The bitter Hegde pill
Tainted politicians must be shown the door

THE indictment of Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa by the state’s Lokayukta, Justice Santosh Hegde, over alleged corruption involving him, his family and his administration leaves him with absolutely no moral authority to stick to office. Yeddyurappa has for long been resisting demands for his resignation but this report of the Lokayukta (leaked to the media before its formal release) should really be the last straw on the camel’s back unless the BJP to which he belongs is bent upon committing political harakiri. So stark is the purported evidence against Mr Yeddyurappa that any alibis that he or his party may offer would only lower their credibility and compromise their goals in the only BJP-ruled state in the South. Close on the heels of the Lokayukta’s report has come the Karnataka High Court’s order allowing the police to question the chief minister and his family over illegal land deals. Indeed, Mr Yeddyurappa’s cup of woes is full to the brim and the writing is on the wall for him. Indeed, he can ill afford not to see it.

Doubtlessly, Justice Hegde deserves to be congratulated for being unsparing in unmasking the high and the mighty in his second report on illegal mining, including four ministers apart from the chief minister, former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy of the Janata Dal (S), Congress MP Anil Lad besides a host of other politicians and bureaucrats. That Justice Hegde had, in his first report in 2009, indicted the then Chief Minister Dharam Singh of the Congress only goes to show that the bleeding of the public exchequer is attributable to all major parties. It would, however, be foolhardy for Mr Yeddyurappa to take shelter under the pretext that he or his party are not the only ones in the dock. Going by Justice Hegde’s report, illegal mining has cost the state Rs 1,827 crore in dodged taxes and other levies between April 2009 and May 2010.

The implication of the Hegde report is that the politician-bureaucracy-business nexus has played havoc with Karnataka and the country’s interests. It is time the alleged loot is stopped and all those guilty of defrauding the exchequer are brought to book after due process of law. As a first step, Yeddyurappa must resign forthwith or be removed as chief minister and those indicted must not find a place in any new dispensation.

Dubious property deals
Law alone is not enough

UNDER pressure to curb black money, the Union Cabinet has fast-tracked a Bill supposedly to stop benami transactions. A similar law passed by the Rajiv Gandhi government in1988 has remained unimplemented. Even the required rules under the law were not framed. The excuse trotted out for the poor show is that the law is toothless and gives limited powers to government officials. The burden of proving a benami transaction is on the government or the person making the allegation.

No matter how harsh a law may be, it would be ineffective until there is political will to take on criminals. Despite the laws, black money has grown and is widely used to buy property under fictitious names. Real estate itself is a major generator of black money. When a ceiling was imposed on agricultural land, benami deals became common. In recent years property prices have rocketed because of large inflows of illegal income. Those taking bribes or having other undeclared income use it to make full or part payments for property, whose registration value is often declared lower than its market price due to a buyer-seller-official nexus. Real estate being without a regulator has helped them in no small way.

Things are, however, changing. Though black money is still in use, benami transactions are no longer as easy. Property registration papers require the photographs of buyers and sellers. Good realty companies take payments through cheques only. Any large amount changing hands through a bank comes to the government’s notice. The Aadhar project will further cut chances of shady deals. Computerisation of records is bringing about transparency. The benami Bill is an improvement over the 1988 law but it is still not hard enough. An offender can be jailed only up to two years. If benami buyers and sellers get away with tax evasion, it is because officials let them. A cleanup of the Revenue Department alone will not help until the whole culture of corruption is targeted.

Open loot
No mercy shown even to children

THIS is the era of scams, but still one had expected that at least a few things would be sacrosanct. One that certainly should have been exempted was children’s health. But as the latest Planning Commission review has disclosed, money meant even for that has been conveniently siphoned off. Close to Rs 3,000 crore worth of funds allocated by the government during 2008-2009, the year of study, for Supplementary Nutrition Programme (SNP), the most critical component of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), has vanished on the way without benefiting the country’s children between six months and six years of age. That amounts to an astounding 56.4 per cent of the total budgetary allocation of Rs 5,383 crore for the year. No wonder the world’s largest child health programme is virtually bed ridden.

All dirty tricks of the trade have been used to bleed the 36-year-old programme. The huge fraud has been perpetrated through anganwadi centres (AWCs) whose sorry state The Tribune has been highlighting repeatedly. First of all, many of the eligible children were just not registered. Even out of those who were registered, only 64 per cent were given supplementary nutrition, that too only for 16 days a month on an average, making it a total of 192 days a year, whereas the Supreme Court had mandated that this should be done for 300 days.

