CMP - Common Minimum Program

Misreadings: Manmohan and Montek

One would have thought there would be no opposition to a Bill which will operationalise the fundamental right of a child to education. Far from it, the Right to Education (RTE) Bill has been getting tossed around for the last three years. Last fortnight, the Union cabinet met in the absence of an ailing human resources development minister, Arjun Singh, and referred it once again to a Group of Ministers (GoM) which will once again go through the bill with a fine-tooth comb. This exercise essentially means another delay.

Very clearly, the Manmohan Singh government, so focused on the N-deal and caught up with domestic concerns like the Jammu and Kashmir imbroglio, is showing no urgency vis-a-vis the RTE bill. As one minister who attended last fortnight's cabinet meeting put it, "We were very busy with the J&K situation and so we just didn't get the time to discuss the education bill." It's certainly not a priority with this government.

Further, Outlook has learnt from sources that the prime minister has his reservations about the bill. A group of educationists who met Manmohan Singh last year were told that funding the RTE would be a huge problem. One of them told Outlook that "the PM clearly pointed out the inability of the Centre to fund the RTE and (said) that some of the states were rich enough to implement it".

This is a view echoed by Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia too (see interview). This, despite the commission approving the bill last year. (It is learnt the majority view--in support of the bill--had prevailed then despite Montek's objections.) But his latest objection is that the bill's prime mover, the Union HRD ministry, has not weighed the financial implications of the state guaranteeing education to children in the age group 6-14.

Sonia and Rahul are in Beijing till Saturday, on the invitation of the Communist Party of China, to attend the inaugural ceremony of Olympics 2008. Sonia's daughter Priyanka Vadra has been invited with her family by China Association for International Friendly Contact.

Sonia would be holding a meeting with Xi Jinping, vice-president and member of standing committee of the Communist Party of China's politburo. She would also be attending an official banquet hosted by President Hu Jintao on the eve of the inaugural function of Olympics.

An MoU would also be signed between the Congress and the Communist Party of China. This will be only the second MoU signed by Congress with the political party of any other country. The first was signed earlier this year with South Africa's African National Congress (ANC).

Speaking to reporters Congress media department chairman M Veerappa Moily said: "The MoU will form the institutional basis of exchanges between the two parties."An agreement on MoU was reached during Sonia's visit to China last year. Moily said: "We have also had a meeting with leaders of Communist Party of China who came down here in April this year."

When asked how the Congress was able to forge ties with Communist Party of China when Left leaders from India were not even invited for Olympics, Moily said: "We have better relations with the Chinese Communist Party spanning years now."

Sonia would also be meeting several world leaders in the course of the inaugural ceremony and banquet.

Mukherjee has been engaged in mustering the numbers needed by the Manmohan Singh government to win the vote of confidence. “Mukherjee has been asked to remain in the capital,” sources said. Anand Sharma is a Rajya Sabha member and, therefore, the government can afford to send him to Singapore as he would not be required to vote on the trust vote in the lower House, the sources added.

President of ANC Jacob Zuma led a seven-member delegation to deliberate on a number of issues with Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Speaking to reporters, Congress spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan said: "A discussion was held on a wide range of issues including long and close relationships between Congress and ANC. After delegation-level talks on Tuesday, the two parties will sign an MoU, which will focus on South-South cooperation and collaboration in a variety of areas.

Q: How are your poll preparations and what is your take on your victory?

A: Besides my friend and KPCC president, Mallikarjun Kharge, no leader has even won elections eight times in a row from the same constituency. Because of the delimitation, he had to change the constituency this time. I am contesting from Jewargi from where I have been winning since 1972. I will win this time too, no doubt.

Q: But, the BJP has been making allegations that you have not done anything for the constituency and you won the elections in the past by distributing money. Your comments.

A: (Visibly disturbed) They are desperate and therefore, they make such baseless allegations and you publish them ... It is the BJP which brought mine-owners to distribute money. I won elections because people loved me and this time too, it is the same factor that will work in my favour. In a way, this election will be the easiest. It will be a cakewalk.

Q: What is your poll prediction?

