Mumbai, August 27, 2004:

The Liberal Budget

On June 23, 2004 The Liberal Budget was released at a press conference in New Delhi.

The Budget had received a fair amount of coverage. A copy was presented by Dr.Sivaji to the Prime Minister when the latter was in Hyderabad. Copies had also been sent to the present Union Finance Minister, the former Union Finance Minister, the current Vice-Chairman of the Planning Commission and many others in the current and previous establishments. Seminars and discussions were being planned to bring The Liberal Budget to the notice of those concerned and to elicit comments from experts.

National Seminar on Agriculture and Rural Indebtedness

A National Seminar on Agriculture and Rural Indebtedness was held in Guntur on July 24 and 25. The Seminar was co-sponsored by the Virginia Tobacco Growers Association. There were over 50 participants including agriculture economists and academicians, agriculturists. The A.P. Government took keen interest in the seminar and ensured the participation of several senior IAS officers including the Collector of Guntur, the State Finance Secretary, the Secretary, Institutional Finance. Dr. Dinesh Chandra, former Banking Secretary in the Government of India and intimately connected with agrarian issues delivered the keynote address. The Seminar addressed itself to long term and short-term solutions. This turned out to be a high profile seminar and well reported in the press. Further follow-up is planned, leading, hopefully, to an ILG policy document on the lines of The Liberal Budget

National Seminar on the Administration of Justice

Mangalore was the venue of a National Seminar on the Administration of Justice on August 6 and 7. The keynote address was delivered by retired Justice Michael Saldanha. The faculty comprised two other retired judges viz. K.S. Puttaswamy and R.A.Jahagirdhar; a civil rights advocate Mr. Desai and Dr. M.V.Pylee a noted political scientist and considered an authority on the Indian Constitution. This Seminar too received plenty of attention in the press. Further follow-up is planned, leading, hopefully, to an ILG policy document on the lines of The Liberal Budget

PROGRAMMES ORGANISED BY LOCAL CHAPTERS

CHENNAI

Seminar on Spirituality and Prosperity

A Seminar on Spirituality and Prosperity was held by the Chennai Chapter in association with Mothers Service Society, an influential group in Pondicherry. This was a half-day seminar in Chennai on June 5. About 40 members participated. The main objective of collaborating with this organisation is for the ILG to get an entry into Pondicherry, make new members there and start a chapter.

Demystifying the Budget

A public education programme on 'Demystifying the Budget was held on June 13 at the PS High School jointly with the Institute of Economic Education, Public Expenditure Round Table and the Rajaji Centre for Public Affairs. Around 90 people attended this meeting which was followed by a question-answer session.

Seminar on Liberal Values

29 members of the Liberal Youth Clubs of Sri Sankara Schools, participated in a one-day seminar on Liberal Values held at the samrit Sagar Trust Ashram, UtthandiChennai on Saturday June 26.

The same day Prof. S. Radhakrishnan, President of the Chennai Chapter, inaugurated the Liberal Youth Club of Sri Sankara Vidyashramam, Thiruvanmaiyur,Chennai. 33 students o Standard XI have joined the club replacing 23 students of XII who will not continue as members because of preoccupation with their studies leading to a public examination.

Orientation Course in Liberal Values

A two-day orientation course in Liberal Values was organised by the Chennai Chapter at Gandhigram Rural; Institute, Gandhigram in Madurai on July 17 and 18. Meant for members of the ILG including those who had joined recently, the subjects included "The relevance of Gandhian Values.

Seminar "Towards a Liberal Budget

A seminar on economists and related disciplines was held on August 14 in Chennai. Convened by the Indian Liberal Group, Chennai Chapter anumber of other organisations including the Hindusthan Chamber of Commerce were co-sponsors. This seminar discussed the Union Budget in the light of The Liberal Budget.

With over six participants the seminar was a lively affair. The New Indian Express in its report in its report described the objective of the seminar as a "Call for Aggressive Liberalisation."

GUNTUR

A State-level Meeting

Guntur was the venue of a meeting of members of the ILG in Andhra Pradesh held on February 21, 2004. 38 members were present. Dr.Y.Sivaji, (national) vice-president of the ILG and president of the Andhra Pradesh State Executive Chaired the meeting.Mr,S.V,.Raju (national) president participated in the deliberations. The presidents of the Guntur, Hyderabad andTirupati Chapters reported on the activities of their Chapters. The members discussed in some detail the current socio-economic situation in the state which would be going to the polls soon.

Workshop on Farmers’ Problems

The Tirupati Chapter organised a workshop on Farmers’Problems at theVadamalpet Market Yard a village near Tirupati on February 20,2004.The object of this workshop was Bring together the farmers to enable them to share their problems and come up with workable solutions based on a questionnaire circulated before the meeting to farmers in the area where the meeting was held. To educate the farmers on various issues like marketing their produce, water conservation, government subsidies and correct information on WTO. To begin the ground for a farmers’ movement and bring their plight to the decision-makers in the government working on agricultural policies particularly in the area of rural credit.

