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Bonanza of pro-poor schemes as elections loom large

	September 17, 2007

The UPA Government at the Centre and several state govern¬ments are coming out with schemes to benefit the common man or specific segments of the people as the prospect of an early general election looms large on the horizon.



Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Prithviraj Chavan said in New Delhi on Sept. 14, “Elections are schedule for May 2009, but could be earlier also, whatever is the opportune time for the Government.”



He was answering queries from newspersons on the sidelines of a Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) function.



Observers say that the Government managers are watching the CPI(M) politburo meeting scheduled in Kolkata by the month-end. The Congress is keenly looking to see if any middle ground can emerge between the UPA and the Left before November after which negotiations with the IAEA on safeguards cannot be put off if the nuclear deal is to be operationalised during the tenure of Presi¬dent George Bush of the United States.





Pro-poor schemes showcased



The Congress on Sept. 11 brought up again its ‘aam admi’ plank showcasing several measures proposed by the Manmohan Singh Government for the welfare of the poor and the weak under the Unorganised Sector Workers (Social Security) Bill introduced in Parliament just before the Monsoon session was adjourned sine die.



At a special press briefing, the Congress described this Bill as an important milestone to fulfil the pledges made in the ruling coalition’s Common Minimum Programme (CMP) under the “driving force” of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Prime Min¬ister Manmohan Singh. “This national initiative will benefit the most disadvantaged sections and the poorest of the poor,” Con¬gress spokesperson Jayanti Natarajan said.



Detailing the provisions of the Bill, she said under the Aam Admi Bima Yojna”, all rural landless households in the country would be provided life and disability insurance cover. The National Old Age Pension would be extended to all Below Poverty Line persons above 65.



On the Left’s objections to the Government’s hurried bid to introduce the Bill while ignoring the proposals for bringing in two separate Bills for agricultural and non-agricultural work¬ers, Natarajan said, “The Bill marks the beginning, all concerns could be addressed in due course.” The Congress-led government has already rolled out its action plan on various recommendations of the Sachar Committee report.





Government to focus on education for minorities : PM



At a meeting of the full Planning Commission in New Delhi on Sept. 13, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that the Government would focus on increasing educational opportunities for the minorities and people belonging to the scheduled castes and tribes and other backward classes. He said the recommendations of the Sachar Committee need to be seriously considered while implementing the scheme for universalisation of access to second¬ary education. He said the Centre’s funding for the education sector would be Rs. 2.5 lakh crore, a four-fold increase over the 10th Plan. He said proposals for setting up 6,000 schools cover¬ing all blocks must be finalised within the next two months.





Fast track loans for sugar mills



In another related move, a group of Ministers headed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee has approved soft loans of Rs. 2,000 crore each year for sugar mills and provision of an additional subsidy of Rs. 420 crore on sugar exports. In another move to help sugar mills which are facing sickness, the GoM fixed the price of ethanol, a byproduct of sugarcane at Rs. 21.50 per litre even as its price in neighbouring countries stands at Rs. 14 a litre.



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Form all party government to avoid snap elections



A group of ten Members of Parliament has in an open letter asked all MPs to come together to form an all-party government at the Centre to avoid snap elections.



“Let us remember that we are the largest democracy in the world. We owe it to the people of India, who have elected us to successfully complete our term of five years,” the group of 10 MPs said.



Talking of national issues, the letter stated that the Government should be governed “by consensus and not by confron¬tation.” It said the estimated cost of conducting a mid-term poll would be to the tune of Rs. 2,700 crore, not counting the money that political parties would spend during the elections.



Asking for support to the suggestion once floated by former President R. Venkataraman for an all-party national government, the letter appealed to Parliamentarians “to rise above party lines to place the nation before self and party and to think for the poorest in this country of ours.”



The signatories to the letter include Robert Kharsingh, industrialist Rahul Bajaj, T.R. Zeiling, Mani Charenamei, Sanjay Raut, Rajeev Chandrashekhar, Nakul Das Rai, K.D. Das, Thupstan Chhewang OT Lepcha and former MP General Shankar Roy Chowdhury.



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Minority quota unveiled in Tamil Nadu



In a bid to woo people belonging to the minority communi¬ties, Tamil Nadu has announced a seven per cent reservation for Christians and Muslims in both education and employment with effect from Sept. 15. Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi said in Chennai on Sept. 13 that an ordinance will be promulgated to provide sub quotas of 3.5 per cent each for backward classes among the Christians and Muslims. This separate quota will be carved out of the existing 30 per cent reservation presently en¬joyed by the backward classes in the state.



Observers say that by doing this the government has clever¬ly avoided legal entanglements by not increasing the total quota level while, at the same time, pleasing the minority community. Tamil Nadu’s existing reservation has already been challenged in the Supreme Court, which had ruled that the total quota cannot exceed 50 per cent.



The state has a high overall reservation of 69 per cent, 30 per cent for Backward Classes, 20 per cent for Most Backward Classes (MBC), and denotified communities (DCs), 18 per cent for Scheduled Castes and 1 per cent for Scheduled Tribes. The 30 per cent for BCs will now include a 23 per cent ‘Hindu’ quota and a ‘minorities’ quota of 7 per cent.





Sops for minorities in West Bengal



Tamil Nadu is not alone in coming out with measures to promote the interests of the minorities. West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has announced several conces¬sions for the minorities and the down-trodden. The state govern¬ment has decided to sponsor minority students pursuing courses in IIMs and IITs and even in NIIT. All 126 municipalities in the state have been asked to spend a quarter of their budgetary allocation for slum dwellers.



Parties gear up for polls



Different parities have started positioning themselves for facing fresh elections. In West Bengal, Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has spelt out the terms for aligning with the Congress. Speaking in New Delhi on Sept. 12, she said the Trina¬mul Congress will have nothing to do with the Congress unless it dumps the Left. Observers say that if there is no immediate breakthrough either way, the statement leaves Mamata Banerjee with the freedom to experiment with the equi-distant policy perfected by Chandrababu Naidu in Andhra Pradesh. Naidu is neither with UPA nor with the NDA now, which gives him room for manoevures.



The Congress on its part has welcomed Mamata Banerjee’s recent statement in Aligarh where she said she was not in the NDA. Party general secretary Margaret Alva said, “I rang her up and congratulated her on taking my advice and moving in the right direction.”



Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar has asked party MPs to start gearing up for the looming electoral battle. In a letter to party colleagues last week, Pawar asked them to fan across their constituencies to reach out to the voters and strengthen the organisation in time for the coming elections.



The RJD at an emergency meeting of the party national execu¬tive on Sept. 15 decided to declare an all out ‘war’ against the Janata Dal (U)-BJP coalition government in Bihar. The party criticised the Nitish Kumar-led government for what it called Maha Jungle Raj in the state.



Lok Janshakti Party president and Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan has set his party on the election track following the UPA’s failure to bring around the Left on the nuclear issue. The party which has its base in Bihar, decided to launch a ‘jail bharo’ campaign in all districts of the state on October 18.



Both LJP leader Ramvilas Paswan and Bahujan Samaj Party chief and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati have decided to focus on dalit voters during the Gujarat Assembly elections likely to be held by the end of the year.