Opinion Poverty ‘theatrics’

“Any meaningful food security in our country can come about only through a universal public distribution system that ensures that every single household in the country receives 35 kg of foodgrain a month at Rs 2 a kg. Rather than going through such elaborate exercises aimed at committing a fraud on the people,the UPA 2 government would do well to establish a universal PDS,” it concludes.

A 3G scam?

While the controversy over 2G spectrum allocation continues,an article in People’s Democracy claims irregularities in 3G as well,saying that “various parties are now violating their licence terms and conditions by offering services in service areas where they do not have licences,” while the department of telecommunications ignores the rule-breaking.

Licences for 3G services were auctioned last year using a multi-stage bidding process. The article claims some of the operators went in for collusive “strategic bidding” — they did not bid for all the service areas,but ensured that at least one of them secure licences for each state. And now,using each other’s network,they are offering full-blown pan-Indian services,it claims. “In fact,wherever they are offering services where they do not have a licence,they are pretending that they are using roaming arrangements… Clearly,roaming cannot involve subscribers who do not have such a home network but are roaming on another network as home. It cannot be used to offer services in areas where the operator does not have a licence or a network,” it elaborates.

The situation,it says,now is that there are essentially two sets of operators. Those like the BSNL and MTNL who have paid full value of the licence,have put in all the required infrastructure and have taken all the required clearances,and others who are just piggybacking on their “partners.”

Why Wall St

The CPI’s New Age discusses the “Occupy Wall Street” protests in the US. It claims that the protests,which were initially joined by students worried about their job prospects and middle-aged workers who were recently laid-off,is now “acquiring the shape of a popular movement against the capitalist order itself.”

It argues the “protagonists of economic neo-liberalism” are still insisting that the current crisis is just a double-dip recession. It examines various policy recommendations for economic recovery and argues that “obviously,this cannot be a permanent way out.

Actually,there is no way out from the financial crisis the world faces today.”

In reality,the article argues,the crisis is neither single nor a double-dip recession,nor the classical cyclical crisis of capitalism. It is the result of “imposing a capitalist order of and for international finance capital based on the concept of turning nations into markets and playgrounds for exploitation of their natural and other resources in the garb of globalisation,liberalisation,and privatisation.”