‘Maa Tujhe Salam’ — Congress now dedicates slogan to Indira, after using it for Sonia in May

Pre-Truth — snappy, witty and significant snippets from the world of politics and government.

File image of Indira Gandhi | Commons

Congress marks Indira Gandhi’s birthday

The Congress youth wing celebrated former prime minister Indira Gandhi’s birth anniversary on 19 November by adopting the slogan ‘Maa Tujhe Salam’.

The youth Congress ran a #MaaTujheySalam campaign on Twitter to mark the leader’s birthday, and also pasted posters with the slogan across important roads in the national capital.

इंदिरा जी सिर्फ एक नाम नही,
भारत की शक्ति का 'स्वरूप' है..!#MaaTujheSalam pic.twitter.com/HCFJn1FvSk

— Youth Congress (@IYC) November 19, 2020

How well do you know India's first and only woman Prime Minister and one of the world's most powerful leader Smt Indira Gandhi?

Take the online quiz and find out more about the Iron Lady of India.#MaaTujheSalaamhttps://t.co/6w0q8nfiWp pic.twitter.com/Grz89G29qA

— Youth Congress (@IYC) November 19, 2020

This, however, isn’t the first time the party is employing this slogan. The last time they used this slogan, however, wasn’t for Indira Gandhi, but her daughter-in-law and Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

On 10 May this year, the youth Congress marked Mother’s Day by using posters of Sonia Gandhi. These posters, too, read ‘Maa Tujhe Salam’. 

ना आसमां होता ना जमीं होती,
अगर इस धरती पर माँ न होती..!#MothersDay पर हम देश की
सभी माताओँ को सलाम करते है 🙏#HappyMothersDay pic.twitter.com/g7f5ABb1Xe

— Youth Congress (@IYC) May 10, 2020

The term ‘Maa Tujhe Salam’ became popular after music composer and singer A.R. Rahman released a song by the same name in 1997. The song wasn’t a homage to any individual, but dedicated to the country or the ‘motherland’.

The Congress has, in the past too, attempted to symbolically present its leaders as an embodiment of the motherland. 

For example, the popular slogan ‘Indira is India, India is Indira’ was coined by veteran Congress leader late D.K. Barooah to drive home the same effect.

DD News to charge employees for using office cars during lockdown

Prasar Bharati — the parent organisation of Doordarshan and All India Radio — has come out with a slab, detailing transport charges for the employees of DD News who availed of its transport facilities during the Covid-19 lockdown. 

An office order from Prasar Bharati states that all staff members of DD News — regular, contractual, outsourced and casual — who availed the organisation’s transport facilities due to non-availability of public transport during the lockdown will be charged transport fees with effect from 1 April 2020 to 15 September 2020. 

The amount stated in the slab will be deducted on a monthly basis, irrespective of the number of days the transport facilities have been availed. 

The slab is divided into categories of employees residing at places not exceeding 3 km from the place of duty to people residing at places beyond 8 km from the place of duty. 

A DD News source said non-entitled officers/employees who were called for duty during the period of lockdown — when public transport wasn’t available fully — are to be charged at the rates indicated in the order per month, for having availed transport facilities during the period for attending work. 

“It is a rationalisation measure. Earlier, some nominal amount was charged per trip, and it involved a lot of calculation. The new move will ensure that transport charges are paid using the fixed slab based on the travelled distance,” a DD News official said.  

Alms via GooglePay

In silicon hub Bengaluru, people seeking alms have come up with an innovative way to receive money without having to touch notes or coins in Covid times. 

Transgenders, who are seen begging for money on the streets, are now asking people that if they show generosity, they should avoid cash and pay them through Google Pay or PhonePe.