P A G E
Tuesday, October 27, 1998
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E D I T O R I A L P A G E |
Tuesday, October 27, 1998 |
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Economising
on reality
PROTECTING
THE ENVIRONMENT |
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Let
the enquiry be fair |
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Economising on reality EVERYTIME Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha comes out with a quick-fix solution, he reveals himself to be totally decoupled from the harsh economic reality. His latest is the “seven-point strategic plan” to revive industry which he presented with gusto at the FICCI convention. It is just a matter of seven simple and straight steps to everlasting prosperity; and this at a time when the economy is about to slip into a crisis. Among them is the impossible task to reduce the fiscal deficit to 3 per cent of the GDP. Of course, it is a long-term target, but it is still useful to realise that he has to generate an additional revenue of Rs 1000 crore to bring down the fiscal deficit by one-tenth of one per cent. Or, he has to slash expenditure by the same amount. He is loathe to tax the rich; his political patrons and their financial patrons will have no additional taxes. The poor are, well, very poor to help him out. The middle class will either pay taxes or give their votes; it is as stark as that. How is he then going to cajole the fiscal deficit to shrink to half its present size? By talking, no doubt. There are more such romantic and idealism-soaked ideas. Industrial licences will be available off the shelf, without delay and without tears. The small scale sector will be so strengthened as to look at the mighty multinationals in the eye and make them shrivel up in fear. Movement of bulk goods from one state to another will become both easy and prompt. Mr Sinha is living in an India where there is no problem in coal movement, in foodgrain transport or, yes, moving vegetables and fruits from the rural to urban centres. Labour laws will acquire a pronounced industrialist-friendly bias, health and education will get all the funds it takes. In reality, the Finance Minister is broke and dramatises this by pulling out his empty kurta pockets. It requires suspension of disbelief to merely listen to him. But there is one proposal
of his that spells great hardship for the common man. He
agrees with the demand that subsidy (as on fertiliser and
foodgrains) should be scrapped and market should be
allowed to determine the prices. How could he say this
while the country is convulsed with the onion crisis?
Incidentally, the skyrocketing price is the combination
of an inactive government and an overactive market.
Indian market is both unorganised and imperfect and the
government is putty in the hands of greedy traders and
businessmen. Criminal laws lack punch and the enforcing
authority has no will, no motivation and no interest in
bringing the baddies to book. In this situation to talk
of market-determined prices is to force the entire
commodity market to go the onion way. When the Prime
Minister of the country talks of criminally-bent
operators entering the capital market and going scotfree
or when the Finance Minister admits that hoarders are
holding the consumer to ransom the citizen sees the
mighty government wringing its hands in utter
helplessness. Instead of whining, the government should
order a brutal crackdown and mobilise the people to join
the battle. But this is too much to expect from a
government that punishes the Chief Minister but allows
the criminally-bent operators and hoarders and mustard
oil adulteraters all the freedom they want. |
Musharraf as Goebbels BY his wild and belligerent utterances, Pakistan's new Army Chief, Gen Parvez Musharraf, is introducing war psychosis in his country. His latest outburst includes the disinformation that India has "amassed troops all along our border". He has said more than five times during the past 10 days that Pakistan's defence has become "invincible....Nobody should consider us a weak enemy." The Indian people or their government do not think of Pakistan as an enemy. There is abundant friendship in this country for the Pakistanis in spite of the wars waged by their rulers. General Musharraf visited Siachen recently. While he was not far away from the glaciers, an attempt was made to occupy Indian posts at vantage points. Showing an example of their eternal vigilance, our troops repulsed the attacks which were planned by General Musharraf's officers. Nobody who is somebody in the Indian Army boasts of invincibility. Indian soldiers drove the Pakistani forces away in Siachen. The government did not show any exultation. It is the duty of the Army to protect the frontiers. But it would be wrong to think that nothing extraordinary had happened under the stewardship of General Musharraf who is now virtually in charge of all the wings of Pakistan's defence command. He is to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif what Joseph Goebbels was to Adolf Hitler. Goebbels was known only as the Minister of Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda. But his main business was to persuade both the Germans and the outside world to believe what the Nazis desired. Goebbels controlled publications, radio programmes, films, the arts and the information wing of the Nazy army. He succeeded to a great extent in performing his task and convincing the German public that Hitler could never be wrong. General Musharraf is sitting on the crater of a volcano of military discontent. He has superseded two of his seniors. Mr Nawaz Sharif has thrust him upon the military establishment. And if he has to stay in his position despite inner dissensions in the Pakistani Army, he has to do what Goebbels had to do for Hitler. But, unfortunately, he does not have the intelligence of the German strategist. According to the General,
Pakistan is "not sitting with closed eyes". Its
forces are "ready to meet any eventuality". A
great deal of disorienting untruth is being poured forth
by Pakistani propagandists. They quote "the
knowledgeable Army Chief” to confirm the fear in
their minds that nuclear India has nothing to do except
executing a plan to destroy Pakistan. Mr Nawaz Sharif
wants the Army's backing to enhance his staying power.
