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JOURNALISM OF COURAGESINCE 1932

DA ILY FROM: AHMEDABAD , CHAND IGARH , DELH I , JA IPUR , KOLKATA , LUCKNOW, MUMBAI , NAGPUR , PUNE , VADODARA

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2020, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES `6.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMJOURNALISM OF COURAGE

SINCE 1932

EXPERTGROUPRECOMMENDSTOGOVT

TODAY’STALKSONHOLD,CABINETTOMEET

BUSINESS AS USUAL

BYUNNY

EXPLAINED

HOWMTEVERESTGOT3FEETTALLER,ENDORSEDBYBOTHNEPALANDCHINAPAGE11

Govtsaiditwillofferproposalonamendments...wewon’taccept,saysMollah

BASHAARATMASOODBATERGAM(KUPWARA),DECEMBER8

THEWALLSandelectricitypolesat Batergam village inKupwara are dottedwith colourful postersseeking votes for “thedaughter of Kashmir”.She is SomiaSadaf, a lo-cal star who has inter-acted with the PrimeMinister, is a keymem-ber of a governmentself-help initiative, and

an entrepreneur who runs aknittingcentre,adairy,apoultryfarmandaschool canteen.Butitisanotherlineinherbio

thatmakesSadaf standoutasanIndependentcandidateinthefirst

District DevelopmentCouncil (DDC) polls inJammuandKashmir.ShehailsfromMuzaffarabadin Pakistan-occupiedKashmir(PoK).“Iamthedaughterof

Kashmir now. For a girl,homeiswhereher fam-ily lives,whereherhus-band and children live,”

says the36-year-old.Sadaf crossed over 10 years

ago with her husband AbdulMajeedBhatandtheirthreesonsand daughter. Bhat was aKupwara residentwho enteredPoKinthe1990stopursuearmstrainingwhenthemilitancywasgatheringpace.Buthedecidedtopursue higher studies insteadandwent on to acquire two de-grees,inArabicandEnglish,fromcollegesinLahoreandIslamabad.Sadaf says she first met

Majeedwhilepursuinghergrad-uation in Lahore. In 2002, they

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

Sadaf, familycrossedover10yearsago. ShuaibMasoodi

MargaretKeenan,90, isapplaudedbystaffatUniversityHospital inWestMidlands,UK,onTuesdayasshebecomesthefirstpersontoreceivethePfizerCovid-19vaccine;(below)British-IndianHariShukla,wifeRanjan,gottheirdoseinNewcastle.Reuters

DuringBharatbandhatGhumarMandi inLudhianaonTuesday.GurmeetSingh

Meet Somia Sadaf, star entrepreneurand J&K poll candidate — from PoK

Proposal togiveteacherspriorityunderconsideration;30crore, in3groups,cangetdosetogether if vaccineavailable

KAUNAINSHERIFFMNEWDELHI, DECEMBER8

ONECROREhealthcareworkers,two crore frontlineworkers in-cluding the police and armedforces, and about 27 crore peo-pleabovetheageof50yearsandthoselessthan50yearswithas-sociate comorbidities -- thesearethethreegroupswhoshouldbesimultaneouslyvaccinatedonprioritydependingontheavail-ability of a vaccine, a high-level

expert committee has recom-mended to the government.“Every single Indianwhoneedsto be vaccinated will be vacci-nated,” Union Health SecretaryRajesh Bhushan, who co-chairsthe National Expert Group onVaccine Administration ofCovid-19(NEGVAC),said,talkingabout the recommendations.NEGVACChairVKPaulsaida

proposal to include teachers inthepriority group is under con-sideration.Detailing preparations re-

gardingrolloutofaCovid-19vac-cine, expected early next year,BhushansaidtheCentrewilltakethe final decisiononwhowouldbe prioritised depending on therecommendations of the com-mittee.“Webelievethatintheini-tial phase, maybe in the firstmonth,thevaccinearrivalwillbelimited.However, in subsequentmonths, it will increase.Therefore, all thedifferentprior-ity groups can be vaccinated to-gether,”theHealthSecretarysaid.

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

HARIKISHANSHARMANEWDELHI, DECEMBER8

ON A day when the BharatBandh called by farmer unionssawamixedresponseacrossthecountry, HomeMinister AmitShah stepped in to resolve thecrisisonTuesdayashemetadel-egationof13farmerleaders,butcould not break the deadlock.While the government offeredtosendaproposalregardingtheamendmentsthat itwaswillingtomake in the new farm laws,the farmers stuck to their de-mand for repealof the laws.Whilethesixthroundoftalks

with the Centrewas scheduledtobeheldonWednesday,farmerleaderssaidtheywould“notpar-ticipate”andwouldfirstmeettodiscuss the government's pro-posal.TheUnionCabinetissettomeetonWednesdaymorning.Farmer leaders said thegov-

ernment’s offer to send a pro-posal on the amendments indi-cated that it was not ready torepeal the laws.Speaking to reporters after

the nearly three-hour-longCONTINUEDONPAGE2

Shah steps in, talks hitwall: farmers insist onrepeal, Govt offer today

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, CHANDIGARH,DECEMBER8

THE BHARAT bandh called byprotesting farmer groups sawmaximum response in PunjabandHaryana,whereroadswereblocked andmarkets remainedclosed on Tuesday. The shut-down, backed by mostOpposition parties and tradeunions,alsohadsomeimpactinstates like Odisha,MaharashtraandBihar.In Punjab and Haryana,

shopsandcommercialestablish-ments were closed as weremany fuel pumps. Farmers as-sembled at highways andotherkey roads in both states sincemorning.Over 50,000 government

employees took mass casualleave insupportof farmers, saidPunjab Civil Secretariat StaffAssociationpresidentSukhchainKhaira.In neighbouring Haryana,

most of the key roads includingnationalhighwayswereblockedfor over three hours. Officials

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI, DECEMBER8

NITI AAYOGCEOAmitabhKantsaid Tuesday “tough” reformsare “very difficult in the Indiancontext,”as“wearetoomuchofa democracy” but the govern-menthas shown“courage” and“determination” in pushingsuch reformsacross sectors, in-cludingmining,coal, labourandagriculture.Inhisremarks,comingamid

talks between the governmentandprotesting farmersover thenewagricultural laws,Kantsaidthe changes inthe legislationprovide alter-natives tofarmers to selltheir cropswithout doingawaywith thesystem ofMSP(minimumsupportprices)andmandis.Speaking

at an onlineevent, ‘The Road to Atma-nirbhar Bharat’, organised bySwarajyamagazine, Kant saidthese reforms need to be im-plemented and more areneeded in logistics and powersectors tomake India amanu-facturingpowerhousecompet-ingwith China.Responding to a query on

whethertheCovid-19pandemicpresentsanopportunityforIndiato take the lead inmanufactur-ing, given that similar attemptsinthepasthadnottakenoff”,the

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

HAMZAKHANJAIPUR,DECEMBER8

INWHATcouldendupasanem-barrassment for the rulingCongressinRajasthan,thepartywas trailing in the panchayatsamiti and zila parishad elec-tions even as countingwas stillon till lateTuesdayevening.As against the BJP’s 1,833

panchayat samitimembers, theCongress had won 1,713, fol-lowed by Independents with420. Similarly, in the zilaparishadpolls,theCongresshadwon 201, compared to the BJP’s265.Untilafternoon,theCongress

was in the lead but by evening,with theBJP leading inboth thepanchayat samitis and zilaparishads, state BJP presidentSatishPooniasaidthepartyhadbucked the trend of the rulingpartywinning local polls in thestate, and described the BJP'sperformance as “historic” and a“win of the rural developmentpolicies of the BJP and of PrimeMinisterNarendraModi's ideasfor farmers”.Pooniapointedoutthat“this

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI, DECEMBER8

UNDERLINING THE need for“timely rolloutof 5Gto leapfroginto the future and empowermillions of Indians”, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi toldcaptainsof thetelecomindustryTuesday that the country “willembark on one of the world’slargest Covid-19 vaccinationdrive” with the help of mobiletechnology.Addressing the inaugural

session of the India MobileCongress, the Prime Minister

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

SREENIVASJANYALAHYDERABAD,DECEMBER8

AMID THE Covid-19 fear, Eluru,atowninWestGodavaridistrictofAndhraPradeshwithapopu-lation of over 3 lakhs, has beenleftshakenbya“mystery”illnessthat has affected over 500 peo-ple since Saturday evening. Inmostcases, thesymptomswerethe same: seizures, followed by

loss of consciousness; and therecoverywasquick—theywereready to bedischargedwithin acoupleof hours.State Health Minister A K

Krishna Srinivas said of the 510peoplewhowere affected, 430hadbeendischarged.Onedeathhas been reported so far. “I amappealingtopeoplenottopanic.The number of patients hascome down; less than 40were

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

AvictimonwaytohospitalinEluru. Express

Loss of facefor Cong inRajasthan,party trailsin rural polls

DECISION2020J&K

DISTRICT,LOCAL POLLS

Andhra town hit by ‘mystery’ illness,traces of lead, nickel in blood samples

JIO’SANNOUNCEMENTwill return thespotlightonauctionof 5Gair-waves in India. TheRs5.22 lakhcroreauctionreservepricehaddrawnsharpreactions fromAirtel andVodafone Idea,alreadyunderpressureover theirAGRdues fol-lowing theSupremeCourt ruling.

SpotlightonauctionE●EXPLAINE

D

Timely 5G rollout isneeded, tech will aidvaccination drive: PM

Bharat bandh has mixedresponse, most impactin Punjab, Haryana

Vaccine first-shot list: Frontlinestaff, those over 50, young at risk Kant:More

reformsneeded

INSIDE

FIRSTTOGETPFIZERSHOT,90-YR-OLD INUKSAYS, ‘IF I CAN,YOUCAN’ PAGE 12WILLBALANCERISK,BENEFIT FOREMERGENCYUSENOD: GOVTPAGE 7

We are toomuch of ademocracy...tough reformshard: Nitichief’s wisdom

New Delhi

THESECONDPAGE2 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,DECEMBER9,2020

NITI CEONITI Aayog CEO said, “So toughreforms are very difficult in theIndiancontext,wearetoomuchof a democracy. For the firsttime, the government has hadthecourageandthedetermina-tion to carry out very hard-headedreformsacrosssectors...mining, coal, labour, agricul-ture... these are very, very diffi-cult reforms... You needed ahuge amount of political deter-mination and administrativewill to carry out these reformswhicharebeingdone.”Headded,“Agriculturemust

get reforms. It’s very importanttounderstandthis,thatthepres-ent reforms, nobody is sayingthatwedoawaywith theman-dis, the mandis will exist, theMSPwillbethere.But(a)farmergetsalternatechoices(tosellhiscrop). I am a great believer thatthe farmermust have a choice.Why should we force (him) toonlygotooneplace,wegiveyouopportunity to go to five otherplaces. Somebody gives youmorethantheMSP,whyshouldthefarmernotget it?That istheobjectiveof the reforms.”About theguaranteeofMSP

through a legislation, which isone of the key demands of agi-tating farmers, Kant said he“(does) not want to comment”with the talksbetween farmersandthegovernmenton.“And many more reforms

still need to be done, as I men-tioned to you, across logistics,across power,” the NITI AayogCEOsaid.“But... thisgovernmenthasatleastdemonstrateditspo-liticalwilltodohard-headedre-forms.Andweneedtoseethemthrough to become a majormanufacturing nation. It is noteasy to competewith China. Itis not easy to become amanu-facturingnation. Itdoesn’thap-penoutofholdingseminarsandwebinars.Itrequiresaveryhard-headed,ground-levelapproach,whichisbeingattemptedforthefirst time in India.”

