Varun Hari Prasad

Former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh passed away on 26 December 2024, ending one of the most illustrious innings of over 6 decades in public service. Dr Manmohan Singh had a tough childhood as he faced the troubles of partition and came to India at the age of 14. He studied with the help of scholarship and always used to stress on the importance of public funding in Education. This humble origins enabled him to enact the landmark Right to Education Act and introduce reservation for SC/ST/OBC in public educational institutions. I will not reflect on his tenure as Finance Minister in 1991. I would like to reflect on three specific aspects of Dr Manmohan Singh, during his stint as Prime Minister: The Myth of being 'Weak PM' There has been this argument that Dr Manmohan Singh was a  'weak' Prime Minister. But if one carefully observes the tenure of Dr Singh as Prime Minister, one will observe that he was not 'weak' as portrayed by the BJP and certain media. Some ...

The Karnataka Cabinet, led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had staged a day long protest in New Delhi on 7th February 2024 accusing the Union Government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi of committing injustice to Karnataka in allocation of funds. Even though the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has responded to allegations by dismissing it as politically motivated, this is not the first time that Karnataka has expressed concern over injustice in allocation of funds. In this essay, I share my thoughts on the concerns raised by the southern States, especially Karnataka, on the injustice in allocation of funds. What are Karnataka's concerns ? 1. The Decision to use 2011 Census Data The primary concern raised by Karnataka is against the 15th Finance Commission using the 2011 Census data instead of the 1971 Census. This concern is being raised because States that failed to implement population control measures effectively will have an unfair advantage over the States that hav...