UPA - United Progressive Alliance

Opposition BJP considered a press meet to critique the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government's second edition that completes 100 days in office on Saturday but gave up the idea. Riven by internal fights, mounting an offensive against the government is beyond the BJP.

Around the same time in 2004, the BJP had paralysed the first Manmohan Singh government, forcing the PM to say: "We're living in abnormal times.
Never in the history of any government, the first 100 days have been characterised by the daily turmoil that we witness in Parliament."

With the BJP in tatters, the Left fighting for survival and allies dependent on the Congress more than ever, UPAII doesn't have to worry about its longevity, unlike 2004. But that doesn't mean it has nothing to worry about.

Sixty-two per cent of those who exercised voting right in the 15th Lok Sabha elections voted for UPA's return, but only 57 per cent of the HT opinion poll respondents rate its first 100 days either excellent or good.

The sample size is too small and exclusively urban to suggest any national swing against it, but the drought and spiralling prices indicate turbulence for the UPA.

UPA-II has tried to consolidate and expand the inclusive growth agenda by passing the Right to Education Act and promising a national law for food security. However, lower growth -- expected to be around six per cent this year -may come in the way of grand ambitions.

During the UPA's first tenure, economy grew at more than eight per cent annually.

Politically, UPA-II has effected a paradigm change in the debate of inclusion. Unshackled from erstwhile allies who acted as pressure groups for caste and linguistic interests, the UPA's second innings target groups are women and youth.

The new education law, 50 per cent reservation for women in local bodies are the steps in the direction. With such measures, the Congress hopes to make caste politics redundant.

The government has scored as far as internal security is concerned, with even the BJP chief ministers praising Home Minister P. Chidambaram for his quick understanding and action. Of the two other sectors the UPA wanted to give an extra push to, road construction appears to be on track but health looks a bit wobbly.

The first electoral test of UPA-II is only weeks away -the Congress will be seeking another term in Maharashtra, Haryana and Arunachal.

The Congress has identified three issues -- drought, price rise and swine flu -- for the UPA Government to tackle in the next few months. The party is aware that Assembly elections in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and Arunachal Pradesh are round the corner and the Opposition can take advantage by making these poll issues. Ironically, the party is also trying to distance itself from the Government, expecting it to handle these issues on a war-footing.

When the UPA began its second term, the Congress was upbeat after a creditable victory in the Lok Sabha election. Riding to power on the slogan of `aam admi' , the party and the Government are now in a quandary as how to deal with price rise and drought which directly affect the common man. Adding to the Government's woes is the recent observation of the Supreme Court which has described the situation as "terrible" and wanted the Government to tackle it effectively. While the wholesale price index remains negative, prices of essential commodities have shot up in the past few months. The Reserve Bank of India, while updating the monetary policy for the fiscal year, has warned that the inflation could even slip further due to lower monsoon.

Rising prices of food items dominated the just concluded Parliament session when the Opposition gheraoed the Government over the issue. The proverbial `dal, roti' is no more within the reach of the common man as prices of pulse, sugar and other commodities and vegetables are touching sky. No Government can afford to ignore this situation.

The Government should not only think of short-term measures to contain price rise but also chalk out a long-term strategy. In spite of high gross domestic product growth, the production of essential commodities have not gone up. Pulses and sugarcane have showed severe shortage of supply. The production of vegetable oil and paddy are also causing concern.

Source: The Pioneer Tough Times For UPA

Out of the six programmes that were launched under the scheme Bharat Nirman in 2005, only housing and rural telephony are likely to meet the targets.

Irrigation, which was targeted for a 10 m hectare between 2005-09, had achieved a target of only 56 per cent. The Congress-ruled states Andhra Pradesh, which had set a target of 1566.49 thousand hectares has achieved only 583 thousand hectares. Another Congress ruled state Maharashtra was given a target of 821.81 thousand hectares but has achieved 338 thousand hectares in the past four years.

UPA ally Tamil Nadu is the only exception in terms of achievement in irrigation, out of a target of 23.55 thousand hectare, it has achieved 224 thousand hectare. UPA ally Left, which rules West Bengal has shown a dismal performance of the targeted 699 thousand hectares, of which only 15 thousand hectares has been achieved.

Source: The Tribune Bharat Nirman may miss target

With a slew of measures to help a slowing economy and win over voters, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government extended Rs325 crore of help to exporters in employment-intensive industries, promised a further cut in fuel prices, raised spending on urban development, increased entitlements to protect government employees against an increase in the cost of living and offered subsidies to build one million homes across the country.

The export sops were extended in the interim trade policy announced on Thursday by commerce and industry minister Kamal Nath while the other decisions were taken by the cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA).

