Farm laws & violence
The agitating farmers are adamant in their demands. They have held the ninth meeting with the Central government. But no solution was forthcoming. A meeting was held with the Central government on January 19. This meeting was considered very important in view of the suspension of the Agriculture Acts as directed by the Supreme Court. Now the farmers are demanding the direct intervention of the Prime Minister. The Supreme Court has constituted a committee to look into the matter. But no formula has emerged as yet. Leaders of the farmers' organization say that the ninth meeting with Union Ministers concerned also failed. The farmers are not willing to meet anyone except Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Meanwhile, the Kisan Morcha has spoken positively about the agitating farmers are adamant in their demands. They have held the ninth meeting with the Central government. But no solution was forthcoming. A meeting was held with the Centralvalidity of the three agricultural laws currently being passed by the Supreme Court. According to them, this law is historic.
According to them, the movement is based in Punjab and Haryana. Those who are leading or agitating for the movement are not at all aware of this agricultural law. There are a large number of farmers. According to the Kisan Morcha, the Agriculture Acts are aimed at improving the condition of the farmers in the country.
At this time, the violent removal of the National Flag by an agitating peasant in the name of the country's Republic Day movement is highly reprehensible. It is unjust to disregard the National Flag in this way. Farmers who engage in such activities should be arrested by the government and punished accordingly. We hope the Modi government will file a complaint against this.
Heramba Nath,
Kamrup.
Fuel prices
Petrol and diesel prices were hiked again on January 28 1, 2021. Fuel prices that vary from state to state depending on local sales tax or VAT are now record high. As such, we request the Assam Government to lessen fuel prices. Assam being a poor state, the VAT may be decreased. The poor people are badly affected by this steep hike in fuel prices. Prices of all other goods go up along with hike in fuel prices.
Putul Sarma,
Biswanath Chariali.
Restoring normal activities
The Union Home Ministry has issued fresh guidelines for surveillance, containment, and caution. The new guidelines will be effective from February 1, 2021, and to remain in force up to February 28, 2021. The prime focus of the guidelines is to consolidate the substantial gains that have been achieved against the spread of COVID-19 which is visible in the steady decline in the number of active and new cases in the country over the last four months. As per the guidelines, the social/ religious/sports/ entertainment/ educational/ cultural/ religious gatherings have already been permitted up to a maximum of per cent of the hall capacity, with a ceiling of 200 persons in closed spaces; and keeping with the size of the ground/ space in the view, in open spaces. Now such gatherings will be allowed subject to SOP of the State/ UT concerned. Cinema halls, theatres, and swimming pools have already been permitted. It is expected that the new instructions will help in restoring the economic and social activities of the country.
Amit Singh Kushwaha,
Satna (M.P.)
Small screen
under fire
Regulatory framework exists in the print media, with the Press Council of India serving as a watchdog. Television content is also monitored by a complicated ecosystem that accommodates both institutional and independent regulation. Surprisingly, digital media over the top platforms are turning out to be a popular and profitable segment. It is alleged that it has been given considerable leeway in the matter. Over the years, there has been very little regulatory intervention in this space. This, however, changed with the Central government issuing a notification in November last year, bringing digital and online media platforms under the aegis of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The Centre's intervention was based on a two-fold logic. Complaints about content dished out by digital services are not uncommon. For instance, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry is on record stating that it has received a number of aggrieved petitions that allege that the web series, Tandav which is streaming on Amazon Prime, has hurt religious sentiments. Secondly and more importantly, the Centre's move could also have been mandated by the need to create a level-playing field for all kinds of media to uphold the principle of fairness.
Chandan Kumar Nath,
Sorbhog.
Listed companies
in UNGCP fold
The top listed companies across the globe have voluntarily enrolled to the United Nations Global Compact Programme (UNGCP) that encourages them to adhere to its ten principles including human rights, labour, environmental and anti-corruption and report its status through annual Communication of Progress (COP) statement. The entities as otherwise are mandated to prepare annual reports along with details related to the commitment to sustainability, corporate governance and business environment report in order to uphold the business principles and values.
Further the governments should encourage all the listed companies to commit to United Nations Global Compact Programme through robust voluntary nomination drives. As a best practice the enrolment to UN Global Compact Programme will have a positive impact on the stakeholders including retail investors and the companies can ensure complete fairness and transparency. The organizations should surge ahead to protect the interest of investors by sharing its Communication of Progress (COP) as mandated by UN Global Compact Programme through its annual reports. Further the forum can be utilized to share best practices adopted while adhering to corporate governance and sustainability
Varun Dambal,
Bengaluru.
ID proof with
every complaint
It is quite usual that many complainants, while filing against government employees and others, mark copies to dozens of authorities like President, Prime Minister, CAG, CVC, Chief Justice of India and many others even though the original complaint is to be dealt by some single agency. Many a time, anonymous and fake complaints are also filed.
Such practices unnecessarily involve huge man hours and resources of so many public authorities. Even though there are some government guidelines in this respect, yet the Department of Personnel and Training -DoPT should issue fresh guidelines in this regard with due publicity through advertisements in newspapers and TV channels. To avoid filing fake complaints in the name of others, it should be made compulsory to attach copy of ID proof of the complainant with every complaint. Complaints filed with copies to multiple authorities should be filed without any action. Advisories in this regard should be marked to every public-authority and government department.
Subhash Chandra Agrawal,
Chandni Chowk, Delhi