All posts by Binny Yadav

Obese India, further burdens the nation dealing with diabetes and hypertension

April 20, 2024 | By Binny Yadav

More than 40 percent of the children and adolescents in the world are obese and this number is growing fast. The figures can be more worrisome for India as it poses a big health challenge for the nation which is also considered the diabetic capital of the world. Obesity, which can also lead to noncommunicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and some cancers, can become a massive health burden for India which has around 11.4 percent diabetes patients and 15.3 percent people suffering from hypertension.

A new study released by the Lancet shows that in 2022, more than 1 billion people in the world are now living with obesity. Worldwide, obesity among adults has more than doubled since 1990, and has quadrupled among children and adolescents (5 to 19 years of age). The data also show that 43% of adults were overweight in 2022.

There exists a paradoxical situation of malnutrition in India, in all its forms, which includes undernutrition (wasting, stunting, underweight), inadequate vitamins or minerals, overweight and obesity. Undernutrition is responsible for half of the deaths of children under 5 and obesity can cause noncommunicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and some cancers.

The Lancet study also found that 44 million women and 26 million men aged above 20 in India are obese. This is a huge increase since 1990 when 2.4 million women and 1.1 million men were found to be obese.

Why is India getting obese

The causes are obvious and attributed to lifestyle changes which have taken place in the past few years. According to the National Center for biotechnology information, “excessive consumption of white rice and a lack of physical activity contributes to the deposition of abdominal fat among South Asian people and India,being the largest country in South Asia, with 1.2 billion people, is believed to have an estimated 350 million people with obesity”.

Growing urban economy and easy accessibility to the food and more consumption of processed and dairy products and switching away from the traditional eating methods is also contributing to obesity which is alarming more because of lack of or no exercise regime, feels a nutritionist working at a leading wellness and weight loss clinic in Delhi.

Curbing obesity is important

“This new study highlights the importance of preventing and managing obesity from early life to adulthood, through diet, physical activity, and adequate care, as needed,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “Getting back on track to meet the global targets for curbing obesity will take the work of governments and communities, supported by evidence-based policies from WHO and national public health agencies. Importantly, it requires the cooperation of the private sector, which must be accountable for the health impacts of their products”.

Obesity is a complex chronic disease. The causes are well understood, as are the interventions needed to contain the crisis, which are backed by strong evidence. However, they are not implemented. At the World Health Assembly in 2022 Member States adopted the WHO Acceleration plan to stop obesity, which supports country-level action through 2030. To date, 31 governments are now leading the way to curb the obesity epidemic by implementing the plan.

The core interventions are:

actions to support healthy practices from day 1, including breastfeeding promotion, protection and support;
regulations on the harmful marketing of food and beverages to children;
school food and nutrition policies, including initiatives to regulate the sales of products high in fats, sugars and salt in proximity of schools;
fiscal and pricing policies to promote healthy diets;
nutrition labeling policies;
public education and awareness campaigns for healthy diets and exercise;
standards for physical activity in schools; and
integration of obesity prevention and management services into primary health care.

“There are significant challenges in implementing policies aimed at ensuring affordable access to healthy diets for all and creating environments that promote physical activity and overall healthy lifestyles for everyone,” stated Dr Francesco Branca, Director of WHO’s Nutrition and Food Safety Department and one of the co-authors of the study. “Countries should also ensure that health systems integrate the prevention and management of obesity into the basic package of services.”

Addressing undernutrition requires multisectoral action in agriculture, social protection and health, to reduce food insecurity, improve access to clean water and sanitation and ensure universal access to essential nutrition interventions.

EVMs Disenfrenchises your ‘secret vote’, Why Election Commission of India sitting on ‘Totalizer’?

April 19, 2024 | By Binny Yadav

According to Rajiv Kakria, booths are captured months before the elections in a bloodless swoop without a bullet being fired. Booth-Wise Result of Constituencies should not be made available to anyone. Elected representatives after getting the booth-wise result of polling, then start blackmailing.”

