Prime Minister’s Assam visit

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— Shibdas Bhattacharjee Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Sing’s recent visit to Assam was a significant one as it took place on the backdrop of on going controversy regarding the issue of illegal migrants that came to limelight after Gauhati High Court judge BK Sarma’s observation that Bangladeshis have already become “kingmakers” in Assam. Nor the Prime Minister gave any indication that the present UPA Government led by him gives any importance to the issue of ISI machinations in Assam as part of the design to establish a greater Islamic State of Bangladesh with Assam which the Gauhati High Court declared as the most serious threat before the indigenous people. In fact. after two decades since the Assam Accord was signed in 1985 neither the Central government nor the State government took any effective step to solve the problem of illegal Bangladeshi influx although the AGP came to power with a big bang deal with a promise with this problem. However, the State Government called upon the Prime Minister to take up the issue of deportation of Bangladeshi nationals detected in Assam with the Government of the neighbouring country and to provide “Punjab type” fencing along the international border to prevent fresh infiltration. In a memorandum to the Prime Minister, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi demanded that the Centre should give clearance for creating new river police battalions and take steps to amend the Citizenship Act for updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC). The agreement between India and Bangladesh includes a provision of 150-metre wide no-man-land belt. Following the 1974 land boundary agreement between India and Bangladesh, a stretch of five km was demarcated but strip maps have not been exchanged.The highlight of the Prime Minister’s visit was however; that Dr. Singh laid the foundation stone of Jorhat Medical College. The Prime Minister mentioned that the North East, with its pool of well-educated and progressive women, would produce large number of doctors and nurses, given the right opportunities. Dr Singh assured a group of 27 Majuli-based Satradhikars, that the Centre would not rest till the river island got the coveted status of a World Heritage Site. He reiterated that the Union Government would take all possible steps to protect Majuli and preserve the rich cultural heritage flourishing in the island.Prime Minister Singh also said that his Government would look into the demands of the IITs to exempt them from the purview of reservation in the selection process of their faculty members.So also, the Assam Government sought a series of incentives from the Centre to improve the education scenario in the State and called for amending the North East Industrial and Promotion Policy to provide incentives to the refineries. With a thrust on the education sector, the Prime Minister announced a package for Assam heavily loaded with proposals to create world-class educational institutions in the State. A world-class university, an institute of petroleum technology and a national design institute on the pattern of the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad was a part of the Prime Minister’s package. The Centre will also assist the State Government in setting up a State skill development mission to encourage employment and skill development among the youths of Assam. The package also provides for setting up of a model school in every development block under the proposed Centrally-sponsored scheme for “Model Schools”. On the other hand, the Prime Minister also announced that the Centre would provide the Assam government all necessary assistance for setting up a centre of the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology in the State. The North East Industrial Investment Promotion Policy (NEIIPP) will also be suitably revised so as to attract investment to the region. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways will take up the Ohola-Sadiya Bridge which will be completed by 2013. The Numali-Gohpur bridge linking Jorhat to North Lakhimpur will also be taken up and completed by 201 3. In the package flood control measures and integrated development of Majuli will be accorded top priority and adequate funds will be provided for the purpose. A high-level monitoring group. with representatives of the Central and State governments and the Satradhikars will be set up to guide the process.An allocation of Rs 20 crore as additional Central assistance for Majuli will be made available to the Assam Government. The Central Government will provide additional assistance of Rs 250 crore for the integrated development of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC). In so far as the other autonomous Councils of North Cachar Hills and Karbi Anglong are concerned, the State Government will prepare and submit a plan for the integrated infrastructure development, to be funded from the Rs 500-crore rupee corpus recently announced by Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram for infrastructure development in the North EastAll these promises made by the Prime Minister during his visit to Assam may apparently seemy to be very encouraging but this visit looked more like an election visit and keeping in view the upcoming general elections Dr Singh tried to project a very encouraging picture of Assam declaring some proposals to promote education and economic sectors of the State. But whether these proposals will get implemented or not is a very difficult question and the people of this State are aware of such earlier proposals and the ultimate outcome of those. No wonder that the Prime Minister was in the State to lay the foundation of Jorhat Medical College, to assure the people of the State of three more bridges over the Brahmaputra for better communication, and to tell the Satradhikars about the projects to develop Majuli. The most important question regarding the Prime Minister’s recent visit to Assam was certainly that he did not try to address or rather sidelined the core issues of the State, namely, the issue of illegal infiltration, increasing act of terrorist networks sponsored by Bangladesh and more importantly initiation of the dialogue process with the ULFA through the PCG. In fact the Prime Minister should have realised the fact that there practically exists no immigration law in Assam when it comes to illegal Bangladeshis and so he would have addressed the issue with utmost importance keeping aside the political compulsion of his party as far as the minority vote bank is concerned. So also it was expected that the Prime Minister would respect the sentiment of the indigenous people and try all possible options to avoid a similar situation of Assam agitation that is emerging in the State once again because of the issue of illegal infiltration. Considering all these Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh’s visit to Assam was a big fiasco. sourcE: assam tribune editorial

