8 minutes 46 seconds of an eternal shame!

Americans, from their much-touted oldest democracy, were busy filming on their phones as the former fired cop of the Minneapolis Police Department pressed on the neck of an unarmed and felled George Floyd, 46. As the cop pressed with his knee harder and harder, the man gasping for breath pleaded for a little air. The former policeman, Derek Chauvin did not budge, frozen in a killer grip of his victim’s neck with his knee. For 8 minutes and 46 seconds, he pressed, hard enough to take the breath out of his victim. Floyd died from the vice-like devilish grip.

The footage of the gruesome killing of Floyd, a black, shook the conscience of the nation, trying it’s best to shake off the slavery stigma. The world too watched in disbelief.  Trump says footage of Floyd’s death is “a very shocking sight,’ returning to his self-aggrandizement over his Covid fight and China blaming.

It was not long before that another youth Freddie Gray, 25, was killed by the Maryland police, resulting in massive protests. It ended with a $6.4 m settlement and no indictments to three of the officers. Another black boy, Anton Black, died in custody and the case has not moved towards an end.

The US president could have done the unthinkable. He could have picked up the phone and conveyed his deepest condolences to the Floyd family. He did nothing like that as protests erupted all over the country over the killing. Trump immediately tweeted that the protestors were thugs, infuriating the American black community further, as demonstrations spread all over the nation. Now the national security guards are being called in to quell loots and rioters, which has spilt out of control.

America was built with the indentured labour from Africa, the scar of the wounds still hurting deep into the psyche of many well-meaning White Americans. The feeling is no different as to many Germans, who are still ashamed as to how their entire nation supported Hitler’s elimination of the Jewish race.

There seems a deep distrust between the white police officers, who are a law unto themselves and the black Americans. There are seldom harsh sentences against the police force in such killings apparently to avoid a backlash of the police force. Such an attitude only encourages the police, who in my guess, suspect blacks as the prominent group engaged in criminal activities and take on them.

The American society itself has no long history and is a mishmash of many communities, Caucasians, Hispanics, Orientals, Asians and of course blacks. It may be the blacks who are singled out and often suffer at the hands of an insensitive police force. It is time to counsel the entire US police force as well to hasten the confidence-building processes with its citizens.

My heart bleeds for those who die violent deaths, merely for being coloured.

Sampath Kumar

Intrépide Voix

Scapegoats?

Protecting CM Mamata Banerjee from the acts of omission and commission of her party colleagues must be an herculean task for Prashant Kishor, the poll strategist for TMC. Quickly he drew the curtains and ended all statements by the CM against complaints of cut money, and later over the allegations of improprieties in the distribution of relief materials.

Mamata’s daily press briefings were also curtailed to reduce her direct role in the Covid related mismanagement.  Covid is misery, but one cannot deny the State handling thousands of crores worth of relief and rehabilitation and its impact with forthcoming elections. Many within the party, peeved at being left out, were waiting for an opportunity to hit back when the CM was at her weakest. 

However, none would dare to take on the CM, unless one has decided to quit the party. Therefore, the target was her trusted lieutenant,  Firhad (Bobby)Hakim, the Mayor of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, and MIC Urban Development and Municipal Affairs. Bobby is touted as the secular minority face, wherever it helped, and even headed the Tarakeshwar Temple Board for a while.

With no water and no electricity for days on, the people’s ire turned at CESC, the sole electricity provider for the city. The per-unit cost of power is the highest, charged by CESC, compared to any other cities in India. CESC’s excuse of shortage of staff due to lockdown had no merit. Soon the known stories of the intimate friendship between the government and the owners of CESC surfaced. Sanjeev Goenka even had bought a painting done by the CM, the CM rewarding Goenka with a Banga Bhushan title in a glittering ceremony. Bobby’s daughter incidentally is a high ranking officer in the CESC, which too came under criticism.

Locals blocked streets, and the clubs enjoying the annual largesse from the government turned their heads away.  No Municipal councillors were seen around. Mamata sensed trouble and grudgingly dialled her bête noire, Amit Shah, the Union Home Minister, to urgently spare the Army to help clear the roads.

PM Modi immediately visited the cyclone ravaged State and promptly sent over a thousand crores as an advance aid. She and her party men now could not complain of indifference by the Centre. Admittedly, for the poll strategist, the image of People’s Chief Minister has taken a beating and had to be set right.