For any democracy to survive adult franchise is a pre-condition and the other more importantly a secretor ballot. As India votes to choose 18th Lok Sabha amidst questions raised on the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM)s’ reliability and country wide protests demanding its complete roll back and also the demand for hundred percent counting and cross-checking of voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) records, there are more serious questions not on the EVMs, as allows quick and easy to handle votes, but the process adopted to count votes baring the secrecy of votes disenfranchising the voters putting a big question mark on the credibility of the entire election exercise.

The big question therefore is if your ballot secret? If not, the very basic factor responsible for the free and fair election is jeopardised, eventually dismantling the edifice of democracy, and the culprit is the process around voting machine which collects the votes but cant keep it a secret. In absence of ‘Totalizer’ which was recommended by the election commission, way back in 2008, endorsed by the Law commission and court’s order for its implementation, EVMs continue to be used as a booth-wise vote casting machine with no mechanism for keeping the votes secret, clearly disenfranchising the voters for their ‘fundamental right’ to choose the government of their choice by ‘free and fair’ and without fear or pressure on their choices.

In 2013, even before the Bhartiya Janata Party formed the government in 2014 and much before electronic voting machines came under hammer for the possible tampering, this was realised by the election commission of India that EVMs, can tamper with the process opening the secrecy of the individual voters preferences. Over the years, while possibilities of tampering of the EVMs became a prominent issue with differed opinions and questions raised on the VVPAT for its transparency in particular and eliminating the use of EVMs in general, the belief that EVMs penetrate into the fairness of democratic process is supported purely by the mathematics based on how the vote is cast and how these are being counted. The very methodology of counting of votes through EVMs has been under scanner since long, but with safeguard mechanism proposed by the Election commission of India, courts and Law Commission in the form of totaliser, but not implemented yet for want of executive decision, tearing apart the very concept of ‘secret ballot’

What is a ‘Secret Ballot’

Right to free and fair elections to the citizen of India emanates from the fundamental right to Free Speech and Expression as enshrined in Article 19 (1) (a) of the Constitution of India. Under the provisions of the Representation of the Peoples Act, 1951, every citizen of India has the “right to vote” which includes and inheres in it right to have fair and free opportunity to every citizen of India to cast his/her vote without having any fear or intimidation. The Act also provides for maintaining “secrecy of voting” and also for “maintaining of secrecy regarding counting of Votes” by every person connected with the recording or counting of votes. The rules under the Act also recommend “maintenance of secrecy of voting” by electors within polling station and voting procedure.

Why EVMs doesn’t keep ‘Secrecy of Ballot’

Before 1971, counting of votes used undertaken polling station wise but the post poll violence and intimidation of the voters in the areas where the voters had not voted for a particular candidate, the procedure was changed and instead, ballot papers of all booths/polling stations in a single constituency were mixed to ensure anonymity of voters and then counted.

Electronic Voting Machines were introduced in 1998 in India for voting and counting of votes in “constituency-based Elections” (in part), and since 2004 used on complete base in the country as a voting mechanism. The EVMs however, continued pre 1971 system of counting the votes booth or polling station wise. This, ever since EVMs use as voting mechanism has put a question mark for not only the secrecy of vote but also for the intimidation of the voters. It actually discloses the voting preference of a particular polling station as this is an easy understanding during the counting process which ballot box is carrying the vote of which block, Mohalla, or house numbers. While individual vote may be a secret but EVMs clearly discounts the provision of ‘secrecy of votes’ by disclosing the booth wise voting pattern to the election officers , the government servants, and the political party agents, who can easily identify the voting patterns and even individual votes in an area.

This not only leads to violation of right of secrecy of ballot/maintenance of secrecy of ballot, but also right to vote without fear and intimidation baring the voters to pre and post elections coercion and victimization. This also gives an opportunity for the political parties specially the ruling party for undue influence, allurement of voters and trading of votes. This according to the activists who analysed the process says also has a lasting impact on MP-MLA LAD schemes as the winners focus their attention to those who voted for them, rather than the entire constituency.

