Action against use of own vehicles for commercial purposes

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

COIMBATORE, DECEMBER 12, 2018 00:00 IST

Own vehicles used for commercial purposes were brought to the Regional Transport Office on Dr.Balasundaram Road inthe city on Tuesday.S. Siva SaravananS_SIVA SARAVANAN

The Transport Department is mulling over a multi-pronged action against people who operate own vehicles for commercial purposes.

A decision to this effect was taken by Joint Transport Commissioner K.R. Krishnamurthy and Regional Transport Officer T. Balraj (Coimbatore South) holding additional charge of Coimbatore Central.

Earlier, Coimbatore Tourist Taxi Operators/Drivers Welfare association members led by C.P. Balaji hired such vehicles (known as own board) posing as clients and brought them straight to the RTO on Tuesday.

Mr. Balaji said that some people attached their own vehicles with fleet owners. Through such practices, the State was incurring huge revenue loss as these vehicles evaded the road tax levied per seat for tourist vehicles. They also get exempted from inter-State permits and pay very less insurance premium compared to the insurance premium for commercial vehicles.

Road tax for commercial vehicles was 50 % more than own vehicles. Software professionals and corporate personnel attached their vehicles with operators for additional income. In fact, there were many websites and apps offering own use vehicles on hire and most of them employed casual drivers/college students, who were neither skilled nor experienced. In addition, whenever such vehicles met with accidents, the victims could even be denied of insurance coverage as using own vehicles for commercial purpose was illegal, Mr. Balaji pointed out.

Now, the transport officials are initiating prosecution proceedings against the owners of five such vehicles. The owners will have to appear before the court and pay the fine. Then they will have to appear before the RTO and again pay the fine to release the vehicle.

The transport authorities are at liberty to make owners of such vehicles to pay the road tax and permit charges meant for tourist vehicles and then convert those vehicles into tourist vehicles.

Tamilisai downplays BJP’s electoral losses

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

CHENNAI, DECEMBER 12, 2018 00:00 IST

Tamilisai Soundararajan

Points to results in Madhya Pradesh

BJP leader Tamilisai Soundararajan sought to downplay the party’s losses in the Assembly polls in five States, saying, "The BJP has made some losses. Look at Madhya Pradesh, where the party did not lose, as predicted by surveys. In a way, the party has emerged victorious even while losing.”

But others had a different view. "Whatever the BJP might say, none of the parties that attended the all-party meeting in Delhi will support Narendra Modi's bid to be Prime Minister again. Today's victory belongs to AICC president Rahul Gandhi, who campaigned extensively to ensure the BJP did not win anywhere," said TNCC president Su. Thirunavukkarasar.

"The BJP has not won anywhere. This is a death-knell for the BJP, a warning shot by voters ahead of the 2019 general elections," said CPI(M) state secretary K. Balakrishnan. “Today’s result foreshadows the results of the 2019 general elections. The BJP has been pushed to the back of the queue; this will repeat when the democratic and secular forces come together to form a government after the general elections,” said CPI state secretary K. Mutharasan.

Aadhaar is pain without gain: professor

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

CHENNAI, DECEMBER 12, 2018 00:00 IST

‘Disruption caused by the unique identity number led to 25 deaths’

adhaar is hurtling us towards a Black Mirror dystopia with even children not being spared from the unique identity project, Reetika Khera, Associate Professor, IIM-Ahmedabad, said.

“Children don’t understand what this is...the government doesn’t seem to understand the concept of consent. Now, because of the Supreme Court order, there is a possibility of the government implementing it properly,” Dr. Khera said, delivering the T.G. Narayanan Memorial Lecture 2018 on ‘Aadhaar, Welfare and the Media’, at the Asian College of Journalism on Monday.

Dr. Khera said there have been around 25 deaths related to disruption caused by Aadhaar. Explaining the various schemes, she said the concept of corruption being diminished due to Aadhaar was more of rhetoric.

“In 2008, the Central government made it mandatory for wages to be paid into bank and post office accounts. In National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005, the dramatic reduction in wages corruption is because of separation of the implementing agency and the payment agency.” she added. “As with PDS, the decline in corruption in NREGA pre-dates Aadhaar-integration”, she said.

Nightmarish experience

On the issue of making Aadhaar mandatory for children to avail of mid-day meals at school, she said the onus should be put on teachers and the school administration, who are inflating student figures to siphon off funds. The government should investigate them rather than putting the children to hardship, she added.

Dr. Khera said the process of linking of Aadhaar to various schemes, and especially to the PDS for the poor has been nightmarish. “There are many cases where the poor beneficiaries are either too old to walk, or ill, to go to an enrolment centre to get their Aadhaar linked, and the gram level officials are too stretched with work in every direction,” she said.

“Aadhaar has done very little role to fix corruption. You could still go to your ration shop and end up getting lesser quantity of ration than what you are entitled to.

