Rethinking Sustainable Solution To 'Rohingya Crisis' - Limits Of World Bank’s Proposal

Washington-based global lender the World Bank, through concessional lending arms, has gone to bat for Bangladesh to foster its development initiatives since 1972; committing more than $30 billion by backing priorities in economic, social and infrastructural development. 

Since 2018, this UN affiliated multilateral body, largest source of financial assistance to developing nations, has committed a total $590 million grant to support Bangladesh to confront the challenges posed by the influx of the forcibly displaced Rohingya. 

Recently, this bank has been extensively denounced both by policy wonks and mass people after its proposal, through "Refugee Policy Review Framework'' (RPRF), on Rohingya's integration in Bangladesh. How rational is this proposition of the World Bank? 

Four years ago, in late August 2017, "breaking-news" across the world were dominated by the massive influx of Rohingyas to Bangladesh, a result of military-backed bloody "clearance operation". A 444-page report of the UN's Independent Fact-Finding Commission substantiated that more than 7,25,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh after this deadly crackdown. 

The degree of atrocities of this "campaign of terror" embarked on by the military was so intense that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights referred to it as "a textbook example of ethnic cleansing" whilst other investigators dubbed it as "genocide". In the first three weeks of August 2017, Bangladesh received more refugees than entire Europe did in 2016 during “Syrian crisis”. 

Since then, Bangladesh has been generously hosting more than 1.2 million Rohingyas as short-term guests ensuring "safe haven" on humanitarian grounds. Now, Cox's Bazar based 13 Kilometers long Kutupalong "mega-camp", the largest refugee settlement camp in the world, is the home to this beleaguered community. 

Rohingyas, living in Arakan for thousand years, have been actively involved in Burma's politics since independence. The recognition of Rohingya as Myanmar's citizens by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) resolves their identity crisis by providing a legal base. 

Besides, in the hearing of ICJ, Aung San Suu Kyi defined Rohingyas as Arakan’s Muslims. Myanmar signed two repatriation agreements with Bangladesh in 2018 and 2019 respectively giving consent to take back their citizens. Although these repatriation agreements were in vain due to reluctance of Myanmar, still these agreements are significant proof of Myanmar’s official stance on Rohingyas’ citizenship. 

Though there is no light at the end of the tunnel, still Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights, in response to the WB's framework, stated in point blank that they have no desire to receive Bangladeshi citizenship and would like to return to Myanmar. 

The WB has proposed to review the RPRF for 14 member states, currently hosting refugees, including Bangladesh, for gauging the effectiveness of the grants for the refugees and host communities under its "soft-loan window" International Development Assistance. This global framework, being reviewed triennially, undertaken in cooperation with UNHCR, suggests providing refugees the rights to procure land & property, choose place of residence & freedom of movement, have equal access to the nation's public service & the labor market etc. like the citizens of the host country. The WB offered $2 billion to Bangladesh, if it integrates Rohingya refugees with economic & social rights. 

The framework is germane for Bangladesh since this move will pave the way for the Rohingyas to become permanent citizens through integration into Bangladesh’s populace. Bangladesh reiterated its stance, by rejecting the proposal outright, stating that Rohingyas are not “refugees” rather “forcibly displaced persons” to whom Bangladesh extended temporary shelter.

The study "Impacts of the Rohingya Refugee Influx on Host Communities" conducted by the UNDP expounded how the overcrowding Rohingyas affected host communities. The major adverse impact includes price hike, increase of poverty, rise in housing cost, reduction in wage rate, deforestation, environmental casualty etc. 

Moreover, the rise of intragroup and intergroup conflicts in the Rohingya camps shrunk the space of coexistence between the host communities and refugees by recasting the social makeup. This month, August 2021, marks the fourth anniversary of the Rohingya exodus to Bangladesh, but a sustainable solution is yet to be found.

The 1951 Refugee Convention suggests three way-outs to the refugee crisis: integration; settlement to a third country; or repatriation. Approximately 166.65 million population of Bangladesh, 8th largest in the world, makes it one of the densely populated countries with 1,125 people in per sq. km. 

This small country, 92nd in terms of land size, with a total landmass of 147,570 sq. km, slightly smaller than the US Iowa state, is hosting 1.2 million Rohingyas which is higher than the total population of Bhutan. No country in the world is bearing the burden of so many refugees as by overpopulated Bangladesh. Bangladesh, with an unemployment rate of 5.30%, exports approximately 60,000 workers abroad every year which indicates the country's inability to create employment and struggle to generate employment for its gargantuan unemployed youths. 

This attracts pointed attention towards inadequate demand of labor in Bangladesh. So, the possibility of integrating the Rohingya into the local community is nipped in the bud. As the number of Rohingya refugee is gigantic, more than a million in Bangladesh and some more are living in 19 other countries and no country has shown interest in receiving them, the option to settle them to a third country seems impassable in foreseeable future. The only way out to Rohingya crisis lies in safe repatriation to Myanmar. 

As the Rohingyas also want to return to Myanmar, integration into Bangladesh, following WB's recommendations, is like denial of their fundamental & human rights. Some local experts believe that integration may lead to a new “Palestine Crisis” by jeopardizing the sovereignty of Bangladesh and endangering the geo-political stability of South Asia. 

This kind of proposal from responsible global leaders like WB will motivate Myanmar to slacken the repatriation process by increasing complexities to this multifaced dilemma. Instead of suggesting such impracticable proposal, WB could create pressure on Myanmar to comply with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted in 1948 by the UN. It could offer financial incentives to Myanmar for expediting the repatriation in internationally monitored safe zones. Some international organizations are planning long-term programs for this “short-term emergency crisis” which will just linger the repatriation process. 

Bangladesh is trying its level best to ensure decent arrangements for Rohingyas with its limited financial strengths. Despite not being a signatory of 1951 refugee convention, Bangladesh complies with its conditions, i.e., not forcing any Rohingya to go back to Myanmar. 

Accepting WB’s proposal will add fuel to the fire by acting as a pull factor for other Rohingyas, around six lacs, to come to Bangladesh from restive Myanmar. Bangladesh has to bring substantial changes in its policy if it agrees to accept the framework, a complex & time-consuming process which will intensifies the misery. Safe & dignified repatriation of Rohingyas to Myanmar is the only sustainable solution to come to an end to their plight. Bangladesh needs more support from international communities to resolve this crisis. 

The country may expect that the world communities will consider all the relevant issues including socio-economic conditions of Bangladesh before making any recommendations to resolve the protracted Rohingya refugee crisis by bringing light of hope to put an end to their struggling present. #KhabarLive #hydnews 

(About the Author: Kazi Mohammad Jamshed, a strategic affair and foreign policy analyst, working as a lecturer at department of International Business, University of Dhaka. He can be reached at kazi.duib@gmail.com)

‍‍‍‍‍Are Telugu States Usher 'Privileges To Brahmins' Under 'Upper Caste Politics' Influence?

The Telugu States (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telugu_states) govts know that while Brahmins (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahmin#:~:text=Brahmin%20(%2F%CB%88br%C9%91%CB%90,of%20sacred%20learning%20across%20generations) are electorally insignificant, they can influence others.

Telugu state governments in south India, representing both sides of the Hindutva divide, have strengthened their outreach programmes for Brahmins, in order to remain politically relevant among the community and counter opposition parties’ attempts to woo them.

In the Telugu-speaking non-BJP-ruled states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the Brahmin population is negligible and their mandate politically insignificant. But none of these states’ governments have taken their eyes off this influential community, frequently unveiling schemes to incentivise education and employment, or to perpetuate ‘their’ Vedic culture.

Of course, the benefactors of these initiatives must show proof of caste — that they are Brahmins by birth — as most of them are from the economically weaker sections.

In Andhra, the Brahmins have always thrown in their lot with the Reddy community since a fight with the erstwhile Chandrababu Naidu government. But are they happy with Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, particularly when the opposition BJP tomtoms itself to be the “protector of Hindu dharma?”

