Children First Party of India debut

The republic is in deep crisis. on every norm of good governance and practice, the Congress-led UPA-II government which was returned to power in New Delhi in the summer of 2009 with high hopes and great expectations, has failed. The economy is in serious trouble with the current account deficit ballooning to a record 5.4 percent (cf. the normative 2.5 percent); the fiscal deficit (Centre plus states) to over 10 percent (5 percent); inflation — especially food inflation — in double digits, with the national savings rate set to fall from a high of 36.8 percent in 2007-08 to below 30 percent this year because of persistent inflation. With the country running dangerously high current account, balance of payments and trade deficits, there is real danger of a meltdown of the rupee which will drive up domestic prices of all imports, sparking a forest fire of hyper-inflation. On other fronts of governance too, the outlook is grim. Scams and scandals involving mind-boggling sums and politicians and bureaucrats in the highest echelons of government, is deadly proof that the slow poison of corruption has seeped deep into all vital institutions of the republic. Simultaneously, repeated bomb blasts in public places countrywide and the continuously rising wave of crimes against women and children which the corrupt police force and ossified judiciary are unable to prevent or contain, reflects not only severe erosion of the law and order and justice machinery, but also an acute socio-economic crisis within the crumbling social order. This is the outcome of four decades of aimless and self-serving political leadership. Tragically the rot is not only within the incumbent Congress party which has (mis)ruled the nation for over 40 of the republic’s 65 years (interrupted by ineffective periods in the opposition), but in all major political parties who have reduced this high-potential nation to this sorry condition. Even as the Congress has mutated into a coalition of dynasties, the BJP is afflicted with the majoritarian hindutva virus which threatens to alienate minority communities and plunge the republic into a situation of permanent low-intensity civil conflict which will stall all socio-economic development. Against this backdrop, beyond writing futile editorials, the sole remaining option available to socio-economic reformers such as the editors of this publication who have been waging a long cold war for an equitable deal for children — the most neglected and vulnerable section of the nation’s population — is to venture into full-fledged political activism. It’s perhaps too late to save the adult population from the consequences of foolishly electing governments on caste, communal and dynastic considerations for over four decades. But it’s possible to save the next generation by transforming 21st century India into a child-centric society. Therefore on March 8 — International Women’s Day — the Children First Party of India will become formally operational. Make no mistake, CFPI is a full-blooded political party with a complete agenda. For further details visit our website www.childrenfirst.in. Admittedly, we have set sail in frail bark venturing into…