That is the time a senior cabinet minister, Subrata Mukherjee openly criticised for not taking into board the former Mayor Sovan Chattopadhyay to strategise relief operations. He was also critical over the sacking of the Municipal Commissioner Khalil Ahmed. Similarly, another minister, Sadhan Pandey, faulted Bobby for the mess, tearing his image apart in front of the media. Such acts of bravados are unknown in a party in the stranglehold of its sole leader. 

There are few takers for the CM’s flip flop on the migrant’s train, and her blaming the Railway Ministry, first for not sending enough trains, and now for sending too many trains. The gossip in Delhi is, the return of the migrants have never been a problem for any state, save for West Bengal, which has the most foreigners. Mapping the migrants during their journey is apprehended as giving scope for reopening of the vexed CAA issue. For once Mamata cannot blame her political opponents and is waiting if more dissentious voices are heard.

Safeguarding the CM cannot be done without scapegoating someone else. Prashant Kishore’s team will find it increasingly difficult to find enough scapegoats until 2021.

Sampath Kumar

Intrépide Voix

U.P. Migrants’ Commission

Uttar Pradesh is one of the weak states, which has seen some industrial activity in the last decade but overburdened with a high population. Periodical droughts and people fleeing to cities to avoid starvation are not uncommon. Many youths from the state are employed pan India, but their numbers remained unknown until the massive march back home by the migrants woke everyone up.

Till Monday 2.00 pm, as many as 1,174 trains have come to UP, through which 15.62 lakh migrant workers have arrived. Buses are operating from Rajasthan and Haryana. So far, around 24 lakh people have come to UP through trains, buses and other modes said Avanish Awasti, Addl. Chief Secretary, Home and Information, U.P. Many more are still spread out in different states in India.

Rattled by the bad publicity, Yogi Adityanath, the Chief Minister’s announced setting up a Migrants commission, which has come under flak from many quarters. The CM has stated that the other states intending to employ UP labourers must obtain prior permission from his government. Tiwari, the State Chief Secretary, added that it would ensure the safety and fair wages for the labourers. The CM has also assured to employ 20 lac youths through MSMEs in the State. Such promises by the government, be it Union or States, must be taken with a pinch of salt and are uttered only during election times.

Besides, it seems that the UP government thinks there is a shortage of workforce, which is not, and neither would it be in any foreseeable future. Labour is an employers’ market, and the UP Government must wait for the Centre’s recent announcement to implement a national wage base, including various reforms. Yogi had to eat a humble pie, withdrawing his earlier decision of 12 hours work per day, even as the International Labour Organisation has advised India to adhere to the internationally accepted labour norms.

If every state starts with similar moves, India could soon be merely linguistic states unbound and free emotionally from each other. The UP government’s move may not pass the scrutiny of the courts, as the constitution provides free access of all states to all Indians.

Someone’s difficulty is someone else’s opportunity and in this case the pitfalls of U.P. will be a windfall for the youths of West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand. I guess the CM will duly apply his mind in making lives of the workers simpler and worthier.

Sampath Kumar

Intrépide Voix

The loot of temples!

Temple riches have lured invaders for the last thousand years, its vast treasures spirited away with impunity. Donating wealth and bequeathing properties to Gods have been long a tradition in India. The control of temples, with substantial land banks and riches, is a tradition following the British rules framed in 1817, dislodging the temple priests as the custodians of the assets.

I had las week posted on what temples meant for the people, as a religious centre, a cultural nucleus, a granary in times of drought and even a court. The lands were let out to farmers, sharing the grains, which in turn helped to feed the poor and the needy. Temples ran schools, Ved patashalas, gaushalas, old age homes, and medical facilities to those in need.

The British realized that the influence of the temples over common man had to be ended if the British colonization had to flourish. They thus introduced the Madras Regulation VII of 1817. Many laws were pressed to keep the British stranglehold of the temples until the “Madras Religious and Charitable Endowments Act, covering all religions was enacted. The Act drew loud protests from the Christians and the Muslims who would not submit their assets to the British. Thus, it was made applicable only to Hindus and renamed Hindu Religious and Endowments Act 1927.

The Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925, enacted in the same period, however, brought Gurdwaras under the control of only Sikhs, the British thus showing their duplicity between Hindu and all other religions. By a legislative Act XII, 1935, the Government empowered itself to notify any temple and take over its administration.

The Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act was passed in 1959. The Congress was in power in the country then. It dissolved the boards and formed a Hindu religious and charitable endowments department, headed by a commissioner to stop any mismanagement, which though was perceived only for Hindu entities. Those who were atheists or were from other religions found their way into Hindu temples, in a ploy to destroy the temple culture as well as the loot of funds. Political powers usurped hundreds of thousands of hectares of fertile lands in the last five decades. Priceless ‘Panchaloka’ idols have been smuggled out in connivance with the administration.

The latest attempt to sell some assets of Tirupati-Tirumala Balaji temple by the Andhra Pradesh Government caused a public outcry, and the Government forced to backtrack, putting their act ‘in abeyance.’

The Supreme Court has questioned the Government’s dichotomy and taking over the Hindu temples, but any order to the contrary can only be with appropriate public pressure. BJP’s Dr Satyapal Singh has moved a bill for the removal of government controls of all the temples, which is pending. A move by Dr Subramaniam Swamy to unshackle Sabarimala temple from the control of Kerala Government is also pending in the Apex court.
Ever since non-believers and Government goons took over the temples, even lamps are not lit in many temples, and priests forced to live in abject poverty, robbed of even their meagre ‘plate’ offerings by the devotees.
The A.P Government’s action is an eye-opener, and the Government must take its hands away from the temples and all its assets.

Sampath Kumar
Intrépide Voix

The tale of two leaders!

Norman Cousins famously quoted, “Wisdom consists of the anticipation of consequences,” which seemed to fit well with this post.

The high technology-driven American Intelligence is the greatest, which must have forewarned the American government well in advance about the Coronavirus crisis in Wuhan, and the return of 430000 from China after the outbreak. President Trump, in the earlier days, ignored the intelligence warnings. Perhaps the Chinese hiding the severity of the pandemic and their refusal to share any news for the first two months compounded the American problems. The many States disregarded the social distancing had to pay a heavy price with high mortalities.

Then came the flip fop over the use of untested Hydroxychloroquine or Remdesivir, both touted by as magic cures by President Trump. Shortages of PPEs and masks led to the ransacking of stores and pharmacies in an uproar. Worldwide 5.4 million are infected with Covid 19 with 344000 dead. The good news is 2.28 million have recovered from the virus infection. In the US alone, I.66 million are infected, with the death toll at 98,683. Right now, these are mere statistics, but an adverse public opinion might be galvanized when the deaths touch a hundred thousand, which could be in a day or two.

Arguably, there could have been much fewer deaths had the administration reacted in the initial period with alacrity. Trump not paying the price for his lack of oversight, in the forthcoming presidential elections, could be a rare possibility.

Back home, Mamata Banerjee from the cyclone devastated state of West Bengal faces her electorate next year. She is on record refusing any aid for relief and rehabilitation during the last cyclone, Fani. However, cyclone Amphan was much too severe for her government, as Mamata ate the humble pie and invited the PM to visit West Bengal and inspect the catastrophe. Despite her party lieutenants crying hoarse to the contrary, she was calmer and wiser in reacting to the PM’s advance of Rs.1000 crores. The Centre could provide more aid as deemed appropriate in the future.

The citizens of Bengal are peeved at the delay in the restoration of electricity and water, scarce in many areas. Fallen trees block many roads. CM Mamata, for once, disregarding her high ego in anything to do with the Centre’s assistance, sought the help of the army and the National Disaster Relief Force. The Centre too responded speedily as the army men cleared the roads in lightning speed.

Any delay in the relief would cost Mamata’s return dearly, which she knows, unlike President Trump, who is dismissive of any threat to his expected return to the White House. In the case of Bengal, it will be strange if the BJP does not claim saviours of a cyclone devasted state and try to disprove Mamata’s dominance and control.

Please reread my opening line. I guess Mamata scores over Trump hands down!

Sampath Kumar

Intrépide Voix

A new beginning!

The east coast of India, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal are prone to cyclones. Fani was the last cyclone that hit the east coast was on 3rd May with a wind speed of 185 Kms per hour. It primarily affected Odisha and Bangladesh while grazing past West Bengal. Because of the then ensuing Lok Sabha elections 11 Apr-23 May, the Chief Minister of West Bengal, an avowed adversary of PM Modi refused to seek any assistance. She remarked that she would only seek help from a new PM in the new government. Mamata was one of the faces of the opposition for the PM’s post and was behaving as such. Sadly, it did not materialize, and Modi remained the PM.

