The National Common Minimum Program (NCMP) of the UPA government promised that subsidies would be targeted at the poor, but according to the author, in reality the government is doing just the opposite.
The National Common Minimum Program (NCMP), with which the United Progressive Alliance came to power in New Delhi more than six months ago, raised the hopes of the common man for a better life only to find that those who wield power in New Delhi, while showing great alacrity to toe the lines of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, giant pharma MNCs, etc., are "throwing to the wolves" the poor and the disadvantaged of this vast land. Coming on the heels of the draconian ordinance to protect the MNC pharma sector, at the expense of their counterparts in India, is now the dubious subsidy report, which if put into effect, will impoverish the poor further. The NCMP had promised that all subsidies "will be targeted sharply at the poor and the truly needy, like small and marginal farmers, farm labor and urban poor". In reality, what the UPA is attempting to do is exactly the opposite. "The Central Government Subsidies in India: A Report", released in December, clearly shows that New Delhi is preparing the ground to dispense with all the subsidies, which in one stroke will strike a death blow to the poor. |
