Undue influence

People’s Democracy has a letter CPM politburo member Brinda Karat wrote to Manmohan Singh, about the import of wheat.

The CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat continues his tirade against the US in an interview in the latest issue of People’s Democracy. That India has allowed FDI in agriculture, and the removal of the Urban Land Ceiling Act is the because of pressure from the US, he says. These measures “result in land being alienated from the peasants, and urban land going out of the reach of the ordinary people,” he says. He then turns to the BJP, “The debate in Parliament would have shown that the majority of MPs are against the nuclear deal. Already the BJP has stated that it is not against the strategic alliance with the US. In fact, it was the BJP-led government which went far ahead by declaring that India is a natural ally of the US”.

Energy myth

This issue’s editorial argues that nuclear energy is not cost effective, especially as compared to the cost of available alternatives — coal, gas or water. By using nuclear energy, India would spend Rs 2 lakh crore more. It wonders, can India afford such an expensive option? “Imagine, this cost difference can build nearly 20,000 fully-equipped 100-bed public hospitals, or, 2,50,000 schools like the Navodaya Vidyalayas with full boarding facilities for 100 students… we need not deny 20 lakh children of quality primary education or 250 lakh people of quality medical care. Who says, therefore, that the nuclear deal does not affect the common man?” it asks.

Insincere promises

People’s Democracy quotes a speech by A.G. Gopalakrishnan, former chairman of Atomic Energy Regulatory Board at a convention on the nuclear deal in the capital. It says that he pointed out that the government withheld a proposal to upgrade coal energy, and has done nothing to promote hydel power either. And by importing technology from the US, the government is belittling the efforts of Indian scientists since Pokhran I in 1974. So, “the government’s claim of wanting to improve the energy situation in the country is not a sincere one”.

Pricey wheat

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People’s Democracy has a letter CPM politburo member Brinda Karat wrote to Manmohan Singh, about the import of wheat. “In May, the government floated a tender for 5 lakh tonnes of wheat and the price of wheat per tonne was stated to be $263. This order was cancelled by the government on the grounds that the price was too high… two months later in July, the government imported the same amount at $325.59 a tonne leading to a loss of Rs 127. 93 crore. Shockingly this was compounded by a further import order for almost 8 lakh tonnes at an even higher rate of $389.45 which meant a further loss of Rs 412 crore. Thus the faulty policies of

import have led to a loss of Rs 540.09 crore,” she wrote, and asked for an enquiry into the matter.