In a world where journalists are taught that ‘man bites dog’ is news, it is hardly surprising that they will look at a 5 page academic report by the Prime Minister, and pick out the only line that they possibly understood. This morning, on return from a lovely weekend in Lonavala, we saw the papers and saw the headlines blaring Muslims Must have first claim on Resources .
"We will have to devise innovative plans to ensure that minorities, particularly the Muslim minority, are empowered to share equitably the fruits of development. They must have the first claim on resources,"
Obviously with the Hindi and English channels blaring the same, including "do you feel that Muslims require special treatment" you had the hysteria factor being built back into the news. And it was shocking for me because I didn’t expect someone as educated and genteel as the Prime Minister to start creating communal vote banks. I can expect it possibly of almost anyone in politics, but he never struck me as someone who is callous about the country. So I went back and read the speech – it is dry and matter of fact as most of his speeches are. But, full of relevant information. Excerpts : On the approach paper "Towards Faster and More Inclusive Growth" – a key for the 11th plan
We need faster growth because, at our level of incomes, there can be no doubt that we must expand the production base of the economy if we want to provide broad-based improvement in the material conditions of living of our population, and if we are to meet effectively the rising aspirations of our youth.
On monitoring change
To emphasise the multi-dimensional nature of our objectives, the Approach Paper specifies not only a growth target but also a number of quantifiable and monitorable socio-economic targets relating to employment generation, school drop out rates, infant mortality rates, maternal mortality rates and other important indicators.
On Agriculture:
Water is a critical input for agriculture and we need to reexamine all aspects of our water economy. We are not spending enough on irrigation and what we are is not being utilised efficiently. Projects take far too long to complete and resources are spread far too thinly The central government is in the process of establishing a National Rainfed Area Authority as a professional high powered body charged with the responsibility of ensuring technically efficient design of watershed development.
On employment
We do need to provide non-agricultural work opportunities for those moving out of agriculture, but we also need to create quality jobs in the organised sector of the economy. The Approach Paper proposes several policy initiatives that will achieve a faster growth in the manufacturing sector and, within manufacturing, encourage investment in labour intensive manufacturing and also encourage units to graduate from small to medium and from the unorganised to organised sector.
On fiscal prudence
We have all experienced the painful reality of coping with fiscal imprudence in the past, and we should resolve never to find ourselves in that situation ever again. Higher levels of public spending are needed in many areas but they should and they must be achieved through improvements in revenue mobilization and greater efficiency in expenditure.
And it continues in the same vein. Rather like a chairman giving an AGM report to shareholders. Then at the end comes the paragraph on Centre State relationships and who does what. it is in this context that he says
I believe our collective priorities are clear. Agriculture, irrigation and water resources, health, education, critical investment in rural infrastructure, and the essential public investment needs of general infrastructure, along with programmes for the upliftment of SC/STs, other backward classes, minorities and women and children. The component plans for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes will need to be revitalized. We will have to devise innovative plans to ensure that minorities, particularly the Muslim minority, are empowered to share equitably in the fruits of development. They must have the first claim on resources. The Centre has a myriad other responsibilities whose demands will have to be fitted within the over-all resource availability. The Planning Commission will of course undertake a thorough review of ongoing programmes to eliminate those which have outlived their original rationale, but we cannot escape from the fact that the Centre’s resources will be stretched in the immediate future and an increasing share of the responsibility will have to be shouldered by the states.
Given the findings of the [tag]Sachar Committee[/tag] report, the [tag]Khairlanji massacres[/tag] and the new figures on the[tag] gender imbalance[/tag] in India – I am not surprised that the Government has asked the states to pay special heed to minorities. I am also glad that the PMO has decided to strike back on this issue. The speech is actually a fairly good one. If this was an enlightened democracy we would have 6 pages of op-ed on the Water policy. Gvien that we are a market place where business interests matter more than accuracy or fair reporting – we end up with half statements.
Gargi,
You still haven’t explained how what the newspapers are quoting are lies. The Prime Minister said that minorities particularly Muslims should have the first claim on resources and thats what is.
We can have a debate on whether what the Prime Minister said is inappropriate or not but thats what he said!
hello confused. Nice to see you on this blog.
Lies, Damn lies and half quotes – says the heading. if you drop the last part of the statement then the headline would read Lies, Damn Lies or just Lies. That is the half quotes would no longer matter. And that is half a statement. And that is essentially what has happened with the PM’s speech.
If you read the speech, the PM says that individual states need to make minorities including muslim minorities the focus of developmental activities. And given recent reports on women’s issues, girl education, status of Dalits, and state of Muslims – i am not surprised that he is putting the onus back on the state to sort it out.
he tells states very clearly that this is their job, as
My issue with the reportage is the same as what i had with the Shivaji park reportage – un neccessary creation of panic. When i read the headline saying Muslims must have first Claim on resources, I reacted like any other sensible tax payer would. WTF, was my reaction. Why should i not have first claim on resources. And then i read the speech. What was conveyed by the reports and what the speech says are quite different.
