Union Cabinet’s decision to regularise 1,800 unauthorised colonies in Delhi is a short-sighted, retrograde step. It’s ironical that a government that had set out to create smart cities in India is legalising unauthorised tenements for vote bank politics. This will serve as an incentive for further encroachment on public land.
Infusion of Rs 20,000 crore in MTNL-BSNL merger wastes taxpayers’ money amid slowdown
Modi government decision to merge MTNL and BSNL and infuse Rs 20,000 crore-plus as capital doesn’t make sense. Like Air India, MTNL and BSNL have shown they can’t compete with efficient private players. The capital infusion wastes tax-payers’ funds in a tough economy. The PSUs should’ve been offered for privatisation.
Quite some time back, PM Modi had said that policy decisions must not be influenced by electoral politics. Now, by regularising squatters and gifting them the land, he has ensured that NCR Delhi will have a permanent supply of slum dwellers. Very bad politics.
I still don’t know what a Smart City connotes. Probably one in which – basic civic amenities and housing having been taken care of decades ago – a lot of technology goes into making the urban agglomerations energy efficient, highly networked in both a physical and a virtual sense. Bombay and Delhi could think in these terms fifty years from now. Sixty, if the Shiv Sena is running the BMC …
One would require an electron microscope to discover any reformist impulses. Merge failing banks, now this proposal, dead on arrival. A “ strong “ government would act differently, taking care only to space out the pain of adjustment. When I used to see images of Greece a few years ago, would think, We should not go down this road, for we are not part of a rich man’s club that will pay our bills. At this rate, don’t be surprised by a ratings downgrade.