Andhra illnessreported today. I know peopleare scared.Weare trying toun-derstand what caused it,'' hesaid.Healthofficials suspect food

orwater contamination. A pre-liminary report by a team fromAIIMS, New Delhi, has foundtracesof leadandnickelinsomeblood samples. “We have sentmore samples and the reportsareawaited,''saidDrAVMohan,superintendent of EluruGovernmentHospital.“The seizures indicate neu-

rological issues. The possibilityof heavymetal contaminationwill be investigated,'' said a sci-entistfromtheNationalInstituteofNutrition (NIN),Hyderabad.A multi-disciplinary team

from NIN comprising publichealthexperts,epidemiologists,microbiologists and food safetyexperts, led by Dr J J BabuGeddam,iscollectingsamplesofwater, edibleoil andrice.What isworrying is that the

illness is not confined to a par-ticular area. “If it was water orair-borne,people inaparticulararea would be affected.However, almost the entireEluru is affected. Inmost cases,only onemember of the familywasaffected,which is alsopuz-zling,” said theNINscientist.“Almostall theaffectedper-

sonsarefromurbanEluru, fromabout 70 per cent of the townarea. Water samples taken onSundaywerenotcontaminated,but officials are going back tocheckwater and food sources,''saidahealthofficial.V Ganesh, 24, a resident of

Dakshina Veedhi, said he wasafraid of being alone now. “Ataround7amonSunday,mypar-ents and Iwere seeingoff somerelatives. The next thing I re-member is waking up at thegovernment hospital at around11 am. My father says I had a

seizureandcollapsed.But Iwasfine by 1 pm, and returnedhome. I was lucky thatmy par-entswerenearby,”hesaid.ShakilaBegum,26,aresident

of AshokNagar, said fivemem-bersofherfamilyfellsickwithina few hours onMonday after-noon. “My seven-year-old sonvomitedafterlunch.Igavehimabath and seated himon a chair,but he collapsed immediately.Hevomitedagainandwashav-ingaseizure.IremembercallingmyhusbandbutItoofelluncon-sciousafterthat.Withinthenextfewhours,threeothermembersofourfamilyfellsickinthesameway.Wethink ithas somethingto dowith thewater because ithappened after drinkingwaterortakingabath,''shesaid.“Ihavebeenhavingbodyache.”Kiran Kumar, 44, a police

constableofEluruIIITownPoliceStation,wasondutyonMondaywhenhehada seizure. “I am fitandhealthyandIdon'thaveanyaddictions.Irememberbeingonduty, and a few hours later, Iwokeupatthegovernmenthos-pital. My colleagues told me Ishouted something and col-lapsed.Iwasinasemi-consciousstate for about twohours. Iwasfineafter that,”hesaid.“Most of the patients suf-

feredgenuineepilepticseizures.Somepeoplearesayingthatit ismasshysteria, but it isn't.Manyof thepatientscameinwithmi-nor head injuries or a black eyeas they collapsed suddenly. Butmost of themwere ready to bedischarged within a couple ofhours,” said Dr A S Ram, nodalofficerattheEluruGovernmentHospital. Many patients com-plained of gastric problems orabdominalpain.Dr Ram said the number of

patients has gone down sinceMondayevening.Chief Minister Y S Jagan

Mohan Reddy has sought aprobe into the presence of leadand nickel particles in somebloodsamples.

Vaccine listHeadded,“Therearetwoim-

portant things. First, that theseare only recommendations ofthe NEGVAC, and that the gov-ernment still has to take adeci-sion.Secondisthatthisisnotse-quential(vaccinationofprioritygroups).Whenever immunisa-tion begins, it can also happensimultaneously depending ontheavailabilityof thevaccine.”About the NEGVAC recom-

mendations, Bhushan said,“First, ithasrecommendedthatthe priority group should in-cludehealthcareprovidersandworkers,frombothgovernmentand private. Our estimation isthat this number is around onecrore... Second, frontlinework-ersshouldbegivenpriority;thisgroupwillincludestateandcen-tral police department, armedforces,homeguard,civildefenceorganisationsincludingdisastermanagement volunteers andmunicipal workers. This groupis estimated to be around twocrore.”The Health Secretary said

that the third recommendationof theexpertcommitteeis“thatthere should be age-stratifiedpriority groups” of about 27crore people. “The prioritisedage group includes persons ofage 50 years and persons lessthan 50 years associated withcomorbidities.”BhushansaidtheCentrewill

start providing additional coldstorageequipment to thestatesbeginning December 10.“Currently, in India, there are85,634equipmentforstorageofvaccines at about 28,947 coldchain points. The current coldchain is capable of storing aCovid-19 vaccine required forthefirstthreecrore,thatishealthcare and frontlineworkers.Wehavealreadyassessed theaddi-tional requirement for coldchain storage after consultingstates. The first supply of such

additional equipmentwill startfromDecember10.”Bhushan said 1.54 lakh vac-

cinators will be utilised for thedrive.“Wehavearound2.3lakh-trained vaccinators across thecountry.However,ourpriorityisalsothattheroutinehealthserv-iceincludingroutineimmunisa-tion should not be impacted.Therefore, wewill only utilise1.54lakhANMs(auxiliarynursemidwives)fortheCovid-19vac-cinationdrive,”hesaid.The Health Secretary em-

phasised that states andCentrewill develop a communicationstrategy on the vaccinationdrive. “The most importantthing is there should be trans-parent, effective and sustainedcommunicationonthevaccina-tiondrive.Goodcommunicationwith the people is crucial. Wehave to explain topeople aboutthe implementation. We also

havetopreparepeopletoacceptsomeadverseeffectsashappenswithallvaccines;wehavetotellpeople what the governmentwill be doing on adverse eventreporting,”hesaid.

PM on 5Gsaid: “India is emerging as oneof themost preferred destina-tionsformobilemanufacturing.Wehavealso comeupwith theproduction linked incentivescheme to promote telecomequipmentmanufacturing.”Declaring that “the future

that lies ahead will make thepresent system appear primi-tive”,Modi said “it is importanttothinkandplanhowdoweim-prove lives with the upcomingtechnology revolution. Betterhealthcare, better education,better information and oppor-tunities for our farmers, bettermarket access for small busi-

nessesaresomeof thegoalswecanwork towards”.“Today,weareacountryofa

billion plus phoneusers. Today,we have a billion plus peoplewith unique digital identity.Today,wehaveover750millioninternetusers…Halfof thetotalInternet users in India wereadded in the last4years.Half ofthetotalInternetusersareinourrural areas. Our digital size andourdigitalappetiteareunprece-dented.Weareacountrywherethe tariffs are the lowest in theworld.Weareoneof the fastestgrowingmobile appmarket intheworld,”hesaid.UnionMinisterRaviShankar

Prasad, in his address, said thecountrywouldsoonbe5Greadyas“testbedshavebeencreated”.Speaking at the inaugural

session, RIL chairmanMukeshAmbanicalledforpolicystepstoacceleratetherolloutof5Gserv-

ice. He said Reliance JioInfocommwould be ready tolaunchtheserviceinthesecondhalf of 2021. “In order tomain-tain this lead, policy steps areneeded to accelerate early roll-out of 5Gand tomake it afford-ableandavailable.”Ambanialsoreiteratedhisde-

mand for limiting the use of 2GmobiletelephonyservicesinIndiaand said policy interventionswereneeded to set free asmanyas300millionmobilesubscribersstill“trapped”inthe2Gera.InJulythisyear,Ambanitold

the RIL annual generalmeetingthatJiohaddesignedanddevel-oped a completely indigenous5G solution that was ready fordeployment.Thetechnologyde-veloped by Jio, he said, wouldalso be exported to other play-ersglobally.5G or fifth generation is the

latest upgrade in the long term

evolution (LTE) mobile broad-bandnetworks.Jioissaidtohaveacompleteend-to-end5Gsolu-tionreadyfordeploymentoncethe networks are in place. Thissolutioncanalsobedeployedbyother telecom operators as acompletemanagedservice.Ambani'splansforlaunching

5Gserviceby thesecondhalf ofnext year comes even as theDepartment ofTelecommunications(DoT)andtwootherprivateplayers,BhartiAirtel and Vodafone Idea (Vi),havebeennon-committalabouttheirplans for5G.The DoT was scheduled to

hold a spectrum auction in theearlymonthsduring this calen-dar yearwhere it had hoped toallocate some 5G airwaves aswell.On December 20, 2019, the

Digital CommunicationsCommission (DCC), the highestexecutivedecision-makingbodyoftheDoT,hadapprovedthesaleof 8,300MHz spectra across 22licensed spectrum access (LSA)or telecom circles. It had thendecidedtoacceptalltherecom-mendationsmade by TRAI, in-cluding keeping the reservepriceatRs5.22 lakhcrore.The auction reserve price

drew sharp responses fromBharti Airtel and Vi, both ofwhichwerebythenunderpres-sure following therulingonad-justed gross revenue (AGR). InOctober 2019, the SupremeCourtruledthatBhartiAirtelandVimust pay long-pending AGRdues, the penalty for non-pay-ment over the past years, andthe interest onpenalty for non-payment. The two companiesexpressed reservations on thehigh auction reserve price andsaid itwouldnotbepossible forthemtobuytheairwaves.

Rajasthan pollswin comes at a timewhen theruling Congress government inRajasthan is enforcing BharatBandh against the (Centre's)policies for farmers”.The Ashok Gehlot-led

Congressgovernmentwashop-ing tomaintain its good run intherecenturbanbodyelections--thepartyhadgoneontoformBoards in four of sixmunicipalcorporations, including Jaipur,Jodhpur and Kota, where pollswereheldinOctober-Novemberthisyear.For the faction-ridden

Rajasthan BJP, the results havecomeasamuchneededboost.Apart frombattling internal

bickering, the party has alsobeenunder attack from its loneally in the state, the RashtriyaLoktantrik Party (RLP), over thefarm laws. While RLP MPHanumanBeniwal ispartof theNDA at the Centre and its threeMLAs support the BJP in thestate,theRLPcontestedthepan-chayat samiti and zila parishadelections independently. ByTuesday evening, RLP's 56 pan-chayat samiti candidates hadwon from among the 582 itfielded, apart from 10 victoriesinzilaparishads.The CPI(M) won 16 pan-

chayat samiti seats, mainly inSikar, followed by the BSP onthree. Two of CPI(M)’s candi-dates also won zila parishadseats inHanumangarh.A fewCongress bigwigshad

to suffer losses. In Sikar, thehometown of Congress statepresidentGovindSinghDotasra,the Congress crossed thehalfway mark only inLaxmangarhpanchayatsamiti–among the 12 panchayat sami-tis thatwent to polls in the dis-trict. Similarly inAjmer, the turfof Health Minister RaghuSharma, BJP won 123 con-stituenciesoutof 213 in11pan-chayat samitis, compared to 72by the Congress until Tuesdayevening.Thepartyalsosufferedlosses

in the constituencies of minis-ters Shale Mohammad, AshokChanda and deputy chief whip

Mahendra Chaudhary, amongothers.Across21districts–outof33

in Rajasthan -- 12,663 candi-dates competed for 4,371 pan-chayat samiti postswhile 1,778candidates competed for 636zilaparishadposts. This is apartfromthe4040panchayatsamitiand 13 zila parishadmemberswhowereelectedunopposed.The elections for zila pra-

mukh and panchayat samitipradhan will be held onDecember 10 and elections forup-pramukh and up-pradhanwill beheldonDecember11.