The Pakistani Army wants Mr Nawaz Sharif to keep a weak
General at the helm and to continue its hegemony in
national politics. The Prime Minister has managed an
invitation from the White House. He is going to request
Mr Clinton to exercise his mediatory role in Kashmir
affairs. Mr Clinton has just played a deluding game in
respect of Israel and Palestine. He should be eager to
oblige Mr Nawaz Sharif. But Kashmir is an integral part
of India and India is a sovereign nation with its own
mind and prestige. General Musharraf has been informed
about the Indian Army's schedule of military exercises in
Rajasthan next month. This routine matter is also being
used by the Goebbels of Pakistan to show India as an
enemy. General Musharraf is right when he says that
Pakistan is not sleeping or sitting over the developments
on its live and sensitive borders. But he must realise
that the Indian sentinels of freedom too are not in a
slumber. November has been frequently mentioned as a
possible month of conflagration between the two
neighbours. There is no chance of any provocation from
India. But the Indian Army's powder is dry and effective.
Remember what happened to Goebbels when Germany fell?
Untruth does not succeed always. There is no reason for
the essentially friendly Pakistani people to go by the
scaring statements of their Generals and politicians. |
Poaching versus hunting THE alleged violation of the provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act by film actor Salman Khan in Jodhpur and his father Salim Khan in Mumbai has sparked off a long over-due debate on what should be an acceptable policy for dealing with the problem of poaching. During the period when the preservation of wildlife was not an issue it was customary to organise shikar parties for the rich and the famous, and as a result certain species of animals were hunted out of existence. The majestic Bengal tiger became extinct because of excessive hunting and wanton destruction of its habitat. However, an issue which conservationists would like to be debated is whether the policy of imposing a blanket ban on the shooting of wild animals is not proving counter-productive. Statistics show that even strict laws have not deterred poachers from killing animals for profit. In most cases the culprits escape being punished for their crimes because they buy the silence of wildlife officials or have VIP connections. A suggestion made by a group of conservationists including a former Karnataka Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Mr S. Parameswarappa, for ending the menace of poaching may appear controversial. The hardliners are likely to raise their fist in anger rather than listen to the arguments for legalising hunting. Among the points raised by the pro-hunting lobby in support of its case is that “wildlife is not destroyed by hunting but the degradation of the habitat. Nobody bothers about the damage caused by the millions of cattle and goats grazing in reserved forests and sanctuaries”. Even Salim Ali, the
internationally respected ornithologist, was not against
the killing of certain common varieties of birds. His
constant refrain was “do not eat the capital, eat
the surplus”. The votaries of hunting of animals
“on a controlled scale” too believe that such a
policy would help end the menace of poaching. Licensed
killing would also help the wildlife authorities raise
sufficient revenue for investment in conservation
projects. Such a system is in vogue in several western
and African countries. A limited number of hunting
licences are issued to the highest bidders. The
authorities have discovered that licensed hunters act as
forest wardens. Why? Having paid a hefty sum for the
licence, they would not want their game to be killed by
poachers. South Africa and Kenya have adopted the camp
fire system, in which the game is shot and the meat is
sold for raising revenue for conservation projects. In
the Indian context, the pro-hunting lobby has suggested
the raising of village committees “which will keep a
vigil on the forests as every animal killed illegally
will mean loss of revenue”. Of course, the
supporters of the policy of legalising hunting recognise
the difficulty in implementing it in areas where social
and religious sentiments are attached to protecting any
form of animal life. It is a different matter that in
some cases members of these “pro-nature” groups
are themselves involved in the illegal business of
shipping diseased, surplus and unproductive cattle to
Bangladesh which does not have enough domestic stock to
meet the demand for red meat. Keeping in mind the
sensitivity of the subject it is doubtful whether the
pro-hunting lobby would be able to win support for the
measures which it believes would promote conservation
awareness and bring down the number of cases of illegal
killing of wild animals. |
PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT LARGE parts of the world had witnessed unprecedented rain and floods this year. China’s largest river, the Yangtze, and its catchment region were hit by heavy rain and floods resulting in the death of about 3000 people and affecting the lives of about 50 million persons. The estimated total loss was in the range of about $ 35 million. In India, the North-Eastern region has been traditionally at the receiving end of heavy rain and floods year after year, starting from mid-May and stretching upto the end of September. The flood control operations, the evacuations followed by rehabilitation later and the various items of administrative expenditure for these measures run into crores of rupees year after year. If only all the expenditure were added up, it would run into thousands of crores. Unfortunately, a holistic view of the annual phenomenon of floods in the North-East has not been taken up so far, although several schemes are there. The largest and the biggest project of them all is the Dihang River Project across the Brahmaputra in Siang district of Arunachal. The mighty Brahmaputra, which originates in western Tibet, is known there as Tsang Po, in Arunachal it is called the Dihang; and after it enters the plains of Assam it becomes the Brahmaputra. Several years ago a study assisted by the World Bank about the feasibility of a mighty dam across the Dihang was carried out. The Arunachal region and north-eastern Assam are known to be earthquake prone; there was a very serious earthquake in 1950 which changed the course of the Brahmapurta, wiping out the historic trading town of Sadia. A dam across the Dihang would submerge very large parts of eastern Arunachal, including the assembly constituency of Chief Minister Gegong Apang. The World Bank project had come to the conclusion that notwithstanding the threat of earthquake, a fool-proof dam could be constructed across the Dihang, and the power produced from the project would be enough to meet the needs of the entire North-East, Sikkim and West Bengal. However, the legislators and the people of Arunachal Pradesh are against the project because of the submergence of large parts of their area. A resolution was passed in the Arunachal Assembly that the project should not be taken up seriously for consideration. Notwithstanding the
objections of the people of Arunachal Pradesh, the
importance of the Dihang project has to be viewed in the
larger context of preventing the floods in the entire
North-Eastern region and the incurring of a heavy
expenditure year after year. The people of Arunachal have
to be compensated in various other ways, and they could
be persuaded to support the project. However, the project
cost with run into a few thousand crores of rupees, and
this would not be possible without massive aid from the
World Bank. If only it could be taken up at any future
date, it would be second only to the mighty Three Gorges
Dam across the Yangtze river in China which, when
completed in a few years, would change the face of China
with cascading economic benefits for long years. After the serious floods in the Yangtze river, one of the important steps taken by the Chinese government was to impose a total ban on the cutting of trees throughout the country, since the indiscriminate destruction of forests leading to degradation of the environment was found to be one of the main contributory factors for the unprecedented floods. In this regard, India had taken the lead over China in having banned the cutting of forest trees as early as in December, 1996, with the orders of the Supreme Court. In a landmark judgement dated December 12, 1996, the Supreme Court directed that every non-forest activity within the forests throughout the country must cease forthwith, the running of saw mills as well as veneer and plywood mills should be ended in the North-Eastern areas, and that there would be a complete ban on the felling of trees in the tropical evergreen forests of Tirap and Changlong districts of Arunachal. The court also directed that all the saw mills, veneer and plywood mills in this region and within a distance of 100 km from the borders of Arunachal Pradesh should be closed down immediately. The court directed that the felling of trees in the forests throughout India would remain suspended except in accordance with the working plans of the state governments as approved by the Centre. The court also ordered a total ban on the movement of cut trees and timber from any of the seven North-Eastern states to any other part of the country. The apex court thereafter appointed a high-power committee (HPC) in March, 1997, with this writer as Chairman and two other members with service experience in the North-East, to oversee the implementation of its directives as well as carry out an inventory of all the timber cut in the forests in the region, and also to supervise and permit the use or sale of any part of timber as might be required. The committee visited Arunachal Pradesh and Assam, and convened a meeting of all the Principal Chief Conservators of Forests of the North-Eastern states and other officials at Shillong and discussed the various steps to be taken in pursuance of the Supreme Court’s orders. The visit of the HPC to this region brought forth shocking evidence of indiscriminate felling of forests with the connivance of local politicians, forest contractors and plywood and veneer factory owners. In its report to Supreme Court dated May 1, 1997, the HPC highlighted the havoc played by the large number of saw and veneer mills and plywood factories in the North-East which were responsible for denuding the forests at a fast pace. It came to the conclusion that if the large-scale felling of trees for feeding these factories had