Rafale Deal: The question is not of BJP vs. Congress, but Modi government vs. Indian nation

February 15, 2019

The mystery on the Rafale Aircraft Deal is standing right there even after the deal has been moving around the governments and their leaders of India and France, various governmental institutions and their officials on both sides, weapon companies and their masters, media and independent journalists, civil society activists etc. Rather there is a over casting of darkness in the matter instead of being cleared. The over casting of darkness is being done because the government first misled the Supreme Court by stating that the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has been submitted to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). Now when the report of the CAG has been introduced, it has also tried to dump the eyes of the Indian public and democracy. This report tells less, hides more and does not speak at all on certain facts related to the deal.

The Socialist Party believes that the CAG report has been prepared to cover the body of a government and a capitalist. No matter, by this deed of the government, the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Finance may become uncovered and the Judiciary may bears accusation of wearing a blindfold and not knowing English, but the Prime Minister and his benevolent industrialist stay clear.

Referring to national security the CAG report has hidden the facts such as the price of an original plane, and how many types of equipments were installed in it and how much the total cost comes by installing them. The question is : why the CAG only conceals Rafale’s price where as it discloses the price of 10 deals out of 11 deals of the IAF it has mentioned in the report? Despite this, the CAG says that the NDA deal is 2.86 per cent cheaper than the emerging deal in the UPA’s bargain. It is believed that this conclusion of the CAG goes in favor of the Modi Government, at least emotionally. That has been probably the intention of the report. But this conclusion proves the statement of the powerful minister Arun Jaitley wrong which he gave in the parliament on January 2. Arun Jaitley had said that we have made this deal 9 percent cheaper than the UPA and the aircraft with equipments is 20 percent cheaper. According to CAG data, the Air Force’s total 11 deals worth 95,000 crore rupees. In this, the total value of 10 deals is 34,423 crore rupees. The report is silent right here. Now the conclusions can instinctively draw that the cost of the total deal of Rafale aircraft is Rs. 60,577 crore.

Further, there is a difference between the government and the CAG’s claims on the issue of bank guarantee or sovereign guarantee. The government says that the absence of bank guarantee in the deal is a saving for the government and, therefore, it carried out a cheaper deal. While the CAG says that it is the saving of France’s aircraft maker Dassault. The CAG also says that the aircraft had four special equipments installed for India, which was not needed. The CAG report says that in 2007, in lieu of advance payment, there was a provision of 15 percent bank guarantee. It had to go 5 percent on performance and 5 percent on warranty. The savings in this item were to be gone in the account of the Ministry of Defense but the CAG report did not look like this. The prices have been compared at 11 points in the report of CAG but prices have not been disclosed anywhere. Everywhere the percentages are mentioned. The CAG has claimed that the price has been increased on four points and reduced on three points. Surprisingly, what was the need for comparisons like this and if it has been done then why all details were not told and explained?

There is no mention in this report that how the deal originally made for 126 aircrafts suddenly arrived on 36 aircrafts? That is, how the strength of the IAF will be enhanced with 36 aircrafts instead of 126? It is also not mentioned in this report that why the contract for Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) changed to Anil Ambani’s suddenly stacked company? That is, the lasting strength of India’s defense forces would be achieved by strengthening and renewing its own public sector enterprises or would this task of utmost importance be left to the profit-hungry foreign-domestic private companies and their brokers? One cannot expect from this CAG report that it will speak something about how the process of the deal was improperly influenced by the Prime Minister and his office, how the anti-corruption clauses were dropped, how the offshoot contract was awarded to Ambani’s Reliance Defense Limited and how the HAL was thrown out from the deal?

The Socialist Party believes that the dubious deeds of the Prime Minister, the decision of the Supreme Court, the reports of several newspapers/magazines, the attacking statements of the opposition and the report of the CAG presented in the Parliament yesterday on the contentious issue of the Rafale Aircraft Deal show that India’s economy and politics have been stuck in the grip of fake nationalism. This fake nationalism serves the interests of foreign and domestic weapon companies. The arm deals are made as per the wishes of these very companies. They reveal and hide the information related to the deal as per their interests. Governments work on their terms and government institutions give their reports accordingly. They define India’s national security in their own way and channels and newspapers purchased by them run debates on the line of their perspective. In return, companies give some part of the their loot, made of the hard earnings of the Indian public and country’s resources, to the political parties and politicians.