In fact Election Commission, while acknowledging the need of the issue, recommended way back in November 2008, for using Totalizer in EVM for counting in order to avoid booth wise counting, however no effective steps have been taken in this regard for want of government santions.

Who is sitting on Election Commission’s Recommendation for Totaliser?

The ECI, in 2008, recommended to the Ministry of Law and Justice to amend the Election Rules to provide for the use of a totaliser for the counting of votes recorded in EVMs at elections. As per the ECI’s suggestion, “the results of votes polled in a group of 14 EVMs (hence, in 14 polling stations) would be calculated and announced together, in a change from the current practice of counting votes by each polling station. This is based on technological constraints.”

The underlying rationale behind the ECI’s proposal was that the “current” system revealed the voting trends in each polling station, thus leaving the voters in that vicinity open to harassment, intimidation and post-election victimisation.

Prior to the introduction of EVMs, ballot papers could be mixed, wherever it was considered “absolutely necessary” under Rule 59A of the Election Rules in light of “apprehend[ed] intimidation and victimisation of electors”. However, EVMs do not permit this.

The Law Commission further recommended, “ In the appropriate case, where the Election Commission apprehends intimidation and victimisation of electors in any constituency, and it is of the opinion that the votes recorded in the voting machines should be mixed before counting, it may by notification in the Official Gazette, specify such constituency where the returning officer shall use a totaliser for the counting of votes recorded in a group of electronic voting machines”.

The law commission also maintained then that using a totaliser would increase the secrecy of votes during counting, thus preventing the disclosure of voting patterns and countering fears of intimidation and victimisation.

Although the ECI’s proposal was referred to a Parliamentary Committee in 2009, no action was taken on it. In August 2014, the ECI moved the Law Ministry on this issue again. Subsequently in September 2014, the Supreme Court in a PIL in Yogesh Gupta v ECI542 issued directions to the government to issue to clarify why no steps were taken pursuant to the ECI’s 2008 proposals. Noting that the issue had been referred to the Law Commission for consideration, the three-judge bench of the Court asked the government what concrete steps it had taken on the ECI’s suggestions of using a totaliser to prevent (or reduce) instances of intimidation or victimisation.

Moreover, as the ECI has itself clarified, a “totaliser” has already been developed by EVM manufacturers to connect several control units at a time to indicate the total number of votes polled and recorded in the specified number of polling stations. Thus, administratively it is not difficult to collect information about the number of votes polled by each candidate for a whole group of polling stations, thus hiding the pattern of voting in each individual booth.

Citing all the above facts and “reasons”, the Law Commission reiterated and endorsed the “ECI’s suggestion for introducing a totaliser for the counting of votes recorded in EVMs……the Commission proposes to amend Rules.. to empower the ECI to decide when, and in which constituency and polling booths, to employ a totaliser, after taking into consideration the context of the elections and any threats of intimidation or victimisation”.

Why even the Court order on use of Totaliser not implemented yet

Responding to a Public Interest Petition filed by an NGO SP Chetna, working on civil and democratic rights, the High Court of Delhi in 2013 had observed and noted ” that the EC has already recommended to GOI the use of totalizer for ensuring confidentiality of voters and in order to ensure that no vengeance is wrecked by the winning candidate against vote of a particular booth who may have voted against it”.

The NGO also pleaded then to the ECI in a letter on 2013, “votes can be traced to a Block of about 200 Households allocated to a booth and political Parties buy block votes through the Local Goon / Leader who guarantees 90% votes in favour of the highest bidder ……the threat of reprisal/ intimidation keeps most such voters of a booth in line.”

It also maintained “Our research reveals that the local *Goons / Leaders collect the Ration Cards, Pension Papers etc as a security deposit to be returned only if the entire Booth Votes as promised.”

Implications when the vote is not ‘secret’

According to Rajiv Kakria and Anil Sood, founders of SP Chetna, this results in total collapse of the democratic machinery eventually. “Coercion and Intimidation for votes is the direct fall out when the ballot is not secret” and “bulk purchase of Votes on caste, community, and religious lines is real. Can we call it a Secret Ballot?”

