Communal Violence Bill is ill conceived and poorly drafted: Narendra Modi

Gujarat, December 5, 2013: The Chief Minister of Gujarat Narendra Modi has expressed his strong opposition to the proposed Prevention of Communal Violence (Access to Justice and Reparations) Bill, 2013. In a letter to the Honourable Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh, Modi described the bill as being ill-conceived and poorly drafted and a recipe for disaster. He described the bill as an attempt to encroach upon the authorities of the state governments and sought wider consultation among the various stakeholders such as the state governments, political parties, police and security agencies etc. before any further movement on the issue. Narendra Modi said that as a Chief Minister of a Government that is sensitive to the issue of communal violence and a state that has been riot free for over a decade now, he agrees that there is a need to be vigilant on communal violence but the contents and timing of the bill are suspicious. He questioned the hurry of the Centre to introduce the bill in the Parliament, saying that such an attempt before the Lok Sabha elections is suspicious and is driven by vote bank politics rather than genuine concern for preventing communal violence.

In his letter to the Prime Minister, the Gujarat Chief Minister brought out the various operational issues in the proposed Prevention of Communal Violence (Access to Justice and Reparations) Bill, 2013. He shared various shortcomings in the individual sections of the proposed Bill.

Strongly opposing the move to make public servants, police and security agencies criminally liable, Shri Modi has warned that such a move can adversely impact the morale of our law and order enforcement agencies. It may also make them vulnerable to political victimization.

On Section 10B (breach of command responsibility) that penalizes a public servant for the failure of his subordinates, Shri Modi wrote that this provision is absurd as it tries to deal with incompetence by trying to criminalize it. Saying that such issues need structural responses he criticized the tendency to find legislative solutions to all problems.

He expressed his strong concern that the proposed legislation would further divide Indian society on religious and linguistic lines, saying that religious and linguistic identities would become more reinforced and even ordinary incidents of violence would be given a communal colour thus giving the opposite result of what the Bill intends to achieve. The Gujarat Chief Minister categorically maintained that this is an issue under the State List and that if it is something that would have to be implemented by the State Government then it should be legislated by the State Government. He added that if there is something the Centre wishes to share it is free to prepare a “Model Bill” and circulate it among the various State Governments for their consideration.

Narendra Modi recalled the Chief Ministers’ Conference on Internal Security where he had raised, among other things how certain individuals having links with anti-national elements have penetrated into bodies such as the Planning Commission, National Advisory Council etc. and that these are the same individuals who may have drafted this new bill on Communal Violence. He also expressed his concern that the law making powers of an elected government may have been usurped by extra-constitutional authorities like the NAC.

On the proposal to bring the NHRC and the SHRC into the process of exercising powers that are vested in the executive wing of an elected government, Modi felt that these bodies are already empowered under the existing statute to deal with serious human rights violations during incidents of communal violence. 

While welcoming the establishment of a Communal Violence Reparation Fund, Shri Modi termed the use of the word compensation as arguable, saying that government should leave the issues of compensation to the competent courts and should instead provide ex-gratia relief/assistance to provide immediate relief and succor to the victims. He opined the introduction of compensation for “moral injury” under the Bill as strange and one that does not take into account implement ability.

Hunger among 9,000 Children every day in Mumbai

Mumbai: One of the studies revealed that more than 37,000 children live on the streets of Mumbai and a startling 25 per cent of them (more than 9000) go hungry every day.

The census, done by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences and Action Aid, shows that 15 per cent of street children have some form of addiction and 18 per cent of them suffer from some form of illness. It also says that two out of five street children face verbal, physical and sexual abuse.

"It is an indicator of a larger malaise that is we are not really practicing the policy of inclusive growth that we keep talking about," said Vijay Raghavan, Professor for Criminology and Justice at Tata Institute of Social Sciences.

The census was conducted across the 26 municipal wards in the city. The data was collected between November 2012 and February 2013. It was done in the shortest possible time to negate chances of children being counted more than once. The census recommends integrating street children into government programmes. "It will help the government in formulating policy so that various programmes and aid which is given will reach these street children," said Justice V M Kanade, a judge at the Bombay High Court.
It is highly recommended by the census to set up anganwadis where the street children are found more. It also asks for setting up of a task force to rescue and rehabilitate children and provide alternative housing to families living at perilous locations.

The Maharashtra government says it will consider taking policy decisions on the recommendations. "We will discuss it with them and sort the issue out by taking a policy decision," said Women and Child Development Minister Varsha Gaikwad.

Subrata Roy’s Absolute Smash

Kolkata, November 29, 2013: ‘Saharasri’ Subrata Roy called up a grand press conference on 29^th November, 2013 at P.C. Chandra Garden, Kolkata. Mr Roy landed up in Kolkata on 26^th November, 2013 with a grand welcome by his employees followed by grand events during two consecutive days in Kolkata. There has been a tremendous allegation against the Sahara Group in the market and also there are incorrect standpoints of the Sahara India according to the organisation. In this mega press conference, Subrata Roy is being placed before everybody in its exact & accurate perspective. It was in the purview of the Mr Roy that certain sections of the media have presented certain improper angle by quoting in bits & fragments, reversing the sense and creating it sound astonishing.

