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Shun taboo, Accept the challenge: Part I

May 7, 2019

Breasts are perceived in a sexual manner, even when a mother feeds her child. Here it is not just men, but even women who stare if a mother feeds her baby in public and prevents mothers from thinking twice about feeding the baby in open. So many times, new mothers are helpless when their children cry of hunger, simply because they are unable to feed in public. This has to change. Breastfeeding is a matter of pride, and women have to be able to feed their children freely and openly. You don’t need feeding rooms to feed your children. So we figured that having a discussion around this would be the most relevant thing to do in today’s time.

Mothers need to donate milk banks to save tender lives and mothers with surplus milk should donate milk generously. Breastfeeding saves lives. Its benefits help keep babies healthy in their first days and last well into adulthood. But breastfeeding requires support, encouragement, and guidance. With these basic steps, implemented properly, we can significantly improve breastfeeding rates around the world and give children the best possible start in life. Why then so much controversy is created in India for the sake of creating. Shun the taboo and accept the challenge instead of becoming a carping critic all the time. In many hospitals and communities around the world, whether a child can be breastfed or not can make the difference between life and death. Better sense should prevail to save babies in need of breast milk.

When women are asked to go to the feeding room and feed, it is almost like the society is collectively teaching us to hide this very natural thing. This has to change. But to avoid all the controversies, it is better to have a separate breastfeeding lounge in public places, just like the smoking lounges. Better council should prevail in this matter and it should not be treated as an obscene one. Even a postal stamp was released in 1984 by the Indian government to stress that breastfeeding is the best. Why then this controversy.

The issue with public breastfeeding is less about whether the act is legal or not-ultimately that is a technical issue. The main concern lies in how the act of breastfeeding-so natural a part of the development many species-is regarded as ‘disgusting’ and ‘indecent’. When the exposure of a woman’s breasts during breastfeeding is considered to be lewder than a model revealing them for the pleasure of others. But breastfeeding requires support, encouragement, and guidance. With these basic steps, implemented properly, we can significantly improve breastfeeding rates around the world and give children the best possible start in life.

(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)

Letters to the Editors: May 07, 2019

Web Team

May 7, 2019

Merciless attack by Maoists

In a calculated move, Maoists attack at Gadchiroli blew up a vehicle of policemen. Such attacks are taking place frequently from the early days and that continues even now unstopped. The talks with the terror outfit did not yield desired results and the attacks and counter-attacks take place quite frequently and the relentless attack gives the people in the Maoist area and sleepless nights. This time the attack took place at the time of elections. The Maoists are merciless in their secret attacks.

Nickhil Mani

Court-appointed arbitrators should be regulated

It is quite usual that retired judges of Supreme Court and High Courts are appointed arbitrators by courts, giving them much-much more income than they earn while they’re being judges in higher courts. There are reports that these arbitrators charge exorbitantly for each hearing. Even if all the concerned parties mutually agree for adjournment much before the date of hearing, arbitrators insist on sending representation for adjournment on the fixed date of hearing so that they may forcibly charge for a hearing held just for seeking an adjournment. It has also been reported that after completion of the hearing, arbitrators withhold their arbitration-award even for years. Any party approaching for an early arbitration-award has to pay the additional cost for doing so.

If these practices are true, then it is injustice and inhumanity on part of those minting money after their retirement from judicial posts. Arbitrators must be regulated from such malpractices and tactics of minting money, if so. They must give time-bound verdict after completion of the hearing. There must not be any fees payable in case adjournments. To avoid an extra number of hearings just for sake of money, there should be some maximum limit on the number of hearings, after which no fees for hearing may be there for arbitrators.

Complete details of arbitration-fees earned by an arbitrator case-wise in a year mentioning also a number of hearings conducted in each case should be made public by putting all details on websites of courts having appointed them arbitrators. There must be some maximum reasonable amount fixed for an arbitrator for a particular case. Money earned by way of arbitration must not exceed what they earned before retirement.