According to Rajiv Kakria, booths are captured months before the elections in a bloodless swoop without a bullet being fired. Booth-Wise Result of Constituencies should not be made available to anyone. Elected representatives after getting the booth-wise result of polling, then start blackmailing.”

Electoral Bonds: Exposing Political Hypocrisy

April 02, 2024 | By Binny Yadav

The jinn of electoral bonds is finally out in the public domain with the Election Commission of India (ECI) uploading the details of the political donations and the beneficiaries on its website. That thousands of crores of rupees were donated by corporate houses through electoral bonds is evident through these details, this intriguingly, also reveals how almost all the top donors had some or the other investigations going on in their or their company’s name through various investigating agencies of India. The details of which corporate house donated to which political has party has been disclosed by the State Bank of India as per the Supreme Court (SC) notice, the interesting link between the top donors and the investigations on these, specially for money laundering in many of the cases establishes the apprehensions of the apex court of “quid pro quo” . It is now crystal clear that electoral bonds not only failed in its purpose of bringing transparency to political funding, but also that these most likely became instrument of legitimising money laundering by political and financial misappropriation. This also exposes the political hypocrisy- that a legitimate government instrument, in the name of electoral bonds scheme was used by making due amendments in the legal system to amass the disproportionate money on one hand and an illegal system of money laundry was used as a means to achieve the goal of amassing money in the name of political funding in the name of bringing transparency to the system while curbing black money.

As expected the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party being the biggest beneficiary of the electoral bonds scheme, Trinamool the second and Indian National congress stand third biggest the biggest beneficiaries.

After the Electoral Bond Scheme was struck down by the Supreme Court on February 15, the SBI which was bank to facilitate the purchase and redemption of the electoral bonds submitted the details under the court’s direction to the ECI which, again as per the court’s compliance, uploaded the details on its website. Since the SBI had only shared the details of the donors and the donee, it was not clear in the beginning as to who donated to which political party and this led to the apprehension that the entire purpose of striking down the Electoral Bonds Scheme as “unconstitutional” on account of these violating the “right to information” would fail as the general elections are too close and the redeemed money would be (mis)used in the electoral process.

The Chief Justice DY Chandrachud taking cognizance of the urgency issued notice to SBI to furnish details of the secret code linking the relationship between the donor and the beneficiary. The apex court submitted, “that SBI has not disclosed the Electoral Bonds numbers (alphanumeric numbers). Notice be issued to SBI. We direct the registry to issue notice to SBI returnable on Monday.”

Interestingly, the SBI list is conspicuous of the absence of big corporate houses purchasing the electoral bonds. The top donors’ details vividly indicate how the electoral bonds not only could have promoted money laundering but also could have been used as an instrument for “quid pro quo” as speculated by the apex court while striking the scheme down as “unconstitutional”.

Top donors and their investigation cases, an interesting link!

There is an interesting pattern reflecting in the details of top donors who purchased the electoral bonds between 2019 till 2024, almost all of these invested crores of rupees in purchasing electoral bonds and also have some or the other investigations going on in their or their company’s names.

At least 14 out of the top 30 companies which purchased electoral bonds from 12 April 2019 to 24 January 2024 faced action by central or state probe agencies, revealed data from the State Bank of India released by the Election Commission (EC).

Santiago Martin, popularly known as the ‘lottery king’, through his company Future Gaming and Hotel Services Pvt Ltd, turns out to be the biggest donor. Martin was a labourer in Myanmar who transformed in a short time into ‘Lottery King’ and his Gaming and Hotel Services is one that intervenes dreams with political scandals. Future Gaming and Hotel Services Pvt Ltd donated Rs 1368 crore between 27 October 2020 and 5 October 2023. In May 2023, the ED attached Martin’s Rs 457 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in connection with a case linked to the alleged loss of over Rs 900 crore to the Sikkim government.

