The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS

50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

OPINION

Contract appointments in universities
Will the new system work satisfactorily?
Sucha Singh Gill
The debate on desirability of appointments of university and college teachers on a contract basis initiated in The Tribune with an editorial on November 12 and extended subsequently by articles of three scholars on December 1, 2002, needs to be welcomed and appreciated by the academic community.

MIDDLE

Double or quits
Iqbal Singh Ahuja
Many years ago, a group of people came to me to request me to be the chief guest at a function in a temple. I laughed and told them politely that they should think of some high official or a minister. But they seemed determined, I started thinking. A friend sitting by my side said: “Dr Sahib, don’t refuse. It is a lifetime opportunity and it is an invitation from God. He wants you to give happiness and service to the people.

REFLECTIONS

‘Who pays for my service?’
Kiran Bedi
I was invited to speak at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Academy of Administration, Mussoorie a few days ago. It was for an interaction with over 200 officer trainees of the IFS, IAS, IPS, IRS, and other services. As I settled down, the night before, to organise my thoughts, various questions surfaced in my mind which were answers by themselves.

A TRIBUTE

Remembering Nani Palkhivala
V. Gangadhar
My allotted time for the interview with Nani Palkhivala, some years back, was extended from 45 minutes to nearly two hours when he came to know I shared his passion for Thomas Gray’s famous poem, ‘Elegy Written in a country Churchyard’.

SIGHT & SOUND

Modi all the way
Amita Malik
Even if one wanted to and preferred cricket, soaps or feature films, it was impossible to get away from Narendra Modi on TV last week. Not only was he an interesting study in mob oratory, melodrama and pure venom, he also established a style of functioning which was against all norms of civilsed electioneering, breaking rules, ignoring the EC’s directives and doing what he darnd well pleased.

SPIRITUAL NUGGETS

EDITORIALS

Freezing MSP for wheat

The recommendation of the Commission on Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) to freeze the minimum support price (MSP) for wheat for the coming season at last year’s level of Rs 620 a quintal is likely to disappoint the farmers for two main reasons. One, they have got used to an MSP hike year after year and denying them this year will surely disappoint them. Two, the input costs have gone up this year because of the increase in the prices of fertilisers and pesticides. In Punjab the reintroduction of power and water charges for the agriculture sector has put an additional burden on the farmers. The commission has also suggested the payment of Rs 10 per quintal as drought relief along with the MSP for wheat. It feels the rain in September and October had lessened the impact of the drought. Therefore, the payment of Rs 10 a quintal is sufficient to offset the cost esclation. This meagre amount of relief is unlikely to satisfy the farmers who have spent heavily on running their tubewells round the clock to save their paddy crop from wilting during the drought period. Viewed from the commission’s angle, the decision to keep the MSP unchanged is justifiable in view of the large wheat stocks, which are being disposed of in the international market at almost half the cost of their procurement. Besides, there is limited storage space available for fresh arrivals in the coming season. An interesting finding of the commission is that while the rice output and consumption is almost same, wheat is much more in surplus. Hence, the need to discourage its production through the price mechanism. But the commission does not plan to encourage farmers to shift to other crops like oilseeds through a lucrative MSP. It has ruled out any significant increase in the prices of mustard and groundnut on the ground that the procuring agency, Nafed, is short of finances. Another way of encouraging diversification is to lower or at least maintain the costs of inputs.

The wheat MSP has been recommended well in advance, but after the farmers have sown the crop. This leaves them with no choice to try out other options. The Union Cabinet, which is to take the final decision, needs to consider some related issues. If the Union Budget raises the prices of farm inputs, the farmers should be compensated accordingly. Then there are state-level levies which also upset the returns to farmers. Faced with the shortage of funds, the states too try to extract their own pound of flesh. Both the Central and state agencies should ensure that the procurement process starts well in time and the payments are made without delay. The growers’ exploitation in the mandis at the hands of arhtiyas, traders and procurement officials is all too well known and yet no corrective steps have been initiated to stop the loot. The problem of plenty, that is managing the burgeoning stocks of foodgrains, has been faced year after year and yet there is little remedial action. The issue has hardly been given any serious thought. The returns from agriculture will have to be made attractive since a substantial part of the population is dependent on this sector. Industrial growth cannot rise significantly without a corresponding contribution from agriculture.

