Opinion Probe delays expected
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has announced the setting up of a committee to look into allegations of corruption in the organisation of the Commonwealth Games
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has announced the setting up of a committee to look into allegations of corruption in the organisation of the Commonwealth Games,but the parties of the Left doubt whether accountability will be fixed and the guilty brought to book.
The lead editorial in CPI(ML) weekly ML Update says the corrupt and inept organisers are now trying to bask in the glory achieved by Indian sportspersons hoping that the country will forget and forgive. But given the maze of scams and the multiplicity of agencies involved in the whole process… it is quite possible that the process of investigation will get lost in the bureaucratic labyrinth and the political games of mutual mudslinging and shadow-boxing, it says.
The government has decades of experience in delaying and diverting such probes and blunting their edge by finding a scapegoat or two. Moreover,the major political parties are all closely involved in the business of running the sports and games show in the country, the article argues,saying saying this calls for a high degree of sustained civil society activism.
Defanging pharma
An article in the CPMs Peoples Democracy argues that multinational companies are poised to take over the Indian drug industry,which once boomed mainly because the Indian Patents Act of 1970 allowed domestic firms to produce drugs patented by foreign companies while restrictions were in place on the operations of foreign companies. Strong public-sector drugmakers also existed. The article asserts the situation has changed because PSUs like Hindustan Antibiotics Limited and Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Limited were systematically undermined, the protection that was provided to Indian firms vis-à-vis MNCs withdrawn and the Patents Act amended.
The most disturbing trend in the drug industry,it goes on to argue,is that de-industrialisation has increased at a frightening pace,and many companies are now dependent on imported bulk drugs. While news of Indian drug majors tying up with MNCs has become commonplace,the number of acquisitions of Indian firms by multinationals is increasing,too. The Indian drug industry,built by diligent application of public policy that sought to achieve self-reliance in the pharmaceutical sector,is poised to be handed over to foreign multinational corporations. The government of the day,in pursuit of neoliberal reforms at any cost,is a willing accomplice, the article complains.
The BJPs looters
The political crisis in Karnataka has exposed the BJP as a political outfit which is willing to go to any extreme to survive in power,the lead editorial in CPI weekly New Age opines. It alleges that the power struggle in the southern state and the decision to form a government in Jharkhand establish that looting public money is the partys main consideration. Another article notes that although Governor H.R. Bhardwaj was not necessarily above-board,corruption has become the hallmark of the administration. The chief minister himself is accused of helping them [the Reddy brothers in grabbing prime land. The chief minister has no control over the loot by party workers. The greatest beneficiaries were the Reddy brothers,who wield more influence than the chief minister.
Compiled by Manoj C.G.
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