THE All India Federation of Anganwadi Workers and Helpers (AIFAWH), in a statement issued on July 4, has congratulated the Anganwadi workers and helpers all over the country for the successful observance of the All India Demands’ Day on July 4, 2014.
“THE issue of poverty estimates has been the subject matter of public debate in and outside parliament. Government respects and is fully conscious of the sensitivities of the people on this issue…The government has also taken a decision to set up a technical group to revise/revisit the methodology for estimating poverty in a manner which is consistent with the current realities.” This extract is from the government’s press note in March 2012 on the appointment of C Rangarajan as the chairman of the technical group.
Given below is the text of the letter addressed to Nitin Gadkari, union minister for rural development by CPI(M) Polit Bureau member, Brinda Karat on July 4, expressing serious concerns on the functioning of MGNREGA and reports that the Rajasthan government has sought the scrapping of the Act.
I would like to draw your attention to some serious problems concerning the functioning of MGNREGA and to request you to take appropriate measures to strengthen the Act and ensure that it does not become hostage to fiscal considerations.
THE Indian media has missed the major implications of the latest Snowden disclosures. It is not simply that India is one of the countries, or that the BJP is one of the political organisations under NSA surveillance. The real question is how is the NSA carrying out this surveillance? The answer to that lies in another piece of the puzzle that is now public – India is one the 33 countries that has “3rd party” agreement that allows NSA access its telecom and internet network subject to this intelligence being shared.
FOUR things stand out about the union budget for 2014-15 presented to parliament on July 10. First, the figures it presents are palpably unreal. Second, the basic fiscal strategy it embodies consists in providing concessions to the better off segments of the population, viz., the corporate elite and the upper middle class, at the expense of the poorer strata. Third, it unfolds a roadmap for the future that involves a significant privatisation of the economy, both through a pervasive reliance on Public-Private Partnerships and also through a massive sale of public sector equity.
The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement on July 10.
THE selection of Amit Shah as the BJP president indicates the direction of politics the party intends to pursue.
The new BJP president has been charge-sheeted and is undergoing trial on the serious charge of murder connected with false encounters when he was the home minister in Gujarat. The Election Commission had prohibited him from participating in the election campaign in Uttar Pradesh during the Lok Sabha polls for making communal speeches.
AS we go to press, the Rajya Sabha on July 9 witnessed a furor following the raising of a news item (by the CPI(M) deputy leader in the House) that appeared in the media concerning the destruction of a large number of files containing historical records by the home ministry.
TAMILNADU
DEMANDING action including removal from Lok Shabha against Tapas Pal, a Trinamool Congress MP, who spoke like a barbarian, CPI(M) in Tamil Nadu organised protests in city centres including Chennai and Madurai on July 5.
At Chennai, G Ramakrishnan, state secretary of the Party addressed the cadres who gathered in hundreds. A Soundararajan, Central Committee member, P Selva Singh, state secretariat member and Maduravoyal, CPI(M) MLA K Bhimrao, district leaders K Krishnan and A Pakkiyam and others also addressed the gathering.
The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement on July 10.
THE debut budget of the BJP government expresses deep commitment to continue the trajectory of reforms of benefiting foreign and domestic capital by emphasising on larger FDI flows and enlarged avenues for PPP projects. Fiscal consolidation is sought to be effected through contraction of public expenditures and not by increasing revenues through taxing the rich. Thus it is a recipe for further enriching the rich and impoverishing the poor.
The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement on July 10.
THE debut budget of the BJP government expresses deep commitment to continue the trajectory of reforms of benefiting foreign and domestic capital by emphasising on larger FDI flows and enlarged avenues for PPP projects. Fiscal consolidation is sought to be effected through contraction of public expenditures and not by increasing revenues through taxing the rich. Thus it is a recipe for further enriching the rich and impoverishing the poor.