Subhash Chandra Agrawal

Curb vulgarity in public places

The viral video of a woman in Gurugram telling seven men to rape a youngster who was wearing shorts at a shopping mall could have been a publicity stunt as the clip was watched by millions on social media. Social media is flooded with fake videos as freak people with vulgar mindset try to become famous overnight. Moral policing can be dangerous and it is the duty of the cops to judge and punish vulgarity in public place and it is none of our business to judge fellow citizens and their preferences in life.

Sexiest remarks can be heard in public places or otherwise in day to day lives. One of my friends had joined a call Centre a few years back and she was shocked when one of her fellow colleagues mentioned that she was happily married to a single man for so many years as she herself prefers to change partners every 2-3 months. Today’s youngsters have the wrong notion about life. They try to copy the western world while Western countries are adopting our culture. Education is the need of the hour and we need to teach our youngsters the right values be it the sense of dressing or their thinking. Wearing shorts is not vulgar if females can carry it well on their bodies while a fully dressed woman too can look vulgar if she wears a skin-tight dress that doesn’t suit her. The same goes with the mindset and free and frank doesn’t mean vulgar talks but honesty is important in your views to impress others!

S.N. Kabra

Girls outshine boys

Girls outshined boys in the CBSE Class 12 results and they achieved a high percentage of marks to top the list and proved that they are second to none with the stupendous show. As in the past, the girls took over boys in education and it is a good sign. Interestingly, the board hardly implemented its much-touted result improvement scheme. It also did not take corrective measures to reduce the stress of the students and the so-called counselling of the students related to just dissuading them from the suicidal path. CBSE results show an increase and Modi’s pep talk gave much-needed impetus. The high percentage achieved through the concerted efforts of teachers and the students is appreciable. The best mark of 499/500 was achieved by a Delhi Public School Ghaziabad. As a resident of Mumbai, I am really happy that Chhavi Singhal achieved the best pass percentage from the city.

Anandambal Subbu

Why should consumers pay for shopping bags?

It refers to a consumer-forum in Chandigarh imposing a total levy of Rs 9,000 on a renowned shoe-company for charging Rs 3 as cost of paper-bag. Ever since a ban has been imposed on plastic-bags, many traders have started charging the cost of paper-bags from the shoppers.

Department of Consumer Affairs should widely publicise through electronic and print media-advertisements to educate consumers that they must not pay for the cost of shopping bags citing all the reasons given by Chandigarh consumer-forum in this regard.

Since shopper-bags are printed with the name and logo of the company, it is advertisement and sales-promotion for which consumer cannot be compelled to pay. Moreover charging a cost for shopping-bag is held as a deficiency in service and traders or companies are duty-bound to supply free shopping-bags with purchased goods.

Madhu Agrawal

Search for Naxalites’ supporters!

The corpse of martyr Dayanand Sahare, who laid his life in Naxalite attack at Gadchiroli, reached his native place on his birthday. His mother made a serious accusation at that time that political leaders were providing explosives and weapons to Naxalites. In fact, the inquiry needs to be conducted taking cognizance of such accusation. Eradicating Naxalism has become a huge challenge for the State. Naxalites kidnap minor girls from nearby villages; rape them and later, force these girls to join them by threatening with defamation which has been admitted by a couple that surrendered recently. Naxalites are inciting young people; creating hatred towards the present governing system and teaching to fight against the system. It was recently exposed through interrogation of few city Naxalites that they were hatching a plot to break internal security and create anarchy. Interrogation should have also been conducted at that time, into members of progressive factions who call themselves as thinkers and advocates who had come forward to defend when police had taken Naxalites’ supporters into custody in connection with Naxalite activities in the city. Their loyalty should have been investigated. Helping Naxalites is like sedition; therefore, those involved in providing food supplies, ammunition and financial aid to them should be found out and stringent action should be taken against them.