to be stopped, the Supreme Court’s ban should continue indefinitely till a complete survey of the reserved forests in the region was carried out by the Forest Survey of India. The HPC also made an important recommendation that all the saw mills, veneer mills and plywood factories functioning within the forest region as well as in the north-eastern part of Assam adjoining the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Nagaland should be permanently closed as they constituted the main source of danger to the rain forests of the region. After a complete survey of the forests was carried out the rotational felling of the trees to prevent decay and degradation, strictly on the basis of the approved plans of the state government and the Centre, might be allowed. The recommendations were accepted by the Supreme Court which issued several administrative instructions in this regard. The ban on the cutting of forest trees and the running of factories in the region continues, which by itself is a great blessing to the environmental health of the North-East and India as a whole. The awareness to protect the forests has now become a universal creed of faith. The USA has huge forests, and the timber trade is very active there. A movement is on for the past few months for ensuring that timber is harnessed in an environmentally sound way to allow a sustainable long-term harvest. There is now an organisation called the Certified Forest Product Council which promotes the purchase of such timber for construction purposes. Similar movements are being witnessed in Brazil and a few other countries in South America which have huge tropical forests with large-scale timber factories. The author is a former
Governor of West Bengal. |
The
“pungent” story WHO could have imagined that in a year breathing close to the millennium which is being sold by some dreamers as “the Indian Century”, a lowly ingredient of your curry or cuisine called onion would suddenly darken the national imagination and become a palpable menace to governments, a threat to family peace, a social spoiler — and, above all, a vote-catcher! That this little roly-poly thing in a baby-pink, whisper-thin wrap could push the Pokhran dhmaka, the Fat Lady of Chennai and “the sex bomb” called Monica Lewinsky out of our media headlines, and make nonsense of our polity shows how when the metaphor turns into reality, the absurd in life lurking around takes over the proceedings, as it were. Thus the Delhi Chief Minister is no longer the “Sahib” of the show, and the Big Smiling Sister of the sprawling, incensed metropolis, after “a palace coup”, is already promising to deliver the onions on order at least till the counting of the assembly votes next month. While one gets the sack, the other’s ordering sacks and sacks of the prodigal, vagrant vegetable to lift the local hearts and bring those welcome “tears” to the eyes! The onion “tears”. Such, such are the ironies of power, and of the tongue and the palate! That, of course, is only one side of this “pungent” story, for dear onion has become an instant take-off for all manner of jokes and wisecracks, of country quips and folk songs. It has invaded the town club or college parties and kitties, triggering the imagination into erotic fantasies and gastronomical aesthetic. True, the poor “dear” still remains a pariah in some odd kitchens as a taboo, but for the nation as a whole — from the day-labourer who uses it daily as a ‘’go-along” with his day chappatis to the gourmet’s table where it appears “dressed” in exotic forms — it’s one necessity which is also a luxury. Remember the white baby onions preserved in vinegar, adding to the tartness and tang of a whisky drink, or the green virginal shoots and marble bulbs fresh from the field, and you have the taste of life. So from the hamlet to the posh country-house, the indispensable onion has its own presence. A truly classless thing, fit to become a party “logo”, and an election “symbol”. I have already touched upon the onion’s political potential and promise, and I guess, if things do not improve, we are going to be served more and more of onion-lore, particularly around election times. When the red, luscious “biblical” apple goes abegging, and the snub-nosed, convoluted vegetable cousin begins to create long squabbling queues, or draw out into the street sedate matrons and bourgeois wives in droves, which a Vajpayee speech laced with customary wit and verse may fail to do, surely, we do have a new phenomenon on hand. Shall we laugh or cry, cry or laugh — the line between the onion “tears” and the tears of the aching heart is erased for the moment. So, in “the Year of the Onion”, it’s surely the “in-thing”, as they say. It appears to me that if the “phenomenon” persists, or begins to sprout with each new crop, it may eventually cause idiomatic anxieties. For your son or grandson may soon be “the onion of your eyes”, not “the apple” of yore. And who knows when the Australian slang — onion “for a girl particularly in a gangbang” — may enter the bastardised vocabulary of the “Z” generation kids. What with the TV ads, the Internet, the e-mail, etc, an enterprising author may make a little fortune out of the oniona in the making. So it is good “to know your onions”, as the idiom goes. The onion, therefore,
