The irony of a state government demanding fiscal autonomy from New Delhi while starving its own local bodies of both funds and decision-making authority is hard to miss — and harder still to defend.
Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, and Odisha are large states that receive a lot of money from the Union. All of them have governments headed by the BJP or its allies.
Existing projects that are to be implemented by the states under their budgets should not be financed through MGNREGS outlays. Now, the lack of monitoring can result in such use.
South India's situation is unlike any in large federal unions across the world. US, UK, China, Germany, and Spain correct their fiscal imbalances through tax policy. India is making it worse.
Nick Jonas is not trying to modernise the mangalsutra, but his gesture shows that choices can be equal. If commitment must be flaunted, it need not be gendered.
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