Mokshada Ghanekar

(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)

Setback to Maratha Reservation?

Web Team

May 7, 2019

A group of students in Maharashtra has threatened to launch an agitation over the Bombay High Court’s ruling that the 16 per cent quota offered to Marathas will not be applicable on admissions to post-graduate medical courses this year. It is a setback for Maratha Reservation. Though, the Maharashtra government has knocked on the door of the Supreme Court.

Around 250 students have been affected by the ruling given by the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court last week, Suyash Patil, who recently took admission in a Pune based medical college, claimed on Tuesday. The state has filed a petition against the High Court ruling in the Supreme Court, which is likely to hear the matter on Friday, a government official said.

A representative of the students affected by the High Court ruling said if the state government failed to resolve the matter, they would launch an agitation.

The state government on March 8 wrote a letter to the Directorate of Medical Education and Research to incorporate the quota under the Socially and Economically Backward Classes (SEBC) category from the 2019 academic session in the PG medical courses.

The Nagpur bench of the HC last week said the March 8 notification shall not be applicable to the admission process, which had started earlier.

In view of the HC’s order, some of the Maratha community students who could not get admission to the postgraduate medical courses approached the state government which subsequently moved the Supreme Court.

“We have decided to wait for the Supreme Court’s ruling. If the state fails to come up with an amicable solution, we will organise a state-wide agitation,” a representative of the affected students said.

Since the Maratha students got admissions this year under the SEBC category, they did not think of applying for seats elsewhere or outside the state, Suyash Patil said.

“But with this HC ruling, our admissions are likely to be cancelled and the time limit to seek admissions in other colleges is also over. We fear losing an entire year if the Supreme Court backs the HC ruling,” he said.

A group of affected students also met Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday, requesting him to take steps to resolve the issue.

On November 30, 2018, the Maharashtra legislature passed a bill proposing 16 per cent reservation for Marathas in government jobs and education under the SEBC category.

Supreme Court rejects Opposition review plea on 50% VVPAT verification

Web Team

May 7, 2019

The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a review plea filed by 21 opposition parties seeking an increase in random matching of VVPAT slips with EVMs in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. The apex court refused to interfere in poll process. It is a big jolt to opposition parties.

The bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said that the apex court is not inclined to interfere. “We are not inclined to modify our order. How many days will we hear the same matter,” the Supreme Court said while dismissing review plea on random matching of VVPAT slips.

Senior advocate and Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, “Unfortunately our plea has not been accepted today. We have pointed out gaps in the Election Commission’s approach. But there aren’t guidelines on what they will do if they find defects.” Abhishek Manu Singhvi asked, “What will they do if the samples show defects?”

On April 8, the Supreme Court had directed the Election Commission to increase random matching of VVPAT slips with EVMs in five polling booths per assembly segment from one booth.

Opposition leaders, led by Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, however, sought the review of the Supreme Court order, saying the increase from one to five is not a reasonable number and does not lead to satisfaction desired by this court.

Vehicle falls into gorge in J-K, Three killed

Web Team

May 7, 2019

Three persons were killed and five others injured when a private vehicle skidded off a road and fell into a 200 feet gorge in Ramban district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said on Tuesday. The accident took place Monday night near Seenbatti along the Pogal-Paristan road, about 25 km from Ramban, a police official said.

He said the vehicle was going towards Seenbatti and fell into the gorge after its driver lost control over it while negotiating a blind curve.

A rescue operation was immediately launched and three persons Milap Singh (55), Keshu Ram (44) and Raju Singh (24) were found dead. The official said the injured, Reyaz Ahmad (driver), Kalyan Singh, Kartar Singh, Flower Singh and Hari Om were admitted to the Ramban District Hospital after initial treatment at the Public Health Centre in Ukhral.