Left withdraws support to UPA

From Kalyan Barooah NEW DELHI, July 8 – The UPA Government at the Centre plunged into its worst crisis till date, with the Left Parties withdrawing support over the nuclear deal, leaving the Dr Manmohan Singh Government high and dry. However, the Congress Party put up a brave front and declared that there was no threat to the Government. The Congress Party’s confidence followed Samajvadi Party’s unanimous support to the UPA Government.An upset Left said the time has come to pull the rug. Not content, the Left is also planning to request President, Pratibha Devisingh Patil to ask the Prime Minister to seek a vote of trust in the Lok Sabha to prove his government majority, when they call on her here tomorrow to submit the letter of withdrawal of support.In a day fast paced with political developments that saw almost all big and small players confabulating on the fate of Dr Manmohan Singh Government, leaders quickly picked up their calculators, to see if the UPA combine had the numbers to survive.The Left parties were first to set the ball rolling when it met in the morning at its headquarters to draft the letter to External Affairs Minister, Pranab Mukherjee. They accused the ruling Congress-led coalition of refusing to provide the text to the members of the Committee on Indo-US Civil Nuclear Cooperation and said the proposed meeting on July 10 would not serve any purpose in this context.It is critical for the country that the safeguards agreement was discussed with full transparency and not kept secret, said CPM general secretary, Prakash Karat.“Why is the Manmohan Singh Government keeping the draft of the IAEA agreement secret from the people,” the Left leader asked.The brief announcement by Karat-led the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi convene an emergency meeting of its senior leaders. In the evening, the all-powerful Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs (CCPA) was held, which was presided over by Mukherjee, in absence of the Prime Minister, who is away in Japan. The meeting was convened to fix a date for the special session of Parliament. Indication was that the government could go in for a trust vote on July 28.The Congress Party later described the Left action as most unfortunate. “When the entire nation is mourning those killed in the Kabul blast, the Left has chosen to make the announcement. It is most unfortunate. They think their prestige is more important than the nation’s prestige,” chairman of the AICC media department, Veerappa Moily said, reacting to the Left’s announcement.Yet, perhaps the biggest set back was suffered by SP, when at least six of its MPs gave broad hints they might oppose the opportunistic alliance with the Congress. Party chief, Mulayam Singh Yadav announced in the morning that all was well in the party after a meeting of the party Parliamentary Board, only to be contradicted by his colleague, Jai Prakash in Lucknow that a section of them opposed the move.He said each of its 39 MPs is solidly behind the Indo-US Nuclear deal. He requested the Left parties not to join the communal forces.Fishing in troubled waters, BJP president, Rajnath Singh attacked both the Left Parties and the UPA and demanded that a special session of Parliament should be convened immediately and the Prime Minister should seek a vote of confidence. He said the BJP leaders would approach the President of India to direct the present government to seek the trust vote. His statement came after an emergency meeting of the party’s office bearers, here this evening, to discuss the current political scenario and draft its future strategy. The day also saw a war of words between the Congress, Left and opposition parties. The Left held the Prime Minister responsible for precipitating the crisis, when he declared that Government would very soon approach the IAEA to move forward on the deal. The four parties- CPI (M), CPI, Forward Bloc and RSP lost no time in firming up plans to pull out of the coalition government, which it was supporting from outside.Karat also released the draft of the letter to Mukherjee. Since the UPA has refused to provide the text of the Safeguards Agreements to the members of the UPA-Left Committee, no purpose will be served by having a meeting.Further, the proposal for a meeting on the 10th is rendered meaningless since the Prime Minister, while travelling abroad, has chosen to announce that the government will be going to Board of Governors of the IAEA “very soon”.Previously, the Left parties had decided that if the government goes to the IAEA Board of Governors, they will withdraw support, the letter said.Meanwhile, allies rushed to extend support, ruling out any threat to the survival of the UPA government. RJD president Lalu Prasad said the alliance has majority support and it will be proved in Parliament. Later, Union Agriculture Minister and NCP president Sharad Pawar also said that the government is stable. source: assam tribune

Vision 2020 hope for N-E

Vision 2020 hope for N-E
New Delhi, June 27: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will release the Vision 2020 document on July 2 amid the buzz that the DoNER ministry would soon be scrapped. The document’s unveiling will coincide with the opening of tenders for a regional airline for the Northeast the same day.