Mamata avoided meeting the PM and has been brooding ever since, despite her couple of forced meets. She despised BJP, Modi and his home minister Amit Shah, which needs no elaboration. Mamata was one of the strongest and consistent opponents of the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens and chose to cross swords with the governor often on the issue.

Covid crisis appeared in between, leading to the declaration of the Disaster Management Act. The Bengal government did all to retain its independence from the feudality of the Central Government and considered most advises as an affront to the federalism Mamata’s Bengal espouses. The initial personal micro-management did win Mamata the public support, but the latter fumbling on mortalities and management of the Covid came under severe criticism. No other state considered it a war between the Centre and the State like the West Bengal did.

Be that as it may, the cyclone Amphan could not have come in any worst season. It ravaged the State, which Mamata knew was profound, and she had to seek assistance from the Centre. The National Disaster Relief Fund is meant for such calamities and seeking funds was normal as the Centre offering this.

The PM responded to Bengal’s plight by flying in, inspecting the affected areas and announcing an immediate package of Rs.1000 crores as aid, besides giving Rs2 lacs to the kin of each of the 80 dead.. The magnitude of the cyclone and the relief work should not be stuck in any ‘us and them.’ Both the PM and the CM must not permit silly manoeuvres by lowly politicians or over-zealous bureaucrats to jettison the concerted efforts required to revive the lives and livelihoods, battered for long by Covid and now by Amphan.

The fact that West Bengal is an important state with top-grade literary and intellectual values, as well as business potential, should be appreciated by others. At the same time, the State must respect the Centre’s overall control of defined areas. The oft-mentioned co-operative federalism cannot be one-sided, and both the Centre and the State must grow to respect each other in the larger interests of the nation.

May the joint management in the aftermath of Amphan become a strong foundation for a stable Bengal-Centre relationship, which has been given a miss by successive governments ever since India attained its independence.

Sampath Kumar

Intrépide Voix

Cashing on the migrants’ plight!

The return of migrants to their respective villages and its plight has taken the country by storm. It is only a pandemic like Covid 19, which has created an awareness of the magnitude of the migrants spread out across our country. The uneven development, evident from the large-scale exodus of youth from U.P., Bihar, West Bengal and Odisha explains the weaker economic growth and job opportunities for the hungry youth. It is not a secret these days to see Northern youth in abundance in the southern states, as those eligible for jobs have ventured West Asia or taken up entrepreneurial activities.

Covid 19 has reached in many countries, in February 2020 itself and the government of India had ample time to draw a strategic plan to combat the virus, including that of the migrants, return. However, none could foresee two things: the extent of virus spread and the intensity of the virus infection. A two-week lockdown was not seen sufficient when successive extensions were made. Various international institutions predicted a spike in India from the middle of May to August.

Unable to burden the accompanied losses, the government permitted reopening economic activities. The states did not want to carry the load of migrants who were becoming restive and started walking home, some 4-5 days and carrying their meagre belongings.  The country suddenly awakened to the enormity of the reverse migration of the workers. They had overnight lost their status as workers, as catalysts in economic growth and as human beings. They were betrayed by an unsympathetic society, irreverent system and laws, bureaucracy and crafty politics.

Only when their agonizing long walk back to their homes were on the media all over the world, the country and the government woke up. But the timing was terrible, as the Covid was vigorously fought, the country nearly succeeding in it. The reverse exodus of millions to each state might result in a flare-up of the virus, similar to the flip-flop over the opening, shutting and reopening of the liquor shops, disregarding any social distancing.

The opposition in the meanwhile feel redundant with their virtual inactivity, and they swung into action, one leader declaring to fund the trains and another offering a thousand buses. While every initiative by every political party must be welcome, announcements must be honest and positive. What is paining is the ‘us and they,’ distinction present between political leadership, even while the nation is fighting its worst battle since independence.

This is not a time for one-upmanship, for media bytes, the ego runs, or for any disparaging remarks. A few mischievous appearances of three-wheeler or two-wheeler vehicle numbers in a list of a thousand buses offered magnanimously by a political opponent must not be rewarded with an FIR. The lapse evidently could not be intended, as the consequences could tarnish the image of any political entity and must be ignored at times like this!  Two million workers have returned, but another twenty million could be waiting to reach their homes.

Let the migrants’ problem not become another ‘India Shining,’ episode from the past and re-write the political future of India!

