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Journalism of Courage
When it became clear that the Left would persist with its anti-nuclear deal stand, jeopardising the stability of the ruling coalition, the UPA Government, with a possible mid-term poll in mind, started implementing schemes after schemes for the aam aadmi. Amid all this, it dawned upon Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee at last week8217;s Cabinet meeting that two schemes8212;the Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana and the health insurance scheme for below-poverty-line families8212;were being launched on October 2. It was also proposed that the old-age pension scheme for BPL families be added to this list. Mukherjee, it is believed, suggested that the proper occasion for launching these programmes was Indira Gandhi8217;s birthday. He said the former PM had been equally committed to the cause of the aam aadmi and he should know8212;he was afterall the No 2 in her Cabinet. The No 2 even in the current Cabinet, Mukherjee had no trouble getting his fellow ministers8217; nod for November 19 as the new inauguration date.