Kashmir to Gujarat

Chief Election Commissioner J. M. Lyngdoh and his two colleagues deserve a round of applause from a grateful nation for strengthening the roots of parliamentary democracy under extremely trying circumstances. In Jammu and Kashmir they were up against a foreign enemy who was uncomfortable with the idea of free and fair elections. Pakistan wanted the world to accept that the people of Kashmir wanted "azadi" from India and that the elections were a charade for hiding their pain. Ultimately the voice of sanity — that is also the voice of democracy — drowned the din of false propaganda from across the border. People turned up in large numbers, defying the threat of violence from the militants, to express themselves in favour of democracy. The situation in Gujarat was even more delicate. The tension and the violence that preceded the assembly elections in Gujarat tested the skill and competence of the Election Commission in holding free and fair elections as never before. This time the challenge came not from across the border but from acting Chief Minister Narendra Modi and his camp followers in the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and elsewhere. The most unhappy aspect of the confrontation was that Mr Lyngdoh's intentions were questioned. He simply smiled. But neither he nor his colleagues allowed the virulent and motivated attack from Mr Modi's camp hustle them into holding elections according to a time table set by the Bharatiya Janata Party. Related issues even went up to the highest court of the land that upheld the Election Commission's position.

Mr Lyngdoh and the rest of the members of the Election Commission indeed did a splendid job in ensuring free and fair polling throughout Gujarat. It was a remarkable achievement considering that the post-Godhra communal violence had continued unabated for several months resulting in sharp polarisation of people on communal lines. The EC took its time in announcing assembly elections after Mr Modi dissolved the earlier House to cash in on the post-Godhra wave in favour of his brand of politics. The biggest challenge was to allow the emotional and physical wounds to heal so that members of every community could exercise their right to vote. The heavy turnout on Thursday provided ample proof of the people's faith in democracy. However, there was a serious blemish. The EC must get to the bottom of what can be called the case of the missing names of voters from the revised electoral rolls. The revised lists are displayed by the state Election Commission in its offices throughout the state. But how many voters actually make an advance check before reporting at the polling booth where they have traditionally gone to cast their votes? Not many. This was a serious lapse for which the state EC was primarily responsible. The abuse that was hurled at Mr Lyngdoh was unfortunate. The Sangh Parivar should have resisted the temptation of dragging the name of the EC into political controversy.

Orissa’s disgrace

The severe indictment of the Orissa Government by the N.C.Saxena Commission for large-scale corruption and irregularities in the implementation of anti-poverty schemes has not come a day too soon. On the face of it, the two-member commission, appointed by the Supreme Court, has confirmed the allegations made by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) about starvation deaths in the state due to several factors such as sluggish economic growth, lapses in the implementation of rural development programmes and rampant corruption. The commission had visited Kalahandi and Keonjhar districts for an on-the-spot assessment of the public distribution system (PDS) and anti-poverty schemes and submitted a report to the Supreme Court, with copies to Orissa Chief Secretary Prateep Kumar Mohanty, the Union Food Ministry and the Directorate of the Sampurna Gramina Rozgar Yojana (SGRY), a Centrally-sponsored scheme. It has blamed the Orissa Government for the flaws in the identification of beneficiaries of various schemes, irrgularities in the distribution of foodgrains under the PDS, ignorance of the beneficiaries about these programmes and large-scale corruption. Amazingly, the commission noted in its report that most of the ration shops used to open only once or twice a month, and people who failed to go to the shops on those days were not supplied rice for that month. As a result, only 40 per cent of the total below-the-poverty-line (BPL) rice quota for the state was lifted from the godowns of the Food Corporation of India (FCI). In a startling revelation, the commission quoted a Block Development Officer (BDO) as saying that most of the poor people in the border areas of Keonjhar district were not issued BPL cards as the government had directed the BDOs to enlist only a few people!