Somia Sadafgot married in Muzaffarabad.Andin2010,theydecidedtosignup for a rehabilitation schemelaunchedby the thenstategov-ernment, led by NationalConference leader OmarAbdullah, for formermilitantswhowishedto return.“Even though I was an or-

phan--myfatherwasacontrac-tor inDubaianddiedbeforemybirth -- it was a queen’s life forme there. We had everything.But Majeed longed to see hismother. I camehere to fulfill hiswish.Wewere among the firstfew families that returned toKashmir,” shesays.Five years ago, Sadaf joined

Umeed, a Central Governmentinitiative to alleviate povertyamong women in J&K. Sincethen, ithasbeenasuccessstory.In 2018, Sadaf represented

“progressivewomen entrepre-neurs” from J&K in a country-wide online interaction withPrimeMinisterNarendraModi.The Government subsequentlyapproached her to motivateother women in Kupwara tolaunchself-helpgroups.Bythen,she had also completed herMasters from Maulana AzadNationalUrduUniversity.According to Sadaf, it was

duringameetingofUmeed lastmonth that a colleague, who isalso a relative, first floated theidea. “'Didi,whydon’t you con-test the DDC polls?', she askedme.Idismissedtheideawithouta thought. I knewmy husbandwouldn’t agree. But then, othercolleagues,too,startedproddingme to contest. They said theywouldhelpinmycampaign.Myrelative said she would talk tomyhusbandandconvincehim,”shesays.“As expected, my husband

dismissed the idea.Hewaspartof thetehreek(separatistmove-ment)anddidn’twanttobepartof any elections. But finally, herelented,” saysSadaf.Tohersurprise, shesays, the

road since then has beensmooth.“WhenIwenttofilemynomination papers, nobodyaskedanyuncomfortableques-tions.Ihaveallthepapers. Ihaveeven been issued a passport,”shesays.It's rare for families of mili-

tants,whohavereturnedunderthe rehabilitation policy, to begiven travel documents. AndSadaf knows that she has had abetter life in Kashmir unlikemany other Pakistani womenwhohavecrossedoversimilarly.“You can succeed under the

toughestofcircumstancesifyoushow the courage. I struggled alot initially but God has beenkind.My struggle has paid off,”shesays.Sadaf wants to develop her

constituency “likeMuzaffarabad”which,shefeels,“ismore developed”. “We havemany government schemesherebutalsoa lotof corruption.I will create awareness amongwomen about their rights,” shesays.With the laptop as her sym-

bol, Sadaf is oneof the11 candi-dates,includingaPDPleaderrep-resentingthemainstreamPAGDfront,inDrugmullaconstituencythatvotedMonday inthe fourthof the eight-phase elections. It'sa tough task. “But I amhopefulthat Iwillwin,”shesays.

FROMPAGEONE

Shah steps in, talks hit wall

Bharat Bandh: Max impact in Punjab, Haryana

meeting, Hannan Mollah,CPI(M) leader andgeneral sec-retary of the All India KisanSabha,said:“Intoday’smeeting,theHomeMinistermadeitclearthatthegovernmentwillnotre-pealthelaws.Hesaidtomorrow,the government will give inwritingtheamendmentsthatitcanmake...Thereisnoscopeforamendments,wewant repealof the laws. We don’t acceptamendments,wewantrepeal.”“Wewillletyouknowabout

thenextroundoftalksafterourmeeting at Singhu border to-morrow,” he said. “There is nochanceofameetingagain.Therewas no outcome in today'smeeting... wewill not partici-pate in tomorrow'smeeting.Theywillgivealettertomorrow.Butwhatevertheyhavedecidedtogiveus inwriting tomorrow,wewill not accept. There is noquestion of meeting again,”Mollahsaid.Speaking to The Indian

Express, Mollah said: “Themeeting was fruitless... Weunanimously toldhim thatwedon’t want amendments, wewantrepealof theselaws.Theysaidrepealisnotpossible,therearedifficulties.Wesaidwehavenootherdemand.”“Theleadersofallthefarmer

organisationswillhaveameet-ingattheSinghuborderatnoontomorrow. If the letter is onlyabout the amendments, thenthere is no question of furthertalks…rishtakhatamhojayega,”hesaid.“Nomeetingwillbeheldbe-

tween the government andfarmer leaders tomorrow,”HaryanaBhartiyaKisanUnion(BKU)presidentGurnamSingh

Chadunisaid.“Thegovernmentwillsenditsproposaltomorrow.Wewill discuss it and thende-cidewhether anothermeetingis needed. There was noprogress in the talks today. Thegovernment offered amend-ments,butwewantrepeal,”saidChaduni.Earlier in the day, confirm-

ing that Shahhad called themfor talks, farmer leaders saidtheywould demand a "yes orno"answerfromhim."Thereisnomidway.Wewill demandjust 'yes' or 'no' from HomeMinister Amit Shah at today'smeeting," farmer leaderRulduSinghMansasaidatapresscon-ferenceattheSinghuborder,ac-cordingtoaPTIreport.Thiswas Shah's firstmeet-

ingwiththefarmers.Themeet-ing,whichbegana little past 8pm,was held at the NationalAgricultural Science Complex,Pusa.OnNovember28,Shahhad

set apre-condition, saying thatthe Centrewas ready to holdtalks as soon as the farmersshifted their protest from theDelhiborders toBurariground.The farmers,mostly from theneighbouring states of Punjab,Haryana and Uttar Pradesh,havebeenprotesting atDelhi'sbordersforthelast12days.The three ministers who

havebeen leading the govern-ment's consultationswith thefarmers --AgricultureMinisterNarendra Singh Tomar, FoodMinister Piyush Goyal andMinisterofStateforCommerceand Industry Som Parkash --alsoattendedthemeeting.Besides Mollah and

Chaduni,theotherfarmerlead-

ers who were present wereRashtriya Kisan Mahasanghleader Shiv Kumar Kakka andBharatiya Kisan UnionspokespersonRakeshTikait.“Somefarmerunionsasked

why the government did notconsult thembefore bringingtheselaws.Theministersadmit-tedtheirmistakeandsaidtherewasnopoint in looking back,”Kakkasaid.Themeeting, however, ap-

pearedtohavecreatedadiscordamongtheorganisationsspear-heading the farmer protests.Joginder SinghUgrahan,whoheads theBKU (Ugrahan), saidhewas not invited, and the 13farmerleadersshouldnothaveattended themeeting. “Itwillraisemanydoubtsinthemindsofpeople,”hesaid.Addressing a press confer-

ence at Singhu before theirmeetingwithShah,farmerlead-erssaidtheywouldpressforre-peal of the laws. "We have ameeting with the HomeMinisterandwewillhavetoseewhatistheresult.Ourdemandsarethesamesincethefirstday.We have hadmanymeetingswiththegovernmentsofar,butnothing substantial has comeoutof them,"saidChaduni.Farmer leaders said they

would consider a proposal tomove their protest to JantarMantar, dependingon theout-come of their meeting withShah.The last five roundsof talks

haveremainedinconclusive,asthefarmerleadershavetakenamaximalist position and de-manded a complete repeal ofthenewlaws,rejectingthegov-ernment’s offer to reconsider

someofthekeyprovisionstoin-corporatetheirdemands.At the last meeting on

Saturday, AgricultureMinisterNarendra Singh Tomar waslearnttohaveofferedtoamendsome provisions of the farmlaws andevenagreed to give awritten assuranceonMSPandprocurement, but representa-tives of the farmer unionsspurnedtheoffer.The farmers are also de-

mandinglegalguaranteefortheminimumsupportprice-basedprocurementandwithdrawalofthe Electricity (Amendment)Bill.While some of their con-

cernscanbeaddressedthroughexecutiveorders,othersmayre-quire amendment to the laws.Forinstance,toensuresamyata(level-playing field) betweentheAPMCmandis andprivatemarkets,amendmentofSection6oftheFarmers’ProduceTradeandCommerce(PromotionandFacilitation)Act,2020maybere-quired.Similarly,atweakinthepro-

visions of the Act will be re-quired to allowdisputes to betaken to civil courts. Under theAct, Section 15 states that dis-putesarisingoutoftransactionsin the alternativemarkets can-not be entertained in regularcivil courts. Instead, thesehaveto be compulsorily referred toconciliationboards andappel-lateauthoritiesappointedbythelocalSub-DivisionalMagistratesandDistrictCollectors.

–WITHMANOJCG&AMILBHATNAGAR IN NEWDELHI;RAAKHIJAGGAINLUDHIANA;SUKHBIR SIWACH INCHANDIGARH

said thebandhwaspeaceful.Farmer unions had threat-

ened to block national high-ways and occupy toll plazasacross the country during a“chakka jam” protest from 11am to 3 pm. Security wasstepped up as protests wereheldinsomeplaces.Protestersalso blocked railway tracks atseveral places inWest Bengal,BiharandOdisha.In Delhi, apart from

AzadpurMandi,mostmarketsremainedopen.There were reports of

clashesbetweenCongressandBJP workers in Jaipur, wheremandiswereclosedbutshopsremainedopen.InMaharashtra,wholesale

markets in major cities likePune, Nashik, Nagpur andAurangabadwere shut. RetailshopsandAgricultureProduceMarket Committees (APMCs)were closed inmany parts ofthestate.

InWest Bengal, where theruling Trinamool Congressjoined the Congress and theLeft in supporting the shut-down but stayed away fromenforcing it, the responsewasmixed. Railway tracks wereblocked in several places andthere were sit-ins on majorroads.Life was hit in Bihar too

with train tracks, highwaysand inner roads teemingwithprotesters as Opposition par-tiesextendedtheirsupport. InJehanabad, themovement ofPatna-PalamuExpresswasob-structedforafewminutesun-til the bandh supporters,squatting on the tracks, werechasedawayby thepolice.Trainserviceswerealsoaf-

fected inOdisha as activists offarmers' organisations, tradeunions and political partiesheld sit-ins on tracks inBhubaneswar, Cuttack,Bhadrak and Balasore.

Elsewhereinthestate,normallife was hit withmarkets andoffices shut and Congress andLeftsupportersblockingmajorroads.Major cities in Congress-

ruled Chhattisgarh were de-sertedwithmost business es-tablishmentsclosedandpublictransportkeepingaway.In Assam, shops pulled

down shutters, protestersblockedtrafficanddemonstra-tionswerestagedbutmostof-ficeswerefunctioning.Dozensofprotestersweredetained,of-ficials said.The ruling TRS and

Opposition parties, includingthe Congress and variousunions, held protests acrossTelangana. In Tamil Nadu, theOppositionDMKanditsallies,including the Congress, heldprotestsacrossthestatebutlifewas mostly unaffected. InPuducherry, however, thebandh call evoked anear total

response.Normal lifewasaffected in

parts of Karnataka as farmersand workers hit the roads.Manyorganisationsinthestatecame out in support of thebandh. In some states, includ-ing Goa, Himachal Pradesh,Meghalaya and ArunachalPradesh, life continued unim-peded.Inastatement,theAll India

KisanSangharshCoordinationCommittee (AIKSCC) said thatover 50 lakh people partici-patedin20,000placestomaketheBharatBandh“successful”.Addressing a press confer-

enceatSinghu,GurnamSinghChaduni, BKU president,Haryana, said: “We thankeveryone for participating intheprotestandmakingitasu-per bandh. The farmersdemonstrated that we cancarryoutprotestsinapeacefulmanner.”

–WITHENS,PTIINPUTS

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3THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,DECEMBER9,2020

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HCquashesFIRagainst doctors,saysexpert nodneeded firstEXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, DECEMBER8

RULINGTHATanFIR inacaseofallegedmedicalnegligencecan-notberegisteredwithoutanex-pertopinionsupportingsuchanallegation, theDelhiHighCourthas quashed a case registeredby thepolice against doctors ofFortis Escorts Heart Instituteand directed theSuperintendent of Deen DayalUpadhyayHospital toconstitutea medical team for an expertopinion on the allegationsagainst themedicos.