seems destined to acquire a new discourse. The Indian
metaphysical mind may see in the “phenomenon”
opportunities far more Vedantic variations. For the onion
is a perfect example of the concept of Shunya or
Nothingness or Nada. As you peel off the little
“fellow” strip by strip, your eyes becoming
mistier and mistier may soon find the thing reduced to
water and nothingness! There you have the famous oriental
mystery. As you unfold the human reality, you may end up
with a sigh, and with luck, an epiphany, or a mystic
breakthrough. A case, once again, of illusion and
reality. |
African renaissance a far cry A PERCEPTIVE observer of present-day Africa has said: “Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows that it must run faster than the fastest lion, or it may be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows that it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve to death. It doesn’t matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle. When the sun rises, you had better be running.” Cleverly said, this is the poetic and prophetic truth of the present difficult situation in the African continent. It is also a reminder of the challenges it must face in the coming century, or it will be left behind as happened to it and its people in the present century. It is in the light of this situation that we must discuss and analyse the question of African renaissance, which is becoming a fashionable proposition. South African Deputy President Thabo Mbeki first spoke about it confidently in 1996. Several African leaders have accepted the vision of African renaissance which has become a buzz word. Now President Nelson Mandela is also a champion of this concept. Let us see what the
supporters of African renaissance have in mind to find
out whether this vision is real or—unreal. For Mr
Mbeki it is the vision of a more dynamic Africa.
According to him, the thrust of this vision in the 21st
century will be directed towards the establishment of
genuine and stable democracies and sustainable economic
growth in the countries of Africa. The actual focus of African renaissance will be a drive for globalisation and for a free-market economy in the continent. According to an analyst, at the heart of Mr Mbeki’s renaissance is the “South African Miracle”. The emerging new generation of African leaders — Mr Mbeki, Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni, Ghana’s Jerry Rawlings and Joachim Chaissano of Mozambique — are the strongest exponents of African renaissance, perhaps because the economies of these four countries are doing more than reasonably well. For them this vision means rebirth, some sort of a new paradigm, a new model, a new pattern. As Mr Mbeki told his country’s constitutional Assembly on May 8, 1996, that the aims of African renaissance are the encouragement of cultural exchange, the emancipation of African women, the mobilisation of youth, the broadening, deepening and sustenance of democracy and the initiation of sustainable economic development. This is the dream of a new Africa. But the transition is not easy because the legacies of old Africa still continue to plague the continent. African renaissance is, therefore, not “upon us” as claimed by Mr Mbeki. In political terms, old Africanism is symbolised by negative economic growth, military coups and counter-coups, civil wars, genocide, famine and AIDS. Sierra Leone is an outstanding example of how fragile new Africa can be. The continuation of military rule in Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, is indeed a jarring political note, with the hope (just hope) that civilian rule may return in 1999. The recent political upheaval in Lesotho and the most dangerous civil war in Kabila’s Democratic Republic of Cango have in fact undermined the high moral authority of Mr Mandela. Much against Mr Mandela’s wishes, Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe have sent troops to strengthen the hands of Kabila, while Uganda and Rwanda are openly helping anti-Kabila forces. At the same time, Africans and the international community seem to have forgotten the ugly situation in Somalia, where there has been no government for over seven years, Schools, colleges and hospitals are not functioning. Mogadishu, the Somali capital, is divided in two parts by the forces of the two warlords. While Somalis is crying for peace, the country’s economy is reduced to pulp; at last one generation of Somalis is totally lost. Sudan is another trouble spot which deserves peace. The Muslim North and the Christian South remain at loggerheads; the politically negotiated initiative by the rulers in Khartoum calling for a referendum in South Sudan remains only on paper. The efforts by Egypt, Ethiopia and Kenya to bring peace in Sudan have come to naught. The African economy — barring a few countries like Uganda, Mozambique, South Africa and Ghana — is a shambles. In the civil-war ridden countries, the situation is totally hopeless. Food insecurity in 43 of the 54 African countries makes the situation worse. One can say that African
renaissance may inspire some African minds with a new
faith and new hopes, but the legacies of old Africa
cannot be wished away. African renaissance, therefore,
appears to be a far cry with the ghost of old Africanism
constantly staring in the faces of African leaders.