The commission’s report raises several questions on the conduct and responsibilities of a state government towards the people. The onus is clearly on the Chief Minister, the ministers in charge of the districts and the officials manning the system. How is it that the state government has directed officers to supply BPL cards only to a “minimum number of people” even though there were many more who were in dire need of the supplies for their individual existence? If the schemes meant for the poor do not benefit the deserving, starvation deaths are bound to occur. One can understand if there was dearth of foodgrains in the FCI godowns. But, surely, this was not the case in Orissa. And what were the senior officials doing when they were to supposed to plug the loopholes and streamline the system? Why were periodic inspections not done by the District Collectors and Sub-Collectors whose job it was to monitor the implementation of these schemes and take suitable remedial measures? Clearly, it was a collapse of authority at various levels of the government. There seems to be no accountability on the part of both the ministers and the officials, and this is all the more distressing. Union Food Minister Sharad Yadav told Parliament the other day that he would convene a Chief Ministers’ conference to discuss the problems confronting the PDS. But one wonders what purpose these conferences will serve when corruption is at its peak at the grassroots level with absolutely no check on the conduct of the officials and the powers that be.

OPINION

Contract appointments in universities
Will the new system work satisfactorily?
Sucha Singh Gill

The debate on desirability of appointments of university and college teachers on a contract basis initiated in The Tribune with an editorial on November 12 and extended subsequently by articles of three scholars on December 1, 2002, needs to be welcomed and appreciated by the academic community. This would enrich the ongoing in-depth examination of this issue by the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration. At the same time this would provide the opportunity to the academia to examine the causes of the malady afflicting the institutions of higher learning, both internal and external.

It is being given out that permanent jobs are the root cause of non-performance of the system at least for personnel selected by academic administration of doubtful credentials who come to occupy high position through political patronage. It is true that some undesirable persons have joined the academia and are not performing. In fact, they are not fit to perform. This was bound to happen when such persons come to occupy the position of Vice-Chancellor and Chairman of Public Service Commission who were charged with corruption and immoral practices and later on removed from service. This has happened in Punjab, Maharashtra and in other states too.

The root cause of the malady has been failure in selecting capable leadership in the institutions of higher learning. Incapable leadership has been responsible for not only selecting less qualified and inferior stuff but also failed to inspire those who could perform. This has unleashed the crisis of non-governance which has been transformed into misgovernance in due course of time.

The system would not work if preference of the leadership/Vice-Chancellors remains non-academic. Such leadership squanders the precious/scarce financial resources and wastes energy of those who want to perform, by paralysing the whole system. For misgovernance by academic administrators, regularly appointed teachers cannot be blamed.

The argument that the teachers appointed on contract being temporary are ipso facto accountable (at the end of three-year contract) would perform better is seriously flawed. It would create possibilities for some unscrupulous persons in high positions to exploit men and women both monetarily and morally. This is the reason that the Second National Commission on labour, which has otherwise upheld the policy of hire and fire in its recommendations (2002), has not recommended contract labour for all types of perennial/permanent jobs. It has recommended contract labour for non-core perennial jobs only. The argument (of higher productivity of teachers on contract) is based on the assumption that persons work more under threat of losing jobs. This may be true for persons performing physical labour in mechanical work but not in creative activities. The generation and dissemination of knowledge is a creative activity. A person is more creative when he/she is confident, secure and completely identified with the work. A person appointed on contract for three years, work under high degree of uncertainty and insecurity which can be killing for creative faculty.

Further, the market-driven logic would weed talent from the university system if contract appointments are introduced. The private corporate sector everywhere is offering regular jobs to the talented and highly qualified persons. The same is the case with elite services in the government. The contract system would not only make college and university teachers’ jobs less attractive but would convert the nature of this work from decent work into not decent work. The non-permanency in tenure would further deplete the system of the diminishing supply of talent for the teaching (and research) profession.

