PICTURE SPEAK

CHEQUE MATE: Mulayam flanked by recipients of unemployment grant

Heralding an unprecedented event in the state, June 16 saw the chief minister disbursing a monthly unemployment allowance of Rs 500 for April and May to about 52,000 educated unemployed at a massive rally in Lucknow. "I had written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh twice for funds for this purpose, but did not get a reply," Mulayam told the crowd in a veiled attempt to vilify the Central government. In a subtle message to Sonia Gandhi, the first couple of cheques were handed over to a young man from Rae Bareli. The Congress president had recently charged the state government with neglecting her Lok Sabha constituency and stalling development. Once the scheme is implemented across the state, more than seven lakh jobless graduates under 35 years of age stand to gain, putting an additional burden of Rs 513 crore on the exchequer. The regional employment office had registered 8,55,392 unemployed graduates till February, when the scheme was announced.

Mulayam's munificence fulfilled a longstanding demand of his political mentor Ram Manohar Lohia, "Bekaron ko kaam do, nahin to bekari ka daam do" (Give jobs to the unemployed or pay them the price of unemployment). But its timing has led to many a raised eyebrow across the administrative strata. Impending Assembly elections seem to have provided the immediate impetus for the sudden dole of largesse in the guise of unemployment allowance, contractual jobs and development works. The state coffers have been thrown open and Mulayam is digging deep to come up with the requisite funds to placate the masses.

Foremost on his radar are the youth, who form 40 per cent of the state's total electorate numbering more than 10 crore. Towards that end, the unemployment grant may have succeeded in swaying public opinion, at least for now. Recipients retreated from the Ambedkar Ground, the venue for the Samajwadi Party's Lucknow rally, with high praise for the chief minister even as cries of "Mulayam Singh zindabad" rent the air. Present in full force was the entire team of Mulayam's ministers and over 60 IAS officers.

PRE-POLL LARGESSE

Unemployment allowance to over 8 lakh persons Almost 6,000 political prisoners (arrested during Emergency) to receive a monthly pension of Rs 500 B. Ed pass-outs to get jobs Retirement age for teachers raised from 60 to 62 12,000 jobs for ex-servicemen Scholarships of Rs 20,000 for poor girls who pass inter-mediate exams 18,000 rural youth who are at least matriculates to be appointed temporary teachers at Rs 2,000 per month 18,000 persons, each with a monthly wage of Rs 2,000, to be temporarily appointed to panchayats 1,825 youths to be appointed technical assistants

While the enthusiastic response may have lulled the chief minister into complacency, a realistic view of the whole affair presents a grim picture. To begin with, the Rs 513-crore expenditure envisaged under the scheme, over and above the state's debt of Rs 50,000 crore, will further cripple its finances. And, to take a leaf out of history, the Samajwadi Party has been known to woo the young electorate with rather whimsical and unprincipled decisions which, on close scrutiny, betray major flaws detrimental to the youth and society.

In 1991, for instance, when the BJP regime implemented the anti-copying Act to check the menace of cheating during exams, Mulayam staunchly opposed it. Making the Act its election plank in 1993, as did the BSP, the Samajwadi Party surged back to power. Thereafter, Mulayam wasted no time in repealing the Act even as he turned a blind eye to the serious ramifications of rampant copying. Similarly, in 2003, the chief minister lifted a ban on student union elections in universities and colleges. The ban had been imposed by the Rajnath Singh government in 2001-02 with the purpose of curbing criminal influence on campus life and growing lawlessness among students.

On a positive note, the government has implemented the "Kanya Vidhya Dhan Yojna", a scholarship of Rs 20,000 for poor girls who pass intermediate exams. On June 20, it announced jobs for undergraduate youth from urban as well as rural areas. The government has also recruited thousands of unemployed youth from rural areas into the Bhoomi Sena, ensuring them jobs in their villages. Toeing the Centre's line, Mulayam is all set to announce OBC reservation in both government and non-government institutes of higher education in the state.

But it's doubtful whether these sops alone will suffice to ensure victory for the Samajwadi Party during the elections. It has drawn flak on all fronts: rapidly deteriorating law and order, corruption, castiesm, nepotism and criminalisation of the administrative machinery. Even the chief minister's image has taken a beating on charges of amassing property worth crores of rupees that has drawn the attention of the Supreme Court. It has now directed the Income Tax Department to conduct a probe.

Under these circumstances, the general impression is that Mulayam will leave nothing to chance at the polls. "This will be the most crucial elections for the Samajwadi Party, for the state and for the nation," has been his frequent proclamation of late, hinting at a bitter fight.