“The corruption continues as before. Aadhaar is pain without gain,” Dr. Khera said.

There are cases where people are too old to walk, or ill, to go to an enrolment centre

Reetika Kheera

Associate Professor, IIM-Ahmedabad

KCR’s car wins the Telangana race

M. Rajeev

M. RAJEEV, DECEMBER 12, 2018 00:00 IST

On cloud nine:TRS workers celebrating at Pragathi Bhavan in Hyderabad on Tuesday.G. RamakrishnaG_RAMAKRISHNA

It’s two-thirds majority for Telangana Rashtra Samithi

It was the Telangana Rashtra Samiti’s show all the way in the Assembly election with the party securing 88 seats, more than two thirds of the 119-member Legislative Assembly.

There was no looking back for the car, the symbol of the TRS, in the election, barring Khammam where the Congress-led alliance managed to secure 8 of the 11 constituencies. The impact of the TRS was such that the Congress could not cross the 20 seat mark and the alliance it led managed 21 seats in all, including two seats won by the TDP.

TRS candidate and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s nephew, T. Harish Rao won with huge margin of 1.18 lakh votes from Siddipet Assembly constituency while Mr. Rao’s son K.T. Rama Rao was not far behind securing a majority of over 88,000 votes from Sircilla. Mr. Rao himself romped home with a margin of close to 60,000 votes over his nearest rival V. Pratap Reddy of the People’s Front. Several other TRS candidates won with majorities ranging from 30,000 to 50,000 votes proving the claims on significant anti-incumbency factor against the government as wrong.

Setback for Speaker

The TRS, however, suffered a setback in the form of defeat of some of the Ministers in the previous Cabinet as well as the Speaker in the dissolved Assembly S. Madhusudanachary from Bhupalpalli. The ministers who were defeated at the hustings are political heavy weight from Khammam-- Tummala Nageswara Rao (Palair), five-time MLA from Kollapur Jupally Krishna Rao, P. Mahender Reddy from Tandur and Ajmira Chandulal (Mulug).

The party made major inroads into the rural constituencies where it had little presence in the past and proved its claims that the benefits of the spree of welfare and development programmes reached the last mile. The situation in the urban areas too was not different with the TRS winning in a majority of seats in core urban areas, the State Capital in particular where it won seven of the 15 seats and improved its tally from the last election. It was victory for almost all the candidates who switched loyalties from the Congress and the TDP.

Centre may feel pressure to loosen purse strings

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:12.12.2018

The BJP’s defeat in three crucial Hindi heartland states will increase the pressure on the ruling coalition at the Centre to resort to populist policies in the leadup to the 2019 general elections, but the scope seems to be rather limited given the tight fiscal situation.

The NDA has about four months to go before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, and all eyes are on the vote on account which experts reckon could provide some indications of the promises that the BJP is likely to make as it seeks reelection nationally.

Farm unrest and distress have played a significant role in the BJP suffering Tuesday’s poll setbacks. However, the Centre is still expected to adopt a tough line on promises such as farm loan waivers as the view within the top leadership is against any populist giveaways.

At the same time, considering the need to win back the rural populace, the government is expected to bank on the string of schemes rolled out to make life in rural areas comfortable, such as the household electrification programme, the handing over of gas cylinders to needy families, the toilet building programme and the financial inclusion scheme Jan Dhan as well as affordable housing.

The Centre has already made the National Pension System more attractive for investors, with the biggest bonanza going to 18 lakh central government employees. The Centre will contribute 14% of basic salary to their pension corpus, up from 10%.

Experts expect more such measures in the vote on account with the promise to implement them after re-election. The Centre is also hoping to get some more resources if there is a framework drawn up for greater transfer of the Reserve Bank of India’s excess reserves to the government.

Here again, it may be linked to recapitalisation of banks and with a condition that it will not be used for meeting the general government deficit. The government has already signalled its commitment to meet the fiscal deficit target of 3.3% of gross domestic product set for the current fiscal. \ During the NDA’s four and a half year tenure, the PM has ensured that profligacy is reined in and the Central government adheres to the fiscal deficit target.

PM Modi at Parliament

RaGa On Song, Leads Oppn Chorus

All Set To Spearhead Fight Against Modi In 2019 Polls

Subodh.Ghildiyal@timesgroup.com 12.12.2018

Rahul Gandhi has referred to the ‘Pappu’ barb, which BJP uses to target him, on a couple of occasions in front of Narendra Modi, only to evoke laughter from the Prime Minister. On Super Tuesday, Congress’ performance under Rahul would have had the saffron camp eating its words.

The comprehensive Congress victory in the Hindi heartland over BJP established Rahul as the leader of Congress; coincidentally, exactly a year after he took over the mantle from mother Sonia Gandhi.