Martin has had multiple run-ins with the law and is also under the scanner of multiple investigative agencies. In 2008, Martin came into the spotlight for an alleged fraud of over Rs 4,500 crore against the Sikkim government. In 2011, he faced searches from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka police forces as part of a crackdown on illegal lottery businesses. In 2013, the Kerala police conducted raids on Martin’s premises as part of an investigation into illegal lottery operations in the state. In 2015, the Income Tax Department raided Martin’s premises across various states, including Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka, on allegations of tax evasion and financial irregularities.

Megha Engineering and Infrastructure is reflected as the second biggest donor in the list published by the EC and this too has had run-ins with the investigating agencies. In October 2019, the Income Tax department carried out raids at multiple offices of Telugu tycoon Krishna Reddy Megha Engineering Infrastructure Limited (MEIL) in Hyderabad and other cities. Since then, the company has donated Rs 966 crore in electoral bonds.

Vedanta group collectively donated Rs 400 crore in electoral bonds and interestingly one of its companies, Talwandi Sabo Power Ltd (TSPL) was raided by the ED in connection with a money laundering probe in August 2022. Likewise Haldia Energy Limited which donated Rs 377cr in electoral bonds, the fourth largest donation through the electoral bonds, faced action by the Central Bureau of Investigation in March 2020.

While this pattern of top most donors having investigations in their names by various agencies for money laundering may not be a coincidence this also indicates how the electoral bonds in itself could have been used as an instrument for money laundering and a cover-up in the name of transparency and curbing the black money.

Delhi pollution, part responsible for its location and rest is manageable! Regulated action needed

April 20, 2024 | By Binny Yadav

Delhi pollution is hardly ever out of the news. Winters or summer the city is notoriously associated with pollution levels crossing critical marks. Now, as per recent data Delhi was the most polluted capital in the world Delhi in the year 2023 and the third most polluted city in India in terms of PM (Particulate Matter) 2.5 levels, according to the World Air Quality Report.

The report was prepared by IQAir, a Swiss air quality technology company. It uses data from across the world from monitoring stations of government agencies, educational institutions, and non-profit organisations, according to the report. In 2023, Delhi’s annual average PM 2.5 level was 92.7 µg/m3 — placing the Indian national capital at the top of a list of 114 capital cities in the world. This was followed by Dhaka in Bangladesh, with a PM 2.5 level of 80.2 µg/m3.

The report indeed is significant considering the hazards of pollution on overall health which ‘critically’ impacts longevity, this also throws upon several questions. Years after years, Delhi has suffered from pollution. Why can’t the government curtail the pollution and is it so difficult? Is there a lack of infrastructure, dearth of administrative support or lack of political and agencies’ will? While pollution is a critical reality for Delhi it is also important to understand these reports and data which surface every year from various agencies.

Reports about pollution level need thorough scrutiny

Dr Mohan P George, an eminent environment scientist and ex Add. Director to Delhi Pollution Control Committee, and currently advisor to Center for Science and Environment, finds nothing shocking and new about the current report putting Delhi at the top of the most polluted capital of the world, “We are just changing the title of the reports. Once it declared China as the most polluted country, sometimes Beijing, Dhaka and now it is Delhi”. Indeed these reports do create news and are sensational too but such data, according to him, should be evaluated by the scientific community and environment ministry.

Major cause of Delhi pollution is also its geography

While there are many factors leading due to which Delhi by and large remains in the news for bad air quality, much of this can be blamed for the geographical placing of Delhi, he says. According to Dr George, Delhi falls on the Indo Gangetic Plain which throughout the year brings in winds laden with the dust which if combined with the other pollutants creates air havoc for the city.

Dhaka and Lahore are the other cities which fall on the same Indo Gangetic Plane and have equally suffered from bad air quality. On the first day of the new year, 2024, Dhaka topped the list of cities worldwide with the worst air quality with an AQI score of 244 at 8:40 am. On the last day of 2023, Dhaka also topped the list with the worst air quality. So, sometimes it is Dhaka, sometimes it can be Lahore or Delhi. “Therefore all these air quality data should also consider the local geographical conditions of India Gangetic plane besides taking into account the other pollutant factors while reaching on any conclusion”, points out Dr Geaorge.