The review gives sickening details of how all this was done. It says that in some areas where AWCs are given cash every month, there is a nexus between the Child Development Project Officer, the AWC supervisor and even bank, panchayat and anganwadi workers (AWWs) to siphon off cash. In some other cases, contractors are supplying food items and money gets diverted through the manipulation of accounts and entries in the registers of beneficiaries the AWWs are supposed to maintain. Since this has been going on for many years, it appears that there is no monitoring mechanism in place at all.

Thought for the Day

Natural abilities are like natural plants; they need pruning by study.

— Francis Bacon

Managing the Railways
Populist agenda may lead to derailment
by R.C. Acharya

FOR new Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi it was truly a baptism of fire as on the very day he took charge at Rail Bhavan he had to rush off to one of the worst passenger train accidents in recent history at Malhan, 70 km from Kanpur, involving a large number of lives lost and injuries to many!

At 61, Mr Trivedi, who has an MBA from Texas University, will perhaps bring to the Rail Ministry a fresh outlook, not as a politician but as a management expert to think rationally and focus on essentials. Not only has he been the Trinamool Congress’s public face in Delhi but also, reportedly, its main fund-raiser when the party was in the opposition, and very much at home with the business sector.

Arriving on the scene after a long and illustrious list of political heavyweights, who did not hesitate in making full use of the vast resources of the 1.4 million-strong behemoth called Indian Railways to win friends and influence people, without a thought about its financial health, he has a lot to discover and cover in the next two years.

For a start, he may have to try to avoid the populist agenda, which all his predecessors had adopted. Undoing some of the wrongs done may no longer be possible but he can avoid the pitfalls such as the introduction of hundreds of new passenger trains every year which are crowding out freight business, the mainstay of rail finances.

The single most vital task facing him will be to walk a fine line between the Railways’ role as a commercially successful entity and its social responsibilities, especially in the development of backward areas, which, according to Ms Mamata Banerjee, Mr Trivedi’s party boss, was a highly desirable objective irrespective of the very low rates of return such projects may generate!

A vast backlog of nearly Rs70,000 crore of works should perhaps make him pause before venturing into new areas of growth. A high-level review to prioritise the existing projects will enable him to get a “bigger bang for the bucks”, particularly developing section capacity in certain critical areas by doubling or gauge conversion. Undoubtedly, political compulsions will require early funding of scores of projects, already in the pipeline in West Bengal.

For a developing country such as India, there is simply no alternative to Railways as a vital engine for economic growth, providing a speedy and safe transport for passengers and freight at the least possible unit cost. Like Madhavrao Scindia, it should not take long for his keen mind to get to know the ropes of this behemoth, which during 1986-89 took a number of significant measures, including the introduction of a string of inter-city trains and a world class passenger reservation system.

It may be a vast monolith with layers of management, yet it is capable of responding quickly to an emergency situation such as floods, riots and accidents. Moreover, unlike the defence services, the Railways always remains at war, moving 14 million passengers and over 3 million tonnes of freight everyday over its 64,000 km of network, come hell or high water.

For the experienced and suave Mr Trivedi it should not be too difficult to fathom the inter-department rivalries and curb tendencies to protect one’s turfs, often at the cost of overall efficiency in the system. For instance, elimination of brake vans and with it the train guards on freight trains by the introduction of electronic EOT (End Of Train) or LVD (Last Vehicle Device) has been hanging fire for quite some time. This will go a long way in reducing staff costs as has been done for over a decade now in the case of the US, European and other major railways.

It may be too late in the day for him to reverse the irreparable damage to Indian Railways’ command and control structure by Mr Nitish Kumar when overnight he created seven new rail zones, taking the number from a manageable nine to 16, adding substantially to overheads. However, a review of Mr Lalu Yadav’s hike in the carrying capacity of wagons to obtain higher freight earnings, which is reportedly leading to a dangerously higher rate of wear and tear on both the track and the rolling stock, may be in order.

Unlocking the immense potential of the DLW (Diesel Loco Works), the CLW (Chittaranjan Loco Works), the ICF (Integral Coach Factory) and the RCF (Rail Coach Factory), which are world class manufacturing facilities for locomotives and coaches, respectively, by aggressively marketing for exports may enable him to earn valuable foreign exchange and give a boost to the Railways’ finances, which at present it is woefully short of!