Meanwhile, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao publicly lives the life of a ‘devout Hindu’. And while there’s hardly any representation of Brahmins in his government, he continues to put them on a pedestal — now and then, he gets vocal in his demand for a Bharat Ratna for former prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, who hailed from the community.

Intellectuals, however, point out it is farcical to base policy outreach on the feudal concept that Brahmins are powerful.

The Andhra government’s Vedic education scheme for Brahmins has come in for particular criticism. Political scientist Pratap Bhanu Mehta wrote (https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/brahmin-welfare-schemes-social-justice-7495186/) that the state cannot provide support to a profession whose eligibility is determined by birth. If Vedic studies are good for Brahmins, they should be good for all, he argued.

Both the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana governments have designated Brahmin welfare departments — set up in 2014 and 2017 respectively — and portals, which describe the community as ‘brilliant’ and ‘big’ thinkers.

The Telangana Brahmin Samkshema Parishad — the government body working for the upliftment of the community — says on its website (https://brahminparishad.telangana.gov.in/FirstPage.do) that BRAHMIN stands for “Broad and Brilliant in Thinking; Righteous and Religious in Livelihood, Adroit and Adventurous in Personality, Honesty and Humanity in Quality, Modesty and Morality in Character, Innovation and Industry in Performance and Nobility and Novelty in approach”.

Andhra Pradesh’s site (http://www.andhrabrahmin.ap.gov.in/bwc/aboutus.aspx) defines the community as “Big Thinking, Resource Leveraging, Attitude (positive), Hard Work, Modesty, Integrity and Neo Thinking”.

Both state governments offer financial assistance for higher education, entrepreneurship, skill development, coaching for competitive exams — primarily for the economically weaker groups within the community.

Such schemes, however, are not exclusive to the Brahmin community in the states. There are designated departments working for backward communities, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, offering almost similar financial assistance to promote empowerment.

There is not a single Brahmin minister in KCR’s cabinet, nor in Jagan’s, except Deputy Speaker Kona Raghupathi. There are only a handful of Brahmin legislators in both states, which reflects the fact that Telangana has less than 3 per cent Brahmin voters while Andhra has 5 per cent. But Brahmins are important to both the CMs, say analysts.

There are also financial assistance schemes to promote ‘Vedic culture’ and ‘Vedic education’ in the community. The Telangana Brahmin Parishad offers a scheme named ‘Vedahitha — Vedic Students’, which pays each Brahmin student a sustenance grant of Rs 3 lakh after the successful competition of ‘Smarta’ studies and Rs 5 lakh after finishing ‘Agama, Kramantha and Ganantha’ studies.

A similar scheme in Andhra pays as high as Rs 36,000 annually for a period of six years.

In Telangana, the government bears 75 per cent cost of construction of ‘Brahmin Sadans’ at district and mandal levels under its ‘Brahmin Sadan Scheme’.

Andhra’s ‘Vasishta Scheme’ provides coaching for competitive exams such as the civil services, paying candidates’ boarding and lodging charges.

One of the eligibility criteria for all these schemes is that the beneficiary and the parents should be Brahmins.

From 2015 to 2019, mostly under Chandrababu Naidu, Andhra spent Rs 216 crore on welfare schemes for the community.

The Andhra government also offers financial assistance for funeral expenses of a deceased from a Brahmin family, if the family cannot afford it.

Political analyst Telakapalli Ravi told #KhabarLive, “Considering our society, Brahmins still play a major role in public opinion. They hold influential positions. Though their economic and political power may not be much, several government advisers belong to the community, and there are bureaucrats in top positions.”

Ravi added that chief priest of the famous Tirumala Temple, A.V. Ramana Deekshitulu, had a certain amount of influence in former CM Chandrababu Naidu’s government.

But that does not mean there are no poor Brahmins, he pointed out.

In Telangana, KCR’s most recent sop to Brahmins was the year-long Narasimha Rao birth centenary celebrations he announced in 2020. A statue of the former PM was erected in Hyderabad in June, which the CM himself inaugurated. The ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi, in the graduates MLC polls, named his granddaughter a candidate, and she ended up winning.

“KCR does not give the community much power but keeps them on a pedestal, conveys that he is respecting them,” Ravi said.

Prof. Kodandaram Reddy, founder of political party Telangana Jana Samithi, said the community is present mostly in urban pockets.

Brahmin voters dominates 12 urban assembly constituencies in the state out of the total 119, according to Telangana BJP leader Ramchander Rao.

Compared to Andhra Pradesh, the Brahmin community in Telangana was not initially influential due to the zamindar (landlord) culture and the Nizam rule. But things changed and certain sub-castes from the Brahmin community such as ‘Karnam’ took over maintaining village records and looked after revenue, Kodandaram Reddy said.

Meanwhile, political analyst Pratap Bhanu Mehta said that secularism and social justice have become “farcical ideas” in these states. He opined that politics and public policy were being reduced to “jati-based” mobilisation in the most absurd way.

“Can you think of anything more grotesque than the idea that in the 21st century the state provides support to a profession whose eligibility is determined by birth? If Vedic education is unalloyed good, why should it not be open to all, subject to conduct rules? How can the state discriminate and confine it to Brahmins identified by birth? This cannot pass any constitutional smell test,” he wrote.

“…this is exactly the perversion of social justice discourse that was set in motion post-Mandal where the question of deeply entrenched historical discrimination was confused with backwardness and poverty in general,” Mehta added.

Other analysts say the state governments continue to keep Brahmins in good humour because of their ‘reverential position’ in society, despite the negligible vote bank.

Independent activist Sky Baba said: “Decades-old feudal systems believed if Brahmins were in an authoritative position, everything would automatically be in place. These governments are still following that sentiment.”

But think of the regression this represents in politics. Recognising caste to overcome discrimination was one thing. But entrenching it as a compulsory identity, certified by the state, and reproducing birth-based entitlements are a perversion of social justice.

Politics and public policy is being reduced to jati-based mobilisation in the most absurd way. Dalits were poor on account of their caste, which is why caste was recognised.

Now the state wants to ensure that all who are poor are permanently stamped with their caste by an official seal. The free for all that is ensuing for reconfiguring caste-based benefits, the demands of local domicile reservation, are signs of pessimism about the economy.

Much heat will be generated about how to distribute the current and shrinking pie of jobs and resources along jati lines. But no one is getting seriously upset about the fact that the pie is not growing as fast as we need it to.

The benefits for Brahmins may seem like a reductio ad absurdum of our politics, a little farce. But behind it is a great tragedy, of a nation with diminishing prospects for everyone, encouraging them to reach into the narrowest-minded conceptions of identity and calling it social justice. #KhabarLive #hydnews

‍Jagan, Sharmila 'Rift Politics' Visible During YSR Tribute Meet At Idupulapaya And Hyderabad

Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan Reddy and sister Sharmila have not had the best of ties since July, when she launched her YSR Telangana Party (YSRTP) in Telangana without her brother’s backing.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy skipped a meeting to celebrate the legacy of his father and former Congress CM Y.S. Rajashekara Reddy, further fuelling speculation of a rift with his sister Y.S. Sharmila.

The meeting in Hyderabad Thursday, the 12th death anniversary of YSR, was hosted by Jagan’s mother Y.S. Vijayalakshmi. While the Andhra CM gave it a miss, it was attended by sister Sharmila.

Earlier in the day, however, Jagan had accompanied his mother Vijayamma and sister Sharmila to pay homage to his father at the YSR Ghat in Idupulapaya, Kadapa district, Andhra Pradesh. Even then, sources said, there was a “coldness” between the siblings.

“Though they came together, they did not talk to each other much even though they were there for about 40 minutes,” a source close to the family told ThePrint. “It seems like there was pressure from the mother to appear together and not fuel further speculation. They attended it together but it was more to save face.”

The two siblings have not had the best of ties since July, when Y.S. Sharmila launched her YSR Telangana Party (YSRTP) in Telangana without her brother’s backing.

Back then, Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy, an advisor to the Andhra government and a member of Jagan’s YSRCP, clarified that the chief minister was against the idea of a political party in neighbouring states.

Since then, speculation has been rife that the rift between the duo has only grown.