Certainly there will be more news reports about the Rafale Aircraft Deal in the coming days and a lot of chaff in the grain will be seen. But in the dust of the Lok Sabha elections, which will take place after a few days, all of that will be lost. That is why the Socialist Party urges the people of India that they should contemplate about the truth of the Rafale Deal as per their own wisdom. They should not be swept away with the mainstream media and the statements/counter-statements of parties/politicians playing with emotions in the name of caste, religion, lineage, family, person. They should not see the Rafale Deal as a war between BJP and Congress, but as a war between the Modi Government and the Indian nation. The people of India can only pull Indian nationalism out of the clutches of arms dealers and war-mongering governments.

Dr. Prem Singh, President, Socialist Party

Courtesy: Counter Current.org

With 45 Million New, Young Voters, Political Parties Will Need To Talk Jobs, Education

February 15, 2019

Mumbai: With a median age of 27.9 years in 2018, India is a young country. By 2020, youth will make up 34% of the country’s population. Forty-five million young people, having become eligible to vote as they turned 18, have been added to India’s electoral roll since 2014, according to 2018 data from the Election Commission. This has expanded the voter list by 5% since 2014.

Young voters take a selfie after casting votes at a polling booth in Kolkata.

How India’s young population votes will clearly be one of the deciding factors in the forthcoming 2019 general elections ending the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) five-year rule. This was also the case in the 2014 general elections when 24 million new voters had joined the country’s electorate.

After the previous general election in May 2014, IndiaSpend had analysed how states with the highest proportion of young people had voted. Youth had catapulted the BJP to power in the five states with the highest proportion of young voters, we found.

Issues relating to the youth, education and jobs, are therefore likely to take centrestage in this election. These are both areas in need of more resources and attention in India: A pre-budget analysis by IndiaSpend established the need for more funds for higher education and better implementation of skill development schemes. Since 2000, India’s spending on higher education has been 0.73%-0.87% of the gross domestic product (GDP) and this fell to 0.62% in 2015. Enrolment for the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (prime minister’s skill development programme) was found to be 64% short of the target set, FactChecker.in reported in January 2019.

Employment will likely be the biggest issue for the young vote bank and even in the absence of latest official data on jobs, political parties cannot afford to ignore it in their manifestos. The leaked report of the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) on employment data had shown that unemployment had reached a 45-year high at 6.1%. The government had countered that increased income tax returns filed and a leap in provident fund accounts showed a rise in jobs.

Who is a ‘young’ Indian?

The share of youth in India’s population had reached its maximum in 2010–35.11%, according to NSSO’s 2017 ‘Youth in India’ report. This was an estimated rise of 4.2 percentage points rise since 1971 (30.6%), from 168 million to 423 million, according to the report.
The population from adolescence to middle age is defined as ‘youth’. But definitions can vary across policy agencies. The United Nations research reports typically categorise the 15- to 24-year age group as youth. The National Youth Policy in India (2003) defined youth as those between 13 and 35 years of age.

Later, the National Youth Policy 2014 re-defined this age group as 15-29 years. The NSSO 68th round settled on 15-29 years for labour force participation statistics. In the latest NSSO report on youth released in 2017, the bracket went up to 15-34 years of age. Changing definitions of ‘youth’ in subsequent reports and policy outlays makes it difficult to compare data across years and age-groups.
Since the latest report on employment statistics is yet to be officially released, for the purposes of our analysis, we use the data from the NSSO’s 2017 ‘Youth In India’ report. Citing 2011-12 data, this report put around 55% of men and 18% women in the 15-29 age-group in rural India in the labour force. In urban areas, the figures stood at 56% for men and 13% for women.

Five states with most young voters

The five Indian states that added the highest number of new voters are also among the states with the maximum seats in the Lok Sabha and rank high in terms of population. Lok Sabha seats are assigned to states in proportion to the population of the state and states with larger population hold the key to landing a majority in it, as IndiaSpend reported here and here.

