VOX POPULI
by
S Kamat
as
Aam Admi
Issue: 266 Date: 28.01.2019
Contents:
1. Officially The 'Silly Season' Of Elections Has Begun
2. The Declining Benchmarks Of The Padma Awards
3. On BCCI Functioning
Officially The 'Silly Season' Of Elections Has Begun
The BJP loss in the elections in MP, Chattisgarh & Rajasthan triggered off an uproar in the party circles right up to the topmost echelons that resulted in all caution being thrown to the winds and got the party desperately trying to draw the voters back into its fold preparatory to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Thus the 10% EWS quota was announced, termed as a masterstroke, but it seems that its impact will be relatively less particularly with no government jobs for the taking. As an aside, all things that Narendra Modi does these days are termed masterstrokes! Then the GST tax rate slab rationalisation that was hanging fire ever since the measure was introduced, was done in a hurry. The earlier concern that revenue would drop if certain categories of products were moved to the lower slab rates was thrown out of the window and even though the Dec 2018 GST revenue was much below the Rs.90,000 crores level, the rationalisation was carried through. Not only that the ceiling turnovers for businesses that would pay GST of just 5% was doubled from Rs. 20 Lakhs to Rs. 40 Lakhs and similarly the facility for composition was also raised to twice the earlier limit. These were all measures that the GST Council was asking time and again but it had all been getting postponed or shelved by the government. The loss in the elections in the 3 named States as above made the present dispensation wake up and rush to action. Then Shaktikanta Das, the arch-implementer of the illogical Demonetisation measure, who has been brought into the RBI is drumbeatibg the banking system to increase the loans to the MSME sector hoping that industrial revival will happen again. Other rumoured policy measures that are in the pipeline are relief to farmers from the crippling loan burdens that they face or alternately giving them financial incentives to make their lives a little better and provide them the money that they need to sustain their activities in the farming sector. A Universal Basic Income - UBI on the lines of a social security net is also being talked of to make the menu card complete. How many of these measures will see the light of day or are only baits is what only Narendra Modi knows? But the coverage of the voter crossection is quite dramatic ranging from the EWS section to small businessmen concerned with the GST maze and facing paucity of funds to farmers and finally to address poverty and making India a socially sensitive country who cares for its poor. Added to the above Rahul Gandhi has also chimed in with his own promise of a form of UBI if the Congress comes to power. With the Lok Sabha elections around the corner, officially the 'silly season' has begun of making promises and then forgetting about them, after all it is election time - Election ke time me sab kuch hota hai.
The Declining Benchmarks Of The Padma Awards
The Padma awards this year particularly the principal ones seem to be partisan and agenda driven. Speaks of the narrow mindset and shallow thinking of those who decided on them. Gita Mehta was very correct in declining the award given to her. She is to be admired for her conviction and the ability to sift through the reasons making her an awardee.
On BCCI Functioning
The K L Rahul and Hardik Pandya episode of shooting of their mouths with sexist remarks is thankfully over with the former joining the India A team playing a home series in India and Hardik flying to far off Kiwi land to join the Indian cricket's first XI. These cricketers are young and do not know how to handle the media and show-anchors particularly like the more than savvy Karan Johar. Karan Johar's comment a few days ago saying he feels responsible for what happened is clearly too little, too late. He should have guided the young cricketers during the show or at least edited out the comments before broadcasting it. He did not do that but waited until he got his mileage, literally a pound of flesh, out of it and then he now comes out with this blasé apology. Freshers from any profession invited to the show need be wary from now on and watch what they do or say. The BCCI also needs to give some training to the cricketers who represent India on how to handle tricky questions akin to a 'doosra' in cricketing parlance while facing the media. The incident also reflects on the the way the BCCI functions these days. The way the Rahul/Pandya incident was handled was nothing but an over-reaction. More so by Diana Edulji who has been a player herself and should have known better. She was doing nothing but getting back at Vinod Rai her co-member in the CoA over the earlier Johri affair as part of her feminist agenda. Vinod Rai being a bureaucrat and an auditor to boot is at sea when it comes to dealing with player issues because his forte is procedures and processes. These matters have been further accentuated since the clear polarity has been established lately in the CoA and more often than not what you hear is just bickering. That is why it was recommended some time back that a 3rd member be inducted into the CoA which will lend balance to it and also help it to become decisive in the spirit of democratic functioning. Kapil Dev's name had been suggested which was a good thing since it suited the job description perfectly. However, these are just patchwork solutions and the Supreme Court mandated 'reforms' in the affairs of the BCCI is taking too long. It is best that the BCCI be handed back to its council which we need to recognise has brought Indian cricket to what it is today at the zenith of achievement. But long term in sport , it is best that the running of the bodies or associations be left to player dominated councils and mostly constituted as government bodies. Private bodies like the BCCI and the host of other sports associations carrying India colours is not appropriate which may have happened for historical reasons but the time has come to change it.
**************************
No comments:
Post a Comment