Will Caste Discrimination and Untouchability end by Economic Empowerment alone?

AT the outset, I want to make clear what I mean by economic empowerment. It means provision of land, housing, reservations in employment and political reservations etc. My contention is that without ending the social discrimination and untouchability, we cannot bridge the gap between dalits and non- dalits with any number of programmes for empowerment and providing equal opportunities, because, the pervasive presence of caste prejudice at every level of society, especially in villages, will always undo all the well-meaning initiatives of any institution including that of the government.

MID DAY MEAL WORKERS: Fighting for Rights – Relentless and Determined

THE Food Security Act 2013 has made provision of the midday meal in the school the right of every child upto class VIII or within the age group of fourteen years in the country. But the government mechanism to implement the law, India’s prestigious flagship programme ‘National Programme for Mid Day meals in Schools’, popularly known as the Mid Day Meal Scheme, is still in its primary stage with constraints of financial allocation, lack of infrastructure, inadequate monitoring and managing system and poorly paid workers.

Mr FM, Whom are you trying to fool?

Dear Chidambaramji,

Budget 2014-15: The UPA’s Swansong

IT used to be said of the Bourbon kings of France, whom the French Revolution overthrew, that “they learned nothing and they forgot nothing”. These words could well describe the UPA government; and Chidambaram’s budget speech gave ample proof of it.

BUDGET 2014: Anti-People Interim Budget

The following are the reactions on Budget 2014 sent by the Centre of Indian Trade Unions, All India Kisan Sabha, All India Agricultural Workers Union and All India Federation of Anganwadi Workers and Helpers on February 17, 2014

CITU
THE interim budget, presented by the finance minister Chidambaram is a political gimmick to camouflage its continued thrust of pro-corporate economic regime and its anti-people bias.

AAP Government Resignation

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement on February 15.

THE Aam Admi Party government in Delhi was committed to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill. This would have been an important measure to fight corruption in public life in Delhi. However, the manner in which this was introduced in the Legislative Assembly was politically erroneous and inexpedient.

On the Interim Budget

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement on February 17, 2014

Bifurcation Bill: Undemocratic Methods

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement on February 19, 2014.

The Andhra Pradesh Bifurcation Bill has been adopted in the Lok Sabha in an undemocratic way violating all norms and procedures.

The division of the first linguistically re-organised state in India is a vitally important issue. But no debate took place on the Bill and it was adopted in the din by a “voice vote”. The demand for a discussion made by some opposition parties was denied.

AIKS Organises March to Parliament

HUNDREDS of peasants from the states neighbouring Delhi marched to parliament on February 18 demanding remunerative prices for their produce, settlement of arrears of sugarcane farmers, against dilution of APMC Act and other related matters. A delegation including Basudeb Acharia, Saidul Haque, Hannan Mollah, Amra Ram and others submitted a detailed memorandum on the demands to the agriculture minister after the march.

AAP for an “Honest” Neo-Liberalism?

THE Aam Aadmi Party leader, Arvind Kejriwal, has spoken at a CII meeting in Delhi recently about his party’s economic policy outlook. In the absence of a full-fledged economic policy document of the AAP, Kejriwal’s remarks in the speech gives an indication of the ideology and policy approach of the AAP.

Kejriwal said, “Government has no business in business. Government should not do business. All this should be left to the private sector”. He also declared that he was against the inspector raj and licence raj.

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