Mr. K. Narayana Reddy, President of the Tirupati Chapter who is a farmer himself is of the view that the government agricultural policies have not really helped the farmers. The indifference of the State to the problems of the farming community, natural calamities and drowned in debt, farmers in large numbers have been committing suicide.

Along with three other members of the Tirupati Chapter, Mr. Narayana Reddy conducted a survey among 100 farmers in the Vadamalapet area, about 20 kms. from Tirupati. The survey was conducted ten days before the workshop. All those who participated in the survey and some more, including women farmers – around 120 in all – participated in the workshop which was conducted in Telugu.

Mr. Ajay Kallam, an IAS Officer and former Commissioner of Agriculture in the A.P. Government and currently CEO of the Tirumalai Devasthanam Trust was the Chief Guest.

MANGALORE

Holding the Mangalore Municipal Corporation Accountable

The Mangalore Chapter has been focussing on two issues: Higher education and municipal functions of the Mangalore City Corporation. Essentially it was a demand for
Accountability by the City Corporation and its Corporators. This,in fact, was the subject of discussion at their monthly meeting on June 19.

On July 5 the Chapter organised a public discussion on "Current Issues in Higher and Professional Education in the State. A number of recommendations arising from this meeting emphasising the need for quality in higher and profession education. The Chapter forwarded these recommendations to the Chairman of the University Grants Commission in New Delhi. In a letter to the Chapter, the UGC Chairman congratulated the ILG in Mangalore for taking the initiative observing "they are of great significance for persons like you who are involved in policy matters."

MUMBAI

Accountability of Elected Representatives

To discuss the role ILG in Mumbai should play in the f elections to the Lok Sabha (held in April/May) particularly with reference to what we can ,as Liberals do, in arresting the degeneration of representative government, the ILG Mumbai Chapter convened a meeting on February 13. Dr. Mary Thomas, (national) vice president, ILG and president of the Mumbai Chapter chaired the meeting which had the advantage of the presence of Mr. A. K. Venkat Subramanian, a Chennai-based retired civil servant and currently Trustee of The Catalyst Trust devoted to good governance.

Mr. Venkat Subramanian said that it was important to educate the voter on the value of his vote and encourage him to participate in activities to ensure fair elections at all levels. Such activities include, inter alia, (a) ensuring that candidates declare their background, assets and liabilities; (b) keeping an eye on the Electoral Roll in your constituency; (c) making sitting MPs who are standing for re-election accountable for their performance. He also spoke about “The Protest Vote”, i.e. Rule No. 49(O) in the Conduct of Elections Rules 1961 - and explained how it works. He stressed the importance of the ILG networking with other voluntary organisations engaged in similar work.

A Half-Day Discussion on the General Elections 2004, Mumbai, May 22, 2004

The General elections held in April/May could well turn out to be a watershed in Indian politics. The results of these long-drawn elections (longest since the 1952 elections) could have a profound impact on politics and the economy. To discuss these and the implications of the final outcome of the elections, this half-day meeting was organised by the ILG-NHQ in association with the Liberal Quarterly, Freedom First.

Affirmative Action in the United States

Professor Minoo Adenwalla, Emeritus Professor, Lawrence University, Wisconsin, USA addressed members of the Indian Liberal on July 30 in Mumbai on some recent developments relating to Affirmative Action in the United States ('Reservation' in Indian terminology). In his talk he dwelt on the legal battle over the proper interpretation of the American Constitution's 14th amendment's "Equal Protection Clause.

PATNA

At a meeting on February 17, 04 convened by the Indian Liberal Group in Patna ,and on its initiative, a platform named 'Forum Freedom' was formed to organise like-minded organisations and citizens concerned with Bihar's deteriorating law and order situation and do something about it.

ILG member Manuwant Choudhary drew attention to the rapidly deteriorating law and order situation in Bihar and appealed "to key leaders on whom what remains of Bihar's economy depend and who have also become victims, to join hands under a Forum to try to improve the situation." He added that "Bihar is under attack from the outside as well as from within". Rajesh Singh, President of the Indian Liberal Group's Patna Chapter introduced the Indian Liberal Group to the gathering.

The meeting was attended among others by Mr.Parsan Kumar Singh, general secretary, Bihar Chemists and Druggists Association who wanted the ILG to prepare their project report on what needs to be done. Mr.Pradeep Mehra: general secretary, Petroleum Dealers Association.
"welcomed the idea of a Forum is to create pressure on the government to enforce law and order; Deepak Jaiswal, abBuilder, and a member of the Indian Liberal Group saw the need for urgent action to get the police to act; Mr.Sagirul Haq, general secretary, Bihar Motor Transport Association welcomed the formation of the Forum and promised full cooperation. Mr. Ramesh Kumar Singh, engineer drew attention to the fact that more than 70 engineers have been killed in Bihar and the government had done nothing to stop this lawlessness.