Mayor more concerned of Karyakartas than Sanitation Workers

Rajesh Choudhary

May 6, 2019

We are planning to send ambitious Human mission to the Moon in next a couple of years. In such advanced country like India the incident of Nalasopara is very unfortunate, where three labourers died while cleaning a septic tank. This shows the pathetic work condition of sanitation workers. They are forced to do this work without any safety measures. Manual scavenging has persisted in the country even as India has made remarkable progress in every field. It is more painful because manual scavenging is deeply embedded in the country’s caste system. Traditionally members of lower castes are forced to carry out such tasks that are considered unacceptable to other castes.

Vasai-Virar Mayor Rupesh Jadhav told Afternoon Voice, “One of my workers’ relative has expired and I am busy in that. I haven’t yet given any thoughts on the ones who died in septic tanks. I will look into the matter once I am free. Further when asked whether the death of the sanitation workers matter less to him, he said, “Special attention to the Karyakatas is also required. I will get into the details of the incident soon after this.”

The tragedy of Nalasopara is not a first incident of its kind. Such incidents have taken place in Maharashtra and the rest of the country earlier, too. In March 2019, six people choked to death after entering septic tank in Tamil Nadu. In October 2018, three sanitation workers died due to suffocation while cleaning a sewage line at Khambalpada, Dombivli MIDC. Similarly, in September 2018 five men had died after they were ordered to clean a septic tank in an upmarket housing complex in Delhi without any safety equipment. From Kashmir to Kerala such incidents happen and our Maharashtra is also no exception to this.

Advocate Godfrey Pimenta said, “We have been raising this issue from time to time. The workers engaged by contractors are cleaning the drains with bare hands. They don’t wear any protective gears, no hand gloves and mask. They are likely to inhale methane and other poisonous gases. There is absolutely no supervision happening from the Mumbai Municipal Corporation. Last year, I had found an inch long worms moving around after the filth was removed. A corporation which has got a budget of Rs 30,000 crores can’t spend money on the safety of workers. This is a case of human rights violation.”

At Nalasopara of Palghar district last week the incident took place in Anand View Apartments in Nilemore locality. The three labourers, who were in the age group of 25 to 35, went into the septic tank to clean it. They died inside the tank due to inhalation of toxic gases. A supervisor had hired six workers to clean the tank. One of the workers died after entering the tank and inhaling toxic gases. Two others, who entered the tank to rescue him, also died. Later on the fire brigade and a team of the disaster management cell reached the spot and pulled out the dead bodies. According to labourers, they were not provided with any safety gear, oxygen masks or other equipment to protect them. Police have registered cases against eight persons on charges of negligence. Generally the blame for such deaths is passed on to contractors and families of the victims are paid off to not pursue the cases. But this is not permanent solution of the problem. Like Swachh Bharat Abhiyan an intensive awareness programme should be launched for this in the entire nation.

Advocate Reena Bansode said, “The labourers of unorganized sector are neglected by the government. They are not provided basic equipments like safety mask while cleaning the septic tank. All unorganized labourers are neglected by the government. They should get compensatory benefit for their lives. The laws for unorganized sectors should be implemented strictly. So they can become a part of this society. There should be strict rules followed by the builders and contractors. This is routine practice while doing such work i.e. when they open the door of the septic tank all living creatures like cockroach and lizard etc come out. If they are alive it means that there is no dangerous gas inside the chamber. But this practice is very dangerous and risky. Instead of it a proper machinery should be used by the builders and contractors wherever possible.”

In 2013 employing people to clean human solid waste by hand was banned by making a law. Sources say that at least one worker dies while cleaning sewers or septic tanks every five days. But activists and the National Commission for Safai Karamacharis (NCSK) claim that the real death rate is probably much higher. According to experts, the national capital Delhi is among the worst continued offenders in the country where some 40 people a month die while cleaning out sewers and septic tanks by hand. Bezwada Wilson of the Sanitation Workers Movement said that over 1,800 had died since a Supreme Court ruling in 2014 condemned the lack of enforcement of the law protecting sanitation workers. Persons in power are not taking these incidents seriously.

