A Bold Agenda for United Progressive Alliance (UPA)

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``Make no substantive changes in foreign policy.``

Agreed! Let the focus on terrorism remain!!

``- No change in macro-economic policies in general; ``

Yes. Focus on the de-bureaucratization of the regulatory authorities;

``- Continue the policy of selling PSUs - ....the proceeds from the sale of these PSUs should not go into the government’s general revenues but should be used to fund special initiatives to provide drinking water and other schemes, such as harvesting rain water and biomass energy generation. .... provide jobs as well as meet some basic needs of the poor...done through a predetermined formula and not through the creation of a new bureaucracy.....The funds should be provided directly to panchayats or other bodies locally accountable to the people``

Looks good on paper.

``-Impose a levy of 10-15% on all tuition fees ....``

This is the hackneyed solution- we need to be more innovative on this- perhaps allow government schoools to be adopted by the private ones like Pakistan has done- the problem is not merely of education resources but of its improper utilization.

``- social work in a village or a slum ;``

Compulsary Communal work should include any contribution made to make things better for the local community- this requires working closely in the local communities- that could very well be made to include contributions such as making a web service for the village community or helping to teach villagers to work on computers, or learning English as a language........ otherwise it becomes like the SUPW project.

``- The curricula of all schools run by religious organizations should be scrutinized by a central agency ``

: Yes, this is needed urgently;

``- The schools should focus on producing good citizens for the country. The task of making them good Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims, Christians, etc. should be left to parents and religious institutions; ``

Agreed! The individual citizen should be the focus of the schools-- it should produce citizen-identity which is constituted not by the mores and morals provided by their religions or communities but their citizen-identity should be constituted by the Acts and Rules of the constitution of India- And I mean this seriously!!!

-``- Pro-active measures should be taken to improve the representation of Muslims in police, army and other government agencies. ``

Yes, but recruitment should at the same time take the best from the community.

``- POTA-type legislation -``

No!!!! this is incorrect identification of the problem- riots do not occur because the Acts and Legislations are weak. The riots can only be deterred by ensuring that the law enforcement officials, the police, is properly trained and sensitized to handle riots ``professionally`` , without going into the politics of riots. They should be sensitized against taking a communal position in the riots and should be punished heavily in case some one is found guilty of dereliction or omission. This implies re-training of the police force and the changing its culture gradually. More punitive legislation does not act per se as a deterrent against the rioters- We also need a special database of those suspected to be providing any assistance- moral or other-wise- in rioting. Riot should be dealt in the manner Home Land Security is treated in US.

``- income-based reservations:``

Yes.

``- All religious subsidies should be abolished- ``

a tricky subject but the intention is clear! More discussions required on the Haj subsidies.

``- All discriminatory provisions of the constitution with regards to religions should be removed. The same provisions should govern educational and religious institutions irrespective of whether the institution belongs to a religious majority or minority; ``

Needs more debate on the specifics.

``- national consensus for a uniform civil code-``

Again a tricky subject!

DM# 15

I think we differ on the fundamentals of the issues, which means that our differences are ideological and hence we cannot find a middle ground.

For me, education is a fundamental human right and one of government`s core responsibilities. I am not against privatization of education, but it should be a tax free industry. The more education the better a country would be. Instead of taxing this industry a government may mandate it to accomodate a certain number of students, on merit of course, for full financial aid and scholarships. The direct taxation however, opens a pandora box of bureaucratic inefficiencies and misappropriation of revenue. This experiment has worked in Pakistan but in reverse direction. There are several government funded universities and medical colleges that have become self sufficient by allowing certain number of self-fundeded seats. It can also work in the reverse direction for private institutions as well, thus allowing the best and brightest but poor, an opportunity to gain quality education which they can only dream of. It will help create a more coherent middle class as well.

Similarly, universal health coverage is government`s core responsibility. The privatization has only made it out of reach for the masses and not the other way around. Even in US and Canada private healthcare is out of reach for anyone unless one has health insurance. Even with the fundamental difference between the healthcare system of the two countries, private healthcare is not directly taxed - medicines are not taxed and supplies are not taxed. Why we have to make the lives of our people miserable.

``A Sikh is today the Prime Minister of India.

A Muslim is today the President of India.

An Italian born Roman Catholic (WOMAN,WOMAN, WOMAN) is the head of the ruling political party.``

India has come back to its roots -- the MOST DEMOCRATIC -- THE MOST ENLIGHTENED -- the MOST TOLERANT -- THE MOST PROGGRESSIVE country of the ENTIRE WORLD...at peace with its neighbors -- at peace with the world -- and at peace with itself.....

Great HOMECOMING -- BLESS YOU THE MOST LITERATE ELECTORATE OF THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE ....

the US Electorate -- take note of it -- follow India -- time to KICK our warmongering fascist bastards from the White House -- now...

# 17 DostMittar:

I agree, India had made significant progress on the population front but the progress is uneven.

This uneven progress is influenced by
1) Geographic (Bihar, UP, MP, Rajasthan are not able to curb the growth while South and West had made great progress),
2) Economic (Economically backward classes in other regions are also unable to curb the growth) and
3) Religious (Certan religious leaders are opposed to birth control measures) factors

The suggestion you have made is a great one, but we need to have an integrated approach and tackle the problem on different fronts. Esp. since the other problem you have highlighted (i.e. Improving Literacy) is inextricably linked to this issue. That solution has several components (we can discuss it some other time). Just wanted to highlight the issue.

