Montek, N. K. Singh shifted

NEW DELHI, Aug 14 — High-profile Revenue Secretary N.K. Singh, said to be under attack from the AIADMK in connection with several investigations launched against Ms Jayalalitha’s associates, was tonight shifted to the Prime Minister’s office while Finance Secretary Montek Singh Ahluwalia has been moved to the Planning Commission.

The removal of Mr N.K. Singh from the Revenue Department, under which comes the revenue investigating agencies like income tax and the Enforcement Directorate, was effected a day after the transfer of tough ED chief m.k. Bezbaruah to the Delhi Government, which has drawn severe criticism from opposition parties.

Mr Vijay Kelkar, Chairman of the Tariff Commission, will be the new Finance Secretary while Mr Javed Choudhuri, Secretary (Sugar) in the Food Ministry, will be the new Revenue Secretary.

Mr T.K.A. Nair, Secretary in the PMO, has been shifted to the Public Enterprises Selection Board as its member.

Other changes effected are: Mr R.P. Sinha, Chairman of the Inland Water Authority, goes as Secretary, Sugar, while Mr Dipanker Basu has been made the Chairman of the Inland Water Authority.

Mr Prabhu Sengupta, Petroleum Secretary has been made Secretary in the Department of Defence Production.

Coal Secretary Narayanan has been made Secretary in the Department of Industrial Development and Public Enterprises.

Mr Kamalnathan, Secretary Industrial Development, goes as Secretary in the Department of Non-conventional Energy Sources.

Mr S.S. Boparai, Secretary in the Department of Non-conventional Energy Sources, has been made the Secretary, Coal.

Mr Ashok Parthasarthy, Secretary, Small Scale Industry, goes as Secretary, Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes Commission.

Mr P.S. Bhatnagar, Secretary, SC/ST Commission, goes as Secretary, Food Processing, while Mr C.T. Benjamin, Secretary in the Minorities Commission has been shifted in the same capacity to the Small Scale Industry Department.

Ms Leena Chakravarty goes on promotion as Secretary, Minorities Commission.

Mr D.S. Solanki, Chairman, Central Excise and Customs, goes as Director-General, Central Economic Intelligence Bureau.

Mr S.P. Mohile, who has been the seniormost Customs Officer in the country, will be the new Chairman, Excise and Customs. At present, he is Director-General, Central Economic Intelligence Bureau.

No danger between India, Pak
President foresees peace

NEW DELHI, Aug 14 (PTI) — President K.R. Narayanan does not see a nuclear danger between India and Pakistan and feels that possession of atomic weapons by both would make them settle their differences peacefully and through negotiations.

"And even though people are talking about the nuclear danger between India and Pakistan, I think, in time, both countries will settle down to the fact of their having nuclear weapons.

"India and Pakistan, I think, now that both countries have these weapons, it would drive home to both, the inescapable need to settle the differences between them peacefully and through negotiations," the President said in a rare interview given to journalist, N. Ram.

Mr Narayanan dispensed with the message usually broadcast on the eve of Independence Day and instead chose the mode of conversation to convey his views on various topics.

The President said nuclear tests by India "gave a very salutary shock to the complacency of the great powers and the world opinion, which was moulded by them," but did not agree with the view that the country had "lost the high moral ground" after the tests.

Replying to a question that India seemed to have a lot of difficulty at present in responding to the post-Pokhran situation, Mr Narayanan said, "Well, difficulties there are, but I don’t think we have lost the moral high ground as you say. I think India has to be looked at as any other country. We cannot and we should not claim to occupy a higher moral ground than any other country.

"Certainly, we have had a tradition of high philosophy and great moral principles. So had Europe. Christ preached all these principles. But still they develop nuclear weapons and pile up such weapons. But nobody tells them they have fallen from the high moral ground," Mr Narayanan said.

The President felt that nuclear weapons were not necessary for the world and "they should be abolished. But, as a pragmatist, I would say that they can be abolished not in parts but wholly. Because the weapons in the hands of any one country alone or a group of countries could be dangerous for the world as a whole and for the rest of humanity."

He said the world had for the past 10 to 15 years seemed to have forgotten that this vast arsenal of nuclear weapons existed among the five great powers because they are quiet about it.

"But when we conducted the tests, then suddenly everybody has woken up and feels that there is such a threat," he said.

On the problems arising in Sino-Indian relations, Mr Narayanan felt that these were "temporary" and were the "result of misunderstanding of India and Indian objectives in this region.

"There has been no change in India’s need for living in harmony and in cooperation with all our neighbours, including Pakistan and of course our big neighbour China, and others. This is India’s need, and if I may say so, and India’s policy also has been in that direction," he said.

The President felt that there was mutuality of interest between India and China in being friends and cooperating with each other fully.

"Of course, there are problems between us and these problems can be solved and we have been attempting to solve it, both countries, and that process will, I think, go on. Even with Pakistan, I don’t despair, in regard to our friendly relations," the President said.

On use of communalism as a political mobilisation strategy, Mr Narayanan said, "I think we can bring it under control. In retrospect, I feel that we could have brought the earlier tragedy (demolition of the Babri masjid) also under control.

"Communal mobilisation in the long run will not succeed in India because Indian society cannot be mobilised communally. Even the last elections have shown that communities, religious communities, castes did not vote solidly for one party," he said.

The President said though there had been some mobilisation on caste and communal basis, this was not successful even in the past.

"The Hindu vote, the upper class Hindu vote was divided. The backward class vote was divided. The Scheduled Castes votes were divided. And as time goes on, it will become less and less appealing to the people. This is the trend as I see it," he said.

On economic reforms, Mr Narayanan felt that there was need to "have a balanced approach to liberalisation and also to globalisation," since "liberalisation is an irreversible process."

He said economic liberalisation is a world phenomenon and all countries — socialist and capitalist — have to take to liberalisation.

"We have to adopt policies, dictated by the circumstances and the necessities of the time. We in India, as a result of our planned economic development, not central planning, but mixed planning, mixed economy, we have experimented with, we have moved to a stage of partial maturity of the economy, when we needed new forms of management, new forms of expression of the spirit of enterprise, so that the economy can move forward. The compulsion to liberalisation and globalisation arose from this," he said.

On the argument of political scientists that age of sovereignty was over and they wanted frontierless, borderless world, the President said it was a "very dangerous philosophy which may suit the most developed and powerful countries of the world, and not those who are small and developing.

"That is why we are rather cautious in our liberalisation policy. We went ahead in certain sectors. We went rather slowly in other sectors. And this has helped us," Mr Narayanan said.

On the Women’s Reservation Bill which was stalled in the Lok Sabha at the introductory stage, Mr Narayanan said he had "no doubt that even the women’s reservation question will be finally adopted" in spite of "this backward movement, sometimes, the movement is going forward, essentially. And it’s a very, very intricate problem."

He said everybody loved his mother, sisters and relatives but still, with all this there was this callous attitude and ill-treatment towards women. "So women’s movements are necessary."

"One thing which is forgotten in India is the transformation of the attitude of men. It is in this field that active work has to be done. We all preach to women that they should assert themselves. But on the other hand, we don’t tell sufficient early, strongly, to the male that they should behave well. Their attitude should change," he said.

The President felt that land reforms were necessary as they would "give a sense of economic liberalisation to the masses.

"I think the basic thing we have done or we attempted to do, in the beginning, and we have not yet completed that process, is that of land reforms," he said.