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Faster growth
possible Guessing game in
Pak |
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Expenditure
guarantee Time to revisit job scheme conceptually Debated right since its inception, the UPA’s flagship social welfare programme, MGNREGS, has for the first time received structured criticism, with specific trouble areas pinpointed, as opposed to anecdotal feedback. Scathing as it may be, it must be noted that the CAG report on the job guarantee scheme has come on a performance audit sought by the Rural Development Ministry itself.
Pakistan’s poll
scene
The secret tumbles
out, almost
Child protection
law awaits invoking
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Guessing game in Pak The
emergence of former cricketer Imran Khan, head of the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI), as a major factor in Pakistan politics is a significant development. Even before the election date was announced a guessing game had started with some Western analysts claiming that with the people in Pakistan being fed up with the PPP and the PML (N), Imran could turn the tables on these parties, which had been running the civilian governments in turn. His remark that the big names in Pakistan’s politics like former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and PPP co-chairperson Asif Zardari “will be looking for places to hide” when polling is held on May 11 shows Imran’s confidence as a major claimant to power in Islamabad. He is more acerbic in his comment these days than he was in the past and this can be seen in his latest claim. Imran’s party has, no doubt, created a large following among the youth of Pakistan. It has got the support of some extremist elements also, as Imran has earned the sobriquet of the “Taliban in jeans”. The army’s soft corner for him is well known. But this is not sufficient to help him even capture the third place in Pakistan’s politics. That place belongs to the MQM, with its bases in Karachi and Hyderabad in Sindh province. The Western media’s projection of Imran Khan has little to do with the ground reality. With Nawaz Sharif’s image as the one who brought about vibrancy in Pakistan’s economy by introducing economic liberalisation and privatisation, his party may recapture power in Islamabad. The PML (N)’s latest record of governance in Pakistan’s Punjab province has not been as disappointing as the PPP-led government’s functioning at the federal level. The PPP is in difficult straits because of the image of President Asif Zardari and its poor performance on almost every front. People are faced with all kinds of economic woes. If Imran’s PTI really replaces either of the two major parties at the federal level, this will indicate a drastic change in the thinking of Pakistani voters.
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Expenditure guarantee Debated
right since its inception, the UPA’s flagship social welfare programme, MGNREGS, has for the first time received structured criticism, with specific trouble areas pinpointed, as opposed to anecdotal feedback. Scathing as it may be, it must be noted that the CAG report on the job guarantee scheme has come on a performance audit sought by the Rural Development Ministry itself. It turns out that not all poor get employment, payments are delayed, nonexistent people get money, projects are abandoned midway, there is lack of planning and rules are violated among various other ills. None of this is news, but now the government has reliable figures to work with, and make amendments. Why the ills exist should not be hard to understand by anyone versed with how government chains of administration and money disbursal function. However, what must be noted is the scale at which this scheme operates and what are the percentages of embezzlement. Also, corruption and ill planning or shoddy execution have to be treated separately. There has been a steady stream of reports in the media on specific wrongs in the implementation of the scheme. However, there have not been mass complaints of rampant corruption. One of the reasons is the highly transparent enrolment and accounting system and the other is the involvement of panchayats, which are directly answerable to the people targeted by the scheme. In terms of money spent and work done, this must be one of the least efficient programmes. But then, that has to do with the very concept of the scheme — to give people money. What gets built is incidental. The idea is to overcome the challenge of unequal distribution of wealth in the short term. It would, however, not be wrong to expect better efficiency. That will be a fundamental policy decision, as certain basic rules will need changing. At the moment only labour can be hired under the scheme, materials cannot be purchased. There is so much that can be done with mud in today’s world of machines. The CAG report should be a good starting point for the government to go back to the drawing board with the scheme.
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I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.
