state

Goa CM Pramod Sawant Meets PM Modi as Exit Polls Predict Hung Assembly

Sawant exuded confidence of winning the assembly elections and forming the next government in the state with the help of regional parties.

New Delhi: Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Tuesday, March 8, a day after exit polls predicted a hung assembly in the state.

Sawant exuded confidence of winning the assembly elections and forming the next government in the state with the help of regional parties.

Assembly elections were held in Goa on February 14 and the counting of votes is scheduled for March 10.

Goa had witnessed a multi-cornered contest with the Trinamool Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, Shiv Sena-NCP joining the fray along with key contestants, the BJP and Congress.

Also read: Exit Polls Predict BJP Win in UP, Manipur; AAP Victory in Punjab

The 2022 assembly elections were the first to be held after the demise of Manohar Parrikar, the tallest BJP leader in the state, who served four terms as chief minister.

In the 2017 elections, Congress had emerged as the single largest party winning 17 seats, but BJP had pipped them to power after roping in the support of regional parties.

In the 2022 elections, the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party had joined hands with the Trinamool Congress, while the Goa Forward Party had a pre-poll alliance with the Congress.

The NCP and Shiv Sena were hoping for an alliance with the Congress, but entered the fray together after the grand old party gave them a cold shoulder.

(PTI)

Former Maharashtra Minister Vinayakdada Patil Passes Away

He was known for his contribution in the fields of agriculture, forestry and Jatropha cultivation across the nation.

Nashik: Former Maharashtra minister and senior Congress leader Vinayakdada Patil died at a private hospital in Nashik following a brief illness, his family sources said.

He breathed his last late on Friday night. He was 77. Patil was earlier receiving treatment at a hospital in Mumbai but was shifted to Nashik some days ago. On Friday, he was admitted to the private hospital in Nashik to get treatment for a kidney ailment, they said.

Patil, a close associate of NCP chief Sharad Pawar, had worked as the Industries, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports minister in the state.

He was known for his contribution in the fields of agriculture and forestry and Jatropha cultivation across the nation.

Renowned Marathi litterateur late V.V. Shirwadkar, popularly known as ‘Kusumagraj’, had given him the title of ‘Vanadhipati’.

Patil is survived by two daughters, sons-in-law and grandchildren.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray expressed his grief over the demise of Patil.

In a tweet, the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said that Patil, who once held the position of sarpanch, went on to become a minister in Maharashtra. He worked for the welfare of the state and farmers, it said.

Third Phase of Panchayat Polls Underway in Rajasthan

EVMs are being used for the polling for electing sarpanch while polling for panch is being conducted through ballot papers.

Jaipur: Polling was underway on Tuesday for the third phase of panchayat polls in Rajasthan, with 4906 candidates in the fray for the post of sarpanch and 10205 for the post of panch in 975-gram panchayats.

The polling for the post of sarpanch and panch began at 7.30 am. The polling is going on peacefully, secretary of the State Election Commission, Shyam Rajpurohit, said.

There are a total of 31,87,585 voters including 16.66 lakh male and 15.20 lakh female voters in the gram panchayats in the third phase.

He said the elections are being held in keeping with COVID-19 guidelines.

As many as 4906 candidates are in the fray for the post of sarpanch and 10205 for the post of panch in 975-gram panchayats. Thirty-two sarpanch and 5031 panch have already been elected unopposed.

Also read: Rajasthan HC Dismisses State Govt’s Plea To Extend Time Limit for Holding Polls to Six Civic Bodies

EVMs are being used for the polling for electing sarpanch while polling for panch is being conducted through ballot papers.

In total, 3,848-gram panchayats will go to polls in the state in four phases.

The first phase of elections took place on September 28, 2020, in 947-gram panchayats and the second phase was held in 1028 gram panchayat on October 3, 2020.

The fourth phase will take place on October 10, 2020.

Centre Granting Flexibility to States Is Crucial to India’s Development

Political compulsions should not be allowed to dictate how best developmental goals should be achieved.

In the 2018-2019 budget, the Centre announced a massive scheme aimed at providing health insurance cover to 500 million people. It was, at the time, hailed as a bold move by many political analysts.