Government has no time for Labour reform?

Vaidehi Taman

May 6, 2019

More than a million workers in banking, telecom, and other sectors will go on strike tomorrow to press their demand for better pay and in protest against new labour and investment policies. Banks, government offices, and factories will close. In some states, local unions have agreed to join the strike which means public transport could be affected. Trade unions including the All India Trade Unions Congress and Centre of Indian Trade Unions rejected a government appeal to call off the strike, saying it failed to address their demands. They have objected to the government loosening the norms for foreign investment in areas like insurance and defence. They are also opposed to a plan to close loss-making state-run firms. The government aims to raise Rs 55,907 crore ($8.35 billion) through privatization this fiscal year, and shut down some companies. Losses at 77 state-run companies exceeded $4 billion or Rs 26,780 crore in the last fiscal year. Ours is a socialist country by its culture and history, nobody can change that or else there may be mini civil wars. It’s time to change from the idea of job protection to the idea of progressive job employment. When jobs will be large, everyone will get a job and it will be easier for people to go up the ladder and increase their salary. In the worst case,, one will find an equivalent job in another company. Job protection is a farcical illusion so far removed from reality that it is dangerous for the employee itself giving nothing in return back. In the end,, no one, not even the the government can guarantee job protection if it is not based on reality and money gathering. Look at the collapse of all Communist Economies after they realized that people in large numbers ended up being hungry.

Government’s labour reforms are based on the principle of destroying trade unions and help/save trade corporates, so they will not hear the voices of trade unions. The trade union strike has been called on because of the Modi government’s proposed changes in the Labour laws. Strike by millions of workers may bring down public transport to a grinding halt and shut down factories and banking services across several parts of India in protest against the government’s proposed labour reforms that the demonstrators feel will put jobs at risk. Union busting is a pejorative term used by media, labour organisations, and others to describe a wide range of activities undertaken to disrupt or prevent the formation of trade unions. Union busting tactics can refer to both legal and illegal activities and can range anywhere from subtle to violent. Labour laws differ greatly from country to country in both level and type of regulations in respect to their protection of unions, their organising activities, as well as other aspects. These laws can affect topics such as posting notices, organizing on or off employer property, solicitations, card signing, union dues, picketing, work stoppages, striking and strikebreaking, lockouts, termination of employment, permanent replacements, automatic recognition, derecognition, ballot elections, and employer-controlled trade unions.

A dynamic job where there are enough jobs for everyone and allows people to go up the ladder improves people’s earning and make their lives better. The faster we come to the correct logic the better it will be. A year ago, ten central trade unions called for the “Bharat bandh” in support of a 12-point charter demanding higher wages, social security, withdrawal of labour law amendments and an end to the privatisation of public sector companies among other things.

However, the members said that the union has not asked its drivers to go for the strike; they voluntarily participated in the strike. The new laws by the government have been made against the employees so the union members have decided to show their strength to the government. Reforms noise is fine but no commenter or Union wants to say that this shall be the reform. If an employer undertakes to recruit somebody because he can pay, he shall be entitled to remove him if he believes that he cannot pay, off course, with a defined compensation to the worker. It should be penal but not too much. The fact that the contract/casual workers outnumber regular workers just because their wages are low is also unfair. A law which restricts their proportion, the type of work they are to undertake, and how long an apprentice can remain an apprentice are the questions which law shall take care. Overtime hours, their rates, etc. are the leverages which managements use to contain costs. Replacement of labour by higher capacity and more efficient machines is natural and accepted as a principle. We shall not restrict retrenchment because of it. Any organisation wants to expand and so would be able to use existing manpower for increased volume by retraining.

