Showing posts with label Congress. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Congress. Show all posts

Friday, November 30, 2012

Enemy of the state

Raj is preparing his political 'parantha' in the name of Maratha

It has become easier to break the law in India than to follow it. No wonder then that the goons are having the last say. Beating innocent North Indian students on November 19, who came to appear in Railways exams, was an extension of MNS Chief, Raj Thackeray's efforts to throw out North Indians from Maharashtra and he has proved that he neither fears the law nor does he respect it.

The truth is that North Indians have stayed in Mumbai for decades and are as much Mumbaikar as any Maratha manus. Then why are they being targeted? Says Sanjay Nirupam from Congress, "Whatever Raj is doing is nothing more than an effort to find his place in Maharashtra. Since Balasaheb is no more what he used to be and Udhav Thackeray has proven to be a powerless successor, Raj is trying to gain power by using an aggressive stand against North Indians.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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Wednesday, November 21, 2012

VIP SECURITY: MISUSED

VIP/VVIP security has lost that ‘necessity’ touch. It’s merely an act...

It is obnoxious that common men are even prevented to walk on the pavements and traffic brought to a halt when politicians pass by. Currently, over 300 persons are considered VIPs in Delhi alone, engaging nearly 9,000 police personnel! Various RTI requests reveal that around one lakh police and paramilitary personnel are deployed to guard VIPs. To make matters worse, expenses on the Special Protection Group for VVIPs exceeded the set target by a whopping 16%! Sample this: immediately after Samajwadi Party and Congress patched-up, SP leader Amar Singh (who was under no security threat, whatsoever) was provided the highest level of security.

Yes, security is a need, but one can’t have the nation running around politicians! It’s really the politicians who are meant to protect the nationals. And why get elected in the first place, when you’re pigeon livered?!


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
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Thursday, August 09, 2012

Orissa needs to ensure implementation of the promises

A lot has been said and done, but the reality is far from what was promised. To continue on growth track Orissa needs to ensure implementation of the promises, says Deepak Ranjan Patra

Apart from the red-tapism, companies coming in to set up industries are also suffering from many other problems like water crisis, power shortage, and above all other infrastructural problems like roads and transportation. Water has already become a major issue in western Orissa after the government agreed to provide water to the industries from the Hirakud dam. It led to an agitation from the farmers of the area, under the banner of Western Orissa farmers association, demanding of all MoUs that are signed after 2003 to be cancelled. “We have asked the government to cancel all MoUs signed after 2003 that allows dam water for industrial purposes. Dam water is meant for power generation and irrigation and not for the industrial use”, says Ashok Pradhan, Co-convener of the Western Orissa farmers association’s coordination committee. Like the land issue, the water is also yet to see some decisive solution from the government.

There is no doubt that the state government under leadership of Naveen Patnaik understands the problem. Recently the CM in a public appearance accepted that the state still needs to invest heavily on roads, railways, electricity, drinking water supply and irrigation adding that appropriate policy initiatives need to be put in place for providing infrastructure support to unleash economic development.

However, the biggest question here is, why are these companies pouring into a state even after knowing that it has enormous problems that are hard nuts to crack? The answer is simple; for the unexploited mineral resources of the state. So those cases, where the companies find a possibility to move away with minerals without actually setting up their plant, they happily grab the opportunity.

Shivananda Ray, Vice President, State Congress Committee argues, “Only production units should get mines lease but here mines are also given to non-production units. It offers no value addition for the state.” He further adds, “If the state is showing such industrial growth it should be reflected as higher economic growth and increased per capita. But the state is still among the poorest in the country.”

Even the government would certainly find it difficult to rubbish this argument. It has already happened in the past that even after getting permissions, companies had shown absolutely zero interest in implementing there projects. Understanding the gravity of the situation, in 2006 the same government had issued ‘show cause notices’ to almost half a dozen companies when it found that the companies had shown no interest in setting up their projects. Even last month the government has again issued similar notices to a few more. But the question remains, will cancellation of such projects solve the purpose?

Today when the state has started to catch up with the country’s growth rate; instead of number of MoUs signed what is more important is how many of them see the day light and end up adding to the state’s economy. So far the rate of conversion at 40% (assuming those 29 projects to be fully operational) is definitely not acceptable. Though the government understands the need for infrastructure development, it’s yet to go big at it and the same is applicable for issues like land acquisition and public oppositions. Moreover, the complaints, if true, about companies trying to move out with minerals and doing no work, can be taken care of by adding a few more clauses to the MoUs.

But unless the ones who intend to work are provided with a friendly environment, it will always remain tough to make these companies add value to the state. For a sustainable long-term growth and inclusion of the people at the lower economic strata in the growth process a state like Orissa, which is currently transitioning from primary sector driven to secondary sector driven, certainly needs to convert these MoUs into industries. Because we know, wishes are no horses.


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