In his column for The Indian Express, former finance minister P Chidambaram writes that despite several setbacks for the government in the 20 days of its formation, the BJP’s focus remains on signalling that the Lok Sabha elections have not dented “the supreme leader’s way of doing things,” despite the people’s mandate. He asserted that the BJP has refused to acknowledge the fact that it is a coalition government.
“There have been several setbacks in the 20 days since the government was formed. The National Testing Agency imploded and the raging fire consumed the aspirations of lakhs of students. There was a horrific train accident in Jalpaiguri. Terrorist attacks continued in Jammu & Kashmir. The prices of tomato, potato and onion increased, year on year, by 39, 41 and 43%, respectively. The Sensex and Nifty soared to historic highs while the dollar-rupee exchange rate plunged to a historic low. Toll tax on highways was raised by 15%.” – P Chidambaram, Former Finance Minister
In her column for The Indian Express, Tavleen Singh cites the Report on International Religious Freedom for 2023 released by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, which pointed at the “concerning increase in anti-conversion laws, hate speech, demolitions for members of minority faith communities.” She said that the government’s ‘fake disdain and fake bravado’ is not a sufficient response to reports such as these.
“Demonising those of other faiths, especially Muslims, has become so routine in the past ten years that incidents of yet another ‘cattle smuggler’ being lynched now barely make the news. The tragic reality is that the killers are almost never brought to justice and always remain face less. Now that there is a powerful opposition in Parliament, we must hope that this changes as do a few other practices that have given India a bad name.” – Tavleen Singh for The Indian Express
In his column for Deccan Herald, Praveen Chakravarty writes that though the government’s Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme claimed to have created 6.8 lakh jobs, there was no way of verifying the number. He explains this happens because PLI only measures production accurately, not the number of jobs created, since it pays firms based on its output. He adds that the incentive should directly be tied to employment, instead of production, in order to measure job creation.
“For example, the world’s largest electronics manufacturer, Foxconn, nearly doubled its production and sales between 2010 and 2020, but its total number of workers remained roughly the same. This is due to automation and machines replacing humans, which is an inevitability that improves productivity, quality and efficiency for companies. But the fact remains that just boosting economic output does not automatically boost job creation any longer.” – Praveen Chakravarty for Deccan Herald
In his column for Hindustan Times, Karan Thapar writes that deaths due to consumption of hooch are “double tragedies” because they are not only horrific but also entirely preventable. “All it requires is the acceptance of a cold fact of reality. Not all human beings are teetotalers. Many want to drink. They enjoy doing so. And frankly, in any mature, sensible, democratic society, they have an inalienable right to do so. It is attempts to deny that right or place unacceptable curbs on it that cause the problem.
“Karan Thapar for Hindustan Times
In her column for The Indian Express, Coomi Kapoor writes that even as the Parliament commemorated the anniversary of Indira Gandhi’s Emergency during the ongoing session, it failed to address the fact that a “dark cloud still hangs over freedom of expression” even today.
“Strong-arming individuals and groups funding the media, unjustly applying laws concerning terrorism and corruption, raiding media offices and arresting scribes without following due process, denying visas to foreign journalists, using the CBI and the ED to settle scores are some of the more draconian methods of media regulation of late. But control of news emanation can even be effected by simply shutting out legitimate sources of information. Scribes who don’t toe the line are cut out from the loop of newsgathering like background briefings, interviews, and entry to Parliament and government offices.” – Coomi Kapoor for The Indian Express
In her article for The Hindu, Rajya Sabha MP and former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi writes that the first few days of the 18th Lok Sabha “have sadly been far from encouraging.” She not only