Congress’ win in the BJP forts of Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh is a political watershed in the ‘Modi era’. It marks not only the arrival of Rahul — ever under pressure for his earlier failures to produce results — but also catapults a down-in-thedumps Congress right to the head of the opposition pack.

For Rahul and Congress, there appeared no respite as just two wins out of 24 since 2014 raised questions about their ability to take on the aggressive, resourceful and polarising election machine that BJP has become under Modi and Amit Shah. And “secular” regional players till Tuesday fancied their chances in the leadership stakes as they consistently showed better acumen and appetite to confront BJP.

But counting day virtually pressed the reset button for Congress, as partymen across the country heaved a sigh of relief when the favourable results flashed on TV screens.

A revitalised Congress, ready to go toe to toe with the Modi-led BJP, brings a strong advantage to the opposition. Besides consolidating the anti-BJP vote, which includes minorities among other sections, it puts a proven national player at the helm and helps pre-empt BJP’s strategy of framing the 2019 battle as ‘Modi vs instability’.

Rahul has earned credit in the process. Personally, he led the gamble to target Modi on the ‘credibility’ front, pitching Rafale, demonetisation and GST as poll issues against the counsel of senior colleagues who believed these would help Modi.

At the same time, Rahul was undeterred by repeated defeats and continued to challenge Modi in an acerbic tone, which experts and colleagues said only boosted the PM’s profile with people. The general belief was that attacking Modi was counter-productive.

Having set the template and the tone for taking on BJP, the victories just ahead of Lok Sabha elections will leave no doubts about Rahul and Congress leading the opposition alliance in its fight against Modi in 2019.

POSTERBOY AT LAST: Cong workers celebrate in Kolkata on Tuesday

Outcome could revive CPM push for Lok Sabha pact with Congress

The impact of Congress’ victories go beyond party lines and may strengthen the hand of CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury who has consistently been backing Rahul Gandhi, and as a consequence often been identified with an “unpopular” secular leadership. There has emerged a vertical division within the CPM over whether or not to align with the Congress in taking on communal forces. The Prakash Karat faction has undercut a push for alliance by citing repeated Congress defeats over the four years as why such an alliance would be a self-defeating proposition. While Yechury has forged a close understanding with Rahul Gandhi, the Congress defeats have generally been seen as weakening his argument for an alliance. The timely Congress victories over BJP just four months ahead of Lok Sabha polls are seen to have delivered an ace to Yechury to revive his push for an electoral understanding with Congress. The primacy of fighting communal forces would gel well with the evidence that Congress has in it the appetite to defeat a Modi-led saffron camp.

In fact, CPM-aligned groups have already started arguing that the party’s failure to join hands with Congress in Madhya Pradesh has helped BJP win in over five constituencies. TNN

Rahul just made BJP’s job for 2019 a bit more difficult
TIMES NEWS NETWORK 12.12.2018

Congress’s success on Tuesday invests Rahul Gandhi’s campaign themes with a credibility and lethality they so far seemed to lack and make BJP’s job for 2019 that much more difficult. To that extent, the 2019 polls may turn out to be a quasi-presidential duel between him and Modi.

Next summer’s contest still remains a battle for Modi and BJP to lose. The findings of exit polls, which called the elections right, also attested to the PM continuing to be the most popular politician.

By all accounts, the 15-year incumbency of BJP governments in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh were critical for Congress’s performance in the two states. Both the outgoing chief ministers — Raman Singh and Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the latter in particular — enjoyed goodwill for being good administrators. But their three stints also rendered them vulnerable to discontent — an inevitability in the “era of escalating aspirations”.

Few expected Raje to defy the state’s revolving-door pattern of politics after she scored a string of self-goals and failed to counter the perception of ‘arrogant aloofness’ that swirled around her. But their defeats also spell the failure of “rescue acts” that the PM and BJP chief Amit Shah mounted. In fact, Congress sought to turn the elections into a referendum on Modi’s measures like demonetisation and GST and allegations of corruption in the Rafale deal.

The success can encourage Congress to conflate the local with the national and sharpen the attack on Modi, focusing on his personal integrity and enhancing the prospect of strong, perhaps even dramatic, counter-measures from the incumbent who is not known for underestimating his opponents. There were already indications of growing receptivity to RSS’s pitch for a legislation to facilitate construction of Ram mandir and the setback may serve to enhance the temptation. The possibility of welfare measures topping finance minister Arun Jaitley’s ‘interim’ budget has grown by a small measure though Modi, who resisted Raman Singh’s ‘SOS’ messages for clearance to allow a loan waiver to match a similar sop by Congress, is unlikely to go to the length KCR traversed to drub Congress and TDP.

Rao’s victory shows the resilience of regional players, underlines the limits of national parties and will make it necessary for both Congress and BJP to woo them. Rahul, while savouring the success, didn’t forget to stretch out a hand of friendship to potential allies who have always found themselves uncomfortable with a powerful Congress. Expect BJP also to take a softer stance from here on.