However, as the contours of the scheme evolved, the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana or ‘Ayushmaan Bharat’, as the scheme was christened, was rejected by a number of state governments. Odisha, Telangana, Delhi, Punjab and Kerala found the scheme deficient. All of them found their own scheme more comprehensive, even though this meant losing out on Central funds which would have been spent in their state.

This has once again revived earlier controversies relating to the policy of Centre in spending public money.

Under our Constitution, the legislative power of the Centre and the states has been defined in Article 246.

Also Read: Budget 2019: Ayushman Bharat Gets Rs 6,400 Crore, But to Benefit Private Sector

It provides for three lists. The first two indicate where the Union and state take precedence and the final one where both can legislate on subjects indicated. However, in the concurrent list, Central legislation has precedence.

Many of the areas of concern to the average person like agriculture, animal husbandry, health, land development, communication including roads, urban development are all under the state government’s domain. Some other areas like electricity and education are in the concurrent list, but states have very large stakes in this. While rural development is not specifically mentioned, its close link with land and agriculture puts it in the domain of the state.

The Centre’s enthusiasm to launch schemes

Despite the above position, most Centrally sponsored schemes relate to subjects falling in the legislative competence of the states. The enthusiasm of the Centre to launch schemes in areas which fall in the state’s domain can be ascribed to several factors.

Firstly, in many indicators of health and education, we continue to fare poorly. Under the global ‘millennium development goals’, there are certain national commitments. It is important that funds are provided to these sectors so that the goals can be met. So, in addition to the finance commission funds given to the states, resources are required to step up growth. There are worries that if the Centre does not launch schemes in these areas and transfer funds to the state governments without guidelines, the states may not spend it on these national priorities.

Second, there are certain basic necessities and infrastructure which are required by all citizens, especially the poor. This may include purchasing food grains at affordable prices, rural roads, rural housing and water, access to electricity, employment opportunities and addressing growing regional inequalities. The Centre cannot, and should not, be a mute spectator when problems exist in these areas.

Third, with increasing struggle for capturing political power in the states and the Centre by different political parties, they launch schemes which can provide them a good base for cornering votes. Since areas which directly affect the lives of the people (who are the voters) generally are the domain of the state, the Centre tries to launch schemes in these sectors while naming several of these as ‘Prime Minister Yojana’. This clearly indicates that the Centre is responsible and should be given credit for benefits enjoyed by citizens under the scheme. The states try to name their important imitative as ‘Chief Minister Yojana’ with similar objectives in mind. At times, states may prefer to forego Central funds, lest the party at the Centre gets political mileage out of the scheme.

After the NDA-II government came to power, there was an initial push for sharply reducing Centrally sponsored schemes as part of ‘good governance’. But soon enough, new schemes were announced by the Centre. A number of these related to areas of health, rural development, agriculture, urban development, irrigation and medium and small industry – all state subjects. The net result has been that Centrally sponsored schemes have again gone up in areas which are the domain of the state.

File photo pf Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a beneficiary of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjawala Yojana. Credit: PTI

The states’s opposition

State governments are opposed to this on several grounds.

One, in a country as diverse and big as ours, the requirements of development differ widely. By asking states to implement these schemes which have a uniform approach to their problems, their individual development gap is ignored.

Two, the local conditions are varying in different parts of the country. The schemes make uniform provisions and guidelines without considering this factor. Often, the norms prescribed under the scheme require change to be applied meaningfully to a state. This flexibility has been missing in Central schemes.

Three, considering that most of these schemes relate to subjects under the domain of states, they would like to have full freedom for developing their own schemes. They want the Centre to transfer all resources to them for effective use of funds in accordance with their needs and consistent with the federal nature of our polity. This will ensure that schemes will be tailor-made to the needs of the states and funds will be used more productively.

Also Read: Despite the Hype, States Don’t Have Enough to Spend on Welfare Schemes

In the initial five decades of our independence, the financial position of states was not very healthy.

In the last two decades, there has been a consistent improvement in their financial position, largely because of a series of recommendations made by the finance commissions and supported by the Centre.

As a result, the revenue deficit of states has declined from 4% of the GDP in 2001-02 to 0.2% in 2005-06 and has been nil for the past several years. There has been a sharp improvement in this after the 14th Finance Commission, which gave its recommendation for years 2015-20 to increase the share of states in divisible pool of Central taxes to 42.5% from an earlier share of 32.5%.