The document has been prepared for the past three years and is the crux of inputs from 30,000 questionnaires answered by various sections of society from the eight states. DoNER minister Mani Shankar Aiyar wants the NEC to don the role of a regional planning association.

Civilian Nuclear Deal: A Victim of Oversell

Civilian Nuclear Deal:

A Victim of Oversell Sreeram Sundar Chaulia With scant light at the end of the tunnel for the India-US civilian nuclear deal, it is evident that the agreement is a victim of oversell as a ‘‘historic’’ accord to emancipate India’s economy and international status. The Manmohan Singh government’s claims in favour of the 123 Agreement were so bombastic as to project it as an elixir that could transform India’s destiny. After inflating the benefits of the deal, the Prime Minister is now facing the music.The centrepiece argument made by the Indian government on behalf of the nuclear deal is that it would usher in a bright new era of nuclear power generation and motor India’s economic growth. The factual basis of this assertion is dubious. Nuclear power currently contributes to barely three per cent of India’s overall energy production and is expected to reach nine per cent only by 2016, provided deals with Washington and the rest of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) go through.The accretion to India’s energy security from importing nuclear fuel and technology, taking costs of procurement into consideration, will thus be only marginal. By painting a much rosier picture, the Indian government raised the antlers of its detractors who did everything to prevent the ruling party from getting plaudits for revolutionizing India’s economic development.In competitive electoral politics, no ruling party will obtain cooperation from the opposition for a deal that the former wants to advertise as its unique achievement. This is, in essence, the reason why the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) opposes the civil nuclear agreement — to obstruct its rival from taking credit. Such thinking is revealed through comments of BJP leaders that they are interested in renegotiating the deal if they come to power.On the question of the deal being an impediment to nuclear weapons testing by India, a concern the BJP shares with some national security elites, the Manmohan Singh government is again guilty of exaggerating the leverage India enjoys. Strategic experts who have pored over the contents of the 123 Agreement and the Hyde Act have drawn valid conclusions that the US is most likely to terminate the agreement if India breaks its moratorium on bomb tests.The Congress party responded with non-transparent assurances that there is no link between capping India’s quest for a credible minimum deterrent and the deal. A more sensible strategy should have been to argue, in private, in a ‘‘so what’’ vein. So what if the US and the NSG turn off their taps for nuclear fuel and technology when India is strategically compelled to conduct more bomb tests?Supposing Chinese and Pakistani nuclear brinkmanship forced India to test more weapons in 2010 or 2013, the ensuing probable loss of civilian nuclear fuel from the US and the NSG would not dent the Indian economy. To reiterate, the addition to India’s energy security from the deal is marginal, not substantial. India’s citizens and industrial entrepreneurs have made enormous sacrifices for the security of the country in the past, and they would certainly not gainsay future nuclear tests by harping on forfeiture of a few thousand megawatts of electricity.Moreover, India’s current nuclear power plants are running at approximately half capacity due to acute shortage of uranium. Whatever fuel and technology India would have received in the short to medium term from the US and the NSG would be utilized to first make the existing nuclear power plants fully operational. There should be no fear of sunk costs in expensive overheads for new nuclear power plants that would have gone down the drain if the US and the NSG withdrew their supplies.A corollary case could have been made that opportunistically receiving nuclear fuel and technology from the US and the NSG for a few years would bring marginal advantages to the country’s indigenous fast breeder reactor programme based on domestically available thorium. Stalwarts of the atomic science establishment, MR Srinivasan and APJ Abdul Kalam, declare that ‘‘an adequate programme of first generation nuclear reactors using natural or enriched uranium is an inescapable technological necessity to launch a substantial programme of thorium utilisation’’.Even a temporary agreement with the US and the NSG could have propelled India’s thorium-based nuclear research forward to a point that withdrawal of nuclear fuel in the future would have minimal impact on the scientific community’s research. Unfortunately, by elevating the economic upside of the deal to sky high proportions, the Manmohan Singh government could not resort to this simple scenario planning.(The writer is a researcher on international affairs at the Maxwell School of Citizenship in Syracuse, New York) (IANS) Source: sentinel assam editorial

