Round The States

New Delhi, 11 July 2014

Union Budget

GOODIES FOR STATES

By Insaf

States are smiling all the way to the bank following Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley doling out goodies in his maiden Budget. Importantly, UP which netted the BJP 71 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats has been suitably rewarded. The Centre has allocated Rs 4,200 crore for the ‘Jal Marg Vikas’ Ganga river project from Allahabad to Haldia in West Bengal. Also on the anvil is a trade facilitation centre to promote handloom manufacture in Modi’s constituency, temple town Varanasi, development of ghats in Varanasi, Allahabad and Kanpur under ‘Namami Gange’. Textile mega clusters in Bareilly and Lucknow to promote zardozi and chikankari, Capital Lucknow has been gifted a metro project and a Buddhist circuit which would benefit eastern UP and Bihar vis-à-vis tourism. Alongside, big impetus has been given to education and medical facilities whereby  five more IITs are to be set-up in Chhattisgarh, J&K, Goa, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala and five IIMs in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Bihar, Odisha and Maharashtra, totalling 18 IIMs and 21 IITs across the country. Four new All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) would be constructed in UP’s Poorvanchal, Maharashtra’s Vidarbha, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal.

That the much-neglected seven North-Eastern sisters is vital specially in the security paradigm, have got a leg-up via roads wherein they would get Rs 3000 crores to connect all North-East States. Pertinently, a trade corridor would connect Kolkata to Amritsar in Punjab, a Chennai-Bangalore industrial corridor, a Bangalore-Mumbai eco-corridor, a Biometric cluster and a smart city in Karnataka’s Tumkur. The Budget also set aside funds for the Sardar Patel statue project in Gujarat. Along-with, mooting trade centres in Surat, Bihar’s Bhagalpur, UP’s Barelli and Lucknow, Mysore in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, development schemes for Bangalore and a special tribunal to identify unwanted non-performing asset of public sector banks in Siliguri, North Bengal. Please all seems to be the BJP-led NDA motto!

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UP Tops Communal Clashes Chart

This is a no-brainer. Ulta-pulta UP topped the charts of communal violence last year, a total of 247 out of 823 incidents across the country. Shockingly, accounting for over 77 dead, more than half of the 133 killed and 360 injured out of 2269 in various States. Worse, during the last three months alone already 32 inter-community clashes have taken place in the State. The other culprit States in 2013 were Maharahstra (88), Madhya Pradesh (84), Karnataka (73) and Gujarat 68. This year, Maharashtra has witnessed 26 violent scraps, Rajasthan 18 and Madhya Pradesh 17. Who can forget the ghastly Jat-Muslim clashes in Muzaffarnagar early this year and Meerut a fortnight back. Notwithstanding, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav’s assertion that “law and order in the State was peaceful,” follow-up timely action and intervention has been pathetically tardy. Is vote-bank politics the culprit?

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Release of Life Convicts Stayed

State Governments are not going to like the latest verdict emitting out of the Supreme Court. Widening its ambit in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, the Court restrained States and Union Territories from releasing life term-serving convicts, whose cases were being investigated by Central agencies like the CBI, under Central laws. This followed Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalilthaa’s Cabinet decision to remit the remaining jail terms of seven prisoners in the former Prime Minister’s case. Additionally, accepting that the Rajiv case had thrown up unprecedented judicial issues, a Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Lodha has sought States and Union Territories’ responses over the scope of Central and State Governments powers to reduce the jail term of offenders for settling this contentious matter once and for all. Namely, questions whether convicts whose death sentences had been commuted to life term could be given a decreased sentence? Also, if a “special category” of verdict could be created for such commutation cases? All eyes are on States replies to the Apex Court.

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Better Road Connectivity In J&K

Tech savvy J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah wants the Centre to expedite ASAP (as soon as possible) the four-lane National Highway which connects the Valley with the rest of the country along-with upgrading the existing Jammu-Srinagar National Highway and more Central aid for other road projects in the State. Towards that end he also sought better road telecom connectivity from Union Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari. With the strife-torn State getting a record number of tourists every year, better and safer transportation would result in more travellers, boost trade, earn revenue for craftsmen and for the overall development and economic welfare of Kashmiris’. Also on the anvil is an alternate highway in two militant-hit districts --- Poonch to Shopian and construction of tunnels in Kishtwar, Anantnag and Doda districts under the 'Militancy Hit Project' scheme. Srinagar is readying for construction of five flyovers in the city. It remains to be seen if roads would road roller militancy!

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Coal For Punjab

Another State Punjab too suffers from the Oliver syndrome: Asking for more. With the onset of the paddy transplantation season, India’s bread basket State has sought uninterrupted and enhanced coal supply for power plants. Highlighting that his State is a major producer of paddy, Dy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal sought Union Railway Minister Gowda’s indulgence as any slip-up of coal supplies in the next 15 days would not only hit the paddy season but also lead to a crisis. Gowda willing obliged its ally by ordering uninterrupted supply of coal rakes even as he announced one new Shatabdi train Delhi-Bathinda among four others in the Rail Budget. Indeed the BJP-Akali gravy train is lined with coal!

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Centre Direction To Meghalaya

For reasons best known to it the Centre has told Meghalaya not to talk peace with the four-year old Garo National Liberation Army militants.  Primarily as the militant outfit was involved in various criminal activities including crime against women and killing helpless people during the last few months. More gruesome is  the GNLA’s tactics: blowing off heads of the fair sex after raping them. Notwithstanding Chief Minister Mukul Sangma’s clarion call to shun criminality, surrender and return to mainstream lifestyle for the betterment and welfare of the people whom they profess to be representing. A question hangs: would this help garnering permanent peace and progress in the lahe lahe North eastern State?---INFA

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