— Jimmy Dean
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Pakistan’s poll scene Pakistan
is being torn apart by sectarian and communal violence in which hundreds of Shias have perished and the Christian and Hindu minorities terrorised by extremist Sunni groups, ranging from the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The port city of Karachi, always a hotbed of violence, saw new dimensions to sectarian and ethnic violence as the TTP took control of the Pashtun-dominated areas in the city from the moderate Awami National Party (ANP). The arrival of the Taliban in Karachi has produced continued bloodletting between Taliban-oriented Pashtuns and Muhajirs, pledging loyalty to Altaf Hussain’s MQM. In Punjab, the extremist Sunni Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, which enjoys the patronage of Rana Sanaullah, a senior leader of Nawaz Sharif’s PML (N) party, has mercilessly targeted Shias, Ahmedis and Barelvis. Its arrested cadres reportedly enjoy benign judicial protection from no less than the Supreme Court’s Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, said to be a cousin of Rana Sanaullah. The situation is more tense in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, where the TTP is targeting candidates of the secular ANP, whose leader Asfandyar Wali Khan has been unable to campaign even in his hometown Charsadda, near Peshawar. In Baluchistan, the Army continues its brutal operations against the Baluchi tribal resistance with reports of emergence of bodies of Baluchi militants being mutilated by the army. Pakistanis now appear to have become inured to such violence. Candidates are busy electioneering. The election process has been complicated by constitutional provisions introduced by General Zia-ul-Haq. All candidates are required to have “adequate knowledge of Islamic teachings and practices and obligatory duties prescribed by Islam”. The Constitution also requires rejection of those “opposed to the ideology of Pakistan”. It requires candidates to be “sagacious, righteous, non-profligate, honest and ameen”. These provisions have led to returning officers initially rejecting the candidature of former Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and General Musharraf, who now faces court proceedings. Pakistan is paying a high price for its Sharia laws, designed to promote Salafi extremism. The “Blasphemy Law” in the country, also enacted during the rule of General Zia, results in religious minorities being intimidated, arbitrarily arrested and subjected to threats of death penalties. A recent public opinion poll in Pakistan gave a clear indication of the mood of the youth, which is going to play an important role in the forthcoming elections. Around 94 per cent of the youth thought the country was going in a wrong direction. Society at large is becoming more religiously conservative. Sixty-four per cent of the male youth and 75 per cent of women are religiously conservative. There is little optimism about prospects of employment for the youth. Islamic “tanzims” are drawing more and more disenchanted youth. The survey revealed that only 29 per cent of young Pakistanis support democracy, 32 per cent favour military rule and 38 per cent favour the imposition of Islamic Sharia. Such attitudes are significantly prevalent in Pashtun-dominated Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in Punjab and in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. With the exception of President Zardari’s PPP, Asfandyar Wali Khan’s ANP and Altaf Hussain’s MQM, virtually all other parties are resorting to anti-American sloganeering. India finds little mention in election rhetoric. There are virtually no references to Kashmir. Many Pakistanis evidently realise that they will first have to set their own house in order before pontificating on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir. Imran Khan’s Tehriq-e-Insaf acknowledges that armed jihadi groups in the country include “Kashmiri militants”. Despite spiralling inflation, endemic power shortages, rising unemployment and falling growth rates, economic issues find very little mention in public debate. The economic manifesto of President Zardari’s PPP sounds like a booklet of India’s populist National Advisory Council. The manifesto focuses scant attention on measures to enhance savings and investment and accelerate economic growth. It dwells predominantly on “people’s schemes” that target youth and others apart from “direct subsidies” for “working masses” and other sections of society. The PML (N) manifesto, however, is akin to what Indian business chambers advocate. It substantially endorses recommendations of the Pakistan Business Council, pledging to revive privatisation, restoring the confidence of investors and advocating measures to deal with short and long-term economic issues. The focus of attention in the forthcoming elections will be on the populous Punjab province, which accounts for 182 of the 342 parliamentary seats. Northern and Central Punjab, from which the bulk of the Pakistan army is recruited and is the home of terrorist groups like the Lashkar-e-Toiba have for long been the stronghold of Nawaz Sharif’s PML (N). On the other hand, southern Punjab, which is Seraiki-dominated and not Punjabi speaking, a region where rich, landowning Pirs like former Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani are influential, has been a PPP stronghold. Uncertainty on how these two parts of Punjab will vote has arisen primarily because Imran Khan’s party could well rally disaffect youth and split the votes of the PPP and PML (N). The trump card for the PPP remains its promise to create a separate province for the disaffected Seraiki-speaking population in southern Punjab. It can also expect support from Shias concerned with the ties of Nawaz Sharif’s party with armed, extremist Sunni groups. The widespread expectation is that the ruling PPP will lose a number of seats because of the anti-incumbency sentiments resulting from declining growth rates, spiralling inflation, prolonged power cuts and charges of corruption. Nawaz Sharif’s PML (N) could well emerge as the largest single party in Parliament. But Imran Khan backed by the military could eat into votes that were assured for Nawaz Sharif in the past. He has evidently impressed the youth and women and spoken out against the rich and privileged. His economic manifesto speaks for reviving the agricultural sector and increasing investment in education. Pakistan appears to be heading towards the rule by a fractious coalition. But unlike in the past where moderate parties like the MQM and ANP held the balance, Islamist parties like the JUI are expected to play a greater role in the months ahead. Significantly, Army Chief General Kayani recently averred: “Pakistan was created in the name of Islam and Islam can never be taken out of Pakistan.” It is evident that neither the army nor the political establishment has the will or inclination to take on the radical Islamic groups like the TTP, the Jaish-e-Mohamed and the LeT. This is not good news for India or Afghanistan and will be viewed with concern in capitals like Washington and
Moscow.