Gery Rodgers, a senior economist with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), Geneva, in his V.V. Giri memorial lecture delivered at the 42nd annual conference of the India Society of Labour Economics at Jabalpur (December, 2000) defined “decent work” as containing “four dimensions: (i) work and employment itself; (ii) rights at work; (iii) security, and (iv) representation and dialogue”. The first dimension includes adequate living income, the possibilities for personal development using one’s capability along with working time, work intensity and reasonable facilities at work. The second dimension is “expressed in the ILO’s core labour standards: freedom of association, freedom from discrimination, freedom from forced labour and freedom from child labour.”

The third dimension is related to security concerns of a person. They cover regularity of income which is threatened by irregular or temporary jobs or infirmities arising out of old age, sickness or physical risks from accidents. The last dimension is related to one’s voice being heard at the place of work through participation in dialogues at various level and representation in decision making. This dimension makes one as a part and parcel of work organisation. This enables individuals to identify themselves with the organisation where one is placed. These dimensions of decent work are better met in regular jobs while contract employment undermines all the dimensions of decent work. The objective of economic and social development is to improve the quality of life. The decent nature of the work is the important factor in achieving this goal.

The participation of individuals in work and their productivity is considerably determined by the nature of institutions the society creates at work place and at the level of social organisation. A number of economic historians and institutional economists have brought out that congenial institutional arrangement makes individuals to perform better while non-congenial institutions make them lethargic and block development process. From the perspective of institutions building, it is not the concrete structures but the attraction of talented human resources that is most important.

Some work-inducing rules of the game need to be evolved and implemented. A nuiform implementation of work-inducing rules build powerful societies and keep them on the path of sustained development. Without stressing this point further it needs to be pointed that the academic work and attainments have become the least considerations at the level of appointments and promotions in majority of academic institutions, contrary to the declared policies of these institutions. Obviously the gross violation of the strict norms in the appointments and promotions could not have been possible without the consent and connivance of the heads of the institutions who themselves are appointed on considerations other than merit.

Incidentally most of the Vice-Chancellors have the tenure of three years which can be extended by another three years. this has not worked, nor erring majority has been punished. For faults of misgoverance which need to be rectified a scapegoat is being found in regular jobs of the teachers and researchers. If a system is unable to enforce its own rules or violates them, it would violate them brazenly and more frequently under contract appointments. In addition to this, it would convert the entire academic fraternity into a group of terrified persons always making effort to please contract renewing agencies.

It is the time that the UGC and concerned citizens in this country awaken to the malady of misgovernance in the academic institutions afflicted by the system of management created by non-academic considerations. This needs to be rectified by making academic administrators accountable. Checks and balances need to be worked out to appoint meritorious and capable persons as top administrators in education. At the same time the senate and syndicates/university courts/boards should be made free from non-academic persons.

The recent researches in theory of economic growth (Romer, 1986; and Lucas, 1988) have brought out that the growth of knowledge can generate endless potential for the economy. The growth of knowledge is brought by institutions of higher learning through R&D. The investment in knowledge generation can become an engine of economic growth as an alternative to investment in stock of physical capital. The growth of knowledge replaces constant and diminishing returns by increasing returns to scale. The new knowledge has two effects: internal and external. Internal effect increases gains to the creators of knowledge. The external effect is related to the gains of new knowledge to non-creator peer group in the form of higher productivity via spillover effect. The knowledge creation, therefore, is treated as a social activity and new knowledge as a social product. It is argued that knowledge creation due to its social nature merits support from the society which is represented by the government in its collectivity. The expenditure on higher education and R&D, particularly on human resource development, is highly productive for a society. The strengthening of higher institutions and establishment of tradition of work is in the interest of Indian society.

The gains in quantitative expansion of institutions of higher learning can be consolidated effort to check the menace of misgovernance unleashed from above. The mindless guillotine of financial cut applied to these institutions has to be stopped.