Top Five States That Added Maximum New Voters
State	2014 Electoral Roll	2018 Electoral Roll	New Voters	Lok Sabha Seats
Bihar	63,800,160	69,934,100	6133940	40
West Bengal	62,833,113	68,335,671	5502558	42
Rajasthan	42994657	47,339,902	4345245	25
Maharashtra	80798823	84,969,764	4170941	48
Uttar Pradesh	138810557	142,784,587	3974030	80
Total In Top Five States	389237310	413,364,024	24126714	235

Source: Election Commission of India, Lok Sabha

Of all Lok Sabha members, 43% will be elected from the top five states that added the highest number of new voters: Bihar, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. In four of these five states–West Bengal voted for the Trinamool Congress–the incumbent BJP was the top party in the previous Lok Sabha elections.

Source: Election Commission of India

Note: Vote shares of parties do not add up to 100 because only seat-winning parties are included in the list.

After its big 2014 win, BJP also won the Maharashtra state elections. The alliance between Janata Dal (United) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) won the assembly elections in Bihar in 2015 but it was a short-lived partnership. The state continued to be ruled by the JD(U) led by Nitish Kumar after the RJD walked out. Bihar’s political parties have started calculating the likely permutations for the Mahagatbandhan (grand alliance of parties) for the soon-to-be-declared Lok Sabha polls in 2019.

In Uttar Pradesh, the BJP won the 2014 Lok Sabha with a 43% vote share and 71 seats, and it won the state elections in 2017. The Samajwadi Party, under the leadership of Akhilesh Yadav, and the Bahujan Samaj Party under Mayawati have formed an alliance to fight the BJP in the state for the 2019 general elections. The BJP won all the 25 Lok Sabha seats in Rajasthan in 2014 but lost to the Congress in the state assembly polls in December 2018.

In West Bengal, the BJP managed to gain a 17% vote share in the 2014 general assembly elections though the party won only two seats. It is now set for a battle with the Trinamool Congress in the 2019 national elections.

In a first-past-the-post system, where the candidate (or party) with the highest vote share wins the seat, a swing of a few hundred votes can sometimes affect election results. With a strength of 13% new voters in states such as Bihar, young voters can decide election outcomes. Here is why: The Lok Janashakti Party (LJP) has only a 7% vote share in the state, but won six seats. Whereas JD(U) and RJD won fewer seats in the Lok Sabha (2 and 4 seats, respectively), their vote shares were much higher than LJP’s. JD(U) had 16% and RJD 21% vote share which they managed to convert to seat-share in the state assembly polls, as IndiaSpend reported November 2015.

Why states that added most young voters are critical for parties

Our analysis shows that political parties can, by concentrating on the top five states that have added the highest number of new voters, potentially increase their chances to win more seats in the Lok Sabha. These states are also among the most populous in India and any party or coalition winning more seats here can form the government at the Centre, as IndiaSpend reported in May 2016.

Of the total Lok Sabha seats, 211 (37%) come from the top ten states that have added the highest proportion of new voters to the electoral roll since the last general election of 2014.

States That Added New Voters In Largest Proportion
States	Proportion of New Voters in 2018 (In %)	Lok Sabha Seats
Assam	13	14
Rajasthan	10	25
Bihar	10	40
West Bengal	9	42
NCT OF Delhi	9	7
Gujarat	8	26
Karnataka	8	28
Jharkhand	7	14
Uttarakhand	7	5
Haryana	7	10
All India Average Increase	5
	Total Lok Sabha Seats From States With New Voters	211

Source: Election Commission of India, Lok Sabha

Note: Union territories and smaller states that send one or two members to the Lok Sabha have not been considered for this analysis.

Skill development, higher education opportunities and jobs are going to be priority issues from states with highest shares of young population. Parties have started working out vote share-seat share calculations in their alliances as the youth wait for parties to declare their complete manifestos.

(Tewari is a PhD Scholar at the School of Development Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, and an IndiaSpend contributor.)

Courtesy: India Spend

AMU Alumni associations request the President of India to ‘protect AMU from being maligned’

February 15, 2019

AMU Alumni associations in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and in the United Arab Emirates have written to the President of India Shri Ramnath Kovind regarding the incident that occurred on February 12 at the University campus wherein the crew of Republic Bharat news channel labeled the prestigious Aligarh Muslim University as the ‘University of Terrorists’. The Alumi associations requested the President to intervene and conduct a fair enquiry in to the matter and take action against those maligning the honour of the University and causing communal disharmony.

TCN News

When the news of the incident and the subsequent firing by a relative of the BJP MLA and charging 14 students of the AMU under sedition reached the alumni of the University in different parts of the world, the Alumni associations were quick to conduct emergency meetings to decide on the plan of action to protect their alma-mater.

