Farmers should switch to organic farming-Part II

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October 10, 2019

One thing is clear that there is low awareness at the producer level on the difference between conventional farming and organic farming. At the consumer level there is confusion between natural and organic products and limited understanding of the health benefits of organic food products. The increasing number of suicides by farmers is due to their dependency on fertilizers, which take away a huge portion of their earnings, rendering them indebted to moneylenders.

As environmental awareness spreads, organic food and the organic farming that supplies its ingredients have been attracting a lot of attention due to their direct relationships to nutrition and the environment, both essential for our survival. We all are aware that there is an overuse of fertilizers, pesticides and water, which is at the root of all problems today. No one is conceptually against organic farming. But our knowledge and expertise in the “science” of organic farming is inadequate to realise the productivity potential of our high-yielding crop varieties.

Organic agriculture is the best insurance policy that India can have for its population with better performance on productivity, environmental impact, economic viability and social well-being. Chemical farming, which involves spraying of pesticides and use of fertilizers, is not only financially burdening the farmers, but also wreaking havoc on the soil and ruining the health of the people and wasting water.

He said that it was the need of the hour to promote and adopt organic farming which was possible only when every farmer starts rearing domestic cows. He said that one cow could be helpful in farming 30 acres of land and added that it would improve fertility of the soil, producing maximum yield by using minimum water and getting remunerative price for their product. He said that domestic cow was useful in every respect and with the help of traditional farming, revolution in agri sector could be generated. Organic farming also plays an important role in the amount of water needed to sustain plants. It helps in preventing global warming by preventing the use of artificial fertilizers and pesticides. Humans are fast running out of fresh water for their day to day use and the current farming methods contaminate water bodies.

Organic farming also has the cost benefits associated with it. Organic products can be sold for higher prices than non-organic foods and is actually very easy to do but for this the biggest challenge is not using store-bought fertilizers but, as mentioned previously, manure is a great alternative that yields higher quality crops and is incredibly cheap. The larger quantity of produce one gets from the use of fertilizer and pesticides aren’t worth the risks on human life and bio diversity.

“Training, camps and awareness at the grassroots level is a must. Organic farming is beneficial but calls for a planned strategy. Only then will farmers adopt it. Modern farming and organic farming have not helped farmers in increasing their income,” he said, adding natural farming would help realise the dream of PM Modi to double the income of farmers. The farmers should adopt organic farming and reduce or avoid usage of pesticides. Organic farming does not include the use of any artificial additives that can cause serious health issues if consumed. Most produce that is available today isn’t fully safe to consume as a lot of them have traces of the artificial fertilizers and pesticides that were sprayed on them during growth.

What we need is to encourage organic farming and our agriculture universities should become part of it via promoting research of organic farming. No doubt, organic farming presents many challenges. Some crops are more challenging than others to grow organically; however, nearly every commodity can be produced organically. We must remember that organic produce can usually qualify for higher prices than non-organic products. With the increase in population our compulsion would be not only to stabilize agricultural production but to increase it further in sustainable manner. Don’t we think it is time to look at the health benefits of organic produce?

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

Letters to the Editor: 10 October, 2019

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Web Team

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October 10, 2019

Information of Swiss accounts with govt should be made public

Your front page article ‘India Gets Info on Swiss Accounts‘ made for interesting reading. What good is information if they remain on paper and not acted upon by the authorities. The government one understands already has details of several account holders in Swiss banks but nothing has so far emerged out of them. One has to pay certain fees for people to keep money in Swiss banks while you actually earn interest keeping it in Indian banks which clearly is an indication that Swiss deposits are unaccounted money used for terror funding or siphoned out of one’s country by way of illegal trade.

Indian economy is in a mess and it is on account of corruption where people have avoided taxes here and transferred money to Swiss accounts. Government should show teeth and act on such deposits even if they happen to be of men with money and power. Make all such accounts public and the law of the land should deal with offenders. The money trail could unearth several scams running into trillions and most of our country’s fiscal deficit can be taken care of if this money is brought back to the country of its origin.

S.N. Kabra.

Flights at public-expense be allowed only in economy class

It is quite usual that top bureaucrats in governments and Public-Sector-Undertakings usually travel in costly business-class of flights. It should be made compulsory that all those travelling at public-expense including even ministers and legislatures must travel only in economy-class of flights. However exemption may be made for President, Vice President and Prime Minister who otherwise also are entitled and rightly too for special exclusive planes for security-reasons.