However, with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) assuming power in mid-2014, some State governments dared the trade unions by successfully introducing core labour law reforms such as amending Chapter V-B of the ID Act and the Contract Labour Act. The Modi government has sought to send strong signals to global and domestic investors that it would introduce these very core reforms at the national level and has hence floated codes on wages, industrial relations and other issues. The trade unions have criticised these reform initiatives. The presence of BMS till the penultimate moment bolstered their morale and embarrassed the Centre. The demands largely cover issues concerning labour flexibility, enhanced labour rights including better minimum wages, opposition to unilateral reform measures and to foreign direct investment. The inter-ministerial committee headed by the Finance Minister has held talks with the trade unions. The NDA government has reportedly given an assurance on meeting seven of the 12 demands, such as raising minimum wages and bonus eligibility limits, creating a social security net for contract workers and holding a social dialogue before effecting reforms. Appeased by these statements, BMS withdrew from the strike. They are prepared to give six months to the government for the execution of promises, before reviewing their position.

(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@www.afternoonvoice.com)

CJI Ranjan Gogoi gets clean chit — Timeline of the case

Web Team

May 6, 2019

The In House panel investigating the allegations of sexual harassment against Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi has given him a clean chit in the case. The accusations against the chief justice were levelled by a former woman employee of the Supreme Court.

The three-member panel headed by Justice SA Bobde said in its report that it had found no substance in the allegations contained in the complaint made by the woman against Gogoi.

Other members of the in house panel are Justices Indira Banerjee and Indu Malhotra. The Secretary General of Supreme Court of India in a statement said the report has been submitted to “next senior judge competent to receive the report” as well as to the Chief Justice of India.

The statement said the in-house committee has found no substance in the allegations made by the former Supreme Court employee. The statement also while said the report filed by the panel would not be made public.

Chief Justice Gogoi had Wednesday appeared before an in-house inquiry committee looking into allegations of sexual harassment levelled against him by a former woman employee of the Supreme Court.

Truth is the ultimate power. When the truth comes around, all the lies have to run and hide.

— RanjanGogoiCJI (@RanjanGogoiCJI) May 6, 2019

The incident came in light after an affidavit filed by the victim. According to a news wire, the affidavit states that CJI Gogoi asked “what she can do for her?” for appointing his brother in law. However, the Afternoon Voice has done the research of day and date wise detail of incident.

About the accuser:

However, the 35-year-old woman was an employee at the Supreme Court. She used to do “typing and documentation” in the legislation section of the court’s library. During court hours, she said, she was sent to help court masters in “arranging books, judgments” required for different cases. In 2015, she was posted in Justice Vikramjit Sen’s court for around 8-10 months. In October 2016, she was sent to Justice Gogoi’s court to fill in for another junior court assistant who had gone on leave. She said that her performance was appreciated during this period and that her appraisal reports were rated “good” and “very good” for the years 2014-15 and 2015-16.

Here is how it all took place:

June 2018: She and her husband to attend Nobel winner Kailash Satyarthi’s book launch in at the Constitution Club, New Delhi, where Gogoi was going to be speaking. When she expressed her reluctance as her LLB final semester exam the same day, he insisted that they come.

Allegation: The woman alleged that Justice Gogoi would call and text her multiple times during the day for work – “during non court hours and even during the late evenings” when she was at home.

August, 2018: Justice Gogoi expressed his wish to appoint her in his residence office as his workload would increase once he took over as the CJI in October. He told her that the reason he was appointing her at his residence was her good work, although she was a junior employee.

August 11, 2018: She started her work at Justice Gogoi’s residence office from. There, she said that she first started feeling a little awkward at all the exclusive attention she got from him but ignored her misgivings.

The incident took place

October 10, 2018: Justice Gogoi called her to his office and told her that her brother-in-law had been appointed despite being “found to be medically unfit as traces of blood were detected in his urine test.” The Wire tried reaching Dr. Shyama Gupta, chief medical officer of the Supreme Court, to verify the claim. However, no one at her office picked up the calls. The woman told Justice Gogoi that she was really grateful for what he did for her. The judge went on to compliment her on her looks and then, she alleges, touched her in a way that made her uncomfortable.

