If 14,000 men have benefitted from Ladki Bahin Yojana, we will recover money from them: Ajit Pawar
'The Ladki Bahin Yojana was implemented as financial assistance for poor women. It was brought with honest intention. It was not meant for men. And therefore, we are going to recover the money from them. If they do not co-operate, we will take action against them,' Pawar told reporters when asked about the media reports that 14,298 men have benefitted from the scheme.
The scheme was started in August 2024 before the Assembly elections. The beneficiaries got Rs 1,500 per month in their bank accounts. As many as 14,298 men have apparently received benefits of over Rs 21 crore.
Sports Minister Dattatraya Bharne, who in the past had admitted how the scheme had put additional financial burden on the state government, said, 'If men have got benefits from the scheme, the government will take appropriate action in the matter.'
Another NCP Minister Chhagan Bhujbal said, 'If this has happened, then government will investigate.'
Shashikant Shinde, NCP (S-P) state president, said, 'We have been consistently saying that those who were not eligible were getting benefits of the Ladki Bahin Yojana. In the House too, we had been asking the government to recover the amount which was wrongly distributed. The scheme was wrongly implemented.'
Baramati MP Supriya Sule said it has come to light that some men have taken advantage of the Ladki Bahin Yojana. 'The government hurriedly got lakhs of forms filled up by women before the Assembly elections,' she said, while demanding ED and CBI investigation against contractors who were tasked with getting forms filled up from women about the Ladki Bahin Yojana.
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Business Standard
29 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Year after uprising, Bangladesh struggles to find political stability
Abdur Rahman Tarif was talking to his sister Meherunnesa over the phone when the voice on the other end of the call suddenly fell silent. In that moment, Tarif knew something bad had happened. He rushed home, dodging the exchange of fire between security forces and protesters on the streets of Dhaka. When he finally arrived, he discovered his parents tending to his bleeding sister. A stray bullet had hit Meherunnesa's chest while she was standing beside the window of her room, Tarif said. She was taken to a hospital where doctors declared her dead. Meherunnesa, 23, was killed on Aug 5 last year, the same day Bangladesh's former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was forced to flee the country in a massive student-led uprising, which ended her 15-year rule. For much of Bangladesh, Hasina's ouster was a moment of joy. Three days later, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus took over the country as head of an interim government, promising to restore order and hold a new election after necessary reforms. A year on, Bangladesh is still reeling from that violence, and Hasina now faces trial for crimes against humanity, in absentia as she is in exile in India. But despite the bloodshed and lives lost, many say the prospect for a better Bangladesh with a liberal democracy, political tolerance and religious and communal harmony has remained a challenge. The hope of the thousands who braved lethal violence a year ago when they opposed Sheikh Hasina's abusive rule to build a rights-respecting democracy remains unfulfilled, said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, a New York-based human rights group. Stalled change Bangladesh's anti-government movement exacted a heavy price. Hundreds of people, mostly students, were killed in violent protests. Angry demonstrators torched police stations and government buildings. Political opponents often clashed with each other, sometimes leading to gruesome killings. Like many Bangladeshis, Tarif and his sister took part in the uprising, hoping for a broader political change, particularly after when one of their cousins was shot and killed by security forces. "We could not stay home and wanted Sheikh Hasina to go, 20-year-old Tarif said. Ultimately we wanted a country without any discrimination and injustice. Today, his hopes lie shattered. We wanted a change, but I am frustrated now, he said. After taking the reins, the Yunus-led administration formed 11 reform commissions, including a national consensus commission that is working with major political parties for future governments and the electoral process. Bickering political parties have failed to reach a consensus on a timetable and process for elections. Mob violence, political attacks on rival parties and groups, and hostility to women's rights and vulnerable minority groups by religious hardliners have all surged. Some of the fear and repression that marked Hasina's rule, and abuses such as widespread enforced disappearances, appear to have ended, rights groups say. However, they accuse the new government of using arbitrary detention to target perceived political opponents, especially Hasina's supporters, many of whom have been forced to go into hiding. Hasina's Awami League party, which remains banned, says more than two dozen of its supporters have died in custody over the last one year. Human Rights Watch in a statement on July 30 said the interim government is falling short in implementing its challenging human rights agenda. It said violations against ethnic and other minority groups in some parts of Bangladesh have continued. The interim government appears stuck, juggling an unreformed security sector, sometimes violent religious hardliners, and political groups that seem more focused on extracting vengeance on Hasina's supporters than protecting Bangladeshis' rights, said Ganguly. Yunus' office routinely rejects these allegations. Growing political uncertainty Bangladesh also faces political uncertainty over a return to democratically held elections. Yunus has been at loggerheads with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, or BNP, now the main contender for power. The party headed by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia has