NREGA, Private involvement may be the answer!

India had Rural Employment Guarantee Schemes for many decades; the most publicized and criticized being _ MGNREGA, the pet project of UPA 1 & 2 Governments. It is beyond doubt that Rural Employment Guarantee programs aided contain poverty to certain extent if not completely. During a recent interaction with few villagers I realized how these programs were a necessity for rural India over the years. Many could provide livelihood to their families, and also support education of their child due to the minimum wages they received.

Unfortunately, India failed to create rural assets like roads, micro irrigation projects or other basic amenities utilizing the available manpower over the years. The biggest drawback noticed in implementing the programs was the lack of accountability among the beneficiaries or the authorities. This lack of accountability had a never recoverable impact on the society that guzzled billions over the years.

Though such programs were not publicized much in the earlier times; MGNREGA was the flagship initiative of the Dr Manmohan Singh-led UPA Governments between 2004 & 20014. While the program was being most talked about among the Delhi media, assessment of its impact was ignored from time to time. Though there has been few concerns raised by the Opposition at the highest level; the voices didn’t gather much momentum.

If someone asks, Is a scheme like MGNREGA a necessity? It could be argued that it is needed to ensure growth in rural India. Though there will be certain voice who may not appreciate the idea; but involving private sector may not be a bad idea in this. It would be better if Narendra Modi-led NDA Government could formulate a PPP model to take up works in the rural areas. Getting private players to part fund identified rural infrastructure project that would provide employment to the local populace might be the answer to the functioning of such a program. Involvement of private sector may bring in accountability and fasten our progress.

Modi needs Tharoor!

Starting June 3rd this year, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has remained in the eye of a storm for praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi! This issue culminated in Tharoor being dropped as the spokesperson of the Congress Party on October 13th. Unfortunately, Tharoor is facing unwanted attention due to the death of his wife Sunanda Pushkar under mysterious circumstances, which are being investigated.

Irrespective of what happens in the days to come, I feel, there is an effort being put in to attract Shashi Tharoor into Team Modi! There could be many forces playing a roles in this; and the same might get revealed some day or die a natural death.

What makes Shashi Tharoor important for Modi? I strongly feel, it is his past association with the United Nations, a global body that India has been trying to win over for decades! Tharoor was a close second in the race for Secretary-General’s post in 2006 and probably the most popular among all those who contested for the post then; that eventually went to Ban Ki-Moon.

In his long 30-years stint at the United Nations, Shashi Tharoor, who started as UN High Commissioner for Refugees, went on to become UN Under-Secretary General the post from which he quit in 2007 to join the Congress Party and venture into politics. His popularity at this global platform is unparallel to date from Indian standards.

India has been trying hard for decades to convince the World for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council. Modi in his maiden speech at UN headquarters hinted at continuing his efforts to achieve this. I strongly feel, Modi will look towards Shashi Tharoor, his vast experience, reputation and connection to pitch India’s case affirmatively before the global forum.

Whether his Tweet to Tharoor, congratulating latter on winning in Elections 2014; or nominating him to be a part of Modi’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyan; Prime Minister has dropped enough hints for working closely with Tharoor! Even Tharoor has been liberal in his praise for Modi , against whom his Party spits venom.

It is not just for the pitch in the United Nations, Shashi Tharoor will open doors of immense opportunities in the State of Kerala, where the Bharatiya Janata Party failed to set its foot. Tharoor inching closer to BJP, will ensure BJP emerging stronger in Kerala. I strongly feel, Modi-Tharoor combo will be formed with a vision for a stronger India. And I only wish, this combination scripts new chapters in the future of Indian history!

Barkha Dutt to join Network18?

This is the mother of all developments in the media space! Barkha Dutt may join CNN-IBN as Editor-in-Chief. Personally, am shocked at this development. A strong Congress Party loyalist, who in a way dictated terms to senior Congress leaders and played a vital role in deciding portfolios of Union Ministers is leaving NDTV.

Many media professionals will agree with me that NDTV and its founder promoter Dr Prannoy Roy has a soft corner towards the Congress established. During its formative years as a media organisation, Congress Party was in power at the Center! Barkha Dutt showed similar traits of being favourable towards the Congress Party during her tenure at NDTV.

Why does the current development surprise me? It is because, majority stake in CNN-IBN is now in the hands of Reliance Industries supremo Mukesh Ambani. And like most businesses, Reliance or Mukesh would like maintain cordial relation with the Political establishment that is in power in New Delhi.