Since those in higher judiciary are required to be isolated from masses, all judges of Supreme Court and High Courts can be entitled for exclusive Business Class. But same facility should not be extended for Election Commissioners who are presently entitled for service-conditions and benefits equivalent to those of Supreme Court judges.

It is significant that largest domestic airliner Indigo has only one class namely economy class, and top officers travelling through Indigo have no other option than to travel in economy class. There is no reason that they may not travel in economy class in other flights. Rather planes imported for domestic flights should be allowed to have only economy class like in Indigo.

Frequent-Flyer-Points given by different airlines should be accumulated in accounts of public-authorities paying for tickets to be compensated in cash to respective public-authorities.

Madhu Agrawal

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

Rahul Gandhi says nothing wrong in all thieves share Modi surname remarks

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Web Team

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October 10, 2019

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday appeared before a magisterial court and pleaded not guilty in a criminal defamation case filed against him for his “why do all thieves share the Modi surname” remarks. He said that he did not say anything wrong when he said all thieves share the Modi surname.

Gandhi appeared before the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate B H Kapadia in Surat and pleaded not guilty when asked by the court whether he accept the charges, levelled against him by BJP legislator from Surat-West, Purnesh Modi.

After Gandhi’s plea was recorded, his lawyers moved an application seeking a permanent exemption from personal appearance in the next hearings. After Modi’s lawyers raised objection to the exemption plea, the court said it will decide on the plea on December 10.

The court said Gandhi is not required to remain present during the next hearing on that date.

During the last hearing in July, the court had granted Gandhi exemption from personal appearance for that hearing and fixed October 10 as the next date of hearing.

In his complaint, the BJP legislator had alleged the Congress leader had defamed the entire Modi community with his remarks, made during the Lok Sabha campaign this year.

The court, while admitting the suit, had held that there was a prima facie case of criminal defamation against the Lok Sabha member from Wayanad.

At a campaign rally at Kolar in Karnataka on April 13, Gandhi had said, “Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi… how come they all have Modi as common surname? How come all thieves have Modi as common surname?”

In his complaint, Purnesh Modi had said the Congress leader had defamed the entire Modi community with his statement. Gujarat Congress president Amit Chavda on Tuesday held a meeting with local party leaders in view of Gandhi’s visit.

I am in Surat today to appear in a defamation case filed against me by my political opponents, desperate to silence me.

I am grateful for the love & support of the Congress workers who have gathered here to express their solidarity with me. #SatyamevJayate pic.twitter.com/HZmAcEhciu

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) October 10, 2019

Rahul Gandhi tweeted, “I am in Surat today to appear in a defamation case filed against me by my political opponents, desperate to silence me. I am grateful for the love & support of the Congress workers who have gathered here to express their solidarity with me.”

Fadnavis Govt: Debt burden increases by Rs 1.8 lakh crore

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Vijay Panchal

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October 9, 2019

Raising the issue of development, Narendra Modi government at centre and Devendra Fadnavis government in Maharashtra came to power in 2014. This issue attracted common man especially youths and they were voted to power. For first time, the BJP got its chief minister in Maharashtra and Shiv Sena became its junior partner. Fadnavis government completed its term successfully and now it is seeking the second term in Maharashtra assembly elections which is due on October 21. CM Fadnavis claims a lot of development works during his 5-year tenure. But at the same time, Maharashtra’s debt increased by Rs 1.8 lakh crore between 2014 and 2019. Opposition parties allege that Fadnavis government has done nothing remarkable in the name of development.

When our correspondent Nikhil Sagare spoke to NCP Mumbai president and spokesperson Nawab Malik he said, “The loan burden of the government has doubled. All their expenditure is incurred on paying salaries and development is not visible. This government has looted Maharashtra.”

It is worth mentioning that when Narendra Modi became CM of Gujarat in 2001, the state had total debt of Rs 42,781 crore. In 2014, he resigned as CM of the state. From 2001 to 2014, debt burden of Gujarat soared to Rs 1, 88, 518 crore. Currently, it is Rs 2, 97, 996 crore. All BJP ruled states, including Maharashtra, took too much loans in the name of development works. The 15^th Finance Commission and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have expressed concern over rising debts of states.

Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe said, “The government has reduced educational budget by 2.2 per cent. They have only waived 50 per cent of agricultural loans. The loan availed by the government has increased from 2,98,000 to 4.71,000 crores. The government is not willing to speak about Jalyukt Shivar scheme. Despite charging 39.1 per cent on petrol revenue shortfall is being witnessed. Due to wrong policies revenues have decreased and non productive expenditure has increased.”

Devendra Fadnavis took office in October 2014. Then state’s total debt was Rs 3.09 lakh crore which rose to Rs 4.71 lakh crore in June 2019. As per RBI’s recent study ‘State Finances’, it will further rise to Rs 5.02 by March 2020. Fadnavis government has claimed that a total investment of Rs 375,045 crores was made in the state in last 5 years. The government has spent Rs 6,260 crores to avail fundamental facilities in the urban areas. During various plantation drives, the Forest Department achieved a new milestone by planting around 50 crore trees. 765,528 houses have been completed under the Pradhan Mantri Aawas Scheme. 113200 Divyang citizens received the benefit of certificates.

BJP spokesperson Madhav Bhandari said, “The increase in loan burden had started during the Congress-NCP reign. Nobody knows where they have spent the money. Money spent by our government is used for developmental work. Work on Mumbai, Nagpur and Pune metro is going on. Construction of highway is under progress. Money is spent by our government for infrastructure work.”

Fadnavis government started the construction of 701 km long Nagpur-Mumbai Samruddhi Mahamarg which is one of major achievements of state government. Digitisation of the 7/12 extract has been a major milestone in the state. Maharashtra bagged the 3rd rank in health index throughout the country. The ‘Atal Maha Aarogya‘ camp has proven beneficial to 24 Lakh patients of Maharashtra. All these achievements are displayed on the website of Chief Minister’s Office (CMO).

BJP MP Gopal Shetty said, “Maharashtra Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar can give the right explanation for increase in loan burden of the state. Loans are availed for undertaking developmental work. Interest rates have increased on loans taken during Congress government’s reign .”

Between 2014 and 2019, BJP ruled states and their debts are as follows:-

(Source: RBI report)

State- 2014- 2019 (In Rs lakh crore)

Maharashtra- 3.09– 4.43
Assam- 0.31- 0.58
Bihar- 0.89- 1.68
Chhattisgarh- 0.26- 0.68
Goa- 0.13- 0.20
Gujarat- 1.89- 2.98
Haryana-0.80- 1.84
Himachal Pradesh-0.34- 0.54
Jharkhand- 0.38- 0.84
Madhya Pradesh-0.96- 2.0
Rajasthan-1.28-3.07
Uttar Pradesh-2.66- 5.63
Uttarakhand-0.30-0.58

India takes loan from the World Bank on regular basis

By

Vaidehi Taman

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October 9, 2019

In 2016, the government of India and the World Bank signed a $650 million agreement towards the third loan for the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor to help faster and more efficient movement of raw materials and finished goods between the north and eastern parts of India. In 2017, the government of India and the World Bank signed a $200 million loan agreement for the Assam Agribusiness and Rural Transformation Project.

In 2018, the government of India and the World Bank signed a $375 million loan agreement to support India develop its first modern inland water transport on the Ganga river between Varanasi and the seaport of Haldia.

A prolonged shadow-banking crisis and hurdles in bankruptcy rules are set to keep India atop the world’s worst bad-debt pile, even as Italy, which held the title previously, quickens the cleanup of its lenders. More than 2.4 per cent of total loans in India’s banking system may be under stress on top of the 9.6 per cent bad debt ratio as of June, the highest among major economies, Credit Suisse estimates shows. Italy, on the other hand, has nearly halved its ratio to 8.5 per cent in the last three years.

The failure to slash stressed assets is undermining India’s efforts to revive economic growth that has cooled to a six-year low. A cash crunch in the shadow-banking sector that started with the collapse of IL&FS Group last year and the delays in the bankruptcy process are adding to the challenges faced by banks as they seek to tidy up their balance sheets. India is the largest recipient of loans from the World Bank, amounting to $102.1 billion, between 1945 and 2015 (as on July 21, 2015), according to the Bank’s lending report.

While the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), a part of the World Bank group, has lent $52.7 billion, loans from IBRD are at market rate, but that rate is still concessional because it is lower than what India could borrow on its own. Plus the loans are for a long period, which is not possible for India on its own. The International Development Association (IDA), a multilateral concessional lender of World Bank, has loaned $49.4 billion to India over the last 70 years. Loans from IDA are essentially zero-interest loans for 40 years.

