MyVoice: Views of our readers 17th December 2023

Too many questions…gross failures

A set of youth intruded the Parliament, known as the temple of democracy, and created a scene of ruckus. This incident raises many questions. How can the four stages of security set up in the Parliament be breached? Visitors are allowed only to occupy the visitors gallery to watch the proceedings in the House. But how could the intruder jump in the hall when the session was going on? How one of the intruders could come with a recommendation letter from the Member of Parliament, who represents the Mysore constituency and belongs to the ruling party. How could the intruders enter the Parliament with canisters? Though the canisters were not harmful it makes it clear that any harmful weapons could also be carried inside the House.

There is a bureaucrat (Joint Secretary) in charge of security of the Parliament. Why this post, vacant for around a month, is not filled up immediately? Why the Parliamentary committee for the security of Parliament is not even constituted so far? Why the Prime Minister and the Home Minister did not even make a statement on such a serious issue? Why did they choose to remain away from the house when they knew demand would be raised for discussion on this issue? As the general election is due in a few months does the ruling dispensation want to use this, as usual, to divert the attention of the people from its gross failures in alleviating poverty, addressing the growing unemployment especially the alarmingly growing unemployment among the educated youth, untamed inflation resulting in constant reduction in the real wage of the workers which is already too less to handle the growing needs, 81.35 crores of people being expected to tighten their belt for another five years also as indicated by the extension of free ration for five more years, the ruling dispensation still remaining clueless on burning issues like Manipur where neither the situation is brought to normalcy nor the government is changed nor even the Chief Minister of the state who had either proved to the most inefficient or wantonly turning Nelson’s eye over the turn of events in the state, the bad image created for the country in the global stage by the action of the Governments of Canada, the U.S and Qatar all due to criminal charges, abnormally growing economic disparity as projected by a vast majority lingering in poverty and a miniscule celebrating their swelling wealth, around Rs.25 lakh crores forgone by extending concession, exemptions, writing or waiving off huge loans availed by affluent in the name of paving way for increasing production to improve employment which resulted only in jobless growth, hostile reports from the CAG that exposes the massive frauds indulged in health and roads sector, the unanswered questions regarding the funds received from PM CARES and electoral bonds, changing the system of selecting the CEC that converts the commission a subjugated body, federal structure being sidelined, shabbily fumbling in Israel-Gaza conflict that exposes the image of the country contrary to the claim of the PM being the Viswaguru and many more to add?

Above all, the glaring act of the speaker has resulted in suspending a number of M.Ps from the opposition, including the one who was absent. It is not explained how the MP of the ruling party who had given letter to one of the intruders, declaring the person well-known to him and will not cause and disturbance to the proceedings of the house, is not held so far but those MPs who had demanded discussion on the breach in security are suspended. Such daring ventures might not be possible without motivation, guidance, moral courage and help from some organisation or the other, the fact of which needs to be brought to the light at the earliest. Even if it proves to be a spontaneous act of the youth frustrated by their jobless future, this incident should sensitise the ruling dispensation to be pro-people and not pro-rich. However, the act of the intruders cannot be endorsed by anyone as there are many democratic means to draw the attention of the ruling dispensation and to expose its misdeeds and flaws. This incident reminds us also of the much spoken incident known as GunPowder Plot happened in England in 1605 in which Mr Guy Fawkes and his companions wanted to take revenge over King James for his hostile religious initiatives, but ultimately averted.

– A G Rajmohan, Anantapur

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The investigations of those involved in the parliament breach of contract will clarify the motives of those in making such a powerful statement. It seems as if the conspiracy was well-planned and since it did not involve any of the known groups or gangs; they remained undetected and were able to breach the security at the most important place of Indian democracy. True to form, the BJP IT cell somehow made it seem that it was due to the opposition's ideology that the accused were drawn into this misadventure. The protesting MPs have been suspended from the house because of demanding an answer from the government on the issue. This is not an unreasonable request and should have been accepted by the chair. It is now par for the course that the media and the BJP will try to shield the PM Modi from any kind of criticism for the sins of both commission and omission of the government.

When the new premises of parliament were opened, there was an elaborate ceremony with sengol and all. But it now seems as if the security measures were not paid as much attention as they should have. It is almost certain that this attack on parliament will inspire others to do the same. Thankfully those who broke the security cordon had no intention of harming the legislators. The coloured gas could have easily been some kind of poisonous gas. It now appears that the height of the visitors gallery is much less compared to the earlier premises, allowing the intruders to jump on to where proceedings are held. While Mahua Moitra had to face the music for giving her password to somebody else, no such action is being taken against Pratap Simha who was responsible for signing the passes of those who so dramatically entered the House.

– Anthony Henriques, Mumbai

Growing threat to YSRCP

The writer V Ramu Sarma highlighting the shortcomings in the rule of YSRCP government, which is a fact that cannot be ignored by Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy. The government is over emphasising certain issues and ignoring vital ones. There is every possibility of supporters and leaders changing gears to a large extent if remedial measures are not taken immediately. At the same time, the tall claims by Jagan Mohan Reddy that his party would win all the seats in the ensuing assembly polls seems a bit too much for the asking when the road ahead points not a smooth and easy ride for the government.

