{"id":125750,"date":"2020-05-23T01:14:12","date_gmt":"2020-05-22T19:44:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/?p=125750"},"modified":"2020-05-23T01:14:12","modified_gmt":"2020-05-22T19:44:12","slug":"will-centre-be-sympathetic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/2020\/05\/23\/will-centre-be-sympathetic\/","title":{"rendered":"Will centre be sympathetic?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bengal Cyclone Amphan<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\nBy Insaf<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s a double whammy for West Bengal. Struggling to meet the challenge of coronovirus and under the Centre\u2019s radar, the State is now battling with Cyclone Amphan. Till Thursday last the cyclone has claimed 72 lives, leaving thousands homeless, a trail of destruction in several parts and swamping low-lying areas. The State in worse hit than Odisha given that while 5 lakh-odd people were evacuated in Bengal and told to remain in shelters, over 2 lakh were evacuated in Odisha and that the situation is \u2018under control and weather has moderated in the latter. However, what is of critical concern is what relief the Centre and Prime Minister will eventually provide to Bengal. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee\u2019s has requested he visit the State and \u2018see the situation,\u2019 as she has seen nothing like it before. In a tweet, Modi assured all possible assistance to the two States and that top officials are working in close co-ordination with the West Bengal government. In this challenging hour, he said, the entire nation \u201cstands in solidarity with West Bengal. Praying for the well-being of the people…Efforts are on to ensure normalcy.\u201d Expected reaction, but it shouldn\u2019t be mere words. Will there be a halt to nitpicking and politics put behind? New Delhi must remember the proof of the pudding is in the eating.<\/p>\n

Maharashtra For Locals
\nMaharashtra makes a clarion call to its \u201csons of soil\u201d. With lakhs of migrant workers going back to their States, an anxious Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has decided to set up an industrial employment bureau to meet the grave labour shortfall. Grab employment opportunities now, is the message to his people, with the commitment that the bureau will give priority to local labourers. It proposes to involve collaboration of three departments\u2014industries, labour and skill development and will enrol workers in skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled segments, as per industry needs. The administration is obviously making the best of the opportunity in hand of taking forward its agenda of the \u2018Marathi manoos\u2019. Remember Shiv Sena from day one has been vociferously against the \u2018outsiders\u2019 who have taken away jobs from the locals. The big question is whether the call will have takers, as the surge of migrants in the State was because the locals, who were better educated, shunned working-class jobs. The slowdown cannot be wished away and time will tell whether sans the migrants the Marathi manoos will meet rebuild a new Maharashtra.
\nAnger In J&K
\nPolitical parties in Jammu & Kashmir are up in arms. The Union Cabinet has stirred up a hornets\u2019 nest by giving post-facto approval to the new law modifying the \u2018applicability of Domicile conditions to all level of jobs under the J&K Civil Services (Decentralisation and Recruitment) Act\u2019 on Wednesday last. The rules, reacted the National Conference, are \u2018unconstitutional\u2019 aimed at \u201cdisempowering the people of J&K and effecting demographic change\u201d at a time when the issue is under challenge before the Supreme Court. Regretting that even a pandemic \u201cis no deterrent for the GoI\u201d, the PDP warned it will be resisted. The Centre has opened the \u201cflood gates for outsiders\u201d, which is a \u201cbetrayal against the people, especially youth, who were promised complete protection of rights to jobs and land, even post abrogation of Article 370\u201d, was the Congress\u2019 response. At a time when the people are concerned with spread of coronavirus, the BJP government said the CPM \u201cis busy in redesigning the \u2018UT\u2019! All are on the same page and trust deficit takes a further nosedive. New Delhi will need to prepare for more than just a simmering summer season in the Valley.<\/p>\n

UP\u2019s Revolting Politics
\nStranded migrants get caught in the rot of one-upmanship politics in Uttar Pradesh. The heartrending scenes of migrant workers having to trudge miles to get back home in the sweltering heat, got Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi to engage 1000-odd buses to save them of their misery. However, she ended up withdrawing these on Wednesday last, as BJP-government under Yogi Adityanath nit-picked and wouldn\u2019t allow hundreds of buses from Jaipur, stranded for over 24 hours, to cross the border. Its reasoning: \u201cbuses have fake numbers, or carried registration numbers of other vehicles, and some were in poor condition\u201d. Plus, it argued that Priyanka sent Rajasthan Roadways buses \u201cwhich she cannot do in her personal capacity\u201d. Does it really matter? What should is engaging in \u2018joint relief measures\u2019 and not put unwanted hurdles. An exasperated Priyanka in a video message said it\u2019s \u201cno time to play politics\u201d, and even urged Yogi \u201c\u2026If you want, you can paste your posters or banners on them, but kindly allow them to ply so that the migrants can be ferried in them.\u201d It fell on deaf ears. No winners here, only losers and sadly in this case millions of the stranded poor.<\/p>\n

NRC Scam
\nThe NRC exercise in Assam has hit a fresh controversy. On Monday last, Assam Public Works (APW), a Guwahati-based NGO, has filed an FIR with CBI, alleging financial misconduct in the updating process. It accused Wipro, one of prime software companies, for allegedly submitting a bill as well as being paid Rs 1.27 crore for procurement of two software systems. But as per National Institute of Smart Governance report to Accountant General (Audit) office, \u201cno such system was installed and used for the updation.\u201d Besides, it is alleged that Accountant General (Audit) report reveals irregularities in purchase of 3,700 generators for 2,500 NRC help centres set up across the State, for which Wipro submitted bills worth Rs 34.76 crore at rate of Rs 93,964 each. An inquiry by the AG office, however, reveals the generators were hired (not purchased) and the market price of each was Rs 35,000! The accusations cannot be taken lightly, as recall that APW was the original petitioner on whose PIL the Supreme Court in 2015 had ordered for updating of the NRC. More skeletons to tumble out of cupboard?<\/p>\n

Mischievous FIR
\nAn FIR in Karnataka hits headlines. Will it turn out to be nuisance value or trigger a vicious Congress-BJP spat? On Thursday last, an FIR was registered against Congress supremo Sonia Gandhi at Sagar Town Police Station, Shivamoga after a \u2018preliminary enquiry\u2019, following a complaint by an advocate and a BJP activist over some tweets made from Twitter handle @INCIndia against PM-CARES. The saffronite was perturbed over the allegations made i.e. PM CARES was not used for welfare of citizens, but for his personal interests including foreign trips! The FIR is filed under sections 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot) and 505(1)(b) (intent to cause, or which is likely to cause, fear or alarm to the public) and probe is underway. The issue has reached Chief Minister Yediyrappa\u2019s doorstep. PCC Chief Shivakumar demands withdrawal of the FIR, arguing that Sonia\u2019s intent was merely to \u2018force Modi to use the Fund for people\u2019s welfare\u2019 and was being misinterpreted by BJP leadership, which \u2018instigated\u2019 filing of complaint. Worse, the FIR was \u2018a blatant misuse of the process of law with an intention to snub the right to healthy criticism\u2019. What\u2019s new? \u2014 INFA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bengal Cyclone Amphan By Insaf It\u2019s a double whammy for West Bengal. Struggling to meet the challenge of coronovirus and under the Centre\u2019s radar, the State is now battling with Cyclone Amphan. Till Thursday last the cyclone has claimed 72 lives, leaving thousands homeless, a trail of destruction in several parts and swamping low-lying areas. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-125750","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-features"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125750\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}