These days, most World Bank lending to India is from IBRD. India continues to borrow billions of dollars from the World Bank – and China also borrows from the World Bank – about $ 2 billion per year. Both India and China do not truly need this money – but with the loans they get free supervision from the World Bank, which is often helpful in improving the success of project implementation. Meaning that the World Bank sends its technical experts at no charge – they are unbiased, which helps sort out local issues. India does repay the loans to the World Bank as stated in the repayment schedule there is no issue – India has no problems in repaying the loans. India on December 28, 2017 signed a $ 40 Million Loan Agreement with the World Bank for ‘Uttar Pradesh (UP) Pro-Poor Tourism Development Project’. India on November 20, 2017 signed $100 million loan agreement with the World Bank for Shared Infrastructure for Solar Parks Project. India and World Bank on November 7, 2017 signed a financing agreement for loan of $119 million for the Odisha Higher Education Programme for Excellence & Equity (OHEPEE) Project. India and the World Bank on October 30, 2017 signed $200 million loan agreement for the Assam Agribusiness and Rural Transformation Project. The loan will have a 7 year grace period and a maturity of 16.5 years. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on October 11, 2017 approved two World Bank supported schemes Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion (SANKALP) and Skill Strengthening for Industrial Value Enhancement (STRIVE) to boost Skill India Mission. SANKALP is Rs 4455 crore centrally sponsored scheme including Rs 3300 crore loan support from World Bank whereas STRIVE is a Rs 2200 crore central sector scheme with half of the scheme outlay as World bank loan assistance. The Cabinet Minister for Science and Technology, Earth Sciences, Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Harsh Vardhan, on June 30, 2017 launched a first ever Industry-Academia mission. Under the Mission, the government launched a programme named Innovate in India (i3) that will witness an investment of $250 million with $125 million as a loan from World Bank. India on June 27, 2017 signed a loan agreement of $35 million with the World Bank for Assam State Public Financial Institutional Reforms Project. India on June 5, 2017 signed a $ 39.2 million loan agreement with the World Bank for the Assam Citizen Centric Service Delivery project.

India on May 31, 2017 signed a loan agreement of $36 million with the World Bank for Himachal Pradesh Public Financial Management Capacity Building Programme. The World Bank Board on March 16, 2017 approved the $175 million National Hydrology Project to strengthen capacity of institutions to assess water situation in their regions.

India on October 21, 2016 signed a 650-million US dollar loan agreement with the World Bank for the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor-III (EDFC-III) Project. The project will benefit industries of Northern and Eastern India, which rely on railway network for transportation of material inputs and exports. Union and Karnataka government on May 24, 2016 signed 100 million US dollar loan and project agreement with World Bank to support ‘Karnataka Urban Water Supply Modernization project’. The World Bank Board on May 13, 2016 approved a 625 million US dollars loan to support the India’s program to generate electricity from widespread installation of rooftop solar photo-voltaic (PV).

India on March 17, 2016 signed loan agreement of 35 Million dollars with the World Bank for Madhya Pradesh Citizen Access to Responsive Services Project. The objective of the project is to improve access and quality of public services in the state. The World Bank on December 15, 2015 approved a 1.5 billion US dollar loan for the ambitious Clean India Campaign (Swachh Bharat Mission). The loan was granted to support the government in its efforts to ensure all citizens in rural areas has access to improved sanitation and ends the practice of open defecation by 2019. This government has taken endless loan due to which country may suffer in long run.

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

SBI lowers rates on non-repo-linked loans by 10 bps, new rates to be effective from Oct 10

By

Web Team

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October 9, 2019

State Bank of India,SBI State Bank of India (SBI) on Wednesday announced reduction in its marginal cost of fund based lending (MCLR) rate by 10 basis points across all tenors, effective October 10.

This is the sixth time that the country’s largest lender has cut its MCLR or minimum lending rate in the current financial year. The rate reduction is not applicable to the repo-linked loans.

“In view of the festival season and extending the benefits to customers across all segments, we have reduced our MCLR by 10 bps across all tenors,” the bank said in a statement.

With this reduction, the one year MCLR, to which all the lending rates are linked to, is set at 8.05 per cent as against 8.15 per cent earlier. The cut in MCLR follows a 25 bps reduction in repo rate by the RBI last week.