Africa has to wait to enjoy the benefits of the so-called
renaissance. It has to wait till the lion and the gazelle
are at peace. — IPA |
Fresh bid to oust Rabri Devi govt
A SERIOUS move is afoot in the ruling party to revive efforts to oust the Rabri Devi Government by making another recommendation to President K.R. Narayanan under Article 356. The Bihar lobby, ably assisted by Governor Sunder Singh Bhandari, is once again active in the Capital. Home Minister L.K. Advani has also hinted at a renewed bid to get the President around on the basis of the Patna High Court’s recent indictment of the Rabri regime. Among the suggestions, one is to return to the President the recommendation after due reconsideration by the Cabinet with additional supporting material. New evidence, it is pointed out, would make the Cabinet’s action less offensive. The other proposal is to forward a fresh recommendation on the basis of what BJP circles call new alarming developments in Bihar. Friendly leaders among each allied party are discreetly sounded about their response to the move. The main “supporting material” referred to is a widely reported indictment of the Rabri regime by the Patna High Court on the eve of Divali. The high court’s observations, the text of which is being freely distributed in the Capital, should be subjected to a more detailed study. Bihar is undoubtedly the worst model of India’s backwardness, non-administration and chaos. Lampooning of Bihar comes naturally to the literate middle class, who thoroughly enjoy the deceptively idiosyncratic actions by Laloo Prasad Yadav. A public interest
litigation in the high court had charged that the state
government had failed to provide even basic amenities
like clean drinking water, power, roads and a proper
drainage system for the people. During the hearing, the
court made such sweeping observations as “all
Biharis” are “living like animals”. It
then ordered district magistrates and police
superintendents to remove all encroachments from public
places and file an “authentic” report on
compliance at the next hearing on October 30. The court
also said the district judges would hold a simultaneous
inquiry, and if the reports received from the DMs and SPs
were found at variance “stringent action will
follow”. Not only this. The court also directed district traffic officers to check all vehicles and take action against those violating norms. In India, it is difficult to find a state or city free from the kind of maladies referred to by the petitioner in the instant case. Residents of the Capital suffer from large-scale encroachments on public land, erratic power and water supply, law and order problems and serious traffic jams due to violation of the rules. Life could have been much easier if a court decree could set right all such endemic civic problems within a time limit of 14 days. While the system permits courts to play a healthy role in hearing and resolving citizens’ grievances, generalised orders that could be humanly impossible to enforce in a limited time span within conceivably available resources, would only fall in a judicial grey area. Stretching this point further, if certain pronouncements are applied in letter, no government could possibly survive ‘stringent’ judicial action. Essentially, providing civic facilities and maintaining law and order fall under the domain of the executive. The court come into the picture only in specific cases of violations of norms or discrimination. When the administration fails to improve the quality of the life of the people, it is for the electorate to reject the former. Indian people have repeatedly displayed their innate ability to punish reckless regimes. Any kind of overstepping by one pillar of democracy into the realm of another is bound to cause an imbalance in the system. It is in this context one has to view the court’s observation that “on innumerable occasions” courts had expressed dissatisfaction over the civic situation and passed orders that were not complied with. “We are sorry to note that court orders are being flouted... It is not an individual but the entire state machinery that is defying the court orders and refuses to implement them,” observes the court. While respecting the sentiments expressed by the court and without in any way doubting its wisdom, it must be pointed out that a government’s failure to fulfil the “constitutional obligation” to provide reasonable civic facilities should not be interpreted as breakdown of the constitutional machinery. If it were so, it is possible for any individual to approach a high court and get the state governments dissolved on the above ground. Just a few days before this, the Delhi High Court had asked the Union and state governments to inform it within two weeks about the measures taken to check the spiralling prices of essential commodities, including onions and other vegetables. The order came in the course of a hearing on a public interest petition seeking directions to the authorities to control the prices of essential commodities. The petitioner had prayed to the court to direct the authorities to invoke the Essential Commodities Act to prevent hoarding and blackmarketing. The next day, another Bench of the same high court, on another public interest petition, issued notices to the Union Finance Secretary and sought a reply on the expenses to be incurred on the opening of 17 new police stations in the Capital as per the recommendations of the Home Ministry. It sought such details as the number of policemen on VIP duty and the number needed for routine policing. The judge disagreed with government counsel’s contention that a financial crunch was coming in the way of opening new police stations. Our constitutional
