Round The States

New Delhi, 20 May, 2017

Security In N-E

POLICING, NOT MILITANCY ISSUE

By Insaf

The North East insurgency and militancy seems to be thing of the past, after Union home Minister Rajnath Singh gave it a thumbs up. At the annual conference of Chief Secretaries and Directors-General of Police of these eight States he, however, had a word of caution. The DGPs need to guard against proliferation of illegal arms, narcotics and fake Indian currency notes which are being smuggled through the international border abutting the eight sisters. Shockingly, he disclosed that these boundaries were unpoliced and already a tunnel has been detected along the Indo- Bangle border in West Bengal, used to ferry in fake Indian currency, notwithstanding demonetisation. Consequently, there was an urgent need to set up more police stations which would help check cross-border crimes and provide a sense of security among people who live in remote areas.

Additionally, he took the States to task for poor conviction rate in criminal cases where the prosecution councils had to work harder. More scandalously, in one State, the prosecution rate is just five per cent against the all-India 86 per cent. Cautioning, that if this trend continues, the people would lose faith in the criminal justice system. Moreover, the meet also underscored the religious radicalisation taking place in the garb of NGOs, which if not curtailed could turn into terrorism. Perhaps, Rajnath Singh was hinting at the Christian missionaries which abound in the region, who get large foreign funding in the name of carrying out development programmes for individuals, socio cultural uplift and education, and the need for safeguards to be put in place, as the North East was specially vulnerable on the geo-security front. It remains to be seen how these States would tackle this huge security challenge.

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Darjeeling Makes TMC Smile

The picturesque Darjeeling Hills give West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee a fresh breather. Despite corruption charges against top TMC leaders, the party has done well in recent polls to seven civic bodies. Mirik municipality, a bastion of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), has given a big boost to her as the people opted for TMC instead. Among the four seats that it won, Mirik was the highlight – won for the first time in 30 years. Other seats included Raiganj, ruled by Congress for 15 years, Domkal and Pujali held jointly by Left-Congress. Clearly underscoring that the downhill trend being faced by both Congress and the left was far from ebbing. At the same time, the TMC could smirk at the BJP, which is trying to make a footprint in the State. But this would be feeble as the GJM did manage to retain Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong, in alliance with the BJP. Be that as it may, the results should ring warning bells for the proponents of separate Gorkhaland. With BJP supporting GJM and the TMC supporting GNLF, has the demand for a separate State got lost in the woods? This too should make Mamata smile.

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Jharkhand Upsets Its People

The kin of Maoists victims in Jharkhand have been hit by a double whammy. One, not only have they lost their beloved ones, worse the State government is busy rolling out the red carpet to those who surrender from the insurgent group. Last week, a commander charged with 128 criminal offences, including 77 murders was given royal treatment and rewarded with Rs 5 lakhs for giving himself up. This is not all. The surrendered Maoists would get Rs 25000 annually, up to the under graduate level for educating their children and be imparted skill development training with a stipend of Rs 5000 per month. Shocked families are now petitioning the State administration as to how there could be two laws for murder—jail term and royal welcome. Former Chief Minister Babulal Marandi, who lost his son in a Maoist attack, accused his counterpart of the surrenders being stage managed even as the police discounted his theory by asserting it was a time-tested policy that served a definite purpose. Adding to the confusion the Ranchi District Bar Association has resolved that no lawyer would defend the Maoists commander. It has sought a CBI probe into the police involvement of the fake surrender scam. Who will tackle this googly?  

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Andhra To Aid Jobless

Andhra Pradesh too has decided to care for its unemployed youth. With their number being 12 lakhs, the State proposes to have an initial Budget of Rs 500 crore to provide roughly Rs 2000 per person per month, till they find employment. But this plan comes after 2014, when the TDP in its poll manifesto had promised at least one job for each family. The Cabinet sub-committee now hopes to start the scheme by July-end. But before this, the department wants to do its homework by collecting data, which would have not only have an age-wise break-up, but see if the youth are skilled/unskilled and if they are registered with employment exchanges/bureaus. Only then will a policy, such as the dole be given for two-three years and preference for those registered with unemployment bureaus for past five years and a final amount to be disbursed per person. Apparently, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu is influenced by West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, which have been disbursing Rs 500 and Rs 1000-1500 per month respectively to their jobless youth. Obviously, the State wants to do one better and offer a bigger support. But it well be for a price. A view is that before giving benefits the youth be asked if they would volunteer to do community work in lieu of the dole. After all, there is no such thing as a free lunch!

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States Ignore Heat Warning

The heat is on literally and figuratively. As temperatures soar, 20 States are facing the heat over its lackadaisical preparedness. The only silver lining is the nine States and seven UTs who have drawn up heat action plan according to the National Disaster Management Authority. Needless to say, the absence of a plan could prove deadly as it underscores the lack of preparedness and timely intervention in bringing down the number of fatalities, illnesses, even as the NDMA has sent a matrix to States to counter heat wave related problems. It is undoubtedly imperative for the States’ administration to draw up their own plans as per demography, traditional knowledge and available resources. The ‘cool’ States,  Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Haryana, Karnataka and Bihar have established early warning systems and inter agency coordination, training of health care workers, public awareness, joining with civil groups and NGOs to improve its water delivery systems. Let us not forget that in the past four years 6000 people have died due to heat wave. Will the other States head to these ‘cool’ counterparts?--INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)