A 32-year-old doctor, whowaspracticinginAustralia,diedlastyeardaysafterafterunder-going arthroscopic surgery atthe institute inDelhi.Her father in the complaint

alleged that necessary pre-op-erativeandpost-operativecarewasnotprovidedtothepatient.It was alleged that the doc-

tors completely disregardedmultiple factors which in-creased the risk of deep veinthrombosis.The doctors challenged the

registrationof casebeforeHighCourt."Undeniably, there is no ex-

pert opinion on record, whichexpressly states that the peti-tionerswerenegligentor,primafacie, appear to have beenneg-ligent in this case. Thus, thisCourt isof theviewthatthepro-cedure as prescribed in by theSupreme Court in JacobMathew v State of Punjab andAnotherhasnotbeenfollowed,"JusticeVibhuBakhrusaid intheorder.However, thecourtalsosaid

quashing of the FIR will not inanymanner impede the policefrommaking the necessary in-quiries and directed the inves-tigatingofficertodrawupaspe-

cific case for opinion and referit to the DDU hospital, whichhas been directed by it to con-stituteamedicalboardandgivean opinion within a period ofeightweeks."Depending on the opinion

renderedbytheMedicalBoard,the IOmaytakefurtherstepsasnecessary. It is also expresslyclarified that the fact that theFIR has been quashed wouldnot preclude the IO from regis-tering the same if an opinionadverse to the concerned doc-tors is issued by the MedicalBoard," thecourt said in theor-der.

As cases dip, Covid-only institutes wanttheir students to focus elsewhere tooASTHASAXENANEWDELHI, DECEMBER8

HOSPITALSANDmedicalteach-ing institutes in the city whichhadbeen converted into Covid-onlyfacilitieshaverequestedtheDelhi government to restartnon-Covidservices.Inameetingwith the Health Secretary re-cently,headsof institutesraisedtheissueof startingteachingformedical students, including thetrainingthatincludesworkinginhospitals.UndertheDelhigovernment,

tertiary care hospitals such asLok Nayak and Guru TeghBahadur aswell as other facili-ties such as Deen DayalUpadhyay,DeepChandBandhu,Burari hospital, SatyawadiHarishchandra, AmbedkarNagar and Dr Baba SahebAmbedkar hospital have beendedicatedfortreatmentofCovidpatients.ProfNandiniSharma,deanof

the Maulana Azad MedicalCollegewhichisassociatedwithLok Nayak, GB Pant and Guru

Nanak Eye Centre, told TheIndian Express "The NationalMedicalCouncil is theregulatorof our education and they havetold us to start undergraduateteaching. Professional examshavealsobeendeclaredandourteaching cannot go onwithoutthe hospital. Unless we have anon-Covid section, we cannotmoveahead.Wehaverequestedthat in case they are not able to

do so, other Delhi governmenthospitals should be used forteaching.Ifgivenpermission,wecan train our students some-whereelse."Withadropinthedailynum-

ber of Covid cases, the vacancyrate of the hospitals has dippedof late --around70%of the totalbeds earmarked for Covid pa-tients in Delhi are lying vacant.AtLokNayak,thebiggestCovid-

only facility, 1,670 of the 2,000bedsareavailable.AtGTB,1,257of 1,500bedsarevacant.InOctober,theRDAofMAMC

and associated hospitals hadwrittenalettertothedeanofthemedicalcollegeraisingconcernsoverdisruption in clinical activ-itieswiththehospitalconvertedinto a Covid-only facility. In theletter, a copy of whichwas alsomarkedtoChiefMinisterArvindKejriwal, the association high-lighted how the medical stu-dentshavenotbeenabletocom-plete their training for clinicalactivities, which is hamperingtheir academic skills.Dr B L Sherwal, medical di-

rector of Rajiv Gandhi SuperSpeciality hospital, said "Sincethe number of cases is goingdown, we have requested andthe government is also consid-ering to start services for non-Covidpatients.Allhospitalshaverequested to start clinical workforotherpatientsaswellandweare hopeful that a decisionwillbetakensoon."Thehospitalhas650 beds out of which 579 arevacant.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, DECEMBER8

WHILEUPHOLDINGtheconvic-tion of anHIV positiveman in arape case, the Delhi High Courthassetasidehisconvictionunderan attempt tomurder charge --forwhich a trial court had sen-tencedhimtoadditional10yearsimprisonment.TheHCsaidsucharulingbythelowercourtwould

alsomean that any sexual activ-itybyapersoninfectedbyHIVispunishableunderIPCsection307,notwithstanding the partner'sconsent. The trial court, in 2012,ruled theaccusedwasawarehisact could result in transmittingthelife-threateningdisease.“This is because the culpable

act under Section 307of the IPCdoesnotceasetobeoneifthevic-tim of such an act has also con-sentedtothesame.Ifthereason-

ing adopted by the learned trialcourtisextendedfurther,itwouldalsomean that a healthy personwhowillinglyengages inunpro-tectedsexualintercoursewithanHIVpositivepartnerandacquiresthesaiddiseaseasaresultthereofthat eventually proves fatal,would have committed suicideand, the HIV positive partnerwould be guilty of abetment ofsuicideunder Section306of theIPC if not guilty of committing

murderasdefinedunderSection300 of the IPC," Justice VibhuBakhrusaid.In theAugust2012order, the

trialcourtsentencedtheaccusedto10yearsinprisonforrapinghisstepdaughter,fiveyearsforcaus-ing hermiscarriagewithout herconsent,andto10yearsfortheof-fenceunder Section307. Theac-cusedwassentencedto25yearsin prison as the sentencesweredirectedtorunconsequently.

Rape by HIV positive man not attempt to murder: HC

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,DECEMBER8

REPEATEDMISSING of dead-linesforprojectsaimedattreat-ing30%ofsewagegeneratedinDelhi calls for “examination ofthe decision-making process”withintheDelhiJalBoard(DJB),the Yamuna MonitoringCommittee has told theNationalGreenTribunal(NGT).In a recent report to the

Tribunal, the two-membercommitteeformedbytheNGTsaidthedelaypromptstheneedfora “completeoverhaulof in-ternal oversight systems, andthepresentestablishmentdoesnotseemtohavethecapabilitytodothiseffectively".Itwasreferringtothedelays

caused in the Yamuna ActionPlan-III(YAP-III)projects,whichincludes setting up sewagetreatment plants at Rithala,KondliandOkhla,anddevelop-ing the Coronation Pillar STP,whichaccount for a treatmentcapacityof 279milliongallonsper day (MGD) or “30% of thetotalsewagegeneratedinDelhi.The Tribunal had directed

theDJB to complete settingupSTPs by December 2020, butthecommitteesaidinitsreportthat the projects have contin-ued tomiss the timelines andare now expected to be com-pletedbetweenJune2021andJanuary2023. “TheBoarddoesnothaveastrongprojectmon-itoringmechanismandno ac-countability is being assignedto the Project ManagementConsultants (PMC)—externalconsultants, paid fromprojectfunds—or construction agen-cies,whoareboundunder thetermsofcontracttoachievethemilestoneswithin prescribedtimelines,” thereportsaid.Itadded,“Lockdowndueto

Covid-19 and paucity of re-sourceswerebeingrepeatedly

citedasresponsibleforrevisingtimelines. The latter was notunderstandableastheNationalMission for Clean Ganga(NMCG) had assigned projectfundsinadvance.”The committee stated that

delays in the YAP-III projectswere cited as cash flow con-straints, faults on part of thecontractor and delay in treefellingpermissions.Treefellingpermission to set up STPs un-der the project took 8-14months,with some still pend-ing approval with theEnvironmentMinister, as perdetailssharedbytheforestde-partmentwiththecommittee.NMCG informed the com-

mitteethatasofMarch2020,ithasreleasedRs398.50croreforthe project, against which Rs311 crorewas used, assuringthat it would continue to re-leasefundsinadvance."DJB,onits part, clarified that thoughthere is a separate account forYAP-III projects, diversion forsalaries,etchasbeenpermittedin emergent situations. It has,however, been denied thattherewereanydelaysinreleaseoffundstothecontractorham-pering his work," the reportsaid.Thepanelnotedthatfundsshould not be diverted fromspecific project budgets andNMCG should exercise tightercontrol onmaintaining sepa-rateaccountsforYAP-IIIprojects.

ThecommitteewasreferringtothedelayscausedintheYamunaActionPlan-III (YAP-III)projects

AtLokNayak, thebiggestCovid-only facility,1,670of the2000bedsareavailable.Archive

DIP

/Sh

ab

da

rth

/D/0

08

4/2

0-2

1

Need to examinedecision-makingprocess in Jal Board,panel tells NGT

Total VacantHOSPITAL BEDS 18,807 13,209VENTILATORS 1,527 509

Dailycases Recoveries Deaths TestsDec7 1,674 3,818 63 53,207Dec8 3,188 3,307 57 75,409Total 22,310* 5,65,039 9,763 68,69,328

CORONAVIRUSIN THECAPITAL *Tota

lactivecases

TOTAL CASES

5,93,924

New Delhi

SAKSHIDAYAL&SUKRITABARUAHGURGAON,DECEMBER8

A 49-YEAR-OLD man fromPunjabwhowasparticipatinginthe protest at Tikri border diedMonday night, with police say-ing the cause of death remainsunclearasof now.He is thesev-enth person taking part in theprotests against the three farmlawstohavediedoverthelast10days— four died in an accidentandthreeof natural causes.AccordingtoJhajjarpoliceof-

ficials, themanhas been identi-fiedasMewaSinghfromPunjab’sMoga district. “Hewas declareddead on arrival at BahadurgarhGeneral Hospital. The cause ofdeathisunclear.Hiscompanionssaidhehadaheartattackbutthiscan only be confirmed after apost-mortem,” said DSP

(Bahadurgarh)PawanKumar.Singh had arrived at Tikri

border on December 1 withfarmers from Khote village.Accordingtohiscompanions,hecamefromalandlessfamilyandworkedasatailor.“Hewasfromafamilyof landlesslabourers.Hehas a son, a 20-year-old, whoworksataphotostudio.Hecameto this site in solidarity withprotesting farmers. This is whythey say ‘mazdoor-kisaan ektazindabad’,”saidParamjeetSingh,a farmer fromthevillage.At the protest site, Mewa

Singhhadbeenlivinginatrolleyalongwithother residents fromKhote. Naib Singh, also fromhis village and a member ofthe Bharatiya Kisan Union(Ugrahan), said the union hasmadeademandofRs10lakhforMewa Singh’s family from thePunjabgovernment,aswellasagovernment job forhis son.

4THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,DECEMBER9,2020

THECITYWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

HCquashesFIRagainstmanwhoenteredairportoncancelledticketNewDelhi:TheDelhiHighCourt hasquashedanFIRregistered by policeagainst a youth,who lastyearenteredIGIAirportonthe basis of a cancelledticket to see off his girl-friend. Itwas a folly of hisyouth,his counsel arguedbefore the court. JusticeVibhuBakhru,intheorder,saidit isdoubtful if theof-fence of trespass punish-ableunderSection447IPCismadeout as the IGI air-port isapublicplaceevenif the entry is restricted.“Further, the petitionerhadbeenadmittedtosaidpremises althoughunderthe belief that he had tocatchaflight,” itsaid.