The Alumni of AMU have their associations in various parts of the world such as Malaysia, Australia, England, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Canada and the United States of America.

AMU alumni UAE

The Alumni associations in Saudi Arabia and UAE have both penned petition to the President of India drawing his attention to the unfortunate incident and the malicious intention of the Republic TV that is known for being biased and pro- Hindutva groups and always seeking to criticise the minorities and defame them by resorting to slander.

This incident has hurt the sentiments of the old students and they have decided to start an international campaign against the atrocious attempt to malign the university by the right winged groups.

They are also concerned about the false charges of sedition leveled at the students whereas no action has been taken against the perpetrators who opened fire and called the University as University of terrorists and dubbed the students as terrorists.

AMU Alumni, Saudi Arabia

The Aligarh Muslim University, says the alumni has been a revered seat of learning and knowledge dissemination for students from all religion, caste and creed.

The letter addressed to the President has been also marked to the Prime Minister, Chief Justice, HRD Minister of India, the Vice Chancellor, District Magistrate and PRO chancellor of AMU.

Courtesy: Two Circle.net

NIT Calicut administration denies permission for LGBTQ lecture

February 15, 2019

On 6 September 2018, the Supreme Court of India passed a historic judgement decriminalising Section 377. The court said, “The law must be interpreted as per the requirement of the changing times.”

However, there are many who seemingly could not accept the SC verdict. Recently, the administration of the National Institute of Technology, Calicut, denied permission to hold a lecture on the LGBTQ. Directing the organisers to cancel such events, the administration said, “such lectures will have a negative impact on the society”. The talk titled “Visibility of LGBTQ + Community” was organised by I-INK, an art club in the campus.

The organisers of the lecture scheduled to be held on 12 February, had invited Muhammed Zuhrabi, a graphic designer and LGBTQ activist based in Kerala, as the speaker. When organisers of the event approached the Dean seeking permission for the programme and venue, the administration refused to grant permission. Turning them down, the university authority said “are you trying to turn everyone in the campus gay?”. Mocking the organisers, the administration also said that the students have come here to study engineering and should be focussing on their studies.

The administration also told them that they cannot bring outsiders as speakers in the campus.

The Indian Cultural Forum spoke to Sourav, one of the organisers, who said, “This is not the first time we are organising a programme related to the LGBTQ. Last year we had successfully conducted programmes related to this topic. But this year the administration has been putting so many restrictions upon us. We have already invited the speaker for the talk too.”

Since the student community on campus was already informed about the programme, the organisers had to shift the lecture in the parking area of the campus. Speaking to the Indian Cultural Forum, Muhammed Zuhrabi, who delivered the lecture said, “It is an unfortunate incident. I was informed about the denial of permission by the organisers. I am disappointed to see how such prime institutions in our country are denying permission for a talk. As someone belonging to a minority community, we ar expected to admire such institutions for their stand and the solidarity they extend towards us. This attitude of the university administration is highly condemnable.”

This is the second time in the past two months that the administration has denied permission to the programmes conducted by the students. On Rohith Vemula’s third death anniversary earlier in January, the students of the campus organizesd a screening of Deepa Dhanraj’s documentary, We Have Not Come Here to Die. The screening was interrupted in the middle by administrative officials. Later on, following students protest, the authorities were forced to screen the documentary. In a similar incident, the same administration also denied permission to conduct “Arpo Arthavam”, a programme in solidarity with the Sabarimala judgement and on breaking the taboos on menstruation. The administration directed the students to conduct more “creative and positive” lectures.

NIT is one of the prime institutions of the country. While the right-wing is trying to curb progressive thinking and the voices of students, we have also witnessed some landmark judgements and acceptance of minorities in the country. Apart from that, Kerala is one of the first states in India to accept the LGBTQ community and provide job to the transgenders. Yet, a university in the very same state has denied acceptance to the community. As Zuhrabi said, “we choose to love a person from the same gender and the society cannot alienate us for the choice we have made. Such lectures will help people understand and accept the LGBTQ.”

Courtesy: Indian Cultural Forum

Priyanka’s Secret and Sambit Patra Cut to Size

February 15, 2019

Even as Priyanka Gandhi has now stepped into the political arena, the BJP is trying to undermine her by targeting her husband Robert Vadra.