The ‘YSR commemoration meeting’ Thursday held significance as the 12th year is related to the Hindu water festival Pushkaralu, which occurs once in 12 years.

Experts say this was planned as YSR was known to be connected to water and took personal interest to revamp the state’s irrigation system.

They added that it was also held in Hyderabad in an attempt to leverage Sharmila’s political party in Telangana.

“I believe the meeting was organised to reignite memories of YSR for people in the Telangana region. Inviting YSR’s contemporaries is a statement Sharmila is trying to make about the support she has,” political observer Palwai Raghavendra Reddy said.

“The presence of invitees from Andhra-Rayalaseema regions might not help her greatly electorally but it is certainly good for optics.”
Sources said that mother Vijayamma, who holds an honorary position in Jagan’s YSRCP, was personally involved in sending out invitations. They added that invitations were sent to over 250 people, which included former civil servants, and political party leaders who once worked with YSR in the Congress.

A majority of YSR loyalists in the Congress party did not attend the meeting.
Sources in the Congress said the party had, both in Andhra and Telangana, issued a diktat directing leaders not to attend, saying the meeting was “politically motivated”.

Despite that, at least three Congress leaders attended, including former Rajya Sabha member KVP Ramachandra Rao.

YSRCP leaders, although a majority of them are based in Andhra Pradesh, voluntarily abstained from attending the meeting.

A senior government official, also a close aide to the Reddy family, told ThePrint on condition of anonymity, that he was also invited to the meeting but refrained from going following “orders from the top”.

“Most of the party leaders were in Andhra and all of them celebrated YSR’s legacy in their own constituencies — in mandals and villages. So, they were all busy there,” YSRCP MLA Abbaya Chowdary told ThePrint.

Y.S. Sharmila has always campaigned for brother Jagan — be it before the 2019 assembly elections when he won by a thumping victory or in 2012, when she managed to keep YSRCP active with a 3000-km padayatra after Jagan was jailed in connection with a disproportionate assets case.

She has, however, never been part of his government or the cabinet. But party insiders told ThePrint that she had asked for her rightful share in the form of a Rajya Sabha nomination, which her brother denied. They added that the chief minister is not keen on power sharing within the family.

Their political tussles have begun showing in their personal lives. Unlike every year, Sharmila did not visit her brother Jagan on Rakhi this time around. She instead wished him on social media platform Twitter, and tied Rakhis on a few of her party leaders.

Sharmila has also begun referring to herself as the “daughter of YSR” — right from her Twitter bio to her public meetings. On her father’s death anniversary Thursday, she tweeted that YSR always pushed her to win even if she was fighting alone.

Stuck in the rift between the siblings is Vijayamma, who is now visibly supporting Sharmila in her political venture. For long in the shadows of her husband and then son, Vijayamma has begun coming to the fore.

She attended Sharmila’s first public meeting in Khammam in April and also sought blessings for her daughter. She was also present at the YSRTP’s grand launch in Hyderabad on 8 July.
Speculation is now rife that Vijayamma, who has largely been inactive in Jagan’s YSRCP, might give up her position in the party to support Sharmila.
“For her, both her children are the same. She has perhaps now decided to support Sharmila,” a senior YSRCP leader said on the condition of anonymity.

“She stood by Jagan when it was necessary and now it is Sharmila’s turn. She cannot do that while holding a position in Jagan’s party. In fact, Jagan’s wife Y.S. Bharati (though officially not part of the party) has a better say in the YSRCP than the mother.” #KhabarLive #hydnews

‍Will ‍BJP Expose Ruling TRS Party Corruption In Telangana?

As a matter of fact, this time any political party will easily grab the power from ruling TRS party with gaining public confidence, solving the much awaited promises and assure the easy life without much hard work. All these BJP can provide in the state if the party becomes Secular and much transparent in terms of getting vote bank in Telangana.

https://youtu.be/W1ybKQKOsVU

Time is running out for the seven-year-long dictatorial rule of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.KCR has played with the lives of students who led the separate statehood movement. He became the CM by playing politics, not leading the movement.

In 2014, on the Floor of Assembly, he vowed to fill 1.07 lakh vacant posts in various departments. In 2017, he announced filling up of over 1.12 lakh posts and promised to issue notifications annually.

However, the number of vacancies in government departments has now piled up to 2.5 lakh. There are many vacant teaching and non-teaching posts in universities even as many government schools have been closed. There has been no instance of filling even one teacher post.

No efforts were made to fill Group-I, junior college, degree college teacher and university teachers posts. In fact, except in the police department, no other vacancy has been filled.The number of districts has been increased, but no effort was made to recruit people needed to administer the districts.

For the post of police constable, PhDs, and those who have done MTech have applied, indicating the desperation of the unemployed. The number of unemployed has shot past the 50 lakh mark if the number of applicants for various posts is any indication.

https://youtu.be/UqgXe-1HHUc

A glance at the Statistics and Programme Implementation Department’s periodic labour force survey statistics or state-wise unemployed data being maintained by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy reveals that the unemployment rate has reached 25 to 33 percent in Telangana. At many places, the unemployed are resorting to suicide.Is this the Bangaru Telangana promised by KCR?

It’s clear that KCR is victimising students who played a crucial role in the Telangana statehood movement.It’s clear that during the past seven years, those who benefited the most are his family members and those nursed by him.Corruption under the KCR regime has reached dizzy heights.

Thousands of crores of corruption is taking place in projects, contracts, construction of projects, sand quarrying, liquor sales and in almost every transaction but nobody raises a voice against KCR.For example, the Kaleswaram project, which was estimated to cost less than Rs 40,000 crore, has been revised to Rs 1.30 lakh-crore. Not surprisingly, the government is accused of swallowing the funds meant for migrant workers.

KCR has shown the door to many leaders – like Ale Narendra, Vijayashanti and now Eatala Rajender – who questioned his activities.His coterie consists of all those who play second fiddle to him. After coming to power for the second time, his ego has become inflated as he feels he cannot be challenged.

KCR went back on his promises like three acres of land to Dalits, construction of 7 lakh 2BHK houses, stipend for unemployed, waiver of crop loans, free KG-to-PG education and construction of a hospital in every constituency.

The Covid second wave exposed the shortcomings of the public health infrastructure. He is also accused of diverting BC, SC and ST Sub-Plan funds to other purposes. Besides misusing Central funds, KCR diverted the funds meant for infrastructure development projects to implement vote bank politics.

The government did not build new projects, but re-designed old ones and inflated the cost many times over to loot public money.KCR claimed credit for implementation of the free vaccination programme, five kg of rice to the migrant workers and old age pension. In fact, the Centre should be given credit for these programmes.

Buying votes by spending crores, bringing MLAs elected on other party tickets into the TRS fold, repressing those who question him are some of the skills nurtured by the CM.The debt burden of the State in 2014 was Rs 60,000 crore and has now risen to Rs 4 lakh-crore.

KCR promised to celebrate September 17 as Telangana Liberation Day, but failed to implement it. Moreover, KCR is in league with communal forces who are heirs to Razakars.

Against the Constitution, he provided 12 percent quota for Muslims. There is no check to the atrocities of the Majlis because of the appeasement politics being practised by KCR.

Majlis leader Asaduddin Owaisi, who opposed triple talaq, is supporting the atrocities perpetrated against women in Afghanistan saying that even more severe atrocities are being perpetrated against women in India.KCR joining hands with people like Owaisi, who wants to see Muslims confined to the Medieval Age to protect his interests, is atrocious.People are realising that the seven year rule of KCR exploited the state.

Cracks are now appearing in the fort of KCR.The people are witnessing the failures of KCR; his popularity graph is on the decline. People have realised that there is no congruence whatsoever between his sayings and doings.

That is why the Praja Sangrama Yatra by BJP Telangana president Bandi Sanjay has received overwhelming support. It shows the fall of KCR is imminent. #KhabarLive #hydnews 

‍Why ‍KCR Plans To Revive Much-Sought 'Federal Front' Plans?