The government also announced a politically sensitive policy of modernizing slaughter houses in the country to help commercial processing of meat to facilitate bovine exports from India.

CCEA also announced a Rs3,070 crore revival package to wipe out the accumulated losses of all primary cooperative agriculture and rural development banks, and state co-operative agriculture and rural development banks. Losses on agricultural credit will be borne by the Central government while losses from non-agricultural business will be shared by the state governments and the cooperatives concerned.

"The cabinet committee is yet to decide on the diesel price cut. It is for the party and the government to decide. I personally feel that there is a scope to reduce diesel prices. We will try again tomorrow," Murli Deora, petroleum and natural gas minister told Mint.

The government is betting that the step-up in spending on urban development programmes and housing will stimulate construction activity.
CCEA increased the outlay for the Centrally-sponsored Rs50,000 crore Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) by more than one-fifth, to Rs61,000 crore. Of this, Rs6,000 crore will go to the Urban Infrastructure and Governance, part of JNNURM, which provides grants to 63 large cities and Rs5,000 crore will go to a scheme that administers grants for some 5,098 small towns. Earlier, Rs24,000 crore had been earmarked for the large cities and Rs7,000 crore for the small towns.

Source: Live Mint Fresh doles from UPA

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• Scheme extended to upper primary classes

• Increase in school attendance

• Reduction in school drop-outs

He maintained that a big stimulus package would be required to revive growth in the Indian economy, but propriety demanded that this could only be effected by the next govern ment, expected to take charge in June after the conclusion of general elections.

“We have weathered the crisis, but there is no room for complacency,” Mukherjee said in his budget speech in parliament, the first 45 minutes of which were devoted to de tailing the government’s eco nomic track record between 2004 and 2008.

The stock market reacted negatively and the Bombay Stock Exchange’s benchmark Sensex ended the day lower by 3.4% at 9,305.45 points.

“This is an interim budget. I had constitutional constraints,” Mukherjee said after his speech, on his inability to unveil more far-reaching fiscal measures.

Source: Live Mint Tough times ahead: UPA

Employment generation in the midst of a global meltdown will be the central idea of the Interim Budget that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) will present on February 16 just ahead of the general elections.

Among other proposals to give the job market a leg-up, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s Interim Budget speech is likely to see larger fund allocations to skill development programmes in the rural sector and subsidies for training schemes for one member of rural Below Poverty Line (BPL) families (in which adult members of the family earn less than Rs 10 a day). Under this scheme, the government will provide a subsidy to companies for training on condition that the member of the BPL family is given a job once he completes the programme.

A pilot skill development project is already in place in some states. To roll it out fully, as the government intends, the cost of the project over the next eight years would be Rs 2,26,400 crore or an average of Rs 28,300 crore a year. The budgetary allocation for the pilot project was Rs 5,650 crore.

Top government sources have made it clear that the Interim Budget will not be a routine statement of accounts for immediate government expenses. Instead, the Union government will use it as an opportunity to announce a slew of “pro-people policy measures” just ahead of general elections.

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram said there was no “constitutional bar” to announcing policy measures in an Interim Budget but added that he couldn’t say what the government was planning.

Source: Business-standard UPA To Focus On Rural Jobs In Interim Budget

In an interview to a TV channel, he pointed out that some UPA partners have also stated that they would fight the elections under Singh's leadership. "Congress President Sonia Gandhi also endorses the view," he added.

The Congress party's main troubleshooter also sought to clarify his recent remarks on Rahul Gandhi being the candidate for the PM's post.

"I was responding to the questions from the NRIs at the Pravasi Bhartiya Sammelan. Someone asked my why India has an ageing leadership. I gave a number of examples such as those of Praful Mahanta, Omar Abdullah...I said Rajiv Gandhi became Prime Minister when he was 40. And then I said that who knows, may be one day Rahul Gandhi may follow in the footsteps of his father.''

Mukherjee said the parties in the UPA government would remain part of the alliance in the elections. As far as the post-election coalition was concerned, it would depend on the numbers without compromising the basic principles of the party.

"We will not tie up with communal parties," he added. Asked what was his future, he said, "We cannot foresee what will happen. However, I will remain in politics.''

Bharat Nirman an ambitious "four year business plan for rural infrastructure" and an approach to transform rural India and bring on par with urban centres -- is the theme of the 2009 calendar.

The calendar, designed and developed by the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity, was released on Wednesday by Anand Sharma, Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting.

