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March 2019 Edition of Power Politics is updated.    Wishing You All a Happy New Year.       March 2019 Edition of Power Politics is updated.
Issue:January' 2018

EDITOR’S MAIL

A timely counsel !

The anniversary issue of your magazine is superb. You have rightly advised Prime Minister Narendra Modi to be rooted in the ground realities in the matters related to the governance of our democratic state. Regrettably, he has so far not appreciated what you have rightly described as rajdharm in a democracy . He seems to think he can remain popular only by making false promises . He must realize it does not work long . Democracy is all about social and economic justice. Any government can ignore it only at the cost of its own extinction in due course of time.
The Modi government has still a few months to complete its present term. It would do well to use this time meaningfully. It must attempt some course corrections and avoid its pattern of not really doing anything on the front of all- inclusive development, a supreme goal of our leadership at any point of time. Besides, the Government must take steps to ensure autonomy of all our institutions for governance. To do so the Modi government must take appropriate steps aimed at purging the allegedly corrupt elements in our Parliament. The presence of any criminal in our highest legislative institution is bound to be detrimental to the security and development of the nation.

Krishna Kabir
Kolkata

False assurance

The interim budget of our government is sugar-coated. It has been designed just to win the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. This will not do. In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, the vote share of job-seeking youth was high for the Bharatiya Janata Party. They trusted the saffron brigade on the basis of its assurances. They are feeling cheated by what have come to be known as ‘Pakodanomics’ and ‘Modi-nomics.
The government has made a lot of promises in the budget . But where are the resources for that ? What about the funding needed to ensure an assured pension? The government has not presented its Economic Survey so far. We are in the dark as to the scene of employment across the country. The National Sample Survey Office has not presented its report on unemployment data. We see millions of unemployed youth are struggling to make a living. Demonetisation and the GST have ruined the employment market, especially in the informal sector. Agrarian distress has made farming increasingly unattractive for our rural youth.

Christopher J.
Bengalur

Tradition overlooke

In his article, “ New Reservation. Will it help the poor?” ( Power Politics, February 2019) ,Hari Jasingh has rightly said that the entire gamut of reservation needs to be reviewed afresh so that the millions of fellow Indians still groaning under the deadweight of deprivation and injustice are helped for their multifaceted development . I wonder why both Houses of Parliament did not discuss the Constitution ( 124th Amendment) Bill , 2019, threadbare before passing it in Januar this year . The passage of the Bill was done very hastily . The usual practice is that a Bill is circulated ahead of being introduced and referred to the respective standing committee of our Parliament. This allows MPs to solicit public feedback and interact with experts before forming their own recommendations. Our Parliament skipped this scrutiny mechanism . This is not good.

Razia Iqbal
Pune

New calculus

N. Chandrababu Naidu In Andhra Pradesh, the Congress and the Telugu Desam Party have decided to fight coming elections separately. Their alliance in Telangana lost heavily to the Telangana Rashtra Samithi in the recent Assembly elections. Voters in Telangana were angry with the Congress for its alliance with the TDP which had opposed the creation of their state . They have returned the TRS to power with a bigger majority. The TDP calculation is it will do better in the state without the Congress. People of Andhra Pradesh see the Congress responsible for the bifurcation of the State in 2014.
AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu wants to work with the Congress at the national level against the Bharatiya Janata Party. Naidu’s political campaign is directed against the BJP-led government at the Centre for not granting special category status to Andhra Pradesh.

K Reddy
Hyderabad

Stress on people’s development

No system can last long if people are not happy with it. Across our border in the north and east , the political leadership in China seems to be fully aware of it. According to reports, at the Party School of the Communist Party of China Central Committee on January 21, Chinese President Xi Jinping talked of improving material conditions, especially by creating opportunities for young people to find employment. Xi sought to motivate his 86 million strong CPC machine to generate a movement for mass-financing micro, small and medium-sized firms. He urged the cadres to go the extra mile to provide to the people social security, medical and health care, food security as well as workplace safety. I wish our leadership too knew the importance of people’s development and took serious steps for peoples economic development.

K Sudarshan
Mumbai