High-speed trains, whizzing past at 300 kmph and connecting important metros and modern state-of-the-art station buildings resembling airport terminals, are prohibitively expensive ventures which are best left for the private investor — if the minister can find one — under the prevalent PPP (Public Private Partnership) regime, which Planning Commission mandarins are assiduously pushing for.

Nor should he invest in expensive the ACD (Anti-Collision Device) developed by the Konkan Railways which has a very limited role to play. Intensive monitoring in the observation of safety rules and rigid preventive maintenance schedules of track and rolling stock are the two thrust areas to ensure safe running of trains perhaps at a fraction of the cost of the ACD.

An ACD may detect a train on the same track — a highly unlikely scenario — but cannot prevent a derailment as it happened recently at Malhan, nor can a collision with a train derailed on the other track in a double line section as could be seen at Khanna in Punjab more than a decade back!

However, a slew of passenger train accidents in the recent past are undoubtedly a cause for worry. Perhaps, the minister should get the Railway Board to have a relook at a new category of accidents in the 1980’s — the “inconsequential” ones. These are mostly derailments, particularly of goods trains, which have not led to serious “consequences” such as the damage or loss of assets or lives.

This was primarily done when things were really bad, giving a rather skewed picture of the Railways’ safety record. Since then large-scale renewal and up-gradation of steel rails and improved rolling stock designs have sharply brought down the number of such incidents. Time is now ripe to do away with such a category, ensuring a much higher transparency in reporting, detailed analysis and having a critical look at all train accidents, big or small.

The writer is former Member, Railway Board.

Cabinet reshuffle
by S. Raghunath

PRIME Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has set a record of sorts by reshuffling his Cabinet for the fourth time in less than a year and watching on the TV the mass swearing-in of the new ministers and people aimlessly wandering around in the Asoka Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan. I wondered if the “dramatis personae” involved in the high political soap opera really knew what it was all about.

“Congratulations, Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal. You’ve just been elevated to Cabinet rank and made Minister for Family Planning with independent charge of vasectomy, tubectomy, Mala-D oral pills and Nirodh condoms, excluding the rhythm method and chastity belts.”

Really? But I thought I had just taken the oath of office and secrecy as the Deputy Minister for Dairy Development with independent charge of two of the cows’ udders, the other two udders going to Mr Virbhadra Singh. The PM had also assured me that I would get the Animal Husbandry portfolio, excluding Sahiwal cows and Murrah buffaloes.”

“No, no, you’re confusing your portfolio with that of Mr Gotawat. Congratulations, Mr Harish Rawat. You’re the new Minister for Bridges, excluding piers and supporting girders. You’ve also been given the additional charge of yoga and yajna and pooja supplies, excluding incense sticks, camphor and tulsi leaves.”

“But I thought I had been allotted the Excise portfolio minus country liquor, arrack and moonshine whisky.”

“ No, the PM is retaining the Excise portfolio for the present. Congratulations, Mr Arun Yadav. You’re the new entrant into the Cabinet with responsibility for Post-Doctoral Research, LKG and UKG, excluding pre-nurseries and playhomes.”

“Congratulations, Mr Dinesh Patel. You’re now the Deputy Minister for Forests, excluding trees and tree guards, with additional charge of white tigers and Asiatic elephants.”

“No, that can’t be so. I’ve just taken the oath of office as Parliamentary Secretary for roads, excluding asphalting with additional charge of urban transport minus buses, trucks, and horse-drawn tongas.”

“Hello, there Ms Renuka Chaudhury. You’ve been allotted the new portfolio of Women’s Development and Men’s Underdevelopment and Downfall.”

“But the Prime Minister had given an assurance that he would give me the Inland Fisheries portfolio, excluding fishing nets and live baits.”

“No, no, that portfolio has gone to Mr Subodh Kant.”

“Ah, there’s the PM himself. Sir, will you be personally retaining any more portfolios till the next round of Cabinet reshuffle an hour from now?”

“Yes, I’ll be retaining with myself the Department of Confusions with additional charge of confounding them.”

Having cultivated anti-American public opinion as a buffer against US demands, a weak and discredited army high command appears caught in a new dilemma.

Consequences of misreading 9/11
Cyril Almeida

SOMETIMES big decisions turn on simple questions. In the aftermath of 9/11, the question was a simple one: did we get it? Did our generals get that 9/11 was an epochal, seismic shift, that the old way of doing business had to be chucked out, replaced by a new pragmatism to fit new realities?