Going by the size of the entourage and the ongoing churn in the opposition camp at the national level, it appears that Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) president and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, during his visit to Delhi on 2nd September, may tie up the loose ends of his Federal Front formation.Officially speaking, KCR is going to Delhi to lay the foundation stone for the construction of TRS office building in Delhi. The Centre had allotted 1,200 sq yards of land for TRS office at Vasanth Vihar in Delhi.

In the recent TRS state committee meeting, the party leadership had decided to go ahead with the construction of an impressive party office in Delhi. KCR will lay the foundation stone in the presence of TRS MLAs, MLCs, MPs and members of the State Executive Committee. According to CMO, the Chief Minister will leave for Delhi on 1st September and return to Hyderabad on 3rd September.

At the national level, former Union minister and Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee have initiated steps to unite 'anti -BJP forces' to fight with BJP in the next Lok Sabha elections. KCR perhaps thinks that the political atmosphere in the country is presently in favour of those whom he had previously  envisaged as part of his Federal Front: 'anti BJP' and 'anti Congress' forces. The image of BJP, notwithstanding the pull of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is fading. At the same time, the Congress, despite being a pan-India party, is not in a position to regain its lost ground by taking advantage of the present political situation.  

KCR is of the considered view that time is ripe to meet some political leaders at the national level who are against BJP and Congress on this occasion. KCR is also thinking of inviting some leaders to the function, but the problem is that the Delhi government has been strictly implementing Covid protocol with regard to any functions. Since it is not possible for KCR to gather all the leaders, he is also considering separate meetings with some of them to discuss the political agenda.

Sharad Pawar and Mamata Banerjee are in favour of the Congress party and want to form a front with anti-BJP parties, including Congress. But they don't want this front to be headed by Sonia Gandhi. KCR wants his Federal Front to comprise forces that are against BJP and Congress.

As for TS, TRS cannot join hands with the Congress because the grand old party is the main opposition in the state. 'Anti-BJP' parties like DMK, Janata Dal (Secular) of HD Deve Gowda, RJD of Tejaswi Yadav (Bihar) are also thinking that without the Congress it would not be possible to form a front at the national level against BJP.  Those parties have no problem with the Congress in their state-level politics, unlike the TRS in Telangana. Even Communist parties are in favour of having Congress in any front that may be formed ultimately to fight the BJP.  

Against this background, it remains to be seen which political leaders KCR would invite and how he would convince them to join his Federal Front at the national level. In fact, KCR has already discussed this issue with Mamata Banerjee, MK Stalin, Deve Gowda, Navin Patnaik, Hemanth Soren and others in the past.  They all are in favour of the Federal Front, though not minus Congress party.  In any case, KCR wants to be active in national politics ahead of the next Lok Sabha elections. #KhabarLive #hydnews

‍Is Telangana CM KCR Focussing On National Politics?

Will TRS supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao announce his decision to plunge into national politics on September 2? This is the topic which is being discussed in political circles. KCR will be visiting Delhi to lay the foundation stone for the new building of Telangana Bhavan in the national capital.

The entire Telangana cabinet, MPs, MLAs, MLCs and senior TRS leaders have been invited to attend the foundation stone laying function in Delhi. Sources said that the new party building would reflect the Telangana culture and traditions and the elevation will be similar to the Telangana Bhavan in Hyderabad.

Official sources said that the chief minister is planning to stay in New Delhi for two to three days and would try to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and some Union Ministers. The CM is keen to meet Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and explain the challenges faced in the utilisation of Krishna water after the Union government issued a gazette which accorded full powers to the Krishna and Godavari River Management Boards (KRMB and GRMB) in the management of the river waters.

Other issues which he may take up with other ministers relate to sanction of national highway projects and release of funds, approval of new airports, release of funds for the centrally-sponsored projects like AIIMS and railways.

The CM has asked the officials to prepare detailed reports to be submitted to the Union ministers. Efforts are on to get an appointment for one-on-one meeting with the PM, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

The possibility of informal meetings with some political party leaders is also not ruled out. #KhabarLive #hydnews

‍‍Why ‍'Political Bazaar' Getting 'Hot' In Telangana?

Telangana people are quite surprised upon heating up the political activities in the state for a by-election in Huzurabad to dominates the supremacy over one and other political parties poll-strategies and electioneering tactics.

As #KhabarLive analyzed the entire situation, reveal the political supermacy dominates the major political parties. Its still more than two years for Assembly elections in Telangana but the series of yatras, rallies and meetings by the political parties have created a poll-like atmosphere in the state.

A series of developments and hectic activity by all major political players has increased the political temperature in the state, where elections are due towards the end of 2023.

Opposition parties are vying with each other in targeting Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) for its failures even as Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao himself is leading the counter-attack from the ruling party by rolling out a slew of schemes.

With the by-election to the Huzurabad Assembly seat likely to be held soon, both the ruling and opposition parties are going all out to woo the voters. By announcing 'Dalit Bandhu' and an insurance scheme for weavers and by luring some top leaders of the Congress, BJP and TDP into its camp, the TRS is leaving no stone unturned to ensure a victory in Huzurabad.

The by-election has become a battle of prestige for the TRS as Eatala Rajender, who was dropped from the State Cabinet in May following allegations of land grabbing, will be contesting as the BJP candidate.

As Rajender had been winning the seat since 2009, the BJP is hoping to ride on his popularity in the constituency to deal a blow to the TRS ahead of the next Assembly polls. The leaders of the saffron party hope that a win in Huzurabad will boost its confidence to achieve the goal of coming to power in the country's youngest state.

The recent elevation of G. Kishan Reddy as an independent minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet has boosted the morale of the saffron party, which had set alarm bells ringing in the TRS camp by wresting the Dubbak Assembly seat and by putting up an impressive performance in the elections to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) last year.

While returning to his home state after his elevation, union minister for tourism and culture Kishan Reddy mounted a scathing attack on TRS by undertaking a Jana Ashirwada Yatra from August 19. He slammed KCR and his family, for what he called massive corruption and for pushing the state into a debt trap.

Kishan Reddy's three-day yatra covered 305 kilometres across eight Parliament segments and 17 Assembly constituencies including Huzurabad.

The BJP is looking to mount further pressure on the ruling party as its state chief Bandi Sanjay Kumar will be launching a 'Praja Sangrama Yatra' from August 24.

The party says the walkathon, to begin from Bhagyalakshmi Temple at Charminar, is aimed at making citizens aware of the 'corrupt and dictatorial' family rule of KCR.

Sanjay, who is also the MP from Karimnagar, said the main objective of his walkathon is to enthuse the people to protest against the TRS government as it has failed to justify the reasons for which the separate state was formed.

"We need to free Telangana Talli (mother Telangana) from this corrupt family regime which is not at all concerned with people's issues. We have to take the failures of the government to the people at every booth level and understand the people's concerns which would help during our manifesto preparation," he said.

During the yatra, the BJP leader also plans to receive representations from people about the unfulfilled promises of the TRS government and also the complaints about not receiving the benefits under various welfare schemes. The saffron party will forward these representations to the government.

The BJP's central leadership will be keenly following the walkathon, which is expected to set the tone for the Huzurabad bypoll and the next Assembly elections.

The success of Sanjay's yatra will be crucial for the party to bounce back after receiving a jolt in the recent by-election in Nagarjuna Sagar Assembly constituency and the Legislative Council polls from the graduates' constituencies. The saffron party lost the lone Legislative Council seat it was holding and had a disastrous performance in Nagarjuna Sagar, where its candidate forfeited the deposit.

A rejuvenated Congress party has also stepped up its activities. With A. Revanth Reddy taking over as the president of the party's state unit last month, it has become aggressive in taking up various issues and targeting the TRS government over what it called its unfulfilled promises and failures.

During the last few days, Revanth Reddy led two major public meetings as part of its Dalita Girijana Atma Gaurava Dandora (Movement for SC/ST self-respect). Through this statewide campaign, the party is trying to woo Dalits and tribals by highlighting how the TRS government neglected them during the last seven years.

The Congress is upbeat over the huge public response it received at its meetings at Indravelli in Adilabad district and at Raviryala on the outskirts of Hyderabad. It is now planning to organise a third public meeting in Gajwel, the constituency represented by KCR.

