Articles by Tilak D Gupta

BIHAR Elections with a Difference Tilak D Gupta What decisively tilted the balance in favour of the Janata Dal and its allies in the assembly elections in Bihar was the overwhelming support of the rural poor. This support is not easy to explain considering that the Laloo Prasad government had done little in its five-year term to ameliorate the condition of the poor in the Bihar countryside. At the same time, while the vast majority of the poor Biharis who backed the Dal belong to the subordinated castes among the Hindus and Muslims, polarisation along economic lines is taking place among the electorate.

However what is more important is not just full-empfoyment but, as also emphasised by Rodgers, the quality of employment and the unequal access of certain sections of the population to better jobs in the labour market.

Rural Violence in Bihar by Bindeshwar Pathak;, Concept Publishing Company,
BINDESHWAR PATHAK, who is known for his useful work in developing and popularising a new type of community latrine in India and beyond, has now tried his hand at analysing the rural violence in Bihar. In the preface, the author says that the purpose of the book is "to uncover the underlaying bases of the violence" as wellas "to study the pattern and magnitude of violence characterising each act of brutality". And he hopes that "the study would provide clear understanding and fresh insights into the phenomenon of rural violence in a milieu exposed to forces of modernity".

increase in the overall expenditure, the amounts assigned to these areas in real terms would fall short of the requirements and hence the gap in the availability of these services would get widened. So is the case with financial and physical resources allocated for special employment programmes like the IRDP and the Jawahar Rojgar Yojana. These schemes are looked down upon with contempt by the bureaucracy and during the last four-five years, the funds allocated for them have been pitifully small The biased attitude of the government in this respect is evident from the fact that its immediate response to the high level of food-stocks with i t was to resort to their export and not think of using foodgrains for the creation of assets through special employment programmes.

and service conditions should be maintained, The management also put forward a 20-point proposal for re-opening the factory. It is interesting to note thai the first point in the management's proposal was that the union would not pursue the matter of forming a co-operative The other main points are: complete rationalisation of manpower through voluntary retirement scheme; wage freeze for next five years; reduction of retirement age; factory to be reopened in a phased manner. The management's proposals aim at reduction of manpower and curtailment of existing privileges of workers. It can be easily understood that there is a wide gulf between the two proposals. The union was to be forced to abandon the proposal of running the company through a co-operative. There was hard bargaining between the two parties, but no settlement could be arrived at. The state government did not come to the rescue of the workers. Thus a deadlock has been created over the question of the reopening of the -factory and the fate of about one thousand workers is uncertain.