The generals didn't get it. They thought 9/11 was a blip, one that required temporary adjustments and deflections, for which they would be rewarded handsomely, before eventually going back to business as usual.

No thought was given to long-term changes or course corrections, which made sense for a state which rarely has anything by way of strategy, statecraft here being limited to haphazardly responding to crises.

Ten years on, Pakistan is struggling mightily with the consequences of misreading 9/11 and what it meant for this country and the security choices before it.

Which is why debating the minutiae of the present round of accusations and recriminations between Pakistan and the US matters little. Has the CIA been handed a bunch of Pakistani visas as a result of an explicit understanding that no unilateral American operations will take place on Pakistani soil or was it more of a mumbled half-promise accompanied by severe arm-twisting?

Has Ghulam Nabi Fai been touted as a warning that if Pakistan continues to hamper American efforts to get what it wants most - eliminating terrorists who may threaten the US homeland and interests - then the US will undermine what Pakistan cares about the most - getting something out of Kashmir?

Doesn't matter, really. Locked in a static worldview, the generals missed the flux of strategic opportunities, and threats, that 9/11 produced.

From resetting ties with the US in a way that would draw Pakistan on to the right side of world opinion to re-examining Kashmir and the broader relations with India to looking internally and embarking on reforms that would alter the economic and security trajectory of the country - there was much that could have been done.

Instead, we chose to hunker down, grab the carrots that were dangled and brace ourselves for blows from the stick. It amounted to being shaped by circumstances rather than getting ahead of the curve. Inevitably, Pakistan found itself more and more isolated and less and less secure.

But a strange thing has happened: Pakistan has got a second chance.

The plummeting relations with the US over the past year, and particularly in 2011, could have gone one of two ways. It could have tipped the balance in favour of the hawks in the US, the ones who believe Pakistan should be punished because we are recidivists, habitual scofflaws, and deserve to be isolated further instead of coddled foolishly.

Or it could have crystallised Pakistan's ultimate worth to the US, the pain-in-the-neck ally who gives American policy-makers many sleepless nights, but fewer than if it were outside the American tent altogether.

Sift through the statements of American officials in recent months, particularly since the OBL (Osama bin Laden) raid, and you'll find traces of the latter, a more hard-nosed assessment of what Pakistan means to the US.

Cage-rattling aside - that's part of the game - American officials appear to have recognised at least two things, though they will never admit this in public.

One, Pakistan's assistance, wherever and whenever it has come, is worth substantially more than no assistance. CIA spies on the ground are worth more than no CIA spies on the ground, as the OBL raid spectacularly illustrated. The alternative to drones still flying over FATA is drones not flying over FATA - which would remove a key plank of US counter-terrorism strategy. The supply route to Afghanistan through Pakistan is worth billions more than any alternative supply route to Afghanistan, a particularly priceless concession at the time of budget cuts in the US.

Two, Pakistan's assistance, wherever and whenever it has come, has been bought on the cheap. Twenty billion dollars or thirty billion, the money that has flowed to Pakistan over the last decade is essentially a rounding error on the balance sheet of the wars the US has fought, the amount it has spent on its armed forces or what it has shelled out to deal with sundry crises at home and abroad.

Hence all the talk about the US having "no option but to work on relations with Pakistan" - opting out, American officials realise, will leave the US with little leverage over Pakistan and possibly a bigger headache to deal with eventually; trying to nudge things along between the two countries at least offers the possibility of building on the advantages engaging Pakistan offers.

And hence our second chance.

Ten years since miscalculating the impact of the events surrounding 9/11, as the drawdown in Afghanistan begins, as the world's focus on Pakistan as a terrorism haven sharpens, as Pakistan's economic and security trajectory threatens a terrifying slide downwards, the generals again have a choice: does Pakistan want to climb to the right side of the US and world opinion or do we want to confirm the perceptions of the hawks internationally who believe Pakistan must be contained, or pummelled?

The reactionary statement put out after the 139th Corps Commanders' conference in June suggested the generals still didn't get it, and perhaps they didn't even get that they were faced with a choice again.

But put your ear to the ground and listen carefully to the noises coming from the foreign-policy and national-security circles in recent weeks and it tends to mirror what American officials are saying: there is no option but to work on the relationship. So, at last, signs of an emerging pragmatism? Not necessarily.

The generals and the mandarins may finally be coming around to a chastened understanding of reality, but how do they, in their weakened and discredited state, convince the public of that reality when in their strong and strutting state they were convincing the public of the opposite?

By arrangement with Dawn, Islamabad