The question is also raised on the measures for mitigating pollution level which by and large ends up in failure. “We are following actions as a practice in the process we are losing on basic science”, he says. Sprinkling of water is a very localised effort with not much respite because the culprit is a combination of factors including vehicular pollution, factory dust and the dust brought in the city through winds. Therefore merely shifting the industries and closing the construction activities will not help much till we cover the raw material completely.

We are losing out because our focus has been on the short term solutions and we hardly follow the scientific process.

Any solutions for Delhi Pollution?

We have to work on a strict action plan, insists Dr George adding that a single body should be responsible and accountable for handling pollution. For example, anybody like the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) should identify the problem, make an action plan, advise the government, act on it and also oversee the implementation. “This body should also hold accountability”.

Another measure could be to prepare short term and long-term measures like removal of dust, its disposal from where it is dumped and also “it is important to work on one or two issues at a single time”.

Air quality guidelines of the World Health Organisation (WHO) suggest that annual average PM 2.5 levels should not exceed 5 µg/m3. But within the country, Begusarai in Bihar and Guwahati in Assam fared worse than Delhi in terms of annual average PM 2.5 levels. While Begusarai recorded an average of 118.9 µg/m3 in 2023, Guwahati recorded 105.4 µg/m3.

Run with bad air continues

Delhi’s air quality also worsened in 2023 compared to 2022, the report shows. In 2022, the average annual PM 2.5 concentration was 92.6 µg/m3, 10% lower than the figure recorded in 2023.

The national capital’s most polluted month in 2023 was November with a PM 2.5 level of 255.1 µg/m3, followed by December with an average of 210 µg/m3. The city’s cleanest month was August – with an average PM 2.5 concentration of 34.8 µg/m3.

Ram Temple and Idea of India: How will India incorporate the two

February 25, 2024 | By Binny Yadav

(Idea of India is akin to ‘Ram Rajya’ and post 22 January 2024, when the Ram ‘Lalla’ is well placed in its abode the country should strive to choose the course where “Power of the State’ is directed towards the ‘welfare of the people’ to deliver ‘justice’ and ‘liberty’ and ‘equality’.)

22 January 2024, the day chosen for the consecration of Ram ‘Lalla’-the child form of one of most revered idols of faith for Hindus- in the holy city of Ayodhya, which ‘reclaimed’ its place after decades long legal battle finally won in 2019, may set the country towards choosing a new political edifice of the nation. This could either be standing by the character based on true “sovereign,secular, democratic” norms or treading towards adopting the idea of a new India that identifies political choice on the bases of religion, but it is important to prism either of these choices through the ambit of Indian constitution.

Consecration, Ram Rajya and Idea of India

The live telecast of ceremonies of 22 January, 2024 in Ayodhya may be aimed at giving opportunities to witness the moment for all those who have revered Ram not just as a deity or Avataar of Vishnu the creator, but also for those who have believed in the righteousness of Ram which they have understood through the concept of ‘Ram Rajya’. There are also those watch full eyes from across the globe who have revered India as the largest democracy of the world, who want to see how idea of India stands under the siege of state sponsored religious ceremony of such large scale led by the elected head of the ‘secular-democratic republic’, where entire country is literally painted in saffron which also happen to be the ruling party’s official colour, institutions of democracy being asked to declare national holiday, national media and also the state influenced media, all is wearing the similar colour while singing peans for Ram Lalla carefully placed besides the political icon of current India. The giant figure of this political Avatar leading baby Ram to be seated in the new temple of Ayodhya is a well designed, well thought and well advertised image for the idea of ‘new India’ which has religion in the core of its politics.

Unparalleled faith of majority of Hindus in Ram and in the philosophies of righteousness as established by Ram ages ago is unquestionable but the adaptation of Ram as a symbol and ideology to claiming power by a political party with religious ideology is what has led India towards this difficult choice today- whether to regain the lost ground of secular democratic structure lost to the mixing of religion and politics or to be pushed towards accepting well crafted majoritarian structure of governance which has religion in its core and where temple and nationalism have been intertwined to appear as one.