In short, as the anti-incumbency factor holds a veiled warning, there appears bigger challenges ahead for Chief Minister in the form of TDP-Jana Sena combine waking up to plan and chalk its strategy through power sharing formula to unseat the present government, steeped in rampant corruption and biased in its approach to deliver welfare measures to the poor and the needy. Further, in this midst, leaders of all parties rely on local and non-local to score a political point is meaningless as it serves no purpose. By and large, there is no doubt that anger against the government is growing due to shoddy governance and unfulfilled promises. Ostensibly, it is an eye-opener to YSRCP to draw its lessons from its failures and strategize its plans to take on TDP-Jana Sena instead of issuing threats to save its face.

– K R Srinivasan, Secunderabad

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The write-up by V Ramu Sarma is loaded with all possibilities for BJP and Jena Sena, in the simultaneous Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in AP to be held early next year. As aptly pointed out, the BJP will try to extrapolate from the electoral gains it gained in the Hindi heartland, by ousting the Congress with an extreme ease; and the Hindi belt is Congress-Mukt. But, the party has to play its cards prudently as the political scenario in AP is murky, and there is a definite sign of an anti-incumbency factor brewing against Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSRCP.

The Jana Sena party by Pawan Kalyan is a new entrant in the state, having enough scope to turn the tables against YSRCP. There is a clear indication of warming up of Jana Sena with TDP; it is to be seen to what extent this can hold water in terms of forming an electoral bond, in winning the elections and helping establish a stable government in AP. This is because Chandrababu Naidu is embroiled in several scams and allegations of corruption which cannot be brushed under the carpet or can be attributed to Jagan’s vendetta politics per se. The earlier experience of BJP with TDP had not been that good when Chandrababu Naidu suddenly woke to the prime ministerial ambition that led to the collapse, having no tangible back up to sustain and perpetuate the party that his son Nara Lokesh is not fully capable of. The BJP must weigh its options well before aligning either with YSRCP or Jana Sena Party. It is important that BJP must have a strong foothold in the south, to overcome the insult heaped by DMK that it is a north Indian party, having no roots in the south.

The gains that BJP made in the recent Assembly elections were quite impressive as people are assessing the party on its consistent performance and dedicated leadership; and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections will prove a true flint stone for BJP, in terms of peoples' trust reposed in the party.

– S Lakshmi, Hyderabad

India must brace for carbon challenges

The Year 2023 is drawing to a close soon. If we were to reflect on the year gone by, then we realise that 2023 was an unprecedented one, one that was besieged by climate change.

The climate change that we are witnessing is entirely man-made. what is significant to understand is that global carbon emissions like carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases like methane have increased manifold due to rapid industrialisation, urbanization, deforestation, indiscriminate cutting of trees, reduced forest area, soil and land erosion. These factors coupled with increased vehicular pollution, release of industrial exhausts in the form of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon oxides and other particulate matter in the air have increased global temperatures, thus impacting our seasons and climate and making our planet earth susceptible to climate change. Our obsession with plastic, another non bio-degradable substance that is choking our habitats is also one of the causes of global warming, as plastics when burnt release toxic and harmful gases in the atmosphere which can be hazardous.

The Conference Of Parties or The UN Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP28) was recently held in Dubai, where nations took a range of decisions in a collective effort to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C. We are actually moving towards an inevitable increase by 2° C soon. China, USA and India are among the Nations with highest Carbon Emissions. At the Dubai summit, the final draft called upon the nations to "Transition away from fossil fuels" but deals little on the ways to achieve the goal of Net Zero Carbon Emissions by 2050. The developed nations have pledged financial assistance to the Developing nations which have been most affected by Climate Change. But mere pledges and promises are not enough. The losses suffered by India due to Climate Change are huge and the aid may not be enough to compensate for the same. India needs to address its energy requirements and balance it out by figuring out ways to contain the limate crisis.

India's power sector is largely dependent on coal .Our thermal power stations emit large amounts of CO2 annually. Another greenhouse gas methane is produced by the agricultural sector. We need to tap into renewable energy resources by allocating more funds towards hydroelectric power projects.

Other sources of renewable energy are wind energy, solar energy and it is time we look for alternative measures to generate power. Green fuels like CNG fuels which reduce vehicular pollution are the need of the hour. India's challenge lies in scaling down carbon emissions from the industrial sector as well. Transitioning away from Fossil Fuels is to innovate and invest technology in electric vehicles.

The Dubai summit stressed on cutting emissions and also hinted at technologies like carbon capture and low carbon hydrogen production as possible ways to cut down on carbon emissions. For a developing Nation like India this is an expensive option. These are the technologies we don’t possess right now.