The Congress, like the BJP, is also targeting KCR for announcing 'Dalit Bandhu' only to garner the votes of Dalits in the Huzurabad bypoll. "After the by-election, KCR will again forget Dalits. Why is he not implementing Dalit Bandhu across the state, why only in Huzurabad," asked Revanth Reddy.

The TPCC chief also recalled that KCR did not fulfil his promises of installing a 125-feet Ambedkar statue in Hyderabad, three acres of land to each landless Dalit family, KG to PG free education and a job to every household.
Buoyed by the huge public response to its meetings, the state Congress leadership has decided to invite party leader Rahul Gandhi to a series of public meetings in the run up to the 2023 Assembly elections.

Rahul Gandhi is likely to address a public meeting in Warangal next month as part of Dalita Girijana Atma Gaurava Dandora. The party is planning the meet as a massive show of strength before the Huzurabad bypoll.

The Congress party has started the groundwork for the next Assembly polls. Manickam Tagore, AICC in-charge of Telangana, held a review meeting with party leaders in Nagarkurnool parliamentary constituency on August 20 and directed all party leaders and those who unsuccessfully contested the 2018 and 2019 polls to start working in their respective constituencies by meeting the people.

"Talk to voters, spend time with them, list their problems and find out what they have to say about the unfulfilled promises of the TRS and BJP governments in the state and at the Centre respectively," he said.
Claiming that the political situation in the state is turning in favour of the Congress, Revanth Reddy said the party is certain to win at least 72 of the 119 constituencies in the elections to the Assembly whenever they are held.

The newly formed YSR Telangana Party (YSRTP) led by Y S Sharmila has also launched its activities, adding to the political buzz in the state. The sister of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy is undertaking a fast every week over the issue of unemployment. After calling on the families of unemployed people who committed suicide, she sits on a day-long fast every Tuesday. She is demanding that the government fulfil its promise of filling all vacancies in various departments and providing jobs to all.

Three days ago she also staged a protest in Mulugu district over the issue of podu lands or the lands tilled by tribals. She accused KCR of cheating tribals by not fulfilling his earlier promise to resolve the podu lands issue. She assured her party's support to tribals, demanding that the government give them ownership right of podu lands.

Amid the stepped up activity by the opposition parties, Chief Minister KCR visited Huzurabad constituency on August 16, launched his ambitious scheme 'Dalit Bandhu' and addressed a huge public meeting. The scheme was launched on a pilot basis in Huzurabad and he promised that all Dalit families in the state will receive benefits under the scheme. Every Dalit family will get a Rs 10 lakh grant under the scheme to start a business of its choice, he said. Hitting back at his political rivals, KCR asked why their governments in the states or at the Centre never thought of designing a scheme to empower Dalits.

The politics over Dalits in the state took an interesting turn this month when former IPS officer R. S. Praveen Kumar joined the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Kumar, who held the rank of Additional Director General of Police, took voluntary retirement last month. The officer urged Dalits to become rulers and not slaves. He joined the BSP at a massive public meeting at Nalgonda on August 8. On Dalit Bandhu, he said that the scheme was a constitutional right and not anybody's charity.

He told KCR that the money he was spending on the scheme was what weaker sections had earned by tilling the land. "If you have any love for Dalits, spend your money on them," he said. #KhabarLive #hydnews

‍New Governor For Telangana Likely Yediyurappa To Take Charge Soon!

The most valid reports coming from Delhi sources are to be believed, Telangana is likely to get new Governor in a week or two in place of existing Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan.

According to these reports, Tamilisai, who has been holding additional responsibility of holding the gubernatorial post for Pondicherry, reportedly requested the Centre during her recent visit to New Delhi that she be relieved from Telangana.

Apparently, Tamilisai told the Centre that she would be more comfortable in Pondicherry, which is the neighbouring state of her native place Tamil Nadu. 
The Lieutenant Governor of Pondicherry, which is a state-cum-Union Territory, is more powerful than the Governor of any other state.

Right now, Tamilisai is spending more time in Pondicherry, where there is a coalition government comprising NR Congress and the BJP, is in place. 
The Centre is looking for a full time Lt Governor for Pondicherry and Tamilisai is lobbying for the same.

Sources said the Centre has agreed to Tamilisai’s request and is likely to appoint her as full-time Lt Governor of Pondicherry by August end or September first week. 

In that event, the Centre has to appoint a new Governor for Telangana.
According to sources, in all probability, the Centre might appoint former Karnataka chief minister B S Yediyurappa as the new Governor of Telangana. 

Yediyurappa recently stepped down as the chief minister of Karnataka to make way for Basavaraj Bommai.

At the time of relinquishing the chief minister post, the BJP high command reportedly assured to give a respectable post to Yediyurappa. 

“In all probability, he would be made the Governor of Telangana. Since it is a neighbouring state of Karnataka, Yediyurappa can still have a say in Karnataka politics, albeit indirectly,” sources said. #KhabarLive #hydnews

‍‍‍‍‍The Messiah Of Dalits, Crusader Praveen Kumar Vow To Change The Political Scenario In Telangana

The retired IPS officer Dr R S Praveen Kumar recently joined the Bahujan Samaj Party at a huge rally held at Nalgonda and vowed to bring Bahujan Rajyam (rule of the downtrodden) and a drastic change in  Telangana politics.

Praveen Kumar’s massive show of strength was promptly highlighted in the media. Especially, the Telugu media gave him a massive coverage on the front page with the headline quoting him that he would go to Pragathi Bhavan on an elephant (election symbol of BSP) after the next elections.

Having gained tremendous influence among the Dalits due to his Swaero Movement in the last nine years, Praveen Kumar will definitely be a threat to the mainstream parties – the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, the Congress and the BJP in the next elections.

However, it all depends on his future strategies.
The retired IPS officer’s entry into active politics in Telangana has triggered a debate in the media circles as to which party would be the most affected by the BSP.

What is needed for a person who sets a goal for himself to reach his own community people first and then expand his base among other sections of people? Is it mass base or intellectual attainments in the crucial subjects of equality and social justice?  
Is there any scope for a political novice to influence the electorate without depending on money and muscle power in the present electoral scenario?  These are some of the crucial questions that are at the back of the minds of different sections of people, be it elite and marginalized, following the plunge of former IPS officer R.S. Praveen Kumar on the political firmament of Telangana State.

His joining the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), headed by former UP Chief Minister Mayawati, has raised many eyebrows as this former civil servant has begun sailing with a party with Dalit base and ideology.

Of course, Praveen has been working for the development of students from marginalized sections of society. He has always preferred to work for the students of Residential Educational Institutions Society of Social Welfare Department rather than wearing police uniform and that too on his personal request to the Chief Ministers of successive governments, right from the days of the combined state of Andhra Pradesh.

Hailing from the backward Mahabubnagar district, Praveen entered IPS and devoted himself to the service of students who come from disadvantaged sections and successfully made them pursue their higher studies in prestigious and reputed educational institutional institutions across the country.  So, strong feelings of gratitude developed in the minds of lakhs of students(fondly called 'swaeros' - combination of 'sw' for social welfare and the word 'aero' from the Greek word for the sky).

His inaugural address at Nalgonda town on the occasion of his joining BSP is considered to be a throwback to NTR's 1985 rally in the same town from where NTR contested the Assembly elections for the first time, apart from two seats viz. Gudivada (Krishna district) and Hindupur (Anantapur district).  

The overwhelming response that Praveen Kumar got in his first ever address in Nalgonda suggests that he has a smooth ride ahead when it comes to his further political moves.

According to an analyst, Praveen Kumar might eat into the vote banks of all the three major parties and the TRS would have to face the biggest brunt.

Interestingly, there is also a discussion on the impact of Praveen Kumar on the prospects of YSR Telangana Party (YSRTP), a new regional party launched by Y S Sharmila, daughter of former chief minister of combined Andhra Pradesh Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy.

Analysts say Praveen Kumar’s entry would play a spoil sport with whatever little chances Sharmila party would have to make its presence felt in the next elections, because most of the voters Sharmila has been planning to attract might turn towards the BSP.

