Report Wire

Category: Politics

  • reservation: Fourth generation should not be entitled to quota: ExBJP SC unit chief

    Former BJP Scheduled Caste Morch chief Sanjay Paswan has welcomed the Supreme Court verdict allowing subgroups in the 15% reservation for SCs but called for a discussion on certain aspects of the issue so that distributive justice is ensured. This is a reiteration of his view that there should be “quota within quota” which has faced objection from other Dalit leaders in the party.

    Asked if the SC verdict is a vindication of his longheld opinion, Paswan told ET, “Subcategorisation in reservation for Dalits will ensure distributive justice. But I believe this should come with the rider that this should be done on the basis of family and not any Dalit caste as a whole.”

    He maintains that any Dalit caste should not be kept out just because a sizable number of people from it clear the top government examinations. This should be applicable to those Dalit families which have benefited from reservations in the last three generations.

    “I gave the slogan ‘no more (than) four (generations)’. If three generations in a family have got reservations, the fourth generation should not be entitled to it. Since Independence, we have seen more than three generations. In my Case, my father was an engineer, I became a minister and my son is a professor,” Paswan said.

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    Paswan was a member of the 13th Lok Sabha and served as a minister of state in the Human Resource Development ministry.Subcategorisation of SC where some castes are removed from the list as their members have got into the civil services and other creamy government jobs will harm those families from the same caste whose members did not make it due to various socioeconomic disadvantages.

  • AAP blames Center over fund crunch

    New Delhi: A day after rains caused waterlogging and traffic snarls across the capital, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) sought to shift the blame on the Center for not providing ample funds to Delhi to refurbish the storm water drainage system, sanitation and road construction. .

    The AAP, which controls both the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and Delhi government, fielded mayor Shelly Oberoi and senior minister Saurabh Bharadwaj on Thursday to put up its defence. Oberoi said she had written to finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman right before she presented the Union budget on July 23 and sought ₹10,000 crore for Delhi. “We need this money for better infrastructure in the capital. We need ₹5,000 crore for sanitation, ₹3,000 crore for road construction and ₹2,000 crore for parks and greening.” Oberoi said Delhi had not got anything in the budget. “But this step motherly treatment is a regular feature. The people of Delhi pay the maximum taxes. We pay ₹25,000 crore in CGST (central goods and services tax)… You can see the monsoon season is on and it is essential to We need ₹5,000 crore for refurbishing the system.

    Having wrested the MCD from the BJP with a decisive mandate in December 2024, the AAP is now directly responsible for the municipal and civic governance. However, a number of budget proposals, including refurbishing and cleanup of main and arterial roads, remain, according to people familiar with the matter. Delhi has not even tapped into central schemes, such as Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and Swachh Bharat Mission, to get funds for specific projects, they said. Even as it sought to blame the Center for not giving funds, though, the MCD took steps to Address illegal encroachments and illegal use of basements. Oberoi said the municipal commissioner had given instructions to the staff to work roundtheclock in shifts to address the problem of waterlogging in the city.

  • Either you will remain or me: Uddhav Thackeray to Devendra Fadnavis

    Ahead of the assembly elections in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday warned BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis saying, “Either you will remain or me.”Addressing party workers in Mumbai, Thackeray claimed that Fadnavis was trying to implicate him and his son Aaditya Thackeray in false cases. “Devendra Fadnavis conspired in a number of ways to put me and Aaditya in prison. They have attacked my family. However, I have endured it and stood resolutely still…Now either you will remain or me,” said Thackeray in his address. to Mumbai’s Shakha Pramukhs in Bandra. Thackeray was referring to allegations made recently by former Maharashtra home minister and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) faction leader Anil Deshmukh that Fadnavis had tried to “pressurise him to implicate” the Thackerays and Ajit Pawar in fake cases. Deshmukh claimed that he was asked to do so in order to avoid getting entangled in the Enforcement Directorate case filed against him for allegedly demanding ₹100 crore from bar owners and other establishments.

    Incidentally, Fadnavis had also earlier alleged that when the MVA government was in power with Thackeray as the CM, there were attempts to put him in prison under a conspiracy along with some police officials from Mumbai.

  • Somanathan panel yet to submit pension report

    The committee headed by finance secretary TV Somanathan to review the pension system has not yet submitted the report, said MoS Pankaj Chaudhary. The committee was formed on April 6,2023.