These institutions, wherever necessary, should not be allowed to collapse for want of funds. in the ultimate analysis each institution has its own specific problem which needs to be identified and resolved. In our country some institutions and centres are performing very well by best standards anywhere in the world. Lessons need to be learned from these success stories.

There is no uniform panacea for all problems, more so for academic institutions. Harvard University economist Dani Rodrik is right when he says: “Institutional arrangements are by necessity country specific. Discovering what works in any one country requires experimentation. Reforms that succeed in one setting may perform poorly or fail completely in others”. This applies to contract appointments in the academic institutions. Moreover, this suggestion is not based on any successful experience in Indian academic institutions in the recent past. This needs to be examined from the perspectives of making academic work more attractive to talented persons, quality of life, decent work and building of institutional structure congenial for creation and dissemination of knowledge in the society.

The writer is Professor of Economics, Punjabi University, Patiala.

MIDDLE

Double or quits
Iqbal Singh Ahuja

Many years ago, a group of people came to me to request me to be the chief guest at a function in a temple. I laughed and told them politely that they should think of some high official or a minister.

But they seemed determined, I started thinking. A friend sitting by my side said: “Dr Sahib, don’t refuse. It is a lifetime opportunity and it is an invitation from God. He wants you to give happiness and service to the people.

The D-day came. I consulted my friend, Mr Bansal, regarding the amount of donation. I felt that Rs 10,000 should be appropriate. He, being well versed in these type of things, said Rs 5000 should be sufficient. I had already put Rs 10,000 in an envelope. I took out Rs 5000 and handed over the envelope to him.

We reached the temple. As we came out of the car, the band started playing a welcome tune. There was a huge crowd. The president came and garlanded me . And then followed the next and the next till the garlands covered my eyes. It was such a divine atmosphere that I felt ecstatic. I whispered in my friend’s ear that Rs 5000 was not enough, this was a job of Rs 10,000 at least. He was also sweating. He had also not expected this type of honour. I shifted the amount back into the envelope.

We were guided to a big hall full of devotees. The inauguration ceremony was done in a colourful manner. Finest adjectives were showered upon me. I also started enjoying the adulation till I heard the president announce a sum of Rs 50,000 as donation from my side.

We almost rose one foot high from the ground and for a minute were speechless. I collected my wits and told my companion to call the managing committee member who had come to invite us. We told him that the amount was more than our expectation and reach. He just shrugged it off and said: “You give whatever you like. He announced the amount just like that.” I could not compose myself as I did not want to cheat God or the public. Also, I never wanted the Income Tax Department to follow me, thinking I was too rich. The mediator went to the president and told him that the amount of donation was Rs 10,000.

The president seemed more excited than before and spoke loudly: “Doctor Sahib, Mata ke darbar mein jo bola jaye, wohi hona chahiye, Mata aap ko dugna degi”. I thought for a moment and prayed to God: “Everything is yours. Why should I hesitate”. And I agreed to pay in monthly instalments.

Thirty years have passed but the incident is still fresh in my mind. I always laugh and tell everybody that if God takes His share. He gives you more and blesses you with eternal joy.

REFLECTIONS

‘Who pays for my service?’
Kiran Bedi

I was invited to speak at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Academy of Administration, Mussoorie a few days ago. It was for an interaction with over 200 officer trainees of the IFS, IAS, IPS, IRS, and other services. As I settled down, the night before, to organise my thoughts, various questions surfaced in my mind which were answers by themselves. Hence, I felt it would be interesting for the officer trainees to hear them and perhaps feel the way I did. The subject of my talk was “Govt-citizen-interface”. Questions in the form of answers, I posed to the trainees were:-

Q.1 Why have you joined the service? (Please answer for yourself)

Is it for position, power & status? If yes, then the public will have very little place in your scheme of things, but if it is for service to people, then all your work will be people-centric …. therefore the first question you need to ask yourself is: why have I joined the Government service?

Q.2 What does the service stand for? What is its objective?

If your mind says it stands for service to people, then no one will need to tell you why you should serve people: For you will tell yourself to fulfil the objectives of your service.

Q.3 Who is the service meant for?

