Naresh Kumar Vaid, Director , Vaids ICS

In recent months we have several gheraos , the most shocking being that of Manipur by Naga Groups, due to which Manipur suffered acutely for the survival of its people. There was a gherao by Jats of western UP that stopped water supply of South Delhi for a day. Gujjars of Rajasthan resort to this tactic off ans on. During such situations governments --both at the centre and the states --become mute spectators waiting for each other to move first. Some of these may be genuine, to express the grievances but, most of the times, these involve pressure tactics to get their demands fulfilled. Why can't Nagas be convinced that their demand for greater Nagaland is not tenable? Why Gujjars can not be told in plain terms that they cannot be included in the scheduled tribe category? However, the demand of Jats of western UP to include them in OBCs may be granted sooner or later as Jats , in the neighboring states have given them the status. The Central government may be pumping t...

The government has put its seal on the recommendations of GoM . The package includes an additional compensation of 300m USD for affected besides Rs. 200 crores for clearing of the toxic waste. Ms Ambika Soni , the I&B mister was all smiles announcing the package. How much benefit in real terms goes to the affected? A simple arithmetic calculation and a rational mind would tell you that the money, in fixed deposits, doubles every six years or so. Thus, the compensation of 470m USD , by now, must rise to more than 3.76 billion USD without enhancing by a single penny. Therefore, the government has pocketed rest of the money minus 300m USD promised by it as enhancement. Besides, the medical terminology, as advocated by the activists, is grossly faulty and more than 90% of the affected will not get a single penny. The great economists in our PM and FM have done a great disservice to the nation by making mockery of this national tragedy. The government has resolved to make re-eff...