According to the draft, accessed by The Indian Express, the National Security Act, 1980 is proposed to be amended to constitute a National Security Authority that will take charge of administration and supervi sion of all investigation of terrorism-related crimes across the country. The Authority, which would have a Chairman and five members, would also be responsible for prosecuting the accused.

Each state, under this plan, will have a Security Commissioner -- preferably a high-ranking IPS officer -- reporting directly to the Authority.

The draft provides for stringent bail provisions, fast-track courts, death penalty, and allows the state to freeze assets and bank accounts of terrorism-ac cused and their overt and covert sympathisers and sponsors. It also provides for punishment for those found guilty of raising funds or sponsoring terrorist acts, conspiracy, harbouring terrorists or threatening witnesses.

Once the amendments are cleared, the UPA will introduce a Bill in the coming session of Parliament. It has also been indicated that the government could take the ordinance route to get the law in place.

Sources said the Government plans to make changes to the National Security Act, 1980, rather than go for a new law given opposition to the idea of a federal anti-terror agency by most state governments, including many Congress-ruled ones.

Miles to go: As of March, only half of the four-year programme's targets were met in irrigation, 60% in drinking water and about 33% in rural roads and eleetrification, a planning Commission review shows.

Five months from a looming deadline, the Congress party-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government is unlikely to meet its own targets in four of the six components under Bharat Nirman, the ambitious Rs1.76 trillion rural infrastructure programme that is scheduled to be completed by April, according to latest data available.

As of March, according to a review by the Planning Commission, only 50% of the fouryear programme's targets were met in irrigation, 60% in drinking water and about 33% in rural roads and electrification.

"The situation is particularly bad in irrigation, rural roads and connecting rural households with electrification.

There is no way the targets can be met in these areas by April 2009," said a senior Planning Commission official, who didn't want to be named.

Housing and rural telephony, however, are on track, according the review.

The news that the government has fallen behind on one of its core promises is likely to become big political fodder, as several states head to polls fol lowed by national elections likely in early 2009.

"The programme has been a big failure and the UPA should not have taken up this ambitious project if it did not have the right people and wherewithal to push it," insists Laveesh Bhandari of research firm Indicus Analytics Pvt. Ltd.

Indeed, as late as April, the government even launched a mega ad campaign on Bharat Nirman tapping into large audiences that were watching the 20-over Indian Premier League's debut season.

While the execution of Bharat Nirman is done by respective nodal ministries, such as water resources, rural development and power, it is monitored by the Planning Commission as also by Prime Minister`s Office.

On 3 November, rural development minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh had emphasized the need for strict punitive measures for lapses occurred during the implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sarak Yojana, responsible for construction and upgrade of rural roads. Part of Bharat Nirman, the scheme also aims to cover 66,800 habitations and upgrade or build 3.4 million km of roads.

Prasad's claim that 178,000km of roads have been constructed so far means that only half of the 340,000km target for rural roads has been met.

"With acute shortage of engineers, contractors, equipment as also the failure to pro duce detailed project reports, how can you expect the rest 50% to be completed in the last leg of the programme?" asked the commission official.

The government is also very unlikely to meet the targets of providing electricity to 125,000 villages and connecting 23 million households below the poverty line (BPL) with electricity under its ambitious Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana, also part of Bharat Nirman.

While 38% of the target has been met in the case of villages, only 10% of the target was achieved in the case of BPL households as of March.

"As of today, we have provided electricity to 27 lakh BPL households, and 51,000 villages. How will the scheme work when no finances were made available? Targets are dependent upon funding. This sends a wrong signal to the industry and the vendors, as we had earlier told them not to worry about finances," said a senior power ministry official, who also didn't want to be named.

The electrification scheme had an initial total outlay of Rs5,000 crore. From April 2007 until 3 January, no further funding was allocated, the official said.

The scheme has a total financial requirement of around Rs33,000 crore as grants spread over the 10th (2002-07) and 11th (2007-12) Plans. Of this around Rs10,000 crore has been spent.

The Union government provides 90% of the capital cost involved in rural electrification of the states, with the balance extended as loans from stateowned Rural Electrification Corp. Ltd.

"We have been told to manage this year (2008-09) with Rs5,500 crore, while the requirement is for Rs13,000 crore. We have been asked not to make any contractual commitments over this amount as even the finance ministry is unsure about the next year's budget," the power ministry official said. "The scheme was announced to showcase the UPA government's achievements over its tenure. Not just this, all major components are faring poorly. Political promises are just like that." Funding is also being seen as a major hindrance in the irrigation component, run through the Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP), also part of Bharat Nirman. Both the ministry of water resources and the Planning Commission have been demanding higher allocations by the Centre to run this programme. A sum of Rs50,000 crore has been allocated to AIBP in the 11th Plan.

