DELHI DIARY, JUNE 28-JULY 5

C O N F I D E N T I A L NEW DELHI 003081

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/05/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM IN
SUBJECT: DELHI DIARY, JUNE 28-JULY 5


Classified By: Acting PolCouns Joel Ehrendreich for Reasons 1.4 (B,D)


1. (U) Below is a compilation of political highlights from
Embassy New Delhi for June 28-July 5, 2007 that did not
feature in our other reporting, including:

-- SAARC Protocol on Trafficking Likely
-- Mayawati Lays Out Her Priorities

SAARC Protocol on Trafficking Likely
--------------


2. (SBU) Media is reporting that the South Asian
Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries will,
for the first time, work toward a protocol for rescue and
repatriation of victims. The SAARC regional taskforce is
expected to recognize cross-border trafficking as a
burgeoning problem and create something similar to the SAARC
Convention of 2002 on Prevention and Combating Trafficking in
Women and Children for Prostitution. The meeting is
scheduled for July 24-27 and will be attended by the Ministry
of Home Affairs, the Ministry of External Affairs and UNICEF.



3. (SBU) COMMENT: Close Embassy non-governmental
organization contact Bachpan Bachao Andolan has been pushing
for inclusion of child and forced labor in the SAARC for
years. If adopted, this is another success for NGOs working
on child labor issues. In addition, the National Human
Rights Commission (NHRC) released a report on July 3 stating
a National Database on Mission Children is being launched and
will be monitored by the NHRC. END COMMENT.

Mayawati Lays Out Her Priorities
--------------


4. (C) On June 29, Uttar Pradesh (UP) Chief Minister
Mayawati presented her budget on the floor of the Legislative
Assembly. It was the largest budget in the history of the
state and laid out an ambitious agenda focusing on
infrastructure development and the social sector. Mayawati
urged the private and public sectors to join together to
address the state's urgent infrastructure needs and pledged
to meet a target of 10 percent economic growth. Most
infrastructure projects are to be located in villages,
including the construction of link roads, rural
electrification, the installation of hand pumps and
underground drainage systems. A separate program will
upgrade urban infrastructure. A third priority will be
energy development, including reform of the energy sector,
cutting power theft, and the construction of new power
plants. In the education sector, the UP government has
pledged to provide scholarships to deserving students from
the "backward classes."


5. (C) Mayawati won an absolute majority in the
just-concluded elections by promising to address law and
order problems and the chronic poverty that have long plagued
UP. Having already hit the entrenched mafias and thoroughly
cleansed the state police force, she now appears bent on
taking concrete steps to spur the long-moribund economy. The
previous government of Mulayam Singh Yadav did little or
nothing in the development area and proved unable to spend
more than a tiny fraction of state revenue, which continued
to pile up in the treasury. Unable or unwilling to embark on
serious development projects, Mulayam's Samajwadi Party
government tried to give the money away by announcing cash
payments to students graduating from secondary school and to
girls getting married. Much of the budgeted money simply
disappeared. The only jarring note in Mayawati's budget was
her dedication of large sums to construct a Dalit museum and
maintain a large "memorial garden" built in memory of a Dalit
leader in the state capital. In addition to a penchant for
efficiency and autocracy, Mayawati continues to press a
lavish personality cult. Lucknow has been festooned with
giant pictures of Mayawati along with her sayings and
promises.
MULFORD