India's challenges lie in tapping renewable energy from wind, sun and hydroelectricity and transforming our transport sector into an electricity-driven one. This will also create more job opportunities, given the diversified talent resource available in India and will definitely bolster India's claim as a global leader in addressing climate change.

- Parimala G Tadas, Hyderabad

Shocking suicides of farmers

The Maharashtra government has informed the State Assembly that as many as 2,366 farmers ended their lives by suicide between January and October this year, which is alarming. The Amravati revenue division reported the highest number of such deaths at 951 in the last 10 months.

The lackadaisical approach of the politicians in ignoring the suicidal deaths of the farmers and the absence of such noting in the manifesto is one more case of callous attitude shown at our farmers.

No party is ready to touch the real issue of the farmers and all of them are buying time and come for vote from the farmers and their family members.

It is high time the farmer's issue addressed in true way and find a viable and an amicable solution to the pressing problems resulting in suicide of farmers.

Farmers are the backbone of our country and so many deaths in a single state rings the alarm bell and caution to act swiftly. It is time to call an emergency meeting to solve this sensitive issue.

– Calicut Krishnan Ramani, Ghaziabad

BJP galloping ahead

This is apropos the editorial "BJP remains front-runner for 2024." (THI: 13-12-2023). It is an undeniable fact that election results made out on December3 are any indication to deduce the electoral pattern of the Lok Sabha elections going to take place in 2024. Hence, it is logical to assume/conclude that BJP would inevitably come to power for the third consecutive term at the centre. Now with the electoral success achieved by the BJP in 3 out of the 5 States, analysts are confident of BJP gaining full democratic support in the Hindi speaking belt in 2024. The Congress party has received the Telangana outcome as a consolation.

Congress was triumphant in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh in the 2018 elections, but due to internal skirmishes it had lost to BJP in MP.

In Rajasthan, it is customary to change governments every five years. Hence, this time it is the turn of BJP to hold reins of power. The failure of Congress to win in Chhattisgarh was unexpected as BJP triumphed there in 2023 elections. Even the predictions of the exit polls were reversed. The defeat of Congress in MP was also indeterminable in spite of campaigning done by prominent leaders of Congress. The voters have not been accepting the opposition coalition that formed against the interest of Modi. The voters are in no mood to accept freebies as against development factors made by the political parties.

Modi won the hearts of the people more than the Congress leaders like Priyanka and Rahul.

Despite being cognizant of Congress defeat in 2024 elections, it is anybody's guess about the leadership of the opposition coalition passing over to Congress party. The caste factor has seldom worked as a game changer in 2023 elections. BJP has tactfully assessed the situation and made course corrections in time to win power in three out of five States that went to the polls in 2023.

All in all, following a commendable performance made by the BJP in 2023 elections, the party remains front-runner for 2024 general elections.

–Bh Indu Sekhar, Hyderabad

A visionary leadership

In a resounding demonstration of visionary leadership, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and the Andhra Pradesh Cabinet have charted an exemplary course for the state's progress across healthcare, education, and governance. This momentous stride reflects the Chief Minister's proactive approach and unwavering commitment to the welfare of the people, for which we extend our heartfelt gratitude.

The approval to elevate the free medical treatment limit under YSR Aarogyasri to ₹25 lakh, extending its reach to individuals with up to ₹5 lakh annual income, is a transformative decision set to benefit 90% of families. The impending launch of the enhanced Aarogyasri scheme on December 18, covering a vast array of ailments with a substantial budget allocation of ₹4,400 crore, exemplifies the Chief Minister's dedication to ensuring comprehensive healthcare access for every citizen.

The green signal for the second phase of the Jagananna Aarogya Suraksha scheme from January 1 underscores the forward-thinking governance and commitment to the well-being of the people. The increment in monthly social security pension and the substantial distribution towards YSR Asara and YSR Cheyuta further highlight the government's commitment to enhancing social welfare programs.

The approval of the Detailed Project Report for the Visakhapatnam light metro project, coupled with the distribution of tablets to Class 8 students, showcases the Chief Minister's foresight in advancing infrastructure and promoting education. The facilitation of instant issuance of caste and income certificates reflects a commitment to simplifying bureaucratic processes and fostering inclusivity.

In the healthcare sector, the endorsement of appointments in government hospitals, establishment of specialized departments across medical colleges, and the vision to introduce nephrology and neurology departments underline the government's proactive approach to fortifying healthcare infrastructure. The commitment to recruit specialized staff emphasizes the dedication to providing advanced medical services to citizens.

The allocation of plots and the temporary recruitment of personnel in key administrative offices showcase the government's holistic approach towards efficient governance. These multifaceted initiatives collectively affirm Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy's dedication to ushering in positive change, fostering development, and ensuring the well-being of the citizens of Andhra Pradesh. In expressing my gratitude, I commend the Chief Minister's leadership and look forward to the continued progress and prosperity under his visionary guidance.

–Javvadi Lakshmana Rao, Visakhapatnam