2arrestedforimportingcontrabandNewDelhi:Twomenhavebeenarrestedforallegedlyimporting contrabandfromUSA through an in-ternationalcourierserviceand supplying it in thecapital. Additional CP(crime) Shibhesh Singhsaid the accused havebeenidentifiedasAvinashJain, a resident ofInderpuri, and ShashankGupta,aresidentofVasantKunj. “We received infor-mationthatsomepersonswere involved in illegalimport ofmarijuana andother contraband fromUSA by using ‘darkweb’through courier serviceand thensupplying thesein various parts of Delhi-NCR,”hesaid.ENS

BRIEFLY

DAYAFTERVISITTOSINGHU

ABHINAVRAJPUT&MAHENDERSINGHMANRALNEWDELHI, DECEMBER8

DELHI CHIEF Minister ArvindKejriwal Tuesday said he wasnotallowedtoleavehishousetosupportthefarmersandthecallforBharatbandhwhilehispartyalleged he was placed underhousearrest—aclaimdeniedbytheDelhi Police.“Iamveryhappythattheen-

tire country isone in supportofdemands made by farmers. Ihad also planned to go to theborder for 30-40minutes andexpress support, not as a ChiefMinister but as a normalman. Ithink they found out what myplanswere. Theydidnot letmego,butIprayedfortheandolan’ssuccess,” Kejriwal said afterhis party members, includingDeputy Chief Minister ManishSisodia,enteredhisresidenceintheeveningaftersittingoutsideforover twohours.AAP alleged even Kejriwal’s

personalstaffwasnotallowedtoenterhishomeinthemorning.The party’s and CM’s allega-

tionsdrewanalmost instant re-action from Delhi Police. “It isclaimedincertainsectionsonso-cialmedia that there have beenrestrictionsonthemovementoftheChiefMinister.Iwouldliketoclarify these claims are totallybaseless.Thereareabsolutelynorestrictions. TheCM is doinghisnormal engagements, there isnormalmovement.Further,heisgoingoutofhis residence forhisengagements,” said SpecialCommissionerofPolice(LawandOrder,NorthZone)SatishGolcha.DCP (North) Anto Alphonse

said: “No one has been deniedentry.Wehaveonlyaskedthemnottoallowsomanypeopleinatonce as BJP councillors are alsoprotestingrightoutsidethegateandtherecouldhavebeena lawandorderproblem.”Alphonse also tweeted a

photograph of the entrance toKejriwal’s residence: “Thisclaimof CMDelhi beingput onhousearrest is incorrect.Heex-ercises his right to free move-mentwithinthelawof theland.Apictureof thehouseentrancesays it all.”

Mayors of the three civicbodies have been on a dharnaoutside the CM’s house onFlagstaff Road, Civil Lines, sinceMonday, demanding Rs 1,300crorethattheyclaimthegovern-mentowes thecorporations.Earlier in the day, AAP na-

tional spokesperson SaurabhBharadwaj alleged the CMhadbeen placed under house arrestsincehereturnedhomeaftervis-iting farmersatSinghuMonday.Bharadwaj claimedDelhi Policewasdoingthisontheinstructionof theMinistryofHomeAffairs.

“Rightnow,noonecanmeettheDelhiChiefMinister,neithercan he come out of his resi-dence,”he claimed.Sincemorning,AAPsupport-

ersandmembersgatheredout-sidethe laneafewmetresawayfromtheCM’sresidence,whereDelhi Police had put up barri-cades, and shouted slogansagainst the police. In theafternoon, Sisodia, AAP MPBhagwantMann, several MLAsincluding Somnath Bharti andRakhiBirla,andmunicipalcoun-cillors joined theprotest.

Outside theCMhouse in theevening,Sisodiaaskedthepolice:“I am the Deputy CM and I amspeaking to the CM. Who hasgiven such orders? CMhouse ishere since past six years, thenwhysuchorders today?”Police said that everyone

wouldbeallowed togo—but inbatches. They also claimed theywerewaitingforordersfromtheCMhousetoallowthementry.Speakingtopartyworkersaf-

ter they were granted entry,Kejriwal said: “A few days ago,theCentresentaproposaltocon-vert nine stadiums into jails... Itremindedmeof Annaandolan...I knew the kisan andolanwouldbeweakened ifweallowedthis.I was under pressure, receivedmany calls, but decided thatwestood with the farmers... theCentre isveryangry.”Delhi BJP spokesperson

PraveenShankarKapoor,mean-while, said the claimsof CMbe-ing under house arrest sinceMonday afternoonwere untrueandthathewasnotsteppingoutintentionally since Tuesdaymorning. “He attended a func-tionatahotellastnight—thisex-poseshisclaim,”heclaimed.

Not allowed to leave residence to supportfarmers, says Kejriwal; police deny claim

SisodiaenteredtheCM’sresidence intheeveningaftersittingoutside for twohours; (right)policeat thespot.PraveenKhanna

ANANYATIWARINEWDELHI, DECEMBER8

THEIMPACToftheBharatbandhin thecapital Tuesdaywasmin-imal, with police keeping awatchatkeyareastoensurelawandorderismaintained.Mandisandmarketsalsoremainedopenbut somereported lowfootfall.Atleast600policepersonnel

weredeployedinNewDelhidis-trict,atkeypointswheremobil-isation was expected such asIndiaGate, JantarMantar,KrishiBhawan, Nirman Bhawan, theAgricultureMinister'shouseandoffices of political parties. "Theareawaspatrolledandnounto-ward incidentwas reported.Nogatherings were held withoutpermission," said DCP (NewDelhi)DrEishSinghal.In the East district, where

farmers are protesting at theGhazipur border that connectsthecapitalwithGhaziabad,afewprotesters blocked a portion ofNH-24 in the afternoon. DCP(East) Jasmeet Singh said itwasopenedtothepublicafterpolicepersonnel spoke to them.Hesaidnocomplaintsregard-

ingforcibleclosureofshopswerereceived from the district: “Allmarketswereopen,andnounto-wardincidentwasreported.”InSouthwestDelhi,too,mar-

kets remained open. DCP(Southwest) Ingit Pratap Singhsaid, “No complaints were re-ceived.Apartfromdistrictpolice,outsideforcetoowaspresent.Thehighway that connects DhaulaKuantoRajokriwasnotblocked.”A senior police officer said

acasehasbeenregisteredagainstDelhi Pradesh CongressCommittee president AnilChaudharyandhissupportersforprotesting at ITO, at IP Estatepo-licestationunderIPCsections188(disobediencetoorder),269(neg-ligentact),270(malignantact).

Markets,mandisreport few customersAt Azadpur mandi, while

most traderswere on strike fol-lowingadecisionbytheadmin-istration to join the bandh insupport of farmers' demands,some traders arrived, hoping tomake sales from their previousdays’produce.Sheshe Rao (53), a trader of

guavas said, “There are no cus-tomers today.We are trying tosell older guavas.” VijayAggrawal (61), whowas sellingoranges, said, “Hardly any cus-tomerscametoday.Wehavenotevenunloadedthe trucks.”Similar scenes were wit-

nessed at Ghazipur and Okhlamandis, which also saw a fewtraders set up shop. Azadpurmandi chairperson AdilAhmed Khan told The IndianExpress, “Trade at Azadpur,Okhla and Ghazipur mandiswas largely shut. Some traderstried to sell their producewhich arrived at night, buteven they shut by noon.”Sincetheprotestsbegan, the

numberofvegetablesandfruitsat Azadpur, Asia’s largest pro-ducemarkethasnearlyfallenbyhalf—fromaround12,000met-rictonnesto6,000-7,000metrictonnes on an average— leadingtosomefluctuation inprices.Atmarketsacrossthecity,as-

sociations saidsaleswerehit.Ashwani Marwah, general

secretary of the Traders'Association Lajpat Nagar, said,“Footfall was less compared tolastTuesday,probablyduetotheprotests happening in variouspartsofDelhilikeITO,CMHouse.Moreover, customers fromNCRdidnot comeat all due to issuesat the border.” Sanjay Bhargava,presidentof theChandniChowkSarvVyaparMandal,said:“Therewerenocustomers,zerofootfall.”Atul Bhargava, president of

the New Delhi Traders’Association of Connaught Place,said,“Maybepeopledidnotwishtoget stuck in traffic jamsdue totheprotests.Salesweredownbyaround50-60%.” KKBalli, presi-dent of Gandhi Nagar markettraders’ association, said:“Transporters are not bookinggoodsandarewaitingandwatch-inghowthesituationunfolds.”

Income and insecurity: Why farmers acrosseconomic spectrum are at border protestsSOURAVROYBARMANNEWDELHI, DECEMBER8

“WEAREtrapped.”Inthreewords,SarabjitSingh

capturesthecrisisthathascometogripfarmersinPunjab,anoth-erwise frontrunner state interms of farm productivity andincome. Andwith the promul-gation of the three farm ordi-nances, anguish has morphedinto fear, drawing thousands offarmers,largelytheJatSikhpeas-antry, to thecapital’sborders.“We don’t grow rice and

paddyoutofanyspecial loveforthese crops.We grow these astheybringa semblanceof secu-rity that we will not be short-changed,”Sarabjit,whoco-ownsseven acres of land with hisbrother in the Fatehgarh Sahibdistrict, said.Thesocio-economiccompo-

sition of the farmers railingagainst the legislations is in linewith Punjab’s landholding pat-terns. According to agriculturecensus 2015-16 data, 33.1 percent landholdingsinPunjabaresmall andmarginal (less than 1hectareto2hectares),while33.6per cent are classified as semi-medium (2-4 hectares). Onehectareequalsabout2.5acres.Andso,thecapitalfindsatits

doorstepfarmerswhoarenotincompletepenuryordemandingloanwaivers. These are insteadfarmerslargelymanagingbreakeven, but fearful of changes intheprevailingarrangementsow-ing topastexperiences.“Amultinational chips com-

pany signed a contract promis-ingtoprocurepotatoatRs10perkilo. The promise was brokenwithinayear,withthecompanypaying Rs 4 per kilo. And a yearlater, as potato prices crashed,they chose to buy potato fromthemarketatmuchlowerprices.TodayIamindebt.Farmersdon’tbreaktheiragreements,thecor-

poratesdo,”saidGurmailSingh,also a resident of FatehgarhSahibdistrict, indicatingtheap-prehension that contract farm-ing,whichthenewlawsaimstoencourage,bring.The 65-year-old,whose two

sons are also into farming, saidrice produce per acre stands ataround20-25quintals,whiletheMSP was fixed at Rs 1,888 perquintal. He owns four acres ofland. “After taking into accountthe finishing cost at themandi,the payment per quintal comesto around Rs 1,850,” he said,pointingoutthattheriseinMSPcanhelpfarmersbreak-even,notmakeanyprofit.The stagnant income of

Punjabfarmershasalsobeenat-tributed to the absence of a di-versified crop pattern andoverdependence on paddy andwheatproduction.Farmers point out that they

hesitate to shift to other formsof cultivation due to a numberof factors:Assured incomethatpaddy and rice bring; the un-certainty attached to othercropsandthe lackofMSPcover

onthem;thepastrecordof cor-porates often going back ontheirword.“ThemandisysteminPunjab

is very robust. That helps thefarmersstayafloat.ThereisMSPonmakkiaswellbutnoonegetsthat. Promise MSP on othercropsandfarmerswillgrowthataswell.Theentiresystemissuchthatwefindourselvestrapped,”said Sarabjit Singh, his wordsseconded by Jasbir Kaur fromPatiala, part of a contingent ofwomen farmers who havestarted trickling insteadily.Thesentimentagainstcorpo-

rates andmultinationals runsacross farmers both affiliatedand unaffiliated to unions,largely owing to their lived ex-periences.Said Karnail Singh from

Patiala,“Takefullcreammilkforexample.Wesellittocompaniesmuch below themarket rate ofRs 55 per kilo. This implies thatthe companies are spending alarge sum in processing thatmilk.Checktheirrecordsandseeif that is true. We are beingcheatedateverystep.”