If your answer is, its for me, my family and my friends, then please tell yourself that you are not at the right place. If your mind says it’s for people, then be happy you are at the place you are meant for. Again no one will have to tell you why you need to work for people for you will be self guided.

Q.4 Who pays for my service?

If your answer is people: then how could you betray the people who pay for you? How can you then reverse the roles from a server to that of a master? And a good server is one who serves with sincerity and loyalty.

Q.5 Who is most affected by your work?

If your answer is people .... then you will realise that each action of yours has a direct or indirect effect on the people for whom you were meant for.

Q.6 Who needs you most?

If your answer is the poor, weak, deprived, backward, needy, old, underprivileged and vulnerable: then you have the right answers. If your answer is not this then you have lost your way and you are being used by the lobbies whose interest is to see that you do lose your way.

Q.7 How are you going to deliver the services which are meant for people?

This means you will focus on the method you adopt to deliver the services to the people at large. Will you be visible or invisible? Known or unknown? Will you be visible only when a VIP visits or will you treat your people equally important?

Q.8 What do you do when you are visible?

Do you interact and communicate with the common people or do you stay aloof? Is there honesty in your concern? Remember each word you say is remembered.

Q.9 How do you communicate?

Do you understand their feelings and are able to convey yours to them.

Q.10 Do you ask myself, how can your work be better and for those you are meant?

If yes, then you are bound to be interacting with people because it’s your people who teach you. It’s people who sensitise you and actually give you the possible solutions to the problems, provided you have the time and patience to listen to them.

Q.11 What kind of feedback systems do you adopt?

Are you giving people an equal opportunity to reach out to you. If yes, you will have enough. If no, then your administration will be lopsided and weak.

Q.12 Are you confident with a feedback system?

This will happen only when you are non-partisan and honest. Otherwise feedback will be a ritual only and you will like to avoid it.

Q.13 Who is your goal?

If the answer is people you will be doing what you came for. If it has changed you have again lost your way.

Q.14 What are your needs?

If you are asking for more than you need, then people are not your priority. You have again lost your track, you need to come back.

Q.15 Do you believe in questioning yourself?

If yes, then you will continue to be sensitive towards people : if not you have changed.

Q.16 Do you believe in empowering & sharing with others?

If yes, you are meeting the objectives of your job if not you have failed.

Q.17 What do you think you service is?

A position, status or a trust? If it is a position and status then you have cheated the people who pay for you and rely on you. If your answer is that your position is a trust you have served the purpose for which you have been entrusted the service of the people.

These questions are in fact roadmaps for our entire professional journey. Whenever we forget them we go the wrong direction.

While I spoke to the students I made them write down these questions. That was my present to them. But when they wrote and listened carefully they rewarded me equally.

A TRIBUTE

Remembering Nani Palkhivala
V. Gangadhar

My allotted time for the interview with Nani Palkhivala, some years back, was extended from 45 minutes to nearly two hours when he came to know I shared his passion for Thomas Gray’s famous poem, ‘Elegy Written in a country Churchyard’. Together we recited the immortal lines,

Full many a gem of the purest ray serene

The dark unfathomed caves of the ocean bear,

Full many a flower is born to blush unseen

And waste its sweetness in the desert air.

“A journalist quoting ‘Elegy’! That is quite unusual” he laughed as he poured more tea. I was a bit confused. Here was a person whose views on many issues were not to my liking. I had to find out why he always represented the richer classes and admired the USA so much. I was no armchair Marxist but his unstinted support to the US policies the world over had annoyed me. So was his defence of the former Indian princes.

We had a freewheeling talk. I knew of his middle class background which valued a good education more than anything else. Law was a natural avocation and he rose by sheer merit and hard work. Literature, English language and the use of the right word for the right occasion were his passions. Palkhivala cherished democratic ideals but I did not agree with him that the western concept of democracy would solve all the problems in the world.

Quite clearly, Nani Palkhivala was the greatest ‘gentleman lawyer’ of his time. Well briefed, he had an intuitive feeling for the law’s hidden interpretations which the other missed. His arguments were exact, packed with learned quotations as well as humorous quips from writers like Will Rogers.