demanded elections either in December or February next year. Yunus has said they could be held in April. The interim government has also cleared the way for the Islamists, who were under severe pressure during Hasina's regime, to rise, while the student leaders who spearheaded the uprising have formed a new political party. The students' party demands that the constitution be rewritten, if needed entirely, and says it won't allow the election without major reforms. Meanwhile, many hardline Islamists have either fled prison or have been released, and the Jamaat-e-Islami, the country's largest Islamist party, which has a controversial past, is now aspiring to a role in government. It often bitterly criticizes the BNP, equating it with Hasina's Awami League, and recently held a massive rally in Dhaka as a show of power. Critics fear that greater influence of the Islamist forces could fragment Bangladesh's political landscape further. Any rise of Islamists demonstrates a future Bangladesh where radicalization could get a shape where so-called disciplined Islamist forces could work as a catalyst against liberal and moderate forces, political analyst Nazmul Ahsan Kalimullah said. Worries also remain over whether the government is ultimately capable of enacting reforms. People's expectation was (that) Yunus government will be focused and solely geared towards reforming the electoral process. But now it's a missed opportunity for them, Kalimullah said. A frustrated population For some, not much has changed in the last year. Meherunnesa's father, Mosharraf Hossain, said the uprising was not for a mere change in government, but symbolized deeper frustrations. We want a new Bangladesh It's been 54 years since independence, yet freedom was not achieved, he said. Tarif echoed his father's remarks, adding that he was not happy with the current state of the country. I want to see the new Bangladesh as a place where I feel secure, where the law enforcement agencies will perform their duties properly, and no government will resort to enforced disappearances or killings like before. I want to have the right to speak freely, he said. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Deccan Herald
29 minutes ago
- Deccan Herald
Despite HC order, Karnataka transport staff call bus strike from August 5
Bengaluru: Despite an interim order by Karnataka High Court, transport corporation employees across the state have decided to go on a strike from 6 am on Tuesday (August 5), likely disrupting bus services across the state. The Joint Action Committee of the Trade Unions of Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation pressed on with the strike after its marathon meeting with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah failed to resolve two contentious issues -- payment of 38 months' arrears amounting to Rs 1,785 crore and a 25 per cent pay hike from January 1, 2024. .We are prepared for protests on August 5: Karnataka HM G offered Rs 718 crore as arrears for 14 months (from January 1, 2022, to February 28, 2023), citing a July 2022 report by retired IAS officer M R Sreenivasa Murthy. KSRTC Managing Director Akram Pasha maintained that employees cannot go on the strike on Tuesday in view of the court order. As a plan B, the RTCs have roped in private players to operate bus services "anywhere they want" after the Transport Department issued an order under Section 66(1) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. Private buses can charge fares along the lines of KSRTC and BMTC, he said. The Federation of Karnataka State Private Transport Associations has agreed to operate 4,000 buses, according to its president S Nataraj Sharma. The four RTCs are also roping in school and industrial buses. Pasha said RTC buses would also operate, with the strike having "only a 10-20 per cent impact". "We've also invoked the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA). Employees cannot go on strike and we've cancelled their leave. Violations will result in disciplinary action," he told DH. The KSRTC and the BMTC urged employees to honour the court order and refrain from participating in the strike. Vijaya Bhaskar D A, general secretary of the KSRTC Staff And Workers' Federation acknowledged receiving the court order but said a decision on deferring the strike must be taken collectively by all six unions that are part of the joint action committee. "We received the court order late and could not decide. The strike is very much on,' he told DH. At the meeting, the CM called the demand for 38 months' arrears "unreasonable", noting that the government had implemented the 15 per cent pay hike only from March 1, 2023, based on the Sreenivasa Murthy report. .Karnataka Health Minister asks people not to be 'fooled' by attractive, colourful dishes."When we came to power (in 2023), the four RTCs had combined liabilities of Rs 4,000 crore. None of them is profitable. The government will not be unfair," he noted. He promised to discuss the pay hike after the legislative session and urged the unions to withdraw the strike. However, the committee representatives rejected the offer. Committee convenor H V Anantha Subbarao slammed the government, saying it cannot go back on arrears payments. He added that the 25 per cent hike would remain in effect until 2027. He said employees were "not afraid" of ESMA and were ready to go to jail. Bhaskar criticised the CM for asking them to withdraw the strike and come to a dialogue. "Talks can continue during the strike, too," he remarked. Pasha said the Sreenivasa Murthy report recommended against paying arrears for 24 months (2020 and 2021) due to Covid-19. He called the 25 per cent hike demand "too high". "The last raise was 15 per cent, which is above average. If the same is given, it will result in a financial burden of over Rs 1,700 crore. The four RTCs already have Rs 4,000 crore in liabilities towards PF payments, diesel expenditure, etc," he said.
The Hindu
29 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Amit Shah holds meet with West Bengal MPs, kick-starts poll preparations
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