Shining India; Deafening Silence; (Un)awarding Hindi
Opinion Watch
Shining India
With growth striking the high note of 7.2 per cent in 2022-23 fiscal (6.1 per cent in the March quarter), India stayed with the tag of the fastest growing economy in the world. The dailies have hailed the achievement of India, with The Economic Times underlining that the infrastructure developments may leave more tails for growth.
Yet, the business daily cautioned that the investments in the economy have seen least private participation, while exports have begun decelerating amid global slowdown. Also, the growth dividend should spread out with real wage growth. The silverline has been the agricultural growth of 5.5 per cent in the last quarter, and four per cent for 2022-23.
The pump priming of the economy with infrastructure is indeed taking place, as the government pushes for road and railway development. The Cabinet decision to ramp up warehousing may complement value addition in agriculture if the policy sees light of the day. Lack of wage and job growth in the economy should be cause of worry on aims of economists to gain over eight per cent GDP growth.
Deafening Silence
Several dailies have hauled the government over the coal for silence over the protests of the wrestlers, with The Indian Express asking the ruling dispensation to break the silence and The Asian Age calling for cessation of disrespecting women. The dailies have asked the government to take the opportunity offered by five-day window after the wrestlers were persuaded not to throw their medals in Ganga at Haridwar and respond to the allegations leveled by women Olympians of sexual harassment against the BJP MP Brijbhushan Sharan Singh.
The Indian Express struck a pleading tone in appealing Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while reminding his timely consolation to the losing women Hockey players in Tokyo Olympics. The Asian Age reminded that decades ago American boxer Cassius Clay had thrown his Olympic medal in the river Ohio in protest against racism, and thereafter the world knew the legend as Muhammed Ali.
Meenakshi Lekhi symbolized the Narendra Modi government’s response to wrestlers’ allegations and protest by jogging away from a rookie reporter’s questions over wrestlers’ protests.
Under POCSO, one rarely sees an accused walking around freely. Internationally, India is shamed by the government’s surrender of rule of law to the pulls of politics. By lending ears to conspiracy theories, the Modi government is surely wrong-footed in undermining the rule of law.
(Un)awarding Hindi
The Modi government is flayed for attempts to impose Hindi across the country, but ironically, opined The Telegraph, the same government has dropped two awards for writing in Hindi, which were in practice for several decades.
Ministry of Education, said the daily, has trashed an award for 19 Hindi writers, along with an award given since 1962 for non-fiction writing.
A parliamentary report had recently revealed that the government has sharply reduced research scholarships for science and technology, and now two awards for Hindi have gone. By scrapping the awards, the government may save Rs 20 lakh annually but falls victim to a sterile statecraft.
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