“Hitherto, there were some calculations that Sharmila’s party would have chances of winning half a dozen assembly seats, if not more, particularly in Khammam and Nalgonda districts.

But now, the chances are bleak for her as Praveen Kumar is focussing on polarising the SC, ST and BC voters in the state,” an analyst said.

If Sharmila has to sustain her party in the state, she has to adopt an aggressive approach, pool all her resources and come out with innovative strategies.
Otherwise, she would end up like what Jana Sena Party was in Andhra Pradesh in 2019 elections.

On the other hand, many officers from the All India Services have previously taken such a plunge into politics. But Most of them did so only after retirement. Former IPS officer PV Rangaiah Naidu entered politics shortly after his retirement and successfully contested from the Khammam Lok Sabha constituency, besides becoming a Union Minister in PV Narasimha Rao's cabinet in 1991. Another police officer and former director of CBI K.Vijayarama Rao also tried his luck in the Khairatabad Assembly seat, became victorious, and joined the Chandrababu Naidu's cabinet in 1999.

Some more leaders like Lakshminarayana (former JD, CBI), V. Dinesh Reddy (former DGP,  AP),  K.Ratna Prabha (former Chief Secretary, Karnataka) & K. Balakondaiah (former DIG,  AP)  unsuccessfully contested from Lok Sabha seats and decided to keep themselves away from active politics later.

Most civil servants enters politics through a party with a strong base and strong chances of capturing power so that they could get plum posts post elections. Praveen Kumar is different. The party he joined has no base in Telangana. It has no history of getting sizeable votes anywhere in the state, even in combined Andhra Pradesh. There have been only two occasions when BSP nominees got elected to Assembly. BSP candidate L. Raja  Rao  was elected to the Assembly from Visakhapat-nam district in the 2004  elections, largely due to his personal image.

Interestingly there were 10 registered parties in the 2004 Assembly elections. Two Congress leaders A.Indrakaran Reddy and Koneru Konappa got elected to the Assembly from Nirmal & Sirpur Kagaznagar respectively on BSP tickets, as they could not get tickets from their parent party. But they joined ruling TRS, in the name of merger, for better political prospects. Indrakaran is now Minister for Endowments in K.Chandrasekhar Rao's cabinet.

Praveen has a tough agenda. He will find it difficult to keep the SCs united. Everybody knows that the issue of categorisation of quota for SCs has created a wedge in sub-castes of SCs.

There is a strong link between categorisation of quota for SCs and upper castes ' plans of thwarting efforts for unity among them.

Former BSP late chief Kanshi Ram had visited AP and concentrated on the elections 1994. As per his assessment then, BSP would be the deciding factor in 100 Assembly seats and would get a considerable number of seats.

Yet, BSP failed to registered its presence in AP. Noted Dalit leader who fought for justice for the deceased in 'Karamchedu massacre' Katti Padma Rao was the only BSP nominee who got his deposit in the Bapatla Assembly seat by securing 21,000 votes.

The issue of categorisation of quota for SCs was kept alive. Every political party in Andhra Pradesh backed categorisation. Principal political parties like TDP and Congress were left with no option but to woo the members of Mala sub caste of SCs who oppose categorisation.  

Chandrababu had to propose a leader from Mala community GMC Balayogi as nominee for the post of Lok Sabha Speaker in 1998. The largest beneficiary of categorization, Madiga caste, did not hesitate to fume at Mala community for opposing the issue.

The Chandrababu government organised recruitment drives as per the new categorisation that provided government jobs for a large number of applicants from the Madiga community that has become heartburn for the opposing community. In this way, the wedge between the two principal castes of the Scheduled Castes widened and this 'divide and rule policy ' came in handy for political parties dominated by upper castes to exercise control over SCs.

Transforming whole sections SCs into an organised force is going to be an uphill task for Praveen Kumar. Since the Madiga community is predominant in Telangana State, it is simply not possible for him to bring the two castes together.
Praveen may be pressurized to field party nominee in the forthcoming Huzurabad bypolls, though BSP has no strength there.

Preparing the party for the big electoral battle of 2023 may be an ideal programme for Praveen. A lot of money will be required for electoral battle and maintenance of a statewide organization.

People will be curious to see how he gets heaps of currency bundles without getting patronage of corporate giants! Only time will tell whether he will be a calf among lions (TRS, Congress & BJP) or a mighty 'elephant' among the same! #KhabarLive #hydnews

‍Why Telangana Politics Revolves Around Dalits?

The Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has announced a Dalit Bandhu scheme that promises Rs 10 lakh in cash to each SC family. 

There’s a sudden shift in Telangana’s politics, ahead of a crucial bypoll, with the focus now on the “empowerment” of the Dalit community in the state.  
 
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, or KCR as he is known, set the tone in late June when he announced a ‘Dalit Bandhu (empowerment)’ scheme, in which he promised Rs 10 lakh through direct bank transfer to every Scheduled Caste family in the state. The money, according to the scheme, was to help with entrepreneurship within the community. 

The scheme was to be launched on 16 August at Huzurabad, which is up for a bypoll, but after the chief minister faced flak from the opposition, it was unveiled at Vasalamarri village in Yadadri district on 4 August.  

The state government Monday, however, issued orders to implement the scheme in Huzurabad and released Rs 500 crore for it. This, even as the notification for the bypoll is still awaited.

The Congress, which has slammed the chief minister’s scheme as an election stunt, Monday launched a month-long Dalit-Adivasi Dandora (drive). Rahul Gandhi is expected to take part in the event sometime in September. 

Congress leader Dasoju Sravan told #KhabarLive that the drive is meant to “empower” Dalits and Adivasis and make them aware of their land rights, which he alleged was being ignored by the government. 

“Today the chief minister suddenly wants to become the messiah of Dalits. Why were earlier promises not kept? Why did he not use the funds allocated under SC/ST sub-plan for the community and instead diverted them for his magnum projects like Kaleshwaram (irrigation project)?” Sravan alleged.

“Also, no more than one lakh of the nine lakh applications received by the SC Finance Corporation in the last seven years have been cleared. Does he have a timeframe on when ideally would he be able to give Dalit Bandhu to all families in the state?”

In keeping with the trend, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which has no presence in the state, received a fillip Sunday, when former IPS officer R.S. Praveen Kumar, who played an instrumental role in revamping Telangana’s social welfare residential educational institutions during his tenure, joined the party. The BSP event at Nalgonda, to mark Kumar’s induction, reportedly saw the participation of around 2 lakh people.

‘BJP pressure pushing CM’

While the BJP has not really announced any major plans for Dalits in the state, its Huzurabad candidate is Eatala Rajender, the ousted minister of the KCR cabinet and a one-time close aide of the chief minister. 

Rajender, the former Huzurabad MLA, hails from a Backward Caste (BC) and has been reportedly touching the feet of those from the Dalit community as part of his campaign.  

Experts told #KhabarLive that Rajender is one of the prime reasons for KCR’s Dalit outreach. They added that certain sections of the BC vote may rally behind the former minister, seen as a strong leader in the community.
Apart from Rajender, the BJP has other prominent BC leaders in Nizamabad MP Dharmapuri Arvind and its state unit president Bandi Sanjay, one of KCR’s most vocal critics.

“All the parties, including the chief minister, are preparing for the 2023 elections. The BC and SC/ST population together easily make up 50 per cent of the state’s population,” Prof. Gali Vinod Kumar of Osmania University told #KhabarLive.

“The BJP has been trying to woo the BC community for a long time now and traditionally Dalits are a Congress vote-bank,” he added. “With Revanth Reddy’s rise as new PCC chief, they (Dalits) may look to the party for hope. So for the CM, the Dalit vote-bank is crucial, and he is trying to woo them.” 

According to senior political analyst Telakapalli Ravi, KCR’s Dalit scheme is a “masterstroke”, to which the other parties have to respond. He, however, added that the move is also because of KCR’s fear that the BCs may rally behind Rajender.