A student of literature myself, I was amazed at the variety and depth of his reading. Besides poetry, Palkhivala adored the great essayists — Lamb, G.K.Chesterton, Hazlitt, A.G.Gardiner and F.L.Lucas. In good humour, we argued about the merits of Dr Johnson who is seldom read these days. “Read his ‘Lives of the Poets” he suggested. “It is the ultimate in literary criticism.” I agreed but found his novel, ‘Rassellas’ disappointing. “Oh, he wrote it only to make some money,” laughed Palkhivala. “Dr Johnson was no novelist.”

Fiction to fact. For Palkhivala, individual freedom, freedom of speech and fundamental rights counted more than anything else. That was why he was attracted to the American system of politics, practised by Presidents like Roosvelt and Jimmy Carter. The Soviet system, was reprehensible, because it did not recognise these qualities. But Palkhivala was a bit defensive when asked about the long-standing American support to some of the worst dictators in the world, all in the name of fighting Communism. “The American knowledge about international affairs, was limited,” he admitted.

But his admiration for the capitalist American system and way of life was unbounded. He particularly appreciated the role of private industry and how little the American people depended on the government. “This is how it should be,” he told me. “Leave the government to manage national defence, space control and things like that. The rest should be with the private sector.” That was why he welcomed the liberalisation process and showered praise on Dr Manmohan Singh, the former Finance Minister. “That is a man who knows his job and is incorruptible.”

As for democracy practised in India, Palkhivala, I suspect came to develop some apprehensions. “Can there be democracy without discipline?” he asked me. He was a vigorous opponent of the national emergency and the press censorship imposed by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Referring to those days, he said the Allahabad High Court judgement which unseated Indira Gandhi could have been easily overturned by the Supreme Court. “The judgement was faulty on many counts,” he explained. In fact, Palkhivala was among those who urged Mrs Gandhi to resign as the Prime Minister, fight and win the case in the Supreme Court and emerge triumphant. He even offered to represent her at the Supreme Court, but Mrs Gandhi chose to declare the Emergency.

He was not a rich man’s lawyer as is believed by a section of the people. The ‘cause’ moved him, not the size of the fee. Most of the famous cases he argued in the Supreme Court on major constitutional issues were free. “There is no sin or harm in making money,” Palkhivala explained.

He admired men like J.R.D.Tata who rather than hoard wealth, spread it evenly for expanding industry, setting up foundation and institutions and promoting talent. “Rich people, like JRD did, should do a little more of nation building,” he said.

Palkhivala admired Nehru as a person but argued that his economic policies had set India back by 50 years. “The socialistic pattern of society did not work and should have been abandoned,” he pointed out. “But we carried on and it led to the licence and permit Raj taking deep roots in the country and ruining our economy.” So, Palkhivala attacked the Union Budgets every year before huge crowds which assembled at the Brabourne stadium. It was one of the major events of the year. The speeches were meticulously prepared, full of punch lines and learned quotations, all delivered without reference to notes.

He was very ill when I met him last. The pain was also in the mind. He was disturbed at the domination of Indian politics by criminal elements, the growing corruption and communal divide and indiscipline.

“Religion is a beautiful thing but strictly personal,” he argued. “How can it be used as a political issue?” He was more distressed at the mindless violence, destruction of public property, lack of civic sense and a political system which did little to check these.

“We have such rich religious texts and cultural tradition here,” he said. “We could be the model nation to the rest of the world but look what we are doing to ourselves”, he lamented. Palkhivala slowly withdrew from public life and I suspect began to feel a bit helpless. Perhaps, death came as a welcome release.

