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The present spell of skyrocketing prices of essential commodities in the Indian market is clearly the result of tampering with the Essential Commodities Act. The changes in the law along with the executive orders passed during the tenure of the BJP led NDA government has also been vigorously followed by the Congress led UPA government for the last two years in pursuit of the free market economy.

It is, but natural that politicians are primarily interested in politics. All their actions, omissions or commissions, are guided by their wish to get political benefits. The worst part of this attitude has again surfaced during mishandling the tools of social justice by UPA government at the center.

The Planning Commission of India, while making approach paper for the 11th Five Year Plan (2007 - 12), toying with the idea of stepping up growth rate by 1.5 per cent through making certain changes and interventions in several key areas of our economy. Our economy is already poised to post a growth rate of 9 - 9.5 per cent of the GDP by the terminal year of the Tenth Plan.

The wrong priorities of development and ad-hoc treatment to the agriculture and its related sectors has created such a situation that even a little shortfall or excess of monsoon threatens not only the very growth rate of our economy. Despite this situation we have been continuing with our follies and ad-hocism not only in our short term but also in our long term strategies.

“Agriculture as a whole is in crisis,” says the Prime Minister of India. Is this a realization of the ground realities or a preparation of the background for yet another “economic adventurism”? The question is important more so because we had put the rein of this country when we had already achieved self-sufficiency in food security at the national level and we have lost it under his rule.

The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have always been keen on “reforming” the world but not themselves. These have, in fact, become the instrument of the big countries, especially the United States, to control the world in the name of cooperation, good governance and development. The leaderships of the poor and developing countries fall prey to it in their bid to avoid their own domestic crises and for their own survival at the cost of their people. They, obviously, are not in a position to force “reform”

With the spiraling prices of essential commodities and rising discontent among the public, the UPA government is resorting to expediency to mollify the people's resentment. The Union government even euphemistically tried to play it down ...

How much exploitation is too much? How much profiteering is too much? How much taxation is too much? How much 'loot' should public suffer silently if it is justified by law and executive orders of the government? There are many more questions that demand answers before any hike in the prices of petroleum products.

There is an ancient adage - A ruler is a representative of God. This seems to be our Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh's new mentality. If he succeeds, we would be paying charges to the government for using the gift of god, like water even if government does not supply it. To begin with he has planned to charge people for use of ground water, starting from the national capital state Delhi itself.

The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2006 has finally been implemented in India from October 26. Thanks to the politics on issues relating to women, this act saw the light of day as against Women's Bill which has been scuttled for over a decade. Our politicians want support from women without making them strong enough to fence for themselves, and they are doing it well by giving them a little of the support they actually need.