In this episode of ‘Bol Ke Lab Azad Hain Tere’, senior journalist Abhisar Sharma talks about the number of challenges in front of the Congress, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Even as Priyanka Gandhi has now stepped into the political arena, the BJP is trying to undermine her by targeting her husband Robert Vadra. We’ll have to wait to see if Gandhi succeeds in making an impact in Uttar Pradesh politically. Abhisar also speaks about how the mediapersons have complained to BJP President Amit Shah regarding Sambit Patra.

Courtesy : News Click

20 killed, 40 injured in Pulwama Terror Attack: J & K

February 14, 2019

At least 20 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed and over 40 people injured when Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists allegedly targeted a convoy of 70 CRPF vehicles with a car bomb in Avantipur region of Pulwama on Thursday. 13 of the injured are said to be in critical condition and battling for their lives. They were shifted to an Army base hospital in Srinagar.

The attack drew quick and sharp reactions from a leaders across the political spectrum.

Prime Minister Modi tweeted, “Attack on CRPF personnel in Pulwama is despicable. I strongly condemn this dastardly attack. The sacrifices of our brave security personnel shall not go in vain. The entire nation stands shoulder to shoulder with the families of the brave martyrs. May the injured recover quickly.”

Congress President Rahul Gandhi too offered his condolences to the families of martyrs and tweeted, “I’m deeply disturbed by the cowardly attack on a #CRPF convoy in J&K in which many of our brave CRPF men have been martyred and a large number wounded, some critically. My condolences to the families of our martyrs. I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured.”

Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Arun Jaitly tweeted, “Attack on CRPF in #Pulwama, J&K is a cowardice & condemnable act of terrorists. Nation salutes martyred soldiers and we all stand united with families of martyrs. We pray for speedy recovery of the injured. Terrorists will be given unforgettable lesson for their heinous act.”

The Congress party also condemned the attach and tweeted, “We are deeply saddened and angered by the terrorist attack that took the lives of our CRPF jawans in #Pulwama. We strongly condemn this violence and stand with the martyrs. Our thoughts & prayers are with their friends and families in this time of grief.”

AAP Chief and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal also condemned the attack. He tweeted, “Extremely shocking news coming from Pulwama (J&K). I strongly condemn the terror attack on CRPF convoy in which many casualties are feared. India must stand united in this moment of grief.”

The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) also conveyed its heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families of the personnel who laid down their lives in the line of duty. In a statement released on Twitter they said, “The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) strongly condemns the terrorist attack mounted on a CRPF convoy. Violence is not the answer to resolve issues that require the engagement of all stakeholders in the state. We call upon the Central government to ensure that peace and normalcy prevails in the state.”

Youth leader Kanhaiya Kumar tweeted, “News of the cowardly terrorist attack on our soldiers in #Pulwama is deeply saddening. My condolences to the families of the martyrs & my thoughts go out to all those still fighting for their lives.We must all unite together in this time of grief and condemn this shameful attack.”

Sabrangindia’s Appeal

Violence is never a solution and justice is a crying need for the survivors of bomb terror, or any kind of terror, even mob terror. The quest for justice and reparation must be based on the rule of law and not by inciteful cries of blood and revenge. More than anything else, cool headed interventions are the need of the hour.

We urge citizens to maintain peace and harmony in wake of this tragedy and not allow it to tear apart our diverse yet delicate socio-cultural fabric.

Has the government decided to sacrifice Forest Rights Act to benefit corporates?

February 14, 2019

Opposition leaders, tribal activists and people’s organisations said that in pending cases in the Supreme Court seeking to have this crucial Act struck down, the Central government’s lawyer said nothing in the defence of the law for all of the past three hearings.

Leaders of the Communist Party of India, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), former member of the Adivasi Congress, along with two organizations working for adivasi and forest dwellers’ rights, Adivasi Adhikar Rashtriya Manch, All India Forum of Forest Movements and Campaign for Survival and Dignity, wrote a strong letter to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, wondering if the Centre has decided to “sacrifice” the Forest Rights Act, 2006 to appease big corporates or other vested interests.

The letter, written around February 4, said that in pending cases in the Supreme Court seeking to have this crucial Act struck down, the Central government’s lawyer said nothing in the defence of the law for all of the past three hearings.