Gurvinder Singh,who’s pur-suingaPhDinPunjabi literaturefrom Patiala University, under-lined how the state has familieswithout any source of incomeotherthanfarming.“Fromwhat-evertheyearn,familiesalsoneedto cover the cost of employinglabourers, educating children,marrying off daughters, health-care. Insomecases, theyneedtopayfordieselaswell.Whataboutour own labour value? Farmingisalsosheerphysical labourthatpeople,whocomplainthatwedonotpayincometax,cannotevenimagine,”hesaid.Jeet Singh, who travelled

fromHasanpurKhurdtoSinghuborder, said outsiders are oftendismissive of the arthiyas, un-awareof the traditional ties thatthis community has been shar-ing with farmers. “This holdsmoresignificanceincaseofsmallandmarginal farmers and land-lesslabourers.Inthezealtopushthis narrative on exploitation, itis often overlooked how closelythe lives of arthiyas and farmersare tied. To give just one exam-ple, generationsof farmershave

been able to marry off theirdaughtersduetotimelyfinancialassistance rendered by arthiyas.They readily pay in advancewheneverrequired,”hesaid.JeevanSingh (72), alsoa res-

identof Gurdaspurdistrict, saidhe finds the suggestion that anopenmarketwill allow farmersto sell their produce at a betterprice incredulous. “Do you ex-pectsmallandmarginalfarmersto sell their produce inGujarat?They will not be able to beareventhetransportationcost.Thenew lawwill weaken theman-dis, theirbiggest safetynet.Andlifting of the curbs on hoardingwill jack up food prices and thepoor and the vulnerablewill betheworsthit,”hesaid.Underoneof threenewlaws

— Farmers’ Produce Trade andCommerce (Promotion andFacilitation) Ordinance, 2020—the sale and purchase of farmproduceoutsidemandisshallat-tractnomarket fee, cessor levy.“A similar arrangementwas

implemented in Bihar back in2006.Today,farmersinBiharareselling their produce at half therate as compared to Punjab.Make nomistake, Punjabis arenotprotesting justbecauseonlytheywillbeaffectedbythenewlaws. Ye Punjab sirf apna faydanahisochta,”JeevanSinghadded.The young men also take

painstounderlinehowfarming,for a vastmajority of Punjab, ismore than just a livelihood, asentimentbuttressedbythede-cision of influential Punjabivoices, fromtheworldof enter-tainment to sports, to standfirmlybehind theprotesters.“Punjab ka har parivar kisan

parivar hai (every family inPunjab is a family of farmers).Andwewill unhesitatingly joinfarming.We takepride in farm-ing.Andourfearsandapprehen-sions are rooted in this verypride,”saidHarmanSingh,a22-year-oldfromGurdaspurdistrict.

0-50 Good

ANANDVIHARVeryPoor

0 500

400AQIPM:2.5

SIRIFORTVeryPoor

0 500

SHADIPURVery Poor

0 500 500

51-100 Satisfactory 101-200 Moderate 201-300 Poor 301-400 VeryPoor 401-500 Severe

DWARKA- SECTOR8Severe

0

401AQIPM:2.5

361AQIPM:10

376AQIPM:2.5

FORECAST: Dec9Mainlyclearsky.Moderate foginthemorning

S K Y WA T C H

MAX:261.7°Cabovenormal

MIN:101.1°Cabovenormal

AtSinghuborder,Tuesday.GajendraYadav

AtAzadpurmandi,Tuesday.Most tradersherewereonstrikeafteradecisionto jointhebandh.GajendraYadav

Protester dies at Tikri,heart attack suspected

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, DECEMBER8

THREENEWvehicles appearedon Tuesday amidst the tractorsandtrolleysofprotestingfarmersatDelhi’s Tikri borderonRohtakroad—vansservingascentresforablooddonationcamp.Throughout the day,

volunteersamongtheprotestingfarmerslinedupoutsidethevansto donate blood. Among themwas 23-year-old HasanpreetSingh from Thuliwal village inBarnala district. “The trolley inwhichwe’re staying is quite faraway from here but my friendhadvolunteeredtodonatebloodand toldme about it. I thought

I’ll also volunteer since it couldhelpsomeone,”hesaid.Between 11.30 am and 2.30

pm, the vanwhich Hasanpreethadgone tohadreceived54do-nations.Harvinder Singh, chairman

of Khalsa Mission CharitableTrust,Bhatinda,whichisorgan-ising the camp, said therewerearound300donationsacrossallthreevansby3pm.“Inthebeginningwhenpro-

testers had broken through thebarricades, there were quite afewwhowereinjured.Therearealsomanyelderlyprotesters.Wehavebeenprovidingmedicalfa-cilities for them. But as theprotest is growing, we alsothoughtthiswouldbeaproduc-

tive way to help people and aswell as counter statements likeprotesters are terrorists. We

want to show that our blood isfor this country,”hesaid.Afterthefirstdayofthecamp

at Tikri border, the organiserswill be conducting the camp atSinghuborderonWednesday.

As farmers fall ill,medical aid at handAt theDelhi-Ghaziabadbor-

der, several farmers, exposed tothewinter, are downwith cold,cough and slight fever. HaseepAhmed (40), a farmer fromRampur said, “Because of thetemperaturechangeandthepol-lutedair,Ihaveacoughandchestpain.” He said some farmershave returned home as theywere starting to feel unwell. Heaskedhisrelativesathometogethimparacetamolandantibiotics.A group from the Sahibabad

Vidhan Sabha also set upmed-

ical facilities at the site, includ-ing a pulse oximeter so theycould check if any of those feel-ingunwellhavelowoxygenlev-els.VibhaSingh,arepresentativeof the Vidhan Sabha said, “Wesetupastallhereforafewhoursevery afternoon.Many farmershaveconsultedusforcough,coldandweaknessandwegivethembasic medicines like paraceta-mol, DCold total, Cetirizine andVitamin tablets freeof cost.”She added that farmers are

exposed to pollution and coldweatherandtheirmealsarenotas regular.The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara

Management Committee hasalso set up a pharmacy provid-ing freemedicines to farmers.

3vansservedascentresfortheblooddonationcampatTikri

At protest site, 300 volunteers line up to donate blood

Gurgaon:Around 100 peo-ple,includingaRajyaSabhaMP from CPI(M)were de-tainedbyGurgaonPoliceaf-ter they started a demon-stration near BilaspurChowk on NH-48. DCP(Manesar) Nitika Gahlautsaid, “Wehadtoeventuallydetainthemaround1pmasthey started to get agitatedandbegantomovetowardsthehighwaywiththeinten-tionofblockingit." GahlautconfirmedthatRajyaSabhaMPKKRageshwas amongthose detained. The othersincludedworkers of CITU,All India Kisan Sabha, andanganwadiworkers.ENS

Rajya SabhaMP among100 detained

Capital open onBharat bandhbut footfall low

New Delhi

GOVT&POLITICS 5WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,DECEMBER9,2020

TATA INSTITUTE OF FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH

NOTICEHEADQUARTERS SOUTH WESTERN COMMAND,

JAIPUR REGISTRATION AS APPROVED ASCCONTRACTS

1. Applications are invited from interested suppliers forregistration as ASC Contractors for annual contracts forsupply of fresh articles like Mutton, Poultry, Eggs, Fish,Vegetables, Fruits, Potatoes, Onion, Garlic, Condiments,Firewood, Charcoal, Limequick, Ice (Machine Made),Bread (White), Whole Wheat Bread, Green Fodder,combined items/ all items combined etc and other itemslike Wheat Atta Whole Meal, Dalia, Suji, Flour, Civil HiredTransport (CHT) to include Passenger Carrying Vehicles,(Light vehicles including ambulances) & Buses, LoadCarrying Vehicles, (JCB, Earth Movers, Cranes, Tractorswith implements) and Hay Baled for animals etc at thefollowing stations:-Bathinda, Bikaner, Suratgarh, Sri Ganganagar, HisarLalgarh Jattan, Faridkot, Fazilka, Birdhwal, MFFR NorthCamp Including Delivery Point at Bhuriya Dhora and EastCamp, Sirsa, Nal, Abohar, Jaipur including Delivery Pointat Niwaru, Kota, Alwar, Bhisiana, Bharatpur, Dholpur, Unit732 Nahar Camp and any other station which comesunder jurisdiction of HQ South Western Command.

2. Annual value of contracts range approximately from Rs 1Lakh to 6 crores. Payments of bills is made on fortnightlybasis and e-tenders are invited through online tentativelyfrom JULY to SEPTEMBER and NOVEMBER to MARCHevery year.

3. Interested parties may submit application on a plain paperaddressed to MG ASC HQ South Western Command, Pin-908546, C/o 56 APO. Any additional information may beobtained through e-mail ID sandh.09030@gov.in and teleNo 0141-2249261 during working days and hours.

Sd/-MG ASC

HQ South Western CommandJaipur

davp 10602/11/0029/2021

DELHICONFIDENTIAL

DELIVERING A GOOGLYRAJASTHANCMAshokGehlot’sallegationthattheBJPwascon-spiring to topplehis governmenthaspromptedBJP leaders toquestionGehlot’s ability to lead theCongress in aunited fash-ion.UnionministerGajendraSinghShekhawat,whowasattheforefrontinattackingGehlotduringtherecentcrisisinRajasthanCongress, tweetedthatGehlot’s chargesare linkedto“internalconflicts and factionalism”.However, someBJP leaders admitprivatelythatthepartyleadershipisnotreallyconfidentaboutcohesivenessof itsownleadersinthestate.

ACTION TIMEWITHAHMEDPatel,whousedtocoordinatetheCongress’sen-gagementswithotheroppositionparties,nomore,itseemstheGandhishavedecidedtocarryoutthetaskthemselves.AtleasttwoOppositionleaderssaidtheyarenowengagingdirectlywithSonia andRahulGandhi. TheCongress andmanyoppositionparties had comeoutwith a joint statement earlier, declaringtheirsupportforTuesday'sBharatbandhcalledbyfarmergroups.Oneleadersaidthey initiallydidnotknowwhotoreachouttoin theCongress, as the initialpointof contacthadalwaysbeenPatel.ButRahulrespondedswiftly,andthejointstatementwasissuedonSunday.

LOCATION HUNTINGHOMEMINISTERAmit Shah'smeetingwith a select groupofrepresentativesfromfarmers'unionswasdelayedduetosomeconfusionoverthevenueamongfarmerleaders.ItislearntthatthemeetingwassupposedtotakeplaceatShah’sresidence,butthevenuewaslatershiftedtoNASCcomplex,Pusa.Somefarmleaders couldn’t reach thevenue.RulduSingh, a farmer leaderfromPunjabwhowasinvitedforthemeeting,hadtoarguewithsecurity personnel at the ICAR (IndianCouncil of AgriculturalResearch)gate.Confusedoverthevenue,hewentback,onlytoreturn after about half-an-hour, escortedby thepolice to therightlocation.

SCRAPPINGOFROSHNIACT

In a first, ArmyChief on visit toUAE, Saudi

Task force to beset up to boostQatar’s Indiainvestment

ARUNSHARMAJAMMU,DECEMBER8

ADAYafter it fixedDecember16tohear theUTgovernment’s pe-tition seeking review of itsOctober9judgmentscrappingthe2001 J&K State Land (Vesting ofOwnership toOccupants) Act orRoshniAct – leading to cancella-tionof all transferof state landtoprivateindividualsunderthelaw–the JK&HighCourtonTuesdaybroughtforwardthedateofhear-ing toDecember11after the ad-ministrationcitedurgency.