And if you notice today’s papers and news channels, the story is effectively dead. They have carried the PMO clarification but that is it – there is no other exposition or exploration on this story.
Maybe a sensational headline was one way of spicing up Sunday news and sunday news channel viewing
and for the record, if the PM had said what he is supposed to have said – then i would have had serious objections.
Thanks for pointing this out.
hi cogito
thanks.
i just checked it because it was Manmohan Singh. i may not even have bothered if it was some other politician.
Last year when the entire place went ballistic over Advani’s Jinnah quote – it was again the same problem – out of context quotations causing absolute controversy for no reason.
And now I, as a consumer, am slightly wary about the veracity of news that i consume. And if news media don’t end up being credible – it will be a very sad day for democracy.
Gargi,
It is this statement that is a testament to the quality of the man, and why we need to take his words more seriously. Precisely. If it was Mulayam or Advani blathering about who has first claim on resources, my reaction would have been to yawn.
But, the good Dr. Singh is an economist, and dismal science enthusiasts (if there is such a thing) will know that economists love numbers, not religion-based ideologies.
It is true that mere number based policy-making will not work, but Dr. Singh has shown that he marries a number-based thinking to a humane thought process – which is why he is what he is today. He has no vote banks to woo/preserve, no vested interests to maintain, none to please.
I just wish that he was 45 not, 75, and that he would be the PM for the next 30 years. Hopefully, by then, maybe, he will be able to drill a modicum of sense into the thickheads.
Hi Krish
welcome to this blog
i agree with you. but, there is a part of me that is so reluctant to believe in any politician – yet, it is the innate integrity that he projects, that gets me to check on a line that is flashed on all channels.
i am glad that neither he nor anyone else can be PM for the next 30 years – because absolute power corrupts the best of us!
Wow! I love the creative genius of someone to look at that whole speech and pick half a line and make it big news. Why dont such people make it big in Bollywood? I would seriously recommend them.
provide me the starting and the ending quote for water crisis in india…
The press may have taken the pm out of context
but he has neither retracted or clarified the statement
Worse i dont believe in words … the pm is now no more an economist but a politicianas his statements on the indo us nuke deal has shown just that
What matters most is not the words but the intent and policy and on ground policy implementation… in that matter in my assessment, the pm has left no stone unturned in muslim minority appeasement
be it the sachar committee report wording or exclusion of their institutions from the obc quota to diktats to psu banks to give priority loans to a community to treatment of taslima nasreen and many other tiny things
Hi Prax
i think that the PM has taken the right approach to that statement. He has said nothing that needs defending. If anything, it is the press that needs to be on the backfoot for making a mountain of a mole hill.
taslima nasreen was a disaster — in terms of its handling by the government. Allowing a woman, a refugee no less, to be hounded out by a bunch of fanatics was nothing short of spinelessness. IT goes against all our civilisational values … where we are supposed to defend even an enemy, who has taken refuge, with our lives ..if needed.
On the exclusion of minority institutions from the OBC quota … unless Muslim & Christian religious organisations recognise that caste is social and not religious .. it is going to be very difficult to bring them under the ambit of reservation. Which is really tragic, because many of converts to both religions did so to escape discrimination …. But, with religious organisations from both communities denying the existence of caste …there is not much that this or any Government can do….except maybe look at economic reservation. I would think that reservation on the basis of religion would be highly divisive and should not even be contemplated.
What would be interesting to know is % of Muslims applying for loans and getting them sanctioned v/s the national trend.
If there is a lacuna in terms of fairness — it does need to be addressed.
what about the talk of allowing the christian and muslim dalits/converts into the obc quota ?
christians have a lot of schools and colleges that they inherited from the raj -built with state funds . with generous reservations for the community… so they are generally better off..
the taslima issue
in terms of its handling by the government.
it was indeed pathetic – they kept her locked up denied her proper medical treatment – curtailed her activity to such an extent that she had to leave india for medical aid
on I would think that reservation on the basis of religion would be highly divisive and should not even be contemplated.
Well thats what is happening isnt it religion and caste based reservation
What would be interesting to know is % of Muslims applying for loans and getting them sanctioned v/s the national trend.
well loans are supposed to be given on basis of financial viability and assets backed by tax returns
or relevant income proof –
most muslims work in unorganised sector and i don’t think there is discrimination perse
how many small farmers get bank loans? that is also a statistic to be chkd out
im not alone
even the supreme court has pointed out to the govt
You are trying to please one community. Poverty is the common enemy. You should fight against poverty rather than saying that you would fight against poverty for one community only. This is where the rot lies,” a two-member bench headed by Justice T S Thakur said
http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?aid=442651&sid=NAT
http://calamur.org/gargi/2005/09/24/reservation-on-the-basis-of-religion-a-bad-idea/
http://calamur.org/gargi/2004/07/11/the-real-issues-corruption-caste-and-reservations/
where there is inequity it needs to be addressed. for example, if people aren’t getting loans or jobs because they are of community x or y…..