SIGHT & SOUND

Modi all the way
Amita Malik

Even if one wanted to and preferred cricket, soaps or feature films, it was impossible to get away from Narendra Modi on TV last week. Not only was he an interesting study in mob oratory, melodrama and pure venom, he also established a style of functioning which was against all norms of civilsed electioneering, breaking rules, ignoring the EC’s directives and doing what he darnd well pleased. And, what is more, getting away with it. Watching him on TV was an experience not to be forgotten. But just as one was coming to the conclusion that there was no one to touch him in mob oratory, up popped Laloo Prasad Yadav. And much as one can criticise him for his style of speaking, there was no doubt that he was more than a match for Modi. He had the crowds roaring in the aisles, of course, but behind the points he made with apparent rustic simplicity lay old-fashioned horse sense. He was entertaining and held the crowd with his jibes and jokes, but behind every sally there was shrewd politics. Modi held the crowds with his local patois, his thrusts at Musharraf Mian, open attacks on the minorities and grim threats all round, Laloo held the crowds with issues nearer home on which he seemed to have boned up. Out of all the Congress campaigners who spoke, including Sonia Gandhi, he not only openly attacked Modi by name but went so far as to say that he would be arrested under POTA if his party was defeated. And curiously enough, the crowds seemed to find this mixture of entertainment and hard politics compelling. One felt it might even affect their voting. When self-appointed heroes are cut down to size, it often sets the voter thinking. By the time this column appears, voting trends if not positive results would be coming in. Then only shall we know to what extent mob oratory can work against home truths and ground reality. For us TV viewers, the Gujarat election was a fascinating experience. And may we add our thanks to Laloo Prasad, who remains equally watchable whether in the TV studios or facing vast crowds on a maidan, for introducing some relief into a tense and at times demoralising and undemocratic atmosphere.

The modern soaps make both bahus and saases into fashionable (over) dressed beauties, straight out of beauty salons and groomed to the nines. The bahus are all lovely to look at and so are their clothes. In that respect Astitva, the serial I have been watching on Zee TV for some episodes to watch the way it is going, runs true to form as far as heroines go. The woman doctor who is the central character, always seems to come straight from the beauty salon even when she comes out of the labour room after a difficult delivery. What is more, her low-back perfectly fitting choli and her chiffon saris, in the most gorgeous of hues, always falling in perfect folds and uncrushed by the doctor’s always spotless white apron could give a run in looks and clothes to any bahu on any K soap. But the serial scores on two points, both the woman doctor and her boy admirer act convincingly, mostly by under-statement and Alok Nath who plays the doctor’s father has established himself down the years as one of the stalwarts of TV theatre. But what makes the serial interesting is because the emotional interest is different from that of the bahus and saases.

Here it is a case of a very attractive woman who everyone feels is getting past the marriable age because of her career. And along comes a young professional photographer who is not only struck by her beauty but by her personality as well. He features her as The Perfect Woman in his magazine and is soon hopelessly in love with her. It started as puppy love but is now in the process of progressing to something more because the young man is not only persistent but is beginning to wear down the first amused and then worried persistence of the woman by making her discover her hidden longings by his sometimes canny analysis of the reasons for her singleness. It is an interesting situation, especially the lonely career woman angle as contrasted with the scheming domestic plots of the bahus. One hopes the ending will be convincing to.

I watched with interest the entire award-giving ceremony of the TV Academy awards in Mumbai irronically on a replay on DD, which did not get a single award. And the point which struck me most forcibly is how can they be called “national” awards, or a channel, programme or performer be given national status, leaving out important channels all over India. Quite plainly, these were awards for Hindi and English channels, programmes and performers, the cursory inclusion of Jayshree from the South being a very tiny sop to national aspirations.

These awards should have been labelled Hindi channel or best anchor in English or whatever because they are hardly national when channels in the languages of West, East, and South India, some with formidable popular followings and equal as well as sometimes superior quality should also be taken into account. The Mumbai slant of the awards was obvious, as was the whole ceremony. I am not contesting the merit of most of the awards, but let them not be called national until channels from all parts of India compete under regional categories and then are promoted to national status by a national jury as is done for the national awards for the cinema. Or, as is the case with the Filmfare and other awards, separate awards should be given to the regional language channels and the Hindi or English awards recognised as such.