For the poor?

A piece written by Organiser editor R. Balashankar says globalisation is only helping the rich. “India’s accelerating economic growth is a matter of celebration. But many have expressed concern about the distributional impacts of the growth process. The vulnerability of India’s large population below poverty, the gap between the rich spending and the poor spending capacity have become the biggest failure of globalisation. The big story is that after globalisation, between 1993 and 2008 the rich-poor gap has widened, the growth was more equitable during the previous decade.”

Lalu’s shift

The editorial praises Lalu Prasad Yadav’s rail budget. “Like it or not, Lalu has brought a paradigm shift. For many years before him, railways was a neglected area, a parking sanctuary for heavyweight politicians to satisfy their bloated ego trip. Lalu made a difference with his passion for power and the common touch. That he remembered the human side of the mammoth public sector behemoth speaks of the politician in him. For the country — which is on a fast-track to globalisation — it may not mean much that he upgraded the service of the lowest strata of the railway men or that he made a marginal difference in fare rates or that he thought of making railways compete profitably with low-priced airlines and tried to reduce the burden on road transport.”

Another article on the general budget says, “The loan-waiver announced for farmers may prove to be a double-edged sword — a loss for the banking sector and may close further financing from banks to the farming community. The budget has been communalised too in the name of doubling allocation — Rs 1000 crore — to the ministry of minority affairs. Several benefits to a particular religious community are certainly not in the interest of the nation. He announced multi-sectoral development plans in 90 minority-concentrated districts.”