Under the changed scenario, CNN-IBN and all Network18 channels will toe the line of Bharatiya Janata Party or National Democratic Front and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. With Modi clout spreading across the country, a media organisation like TV18 will try project decision taken by his Government in positive light. Considering this, Barkha Dutt may be forced to follow the diktat of the Management; and probably, this will surely not be to her liking.

Maruti to National Herald: Gimmicks of Gandhi-Nehru Family

On Thursday, June 26th 2014, a local Metropolitan Court issued summons to Congress Party president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi for alleged cheating and misappropriation of funds in illegal means by acquiring ownership of ‘National Herald’, a now-defunct newspaper. Senior Congress Party leaders like Moti Lal Vohra, Oscar Fernandes, Sam Pitroda and Suman Dubey are also summoned by the Court for their alleged role in the irregularities committed.

 

While the issue is making national headlines across all news channels, what is intriguing is the blatant approach of Gandhi-Nehru Family. The National Herald controversy is not the first; there have been many more such allegations from the past. Though there have been incidents like Vadra land deals or Bofors Arms deals; what stands apart is the ‘Maruti’ irregularities. There have been many reports from the past that highlight how the then de-facto Prime Minister and son of Indira Gandhi, Shri Sanjay Gandhi misused his power in the name of Maruti vehicles.

 

The irregularities in Maruti vehicles issue is so blatant that even respected senior journalist and former Editor of Outlook, Vinod Mehta, who is known for his liking for Congress Party, couldn’t stop himself from dedicating a chapter to this alleged scam in his book _ The Sanjay Story _ the most authenticated compilation on the man who designed and implemented “Emergency in India”. From Maruti to National Herald, the Gandhi-Nehru Family has a history of economic offenses and only time will prove if this so-called first family of Indian Politics will be brought to justice!

 

Similarities can be seen in the age-old Maruti vehicles scam with that of the just exposed National Herald financial irregularities. In both these incidents fictitious companies were floated and funds were transferred from one to the other, and eventually these funds have allegedly gone into the hands of the Gandhi-Nehru Family. The only common face or factor in both these cases from two different eras in time is Sonia Gandhi!

 

Congress Party spokespersons like Randeep Surjewala designated to defend Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald issue are trying to the best of their ability to shout-down those who are working to expose these alleged financial irregularities. But, time will expose the facts and hope the muck doesn’t hurt the image of the nation at large!

Dear Congress: Move on, dump Rahul!

Almost three decades ago, as a young kid it was a moment etched in my memory to get a glimpse of the then Prime Minister of India – Rajiv Gandhi – standing on top of a building which was far away from the helipad prepared for the late Prime Minister’s chopper to land!

 

Years passed; Prime Ministers changed! While I adore leaders like P V Narasimha Rao and Atal Bihari Vajpayee for the manner in which they led this great country; disliked leaders like V P Singh and Deve Gowda who I strongly feel had a negative impact on the future of India.

In 2004 when Rahul Gandhi became a Member of Parliament, likely many even I felt – here comes the future of India. This young, then 33-year-lad was being looked upon as the future Prime Minister who would put India on the path to greatness! After spending first term in learning, it was expected that Rahul Gandhi would take much aggressive stance in his approach. Elected to Parliament again in 2009, Rahul Gandhi showed great promise with his ‘Kalavati speech’ on the floor of Lok Sabha the same year. It was a great moment when Rahul Gandhi highlighted the plight of the widow and silenced the opposition who attempted a laugh.

 

After intense training from stalwarts of 150-year-old political outfit, Rahul Gandhi was expected to deliver miracles! But what followed was a huge disappointment! The scion of the grand old party of Indian politics failed miserably at each instance when he was expected to deliver.

 

Rahul Gandhi opted to stick to Party and not enter in order to strengthen the organization; he failed to stand up and take a Cabinet berth to show his ability to administer; biggest disaster came in when he opposed Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh’s decision! Failure after failure has only hurt the image of Rahul Gandhi. Maybe these was the reason for him not step forward and take the challenge thrown at him and Congress Party by Narendra Modi. Hiding behind the Congress Party policy of not naming Prime Minister candidate before the elections, Rahul Gandhi lost an opportunity to prove to the world that he is not running away from responsibility.

 

Now that Congress Party has suffered its worst poll debacle in the history of Indian elections, Rahul Gandhi still had his last chance to become Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and work towards rebuilding Congress Party from its nadir! Instead Rahul Gandhi behaved like a rich spoil brat and chose to travel.

 

One thing is evident from these; Rahul Gandhi is not a serious politician! It is good for Congress Party if they realize this sooner than later and not remain in denial mood.