“There are a lot of unkept promises from the chief minister’s side, coupled with his fear of a split in the BC vote. So, this is a move to safeguard the Dalit vote-bank,” Ravi said. “Not just Huzurabad, this is a step for the next elections in the state. After all, Dalits are easily 17 per cent of the population.” 
Ravi also pointed out that KCR has a history of rolling out schemes before elections. 

“Before every election, KCR doles out schemes for different communities. There are schemes for BCs and the shepherd community among others. So, this is like one of his pre-poll promises,” Ravi added. “But this time, he has doled out such a large scheme that nobody thought of. The maximum that the opposition can question now is the timing of the scheme, not the scheme as such. That would work against them. At the end of the day it is a welfare scheme, isn’t it?” 

KCR’s Dalit outreach

KCR’s Dalit Bandhu scheme promises to bring ‘qualitative change’ in the community and will be extended to 100 families in each of the state’s 119 constituencies in the first phase. 

The government has estimated that at least 13 lakh SC families would be eligible for the Dalit Bandhu scheme. Dalits make up 17 per cent of the state’s total voting population.

The state government has reportedly started a survey to identify beneficiaries. Government teams have been asked to collect sub-caste details, educational and employment details of families.  

The KCR government has set aside a budget of Rs 1,200 crore. In fact, the chief minister has also said that he is ready to spend Rs 1 lakh crore to implement the scheme. The figure is roughly 50 per cent of the state’s annual budget. 

The chief minister, who faces criticism of being an autocrat, and even being inaccessible to his own ministers, had in June called for an all-party meeting for the first time since he took over in the state, following which the decision was taken. 

But this isn’t the first time that KCR has looked to woo the state’s Dalits. In the run-up to the 2014 assembly elections, he had promised to appoint a member of the Dalit community as the chief minister if his Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) was voted to power.

The chief minister, at the time of the Telangana agitation, also promised three acres of land to each Dalit family. He launched the land distribution programme amid much fanfare in 2014 but according to data of 2019, the last available, a mere 6,000 of the 3.3 lakh beneficiaries have benefitted.  

While his latest Dalit Bandhu scheme has also drawn flak from the opposition, KCR has responded to the criticism, saying his party is not a monastery and neither were his party-men living as monks in the Himalayas. #KhabarLive #hydnews

‍Telugu States May Not Sail With Congress In National Politics Against Ruling BJP

It is evident that ruling TRS in Telangana and ruling YSRCP in Andhra Pradesh are not interested to support Congress-led front managed by multiple parties against ruling BJP to act as a united front to combat in national politics.

Although West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee may be having a lot of hopes that the Telangana Rashtra Samiti and the YSR Congress would join the proposed front to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party in the next General Election, it appears that the ruling parties in the Telugu states, which follow separate routes in national politics, may prefer to maintain equidistance from the saffron party and the grand old party.

During the previous Lok Sabha elections, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao did make efforts to form a Federal Front against the BJP and the Congress. Now Mamata Banerjee has initiated steps to form a front against the BJP. The other day Didi, as Mamata Banerjee is endearingly called, told the media that Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy was like her brother and that she would speak to him about the need for him to join the front proposed against the BJP.

Since Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had met Mamata Banerjee twice and discussed the formation of the Federal Front, Didi has high hopes on KCR joining the front. But the main problem for both YSRCP and TRS is that the Congress is likely to have a role in the front.

In Telangana, Congress is the main opposition party. In Andhra Pradesh, the YSR Congress will never join hands with the Congress at any cost. For, it believes that the erstwhile Congress-led government had harassed YS Jagan by foisting cases and colluding with TDP, and sent him to jail also.

A senior YSR Congress leader close to YS Jagan said:"The Congress resorted to character assassination of YS Jagan with false cases and sent him to jail also. How can one expect that YSR Congress will support the Congress in national politics?" He said that YSR Congress will support Congress should Congress chief Sonia Gandhi accept that, when the Congress was in power at Centre, it registered false cases against YS Jagan by colluding with TDP to harass him.  

Besides, Sonia Gandhi should tender unconditional apology to YS Jagan openly. The YSR Congress leader said if Sonia Gandhi accepted these conditions, then YSR Congress would support the front in which Congress has a role.  

As for Telangana, KCR also may not support the front with Congress. Because TRS has to fight with the Congress in the state and joining hands with the same party at Centre was not possible, said a TRS leader.  

At present, TRS and YSR Congress are openly saying that they have been maintaining equal distance from BJP and Congress at the national level. Both the parties are, however, extending indirect support to the Centre whenever it needs. The national BJP leadership is also confident that YSR Congress and TRS will not support the Congress to form a government at Centre.

In this backdrop, Didi will have a tough time stitching up a front that has the ruling parties in Telugu states on board. #KhabarLive #hydnews 

Indian Squad's Passion, Patriotism, Hope And Desperation In Tokyo Olympics 2021

This is not a dampener. This is a reality check. While passion, patriotism, hope and desperation jostled for space on the Indian air waves one week into the Tokyo Olympics 2020, the air was also hanging heavy with a rather familiar déjà vu feeling about the whole exercise being largely a case of much ado about nothing yet again.

Late on a humid Friday evening at the Olympics, world champion Sifan Hassan, representing the Netherlands, appeared to be out of contention and altogether disinterested as she started and remained at the back of the field for the first half of the 5000m women’s heat in the track and field events. But a very subtle gear shift almost went unnoticed past the 2500m mark as she slowly made her way up midfield before appearing resigned to settle for seventh place until the penultimate lap.

On the seventh and final lap though, while her Kenyan and Ethiopian counterparts held steady ground at the front, Hassan quietly made her pitch for first and the finish line in such sublime fashion that they could only look on shocked, disgusted and most importantly, exhausted, as she gracefully moved past them and then into a league of her own.

Hassan, it turned out, had quietly executed a very stealthy and rather deceptive plan, building steadily and sure footedly, slowly at first and then with consistency, pushing past when it was time. This was only the first heat as she is expected to take part across three events.

As exhilarating as it was to watch, it was not easy to shake off the lingering feeling that India were continuing to miss a beat.

After all, what happened to the P.T. Usha’s of the country? What has happened to the next great hope? Where is the build up, the foundation, the steadiness, the consistency and the core, and the bench strength? The ceiling barriers are yet to be broken, once and for all and comprehensively at that as far as India at the Olympics are concerned.

This is not a dampener. This is a reality check.

When USA lost one of the world’s greatest gymnasts in Simone Biles at the last minute in the all round team gymnastics event, they found a new champion in Suni Lee who claimed gold in the individual event to add to USA’s prowess as the fifth successive champion to take the gold at the Olympics. Great Britain were rewarded for staying with Tom Daley and his ten year Olympics history of medals finally yielding him a gold in the 10m platform men’s synchronized diving. Michael Phelps’s Olympics record is being challenged as is Mark Spritz’, unbelievably so, by Caeleb Dressler in the swimming events.

One could not help but cut back to the picture earlier in the morning as Hassan silently disappeared into the background as did Dutee from Indian minds.

At the fifth heat of the women’s 100m, a relatively diminutive woman lined up at the very end in lane 9. More exalted champions such as Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce took their place in the middle. The commentator on air did not even bother to go to the end of the field to introduce the athletes and Dutee Chand remained largely incognito, finishing a rather lacklustre seventh in an eight women race and much behind her national record time. Finishing 45 out of 54 participants reminded one of the shoddy affair that passed for sports events at many a school.

Still Chand was at the Olympics. Getting here was a Herculean effort and could not draw comparison. But that summed up India’s campaign in a nutshell.

Getting here is everything and then being here is automatically translated to medal hope in the minds of a billion. Never mind the mental challenge of watching athletes around the world show up with a larger support staff and a more rounded practice and facilities behind them. Hurdles are often overlooked in the public eye.

After all, while the likes of Anurag Thakur and Kiran Rijuju can sing laurels of our athletes when they make progress, it could be argued that like India’s lamentably bleak Olympics history, much of India’s untapped sporting talent continues to remain hidden.

It can also explain the almost monotonous voice in which the electronic media were already talking medal even as family members of P.V. Sindhu and Lovlina Borgohain encouraged cautious optimism. “Going for gold” screamed the headlines even though both women were still only into the semi finals in their respective disciplines of boxing and badminton respectively and had to still get past one more opponent to throw the final gauntlet for gold.

