Round The States
New
Delhi, 3 September 2015
Labour Strike
UNREST
BREWING IN STATES
By Insaf
The BJP-led NDA government’s image
of being ‘pro-corporate’ is getting further flogged. On Wednesday last, the
Centre faced its first major labour strike. Normal life in various States was
impacted with 10 Central trade unions giving the nationwide call. Banking
operations, coal production, and transport services were the worst hit. The
impact was most felt in West Bengal, Tripura, Kerala, Karnataka and Odisha,
whereas it was partial in Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Delhi,
Punjab, Haryana, Bihar, Rajasthan, among
others. And, while the unions claim the response was “unprecedented” with over
15 crore workers going on strike, the Labour Ministry rubbished it saying it
had ‘inconsequential’ impact. However, claims and counter claims won’t resolve
the problem in hand. Of the Unions’ 12 demands, the Centre is willing to
concede nine, but three –- minimum wage of Rs 15,000, withdrawal in FDI in
insurance, railways, defence and banking and halting disinvestment in PSUs
remain sore issues. An early agreement as of now seems highly unlikely, as
since Modi took over FDI and disinvestment seem to the Centre’s mantra for Achche Din (better days). But workers’
interest cannot be ignored and the Unions threaten more action against
‘anti-labour’ policies. Who will blink first?
* * * *
Marathwada’s
Worst Drought
Some things never change, especially
in Maharashtra. For the third consecutive
year, the Marathwada region is reeling under severe drought and this time
around it’s the Devendra Fadnavis Government mulling over how to tide over the
crisis. Eight districts are set to witness the worst drought ever, with barely
any drinking water left for both people and cattle. With the weather god
playing truant the districts including Beed, Latur, Osmanabad, have had 50 per
cent deficit in rainfall. The overall storage of water in dams is precarious
with the percentage coming down to 8 per cent from 25 last year. And it’s the
usual knee-jerk reaction from the administration of rushing drinking water tankers
to villages, stopping supply of water for irrigation, setting up fodder and
water camps for cattle, etc. What next? Well, the Government proposes to
further cut down water supply for industries in the areas, find work for
labourers, do loan restructuring and of course tap the Centre for more funds.
Too little, too late!
* * * *
Bihar
Churnings
In the run-up to the Bihar elections, the ‘grand alliance’ has received a jhatka (jolt). Though not much of a
player in this Modi-Nitish royal battle, the Samajwadi Party has pulled out of it.
The reason given: it feels “humiliated” for not being consulted on seat sharing
and thus now it threatens to contest on its own! Making its displeasure known,
the SP said the way the bigger parties in the alliance have sidelined it, does
not speak well of ‘gathbandhan dharma’ (alliance duty). What added insult to injury is that
the party got to know about the seats offered only through the media. Worse, it
is unable to digest just two or three seats offered to it in the 243 member Assembly.
The SP claims that it will win many more seats by contesting on its own and may
even take support of other parties. The exit has put a big question mark on the
future of the “Janata Pariwar,” of whether it would actually come together. At
the same time, the JD(U) is facing rebellion with a few MLAs quitting the
party. Guess more breakaways may be in the offing. So in the end, will the BJP
have the last laugh?
* * * *
Manipur
On Boil
Manipur continues to be on the boil,
with the division between Valley Vs Hill people growing menacingly. Under
pressure by the two month-long agitation for Inner Line Permit by the Meities
the Ibobi government convened a special session of the Assembly and passed
three Bills, indirectly conceding their demand. But in the process it got the
tribal hill community up in arms. They fear that the Protection of Manipur
People Bill, 2015 and Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms (7th amendment)
Bill, 2015 will infringe on their rights, allow their land, which is protected
under 6th Schedule, to be taken over by the Government. As a result,
now the hills are aflame. Churachandpur, one of the five tribal districts, has
been under curfew since Sunday last following violence which has claimed eight
lives so far and houses of a minister and an MP among others set ablaze. The
Congress has to do some tight rope walking. It needs to ensure the tribal
population don’t feel marginalised. How is the big question? Indeed, while it
says “Manipur deserves peace and tranquillity for its people, especially the
children and youth,” it must engage all communities or else the future would
see many more incidents. The Centre too must step in before the situation goes
out of hand.
* * * *
Punjab Land Model
With the land acquisition bill in
cold storage, the Centre may well look towards the Punjab
model to help speed up its stuck industrial projects. Chief Minister Parkash
Singh Badal has shared his land lease policy with Prime Minister Modi. It was
in 2013 when Punjab amended its tenancy law, which allowed farmers to lease out
their land for 100 years and also empowered the SDMs to get the lease vacated
in case of a dispute, thus providing respite in case of a bad deal.
Importantly, the law has a revenue sharing formula wherein the company pays a
signing amount and then bare minimum to the land owner every year for the lease
period. And in case the company has a profit then it is required to share it
with the land owner. Given that this model has been successful and provides a
win-win situation for both parties, New
Delhi is contemplating drafting a national land lease
law after consulting all States. Guess development projects will eventually get
a new lease of life.
* * * *
UP
Government ‘Aloof’
Ministers and MLAs in Uttar Pradesh
have lost touch with the aam admi.
This is not the Opposition’s criticism of the Akhilesh Yadav government but
surprisingly that of ruling Samajwadi party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav. On
Monday last, he publicly ticked off his son at a function saying he had reports
of ministers and MLAs meeting only selected people. Worried with negative reports and planning
way ahead for the Assembly elections in 2017, senior Yadav has put them on call
by issuing an ultimatum: “In the next month, do some outstanding work in your
constituencies so that the Government stands apart in the country or else be
prepared to lose your seats.” Getting clear signals of disillusionment of the
people with the Government, will Team Akhilesh heed advice or face the music?
Performance report cards will definitely be under close watch. ---INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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