It is remarkable that the marginal cost of funds-based lending rate (MCLR) is the minimum interest rate that a bank can lend at. MCLR is a tenor-linked internal benchmark, which means the rate is determined internally by the bank depending on the period left for the repayment of a loan.

MCLR is closely linked to the actual deposit rates and is calculated based on four components: the marginal cost of funds, negative carry on account of cash reserve ratio, operating costs and tenor premium. The RBI introduced the MCLR methodology for fixing interest rates from April 1, 2016.

Farmers should switch to organic farming-Part I

By

Vinod Dixit

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October 9, 2019

Kudos to the Governor of Gujarat Acharya Devvrat who has successfully popularized and launched organic farming in the state of Haryana and has motivated over 50,000 farmers to adopt organic technique. As a Governor he is associated with this innovative idea of the Zero Budget Natural Farming project with the motive that farmers of the state can adopt organic farming, in Gujarat state too, he has already implemented his dream project of organic farming. Acharya rightly said that natural farming was a zero budget occupation and was based on the use of cow dung in agriculture. It preserves land fertility, saves water and helps reduce global warming.

Acharya was always poised for a role in the bigger state, which is primarily due to the faith reposed in him by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, who has appreciated his relentless efforts to popularise organic farming and ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’. According to the Governor, Zero Budget Natural Farming programme is related to a set of natural farming methods, under which the cost of growing and harvesting plants is zero. Acharya has always tried to interact with farmers and informs them about the programme which involves almost no monetary investment and envisages the use of ‘Jeevamrutha’ and ‘Beejamrutha’ (sources of beneficial bacteria). Here ‘Zero Budget’ refers to zero net cost of production of all crops, which means that farmers are not required to buy fertilisers and pesticides to ensure the healthy growth of crops. It will take time, but Gujarat is committed to increase the spread of organic farming through systematic planning.

Subhash Palekar a Padmashree righty says “If we really want to prevent farmer suicides, we have to adopt Zero-Budget organic farming. We need to have mass movement to promote low-cost organic farming.” Today, for promoting organic farming, state government has taken steps like setting up of a cell to implement its new organic farming policy. Farmers should now switch to organic farming and its ways from conventional method of farming. Many farmers are apprehensive about adopting organic farming due to the high production cost and the three-year transition period when farmers have to wait before getting their farms certified. There are who are talking on yield drop by 30 per cent with organic cultivation but when we compare this with chemical inputs technology investments, the resulting benefits from organic technology is superior. Even though the costs upfront seem to be high, overtime organic farming becomes cheaper as it doesn’t require expensive artificial fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides and GM seeds. It is fact that though there is lower yield, these farms are more profitable and environmentally friendly, provide several ecosystem services, numerous social benefits and deliver nutritious foods with relatively less pesticide residues compared to conventional farming. Earlier we used to guide farmers by telling them to use chemical fertilizers but now there is a strong need to inform them to use organic ways of farming. Organic agriculture is an ecological production management system that promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activity. It is based on minimal use of off-farm inputs and on management practices that restore, maintain and enhance ecological harmony. Today, consumers purchase organic foods for many different reasons. There are many who want to buy food products that are free of chemical pesticides or grown without conventional fertilizers. Some simply like to try new and different products. Product taste, concerns for the environment and the desire to avoid foods from genetically engineered organisms are among the many other reasons some consumers prefer to buy organic food products.

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

Letters to the Editor: 09 October, 2019

By

Web Team

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October 9, 2019

Card-payment machines must be made compulsory for retailers

To further promote digital-payments, installation of card-payment machines to accept payments must be made compulsory by retailers registered under GST or who have their account-books auditable under Income Tax Act to begin with in urban areas. It is surprising that such machines are not there even with many big renowned retailers in unorganised sector even in metro-cities like Delhi. There is large-scale GST-evasion by such renowned retailers selling their own manufactured products because they very hesitantly issue GST-invoices that too on specifically being asked for though they include GST in cost of their manufactured products thus making charged GST their additional income. It should be made compulsory to issue GST-invoices by every registered GST-dealer without even being asked by the customer.

Notice about auto-issue of GST-invoices and installation of card-machines must be compulsorily displayed prominently at their establishments and on packing-material for consumer-awareness. Special prize-schemes should be announced for consumers giving information about retailers not auto-issuing GST cash-memos.

