A Bold Agenda for United Progressive Alliance (UPA)

I think this agenda is a recipe for a mass suicide. Personally, I would care less if all Indians would jump off a cliff but since this article is written by Dost, I would make an exception.

Now what is this non-sense of imposing levy on education institutions. Have you completely lost your mind. What every human being deserves from the state is the right of free education. I think it should be universal clause in the chrter of basic human rights of United Nations (or whatever is left of it). Similarly, all human beings deserve a universal health coverage from state. I have met people in Pakistan who will take two tablets of Asprin from you as if you have given them the wealth of the world. If you jack up levy on education and hospitals, the ultimate loser will be the masses.

POTA type regulation? What is this? are you on pot or something. Instead of giving masses transparent laws and an efficient law enforcement so that people can see justice being done you propose to enact anti-human draconian laws? I don`t beleive you live in Canada and yet you have so much disdain for your fellow human being if he happens to be brown - wah bhai wah.

And last but not least, it is the change in macro level economic policies that need to be changed to have an effect on the micro-level. Unless you control the Purchasing Power Parity based marketing by MNCs in your country how the hell the micro-level changes would benefit the lower rung of the society? Our problem is that after receiving our education from the books that white man has written for himself we start thinking like him. There is a fundamental difference between us and whiteman i.e. between our economics and theirs. White man has set his economics in such a way that all the social costs and sunk costs are off set by the loot and plunder of the resources of helpless and weaker nations. On the other hand our masses are our liability and our only asset at the same time. Unless we empower our asset we are only widening the divide between rich and poor - on both extremes.

Dost you disappoint me. I did not know that you were a white man in brown clothing. I thought you were different.

Some of the suggestions are great, though there is undue focus on Muslim welfare and grievances to the exlusion of other communities. Also, I don`t share the author`s adoration of Sonia Gandhi, though she is handling the post election tasks pretty well. BTW, Sonia Gandhi is probably not being altogether altruistic by declining to be the PM; if some reports are to be believed there were some legal issues that would have made her PMship controversial AND being challenged in the Supreme Court.

BTW, Dostmittar are you angling for a job with the new government? :-):-)

satyavadi # 2,

I totally agree with you. I would say that there is an undue focus on Muslim welfare and against Indic religions. Also, there needs to a national debate about aggressive proselytization.

Though this article extensively talks about Education, it does not talk about the other important issue, Population control. This government need to develop policies to curb population growth esp. among the economically disadvantaged classes.

I also think apart from the social issues, India needs to act fast and decisively on sustainable water management policies.

- Avkrishna

Tax...Tax... and more Tax.

Typical half-baked ideas from long buried welfare state economics.

...Looking for nearest trash can...

-:)

Avikrishna

``Though this article extensively talks about Education, it does not talk about the other important issue, Population control.``

The previous experience of Congress government of forced sterilization of Muslims during 80s might come in handy.

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Dost-Mittar,

FRom early 80`s onwards, people in india have been fooled in the name of religion, castes and region. Successive politicians have proposed policies to divide the nation in the name of welfare of minorities or low castes. What VP singh did and LK Advani did were simply to polarise the nation on different lines. What indira gandhi did was to polarize the nation in terms of central vs. regional parties at every opportunity.
For once i would like to see someone come up and declare that policies will be directed towards all the people in equal measure. The only pre-requisite required would be the citizenship of india. I don`t believe any government on earth can push a community or individual against their age old dogma or belief system to reach the level of success defined by them. If Indian government can provide an equal opportunity platform for all, I believe it would be sufficient and become a unifying force too.
Discrimantion against anyone is deemed illegal, and should be enforced rigourously. The same goes for negligence of duty in protecting life and property of citizens of india.
If, Post Godhra, the state government of gujrat had the sense of duty and law, they would have pursued the perpetrators of train burning to any ghetto and brought them to justice. Instead they chose to stand by and let the murderers go on a rampage across the state in an act of ``revenge``. Is it possible for any government in india to simply follow the law and not be bothered by religion/caste etc. of the perpetrators? Do you think we need policies that apply to one section of population and alienates others?
I see many indians being bothered about minorities all the time. Just look at US, where muslims are living happily and not complaining, despite the fact that they are not allowed to do Ajaan for namaz on loudspeakers. Can you think of having a similar situation in india? I think secularism in india has come to mean bending over backwards publicly for minorities, while screwing them up otherwise.
Sorry for the long post.

Adios

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The article is very optimistic and I wish for the sake of India, it was that simple...But with the history of the Left parties and the Congress, if even one-tenth of what is written can see the light of day, it would be a great achievement...I mean the Left parties have successfully managed to keep college tuition fees in Bengal to 16 rupees to this day...yes, 16 rupees...with a major ally like that do you really think the Congress can concentrate on ecnomic growth?...Dr. YSR Reddy is from my district in AP...he is notorious as a violent man who doesnt hesitate to indulge in booth-bombings to get his way...but hey, what does it matter if a few criminals become chief ministers when we have the likes of Laloo Yadav running around right?...and this whole business about the Telangana movement that the Congress has poured ghee into...believe me, this is going to blow up...the same kind of divisive politics by the Congress reduced the Punjab to a police state with thousands of innocents murdered...the Telangana people have every right to secede...that area has been mistreated first by the Nizam and then by the policies of latter governments, which incidentally were mostly of the Congress...before the elections they promised them a different state...now that they have won by a considerable majority, they dont seem so keen on it...it is this kind of backstabbing that can be very dangerous in an area already prone to violence what with the naxal movement in full swing....as for secular politics, hahahaha...do you really think the Congress is capable of being secular after Babri masjid, Bhindranwale etc?....they will only do what suits their vote banks...and uniform civil code and abolition of religious subsidies...never mind...the election results have put me in a conundrum...I`m happy that the NDA lost(apart from TDP)...but am sad that the Congress and allies won....it is sad that there is no other alternative in the country...looking on the bright side, if the BJP had won and Vajpayee kicked the bucket a few years later, that would mean Mr. Psycho Advani himself would become the PM...so at least that scenario is avoided...I hope Sonia is really sincere when she says that she doesnt want to become PM...and Manmohan Singh gets the post...and what is with all these jokers threatening that they will commit suicide, posing with toy pistols anyway?...who are they kidding?

