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Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra<\/strong><\/p>\n By Insaf<\/strong><\/p>\n \n BJP-ruled Assam has pleasantly surprised the Congress, rather given a fillip to Rahul Gandhi\u2019s \u2018Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra,\u2019 kicked off from Manipur. \u201cWomen assembled for a function organised by the Assam CM in Mariani spontaneously and enthusiastically met @RahulGandhi on Day 5 of the BJNY. NYAY for Assam has begun!\u201d read the party\u2019s X post. Indeed, as a large number of rural women in Jorhat, who had gathered to collect forms for a newly announced government scheme were seen leaving their queues to greet Rahul, who had reached Mariani town from neighbouring Sivasagar district around Thursday noon. The video on social media showed women showering affection and sought to click pictures with him, before he proceeded further.<\/p>\n The response has triggered a bitter controversy. Congress has accused Chief Minister Sarma trying to derail the yatra. First by creating obstacles, such as fixing dates for the distribution of forms in such a manner that it deliberately clashed with Rahul yatra and second having an FIR registered suo moto by the police against the yatra and its chief organiser KB Byju for allegedly \u2018deviating from its permitted route inside Jorhat town,\u2019 leading to chaos. Whereas, the Congress said \u2018the assigned route was too small, and we had a huge gathering. So, we took a detour for just a few metres… Sarma wants to make the yatra a flop.\u201d Who is more successful, is anybody\u2019s guess. The yatra has 17 districts on its schedule in the state till January 25 and there\u2019s bound to be more heat and dust raised. But all eyes are on the big story\u2014preparations for D-Day, January 22 and Ayodhya. The twist and turns the yatra takes, must take a backseat, at least till then.<\/p>\n \n Chandigarh Mayor Poll Drama<\/p>\n Chandigarh mayoral elections have kicked up a storm. The AAP and Congress have accused BJP of not allowing these to be held under fear of its \u201cimminent defeat\u201d! Thursday should have seen a new civic team, but the polls were abruptly postponed on \u2018pretext\u2019 the presiding office Anil Masih, had fallen sick. After high drama outside municipal corporation office and filing of a petition in Punjab & Haryana High Court by AAP, the DC announced February 6 as the next date of poll. Interestingly, he has nominated Masih as presiding officer, giving credence to allegations that \u201cBJP sent him to hospital\u201d as \u201cmajority of officers responsible for the election, including presiding officer and secretary, municipal corporation, belong to the Haryana cadre, where BJP is in power, and they are under party\u2019s influence.\u201d All this, because this election was being viewed as the first test between INDIA bloc and BJP as both AAP and Congress reached an understanding \u2014 AAP to field mayor candidate, while Congress to contest for senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor posts. So, if voting went as per party lines, then their 20 combined votes were sufficient to defeat BJP, which since past 8 years has held the mayor\u2019s post. The postponement not only saves BJP the embarrassment but gives it time to work on \u2018Operation Lotus\u2019, says opposition. Will February 6th prove it right?<\/p>\n System Fails Rural Kids<\/p>\n The education system in the country has failed the rural kids! The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2023 \u2018Beyond Basics\u2019 by NGO Pratham released on Wednesday, following a survey in 28 districts across 26 States reveals not much has changed over the decade and kids continue to struggle with basic reading and arithmetic skills well into teenage years. Specifically, 42% of children aged 14 to 18 years in rural India can\u2019t read easy sentences in English; over half can\u2019t even solve simple 3-digit division problems, usually taught in 3-4th standard; about 25% can\u2019t read a class 2 level text fluently in their regional language! While there\u2019s lot more statistics from 34,745-youth surveyed, the message for Government is: \u2018Catch up efforts for foundational literacy and numeracy are needed\u2026not only for doing better in school but also for everyday needs.\u2019 Shockingly, it has done precious little, despite its NEP 2020 stating, \u2018urgent need for ensuring that by Std III, children have acquired basic reading and arithmetic skills.\u201d Time it did its own homework right!<\/p>\n Cong AP Comeback?<\/p>\n The Congress is desperately trying to make a comeback in Andhra Pradesh. Less than two weeks of YS Sharmila, sister of Chief Minister YS Jagan Reddy Mohan and daughter of former CM Y S Rajasekhar Reddy, joining the party, it appointed her as President of the state unit on Tuesday last, and compensated outgoing chief Gidugu Rudra Raju, as special invitee to the CWC. The change, just before general and Assembly elections may not go down well with old timers, but the party doesn\u2019t have much to lose. Since 2014, it has failed to get a single MLA or MP elected, so even if Sharmila can score a small success, the party can pat itself. A lot, however, depends on how she changes the label of \u2018belonging to Telangana\u2019 and lay a claim to YSR\u2019s political legacy in the State, which brother Jagan has used to his advantage to the hilt. Political analysts do not give the Congress much space as the battle is clearly between YSR Congress and the TDP. Sharmila has a long way to go, starting with testing the waters within the grand old party itself.<\/p>\n \n Bihar Largesse<\/p>\n Bihar government is wasting no time to woo the voters. On Tuesday last, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced the Laghu Udyami Yojana, (Bihar small entrepreneur scheme) wherein one member of each family, earning less than Rs 6000 per month (9.4 million families), will get Rs 2 lakh over five years. The first of three instalments was sanctioned by the Cabinet i.e., Rs 50,000, to be disbursed next month to five lakh families selected through a computerised randomisation process \u2018to set up and run small industrial or processing units, such as handicraft, textile, saloon, eateries, among 63 types of units.\u2019 The scheme will be implemented by industries department, and members of such families will need to apply online and produce the proof of family income to claim benefits. Another scheme approved was of providing one-time financial grant ranging from\u00a0\u00b9 75,000 to\u00a0\u00b9 30,000 to students from EBC families preparing for civil services (mains) exams. There is a catch though. A lot will hinge on budgetary allocations. The big question being where will these additional thousands of crores come from? \u2014 INFA<\/p>\n \n \n \n \n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra By Insaf BJP-ruled Assam has pleasantly surprised the Congress, rather given a fillip to Rahul Gandhi\u2019s \u2018Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra,\u2019 kicked off from Manipur. \u201cWomen assembled for a function organised by the Assam CM in Mariani spontaneously and enthusiastically met @RahulGandhi on Day 5 of the BJNY. 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