framework does not envisage executive functions for the
law courts in administrative matters. True, Article 142
provides sweeping powers to the higher judiciary to set
things right. However, too much of judicial involvement
in the day-to-day administration of civic matters like
supply of power and drinking water, maintaining prices of
essential commodities and removal of encroachments from
an entire state may have an unfavourable effect. True, judicial intrusions into the domain of the executive and legislature is caused by the latter’s own failures. But that is a different aspect. For some time, frustrated citizens may acclaim such judicial solutions. But once the limitations of the rule by the courts become evident, it may even lead to the loss of the people’s faith in the very system, something which is far more dangerous for the polity. Under the principle of separation of powers between the executive, legislature and judiciary, rectification of lapses and malfunctioning has to be undertaken by the respective pillars themselves. It was Narasimha Rao who had made it a grand political strategy to use the judiciary for day-to-day administration. During the peak of the Ayodhya crisis, the Supreme Court evaluated the law and order situation on a daily basis. Since then the trend has picked up fast. Once a senior judge had ordered Rs 25,000 to be paid to every child worker but few ever bothered about it. The Patna High Court had ordered a CBI officer inquiring into the fodder case not to report to his director. A judge of the same high court had asked a CBI official to call the Army on to the Patna streets, sidestepping normal procedures. Happily, the apex court later rectified some of these aberrations. It is not a case of judicial activism alone. Suddenly, the “pracharak” Governors deputed by the Vajpayee Government to the sensitive Opposition states, have begun functioning as a parallel administration. Raj Bhavans in Bhopal and Bihar have become centres of intrigue against the respective state governments, if one goes by the innumerable pronouncements by Bhai Mahavir and Sunder Singh Bhandari. The gubernatorial activism under the BJP has far surpassed those by a Romesh Bhandari or Dharam Vira in the late 1960s. Both the former RSS functionaries behaved more as Opposition leaders than a dignified Governor. The way Sunder Singh Bhandari conducted himself by issuing statements and going to TV studios to attack the Rabri Devi Government sets some sort of a record. He announced the contents of the privileged communication to the President even before it was dispatched! Even after the President returned the Cabinet’s recommendation, Bhandari kept on contesting the former’s views by reasserting that Bihar was a fit case for the use of Article 356. Both Governors never lost any opportunity to embarrass their Chief Ministers. Bhandari conducted a running battle with the Chief Minister over control of the universities. He conducted publicised visits to the flood-affected areas, almost parallel to the one by the Chief Minister. Still worse, the media made it look like a competition between the BJP and the ruling RJD. Mahavir makes it a point to run his battle through TV sessions in Raj Bhavan. He issued written directions to the Chief Secretary and the police chief on routine issues, provoking the Chief Minister to ask the officials not to communicate with the Governor directly. Mahavir delayed the signing of the “patta” ordinance, questioned the special appointments by the government, openly opposed the transfer of two historic monuments to private trusts and decided to give suo motu consent to prosecute two former ministers. Sushma Swaraj’s
midnight visits to police stations (which fall under the
Centre), night patrolling by her ministers, Ram
Jethmalani’s battle with his senior officials for
domination — all are symptoms of such mutual
intrusions. George Fernandes now tells us to abdicate our
right to debate the nuclear issue, lest it would present
a split image of the nation. Parliament has already lost
its sovereign right to decide on what it should import or
what it should produce. The new ‘authorities’
have sprung up to take away the elected governments’
right to fix electricity and telephone rates. The
intrusions look endemic. |
Only a political gimmick? WAS the ruckus created by Ministers of non-BJP ruled States, including those from Punjab and Andhra Pradesh, over the Saraswati vandana at the inaugural ceremony of the Education Ministers’ conference here last week a political gimmick? It appears so if the participation of political entities at the annual meeting of the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories on Saturday is any indication. The meeting was inaugurated by senior Akali Dal leader and Union Food Minister, Mr Surjit Singh Barnala, and attended, among others, by the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Mr Sharad Pawar, and the Union Minister of State for Agriculture, Mr Sompal. Inaugurated by the ritual lighting of lamps, the ceremony began with Saraswati vandana. Both Mr Barnala and Mr Pawar were seen appreciating the melodious hymn rendered by the lady singer. There were no walkouts this time. Efforts by the assembled scribes to corner Mr Pawar were unsuccessful as Mr Pawar left in a hurry to meet the Prime Minister. Pawar turns swadeshi! Strange are the ways of the politicians. Not only did the Congress strongman, Mr Sharad Pawar, enjoy the Saraswati vandana on Saturday but he also emerged as a strong votary of the infamous “Swadeshi Jagran Manch”. Speaking on the sugar situation in the country, the leader from Maharashtra, the sugar bed of the country, lambasted the Government’s decision to allow import of the sweetening agent at a low import duty of 5 per cent. He pointed out that Pakistan had exported around four lakh tonnes of sugar to India and this was affecting the sugar mills in the country. “Where is the
