. It will become more and more prominent in the coming days. Do we really need a weather man to know which way the wind blows?
Courtesy: www.wordsfromsolitude.blogspot.com/2010/06/innocent-maoists-and-incredible-but.html
Saturday, June 12, 2010
THE FINANCIAL EXPRESS - DURANTO STRINGS
MAMATA’S LOYALIST GETS TV LICENCE AS 146 OTHERS WAIT
Nistula Hebbar
Posted online: May 07, 2010 at 2323 hrs
New Delhi: In politics, lifelines come with strings attached, and Mamata Banerjee’s support for the UPA-II alliance is no different. Even as uplink applications for nearly 146 tele-vision channels are pending due to a regulatory impasse, Banerjee, chief of the Trinamool Congress and Cabinet minister for Railways, has quietly got a channel licence for artist Suvaprasanna, her supporter back in West Bengal.
Suvaprasanna’s news and current affairs channel in Bengali Akhon Samay is ready to go on air on May 9. Three weeks back, the channel received clearance from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) after Mamata took up cudgels on the artist’s behalf, sources said.
Curiously, on October 8 last year, the I&B ministry had written to Trai— which regulates the broadcast sector as well — asking it to review the entire process of granting uplink/downlink permission to TV channels.
Subsequently, on January 18 this year, the ministry announced its decision to halt the process until Trai came out with its recommendations. The ministry cited spectrum shortage as one of the reasons for suspending the process of granting new permissions.
Akhon Samay had applied for a license on December 14 last year, during this freeze period. According to top sources both in the ministry and her own party, Banerjee was not willing to take no for an answer, and personally intervened in the matter. Suvaprasanna, a painter of repute, is associated with the Trinamool Congress. Last year, he was appointed chairman of the Railways Passenger Amenities Committee, which comes under the Railways ministry headed by Banerjee.
Suvaprasanna confirmed to FE that his channel was all set for a glittering launch.
“We got clearance around three weeks ago, and will launch on May 9. The
channel is owned by Dev Kripa Vidyasagar Pvt Ltd, a company I formed with two other partners. The launch will be on the 150th birth anniversary of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore,” he said.
“Akhon Samay is a 24-hour news channel with a focus on culture,” he added. He, however, denied that Banerjee had intervened on his behalf.
Ironically, Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Big Broadcasting’s proposals to launch 32 channels are still hanging fire. Ministry officials have a convenient explanation to offer. “On April 1, I&B ministry decided that it will start processing pending applications for television channels. After April 1, the I&B ministry has given permission for over dozen television channels on a case-by-case basis,” informed sources said.
For Banerjee, the gain will be measured by Akhon Samay’s ability to combat media outlets sympathetic to the Left Front government in West Bengal. Assembly elections 2011 will be as much about propaganda as about performance. Allies extracting their pound of flesh is not new to politics. Telecom minister A Raja has been able to hold on to his post, despite strident Opposition protest to his continuance in the Cabinet. Raja has been accused of causing the exchequer a loss of Rs 1 lakh crore in the disbursal of wireless spectrum in 2008.
TRINAMOOL CONGRESS OPENLY HOBNOBS WITH MAOISTS FOR ELECTORAL GAINS - BJP
EXTRACT FROM RESOLUTION ON THE EXPANSION OF MAOIST ACTIVITIES PASSED IN BJP NATIONAL EXECUTIVE MEETING AT PATNA (BIHAR) ON 12-06-2010 and 13-06-2010.“The UPA-I was a wasted opportunity in the battle against Maoists. The Home Ministry, under UPA-I, failed to realize the enormity of the problem and the possible solutions, and responses to it. The Home Ministry under UPA-II initially showed signs of understanding the extent and enormity of the Maoist problem, but the entire national impetus being built up has been lost on account of the politics of the UPA and the Congress itself. During the UPA-I, the Congress had political adjustments with the Maoists in Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand where electoral conveniences guided it accordingly. When states like Chhattisgarh started innovative programmes to tackle the Maoist menace, the Congress was opposed to it. During the UPA-II there were initial signs of coordination, building up between the states and the Centre. The national mood was strongly in favour of a coordinated strategy against the Maoists. Despite several setbacks, the national Opposition was in a mood to fully stand by the government against indiscriminate Maoist violence. However, differences within the UPA have started crippling the Central government’s approach towards the Maoists.
The Congress leaders started openly questioning the approach of the Home Ministry and the government of India. In West Bengal, an UPA ally, the Trinamool Congress, openly started hobnobbing with the Maoists because of electoral and vote bank consideration. Differences in the Cabinet spilled over into the public. The Home Ministry wanted an ‘expanded mandate’ to fight the Maoists. The Cabinet was willing to give only a ‘limited mandate’. The Home Ministry favoured the use of air-power for surveillance; the Defence Minister was not cooperative.”
MAMATA’S SAFETY RECORD: ABSENT
31-05-2010 SRINAND JHA
Mamata Banerjee is likely to join back work as Union Minister for Railways on Tuesday, ending her longest-ever absence from office.
In her absence, the Railways saw a major incident in West Bengal, which cost the lives of 148 people. Two weeks before that, a stampede in New Delhi station took two lives.
Even as the Railways face criticism for lack of safety and security, Banerjee’s absence of almost a month from office has held up a critical proposal to find a fix to these problems.