  • Delhi coaching mishap: Lok Sabha MPs seek probe, fixing of accountability

    NEW DELHI: The Lok Sabha on Monday witnessed an uproar over the flooding of a coaching centre’s basement in Delhi that killed three students with many members demanding that accountability be fixed as they criticized the failure of authorities and sought a highlevel inquiry into the incident. .Raising the matter during Zero Hour, BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj, representing the New Delhi constituency, hit out at the AAPled government and civic authorities over the incident and demanded that an inquiry committee under the home ministry be set up to probe the incident. “Criminal negligence of the Aam Aadmi Party has led to the death of these students. An inquiry should be set up against the Delhi government which is neck deep in corruption. Why are the drains not being cleaned in Delhi?” Swaraj asked while arguing there have been serious administrative and security lapses behind the tragic incident. Shashi Tharoor (Congress) alleged that there has been a violation in the safety codes that resulted in the incident. He demanded compensation for the families. While saying that steps need to be taken up to clean the drains to prevent reoccurrence of such incidents, he also demanded a comprehensive inquiry into the matter.

    Akhilesh Yadav (SP) called for a thorough investigation to ascertain what went wrong and who was responsible for the deaths of students. He also took a dig at the Center by asking whether it will follow the “bulldozer action” example set in Uttar Pradesh by chief minister Yogi Adityanathled government.

    “In Uttar Pradesh, bulldozers are used to erase illegal buildings. I want to know if bulldozers will be run here also,” the MP from Uttar Pradesh’s Kannauj said.Pointing out that one of the victims was far away from his Ernakulam constituency, Hibi Eden (Congress) lamented that such young lives were snatched away by such an incident. The MP deplored the poor safety and civil measures at such institutions and demanded compensation to the families of the victims while seeking an inquiry into the incident.

  • PM Modi: Ensure maximum reach of government schemes: PM Modi to BJP CMs

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday gave several suggestions to the chief ministers and deputy chief ministers of BJPruled states on further improving the governance in their respective states, emphasizing on messaging of the welfare schemes for their better delivery.PM Modi, in the two day meeting of the BJP Chief Ministers’ Council that concluded on Sunday, also suggested that the centrallysponsored schemes are very carefully designed and tampering with them during implementation in states should be avoided, sources said.The meeting was attended by the BJP chief. JP Nadda and senior party leaders Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah.

    CMs and deputy CMs gave presentations on various development schemes going on in their states. Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath gave a presentation on UP government’s Rural Secretariats scheme while Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma gave a presentation on his state’s recruitment drive for filling vacancies in the state government.

    Similarly, Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel gave a presentation on accelerating the solar power generation and Bihar deputy CMs shared their state government practices in checking illegal mining. In his remarks, Modi emphasized on the need to ensure saturation coverage of welfare schemes going on in the BJP. ruled states, saying they should be seen as an example of good governance, senior party leader Vinay Sahasrabuddhe told reporters after the meeting.Sahasrabuddhe heads the party’s good governance cell and was coordinating these meetings.

    Modi also talked about making efforts to take the country’s economy to $5 trillion, by laying more emphasis on public participation in development programs and other efforts.

    The Prime Minister also talked about expanding the reach of various welfare schemes of the government using social media, the BJP said in a press statement.

    The “Mukhyamantri Parishad” organized by the BJP at regular intervals is aimed at reviewing key schemes in states, following the best governance practices and the delivery of central government welfare initiatives.

    The leaders at times also take stock of the political situation.

    The meeting comes in the wake of the presentation of the Union budget, with the opposition targeting the government for allegedly ignoring other states at the expense of Bihar and Andhra Pradesh.

    It is also the first meeting following the Lok Sabha polls in which the BJP’s performance was underwhelming as the party lost its majority in the Lower House of Parliament.

    Party leaders, though, added that governance issues were at the center of the discussions at the meeting. The last such meeting was held in February.

  • In a major reshuffle, President changes Governors of several states

    In a major reshuffle, the President of India Droupadi Murmu has changed the governors of several states. Governors of Rajasthan, Telangana, Sikkim, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Meghalaya, Maharashtra, and Manipur have been changed along with the Lt Governors of Puducherry and Chandigarh. The President of India has also accepted the resignation of Banwarilal Purohit as Governor of Punjab and Administrator of Union Territory of Chandigarh. In a press communique, the Rashtrapati Bhavan said K. Kailashnathan has been appointed as Lt. Governor of Puducherry with effect from the date he assumes charge of his office. Haribhau Kisanrao Bagde has appointed as Governor of Rajasthan, while Jishnu Dev Varma has appointed as the Governor of Telangana. Om Prakash Mathur will be the new Governor of Sikkim and Santosh Kumar Gangwar of Jharkhand.

    Ramen Deka has been appointed as Governor of Chhattisgarh. CH Vijayashankar will be the Governor of Meghalaya.