October 12 onwards: the former JCA claimed that Justice Gogoi’s behaviour changed. He restrained his interactions with her and often spoke to her in front of other people. She said she was in extreme stress and although she did not want to work with Justice Gogoi anymore, she could not muster enough courage to express her wish at office.

October 22, 2018: She claimed that she was transferred thrice in a matter of weeks – first on to the Centre for Research and Planning (CRP), then to the Admin Material Section,

November 19, 2018: however, she was issued a memorandum that a disciplinary enquiry was being initiated against her.

December 13, 2018: She was served a notice by the registrar and inquiry officer Surya Pratap Singh that proceedings of her inquiry would happen at 10.30 a.m. And that if she fails to appear at the “appointed time and place, inquiry shall proceed ex parte.”

December 21, 2018: She was dismissed from service by registrar Deepak Jain after the inquiry committee conducted ex parte proceedings and found her guilty in all three charges on the basis of two witnesses – one, her supervisor Padma Sundar, and assistant registrar Indira Manuja.

Her family in a soup

December 29, 2018: Her victimisation, she said, did not end there. A week after she was dismissed, her husband and one of her brothers-in-law – also a constable in Delhi police – were suspended from service. The reason was not specified at the time.

December 31, 2018: The husband was informed by Naresh Solanki, SHO, Tilak Marg, that a complaint has been made against him for making unsolicited calls to the CJI’s office and that a departmental inquiry could be initiated against them.

January 9, 2018: The husband received an order from the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Vikas Puri.

January 11, 2019: The woman said that it is after this that Naresh Solanki, the SHO of Tilak Marg police station, tried to engineer a truce between her and the CJI. She said that Solanki, after discussion with her and her husband, took her to the CJI’s residence on the night.

March 9, 2018: When she and her family went to Tilak Marg police station in Delhi, they were informed that one Naveen Kumar of Jhajjar, Haryana had charged them with bribery. The FIR says that Kumar paid her Rs 50,000 for a job in the Supreme Court.

March 10, 2019: A police team led by Devender Kumar, the then SHO of Tilak Marg police station, brought the husband handcuffed.

March 12, 2019: the former JCA got bail from the chief metropolitan magistrate court in Patiala House, New Delhi.

March 2019: She herself was arrested in a case of bribery that was registered in – almost three months after her dismissal from the Supreme Court.

April 22, 2019: News Broke out on about a former employee of the Supreme Court has made sexual harassment allegations against Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi in an affidavit

April 19, 2019: The affidavit was sent; she spurned what she claimed were inappropriate advances last October.

May 6, 2019: Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi has been cleared by a panel of three judges of allegations of sexually harassing a former court employee. There is “no substance” in the allegations, ruled the in-house committee of the Supreme Court, which heard the allegations.

Increasing voting percentage a good sign for democracy

Web Team

May 6, 2019

After completion of the fourth phase of the general elections, the total voting percentage was 67 per cent, whereas, in 2014, the poll was 67.6 per cent. If current trends continue, then this year’s polling percentage can exceed the voting percentage of 2014. Not only this, the percentage of voting in this year is likely to be the highest since Independence. However, elections in Assam and Punjab in the year 1985 were delayed for one year, but 72 per cent was polled, but the average voting of 1984 and 1985 was 67.9 per cent.

The general election of 2019 can be considered amazing in many ways. The voting trend of voters shows that the maximum voting held in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Karnataka since 1962 or 57 years post-independence. Similarly, in Chhattisgarh in 15 years and Maharashtra, the maximum turnout was for 30 years.

In the year 2019, the youth, the elderly and women are taking part in the election. For example, in the states like Assam, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh (partially) and Rajasthan (partially), where the percentage of voting of young voters between the ages of 18 and 25 is more. In these states, a 3.3 per cent increase in voting has been recorded in comparison to the national average, in which the number of additional voters is 4.5 million. They are likely to be young. States like Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Kerala, where the elderly population is more than the national average; there has also done a 1.8 per cent higher turnout than the national average.