Euphoria around the consecration ceremony of 22 Jan may appear as a deja vu movement of around 30 years ago in 1992 when clarion calls of ‘Jai Shree Ram’ led to the build up of 6 December events. There is little difference though, 6 December 1992, was the testing ground for India to choose between a faith that is very personal and has been practiced for very personal reasons under the defined individual boundaries and the faith which is derived from religion and crafted to suit a political institution which eyed at power by discreetly exploiting religious sentiments in the name of Ram and Ram Rajya. On December 6, 1992, with the demolition of a 16th century Mosque by a frenzied mob, people gave in to how their political masters maneuvered, unfortunately in the name of Ram while also opening up the ground for politics in the name of religion. The call of ‘Jai shree ram’ became a tool for replacing the sanctity of Hinduism with aggression of ‘Hindutva’.

Consecration ceremony of January 2024 is the reflection of what has been impeccably crafted for the past thirty years, a religious build-up under a political ideology, brick by brick. Although the January 2024 event has the sanctity of the Supreme Court of India order unlike the events of 1992, December 6, the political indulgence in the religious ceremony which is sponsored by the state calls for a constitutional scrutiny.

Post Independence, ever since the 1949 incident of placing Ram Lalla idol inside the Mosque during the tenure of the first prime minister of India till the destruction of the Mosque in 1992 various governments have intervened in their respective ways to solve the decades old issue between the Hindu and Muslims over the Babri Mosque built over the Ram ‘janam ‘bhoomi but there never has been an attempt to build a political ground for electoral gains over the Babri Mosque-Temple issue.

The orchestration around the event of 22 January 2024, has been the outcome of the period of around thirty years between 6 December 1992 and 22 Jan 2024. These thirty years India has vividly experimented with politics based on religion and this experiment interestingly happened under the very nose of institutions responsible for restoring and maintaining constitutional ethics. Between 1992 and 2024, political developments with clear cut mingling of religious sentiments have been enough the reasons to shake up the ‘idea of India’ which is “diverse, inclusive” without any “state religion”, as defined by its constitution.

Idea of India, Power of state and Religion in India

Three decades is a long time to work on an idea, establish it and reap the benefits. Political mobilisation around the consecration ceremony of Ram temple at Ayodhya could have been a very emotive and pious moment for the people of faith who waited for this day for over 500 years. This could have been the ceremony sans the controversies had politics stayed away from it and the governance restricted its role to facilitating the arrangements.

Controversies surrounding the ceremony have much to worry about. One, its reflection of how the religion has been allowed to guide the politics of this country which could be a dangerous trend, second, how politics in the name of religion to influence upon the electorate could dangerously change not only the “inclusive” character of India but also has potential to disbalance the equilibrium as defined through ‘Power of state’ and ‘right to religion’ in the preamble of the constitution of India.

Fear behind the indulgence of the elected government in the consecration ceremony is genuine and the logic is valid that this is clearly an articulation to influence the electorate as this bluntly goes against the statute enshrined in the Preamble to the Constitution that asserts India is a “secular” nation with no religion of the state.

But then this frenzy around the Ram temple has been in the making at least officially for the past thirty years. Whom can we blame now when one political party under the nose of constitutional authorities has been exploiting the religious sentiments, riding up the electoral ladders and reaping and enjoying the political benefits. Whom should we blame when all this happened for past three decades and no political party or none ‘social-secular’ political alliance garnered strength to pull up the trend or the constitutional watch dogs, whom should we blame when lynching have been happening in the name of religion under the political cover of parties in power.

Ecstasy for the Ram temple minus the political indulgence is justified but with the state sponsored religious ceremony, what is next? The Ram Rajya? Article 38 of the Indian Constitution defines India as a ‘welfare state’, which “…shall strive to promote the welfare of the people by securing and protecting as effectively as it may, a social order in which justice – social economic and political – shall pervade all institutions of national life.”