While most of the financial sector reforms were introduced in either of the two houses during the last four years, opposition by the UPA's erstwhile ally-- the Left parties--ensured none saw the light of the day. The Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill, Pension Bill, the Bill to amend the Forward Contracts (Regulation) Act for the commodities markets,and the SBI(Amendment) Bill are the key legislation pending in the financial sector.

The UPA does not have a clear majority in Rajya Sabha either. So, though the government will be able to implement executive decisions, it will face difficulty in getting the support of sundry political parties. Principal opposition parties such as the BJP and the BSP are unlikely to extend a helping hand at this juncture.

Almost one-fourth of the total number of 47 bills to be introduced in Parliament deal with finance and economy. Government managers said money Bills would sail through since they are vital for transaction of business within the establishment and no parties will push for a vote on this.

The UPA Government may also consider a new anti-terror law.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will hold a special meeting with the Union Cabinet on Wendnesday evening. The meeting has been called a day ahead of the weekly cabinet meeting.

Sources say the meeting has 'no agenda', implying its urgency.

The UPA has been under flak from the Oppossition for its handling of the recent bomb blasts in Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Delhi. The BJP has been demanding Home Minister Shivraj Patil's resignation.

The party also wants the Prevention of Terrorism Act or POTA to be reinstated.

The latest publicity campaign of the government, aimed at Election 2009, does not focus on the Indo-US nuclear deal. Instead, it aims to reach out to the common man.

   *  The committee of secretaries has drawn up a note that will be the basis of the campaign
    * The focus will be on price rise
    * The planned campaign will highlight the steps taken by the government to check prices of essential commodities
    * The rise in global prices of foodgrains will be compared with that in domestic markets to show that inflation has been kept at a minimum.

    * The N-deal will be only be cited as one of the achievements of the UPA
The UPA government may have staked its life on the high-sounding Indo-US nuclear deal.

But it knows well that, as a poll plank, the deal is not likely to have much resonance with the aam janata. So, even a week before the trust vote was won, as its publicity wing brainstormed on issues to be highlighted in the run-up to Election 2009, the irony
is that it was the Congress-led UPA government's humbler pro-people programmes that topped the agenda.

The committee of secretaries, which met a week before the trust vote in Parliament on July 22, decided that no effort should be spared in convincing the public of the government's sincerity about bringing down the prices of essential commodities. The Principal Information Officer (PIO) in charge of the Press Information Bureau (PIB) was directed to use all means of communication at her command to drive home that message. Characteristically downplaying the drive, Deepak Sandhu described it as a routine affair: "We do it from time to time. We've also decided to put the information online." She also said that key ministries, like agriculture and finance, had been roped in as part of the effort.

The buzz in the relevant corners of bureaucracy has just one sense: the government means business. Last September, when relations between the UPA and the Left had plummeted and talk of a mid-term election was in the air, the government had hired Percept, a Mumbai-based advertising agency, to publicise its flagship programmes. The focus then had been on projecting the achievements of the government through a unified campaign. This time, the perception is that the focus should be on the hinterlands and the remotest corners of the country. "The government feels it is not enough to just focus on the national media and the mainstream newspapers. It is time to actively woo the regional press and the radio to carry the message of the government," an information & broadcasting official says.

But what exactly does the government propose to convey? The note from the committee of secretaries marks out the contours of the proposed campaign. Here's what it says about the UPA government trying to keep a check on the price rise: "Wheat prices have increased by 68.5 per cent internationally, while the increase in the domestic market is only 8.4 per cent. Similarly, rice prices have gone up in international markets by 169.9 per cent, while the increase in domestic price is only 8.4 per cent." It describes how prices of petrol, diesel, and domestic lpg have been kept under control. Global prices versus domestic prices--that's what the government wants highlighted.

The subtext is that, given the global economic and food crisis, things could have been a lot worse without effective government intervention. The campaign is also aimed at showing that the government has increased the amount of food supplied through the public distribution system (PDS).

The English version of the interview was being carried by some English television channels. In his interview Karat said, "there is no question of a tie up with the Congress at all."

He also conceded that the Left had made a miscalculation in trusting the Congress party on the Indo-US nuclear deal. He said, "It seems it was a mistake."

Karat's assertion comes in sharp contrast to the stand taken by several UPA partners, including many Congress leaders who are still hoping to strike an alliance with the Left after the next general elections, despite the recent bitter parting of company between the two, earlier this year.

The CPM general secretary explained that, "Political parties which were not a part of the Congress and the BJP-led coalitions joined forces with the Left only after realising they had a common agenda - opposition to the nuclear deal."