Once over the euphoria on a rather quiet, less newsworthy Friday where the farmers protest and the opposition took a backseat, the overwhelming feeling returned once more at the end of another epic day at the Tokyo Olympics that it was better to read the list of who had made the leap ahead rather than read out the long list of Indian athletes who didn’t.

Why are India’s medal hopefuls over hyped before the Olympics and then reduced to less than a handful midway through the two week celebration of sport only for India to be able to count on one hand the number of medals returning home? What is wrong with this picture?

Consider the déjà vu. There lies the answer.

Consider this for comparison.

A billion plus strong nation and 128 athletes represent India. Australia boasts a train of over 450 athletes at the Tokyo Olympics and only has a population that is about 25 million. Yet Australia are sitting pretty at no.6 behind the Russian Olympics Committee with nine gold medals to their name against the leader China who have now leaped over Japan with eighteen gold medals. Australia have 22 medals by the end of a hot and muggy night at the Olympics. India, still just the one.

Missing the top spot in the headlines were the archery duo of Deepika Kumari and Atanu Das who were holding their respective ground in the women’s individual archery event and men’s recursive individual archery, heading into the quarterfinals. While their efforts are commendable, they still represent a tiny fraction of India’s athletes who made it to the Olympics which is a great feat in itself but also, an even more miniscule percentage of the population, which is blasphemous to say the least.

Women’s hockey also provided some hope and as rightly pointed out, a semi final place is a great place to be in a ten year development. The emphasis has to be on development.

On a day when the likes of P.V. Sindhu were being hailed, there was an out-of-touch-with-reality moment when actor R. Madhavan posted this reply to a picture of the Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Mirabai Chanu having food on the floor of her humble home back in Manipur:

“Hey this cannot be true. I am at a complete loss of words.”

Why, Madhavan? First of all, it has to be pointed out, there is nothing wrong with having one’s lunch on the floor. To put things in context here though, he should know better the plight of Indian sportspersons given that he has played a coach to one in one of his movies.

It certainly puts playing for honour and pride of the country in perspective. That is a school of thought that has been given much lip service but not much credence in the wake of introduction of a sporting culture such as the Indian Premier League.

But it highlights not just the humble conditions from which these sportspersons come from but also, of the great demands on them, sometimes on their own two legs and on their meagre resources to get as far as they do. Showering laurels when medals are won is easy. In that sense, walking that opening ceremony in Tokyo was already a dream too high but achieved. But what about those who made it on their own merit and great hard work but didn’t get far, like Dutee?

Often this is not a rags-to-riches story for many of these sports persons who achieve elite Olympics medal levels. Promises made to them – not incentives but rewards after they hit the spotlight – are not kept. Homes are denied, jobs going a-begging, their talent, experience and wisdom untapped as the governments fail to use their success as a slipstream to build a steady stream of athletes inspired in the wake of their accomplishments.

Then four years later, it appears the names once again come out of the woodworks, the politicians bring out their patriotic Indian montages and the fans their tricolour and march alongside the sportspersons to unrealistic dreams and expectations.

The dismay is obvious.

The handful of aspiring shooters have had enough turmoil on the results board and back in the dressing room with enough ruffles over rifts between shooters and coaches. Manu Bhaker, who was expected to be the flag bearer in the end leading the medals tally, had a run in with her coach, Jaspal Rana, and thereafter with a rare malfunctioning pistol that hurt her chances in the 10m air pistol qualification event.

As news headlines kept screaming… “so-and-so crashes out,” “so-and-so crashes out”, and “so-and-so crashes out”, once again it highlighted the great disparity of how sports like cricket are given deliberate vantage point and therefore, focus, while it is hard even for seasoned journalists to extrapolate on the goings-on back in Tokyo simply because they have been fed and raised on a consumption of mainly one sport and also, then forced into specialized fields that earn their employers and themselves bread-and-butter. This is simply a fact of life, which some journalists have been candid and also, brave enough to admit openly.

One had to go deeper and read in order to learn why the nineteen year old Bhaker “crashed out” (visuals were not made available at the time). Not mentioned were her still impressive scores while she lost time while her pistol was being repaired as opposed to replaced with a spare because of the time it would take to make adjustments.

While the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) stated that India’s performance at the Tokyo Olympics was “inexplicable” and the sports authority talking about an overhaul, what is not easily forgiven is the repeated manner in which sportspersons find themselves in needless tangles, whether off the field like Mary Kom is in her final Olympics showdown, calling out the IOC over unfair judging, or the “usual suspects” (for want of a better term) of the likes of Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza calling foul of the AITA over selection muddles and confusion.

Where is the next generation? And where is the accountability? Where is the quiet pacing from the back of the field to make track steadily and then to take the finish line?

To think India lacks talent is appalling given that despite this sudden euphoria that comes out of the closets every four years – from the government and sports aficionados alike – India, despite its vast wealth, has very little infrastructure to show why there is no great grassroot level at which India’s budding talent is given ground on which to train.

Budget reels every February rarely do the untapped and underprivileged talent in the country little justice, leaving sports on the backburner. Between politics, nepotism and corruption, even existing infrastructure is elusive to these athletes in their four year long training that demands endurance and commitment of an extraordinary nature. The Olympics highlights this fact amply.

It is not enough that somehow, Dutee Chand is India’s only athlete in the track and field with hope and even she finishes at the end of the tail. While India’s hopes now rest on Sindhu and Lovlina and on the archers to wipe out the dim spotlight over the coming weekend, something is wrong with this picture and has been for a very long time. #KhabarLive

Coronavirus Given Indian ‘Foodies’ Chance To Become Genuine ‘Food Lovers’

By Ahssanuddin Haseeb

The pandemic has bared the vulnerability of our food sources. This is one of our best shots to hit reset on what and how we eat.

Food is our most frequently indulged pleasure. Yet what’s on the plate goes beyond taste and texture. It’s about politics and culture. It’s about supply chains and climate change. It’s about nutrition and health outcomes. It’s about the working conditions and living standards of farmers. Sure, it’s about trendy pop-ups and exciting food trucks. But it’s also about crop-destroying cyclones and locust swarms.

#OpEd: Appropriation Bill Imbroglio In Andhra Pradesh A Blow To Polity

By Dr. Shelly Ahmed

The Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, while commenting on the performance of duties, had once said, "The true source of right is a duty. If we all discharge our duties, rights will not be far to seek. If leaving duties unperformed, we run after rights, they will escape us like will­o'-the­wisp, the more we pursue them, the farther they will fly."

The imbroglio in the AP Legislative Council over the passing of the Appropriation Bill leading to sine die adjournment without even introduction of the Bill comes as a body blow to our polity. Does any government or its Opposition, for that matter, have a right to stretch its political agenda to such an extent that it buries its duty towards the citizens' fathoms deep?

How Akhila became Hadiya – and why her case has reached the Supreme Court?

A young woman adopted Islam, defying her Hindu family. The case has roiled Kerala.

It is called Devi Krupa – the blessings of the goddess. But inside the modest single-storeyed house in TV Puram village in Kerala’s Kottayam district, a young woman has been confined against her wishes, on the orders of Kerala High Court. Outside the house, six policemen stand guard round-the-clock.

Oppressive personal laws aren’t the only thing standing between Muslim women and happy lives

The nation cannot swoop in to save the Muslim woman while Muslim communities are simultaneously being brought to their knees.

I am glad it is over. I refer to talaq-e-bidat, the practice of Muslim men uttering talaq, talaq, talaq in a single setting to instantly divorce their wives, which rightfully belonged in a trash can, but also to the television nation’s delirious excitement at having “saved Muslim women”.

The Centre's 'City Liveability Index' Is Set To Become A Major Tracker Of Urban Indian Life

News that no Indian city made it anywhere close to the top of the latest list of most liveable cities in the world gets routinely buried in the inside pages of most newspapers. On the Internet too, such news does not figure high on the home pages of search engines, a sure way for the report getting buried somewhere deep in the cyber abyss.