They addressed the letter to Minister of Tribal Affairs Jual Oram and wrote that in the last three hearings in the Supreme Court on petitions seeking to have The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, struck down, the Centre’s counsel did not say anything in defence of the law.

The joint letter was written with regards to the Modi governments utter negligence in protecting the Forest Rights Act.

“Far from sending a senior law officer to defend this critical law, in the last three hearings – in March, May and December 2018 – the Central government has said nothing. Your Ministry has been represented by a standing counsel with no stature. The petitioners have been asking the court to evict people whose claims have been rejected when your own Ministry has admitted that many rejections are incorrect and require review. But in the recent hearings, your lawyer has not even bothered to remind the Court of this. This is putting lakhs of poor tribal and forest-dwelling families at risk of being evicted just because of the bias and illegal actions of officials,” the signatories wrote.

“When these cases were first filed, the then UPA government had appointed Sr. Adv. Fali Nariman, one of the country’s senior most lawyers, to defend the Act. Up to early 2017, your government was at least represented by a senior ASG – Sr. Adv. PS Narasimha. But now your Ministry is silent. Has it been decided that this Act should be sacrificed, perhaps to appease big corporates or other vested interests?” they asked.

“The Court had earlier directed that the matter should be listed in the last week of January 2019 and it may come up any day now. Whenever the case is heard, the court is set to decide whether people should be evicted. We call upon your Ministry to put up a strong defence of this crucial law and to ensure that these misguided cases are dismissed without delay. Dilution of this crucial legislation or eviction orders would be an atrocity on this country’s poorest people,” they added.

This letter was endorsed prior to the resignation of V Kishore Chandra Deo from his post as Chair of the Adivasi Congress. He resigned from the post and the party on Sunday, and is likely to join the Telugu Desam Party, reports said.

The Supreme Court, on February 13, asked state governments to report on steps taken by them in cases of claims being rejected under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 (FRA) and to complete reviews of such rejections within four months. Meanwhile, the Union government again failed to defend the Act in court.

Full text of the letter:

JOINT LETTER ON MODI GOVERNMENT’S UTTER NEGLIGENCE IN PROTECTING THE FOREST RIGHTS ACT

To:
Shri Jual Oram
Minister of Tribal Affairs

Sub: Dismayed at the cavalier attitude of the Central Government to court cases against the critical Forest Rights Act; danger of the Act being diluted or struck down

Dear Shri Oram-ji,

We are writing to you because we are dismayed at the utterly indifferent and callous attitude adopted by the Central government around the rights of millions of India’s tribals and forest dwellers.

The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act has been challenged in the Supreme Court by retired forest officers and others with a vested interest in violating the rights of forest peoples (these cases are numbered WP 50/2008, WP 109/2008 etc.)

But far from sending a senior law officer to defend this critical law, in the last three hearings – in March, May and December 2018 – the Central government has said nothing. Your Ministry has been represented by a standing counsel with no stature. The petitioners have been asking the court to evict people whose claims have been rejected when your own Ministry has admitted that many rejections are incorrect and require review. But in the recent hearings, your lawyer has not even bothered to remind the Court of this. This is putting lakhs of poor tribal and forest-dwelling families at risk of being evicted just because of the bias and illegal actions of officials.

When these cases were first filed, the then UPA government had appointed Sr. Adv. Fali Nariman, one of the country’s seniormost lawyers, to defend the Act. Up to early 2017, your government was at least represented by a senior ASG – Sr. Adv. PS Narasimha. But now your Ministry is silent. Has it been decided that this Act should be sacrificed, perhaps to appease big corporates or other vested interests?

The Court had earlier directed that the matter should be listed in the last week of January 2019 and it may come up any day now. Whenever the case is heard, the court is set to decide whether people should be evicted. We call upon your Ministry to put up a strong defence of this crucial law and to ensure that these misguided cases are dismissed without delay. Dilution of this crucial legislation or eviction orders would be an atrocity on this country’s poorest people.

Sincerely,

Shri V Kishore Chandra Deo, (then) chairperson, Adivasi Congress
Com. Brinda Karat, Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Adivasi Adhikar Rashtriya Manch
Com. D. Raja, Communist Party of India
Shankar Gopalakrishnan, Campaign for Survival and Dignity
Soumitra Ghosh, All India Forum of Forest Movements
CC: Office of the Prime Minister, Government of India; Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs

Rahul Gandhi takes a stand against 13-point roster, writes to HRD Minister

February 14, 2019

In a letter to Javadekar dated Wednesday, he said that the adoption of the “13-point roster system” in place of the earlier system, has “severely eroded” the spirit of reservation guaranteed under the constitution of India and called for bringing an ordinance to suspend all recruitment till the matter was resolved.

