Round The States
New Delhi, 3 March 2011
Andhra Aflame
Telangana Issue
Rocks Centre
By Insaf
The imbroglio over the creation of Telangana continues to
rock Andhra and the Centre. Led by the Telangana Rashtriya Samiti, Telugu Desam
and the BJP, the State was not only paralyzed by a 12-hour rail roko leading to cancellation of 100 trains, inconveniencing
thousands of passengers and an over Rs 9 crore loss to the South Central
Railway. But also the ‘non-cooperation movement’ by Telangana employees in the
State Government have paid put to Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy's 100-day
plan to improve civic amenities in Hyderabad.
Worse, over as 99 MLAs from the ruling Congress and Opposition from Telangana
have announced "boycott" of the remaining Budget Session of Andhra
Pradesh Assembly to press for their demand for statehood. Its reverberation
echoed in both Houses of Parliament too when Telangana protagonists stalled
proceedings. Will the Centre heed?
* * * *
Tale Of Two Reports
In Karnataka
Bad news continues to dodge the first BJP Government in
Karnataka. The latest is the controversy over two reports on the vandalisation
of 37 churches in Mangalore, Udupi and Kalladka over a year back. While the
State Government-instituted Inquiry Commission
headed by ex-Karnataka High Court
Justice Somasekhara exonerated the BJP Government, Bajrang Dal and Sri
Ram Sene for perpetrating these attacks and not protecting the interests of the
minority Christians. Another parallel fact-finding Commission, set-up by the
Christians and headed by another former High Court Judge Michael Saldanha squarely
blames the Karnataka Government for the violence. It remains to be seen which
of these reports will be considered the true version.
* * * *
Congress-DMK
Deadlock Over Seats
The DMK and Congress in Tamil Nadu are busy playing the
who-will-blink-first game over seat-sharing in Tamil Nadu. With Assembly
elections on 13 April and less than 15 days left for filing of nominations to
begin, so far both Parties have failed to break the logjam. A dis-satisfied
Party High Command emissary Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has returned
from Chennai after his talks with DMK supremo Karunanidhi failed. While the DMK
has offered the Congress 48 seats in a 234 Assembly as in 2006, the Party
reportedly wants 80 seats along-with a share in power if the alliance is voted
back to power. Meanwhile, the DMK has completed the seat sharing exercise with
minor allies like the PMK, VCK, Indian Union Muslim League and MMK. All eyes
are what Karunanidhi offers next.
* * * *
Flying Squads For Assam
Election-bound Assam is all set to get 10 'flying
squads' in all districts to monitor the expenditure of all Parties and prevent
the practice of bribing voters. Deputed by the Election Commission, these
squads headed by a magistrate have the power to file FIRs and seize 'bribe'
material including cash. This is not all. According to a new Election
Commission mechanism, Static Surveillance Teams are being granted the power to
search candidates, Party leaders and their vehicles to ensure that candidates
and Parties do not flout the model code of conduct. So serious is the
Commission to make poll truly free and fair, that the squads will be equipped
with video surveillance teams, video viewing teams, accounting teams and
expenditure monitoring teams. Needless to say, a candidate would now need to
play straight!
* * * *
Rajasthan’s
‘Adulterated’ Deaths
The No.13 has proved to be unlucky for the Gehlot-led
Congress Government in Rajasthan. The State Government got a rude jolt when 13
women died of infected intravenous fluids after child birth. More scandalous,
was that the officials woke up after a good 14 days had passed. Not only that.
So far only the drug manufacturer and a low-rank Jodhpur drug inspector have
been arrested, another two suspended while the bigger fish continue to go scot
free. Notwithstanding, the Chief Minister’s assurance that all the perpetrators
will be brought to book, even as he announced Rs.5 lakh as compensation to
families of the victims. How many deaths does it take for the Administration to
realise that something is wrong?
* * * *
Chhattisgarh
Winning Literacy War
Amid the Naxal war cry, Chhattisgarh has notched up marks in
its battle against illiteracy. Significantly, 32 per cent of the State’s 21
million tribal children have enrolled in primary schools, thus taking the total
tribal student count to over 35 per cent. More amazing is that the literacy
rate has gone up by 20 per cent in the heart of Maoist country, Dantewada. From
30.17 per cent in 2001, the district’s literacy rate is now set to surpass all
other levels in backward areas. Interestingly, while the over-all literacy rate
is nearly 65 per cent, efforts are on to reduce the male-female gap, 77.38 per
cent and 51.85 per cent, to 10 per cent. Towards that end, two programmes
namely Good Parenting Programme and the Sakshar
Bharat Scheme are helping motivate youngsters in honing their educational
skills. Clearly, the Raman Singh Government needs to be lauded in its silent
march for literacy.
* * * *
Courts Spoils
Orissa’s Party
The Courts are playing spoiler to the Orissa Government’s
over-joy over the release of popular Malkangiri district magistrate Krishna and
a junior engineer by the Maoists. In the 1999 Kandhar-type of exchange the
State Government had brokered a swap deal whereby six dreaded Maoists would be
released in lieu of Krishna and the engineer. Keeping its word, the Naveen
Patnaik Government released one Naxal who was granted bail by a fast track
Court in a 2007 case. However, an Additional District Judge rejected his
release, in another case of 2005. The terrorist now intends moving the High
Court. Complicating matters further, another Maoists leader has refused bail
demanding that the 700-odd jailed tribals too be released. All eyes are on the
Naxals next move.---INFA
(Copyright, India News and Feature
Alliance)
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