THE Economic Times of June 23, 2021 has reported that, in a blog posting “Reforms by conviction and incentives” on a social media site, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has claimed that “an innovative approach to policy making tempered by centre-state partnership during the Covid pandemic helped the states raise an extra Rs 1.06 lakh crore in 2020-21”.

THE Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) expressed dismay over the Rs 6.28 lakh crore stimulus package announced by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and said that it is nothing but yet another gimmick to hoodwink the people. It said that the measures announced under the package would neither provide the much needed relief to the crores of people whose livelihoods have been devastated during the second wave of Covid-19 nor can the package help in reviving the economy.

THE union rural development ministry has asked states for data on caste basis in the works of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). The ministry stated that the details of workers belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) sections should be mentioned separately. Since the inception of the scheme in 2006, there was no such circular from the central government to the states. For the first time employment under the scheme is being sought to be divided on caste lines, which reveals the real agenda of the BJP government.

IN terms of economic policy, the Modi government must be perhaps the most conservative in the world. During the entire period of the pandemic when millions of people lost their incomes and livelihood support, most governments around the world provided universal cash transfers to the people, but not the Modi government. True, many other third world countries too did not provide such universal cash transfers, but their hands were tied; they had contracted heavy external debt and were enjoined to austerity by agencies like the IMF that helped them roll over their debt.

CPI(M)  Polit Bureau has issued the following statement on June 21THE Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) rejects the central government’s understanding with regard to compensation to corona victims, as stipulated under the Disaster Management Act, which has been invoked by the central government to deal with the Covid pandemic. Under the provisions of this Act compensation to the victims of a disaster has to be paid.The argument that the distribution of ex-gratia payments will strain the finances of the government is specious.