 

Congress Party should soon come out of Gandhi-Nehru family tangle and give reins to the younger generation who will be able to take the party forward. We do not wish to see Congress Party die completely and would really want them to play the role of an able Opposition. Because, in Democracy a strong opposition is as important as a stronger Government!

Elections 2014: #ThankYouDrManMohanSingh

At a time when India awaits results of #Elections2014 with much anticipation on who will be the next Prime Minister of #India, it is only fair to remember the man who gave the much needed impetus to the Indian economy in 1991, the man who laid the foundation stone to the India that moved miles away from the days of ‘License Raj’ – Dr Manmohan Singh, the outgoing Prime Minister of India! It is only fair to spare a thought for this gentleman.

 

In 2004, when there was high drama over who will be the Prime Minister of Congress-led UPA Government, like many across the country, I too was not comfortable with the idea of Sonia Gandhi on the hot seat. There were rounds of debates in New Delhi with many Congress leaders requesting their madam to take-up the responsibility. It was not just a moment of relief, but also a moment of great anticipation when Sonia Gandhi announced that senior Congress leader and a rank-outsider Dr Manmohan Singh will be the Prime Minister.

 

This announcement has brought great cheer across India. Indian industry was surely happy with the decision then! The man who liberalized Indian economy was to lead the Indian Government from the time when it was growing at over eight percent. India’s #Sensex and #Nifty gave a thumbs-up to the decision taken by the Congress party president and the Indian industry looked up to the man who they thought to put India among top economies of the world.

 

UPA-1 under Manmohan Singh fared decent, if not brilliant. The Government took many initiatives across sectors including measures to build robust infrastructure, along with welfare activities. The Government led by possibly the cleanest Prime Minister in the history and with a decent report card about its performance didn’t find much difficulty in returning to power as UPA-2.

 

Dr Manmohan Singh, who is a victim of bad performance of his colleagues unfortunately, is at the receiving end of utmost criticism. His great past is marred by greater scams that this country has seen. I strongly feel Congress Party has done a great disservice to the man who played the most crucial role in shaping the modern India since 1991 when he was the Finance Minister of India under P V Narsimha Rao’s leadership.

 

It would just be fair to say Dr Manmohan Singh, the outgoing Prime Minister of India was a great leader and fantabulous economist. We only wish this great man a long, happy and healthy life. #ThankYouDrManMohanSingh

Battleground Balasore! Fight tooth and nail

On April 11th 2014, media across India will focus on this sleepy town _ Balasore _ located on Odisha-West Bengal border, from where I write this post of mine! Congress president Sonia Gandhi and BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi will descend to address public gatherings/s and seek votes for the candidates of their respective parties. An otherwise sluggish town is all set to witness intense action and throw lives of people out of gear! Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will tour in this constituency on April 14th.

Balasore, a coastal district on the northern most part of Odisha was once part of the ancient Kalinga Empire. Today, the town is known for Balasore Alloys, the lone major industrial outfit in the district. Why this sudden interest in Balasore; that is drawing attention of political heavyweights that is forcing entire nation to shift its attention towards it for a day? We hear at times that politicians fight tooth and nail to win an election! Balasore is one such ‘Parliament seat’ that is forcing Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party and the ruling Biju Janata Dal fight to the end.

 

While, Congress do not want to let the seat slip out of its hands again; BJP is putting in all efforts to win and showcase Modi wave! BJD on the other hand wants to hoist its flag here for the first time. Balasore, is an example how even one seat becomes crucial for political parties, that too in an election where each seat will play a crucial role in deciding the next Prime Minister of India.

Balasore, a traditionally Congress stronghold drifted off its hands for two terms during the ‘Atal Bihari Vajpayee’ era and went to the BJP. But, Congress fought back hard to reclaim the seat and establish its dominance in the region. Srikant Jena, a veteran leader who was close to father figure of Odisha, ‘Shri Biju Patnaik’ won the election in 2009 against NCP’s Arun Dey, who had the backing of Biju Janata Dal then. Naveen Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal, which earlier had alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Dal, never contested this seat!

Elections 2014 is witnessing a three-way fight between BJD-Congress-BJP! Congress is fielding sitting MP and Union minister in the UPA-2 Government Srikant Jena, BJD has decided to field former Balasore Alloys MD and noted industrialist Rabindra Kumar Jena. BJP is fielding Pratap Chandra Sarangi, a MLA from of the Assembly segments that fall under Balasore Parliament Constituency.

Witnessing the campaign underway one gets a sense how hard these leaders are battling it out under the hot sun! Padhyatras, meetings with women groups, interactions with the youth, debates with senior citizens – it is a roller-coaster ride for these politicos who are leaving no stone unturned to win the battle of heavyweights.