Digital can and should be further encouraged by bearing complete cost of transaction-charges on card-payments by Central government and banks irrespective of amounts whereby banks may be directed to reduce transaction-charges to nominal half-percent which may be borne by central government. Banks can abolish incentives for card-payments, and central government can withdraw since irrelevant incentives like on purchase of petrol through card-payments. Move will ultimately be extra revenue-generating both for central government and banks. Central government will earn extra through check on tax-evasion. Banks will increase their ultimate collection of transaction-charges because of manifold increase through card-payments

Subhash Chandra Agrawal

Save Aarey forest

As a Mumbaikar, I am not against the Mumbai Metro car shed being constructed in Goregaon because we all know how vastly it would improve our transport system. However, all I want is to stop the trees in the area from being axed.
Felling of trees for the sake of constructing a car shed is not a wise move. The trees must be saved at all costs.

Jubel D’Cruz

Kudos to Arvind Kejriwal

Thousands of congratulations to the Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal for his copybook performances regarding education, social awareness and health system specially for the new scheme ‘Farishte Dilli Ke’. There is no room for doubt that by this campaign more than thirty thousand people’s souls have been rescued from the very critical situations. And most importantly I would like to congratulate the people who saved thousands of lives. Really it was very clear-eyed decision taken by this revolutionary party.

Kulsoom Saba

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

Mumbai needs more 24×7 mental health helplines

By

Tushar Sheth

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October 9, 2019

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has started a helpline number ‘Hitguj’ (24131212) in 2013, which is maintained by the psychiatric department of KEM hospital and functions 24×7. However, the other numbers do not function during the night, which according to psychiatrists is the most vulnerable time for patients suffering from mental health issues. BMC’s helpline number, too, receives a third of its calls during the night. Between 2008 and 2016, Mumbai recorded 10,657 suicide cases, where most were in the age group of 25-40 years, according to a Right to Information (RTI) filed by activist Shakeel Ahmed Shaikh.

D Shreelakshmi a counsellor of suicide helpline NGO Aadhar told Afternoon Voice, “Due to financial crisis and lack of volunteers running helpline round the clock becomes challenging. Running the helpline at night is very essential, but it needs more helpers. We run with the help of volunteers who manage time to talk to the callers in these six hours. So, if more people come forward, we would certainly extend the timing”.

Psychiatrists have now addressed the need for more 24×7 helpline numbers which will help save more lives. Despite having almost half-a-dozen helpline numbers, Mumbai has only one 24-hour mental healthcare helpline number for a population of over 12 million.

Dr Swapna Patekar Pyschologist and Counsellor said, “With growing financial crisis ,unpredictable job scenes and increasing competition to survive, mental issues are on a high. Considering this we need a helpline to deal with this epidemic of the mind at the earliest. Mumbai will become a capital of depression and suicides very soon if proper measures are not taken.”

Since the inception of Hitguj, the number of calls has risen by 20% in the past five years. This year, until October 4, the helpline received 4,892 calls, as opposed to 3,835 calls in 2015. This helpline is managed by trained psychologists in three shifts and records over 30% calls in the night that continues till dawn. Almost 25% callers have suicidal tendencies. These calls are most common late in the night. If you go by the official records, over men who remain busy at work till evening commit 65 per cent of suicides. So, if they need mental support, they would call at night. In a country where there are no rules and regulations to curb suicide cases, this is the least we can do.

Psychiatrist and Wellness Counselor, Vivek Mantri said, “The mental health help centres should be open for 24×7 and at night, it must be kept open on priority. State government should really understand that the mental health issues are on rise, wherein most of the people develop suicidal tendencies in the dark or evening hours, because the silence around bothers them the most.”

Raj Thackeray and MNS have no issues to talk about

By

Vaidehi Taman

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October 9, 2019

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) is one-man army and the man is Raj Thackeray. When the ruling party literally had no opposition, when the opposition parties were clueless and dense, it’s Raj Thackeray who was vocal about every issue and had time and again took on ruling government. There is no strong opposition party in Maharashtra against BJP & Shiv Sena allied government. Most of the top-level leaders of Congress-NCP are under the fear of various investigations such as CBI, ED, etc. Here MNS already shown that they can be strong opposition by clearing stations in Mumbai, its Suburbs and Thane. MNS is contesting on 120 seats in forthcoming assembly elections. There are chances that they can come along the Congress-NCP alliance and other friendly parties like Raju Shetti-led Swabhimani Paksha. Looking at present conditions and the crises in Maharashtra may it be cutting trees or closing banks, people are fed up with ruling government in such scenario what they need is option to vote. MNS can be better option and people know if given power Raj Thackeray can bring some change.