Polling has been completed in 373 seats out of 543 Lok Sabha seats, which is 69 per cent of total seats. Stage-wise polling rate indicates that in the year 2019, voting is more or equal than the rate of 2014 except for the third phase. If this trend continued, then this year’s polling rate will surpass the voting rate of 2014.

In Mumbai city of Maharashtra, an increase in voting percentage has also been recorded. 55.1 per cent of the turnout was recorded in Mumbai, which is the highest since 1989. The most important thing in this context is that after a 3-day long weekend too, a large number of people voted, which shows that voting for the common people has become the most important work.

In Maharashtra, where the elderly population is more than the national average, the percentage of their voting has also been increased. There is 8.6 per cent elderly population in Karnataka and Kerala states, there has also done 1.8 per cent more voting, which is higher than the national average and in context of voters, it is 1.1 million.

Women voters were previously unable to participate in the electoral process for various social and economic reasons. Their percentage of voting was less in 2014, but the percentage of votes cast by them is increasing in the general elections this year. Now they are actively putting their votes, which may be due to the implementation of schemes like Mudra Loan, Pradhan Mantri Jan Dha, and Ujjwala Yojana. These schemes have made the common women empowered.

Effects of poverty at voting rates

By the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative, Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index (MPI), was examined the state’s population’s education, health and living standards, the details of which released in the form a report In 2015-16. As per this report,the Bihar is the poorest among all states, whereas Kerala is the richest.

An analysis of votes cast by voters in the context of MPI data reveals that in West India, where there is less poverty, more voting is being done in the year 2019 than in the year 2014. South Indian states except Tamil Nadu have less poverty. In these states, voting percent was high. In the North-eastern states, like Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Sikkim and Nagaland have high percentage of poverty. In these states, the percentage of voting is less, whereas, in the states like Manipur, Meghalaya, Assam, and Mizoram, which have low poverty level, the voting percentage is high.

It can be said that gradually the citizens of the country are becoming aware of their rights and responsibilities. The most important thing is that people are voting beyond the established social models. However, the practice of voting on the basis of caste is still continuing, but now there is a decline in it too. Even though its percentage is still low, but it is likely to improve.

By Satish Singh

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of AFTERNOON VOICE and AFTERNOON VOICE does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.)

Income tax e-filers fall by more than 6,60,000 in FY19

Web Team

May 6, 2019

In a first in the recent history of tax filings, income tax e-filings in FY2019 have dropped by more than 6.6 lakh, a trend that analysts said was surprising as tax base was expected to increase post demonetisation.

According to statistics put out on Income Tax Department’s e-filing website, income tax e-filings in FY 2018-19 was 6.68 crore, down from 6.74 crores in the previous fiscal.

Kotak Economic Research in an April 30 report said, “We are surprised with the decline in income tax e-filing in FY2019.” “If the filings are indeed plateauing, it will be a worry for the fiscal which has seemingly shifted its focus to compensatory expenditure,” it said. “Tax filings have surprisingly plateaued in FY2019. This is surprising given that post demonetisation it was expected that the tax base would continue to increase.” However, registered filers have been on the rise – they grew by 15 per cent to 8.45 crore as on March 31, 2019, the e-filing website showed.

Registered filers were just 2.7 crores at the end of March 2013 which almost doubled to 5.2 crores in March 2016 and to 6.2 crores in March 2017.

In signs of lower compliance, the ratio of actual filings to registered filers was 79 per cent in FY2018-19, down from 91.6 per cent in the previous fiscal. The compliance ratio was 85 per cent and 83 per cent in the preceding two years. It was 79.3 per cent in FY2014-15, which was a decline from 82 per cent of FY2013-14. The data showed a steady rise in filers in the Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh range with 1.05 crore filings in FY2018-19 including 1.02 crore of individual taxpayers.

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