PM to release Vision 2020 on July 2

PM to release Vision 2020 on July 2

KOLKATA, June 19 – Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will unveil ‘Vision 2020’, a document aimed at the socio-economic development of the North-Eastern region, in New Delhi on July 2, Union Minister for Development of North-Eastern region Mani Shankar Aiyar has said. The ‘Vision 2020’ was prepared after three years of uninterrupted consultations with 50,000 common people of the North East and a host experts and institutions to take care of the shortcomings in the region Terming the vision document as an ‘Aam Aadmi (common man) document’, DoNER Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said it would require Rs 13 trillion for the implementation of Vision 2020 in the region. The document had been endorsed by the North Eastern Council and Chief Ministers of the region, he told members of the four industry chambers at an interactive session on N-E development, last evening. Aiyar said if India wanted to match the GDP growth of China, then it will have to consider the contribution of the North-East where growth potential was immense. –PTI

PM wants to quit over nuclear deal

PM wants to quit over nuclear deal
Sheela Bhatt

June 19, 2008 23:42 ISTLast Updated: June 20, 2008 00:03 ISTCongress sources told rediff.com late on Thursday night that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is putting the maximum pressure possible on Congress party president Sonia Gandhi to go ahead with the India-US nuclear deal.

The tussle between Dr Singh and some party leaders, who do not want an early general election provoked by the withdrawal of Left support, is on and far from over, the Congress sources added.

Dr Singh would like to resign as prime minister if the Congress party does not back him on the deal. However, negotiations between Dr Singh and the party continue and the final verdict is not out yet.

The prime minister is likely to continue pressurising the Congress leadership before the next United Progressive Alliance-Left parties meeting on the nuclear deal on June 25.

Dr Singh will not have much to lose if he insists on an exit from power because his four-year tenure has ensured his place in history. The final year in power will be the most difficult with international oil prices likely to cross $150 per barrel.

Another factor behind the current political drama in New Delhi over the nuclear deal is a powerful lobby's belief that a strategic partnership with the United States is a win-win situation for India and the US. Dr Singh's supporters think it is time "the Congress calls the bluff of the Left parties" and goes ahead with the nuclear deal.
But it seems difficult for Dr Singh to garner his own party's support for the deal. Notwithstanding the public stand of UPA allies like Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Lalu Prasad, Nationalist Congress President Sharad Pawar [Images] and Dravida Munnetra Kazagham supremo M Karunanidhi supporting the deal, the Congress is well aware that these allies do not want an early election, and certainly not in November. External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, the mediator between the Congress, the Left parties and its allies, briefed Dr Singh on the issue today.
Dr Singh cancelled all his appointments for Thursday, June 19. An official statement said the prime minister is unwell and running a viral fever.

The prime minister is understandably anguished because it will be embarrassing for him to travel to Tokyo next month for the G-8 summit -- where he will meet US President George W Bush -- after suffering a domestic political defeat on a diplomatic issue of great importance. "The prime minister," a reliable Congress source said, "wants to save his prestige in an international forum." Source: http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/jun/19pm.htm

Accord implementation

Accord implementation

It is a positive sign that Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has started taking personal initiative to monitor the implementation of the Assam Accord as only such initiatives at the highest level can bring a ray of hope to the people of Assam, who are waiting for around 23 years for the implementation of the Accord for the solution of the problem of infiltration of foreigners. The Prime Minister recently assured a delegation of the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) that he would seek reports from the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Assam Government on the progress of the implementation of the Accord to personally monitor the same. One hopes that he would keep his promise to ensure that at least the international border is sealed within the tenure of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government to at least check the unabated infiltration of foreign nationals to Assam which to not only poses a threat to the identity of the indigenous people, but also a threat to the security of the nation. However, it remains to be seen whether the Prime Minister actually keeps his promise in the interest of the nation as the decisions taken in a meeting chaired by him more than three years back are yet to be implemented. A series of vital decisions were taken in a tripartite meeting involving the State and Central Governments and the AASU on May 5, 2005, which was chaired by none other than the Prime Minister himself, but unfortunately, the decisions taken in the meeting are yet to be implemented.One of the major decisions taken in that meeting was to complete the fencing and roads along the Assam-Bangladesh border within a year, but till date, the international border remains a porous one and several deadlines on the completion of the fencing expired. The Government of India must complete the fencing on war footing to check further infiltration of foreigners. The other major decision was to complete the process of updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC) of 1951 within a couple of years and to provide photo identity cards to the Indian citizens. This is vital for identification of the foreigners. But unfortunately, the Assam Government took more than three years even to formulate the modalities for updating the NRC and the same is yet to be approved by the Government of India. Moreover, the Centre is yet to amend the Citizenship Act to authorise the State Government to update the NRC. If the decisions taken in a meeting chaired by the Prime Minister are not implemented, the people may lose faith on the democratic system and one hopes that keeping this in mind, Dr Singh will take personal initiative to ensure implementation of all the clauses of the Assam Accord within a stipulated time frame. Source: Assam Tribune 13.06.08