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The secret tumbles out, almost In
these uncertain times, my parents are a concerned lot. After all, their unmarried “little” girl is working in night shifts in “faraway” Chandigarh. My mom would keep pestering me with questions — face to face and even on the phone — on how my office night cab service worked or about the people in my office. “If the pick-and-drop cab service is so lousy and your colleagues are uncooperative, quit!” she would declare. When I went home last weekend, I got a chance to relieve my parents’ anxiety as I spotted a senior colleague of mine strolling with his wife on The Mall in Shimla — very close to where we resided. Arousing the hostess in me, I invited them home. In his usual bubbly manner, he heaped praise over me in front of my parents,
“Badi changee kudi hai tuhadi (your girl is very nice).” When my senior colleague declined my mother’s offer for tea, I realized something was wrong. He had been bubblier than usual and had been clutching on to — but not drinking from — a big plastic orange tumbler all this while. The rendezvous lasted 10 minutes. As I shut the door and sank into the sofa, papa said, “Your friend has forgotten his tumbler” and advanced towards it. Then, it struck me — liquor! I jumped from my seat, overtook papa and grabbed the tumbler. “I’ll return it to him in the office.” As a member of a religious, vegetarian and teetotaller family, the revelation of the fact that my colleague was drunk would do me more harm than good. Plus, I didn’t want another lecture from mom. Without even looking at the contents of the tumbler, I flushed those down the toilet, washed the tumbler twice, dried it and put it in my bag. When, on Monday morning, I went to return the tumbler to its rightful owner, he seemed to have forgotten about it. “Voila,” I produced forth
the tumbler. “I thought I had dropped it somewhere,” he admitted. Then, he looked inside and said thoughtfully, “How come it is empty?” When I told him that I flushed the contents down the drain, he laughed and said,
“Kudiye, Rs 150 de peg da nuksaan kar ditta (girl, you caused me a loss of a peg worth Rs 150).” But why didn’t I notice the stink — that liquor is notorious for — on him when I invited him home. “It was Vodka,” he
divulged.
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Child protection law awaits invoking
Before amending existing laws or introducing new ones, all states must ensure the proper implementation of the wholesome Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences Act introduced last year to shield them from violence.
“There is no trust more sacred than the one the world holds with children. There is no duty more important than ensuring that their rights are respected, that their welfare is protected, that their lives are free from fear and that they can grow up in peace.”
— Kofi Annan
With
the repeated string of rape of children being reported across the nation and a public outcry raging on the streets like molten lava flowing uncontrolled from a bursting volcano, the victimised and abused child suffers in silence. Traumatised, dejected and horrified, family members of unfortunate victims find themselves helpless, confused and unable to cope with the heinous crime. Even though on May 22, 2012, Parliament passed the Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO), which came into force on November 14, 2012, this special law to protect children from offences of sexual assault, sexual harassment and pornography remains an unimplemented law, unknown to most and beyond knowledge or information of those who need to apply it. Sadly, the result is that POCSO, an Act which is a necessity in India where 40 per cent of the population is below the age of 18 and where over 53 per cent of children reportedly surveyed in 2007 stated that they had experienced one or more forms of sexual abuse, is not complied with despite being on the statute book. Rhetoric demands stiff penalties, expeditious new laws and fast-track courts, little realising that POCSO as a wholesome law already says it all.