Sampath Kumar

Intrépide Voix

The low dosage!

The Government stimulus is a mixture of long-awaited economic reforms and simplifying laws to make India an attractive investment nation. The govt initiatives could have near, medium and long-term implications in moving India to the targeted $5Tn in the next couple of years. But can it help a revival of hopes, sentiments and lead the migrants back to their workplaces?

Let us see what Govt’s actual and immediate infusion of liquidity into the system:

Part 1 of the Stimulus
1. EPF Contribution paid by the Government for companies having up to 100 employees, 90% drawing salary up to ₹.15,000 per month – Cost to Govt ₹.2800 Cr
2. Income tax refunds – no cost to the Govt.
3. Automatic Collateral free loan to businesses, ₹.3,00,000 crores- one-year moratorium and four years payback. The govt may at most have a 20% risk exposure for defaults, if at all. The banks bear the rest risks. Interest subsidy will be borne by the Govt but will not help the liquidity.
4. Subordinate debt to MSMEs- Under this scheme, the Government will support the Credit Guarantee Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) to the tune of ₹4,000 crore, which is 20% of the total amount the Government is expecting the banks to disburse -the Cost to Govt ₹.4000 crores.
5. Equity infusions are not a cost to the govt but an investment. (SIDBI had started a similar corpus with ₹.10000 crores corpus in 2016 to extend support to MSME start-ups. The Fund of Funds had committed ₹3,798 crores in 53 AIFs and the industry availing merely a third ar ₹3,582 crores.

6. TDS Rate deduction has no cost to Government
7. Interest subvention on Mudra loans- Cost to Govt ₹.1500 crores

Part 2 of the Stimulus – People welfare schemes
1. PM Garib Kalyan Package- Food and cash in Jan Dhan Account cost to Govt ₹.1,70,000 crores
2. PM Kisan Yojana- cash to farmers @ Rs.2000. Cost to Govt. ₹. 17400 Crores
3. Emergency Health Response Package for COVID tests ₹. 15000 crores
4. Kisan Card Loan ₹. 2,25,000 – no cost to the Government
5. Loan to Farmers ₹. 86,600 – No cost to the Government
6. Support to Migrant workers – ₹.14,502 cores cost to the Government
7. Rural Infra ₹.4200 crore is a business proposal to Pvt industry. Govt would incentivise and has no cost.
8. Assistance to Street Vendors Cost to the Government ₹.5000 crores
9. CAMPA funds Cost to the Govt. ₹. 6000 crores
10. Emergency funds to farmers- Cost to the Govt ₹.30,000 crores
11. Housing Loan Interest subsidy – Cost to the Govt ₹.70000 crores.

Part 3- Govt Assistance to Banks and Financial Institutions:
1. Reduction in CRR- ₹.1,37,000 Crores – No Cost to the Government
2.Targeted Long term Repo Ops (TLTRO) & MSF to help Financial Institutions & Mutual Funds ₹.2,87,050 crores. No cost to the Government
3. Special Refinance and Liquidity Facility – ₹.1,30,000 crores- No cost to the Government
4. Partial Credit Guarantee- ₹. 45,000 crores – No cost to the Government
5. Payment to Discoms – ₹.90000 crores – this amount will be funded by two PSUs, the Power Finance Corporation and the Rural Electrification Corporation to assist the discoms clear their dues with power generation and transmission companies. The respective state governments should guarantee these loans to the discoms. No cost to the Government.
6.Working capital for Agri industry- ₹.6700 crores – No Cost to the Government
7. Refinancing NABARD – ₹. 29,500 crores – No cost to the Government

Part 4

Viability Gap Funding and MGNREGS Cost to the Government ₹.48,100 crores

Summary
Total of Part 1 until 5 – ₹. 20,97,053 ($279 Bn) or 9.5% of GDP
Actual immediate Cost to Govt. as Cash Outflow or subsidies: ₹.3,84,302 crores ($ 51 Bn) 1.74% of GDP
Loan and Guarantees, where there is no cash outflow ₹.17,12,751 crores ($ 228 Bn)
Immediate Cash infusion % of total 18.325% of the Stimulus

I guess more money into the system by some daring acts like suspending income tax on MSMEs and individuals for a year, or thrusting cash with poor to sustain a dignified living for 3-6 months may have produced a much quicker revival. One can understand the plight of the Government in their restrained response because a misstep could prove costly.