TheCBIiscurrentlyinvestigat-ing into alleged irregularities inlandtransfersunderthelaw.On Tuesday, Additional

Advocate General AseemSawhney toldthedivisionbenchof Chief Justice GitaMittal andJusticeRajeshBindalthatthemat-ter neededurgent intervention.“WeareimplementingtheRoshnijudgment... but at the same timethere is disquiet among themasses... poor and landless peo-ple...Therearebigsharks,influen-tialpeople,bigbusinessmen,bu-reaucrats, police officers andpoliticians,wewant tosegregate

them...”hesaid.He said the CBI should start

probing thebig encroachers firstand not reinvestigate cases al-ready probed by the Anti-CorruptionBureau,whichprevi-ouslyhandledthematter. Fixingthegovernment’sreviewpetitionand a PIL filed by Prof SKBhallafor hearing onDecember 11, thebenchsaid,“Wedonotwantlop-sidedinvestigationsanditshouldbefair...’’ ItaskedCBItofileanac-tiontakenreportinasealedcoveronthenextdateofhearing.

FULLREPORTONwww.indianexpress.com

After J&K cites urgency, HCfixes Dec 11 to hear review plea

BASHAARATMASOODSRINAGAR,DECEMBER8

FORMER J&K chiefminister andPeoplesDemocratic Party (PDP)presidentMehboobaMufti onTuesdaysaidthatthepolice“onceagain” preventedher from leav-ingherhouse.Muftiwas scheduled to visit

Budgamtomeetfamiliesevictedfromtheirforestdwellings.As Mufti was to leave her

FairviewresidenceinSrinagar,thegateswerelocked,thePDPstated.“PDP president Mehbooba

Muftiwasillegallydetainedatherresidence in Srinagar andnot al-lowedtomoveout,”thepartysaidin a release. “Thepolice and civilofficersonthespotcited‘ooperke

orders’(ordersfromabove)forthisillegalmove”.“Illegaldetentionhasbecome

GOIs favourite go tomethod formuzzlinganyformofopposition,”Muftitweeted.“I’vebeendetainedonceagain

becauseIwantedtovisitBudgamwherehundredsoffamilieswereevicted from their homes. GOIwants to continue inflicting op-pression&zulmonthepeopleofJ&K without any questionsasked.”

‘Illegally detained’, stopped fromleaving home, says Mehbooba

MehboobaMufti

NewDelhi: In a signal of India’sstrengtheningdefencetieswithGulf nations, General MMNaravane on Tuesday left for asix-day tour of the UAE andSaudi Arabia — He is the firstIndianArmychieftovisitthetwonations inanofficial capacity.The visit comes close on the

heels of Union External AffairsMinister S Jaishankar’s trip toBahrainandUAE inNovember.Officials said the Army chief

was scheduled to depart on thetour onMonday, but could notdue tounexpectedchanges.The visit, the Army said, “is

historic in the sense that it willbe the first timean IndianArmyChief is visiting theUAEandtheKingdomof SaudiArabia”.AccordingtotheArmystate-

ment, the Army chief is sched-uledtostayinUAEonDecember9 and 10, where he is slated tocall on senior military officialswhere hewill discuss avenuesfor enhancing India-UAE de-fence relations.SinceFridayandSaturdayare

officialholidaysinmostGulfna-tions,thoughtheArmychiefwillbe in the region, his official en-gagements in Saudi Arabia, thesecond legof hisvisit, are slatedforDecember13and14. ENS

New Delhi: Prime MinisterNarendraModi andQatar’s EmirSheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-ThanionTuesdayagreedtosetupaspecialtaskforcetofacilitatein-vestments by the QatarInvestmentAuthority into India,inanattempttoattractcapitalintothecountry’seconomy.Duringatelephonicconversa-

tion, the two leaders also lookedatpotentialQatariinvestmentsinthe entire energy value chain inIndia and reviewed recent posi-tivedevelopments in the invest-mentandenergysectors.Theydiscussedthe“robustco-

operation”betweenbothsidesininvestment flowsandenergyse-curity, and decided to “create aspecialtaskforcetofurtherfacili-tate investments by QatarInvestmentAuthorityintoIndia”,theMEAsaid.Modiconveyedhisfelicitations to the emir for theforthcomingQatari national daywhile Al-Thani appreciated theenthusiasm with which theIndian community inQatar par-ticipatesinthecelebrations. ENS

DEBRAJDEBAGARTALA,DECEMBER8

TWODAYS after a group of BJPsupporters raised slogansagainst Chief Minister BiplabDeb in the presence of party'sobserver for Tripura, VinodSonkar, during his visit toAgartala,DebonTuesdayaskedpeople of the state to gather atAstabal Grounds here onDecember 13 and give their“mandate” on whether heshouldstayasCM.“If people want me to go, I

willtellmypartyhighcommandlikewise and leave,” he told themediaDeb’s comments come two

daysafteragroupofpartywork-ers raised slogans of “Biplabhatao, BJP bachao (RemoveBiplab, save BJP)”. Sonkar latersaid that all is well in the party,and that BJP’s support base hasgrownin thestate.Earlier, inOctober,agroupof

dissident BJPMLAs, led by for-mer state minister Sudip RoyBarman, had gone to Delhi andmet party president J P Nadda.ThevisitwasseenasanattempttooverthrowDebasCM,butthelegislators later denied this andsaidtheyhadgonetodiscussor-ganisational issues.On Tuesday, an emotional

Deb said: “I want to hear fromthe people if theywantme re-moved. I will go to AstabalMaidan at 2 pm on Sunday,December 13. I invite everyoneto come and tell mewhether Ishould go or stay. I ask 37 lakhpeopleofTripuratotellmewhatto do. I will abide bywhatevermandateyougiveme...”Debalsosaidhehasgotmore

thanwhathehadaskedfor, and

that the people of Tripura“blessed” himwith the chanceto serve as a legislator, and asChiefMinister.“MyonlypassionistoturnTripuraintoIndia'sbeststate.... Somepeopleat thestateguest house raised slogans of‘Biplab Hatao, Tripura Bachao’the other day. It painedme. So Iwant to know if everyone feelsthe same way. If yes, I will dolikewiseand leave.”Heclaimedthatsincehetook

over as CM in March 2018,Tripurahasmovedahead fasterthan all states of the Northeast.Claiming thatheworksdayandnightwithwhat he calls “ModiMantra”, Deb said his govern-ment doesn’t subscribe to thestyle of “unsystematic” gover-nance, as was seen under the

previousLeft Front.Deb became Tripura's first

BJPCMaftertheNDAdecimatedthe CPI(M), winning 44 of 60seats in 2018 Assembly polls toend25yearsofLeftFrontregime.

BiplabDeb

ALTHOUGHBIPLABDeb’spositionisnotunderacloud–atleastforthetimebeing,accordingtocentralBJPleaders–re-peatedstatementsfromhisrivalsintheparty,visitbyateamofpartyrebelstothenationalcapital inOctober,andSunday’sin-cidenthavecreatedconfu-sionanddoubtsinthemindsofpartyworkersonwhetherDebenjoysthebackingof thenationalleadership.Therewere,thus,“suggestions”thatDebshouldclearsuchdoubts,sohedecidedtogotothepeople.

Deb’scalltoendconfusion,gainclarityE●EXPLAINE

D

CMseeks ‘mandate’:Will go if peoplewant

‘PAINEDBYBIPLABHATAOSLOGANS’

New Delhi

6THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,DECEMBER9,2020

GOVT&POLITICSWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEBENGALURU,DECEMBER8

THE BJP government inKarnatakaonTuesdaymanagedtogeta landownershipreformsBillpassedinthestatelegislativecouncil with support of the op-position JD(S) even as theCongressvotedagainst theBill.TheKarnatakaLandReforms

(Amendment) Bill, 2020 hadearlier been stalled in theCouncildespitethelegislativeas-sembly – the lower house –clearing it. TheBill sought to re-move Sections 79 A, B and C oftheKarnatakaLandReformsAct,1961,whichrestrictedfarmlandpurchases only to agriculturistsandto thoseearningbelowRs2lakhperannum.On Tuesday, the Bill, which

also received the support of theJD(S) in the assembly, waspassedinthe75-membercoun-cil,with37votes in its favour.TheBJPisthelargestpartyin

the council with 31members,while the Congress has 28 andthe JD(S) 14. There are fourIndependentmembers.TheBillwaspassedintheas-

semblyinSeptemberevenastheopposition Congress staged awalkout, calling ita “deathwar-rant” for farmers. It couldnotbetakenup for voting in the coun-cil in September as the sessionwasadjournedbytheChairmanwithdiscussionsnotconcluded.Section79AoftheKarnataka

LandReformsAct,1961,whichisnow repealed, restricted farmland purchase to persons earn-ing below Rs two lakh per an-numwhile79Brestrictedrightsto purchase of agricultural landto agriculturists and Section 79Callowedinvestigationsofviola-tionsofSection79AandBofthelaw.OnJuly13,thestategovern-ment had promulgated anOrdinancewiththeassentof the

Governor to amend laws re-stricting the sale of agriculturalland.State Revenue Minister R

Ashok,whopilotedtheBill, saidduringdiscussions that the sec-tionssoughttoberepealedwereonlyfacilitatingcorruptionintheoffices of land registrars andtehsildars while not benefitingfarmers wanting to sell theirland.Meanwhile, the BJP has

movedano-confidencemotionagainst the council Chairman,who was elected during thetenure of the Congress-JD(S)coalition government between2018and2019. It issuedanoticetomove themotion in what isseen as an effort to ensuresmooth passage of several Billsthat the party is proposing forclearanceaftergaininganupperhand in theCouncil. Theparty'sstrengthwent up from27 to 31after theNovemberpolls.In themonsoon session, the

BJP government suffered set-backs in the council. A Bill forlabour lawreformwasdefeatedandthelandreformandfarmre-formlawswerenottakenupde-spite the assembly passing theBills. BJP sources said the rulingpartyishopingtogetaChairmanof its choice in the council withsupport of the JD(S). It also ex-pectsthetheoppositionpartytohelp inpassing theBills.“The JD(S) may not vote in

favouroftheAPMCamendmentAct but theymay abstain fromvoting and this will help us,” aBJPMLCsaidonTuesday.The BJP has also proposed

re-introduction of theKarnataka Prevention ofSlaughter and Preservation ofCattleBill,whichwaspassed inthe legislature in 2010 whenthe BJP was in power but wasshelvedin2013bytheCongressafter it did not receive theGovernor's assent.

Left supportersblockarail trackat Jadavpurrailwaystation inKolkata. ParthaPaul

Commuters inPatna.Biharsawprotestsonrailwaytracksandroads.PTI

TheGhumarMandimarketinPunjab’sLudhiana.Theindustrial townsawmanycomeoutonroadstobackthebandh.GurmeetSingh

SUKHBIRSIWACHCHANDIGARH,DECEMBER8

ADELHI-BASED lawyer andBJPsupporterswereamongadelega-tionofabout20farmerswhohadgone tomeetUnionAgricultureMinisterNarenderSinghTomarinNewDelhi in support of threefarmlawsonMonday.Many of them run farmers

producer organisations (FPOs)withmembersrangingfromlessthan 100 to fewhundreds. In amemorandumtoTomar,theyhadsupported three laws butwithamendmentsassuggestedbythefarmerunionsforcontinuanceofMSPandmandi system.Amongthosewhohadsignedthemem-orandumisPushpenderChauhan.Chauhan told The Indian

Express that he is a practicinglawyer in Delhi courts and haslived in thenational capital since1985.“IambasicallyfromBaghpatdistrict of Uttar Pradeshwhere Ihave around 3.5 acres of land. Idon’t belong to anyorganisationbutIhadparticipatedinanagita-tionrelatedtoIndianlanguagesin

1985.Wehavegiven conditionalsupporttothenewfarmlawslikethemandi system should con-tinueandthereshouldbeequalityinthefeestructureinsideandout-sidethemandis,”saysChauhan.Kanwal SinghChauhan,who

ledthedelegation,isfromAternavillageofSonipatdistrict.HewasconferredthePadmiShri in2019forhiscontributioninthefieldofagriculture. Chauhan says hisProgressiveFarmerClub,Sonipat,has50members.Alawgraduate,Chauhan fought the parliamen-tary election as NCP candidatefromSonipatin1999andsecured1,948votes.Alawgraduate,DeepakRajain

fromDhaur villageof Jhajjar dis-trict,admitsheisassociatedwithBJP and is a follower of PrimeMinister NarendraModi sincelong.AccordingtoRajain,hisFPODhaur Kisan Sangthan has 74members.“Ican’tsparetimefrommylawpractice. IhavefouracresoflandbutIdoagricultureineightacresoflandofmyunclestoowhoareingovernmentjobs...”