Raj Thackeray was one of the prominent leaders in Shiv Sena during 2002–04. His influence in party’s policies was tremendous and he was actually considered to be the successor of Bal Thackeray. But Bal Thackeray started promoting his own son Uddhav and purposely sidelined Raj, which lead to formation of a new political party MNS by Raj. MNS got some success in its initial days due to their ‘Sons-of-Soil’ agenda. Raj was seen as a promising leader. But in the latest elections people have completely discarded him and his party. The reason was that the MNS could not stand on its words and they always started something and left half way, the Marathi Manoos started losing faith in his and he never tried to win the confidence of people.

The development is significant as Raj was not keen on contesting the assembly polls in Maharashtra and had called for a boycott of the assembly polls till the Election Commission agreed to conduct the assembly polls in the state with ballot papers instead of EVM machines. Raj had met NCP Chief Sharad Pawar and other opposition leaders with the idea of a boycott of the assembly polls claiming that the polls held under EVM machines were managed to favour the BJP. However, other opposition parties in the state were not keen to boycott the polls.

Raj has miserably failed to give a strong political programme to the masses and has bellied their expectations. Moreover, MNS doesn’t have a strong organisation base. There is no second leadership after Raj. Moreover, some of the prominent leaders of party have already left MNS and joined BJP due to Modi wave of 2014. Not non-involvement of Raj in active politics. They had very narrow agenda; the only itinerary of MNS is Marathi Manoos i.e. ‘Sons-of-Soil’. Raj has not understood that the Maharashtra youth has become cosmopolitan and their aspirations are changed. He can no longer have the same parochial attitude. Currently, Raj and party has no issues to talk about. Some agitations like toll ban and ban on Pakistani artists were not taken seriously. Though he is hopeful about his strong bounce back, people of Maharashtra have stopped taking him seriously. One sentence-irrelevant issues raised by Raj Thackeray and his party leaders.

Since its inception, MNS tried creating divide between people based on their origin. “Don’t speak in Hindi or English” with “outsiders”. This worked in lower working class as this class always believes that their misfortune is because of somebody else. This was during 2006 to 2009 period. It’s always easy to convince this class in whatever way you can. After 2010, Modi was applauded for his developmental agenda in Gujarat. BJP too opted this model countrywide and this quickly became popular. “Good road, water, education, doing business, career development’ became the key words than “mother tongue, culture, region, religion’. This development agenda is much inclusive and does not discriminate anybody. Needless to say, this became popular in young voters that constitute huge population in state. Soon MNS found it’s very difficult to convince the people. They too opted development agenda and implemented to some extent in Nashik but it didn’t work for some reasons. Previous election result proved the same- MNS is almost wiped out across the state. Maharashtra and its people- over all are not as extreme in language, culture etc compared to some other states. That does not mean they don’t have pride in that but fooling them in the name of these issues won’t work in long. Shiv Sena is a classic example- Its one of the oldest regional party (1966)- ‘fighting’ for sons of soil issue but it took 29 years in 1995 when they got first chief minister. Again there, they did not get majority. Inspite of the entire ruckus, MNS has finally decided to contest the upcoming elections; the party is likely to contest on 120 seats. MNS will be concentrating on cities such as Mumbai, Thane, Nashik, and Pune, where it has been receiving significant support since its formation. There are indications that there may an informal alliance with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Raj Thackeray is a firebrand leader. He won 13 assembly seats in 2009. Due to lack of organisation set up, party lost in 2014 election. However, they started attacking PM Narendra Modi in Lok Sabha election. In spite of Raj’s hard hitting attacks, Modi won in majority. Since political outfits of all shapes, sizes & geo-political foot prints have already announced a unified vision of ‘Defeat Modi’ for the 2019 LS polls, MNS type units can & will extract their pound of power from the wanna-be challengers. Be it Congress, which is fighting an existential battle along with the NCP or the Shiv Sena, MIM & the invisible left, which will even spill blood to stay relevant. In these circumstances the MNS is likely to gain few seats this time, let see how this party takes it ahead.

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