Recommending more teeth for the Railway Protection Force (RPF), the T.R. Baalu-headed parliamentary standing committee had asked the Railways to forward a revised draft of the Railway Property (Unlawful Possession) Amendment Bill.
Over the last two months, Banerjee has not had the time to scrutinise the draft — which is pending at her desk.
Another critical issue is the continuing delays in filling up safety-related posts. As many as 1, 99,494 railway posts are currently vacant, with an estimated 40 per cent of these being safety-related posts, the All India Railway Men Federations said. That comes to as many as 80,000 posts lying unfilled.
Similarly, a draft of the new catering policy awaits the minister’s clearance, even as Banerjee’s initiatives aiming at improving passenger amenities have not taken off. There are many more files that are lying in wait for the minister’s attention — figures vary from a few hundred to a thousand.
With Banerjee away for such a long time, rooms in the corridor where her office is located have remained locked and the notice board at the entrance of Rail Bhawan has displayed the same ‘thought of the day’ for the past several weeks.
Officials though say this is of little consequence. “The ministry runs on auto-pilot; the minister does not need to be physically present,” one said.
Courtesy: Hindustan Times
CBI OFFICIALS VISIT SITE OF SABOTAGE BY INSANE MAOIST BUTCHERS
Kolkata (12-06-2010): The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials probing the Gyaneshwari Express accident on Friday made a survey of the spot where the train derailed near Jhargram in West Bengal and took custody of two people arrested earlier for their alleged involvement in the sabotage. Khagen Mahato and Samir Mahato, arrested by the state's Criminal Investigation Department (CID), were brought before a lower Court in Jhargram town and remanded to CBI custody till June 17.
'The CID officials presented the two accused before Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Court in Jhargram. He remanded them in CBI custody till June 17,' said defence counsel Kaushik Sinha.
CBI officials in two groups visited the Jhargram Court and the spot between Sardiha and Khemashuli stations where the train got derailed on May 28 and was later hit by a freight train resulting in the death of 148 people.
A CBI team led by Prabal Halder went to Jhargram court while another led by CBI special crime branch (Kolkata) Superintendent A. Bothra met West Midnapore district magistrate N.S. Nigam, police superintendent Manoj Verma, Kharagpur divisional railway manager of South Eastern Railway Anil Handa.
After the meeting, the CBI sleuths along with the district administrative officials went to the spot by road and then returned to Mindapore town by a special two-compartment train.
'We have visited the spot and met senior officers of the district administration,' said Bothra.
A senior police officer said the CBI team held a series of meetings with the district administrative officials and senior police officers in Midnapore after visiting the spot.
TIMES OF INDIA: “A WRONG POLICY RESPONSE”
Following the Gyaneshwari Express tragedy, night train services were discontinued in hazardous areas in Naxal-hit states. Reportedly, this moratorium - particularly in some sections of the South-Eastern Railway - has been extended on passenger trains for the second time till June 10.Since the railway minister seems to doubt Maoists caused the derailment at all, there's policy confusion at the top. The Naxal menace is being underplayed even as it's pitched as the reason to suspend night runs. More, the Maoist threat isn't likely to vanish soon. What's the guarantee the deadline won't be pushed ahead yet again?
The authorities create the impression of abdicating responsibility on undertaking an urgent security and intelligence beef-up. This path of least resistance can only embolden trouble-makers.
A sizeable length of Indian Railways' 64,000 km network runs through Maoist-hit areas. How long can even routine track inspections be neglected, by citing lack of police escorts? It's about time the authorities took up a standing committee's suggestions to augment the Railway Protection Force. Also, as many as 80,000 safety related posts ^ including of gangmen who maintain tracks - are unfilled.
Nor can upgrade of sabotage-related early warning and detection systems be put off. With computerised track signalling, the Railways can have a better safety record.
Stalled service delivery can't be a policy response to criminal acts. Perpetrators of violence aim at creating a climate of fear that immobilises train travel, the lifeline of cross-country transportation, at great economic cost to the nation. To win against them, it's essential to get the message across that the nation can't be terrorised into submission. That means keeping essential services going while ensuring better protection of their users.
Courtesy : http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
Courtesy : http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
THE HINDU - CBI TAKES TWO SUSPECTED SABOTEURS IN ITS CUSTODY
12-06-2010
Raktima Bose
KOLKATA:After formally taking over the investigation in the Jnaneswari Express derailment case from the West Bengal's Criminal Investigation Department (CID), the CBI on Friday obtained the custody of two persons held in connection with the case, and other documents, at a Jhargram court in Paschim Medinipur district.
A CBI team visited the accident site near the Sardiha station.
Sources in the CBI said the investigation agency had filed a petition before the additional chief judicial magistrate of Jhargram, seeking the transfer of custody of Khagen Mahato and Samir Mahato from the CID, based on the notification issued by the Union Home Ministry.
The CID had also submitted a petition, stating that it wanted to hand over the all the documents, as well as the custody of the two arrested persons, to the CBI.The court allowed the CBI to take the two in its custody till June 17.
Both are suspected to be key conspirators in sabotaging the rail track and causing the tragedy on May 28.
While Khagen Mahato is charged with carrying the saboteurs to and from the spot on his pick-up van, Samir Mahato is suspected to be one of those who removed the pandrol clips from the track.
The CBI team also met top officials and police officers at Kharagpur.
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