Swadeshi Jagran Manch?” He wondered why the swadeshi
lobby was not reacting to the import of sugar in the
country. He pointed out countries the world over
protecting their domestic industry by imposing high
levels of import duty. “This should be taken up by
the Swadeshi Jagran people” Mr Pawar urged. PM’s love for Hindi Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s speeches in Hindi are always looked forward by his fans. However, when it comes to economic subjects or other subjects with international ramifications, the Prime Minister chooses to speak in English. Somehow, his speeches in English lack his poetic imagination. For once Mr Vajpayee proved his critics wrong. Speaking at the inaugural session of the annual FICCI conference here last week, where the Prime Minister unveiled a major economic package, Mr Vajpayee introduced some of his imaginations and poetic words in his speech. “These are difficult times for Indian and global business. A massive churning process is taking place in the world economy. The name of this samundra manthan in the modern era is globalisation. Globalisation has brought in unprecedented turbulence, but trapped in that turbulence is also the hope of amrit (nectar). It is a moment when the promise of a new phase of long-term prosperity and progress lies in the womb of short-term uncertainty.” However, Mr Vajpayee was not able to keep up the poetic flow as he turned over to more serious points. Thereafter it was business in English as usual. Growing tall Having missed the bus for the prime ministership in the past, the Samajwadi Party president, Mulayam Singh Yadav has now apparently chosen another way of growing tall in politics. The grapevine has it that the politician from Safai who is otherwise not very tall has been wearing heels to look taller than his normal height. He had apparently been suggested by a senior “brother”, who also happens to be a member of Parliament and a senior functionary of the Yadav Mahasabha to wear shoes with heels camouflaged to look taller than what he was. The word was also doing the round of the Samajwadi Party office that the elderly well-wisher of the former Defence Minister had given this suggestion to him as the Yadav leader wanted to look taller than the other Yadav leader, Laloo Prasad Yadav, after they came together to form the Rashtriya Loktantrik Morcha. Media friendly Faced with a tough electoral battle ahead, the Delhi Chief Minister, Mrs Sushma Swaraj, is leaving no stone unturned for winning the Assembly elections which would in a way be decisive for her political career graph. Last Friday, she invited media persons for dinner at which she undertook a public relation exercise. Correspondents and reporters, not only those covering the Delhi Government but also those who cover the BJP at the national level, were invited to the dinner. Once affable and approachable, Mrs Swaraj had become suddenly elusive when she became a Cabinet Minister for Information and Broadcasting in March this year. Donning her earlier media-friendly mantle, Mrs Swaraj was frank in admitting that the Assembly election was her toughest challenge of her political life. (Contributed by T
V Lakshminarayan Girja Shankar Kaura, Satish Mishra and P
N Andley) |
THE Disorders Enquiry Committee will soon begin its sittings in the Punjab. If the enquiry is to serve its purpose, that of placing before the Government and the public outside the Punjab the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth regarding the Punjab disturbances, there is an appalling mass of work to be done before the enquiry begins. This work may compendiously be described as the collection, the sifting, the marshalling and the leading of evidence before the Committee. The manhood and the public spirit of the Punjab, all that is good and true in it, is on its trial as it has never been before, and if it is to come successfully out of the ordeal, it is in the highest degree necessary that all who can help should for a time set aside all other considerations and think only of the best and the most effective way of making the enquiry a complete success. It is clearly forgotten that many, if not the majority, of those who are in a position to give valuable evidence and whose evidence is most worth having are not men who could by any stretch of the imagination be supposed to have either the desire or the competence to write a memorandum for the benefit of the Government and the public..... The authorities must
formally and officially recognise some independent public
men or some independent public body, whose business it
shall be to sift and to lead evidence and to produce
witnesses on the popular side. |
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