Round
The States
New
Delhi, 1 October 2015
Lynching
Over ‘Beef’
BAN
DIVISIVE POLITICS INSTEAD
By Insaf
Beef ban is sadly becoming overtly
political in various States. The shocking lynching of a 50-year-old man by a
mob in Bisara village in Uttar Pradesh has sparked outrage across the country.
On Monday last, a mob of 200 persons attacked the family of Iqlakh accusing it
of consuming beef. This after an announcement was made in a temple that a cow
had been slaughtered and beef stored in their home. The Akhilesh Government has
offered a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the family, ordered a magisterial
inquiry and deployed additional forces in the area. Is this enough? The larger
question has to be addressed that there appears to be a growing trend of
anti-minorityism not only in the State but across others too. Laws are being
enforced but not in the right spirit. Religious belief of people is being hurt.
The opposition parties are talking of a growing ‘hate climate’ in the country.
It may not be untrue. In Maharashtra, the BJP
government has extended the cow slaughter ban act to bulls and bullocks, which
has evoked criticism. In Jammu & Kashmir, the cow slaughter ban and
consumption of beef has brought about a divide between the ruling PDP and BJP,
with the former saying the prohibition cannot be accepted and the latter insisting
on strict implementation. Recall, that recently beef was taken off the menu in
Kerala as trucks carrying the cattle were attacked by rightwing activists. If
the trend goes unchecked the society will get dangerously fragmented. With
local polls and State polls only on their agenda, the ruling elite mustn’t play
with fire and instigate their vote bank. Time to consider ban on divisive
politics.
* * * *
Maharashtra Fund
Raising
Maharashtra has decided to dig into
the wallets of the public to tackle the drought in the State. For the next five
months, the Devndra Fadnavis Government has opted to levy a surcharge of Rs 2
on petrol and diesel and raise VAT on liquor, cigarettes and beverages by 5 per
cent. Additionally, gold and diamond jewellery would become dearer with the surcharge
on VAT to be 1.20 per cent. While the move has obviously been frowned upon, the
exercise should generate an additional revenue of Rs 1600 crore-odd for the
State exchequer to aid the farmers, facing one of the worst droughts in recent
times. Additionally, the Government has asked its various departments to
consider austerity measures and spell these out for the next Cabinet meeting.
Indeed, those affected will keep a watchful eye on how the government machinery
chips in to drought kitty.
* * * *
Meghalaya Demolition Drive
Better safe than sorry, is the message
in Meghalaya. Illegal construction in its capital Shillong has come under the
scanner of the High Court. It has ordered demolition of floors beyond the third
floor of at least 21 multi-storeyed buildings following a PIL by some lawyers.
They recalled the devastation following the 1897 earthquake which led to 1500
deaths and reduced the then capital of Assam to rubbles. With the hill
capital turning into a concrete jungle, increasing the risk of earthquakes in
the seismic zone, the court also asked the CBI to identify more cases of
illegal construction and zero in on officials of the Meghalaya Urban
Development Authority, who are responsible for giving such permission. They
shouldn’t be allowed to go scot-free, it directed. While a 15-day deadline for
demolition of additional floors of buildings already identified has been set,
the CBI has to submit its report by October 15. How many others will face
action remains to be seen.
* * * *
Bengal’s Digitalisation
West Bengal appears to be taking the
lead in going digital. Action rather than mere words is what Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee’s message is to the Union Government. Not only has her
administration declassified secret files of Cabinet meetings held during
1939-47, but all files related to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose with it. In this
age of internet and social media the TMC government believes in transparency,
claims Didi though there is not much to show on ground and asserts that
historic documents must be accessible to all and not be stored in bags. In
particular, she has asked the Centre to declassify the files (89 in number) on
Bose, which should help demystify his mysterious disappearance seven decades
ago. With 401 files declassified in digitised form the government plans to
digitise the post-independence era and make these public. Indeed, a lesson or
two for Modi’s ‘Digital India’ campaign.
* * * *
Delhi’s Flop Show
Delhi’s AAP Government is
definitely not on the national map, leaving Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal disappointed.
His conclave of Chief Ministers on Cooperative Federalism and Centre-State
relations on Wednesday last found no real takers barring two. While invites
were said to have been sent to all CMs, only Bengal’s
Mamata and Tripura’s Manik Sarkar took the trouble to show up. Rather, Sarkar
only met Kejriwal and didn’t stay for the deliberations. Kejriwal was thus left
best with messages from Bihar’s Nitish,
Mizoram’s Lalthanhawla and Puducherry’s Rangaswamy. He chose to take the blame
on to himself saying he had fixed date in advance without consulting the
others. Be it so, the big question is would it have been different otherwise?
Most unlikely, as he so far has been a one-man show. However, the poor attendance didn’t seem to
dampen his spirits. He had yet another platform to hit out at the Centre and
did precisely that. Perhaps the next time he should think of having a conclave
on steps for good governance. Guess there would be many present giving him
tips.
* * * *
Toilet Revolution
It’s a thumbs’ up for Sircilla
constituency in Telangana. It could be the first in the country to have a
toilet in every home. Represented by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s son
KT Rama Rao, the government flushed out funds to help villagers build the
toilets. While a survey showed that number of households already had individual
toilets, there still remained a target of 12,505 which had to be met in mandals
including Mustabad, Gambiraopet and Sircilla. Thus, since September 1 meetings
with villagers began and eventually they were convinced to opt for one. It was
then the duty of the Government to bear the cost at Rs 12,000 per unit. By 28th
of the month 52 villages had become free of open defecation with 8878 of the
12505 toilets built and remaining 3627 to be completed by October 2. Today,
there are signs warning villagers that they would be fined Rs 100-500 if found
defecating in the open.. Guess there will be no defaulter.---INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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