Debating Democracy: Studying Stress; Rate Rise
Opinion Watch
Debating Democracy
The Telegraph in its Editorial has examined the issue of the political parties evading the public scrutiny through the Right to Information Act (RTI) in the backdrop of a few petitions now coming before the Supreme Court to press for the inclusion of political outfits in the ambit of information transparency. The Kolkata-based daily recalled that the three-bench information commissioners had in the past declared six political parties as public authorities and thus liable to be in the ambit of the RTI. But the decision was overturned by the government afterwards.
Political parties seek public funds and resources, including land, for functioning, and, thus, they must submit to the highest level of the public scrutiny, and they can certainly not operate as family-owned business units
Studying Stress
The Tribune in its Editorial has dwelt upon the issue of the rising incidents of the students dying by suicide on campuses. The Chandigarh-based daily stated that 69 students died by suicide in the past five years in premier institutes such as IITs (31 deaths), NITs (22), AIIMS (13) and IIMs (3), as per data presented in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. It also stated that 37 were from the reserved categories and 32 from the general category, arguing that caste-based discrimination as a factor for the suicides is only partially true. It added that 8,319 students did not complete their courses in the IITs, 5,623 opted out of NITs from 2018 to 2022.
The rising study stress has been an established trend, and Kota, the coaching hub, has been reporting suicidal incidents on a regular basis. It goes without saying that a sound building needs strong foundation, and the neglect of the primary and secondary education by the government is a cause of concern.
Rate Rise
The Economic Times in its Editorial has culled out positives out of the US Federal Reserve hiking the interest rate once gain by 25 basis points, arguing that the rate differential between India (6.5 per cent) and the US (5.5 per cent) may augur well for the exports, currency stability, as well as fund flows. The daily has also spotlighted the resilient US economy, while arguing that the RBI should stick with the pause button.
Commentators concur that the high interest rate regime is here to stay, at least for another two years, and the government must make ways for expeditious public spending to revive investment in the economy.
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