Mr Roy took it as his key responsibility towards all the populace presented there physically or virtually to disseminate his words precisely & exactly. A large crowd of media professionals were present there at the conference out of extreme inquisitiveness among them about the Sahara India Pariwar. The questions raised by the media people consisted of every genre like from politics to sports and of course his kingdom. He expressed that he is not at all happy with the processes of SEBI because of continuous obstructions and delays from them.

When Mr Roy has been asked that what would be his parameters or viewpoints to see the next PM of India, then firmly replied that the concerned person should be just right for the country and desire to have a PM ‘Jo kafan baandh le sir pe’, should not be bothered about the chair, should not bother about his party, instead they should bother about the country first. He is ready to welcome any such person from any party. Roy expressed that he is very emotional about the nation and ready to do for the wellbeing of the people and hope that every citizen of India has the same desire as he has. And regarding the choice of PM between Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi to him is like a fresher as he claimed that he has not seen either of them as a PM earlier.

Saharasri came out with a gift to the people regarding the recruitment of 48,000 employees in the coming years in Sahara and also revealed that sooner they are going to launch a Bengali News channel of Sahara. The new recruitment will be sooner posted to the job portals and employment newspapers and categories will be from executives & above. He has planned for several projects in West Bengal in the later years and wants to make this state like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh as he believes that these states are the fastest growing states of India at present.

Parenthetically, the managing worker of Sahara (Subrata Roy) has been asked deliberately that why he has only been victimised in the fraud investment case and henceforth he responded very jovially that when a person becomes very big in terms of wealth & property and famous, so it happens commonly.

Lastly he also stated that he is dissatisfied with the present BCCI President regarding his fake viewpoints. Thus he is going to withdraw the sponsorship of Sahara India from BCCI and also pointed that their contract with the board is going to expire on 31^st December, 2013, and Sahara Chairman is not going to reconsider it further.

The Managing Worker & Chairman of Sahara India take his employees as the part of his family and the size of this family is 11 lakhs (the number of operating employees). And Mr Roy doesn’t want any profit gainer in this organisation as well as doesn’t consider himself as the owner of Sahara India Pariwar.

Anti-Obesity Initiative with a Global Symbol by VLCC

Kolkata, November 26, 2013: VLCC has launched its largest Anti-Obesity initiative with a global symbol which is being simultaneously observed across 12 countries in Asia by urging people with weight-related issues to take the ‘Orange Pledge’. As we all know that 26^th of November is celebrated as the Anti-Obesity day worldwide, henceforth VLCC has created an easily identifiable symbol – the orange dot – to serve as a global mnemonic for Anti-Obesity and also a call for action to make people get out of their comfort zones and take charge for their health and wellbeing.

Anyone & everyone can sign up for the ‘Orange Pledge’ by knocking any VLCC Slimming, Beauty & Fitness Centre in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Malaysia, UAE, Bahrain, Oman and Qatar or online on www.orangepledge.com. Even the individuals and corporate groups are amiably invited to join the ‘Orange Pledge’ initiative.

Mrs Vandana Luthra, Founder & Mentor, VLCC in this public service campaign said, “Individuals can be responsible for their own well-being only when they have access to a healthy lifestyle. Our aim is to make people aware about the importance of developing wholesome eating habits, implementing a suitable exercise regime, and adopting healthy lifestyle choices. The ‘Orange Pledge’ is all about leading people towards a better quality of life. At VLCC, the core of our business is to transform lives by making fitness, beauty and health accessible to all sections of society and this initiative brings us a step forward in achieving this vision.” The WHO says that Overweight and Obesity are also on the rise in India. According to the WHO’s NCD Country Profiles 2011, 9.9% of Indian males and 12.2% of Indian women are overweight. The WHO says that 1.3% of Indian males and 2.4% of Indian women are obese.

In this upright initiative, the famous tabla player, composer and actor, Mr Bikram Ghosh has also marked his gracious presence. The ‘Orange Pledge’ initiative has sturdily pointed out its active points in combatting obesity across the globe. VLCC has already started steering its various health & wellness camps at different corporate workplaces throughout India. Not only this, the organisation has also managed to reach as many children in order to educate them regarding the prominence of keeping healthy and structured certain painting competitions among them based on the theme of healthy living. Awareness programmes on obesity are being conducted at joggers’ parks & various Resident Welfare Associations.

Even the people residing at slum areas of Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai, Hyderabad & Meerut are facing the glitches of obesity as 1/4^th population of women are suffering from obesity. Therefore, VLCC’s ‘Orange Pledge’ initiative hits each & every corner of the nation with its diverse segments of eradicating obesity.