Opinion View from the LEFT

State investigating agencies are equally capable,if not more,while the neutrality of CBI as an investigating agency is not beyond doubt,said an article in CPM mouthpiece People’s Democracy,referring to the Ottavio Quattrocchi episode.

“Another point to note is that the IPS cadre police officers are working in both the CBI and the state CIDs. All of them belong to the same all India service and are equally trained. Then what is the logic behind differentiating between the two agencies and giving CBI a place of superiority?”

“To maintain the balance of power between the Centre and the states,to safeguard the rights of the states,and to safeguard the independence and prestige of the state-level investigating agencies,the aforesaid verdict of the Supreme Court needs to be revisited,” it says.

The food lines

The government’s proposed Food Security Act would be incomplete and meaningless if only families below the poverty line are provided with subsidised food,CPI General Secretary A.B. Bardhan writes in the latest issue of party organ New Age.

He says the government may not include APL families under the ambit of the proposed act arguing that this will reduce the burden on the exchequer —”the government of course has no hesitation in giving tax exemptions or capping the rate of direct tax for corporates and individuals who are in the topmost income brackets which ultimately means foregoing a high figure of revenue income; or offering them a huge bailout or stimulus package in order to overcome a crisis of their own making.” Funding subsidy to only 8.54 crore BPL families entails a cost of Rs 45,000 crore while if 13.26 crore additional APL families are also included the total expenditure would probably add up to Rs 1 lakh crore. This is a “reflection of the class outlook of the government,” he says.

Besides,the Food Security Act also does not address the first and basic requirement of increasing food production. “There is lack of incentives to the farmer who is the key player in producing the food that the country needs,in terms of cheap and subsidised inputs and remunerative prices,” he feels.

Blame it on the people

The CPM says that the government — which has failed to contain runaway prices — is blaming the people for consuming more,just like former US president George W. Bush had done when he pointed out that global food prices are on the rise because people in India and China are eating more.

The lead editorial of People’s Democracy takes exception to President Pratibha Patil’s observation in her address,linking price rise to the payment of higher procurement prices to farmers and the impact of higher public spending on programmes of rural development which have raised incomes in rural areas.

“The president’s address does not provide any confidence that the main problem facing the Indian people will be solved by the government. On the contrary,there seems to be advance explanations for greater burdens that will be imposed on this front in the coming days,” it says.