FULLREPORTONwww.indianexpress.com

RAAKHIJAGGALUDHIANA,DECEMBER8

THEMEETINGof 13membersofSanyuktKisanMorchawithUnionHome Minister Amit Shah onTuesday sparked a controversywith Joginder Singh Ugrahan,president of Bharti KisanUnion(Ugrahan), the largest farmers’unionofPunjab,sayingthefarmerleadersshouldnothaveacceptedthe invite for the informal talksadaybefore the scheduledofficialconsultations.Speaking from New Delhi,

Ugrahansaid,“Afewfarmerunionswere invited by Union HomeMinisterAmit Shah for informaltalks. Theyshouldnothavegone.InNovember,whenDelhiMorchahadjuststarted,Iwasinvitedforin-formaltalkswiththeUnionHomeMinisterbyBJPleaderSurjit Jyani,butIhadrefusedandsaidthatIwillcomeonlywhenallfarmerunionsareinvited”.Ugrahan said hewas not in-

vited to themeetingwith Shahthistime.Statingthattherewasnoneed

forthetalksbeforeofficialconsul-tations,hewarned,“It(themeet-ing)willraisemanydoubtsinthemindsofpeople.”BKU (Ugrahan) and Kisan

Mazdoor SangharshCommittee(KMSC) arenot part of the com-monfrontof30farmerunions inPunjabthoughtheyhavebeenco-ordinatingwiththem.When theprotests shifted to

Delhiandvariousunionsfromallover India formed the SanyuktMorcha on December 5, BKU(Ugrahan)andKMSCstayedaway.Sources revealed that theof-

fice of HomeMinister contactedtheSanyuktMorchaand“invited5-7members for informaltalks”.TheMorcha lateragreedto sendadelegationof13members.JagmohanSingh,presidentof

BKU (Dakaunda), andpart of theSanyuktMorcha, expresseddis-mayatUgrahan’sstatement.“Wewere not aware that BKU(Ugrahan)wasnotinvitedforthisinformalmeeting.However,theyshouldhavecontactedusinsteadof approaching themedia.Weagreedtosend13membersafterdiscussions”.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,DECEMBER8

THECENTRE is “fullycompetent”tonotify“anyland(notnecessarilyanexistingroad/highway) forac-quisition,toconstructahighwaytobe a national highway”, theSupreme Court ruled onWednesdaywhileupholdingno-tifications issued under theNationalHighwaysAuthority ofIndia(NHAI)Act,1956,foracquisi-tionoflandforconstructionoftheeight-laneChennai-Krishnagiri-Salemnationalhighway.Thehighway is to be built as

part of the BharatmalaPariyojna–Phase-Iproject.Allowing an appeal byNHAI

and theCentre against aMadrasHigh Court judgment quashingthe notifications, a bench ofJusticesAMKhanwilkar,BRGavaiand Krishna Murari said that“there is nothing in theConstitutionwhichconstrictsthepower of Parliament tomake alawfordeclaringanystretch/sec-tionwithin the State not being aroadoranexistinghighway,tobeanationalhighway”.On theotherhand, the court

said,“provisionsintheConstitutionunambiguously indicate that thelegislative as well as executivepower regardingallmatters con-cerning and connected with ahighwaytobedesignatedasana-tionalhighway,vestsinParliament,andthelawstobemadebyitinthatregard. For the same reason, thecomplete executive power alsovestswithintheUnion.”TheCentral government, the

benchpointedout,“isfreetocon-struct/build anewnational high-waykeeping inmind theobliga-tionsithastodischargeunderPart

IVoftheConstitutionforsecuringa social order and promotion ofwelfareof thepeople in the con-cerned region, to provide themadequatemeansoflivelihood,dis-tributematerialresourcesasbestto subserve the common good,createnewopportunities,soastoempowerthepeopleof thatareaincludingprovisioningneweco-nomic opportunities in the areathroughwhichthenationalhigh-waywouldpassandthecountry’seconomyasawhole.“Theavailabilityof ahighway

inanypartof theStatepaveswayfor sustainabledevelopmentandforoverallenhancementofhumanwell-being, including to facilitatetheinhabitantstheretoenjoyade-centqualityof life, creationof as-sets(duetonaturalincreaseinmar-ketvalueoftheirproperties)andtofulfil their aspirationsof good lifebyprovisioningaccess tonewerandpresent-dayopportunities.”The project had comeunder

challengeongroundsthattheno-tification issued under Section3(A) of theNHAI Act could onlyhave been done after environ-mentalclearance.Itwasalsocon-tended that theCentre couldnotacquireopengreenfieldsforcon-structionofnationalhighway,andthatonlyapreexistingstatehigh-waycouldbedeclaredassuch.TheHCupheld theargument

that prior environmental clear-ancewasneeded for issuing thenotificationunderSection3(A)forthe project, 10 km of which isscheduledtopassthroughthefor-estregion.Overrulingthis,theSCsaidthe

notification isonlyanexpressionof interest to acquire the desig-natedland,andnopriorenviron-mentalclearancewasneededbe-foreissuingit.

A FOUR-HOUR ‘Bharat Bandh’,calledbyagitating farmers seek-ing repealof thenewagriculturelaws,wasobservedpeacefully inseveral areas across the country.The IndianExpress takes a lookattheresponseinsomeofthestates.

PUNJAB: Farmers assembled athighways and other key roadssincemorning. Shops and com-mercial establishments wereclosedaswere thousandsof fuelpumps.Over50,000governmentemployeestookmasscasualleave,saidPunjabCivil Secretariat StaffAssociationpresidentSukhchainKhaira. The bandh saw an out-pouringofsupportfromurbanar-eas. Even the industrial townofLudhiana, which usually neverrisestosuchcalls,sawmanysup-portthebandh.

HARYANA:Most of the impor-tantroadswereblocked,businessestablishments remained shutand thereweremajorprotests inseveral areas. Farmers tookhookahstotheroadsamidsingingperformances by folk singers.HaryanaDGPManoj Yadav saidSirsa,Kaithal,Fatehabad,JindandRohtak were most affected.Meanwhile, CM Manohar LalKhattar had to cancel his sched-uledprogrammeinPadhavillageofKarnaldistrictasagroupofvil-lagersvandalisedthehelipadareaandthevenueonthenightinter-veningofMondayandTuesday.

RAJASTHAN:Whilemostman-

dis in different cities remainedclosed, there was a mixed re-sponse inmarkets. DCP (JaipurSouth)Manoj Kumar said therewasanaltercationbetweenNSUIandBJYMworkersneartheBJPof-fice but the police intervened.“Someclosedtheirshopsforsometimetoavoidconfrontationwithbandh supporters,” said AtulAhuja,memberof a trader asso-ciationfromJaipur.

UTTARPRADESH:Whileman-disremainedclosed,severalshopsopened shutters and transportservicespliedasusual.AdditionalDGP (Law andOrder) PrashantKumar said nearly 1,300peopleweredetained for “causingmis-management,haltingtrafficorvi-olating the issuedguidelines”. InBareilly, the police used force todisperseafewprotesterssittingattheGandhi statue, leaving a fewinjured.SPworkershelddharnasinseveralareasacrossthestate,aday after party chief AkhileshYadavwasdetainedwhilehewasonhisway toKannauj to launchhisKisaanYatra.

MAHARASHTRA: All majorAPMCs such as Navi Mumbai,Nashik and others were shutwhile shops were closed inNashik, Solapur, Sangli,Aurangabad, Latur, Beed,Amravati and other areas.However, trafficmovementwassmooth in most areas. InBuldhana, Ravikant Tupkar andhundreds of workers of

SwabhimaniShetkariSanghatanaprotestedontherailwaytracksofMalkapurrailwaystation.

ODISHA: Business establish-mentsandgovernmentofficesre-mainedcloseduntillateafternoonandpublic transportwas off theroads.Sporadicprotestswereheldacross thestatewithrail servicesdisruptedontheCuttackline.

ASSAM:Thecallevokedamixedresponsewithmostoffices func-tioningwhile shops remainedshutandprotestersblockedtraffic.Dozens of protesters were de-tainedinvariouspartsofthestate,while the movement of fueltankerswasaffected.

MADHYAPRADESH:Thebandhwas effective in thenorthern re-gions, including Gwalior-Chambal.More than half of themandiswereshutacrossthestate.

TAMIL NADU: The shutdowndidnothit normalcy in the statebut affected routine inPuducherry, where it evoked aneartotalresponse.

KARNATAKA: Protests wereheld across the state but did notaffect normalcy except aroundprotestvenues.

WITHENS INPUTSFROMCHANDIGARH,LUCKNOW,

JAIPUR,MUMBAI,BHUBANESWAR,

GUWAHATI,BHOPAL,BENGALURU&PTI

SHAJUPHILIPTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM,DECEMBER8

CITING COVID protocol, KeralaChief Minister Pinarayi Vijayanhaskeptawayfromphysicalcam-paigning andhas confinedhim-self to virtual addresses duringmeetings for local body polls—reckonedasareferendumontheCPI(M)-led government in thestate.TheabsenceofVijayanhasbe-

come conspicuous as his ownCabinet colleagues, includingthosewhohadearliertestedpos-itiveforCovid-19,aretouringthestateandseveralOppositionlead-ersaredirectlymeetingvoters.While the ruling party has

cited Covid protocol, theOppositionhaspointedtorecentscandalsbehindtheleaderbeingconfinedtovirtualmode.Vijayan, who has been the

face of the LDF government forthelastfour-and-a-halfyears,hadled the CPI(M) campaign in the

lastLokSabhapollsandthatelec-tionhadmarkedhis taking overthemantleofelectioneeringfromparty veteran V SAchuthanandan.“There isadirectionfromthe

Election Commission thatmorethan100personsshouldnotpar-ticipate in any events connectedwith campaigning. In the pro-grammes of the Chief Minister,since more than 100 wouldgather, thatwould lead to viola-tion... TheChiefMinisterwill ad-dress the voters through virtualevents,whichwouldhave largerreachthanapublicevent,’’seniorCPI(M) leader and the party’sKannur secretaryMV Jayarajan

said.However, Opposition leader

RameshChennithalasaidVijayan“ran away fromelectioneering”duetorecentscandals.“Thepartyhas sensed the severe drubbingawaitingtheLDFintheelections.DefeatissureandhencetheChiefMinister has decided to avoidpublicmeetings as part of cam-paigning.”Also absent in the local body

campaigning in the CPI(M) isPolitburo member KodiyeriBalakrishnan, who last monthsteppeddownastheparty’sstatesecretary citing “health issues”.Balakrishnan’s son Bineesh hasbeen arrested in a drug andmoneylaunderingcase.The LDF governme