Round The States

New Delhi, 10 October 2014

National Security

SPOTLIGHT ON J&K, BENGAL

By Insaf

National security has come under sharp focus this week. If Jammu citizens are leaving the border villages by the hordes following continued Pakistan mortar shelling, West Bengal is caught in the cross hairs of terrorism from across Bangladesh. The Centre is on high alert to thwart the onslaught. On the one hand, while the BSF is retaliating effectively, the Jammu and Kashmir government too has set in motion the “crisis management groups” of both police and civil officials to evacuate the people from affected areas-- Samba, Kanachak, Pargwal and Arnia. So far, 30,000 people have been evacuated and about 11,000 shifted to relief camps set up in school buildings and panchayat ghars in Kathua, Jammu and Poonch districts. With over 150 villages being affected, eight people have died and over 80 injured in the continued firing across the international border since October 3. Sadly, however, the gravity of the situation has got mired in petty politics, with both Congress and NCP accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of ignoring national security and instead being busy addressing Assembly election rallies. Modi has aptly hit back by asking them not to use the ceasefire violations for political gains. The political leadership would do well to speak in one voice against the nation’s enemy and not at each other.

Meanwhile, in West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee fortunately has not been allowed to have her way from stalling the counter-terror organisation, National Investigating Agency (NIA) from probing the Burdwan blast. The accused in the blast, in which two suspected militants were killed have been found to have links with Bangladeshi terror outfit, the Jamaat-ul-Mujhadeen. They are suspected to have been planning to engineer blasts both across the State and outside, including J&K and Madhya Pradesh. The Opposition has been demanding an NIA probe as it accused the TMC of shielding the suspects and claimed that the house in which the blast took place belonged to a TMC leader and even housed a mini party office! For many days now, the TMC has been caught in a war of words with the CPM and the BJP, who insist that the ruling party was harbouring fundamentalists and had ‘links’ with jihadi elements. While it’s not odd that Mamata chose to rely on local agencies, obviously to keep her minority vote bank intact, why didn’t the NIA get involved at the outset? The case clearly relates to a terror act and has possible inter-State and international linkages, and the NIA didn’t require a nod from the State to step in. Now that it is in, the right message has fortunately been sent out —an individual’s whims and fancy cannot hold the nation’s war against terrorism to ransom.

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Kerala Cong At Odds

The Congress finds itself in a piquant situation in Kerala. None other than its own MP and former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor has been in the firing line for signing praises of Prime Minister Modi. Not just this, but Tharoor has made the State unit see red after he accepted Modi’s invitation for the “Swachh Bharat” clean India campaign. All this, according to the Kerala unit has greatly upset and hurt the Congress and UDF workers, who it claims worked tirelessly for his victory. Further, it accuses Tharoor of inching closer to the BJP, which it says has been completely rejected by the State. It has sent a report to the party High Command to take appropriate action. At his end, Tharoor rubbishes the accusations and maintains he neither endorses BJP’s Hindutava agenda nor is cosying up to the party. He complains of being seen as an “outsider” whereas he is a “proud Congressman!” Will 10 Janpath allow him to have his way, is worth a watch. 

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Vidarbha Lost Issue

Spirits in Vidarbha region are extremely low this election season in Maharashtra. In the multi-cornered contest, the long-pending demand for a separate State is lost in the bitter campaign of erstwhile coalition partners, berating each other. The locals are worst-hit by the BJP, which opinion polls suggest may turn out to be the single largest party. While it has been committed to a separate State, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling out a division of Maharashtra is seen as betrayal. An angry Vidarbha Rajya Andolan Samiti accuses it of going back on a promise made in its earlier manifesto. The only party which supports statehood demand is the NCP, which did precious little in the Government. Both the Shiv Sena and the MNS are against bifurcation and the Congress is a divided house. This despite the demand for a separate State is older than Telangana’s. Will the people show their resentment by opting for NOTA (none of the above) on polling day, as advised?        

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Efficient States

Three cheers to 11 States and Union Territories for meeting the deadline of implementing the landmark Food Security Act. The good news is that both Haryana and Punjab, along with Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra, have put the scheme fully into operation. Six others-- Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Chandigarh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar need to catch up as the scheme is partially undertaken. On the other hand, the bad news is that the remaining 25 States and Union Territories are yet to implement the scheme, under which each eligible person would get 5 kg of rice and wheat at Rs 3 and Rs 2 per kg respectively. They have, however, been given another six months time, by April, to meet the target. This is the second extension, as many States had not put in place the infrastructure for the welfare scheme by this July and were given time till October 4. If the scheme is totally implemented across the country then two-third of the country’s population should get subsidised food grains.  Notwithstanding that the Centre’s food subsidy bill will increase by Rs 25,000 crore, millions have fingers crossed.   

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Tourist Circuit Overflowing

States have been over enthusiastic over the Centre’s plans to showpiece 50 tourism circuits across the country. Instead of choosing and suggesting one tourist circuit by small States and two for the bigger ones, the Tourism Ministry has been flooded with nearly all major tourist destinations by respective governments, sending it into a tizzy. Its final list is terribly long as States such as Karnataka have listed 37 destinations, Goa all its 34 beaches, Delhi 3 circuits and God’s own country Kerala 46 destinations, to mention only a few. Obviously, the States are eyeing the kitty of Rs 8 crore per circuit through Central assistance and more tourists as envisaged. However, instead of making the task easier for the Ministry, the States have only lengthened the process. It would now need to tread carefully with its plans to follow a scientific method such as footfalls and infrastructure requirement to shortlist the 50 destinations, lest it is accused of indulging in favouritism. --- INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

New Delhi, 10 October 2014