Child specific Until recently, various provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) were used to deal with sexual offences against children as the law did not make a distinction between an adult and a child. POCSO deals with sexual offences against persons below the age of 18 years. A child has been defined as a person below the age of 18 years. POCSO defines penetrative sexual assault, sexual assault and sexual harassment, making the offence aggravated if it is committed by a police officer, public servant, staff member of jail, remand, protection or observation home, staff of a hospital or an educational institution or by a member of the armed or security forces. POCSO provides for relief and rehabilitation as soon as the complaint is made to the Special Juvenile Police Unit or the local police which is required to make immediate arrangements for care and protection. The intent to commit an offence defined under POCSO is also punishable besides abetment or aiding the sexual abuse of a child. Special emphasis has been provided for trial in special children’s courts with speedy disposal and special procedures to avoid child not seeing accused while testifying.
No awareness Despite POCSO laying down that the Central and state governments shall take measures to give wide publicity through media, including television, radio and print media, and imparting periodic training to all stakeholders on the matters relating to the implementation of the provisions of POCSO, the Act is relatively unknown. Shockingly, in the present most recent unfortunate rape case, the Delhi Police included the provisions of POCSO to the FIR reportedly after two days of the filing of the FIR on April 15, 2013. In the infamous Apna Ghar Rohtak case, despite rampant allegations of child sexual abuse of over 100 inmates, reportedly the provisions of POCSO are still not stated to have been invoked against the accused. Most child sex abuse cases are not booked under POCSO. Child sex offenders get away despite a stringent law. The Act is unknown. Indoctrination, training, familiarisation and actual application by police officers and other stakeholders still remains a far cry. The passing of the salutary law is more than significant for a variety of reasons. It defines exclusively the crime of sexual offences against children and fulfils the mandatory obligations of India as a signatory to the United Nation Convention on the Rights of the Child, accessed to on December 11, 1992. For monitoring and implementation of the provisions of POCSO, the Act enjoins that the National Commission and State Commissions for Protection of Child Rights constituted under the Commissions for Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005, shall ensure the effective carrying out of the provisions of POCSO. In a hard-hitting direction on February 7, 2013, the Supreme Court ordered all states to ensure that the regulatory and monitoring bodies are constituted and made functional. However, to date, the fully functional commissions are non-existent or non-functional.
Landmark judgment Upon the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) petitioning the High Court, in a path-breaking judgment rendered on April 9, 2013, it has been directed that the states of Punjab and Haryana as well as the Union Territory of Chandigarh shall ensure that State Commissions for Protection of Child Rights headed by a chairperson, who should be a person who has been a Judge
of the High Court, shall become fully functional by appointing chairpersons and six members appointed through a transparent selection process.
Children’s homes
The High Court further directed mandatory registration of all children’s homes, constitution and notification of children’s courts and appointment of special public prosecutors, besides constituting a proper selection committee to make further selections of various committees to be set up for child welfare. Hence, the entire machinery of monitoring child rights has been galvanised. A further direction has been issued that the National Commissions and State Commissions shall start discharging their functions under POCSO for implementing its provisions and modules and training programmes for sensitising all stakeholders on child rights and for dealing with cases in children’s court should be also initiated in the Chandigarh Judicial Academy. It is now for the state governments to implement this beneficial mandate and create an effective machinery to check heinous crimes of gross sexual abuse against children by enlightening all concerned about it. It is the duty of the state to now perform its obligations for the welfare of society. The Justice Verma Committee report in one of its conclusion on child sexual abuse holds: “There is an urgent need to audit the performance of all institutions of governance and law and order. It is indeed necessary that we must now have external social audit for the sake of transparency. We also wish to make it clear that every case of a missing child must be registered as FIR”. The committee further makes suggestions of constituting “an oversight mechanism” through the High Court, special training needs programmes, sensitising officials on sexual abuse of children and strict implementation of provisions of various enactments of child laws. We need to consolidate our efforts and focus our energies on existing laws and not look to amending more laws and making still further newer laws, alien to our culture, society, habits, life styles and harsh realities of the common man. Insofar as child sex abuse is concerned, POCSO is a wholesome law. The government must create the machinery to implement it and educate its officers, besides all stakeholders, on what it contains. The remedy to handle the public outcry is by implementing POCSO. All child offenders must be charged, tried and punished in accordance with POCSO expeditiously. Speedy, stringent and relentless pursuit of POCSO is the remedy and a cure. The state must not waste its time in exploring alternatives when the answers exist in a law made by Parliament for these special offences against children, the most vulnerable section of society. Today’s children are tomorrow’s future. Let us protect them.
— The writer is a Chandigarh-based lawyer
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