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Round The States
New Delhi, 1 November 2012
Cyclone Nilima
TAMIL NADU &
ANDHRA FACE HELL
By Insaf
Hell hath no fury like a hurricane which hit Tamil Nadu and
Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday. Coming on
the heels of Cyclone Sandy which hit US’s iconic New York City, Cyclone Nilima raging at 75 km
per hour crashed onto the States coastal areas bringing heavy showers, gusty
winds and threw life out of gear. Such was the tornado’s fury that an oil
tanker Prathibha Cauvery, ran aground off Chennai’s shore-line resulting in one
sailor drowning and another five feared dead. The death toll in Andhra was
limited to three. Add to this continuous rainfall resulted in several parts of
coastal districts being flooded causing extensive damage by destroying standing
crops and temporary housing settlements. Pertinently, these two States bare the
brunt of about five cyclones a year during May-June and October-November. Fingers
are crossed that Nilima is the last of the deadly storms this year.
* * * *
Rajasthan’s Diktat
For Girls
Rajasthan is the latest State to hark back to medieval
times. Shockingly, a community panchayat
in Dausa district’s Bhandarez town unanimously favoured banned girls from having
mobile phones to ensure they do not get involved with boys and thereby creating
unnecessary problems for their families. This is not all. The teenagers were
prohibited from wearing scarves, a ruse to hide their identity. This diktat was the result of a girl who
eloped with her 10-class dropout boyfriend last week. This comes on the heels
of a khap panchayat in neighbouring Haryana’s
Rohtak district which prescribed lowering the marriage age from 18 to 16 years
as a remedy to prevent rising rape cases. A decision backed by former Chief Minister Om
Prakash Chautala. Undeniably, the khap
panchayats need a tutorial on living in the 21st Century!
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* * *
Dengue Hits North India
Two Northern States, Delhi, Haryana
and Punjab are in the grip of the deadly
dengue. Already, the number of deaths has crossed 1000 and counting and over
5000 cases have been recorded till date. Predictably, a war of words has erupted
between the ruling Congress and BJP. While Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit blamed
the three BJP-run civic bodies for not doing enough to check the dengue menace,
its arch rival hit back, accusing the Government for not giving enough funds,
down from Rs 55 to Rs 44 crores. Compounding this, the deadly combination of
dengue, malaria and typhoid is not only causing triple havoc but also has doctors
worried. In Haryana Gurgaon district is worst hit and tops the list of dengue
afflicted area for the third consecutive year with over 600 cases. Time for our
Parties to quit playing the blame game and provide succour.
* * * *
More Anganwadis For
States
States have reason to rejoice with the Centre leveraging
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) to broaden the
socio-economic development in the country. In a significant move, the Union
Rural Development Ministry has decided to construct 1.5 lakh anganwadis (pre-school nutrition
centres) in rural areas for better health and growth of newborns and infants in
five years under MGNREGA and the Integrated Child Development Scheme and has
earmarked Rs.33,000 crores. Presently, of the 13 lakh functional anganwadi centres only half of them
operate from own buildings depriving children of playing space. It is a moot
point if this scheme will rescue the rural poor from distress as the demand for
work has been declining due to good monsoons and better work opportunities.
* * * *
Fresh NCP-Congress
Trouble In Maharashtra
In Maharashtra fresh
trouble has broken out between the ruling Congress and ally NCP. Whereby, the
latter has threatened to launch an agitation if the State Government failed to
take decision within a week on providing three additional subsidised LPG
cylinders, especially to the poor and middle class consumers who were badly
hit. This comes on the heels of Kerala run by the Congress-led UDF Government
deciding to give three additional subsidised LPG cylinders over the cap of six
fixed by the Centre to all consumers. In poll-bound Himachal too, the capping
on LPG cylinders has pushed all other issues on the backburner with the ruling
BJP banking on it to keep voters away from Congress. Meanwhile, there is a ray
of hope for consumers with the Union Oil Ministry studying a proposal to
increase the supply of subsidised LPG cylinders and iron out glitches in the
supply system to calm tempers ahead of the crucial Assembly elections. Will
this help?
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* *
Uttarakhand’s
Capital Controversy
The Uttarakhand Government has once again raised a hornet’s
nest by re-igniting a controversy for shifting the State’s Capital from
Dehradun to Gairsain. This follows Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna’s decision to
hold his next Cabinet meeting there on the grounds that this was to ensure
development of the hill areas and honour the people’s sentiment. Recall, the
Uttarakhand Kranti Dal which led the movement for carving out the hill State
from UP in 1992 had declared Gairsain, situated 272 km from Dehradun, as the
Capital as it is at the centre of the State’s two divisions, Garhwal and Kumaon.
In 2001, the State Government even set up a Commission headed by a retired
judge to recommend a permanent State Capital yet the Commission’s report
submitted three years ago continues to gather dust. Undeniably, developing the
mountainous areas is important for the ruling Congress post the shock defeat of
Chief Minister’s son in the Lok Sabha by-elections last month, after winning
all five seats in 2009. All eyes are on Bahuguna’s next move. ---- INFA
(Copyright India News & Feature Alliance)
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