Gogoi in double trouble as AASU alleges more tainted ministers

Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi is landing in more trouble if All Assam Students Union is to be believed. The state's powerful students body has urged the prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to order CBI probe into the allegations against five cabinet minister of the Tarun Gogoi Government.Talking to reporters on Tuesday in the city, the AASU leaders said they called on Dr Singh in the capital on Monday and urged Dr Singh to order CBI probes into the allegations raised against five cabinet ministers citing some specific allegations against them namely health minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma, water resources minister Bharat Chandra Narah, excise minister Gautom Roy and power minister Pradyut Bordoloi. In a memorandum submitted before the Prime Minister, the students body has sought his intervention in the implementation of the Assam Accord, separate identity for Assam Oil Division and also for steps to bail out the Numligarh Refinery from the crisis. AASU General Secretary Tapan Kumar Gogoi said, "we called on PM on June 9 and apprised him of the allegations against these ministers and urged him to order CBI probe into these allegations."They informed that the Prime Minister will contact the Assam Government soon in this regard before asking CBI to probe these. AASU adviser Dr Samujjal Bhattacharjee alleged that Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has been harbouring these tainted colleagues in his ministry. They further informed that in the memorandum they also demanded steps to implement the Assam Accord in letter and spirit, retaining of the current entity of the Assam Oil division, ensure subsidy for the Numligarh Refinery. They informed the mediamen that Dr Singh would soon seek report from the union home ministry."The Prime Minister has assured us of steps to address all these grievances and he himself has been monitoring these matters," said AASU president Shankar Prasad Roy.

AASU asks PM to institute probe

The All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) has called upon the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh to institute a thorough probe into the allegations of corruption and illegal activities against several Ministers of Assam. The students’ body said that as the Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi has not taken any step to check such activities of the Ministers, the Centre must step in for a probe.In a memorandum to the Prime Minister, the AASU said that during the tenure of the present Government, the entire State Administration has become totally corrupt and the recent arrest of Education Minister Ripun Bora by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) totally exposed the state of affairs in Assam.The memorandum said that the Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was allegedly involved in criminal activities in the past and he amassed lots of properties through illegal means. But instead of taking action against him, the Chief Minister made Sarma the spokesman of the Government. The AASU demanded a CBI probe into the allegations against Sarma.The AASU said that poaching of rhinos increased alarmingly during the tenure of Rockybul Hussain as the Forest Minister of the State and in the year 2007 alone, more than 20 rhinos were killed. The AASU also alleged that Hussain encouraged settlement of illegal migrants in the forest areas and demanded that a CBI probe should be instituted against the Minister.The memorandum further stated that during the tenure of Bharat Chandra Narah as the Water Resources Minister, no positive step was taken for flood management and demanded a probe into the allegations of corruption against the Minister. The memorandum further said that a criminal charge is pending against Excise Minister Gautam Roy, while, it is alleged that Industry Minister Pradyut Bordoloi had a hand in the Prasanna Timung’s missing case.The AASU further said that the Sarba Siksha Abhijan Mission, headed by the Chief Minister failed to transform the elementary education scene in the state and the funds provided by the Centre in this regard were misused. Source: Assam Tribune

Assam situation: Mahanta meets Dr Singh, seeks intervention

Former Assam Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta has urged the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to look into a number of problems confronting Assam. Mahanta on Monday called on Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh in New Delhi and apprised him of the state’s law and order situation and alleged that the Assam Government has been failing to deal with the situation.He also urged the Prime Minister to expedite the implementation of the Clauses of the historic Assam Accord in letter and spirit. He rued before Dr Singh thaty several central government project have been remaining idle. He further submitted a memorandum before the Prime Minister citing the deplorable failures of the Gogoi government.Mr Mahanta sought Dr Singh’s intervention citing tainted ministers are very much there in the Gogoi cabinet and requested action in this regard. Dr Singh in reply assured Mahanta of careful and sympathetic consideration in this regard. Assam Times