A: The Congress will get a comfortable majority. The BJP will not cross more than 80 and the Janata Dal(S) might get around 35.

The Prime Minister's Office, which is in the process of reviewing major policy initiatives as an exercise before general elections in 2009, has asked the women and child development ministry to furnish a report on the progress made regarding legislations for domestic violence and gender disparity The UPA government had promised laws on both issues in its NCMP.

The ministry had framed the Domestic Violence (Prohibition) Act, 2006, whose implementation had received a criticism from women groups like the Lawyers Collective. These groups had sought a review of the Act. As on legislation for gender disparity, the ministry has finalised the bill to curb sexual harassment in workplaces. "We are in the process of circulating the proposed law for Cabinet approval," a ministry official said. The ministry has also initiated a review of all1aws related to women, including the Dowry Prohibition Act.

Sonia also said that for the first time this year, gender budgeting had been introduced and more money had been allocated for the development and welfare of workers in the unorganised sector; banks have been asked to provide loans to women.

The Congress president also called for a national initiative, involving political parties, voluntary organisations, NGOs and the media, to prevent all forms of atrocities against women.

But the Congress had been espousing the cause of women and it was the Congress, which ensured reservation for women in party committees. The number of women would be more in the coming Assemblies and Parliament, he added. He exhorted women not to underestimate their own power. "The strength of Congress lies in the grass root level workers, weaker sections, SCs, STs and womenfolk," he said, adding that women needed a more vibrant organisation at the grass root.

The GoM will be chaired by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, reputed for his pragmatic instincts. The panel includes aggressive stalwarts of reservation politics like Railway Minister Lalu Prasad and Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan from Bihar, as well as Communications Minister Dayanidhi Maran of the DMK. Another member is Welfare Minister Meira Kumar, herself a Dalit, who recently made a passionate "its payback time for industry" pitch.

The group has been assigned to hold talks with the industry. And though Finance Minister P Chidambaram, along with Commerce Minister Kamal Nath, could be more sensitive to industry's concerns, observers feel that he too may have to factor in Tamil Nadu's quota-driven politics as well as views of other GoM members.

In fact, if their pronouncements are any guide, the majority opinion already seems tilted in favour of the demand for quota extensions. The demand has gained intensity in the wake of the divestment programme.

The government, in its Common Minimum Programme for governance, had assured it would initiate a dialogue with political parties, industry and other organisations to see how best the private sector could fulfill the aspirations of the backward sections of the society, that enjoy job reservations in the public sector.

Highly-placed sources said the Prime Minister had personally conveyed the demand for the 'Vision Document' to Cabinet Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Meira Kumar. The document is aimed to paint the UPA Government's big picture for Dalit welfare apart from enlisting various programmes to be launched by the Government.

The vision document gains significance in view of many initiatives that the UPA regime has taken towards the uplift of the Dalits. Reservation of jobs in the private sector is one of the moves the Congress-led Government aims to accomplish as a distinguishing feature from previous regimes. The document is aimed at giving details on how the Government plans to move on the Common Minimum Programme which has detailed a separate chapter on Dalit welfare. Sources said the UPA Government wants to give a fresh look to programmes for the welfare of Scheduled Castes which have been in existence since Independence but with debatable results. Old Government-run programmes may be reviewed and fine tuned to make them relevant for the present times. Experts are likely to be roped in for their inputs on these aspects.

Congressmen are relying heavily on the Dalit Document of Bhopal as the model. It is expected to cover all the fields of community welfare - agriculture, irrigation, land reforms, forests, technical education and job reservation.

The ministry has already sent letters to chief ministers and health and family welfare secretaries of these states, detailing the mega programme. An e-link will soon be established between districts and the Centre, with progress being directly monitored by the Secretary, Family Welfare.

The programme, however, will not cover other states in which only a few districts fall under the high fertility category: Haryana (Gurgaon), Uttaranchal (Hardwar), West Bengal (Uttar Dinajpur, Maldah), Gujarat (Dohad, Banas Kantha) and Assam (Sarguja, Dhubri, Goalpara, Marigaon).

Officials say this is the first time that the government is looking at each district as a ‘‘unit’’ and monitoring population indicators separately.