Articles by M R

January 25, 1975 McCarthyism, Indian-Style M R AGAINST the background of Haryana Government's reported decision to refuse employment in its service to students who participate in political activity, a recent judgment of the Andhra Pradesh High Court stands out in sharp contrast. The judgment held the termination of the services of a Posts and Telegraphs employee repugnant to the Constitution because the action was consequent to police investigations into the employee's political antecedents.

the collaboration agreements and if so whether the rigour of the restrictive clauses has been softened over time. It is a pity that the study does not show even an awareness of the need to analyse such valuable data with reference to an examination of the government's policy intentions in relation to its practices as revealed in the approvals granted by it for collaboration agreements. This is among the most important shortcomings of this study on foreign collaboration.

on the wholesale price of wheat and the UP Chief Minister launched his much- advertised dehoarding drive under which the limits for the stocks of both the farmers and the traders have been lowered. These measures will certainly mean a vast spurt in unauthorised transactions and a further shrinking of arrivals of wheat in the open markets. The consequences of this are indeed frightening to contemplate. A few demonstrative raids in villages to seize the stocks from fanners will be hardly adequate to meet this situation.


RAILWAYS Pre-emptive Strike by Government M R THE government and the Railway Board had three whole months in which to negotiate with the unions to avert the strike called for May 8. But those in charge of the negotiations with the unions chose instead to make the absence of a formal strike notice the pretext for not holding substantive negotiations. When, however, the notice was formally served on April 23, it was promptly declared that such a strike would be illegal The DIR was invoked for this purpose. And, even before the suspended negotiations could be resumed on April 27, a preemptive strike in fact came from the government in the form of cancellation of a large number of passenger trains, The unions, on the other hand, had made it clear that they would like to avoid the strike if a negotiated settlement could be arrived at before the May 8 deadline. The unions did not seem averse to extending the deadline

Low Key, High Stakes M R THE Prime Minister's blistering attack on the Opposition at Mathura on October 2, was for all purposes the beginning of her crash campaign to win the Uttar Pradesh elections. The ragtag Opposition had organised a feeble black-flag demonstration, and that perhaps was the provocation for the strident tone of her speech. But her style of campaigning has changed vastly since. On January 2. she bad to abandon her meeting at Nagpur where the audience was sullen and a section of it hostile. It is significant that she has chosen to ignore the Nagpur incident in her subsequent speeches, though 40 over-enthusiastic Congress MPs rushed to the Press with a statement suggesting that the Nagpur disturbances were the beginning of some sinister 'Rightist plot' against the Prime Minister.