Manifestoes of sops to woo voters
Can populist schemes announced through party manifestos be taken as violation of election code of conductIJ Probably not. Or else, the young Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav would not have come out with his party manifesto that includes free ghee, cookers and phones, besides a monthly pension Rs 1,000 for one crore people. Similar is the case with the AAP in Punjab that promises laptops to youths and Rs 5 for a meal. The Congress in Odisha is no different. Claiming to be the sole alternative to the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the grand old national party has declared formation of SHGs for unemployed youths (male) with Rs 1 lakh as loan for capital investment from the Government, increase of disability allowance to Rs 1,500 per month, old age allowance of Rs 2,000 to persons above 80 years of age, Rs 5,000 as pension to farmers, 250 days’ employment to job cardholders or Rs 3,000 in default as monthly pension, Rs 50,000 assistance during marriage of a girl belonging to BPl family and 2kg nutritious food per month free for children below five years et al. Do all these promises attract the ground level voters and do they really listen to these promises seriously, let alone readIJ These are questions which bother the star campaigners in the PRI election. Now, whether the rural vote will be rid of illegal distribution of liquor and cash is the final question which is shrouded in mystery only to be unraveled gradually during the last phase of election.
Tarai case: Women mere puppet candidatesIJ
The BJD Government’s 50 percent seat reservation for women candidate in the gram panchayat election is a welcome step to strengthen democracy but it has led to cropping up of many puppet candidates who are unaware of party agenda and development activities in their respective zones. Resultantly when situation warranted they looked for answers from their male counterparts. If women win election and their buddies hold the reign, what sort of democracy shall we have for usIJ The candidates while facing the media even admit that they will be engaged in development work with the help of their sons and other family members. There are many Rabri Devi - like candidates and many lalu Yadavs who make their wives, daughters, mothers and sisters to contest against the reserved seats. Many former sarpanchs have done so after the seats were declared for women. Husband for his wife, father for his daughter and son for his mother are the brains behind such candidates. Among the most remarkable and vulnerable was Babita Tarai, wife of Kendrapada MlA Kishore Chandra Tarai. After drawing flak from several quarters for his alleged role in the unopposed election of his wife to the post of Penthapala panchayat samiti member, Tarai said Babita would resign from the post after the announcement of poll results ‘owning moral responsibility’. And remember, this statement is made by the husband, not the wife who has allegedly won the seat uncontested!
Chit fund: Recoveries far less than swindled money
The CBI, which took over the probe into chit fund scam following a direction of the Supreme Court, has estimated that the AT Group alone defrauded thousands of depositors of a total Rs 1,200 crore. The Enforcement Directorate claims to have attached assets of various chit fund companies and with the latest attachment of Rs 23 crore, the total attachment of AT Group property now stands at Rs 107 crore. PK Sethy of AT Group has been in jail after he was arrested by the State police for duping thousands of investors in Odisha by floating various fraudulent schemes. But the value of the attachment of assets seems to be too low when compared to the money defrauded from the poor people who are still waiting for the return of their deposits. The ED might be probing the case under provisions of the Prevention of Money laundering Act. But inquiry, arrests and all sorts of legal remedies are of no consequence if poor depositors do not get relief. People are not interested in who is heading the inquiry or who all are behind the bar, they want their deposits back sooner than later.
Hirakhand tragedy: Major mishap in three months
Going by the adage ‘Prevention is better than cure’, precautionary measures can only restrict, if not fully eradicate, accidents. Some passengers of Hirakhand Express derailed in Kuneru in Andra Pradesh might have escaped death by a whisker, but that does not absolve Railways of its primary responsibility of ensuring a safe journey for its passengers. Railway safety is at a stake because it was third major accident in three months and here the death toll went up to 41 leaving 69 injured. Whether it was due to human error or defect in the tracks is a subject of inquiry. There might be foul play which may not be ruled out but senior police officials have denied about such a probability. Railway authorities do take precautionary measures with standard operative practices (SOP) but then there are many a slip between the cup and the lips because human error does not come under the purview of SOP. On yet another day, a rail engine ran for two kilometers leaving its bogies behind. The shunting job is manually done and slightest of negligence can invite an unknown tragedy. We often hear about precautions taken by the Railways to avoid accidents, but we also encounter accidents with loss of life and property. When are we going to enjoy a risk free travel on railIJ