Counting Castes; Deficit Monsoon; Meandering Maldives
Bihar CM Nitish Kumar; Monsoon rains; Mohammad Muizzu
Opinion Watch
Counting Castes
Bihar’s caste data has invited contrasting tones of Editorials of national dailies with common interpretation that it risks deepening social faultlines. The Indian Express welcomed the outcome, arguing that the data would help the government undertake reality check on the efficacy of the social justice plank in governance. The Times of India in its ‘Data Anarchy’ headlined Editorial took a critical view of the caste survey underlining that the population of Bihar jumped from 104 million in 2011 to 130 million now, while stressing the urgency for Census 2021 to be taken up. The daily termed the release of the data unfortunate as the Supreme Court is yet to dispose of the challenge.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has said that the caste headcounts was meant to provide the actual socio-economic status of the people. But the state government has not released the accompanying economic data even while there is a sharp rise in population. Also, the overriding motif remains evidently to infuse life in Mandal politics.
Deficit Monsoon
For the first time since 2018, the monsoon has been deficit, stated The Hindu in its Editorial, noting that rains were six per cent lower, from 89 cm to 86 cm. The Chennai-based daily also stated that nine per cent of the country saw excess rainfall, while there was deficit for 18 per cent. While the daily quoted the IMD’s prediction of normal North-east Monsoon (October-December), it spotlighted acute water stress in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Bihar, and other parts of the country.
El Nino impact was expected on Monsoon this year, while evidently the rains are defying the past trends. With Climate Change now being a reality, the state governments must accord top priority to build assets to conserve water and also free the encroached water bodies.
Meandering Maldives
Less than three lakh voters decide the political fate of Maldives, while the leadership alternates with expressed proximity to India and China. The Asian Age in its Editorial has noted that a pro-China leadership, Mohammad Muizzu of the Opposition and an aide of jailed Abdulla Yameen, has won the presidential election, trouncing the ‘India First’ incumbent President Ibrahim Mohammed Solih. The New Delhi-based daily has warned that Maldives risk falling prey to China’s debt trap, urging New Delhi to deal with the challenge of this swing from one bloc to another in Male.
India is massively invested in the Indian Ocean archipelago in building infrastructure, training of bureaucracy, hospitals, and several other people’s assets. India’s bond with the people of Maldives should steady New Delhi’s interests in Maldives.
About The Author