    CP Radhakrishnan, Governor of Jharkhand with Additional Charge of Telangana, has appointed as Governor of Maharashtra.

    Gulab Chand Kataria, Governor of Assam, appointed as Governor of Punjab and has also been appointed as Administrator of the Union Territory of Chandigarh. Lakshman Prasad Acharya, Governor of Sikkim, appointed as Governor of Assam and has also been given additional charge of the Governor. of Manipur, the press statement added.The above appointments will take effect from the dates they will assume charge of their respective offices, it read.

  • Andhra Pradesh lost ₹7L cr due to YSRCP govt policies, says CM Chandrababu Naidu

    New Delhi: Andhra Pradesh suffered a loss of Rs 7 lakh crore because of economic policies of the YSRCP government, a new white paper released by chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu has revealed.Naidu tabled the white paper on state finances in the state assembly on Friday. . So far, the newlyformed TDP government has released white papers on Amaravati, Polavaram irrigation project, power sector, excise policy, law and order and drugs. While releasing the white paper on state’s finances in the assembly, Naidu alleged that under Reddy’s leadership, the growth of the agriculture sector had declined from 16% to 10.3%, and the service sector’s growth rate had dropped from 10.3% to 9.9%. “Andhra Pradesh was growing faster than Telangana from 2014 to 2019, but the economy was destroyed from 2019 to 2024 with farmers’ incomes falling and debts rising,” said Naidu while presenting the white paper.Earlier this week, Naidu had said that a regular The budget would be presented only after two months due to “financial constraints”.

  • Jagan Mohan Reddy made Andhra ‘Ganja’ hub: CM N Chandrababu Naidu

    New Delhi: A day after YSRCP chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy staged a protest against rising violence in Andhra Pradesh, chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday tabled a white paper on law and order and ganja in the Assembly on Friday. Presenting the white paper Naidu compared former chief minister Jagan Mohan Reddy to Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar and said his policies had made Andhra the drug capital of India. Naidu said, “I am the seniormost politician in the country and I have never seen a situation like it was in Andhra when Jagan was in power. There was only one person who can compare to what happened in Andhra, drug lord Pablo Escobar .” The white paper compares the law and order situation prevalent from 201419 when Naidu was in power and 201924 when Reddy was at the helm. Naidu presented statistics and accused Reddy of targeting political rivals and foisting false cases against them. Naidu said that the YSRCP leaders used to “terrorise people” when they were in power. The white paper observes that political activity was discouraged and there were curbs on free movement of political leaders. “You would have seen what kind of law and order situation was prevalent in Andhra Pradesh when Jagan during the previous government,” said Naidu. He also accused the former Jagan Mohan Reddyled government for targeting TDP leaders by filing several cases against them, including 17 cases against him. Naidu said that Andhra Pradesh had become the “Ganja capital” in the country under Jagan Mohan Reddy. “Ganja is easily available in every single village in Andhra Pradesh now. Has the former chief minister addressed the issue even once during his tenure?,” he said.

  • Sitharaman, Kharge spar over ‘injustice’ to oppnruled states

    Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday sparred with finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the House over the budget, with the former alleging that Oppositionruled states have not received any funds, a charge Sitharaman dismissed. She said while allocations have been made, it is not possible to name each state in a speech. Soon after the Upper House met, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar called upon Kharge to speak. “There is nothing in the budget for states and their plates are empty. The plates of two states have pakoras and jalebis but the other states have nothing. There is nothing for Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, “Chhattisgarh or Delhi or even Odisha. All funds have been given to keep some people happy and to save their seat (power),” he said. balance, how will development take place? All Opposition parties condemn this,” Kharge said. But when Sitharaman, who was present in the House, the Opposition walked out. At this, Dhankhar lamented that the LoP has “under a ploy and strategy” misused the opportunity given to him by the chair and caused this disruption “as a weapon”. However, Sitharaman continued with her response and maintained that in a budget speech one does not get an opportunity to name every state. “This is a deliberate attempt by Congress to give an impression to the people that nothing has been given to our state… I challenge the Congress party that for all the budget speeches that they have delivered, in each of those speeches they have named all the states? This is an outrageous allegation,” she said.The FM said between the Vote on Account presented in February and the budget, Maharashtra had not been named but the Union cabinet had approved a ₹76,000 crore project for building a port at Vadhavan (in Palghar district). When Trinamool MPs joined the Opposition protest and shouted that “injustice” has been done to West Bengal in the budget, Sitharaman said the state government has not implemented several central schemes and cited the example of Ayushman Bharat.