The importance of flexibility

Despite an extra strain on states’s resources due to decline or moderation in funding of certain erstwhile schemes by the Centre, their overall resources have been buoyant. This has given them further financial muscle to decline Central funding and push schemes which may give the ruling party an electoral advantage. Part of the reason for the opposition to the Centre’s Ayushmaan Bharat could be their perception of getting this advantage. This attitude is not a healthy development for our growth.

It is quite clear that resources of the states have to be supplemented through fund transfers under the Centrally-sponsored schemes, in which states should have flexibility. The formulation of such schemes should also keep in view the success stories of individual states. This will address a range of development problems. But making this a political agenda and naming the schemes after the PM or the CM will distort the effectiveness of national development strategy.

A political consensus needs to be evolved on removing all names of political leaders or their offices from existing schemes or those which may be launched in future. This will strengthen growth and strengthen democracy.

B.K. Chaturvedi is a former cabinet secretary and member, Planning Commission

France’s Sikh Minority Looks Set to Vote Against Marine Le Pen

Given Marine Le Pen’s stand on minorities, it is clear Emmanuel Macron will likely get the Sikh vote when France goes to polls on May 7.

The Sikh minority in France is all set to vote against Right candidate Le Pen. Credit: Charles Platiau/Reuters

The Sikh minority in France is all set to vote against National Front candidate Le Pen. Credit: Charles Platiau/Reuters

Paris: The Sikh community in France is gearing up to vote against far-right populist Marine Le Pen of the National Front when the country goes to polls on Sunday, May 7; no surprise considering Le Pen’s comments on minorities in general, and Sikhs in particular.

Le Pen in an interview last month had said no religious symbols would be allowed in public if she came to power including Muslim headscarves, Sikh turbans and Jewish kippas. On the Sikh community, she further said, “We don’t have a lot of Sikhs in France. We’ve got some. But we don’t really hear much from them or about them which is good news.”

There are about 30,000 Sikhs in France, and they comprise more than half of the Indian origin population of the country.

“The choice is very simple, I don’t think anyone would vote for Le Pen,” said Nina Chandok, 35, a lawyer based in Paris, who will be voting for the centrist Emmanuel Macron, who is favoured to win. “First, she doesn’t seem to even realise there is a Sikh community in France. Then, she is really against any minority. We know her, we know her family, we know their beliefs.”

Jean-Marie, the former National Front leader and Le Pen’s father, was fined for denying the Holocaust and was previously expelled from the party by his daughter. Last month, Le Pen herself questioned France’s role in the Holocaust.

There are six gurudwaras in France, five of which are around Paris, and community leaders have been urging people to go out and vote. Though the Representative Council of Sikhs in France, the main body for the community, does not counsel people on how to vote, there is little doubt about who the community will favour.

“For us, it is evident who we should support,” said Ranjit Singh, 30, the director of public affairs for the council. “Her statement [about the Sikh community] was shocking and unacceptable and against the French constitution.”

Shortly after the remarks, the council put out a statement in April. “Indeed, these remarks not only stigmatise the French Sikh community but also fuel the hatred and mistrust against them leading to the daily discriminations they face,” it said. “We remind Madame Le Pen that French Sikh community members do not have to “hide”, they are and remain French citizens in their own right.”

Macron, whose party En Marche was founded just a year ago, is seen as a centrist, pro-Europe, pro-business leader. Not everyone has been pleased with the choice of the two remaining candidates who made it through to the run-off following the first round of voting on April 23. “I am not particularly for Macron’s politics but I don’t have a choice,” said Talwinder Kaur, 26, who lives in a suburb of Paris. “It is like having to choose between two diseases.”

Macron is heavily favoured to win, according to polls, but in case Le Pen does come to power, Ranjit was clear on the way forward. “We will take legal action to safeguard our rights,” Ranjit said. “We are hopeful that judicial power will be able to restrain the president.”

The council was in touch with candidates from each of the major parties – except Le Pen’s – before the first round to apprise them of the problems faced by the community.

“Macron has a deeper vision of the world,” said Kashmir Singh, 57, who runs a restaurant. Though he cannot vote, his son will be voting for Macron. “We hope he wins, he should win.”

Though it is clear that Sikhs will be voting against Le Pen, and though many are likely to vote for Macron, there will likely be some who cast ‘vote blanc’: or submit ballots without marking a candidate’s name.

