Opinion Understanding Obama
American President Barack Obamas statement that tax breaks should not go to companies which are creating jobs abroad.
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American President Barack Obamas statement that tax breaks should not go to companies which are creating jobs abroad and not in the US is seen as election-time posturing by the RSS. It feels the US is more in need of outsourcing than India and Obamas rhetoric might be forgotten after the November elections.
An article in RSS journal Organiser says that,rather than US policy changes regarding outsourcing,the BPOs and KPOs are more concerned with the way China has been making strides in educating its youth to take these lucrative jobs away from India. Obama may be playing to the gallery,as politicians are wont to do when elections are approaching,but the US firms outsourcing jobs to India and its ilk would weigh the pros and cons in terms of savings through tax benefits and cost of talent and operations.
But as regarding China,it says there is a strong feeling that if India does not pick up its education levels and bring down talent coss even further,China would quietly encroach on these jobs as successfully as it has been in manufacturing sectors.
A new troika
An article in Organiser weaves an interesting theory. It says there is a Maoist-LTTE-jihadi gang in Kerala with active support from pro-jihadi elements like PDPs Abdul Nasser Madani,the Popular Front of India,SIMI and the Jamaat-e-Islami.
It says the Union home secretary has given startling disclosures of Maoist presence in the jungles of Wayanad,a district in northern Kerala. It claims that the arrest of an LTTE operative,Siva,revealed that over 1500 LTTE cadre have been sent to Australia,Germany,Italy and Canada through Kerala.
Adding to this is the threat of jihadi elements. Several blast cases,acts of terrorism,including haul of gelatin sticks,export of terror to Kashmir,recent haul of explosives in trains and cutting of brake pipes of a train are being soft-peddled to save jihadis, it says.
It argues that both the Congress and the CPM are passing the buck on the question of banning the PFI,the group accused of chopping off the hands of a professor,in view of the forthcoming local body elections.
On illness
The lead editorial in Organiser,titled Health is wealth,but under UPA only the wealthy can be healthy,focuses on the healthcare scenario of the country. It says healthcare has become urban-centric,dominated by private players and ignored by government.
The write-up claims that of the total health spending in the country,all levels of government make less than a one-fifth contribution. The contention is that from 1995 to 2005 the hospital bed density has come down,and that while 60 per cent of the hospitals are located in urban areas,80 per cent of Indias population lives in rural areas.
Some 80 per cent of doctors and 75 per cent of dispensaries are in city areas, the article says. On the other side,India is increasingly becoming a destination for international medical tourism,and has a high number of medical as well as nursing colleges as compared to other countries.
All these statistics only go to show that there is a serious mismatch of policy and governance in this important social sector. While the situation has been steadily deteriorating since liberalisation,with the government increasingly withdrawing from its commitments,under the UPA government it has got only worse. The article also alludes to the increasing threat of spurious drugs and new seasonal diseases with funny-sounding names that crop up periodically: They bring huge profits to the pharmaceutical companies.
Compiled by Manoj C.G.
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