1) Irresponsible Congress to drag India towards one-party rule
The way Congress President irresponsibly behaved on July 21, 2018, in Lok Sabha proceedings during the no-confidence motion against the government including shocking hug to Prime Minister followed by an eye-whisper has made it certain that present ruling party at the centre may sweep forthcoming Lok Sabha elections in the year 2019. Congress may even create a record of maximum loss of security-deposits under present immature leadership which is unlikely to be changed by its patron (former party President) under the dynastic tradition of the party. After all, politics is also a family-industry for parties following dynastic traditions where power is to be compulsorily transferred to next family-heir irrespective of his capability.
With people already fed up by corrupt practices of most regional parties where also dynastic politics is tradition, voters have no choice other than to vote for the present ruling party in the centre even though they may be having some reservations on some of its policies and working style.
– Madhu Agrawal
2) Neutrality required to appoint Election Commissioners
Central government deferred the bill to amend RTI Act after stiff opposition from civil society. It seems that idea of changing service conditions of Central Information Commissioners came with the resolution passed by the Central Information Commissioners to provide lifetime domestic help for themselves and their spouses at the government expense which was subsequent to such self-gifting by Election Commissioners and Supreme Court judges. But basically, such wrongdoing was done by the Supreme Court judges which were subsequently followed by the Elections Commissioners and then the Central Information Commissioners. Under the present system, the Central Information Commissioners are at par with Election Commissioners which in turn are at par with Supreme Court judges in respect of service conditions.
Necessity of time is to have same service conditions including post-retirement benefits for the Supreme Court judges, Election Commissioners and Central Information Commissioners which should be equivalent to those of highest-paid bureaucrat Union Cabinet Secretary thus abolishing practice of hiking salary through separate legislation and giving them undue liberty to gift themselves in the manner they did in respect of lifetime domestic help for themselves and their spouses at government expense. The system will automatically remove the big disparity in pensions received by Central Information Commissioners with IAS, IFS or IPS background and others from other fields where in some cases some ones from civil society have absolutely no service-background. Rather same system should be adopted in case of highest-paid legislative postings like President, Vice President and state governors.
Empowering the central government to curtail duration of any Central Information Commissioner will definitely adversely affect the much-required autonomy of Central Information Commission. It is high time that collegium system may be adopted to appoint Election Commissioners to ensure much required neutrality at this post rather than appointing favourite bureaucrats by political rulers appointing them.
– Subhash Chandra Agrawal
3) A shot in the arm for Indian economy
Good to see India progress on track even after disruptions in the economy. Modi is working overtime to bring the country on development highway but somehow not able to communicate to rural voters. Unless benefits of higher GDP are realised by masses it will not make much difference to rural poor the real purpose of the so-called growth is defeated.
The recent election results show that the Indian electorate is not interested in continued economic growth and stability leading to an improved standard of living plus increased prosperity. During the last four years of non-Congress rule, India has grown economically fast to become the sixth biggest economy in the world overtaking France, end of 2018 could overtake the UK to become the fifth largest world economy. Indian electorate mindset should change and should not be still glued to voting on the basis of religion, caste, language, more reservations and increased corruption.
GDP growth is a good news. But it has not in anyway alleviated the miseries of the common man who toils to make both ends meet. There had been virtually no increase in employment generation On the other hand enhanced GDP has fueled inflation. It is high time to introspect whether GDP has any relevance to the common man. It has emerged as a beautiful figure for the economists and the government to pat upon. The previous high GDP growth of 8.1 per cent was recorded in April-June quarter of 2016-17.
Happy to note that the country has made a turnaround! It should continue. Another feather in the cap for the NDA government. Given the international economic scenario, it has really done well to manage such growth rates. The task now is to improve upon it and make it more inclusive with greater attention to the agriculture sector. GDP upward growth is possible provided we have certain incentives in place. We need to include representatives from industries so that our engineering or technical syllabus is designed according to their future industrial requirements.
Strict entrance test for extracting highly potential talent is a must. Education and training, both should be 50:50 so that our young talent is well educated and also professionally trained. Industrialist and students both should have free will to choose jobs or candidates of their choice. Industries should be given special incentives according to their productivity. We need to streamline tax slabs. More business they generate, the lesser they will pay taxes. Above all, we must infuse honesty among all because in all other countries they have developed their economy with the help of honesty.
The Indian economy grew 7.7 per cent in Jan-March 2018, the biggest expansion in 7 quarters, on account of robust performance in manufacturing, construction and service sectors, as well as good farm output and it is time to sustain the growth. With monsoon rains expected to hit the country in time with sufficient rainfall we can expect a bumper crop and a big leap in our economy soon.
– C.K. Subramaniam
4) Hate politicians who pass on the buck on each other!
I hate politicians who pass on the buck on each other instead of finding a solution for any given problem. Be it the Facebook data leak or the CBSE paper leak, Congress and BJP are having a field day in blaming each other over the examination mess not realising that both are part and parcel of the system and equally responsible for the mismanagement in our education system. Once elections are over, oppositions job should be to keep the government on the toes by constructive criticism and suggesting solutions to a problem and not of halting parliament or assemblies to function.
Parliament is the pillar of our democracy where the ruling government and the opposition need to function in tandem by complimenting each other. Debates are healthy and a tool for solving problems rather than creating a mess. Misbehaving leaders should be red flagged and voted out by the citizens who should use their previous votes judiciously at the time of elections!
– S.N.Kabra
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