France’s secularist approach, which believes in the strict separation of religion and state, has often been vexing for the Sikh. Men were previously forbidden from wearing the turban in identification documents although the UN ruled in their favour in 2012.

Non-Authoritarian States Can Practise Everyday Authoritarianism Too

What makes a state ‘authoritarian’? How do we recognise one, and under what conditions does it prosper?

What makes a state ‘authoritarian’? How do we recognise one and under what conditions does it prosper?

What makes a state ‘authoritarian’? Credit: Twitter

Cornell University’s Tom Pepinsky has a terrific post on how everyday authoritarianism can be boring and even tolerable. He uses the example of Malaysia and draws lessons for the US. Pepinsky concludes with this:

“The fantasy of authoritarianism distracts Americans from the mundane ways in which the mechanisms of political competition and checks and balances can erode. Democracy has not survived because the alternatives are acutely horrible, and if it ends, it will not end in a bang. It is more likely that democracy ends, with a whimper, when the case for supporting it—the case, that is, for everyday democracy—is no longer compelling.”

The point he makes is that while people see ‘authoritarianism’ in apocalyptic terms, it is often the small changes in day-to-day governance that we need to really watch out for. When we are not cognisant of these small changes, the risk of complacency is high, where we take certain rights and privileges for granted. Pepinsky fears that when people don’t muster the will to fight the creeping expansion of authority, democracy itself will die.

This is a compelling argument and one that is borne out by several experiences in authoritarian states. Many of these states, much like Malaysia, look very much like a democracy from the outside. Sub-Saharan African states such as Uganda and Ethiopia arguably fall under this category too. These are states where power has remained concentrated in the same political formation (or in the worst cases, the same individual) for extended periods of time.

Let’s now ask if there can be instances of authoritarianism in states where there is a track record of power changing hands. Given competition between opposing political parties, one might imagine that this is unlikely. However, consider states where the balance of power is so fine that competing political parties often function in accordance with a high-level consensus regarding how to operate the levers of power. This implies that acts of everyday authoritarianism become part of the routine exercise of power by a state.

India is a great example. Several acts of commission for which we blame the BJP are in fact embedded in the very nature of the state that the party currently commands. And who is responsible for setting the template for a lot of these issues? The Indian National Congress, of course. No doubt, one’s political convictions and moral judgments result in them pointing fingers in the direction of a particular political party for excesses committed by the state. But as the Centre for Civil Society’s Repeal 100 Laws Project also reveals, a state that has, over time, embraced powers that enable it to commit these excesses is inherently dangerous. In this scenario, holding one political party responsible will not solve the problem.

Everyday authoritarianism

This is why I hold that an authoritarian state and regular elections where power changes hands are not necessarily mutually exclusive. I agree India cannot be classified as an authoritarian state, but a non-authoritarian state can practise everyday acts of authoritarianism.

Here are some examples: the abuse of law to curb free speech, wielding regulations to harass NGOs, seizing private property, curbing free access to the internet, restrictions on what we can eat or drink and how we have sex – all of these are tried and tested tools in the hands of every government, whether at the centre or in the individual states. These are treated as routine. We get used to the state’s ways and adopt a variety of coping mechanisms. At the same time, we also function under the assumption that the state will not take any notice of individuals, and more often than not, this is indeed the case.

Now take some other examples – ones of the ‘outrageous’ kind. Consider the experience of the weak and marginalised sections of society. In states like Chattisgarh and Odisha, the scheduled tribes experience an authoritarian state that comes down on them with its full might. The erosion of the Forest Rights Act and the state’s encroachment of the tribes’ lands too, are examples of a state’s authoritarian powers being exercised. The northeastern states and Jammu and Kashmir, where the Armed Forces Special Powers Act rules and where paramilitary forces have a free reign, who would agree among the natives there, that the Indian state is not an authoritarian one? These incidents too, are ‘boring and tolerable’, but only for those of us who do not have to personally witness or suffer the state’s excesses.

Creeping authoritarianism is a curse. The first step to resisting is to identify its signs. When the argument over an authoritarian state gets entangled in a political debate, this resistance fragments. What we need urgently is a broad consensus to reform the state’s authoritarian tendencies. The future of our democracy depends on it.

Suvojit Chattopadhyay is a development sector consultant, currently based in Nairobi, Kenya. You can find his blog here and tweets from @suvojitc