Kabuli

#2 for kind attention of satyavadi

Prez denies hand in Sonia choice

New Delhi, May 19: President A P J Abdul Kalam had not raised the issue of Sonia Gandhi`s citizenship when the Congress president met him on Tuesday to discuss government formation, a Rashtrapati Bhavan statement said.

Dismissing as ?contrary to facts? a report to that effect, a press release by S M Khan, the President?s press secretary, said, ?it did not figure in the discussions at all.?

dost-mittar, first of all let me commend you that now at least we are trying to put behind us sonia bashing or BJP bashing and thinking positively about the issues at hand.But ,I think you have been in a hurry to get this article off your desk. A better organization would have been to create separate sections in your article as economic reforms/education reforms/increasing the tax net or whatever and it would have been more readable.Secondly,instead of mentioning a lot of issues focusing over a few and doing an in depth impact analysis would have been more fruitful.Thirdly,you say that these suggestions are pragmatic,but are they? POTA like legislation for religious hate crimes?Do you know how much potential it has to be misused? And same about income based reservations. Fourthly, sometimes your article starts reading like a school essay or a Dalai Lama speech -as schools should make good citizens, there should be no religious based discriminations etc.You do touch a little on the most important issue of all-economic inequality but it would have been better if you had taken them up in greater detail.

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Urstruly#1
``Now what is this non-sense of imposing levy on education institutions. Have you completely lost your mind. What every human being deserves from the state is the right of free education. I think it should be universal clause in the chrter of basic human rights of United Nations (or whatever is left of it). Similarly, all human beings deserve a universal health coverage from state.. ``

I think that you missed the crucial word, ``private schools``. The public school system is free in India and I am not suggesting any change in that. But the village schools are starved of resources, even rudimentary items like black boards. And I make no apology for adding a surcharge on private schools. When people in the cities are willing to pay Rs 1000 and more for monthly tuition in private schools and a lakh or more in the so-called building funds to get admission in prestigious schools, when they are willing to spend additional hundreds every month to get private tutoring for their kids, I dont see why they should not be asked to pay a small fraction to provide a black board to teach some poor kids. I dont think that they will mind as long as they know that the money is really being used for its intended purpose and does not end up in the pockets of sarkari babus.
Similarly, I proposed a levy on private and not public hospitals. Again, I dont see what is the harm in asking someone willing to pay Rs 1 lakh for a surgery at the Apollo hospital to pay a little extra -which he would willingly pay if Apollo raised its fees- to provide basic healthcare to those who do not have access to any facilities.

``POTA type regulation? What is this? are you on pot or something. Instead of giving masses transparent laws and an efficient law enforcement so that people can see justice being done you propose to enact anti-human draconian laws? I don`t beleive you live in Canada and yet you have so much disdain for your fellow human being if he happens to be brown - wah bhai wah.``

What is the harm in using the same yardstick against those who cause communal mayhem than what is used against suspected terrorists? People usually mention Gujarat and Delhi riots, but there is a culture of tolerating communal crimes going all the way back to the Direct Action Day in Calcutta and maybe even earlier. Drastic steps need to be taken if that culture is to be broken. If a choice is to be made between risking the lives of many innocents and curtailing some freedoms of some potentially innocent people, I will opt for the latter. And Canada too has its anti-terrorism laws. Indeed, a young man living not too far from my house is in jail right now precisely under that law; his bail application has been denied and the judge was not obliged even to give a reason for denying his bail application.

``There is a fundamental difference between us and whiteman i.e. between our economics and theirs``

No, there isn`t. The laws of economics are race-neutral. Unless the pie is enlarged, its redistribution only means redistributing misery.

Satyawadi#2
``Some of the suggestions are great, though there is undue focus on Muslim welfare and grievances to the exlusion of other communities.``

I am not suggesting any special favours for the muslim community; merely to extend some benefits available to others. The only special favour is to substitute some of the caste-based reservations now going to the creamy layer of the lower castes to the poorer section of the society in general, including the muslims.

Indeed, I am asking for the removal of all special provisions of the constitution that are available only to the minorities, such as their exclusive control of their educational and religious institutions, or the haj subsidies. In other words, I would like them to feel safe and secure and to bring them into the mainstream.

``Also, I don`t share the author`s adoration of Sonia Gandhi, though she is handling the post election tasks pretty well.``

Actually, I have only recently started to admire her for the way she acted as a responsible opposition leader and how she handled herself during and after the elections. I was quite uncertain about her competence for the highest office in the country and am relieved that she handed it over to Dr. Singh. I hope she will have the good sense to let him do his job without interference from her while she looks after the party affairs.

``BTW, Dostmittar are you angling for a job with the new government? :-):-)``

LOL!