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Elimination of poverty and hunger has lately been in focus in the Planning Commission and a working paper was also prepared by Arvind Virmani. It is declared in the document itself that the views expressed are of the author and not of the institution in which he works. However, it is noteworthy that this paper has got endorsement by the seal of the government on it and it is now available in the website of the Planning Commission.

The manner in which our Parliamentarians pass various Bills is indicative of the fact that they do not think much on them before their passage in the Houses, what to talk about a careful thinking in comprehensive manner. The Office of Profit Bill in also not an exception.

In the whole month of June 2006 and in the first few days of July 2006, an old advertising policy was in operation. However, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Govt. of India while announcing the New Advertisement Policy on Tuesday, July 4, 2006 said that it was effective from June 1, 2006. As the proverb goes, morning shows the day, it is anybody's guess as to what is going to happen with this new policy with many loopholes. The tilt is clearly towards DAVP and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

Maladministration is a 'wishing-tree' for those who are at the helm of affairs in public administration in India. There are many products of this tree, one of which is corruption, the amount of which is estimated around Rs 50,000 crore, around 20 percent of the total revenue. This is a well known figure published in government publications including the magazine published by BPRD ( a publication of the Ministry of Home, Government of India). Their self-interest in keeping this tree alive is obvious.

India, under the rule of the UPA government has lost self-sufficiency in food grains even at national level that was achieved with great efforts of many well intentioned people from all walks of life including agricultural scientists, politicians in the earlier governments, and farmers of the countryside. People were hoping for the next level of achievement, that is self-sufficiency at the household level, but the greed of wealth creation has cost us dearly. Erratic monsoon is simply an alibi of the Manmohan Singh government.

Indian National Congress has now changed itself to the extent that it is engaged in undoing even the best of the things the erstwhile party leaders had done for the country. The case in point is the issue of food security for the country, remunerative prices for commodities to the farmers, food grains at affordable prices to the poor, creation of fair price shops for all, and the related matters.

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.