New Delhi: Congress President Rahul Gandhi urged Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar to restore the “200-point roster system” of reservation mechanism for faculties in universities.

In a letter to Javadekar dated Wednesday, he said that the adoption of the “13-point roster system” in place of the earlier system, has “severely eroded” the spirit of reservation guaranteed under the constitution of India and called for bringing an ordinance to suspend all recruitment till the matter was resolved.

This is arguably the first time INC has taken a stand against the 13-point roster system and has not held a press conference or a protest demonstration against it.

Under the new system, each department is taken as a unit for implementing recruitment and reservation policy for teachers. Under the earlier system of a 200-point roster, the entire university was taken as a unit for reservation and recruitment.

“Thousands of SC, ST, OBC candidates aspiring to teach in colleges/universities will be denied the opportunity. The departure from the ‘200-point roster system’ has led to widespread protests and deserves your urgent intervention,” said Gandhi.

Gandhi also pointed out to Javadekar recently informing Parliament that of the 158 faculty posts advertised by the Central Universities of Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Punjab since March 5, 2018, not even a single post was reserved for SCs/STs under the ’13-point’ roster system.

“You had recently stated in the Parliament that out of the 158 faculty posts advertised by the Central Universities of Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, and Punjab since March 5, 2018, not even a single post was reserved for SCs/STs under the 13-point roster system. By your own ministry’s admission, 43 posts would have been reserved for SC/STs under the 200 point roster system,” he wrote.

On January 31, thousands of protestors had gathered in New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar to demand the restoration of the 200-point roster. The Allahabad high court in 2016 had ruled that the 13-point roster system should replace the previous system.

The announcement of a 13-point roster by Allahabad High Court in 2016, had caused widespread protests in the country and majority in New Delhi recently in January 2019.

Following that, the University Grants Commission froze hiring of faculty members last year until the Supreme Court heard the matter. On January 22, the Supreme Court upheld the HC’s order, following which new rounds of protests occurred.

Besides the Congress, the Samajwadi Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and other opposition parties have demanded the restoration of the earlier system, contending the new system deprives SCs, STs and OBCs of reservation benefits in higher education institutions.

Opposing teachers explained that as opposed to the earlier system, where 99 posts were reserved for SCs, STs and OBCs and 101 for the unreserved, under the new system only the first, second, third, fifth, and sixth posts will be unreserved in a department.

Also, the fourth will be reserved for OBCs, the seventh for SCs, the 14th for STs and the eighth and 12th for OBCs, while the ninth, 10th and 11th will be unreserved.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) in March 2018 announced that a department should be considered the base unit to calculate the number of teaching posts for the reserved categories following an order by the Allahabad High Court in April 2017.

The matter is before the apex court with the Centre filing a petition seeking review of the top court’s verdict, dismissing a petition pleading restoration of the earlier system.

Inputs from IANS

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Rafale Deal: The question is not of BJP vs. Congress, but Modi government vs. Indian nation

With 45 Million New, Young Voters, Political Parties Will Need To Talk Jobs, Education

AMU Alumni associations request the President of India to ‘protect AMU from being maligned’

NIT Calicut administration denies permission for LGBTQ lecture

On 6 September 2018, the Supreme Court of India passed a historic judgement decriminalising Section 377. The court said, “The law must be interpreted as per the requirement of the changing times.”

Priyanka’s Secret and Sambit Patra Cut to Size

Even as Priyanka Gandhi has now stepped into the political arena, the BJP is trying to undermine her by targeting her husband Robert Vadra.

20 killed, 40 injured in Pulwama Terror Attack: J & K

Sabrangindia’s Appeal

Has the government decided to sacrifice Forest Rights Act to benefit corporates?

Opposition leaders, tribal activists and people’s organisations said that in pending cases in the Supreme Court seeking to have this crucial Act struck down, the Central government’s lawyer said nothing in the defence of the law for all of the past three hearings.

Rahul Gandhi takes a stand against 13-point roster, writes to HRD Minister

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