- Avkrishna

# 25 DM

`` ``And do Indian madrasas train their students to be anti-India ?``

I am certain they DO NOT! ``

I wonder how you are so certain?

- Avkrishna

HisExcellency#23:
``What steps do you think the UPA should take to win the hearts and minds of the Kashmiris?``

I think that they should continue with the policy initiatives of the earlier government. That government held the first free and fair elections in Kashmir since its accession to India. The Mufti government`s policy of `healing touch` has won all-round praise. The Vajpayee government had started negotiations with the separatist Hurriyet leadership. And discussions on Kashmir is part of the roadmap of talks with Pakistan. All this should continue.

By the way, I saw this recent interview of Manmohan Singh with Joanathan Power. It shows his thinking on Kashmir when he was in the opposition:

``I pushed him on how far he himself would accept compromise with Pakistan over Kashmir. “Short of secession, short of re-drawing boundaries, the Indian establishment can live with anything. Meanwhile, we need soft borders — then borders are not so important.” I reminded him that Nehru had promised Kashmir a plebiscite. “A plebiscite”, he said emphatically, would be on a religious basis and would unsettle everything. “No government in India could survive that. Autonomy we are prepared to consider.
“All these things are negotiable. But an independent Kashmir would become a hotbed of fundamentalism.”

HP#24
``You want governments to become Robin Hood. Take it from the rich and give handouts to poor.``

Every government does that, including the neocons of the USA. It is also known as progressive taxation. Your government just raised your taxes yesterday to provide for healthcare to everyone.

``This world has seen many social scientists like that in the middle of the last century. In fact, India was full of them until it went down to just one month of debt repayment and nothing to show for it in the country.``

India went down because of the Nehruvian socialists who believed in controlling the commanding heights of the economy, i.e., the engines of economic growth. They totally neglected the social infrastructure. Notwithstanding some centres of excellence such as the IITs and the Indian Institute of Medical Sciences, there record on improving general literacy and healthcare was quite dismal. And the Vajpayee government built more roads in six months than the Nehruvians did in half a century, and nobody accused them of being socialists.

``The way to help is to privatize the whole thing. Provide tax incentives to businesses that invest in hospitals. Run the health care system on commercial lines``

And until the poor of the country have the money to buy these commercial services, who will provide the basic service to them? My solution is to let these commercial providers flourish and use some of their revenues to provide basic health and education to those who are not in a position to do so on their own.

nasah#20
I do not know who coined the name ``United Progressive Alliance``. To me, it seems like the creation of that other Singh, Harkishen Surjeet - the old Marxist war-horse of India who becomes ubiquitous whenever there is a need to cobble together a leftist alliance.
...and please let Vajpayee stay where he belongs, snoozing in his opposition chair to wake up from time to time to keep those `jackals` in check.

gujjubania#23
``Whats `dar-ul-harb` ?

Whats `jahil` ? (`Kaafir` I know)``

Islam divides the world into dar-ul-islam (the peaceful world where islam is dominant) and dar-ul-harb (the hostile world where islam is not dominant). `jahil` in urdu means stupid and ignorant. But in islam, the term is also used to describe the idol-worshipping Meccans of the Prophet`s time.

``And do Indian madrasas train their students to be anti-India ?``

I am certain they DO NOT! But many of these madrassas are supported by funds from the Saudis and the teachers are trained at Deoband, which teaches the same brand of islam as the Wahabis of Saudi Arabia, with the concepts of dar-ul-harb and jahils/kafirs.

#17 by dost-mittar
``I dont know where you live, but in almost every country that I know of, the government is responsible for providing basic education, healthcare and social infrastructure for its people``

Amartya Sen’s area of interest is fundamental problems in welfare economics. That is what his citation for Nobel Prize was.
I live a little SW of you.

Your idea to tax one group to support the other group is also known as robbing Peter to pay Paul until Peter is unable to pay any thing and Paul is still dirt poor. You want governments to become Robin Hood. Take it from the rich and give handouts to poor. Some also named that voodoo economics.
This world has seen many social scientists like that in the middle of the last century. In fact, India was full of them until it went down to just one month of debt repayment and nothing to show for it in the country.
Yes! School system and Hospital in India or Pakistan both need huge investments to bring them to some satisfactory level. But supporting them thru the public exchequer is a bad bad idea. That is being done for the last 57 years and the result is that there is a shameful public schools and public health system.
The way to help is to privatize the whole thing. Provide tax incentives to businesses that invest in hospitals. Run the health care system on commercial lines. If private schools are consistently providing better results then why can’t they be encouraged with some tax incentive to expand and get even better results?
Nobody has to follow the US model of healthcare but a lot can be learned from the US model.
Countries that have long advocated freeloading in health care are now moving towards some privatization. UK is a recent example.
I sure can sympathize with your noble plans and ideas but they are still bad economics and therefore, not practical.
I recommend you read Robert Bork`s book “Slouching Towards Gomorrah”. His thesis is that civilization is slipping through our fingers, and he`s probably right. However, his suggestions for change require new forms of government intervention, a grave error that dooms his analysis.
Like Bork you are confusing cause with cure. As a friend said: “It`s government policy, not the private sector, that has caused social collapse.”

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re: Dost-Mittar

Your agenda looks impressive but there is a huge hole in it. It does not mention Kashmir. The insurgency in Kashmir is just a symptom of the rife revulsion the average Kashmiri (especially in the Valley) feels for India. A Pakistan foreign policy cannot be formulated without a coherent Kashmir policy simultaneously.

What steps do you think the UPA should take to win the hearts and minds of the Kashmiris?

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