It may require exemplary courage and out of box thinking to take on the Covid challenge and convert it into an opportunity. The stimuli do not reflect a quick recovery mode to our economy.

Sampath Kumar
Intrépide Voix

For India’s sake!

The crisis around our economy was visible even before Covid 19 began its presence.  The GDP growth was on a fall from their respective previous years, 8.17% in 2016, 7.17% in 2017, 6.98% in 2018 to 4.1% in 2019. This was a clear indication of either a faltering economy of India, as a standalone nation, or a global recessionary trend. The faltering economy was not restricted to India alone, as most countries around the world reported a slowing down of the economy.

The Covid 19 was a perfect fuse to trigger and ignite the scenario, with industries shut and half the humanity in various stages of lockdown. The World economic growth could shrink in 2020 around 3%, and it is naïve to expect that India, in the top 5 economies would be unaffected or least affected.

Our population is high, and so are the numbers of poor, who have been dislodged from their work and their homes. The Government swung into action, just a day after the lockdown was announced, announcing the Rs.1.70 lac crores assistance to the poor and the farmers, to women and the seniors. Three months of cash assistance and free rations are being provided to the poor all over the country.

Soon the Government followed with announcements of reduction in Reverse-repo rate, now down to 3.75%, thus enabling the RBI to borrow from the commercial banks for onward lending to the Government. The struggling NBFCs needs were quickly addressed too. As the icing of the cake, the PM announced a Rs.20 lac economy package yesterday with a focus on Land, Labour, Liquidity and Laws, which must be welcomed by all.

No wonder the vociferous economists from the opposition demanding a package until yesterday have all gone under hiding. India is not the only one to open its purse strings. Japan has provided 21.1% of the GDP as a stimulus package, the US 13%, Sweden 12% and Germany 10.7%. India, with its commitment of $260 Billion, is the fifth in the ranking.

India’s stagnant economy had one blessing. The inflation has been manageable in the recent past at 4.86% in 2018 despite the previous year it was 2.49%.  With the prediction of a normal monsoon, we may not face high inflations like during the five years, 2009-10.88%, 2010- 11.99%, 2011-8.86%, 2012-9.31% and 2013-10.91%. Such alarming figures are not limited to these years alone.

Increasing the money supply is a relevant feature in a recessionary economy. When the US Government, in 2009, refinanced failing banks and mortgage companies, it was termed immoral by many. The daring interventions helped in preventing contagion and helped their country regain its shape in the following years.

First, there was a cry, where’s the package? Now, the call is, where will the Government find the money? These social network economists may not know that in extreme cases, the Government is entitled to borrow and spend. The Government can print bonds, which the RBI can buy. The Government can earn back in taxes and revenues and can redeem the stimulus amount in six/eight years.

The opposition must objectively criticize, but not dismantle nation-building. The choice is ‘Now or Never!’

Jai Hind!

Sampath Kumar

Intrépide Voix

Covid bungling!

Covid is raging West Bengal as it is, in the entire world. I have been watching the Press briefing from Nabanna, the Secretariat, initially with concern and later with amusement.

Be that as it may, the well-started fight against Covid, soon ran out of steam, causing the appointment of laughable death audit committees. Only these committees could certify the cause of death, even if the patients were infected with Covid 19. If the deceased had a gallbladder or appendix problem, the death certificates would cease to be called Covid-19 deaths but classified as ‘Comorbidity’ deaths.

The Centre and the State varied about West Bengal mortality numbers. Soon the State disbanded the death-audit committee, saving itself from further embarrassments. Rumours of bodies secretly carted or cremation or burials filled the social media, which does not need government subsidies or advertisement support for its survival, as the mainstream media do.

There were complaints from the Governor regarding low tests conducted. The State rebuffed that the Centre has not supplied the test kits. Then came the complaints regarding PDS distribution and the Governor again stepped in, unhappy with the rationing system in force. A hitherto unwitnessed exchange of accusations between the Governor and the Chief Minister stunned the public.

Now the turn is accusations are rife about the return of the migrants.  The State is accusing the Centre, and the Centre is returning the volley through the Rail ministry that the State has not permitted the return of the migrants.

It must be realized that the war against Covid is a greater war than the inconsequential political battles within. The million-dollar question is, why secrecy should shroud the death numbers? I can only guess an answer and do not feel comfortable about it!

Sampath Kumar

Intrépide Voix