The Indian constitution talks about “Justice, Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity”, it also enshrines the state, the responsibility of “promoting the welfare of people”. India needs to revisit how and if it has failed the concept of ‘welfare state’ which is nothing but an inspiration from the ‘Ram Rajya’ which the framers of the constitution constituted for the people of India.

Can we say the Idea of India is akin to ‘Ram Rajya’ and post 22 January 2024, when the Ram ‘Lalla’ is well placed in its abode the country should strive to choose the course where “power of the State’ is directed towards the ‘welfare of the people’ to deliver ‘justice’ and ‘liberty’ and ‘equaity’.

Farmers on road again, this time for larger woes of farming

February 24, 2024 | By Binny Yadav

Farmers in India are back on the borders of Delhi again within a gap of three years. The last time they camped on the Delhi borders for almost thirteen months demanding withdrawal of three farm laws introduced by the Narendra Modi government. There was no immediate trigger this time unlike the last and long-stretched protest, but the issue of current protest has been the collective farmer’s concerns for long. The major demand this time is a ‘legal guarantee for the minimum support price (MSP)’ for almost all the crops.

The other demands include the implementation of Swaminathan formula for MSP, full debt waiver for the farmers and labourers and withdrawal of cases against farmers during 2020-21 protest.

That the farmers’ march of 2024 is different from the one of 2020-21 was clear from the day it became clear that farmers would meet their deadline of ‘Dilli Chalo’ for February 13. The battle-like barricading and wire-fencing of borders of Delhi from the nearing state of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh was a clear indication that the government was much prepared to hold the farmers’ entry into the national capital. While the government engaged in several rounds of inconclusive talks with farmers’ leaders by the end of second week of february, the borders became a literal combat zone as police engaged with farmers using rubber bullets and tear gas shells to quell the agitation leading to the death of a farmer on 16th february.

The current farmers protest is also different in a way that this is led by Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann unlike last time when no political party was ‘apparently’ allowed to be part of the negotiation nor the protest.

The protest initiated by the rice and wheat growing farmers of north India, as the MSP issue majorly impacts these farmers from states like Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, issues of implementation of Swaminathan Commission formula in MSP and pension for farm labourers covers almost every farmer while also reflecting upon the general state of agriculture in India.

The palpable anger in the farming community is the reflection of general agrarian woes and the demand for reform in the MSP system reflects years of neglect of the agrarian economy, which has seen declining real income and real wages.

Understanding legal guarantee for MSP

Almost every government of the world supports its farmers by guaranteeing with minimum support price to insulate farmers from price volatility through active intervention when the market price of the crop is lower than the MSP. This is also a simple mechanism to ensure price stability of essential agricultural commodities. The current issue is spearheaded by the farmers which majorly grow rice and wheat but the MSP issue impacts all the major 23 crops for which the government ensures MSP every year before the sowing season but hardly it is followed for most crops barring rice and wheat and few others. Even for these crops the market intervention by the government is not done to support the farmers but to fulfill its obligation under the National Food Security Act.

Without the legal guarantee for MSP, farmers in these states fear that they may not receive remunerative prices for their crops, especially when market prices fall below MSP. From the farmers’ perspective, an MSP safety net helps save them from market price fluctuations and uncertainties in agricultural production.

What is Swaminathan commission Recommendation for MSP

Renowned agricultural scientist M S Swaminathan, who was recently conferred upon the Bharat Ratna by the government was part of the National Commission on Farmers (NCF) which submitted a total of five reports between December 20024-2006. Based on these submissions, the government approved the National Policy for Farmers in 2007 with an aim to improve the economic viability of farming and increase the net income of farmers.

Out of 201 recommendations by the NCF the major recommendation was that the MSP should be at least 50 percent more than the weighted average cost of production, which is one of the major demands of currently protesting farmers in Delhi. This is also known as the C2+50 percent formula, which includes the input cost of the capital and the rent on the land to give farmers 50 per cent of the returns.

The Narendra Modi government accepted 200 out of 201 recommendations and farmers are now demanding the implementation of all the recommendations of Swaminathan Commission including the C2+50 percent formula along with the legal guarantee for MSP on all the crops.