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| Tuesday,
August 7, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Now it’s
Mumbai crisis Code of
conduct for whom? |
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Peace assurances THE assurance given by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to a group of 300 "Muslim clergy, academics, lawyers and others" that the peace process initiated by him would continue is a welcome iteration of a rather repetitive but genuine stand. Neither the organisers of the "receptive" group — Mr Shahnawaz-Husain and Mr Omar Abdullah — nor the respected men accompanying or led by them provide any clue to the timing or the cause for the meeting.
Damaging
politics of power sector
Kitty
money, mehnat ki kamaai
Depression
during pregnancy
NDA
code: skirting real issues
To be an
engineer in Punjab
Alleged Arrest of Akalis at Jaitu
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Now it’s Mumbai crisis A
political crisis is brewing in Maharashtra involving all four major parties – the Congress, the breakaway Nationalist Congress Party, the Shiv Sena and the BJP. On the surface it is the old game of toppling the Congress-NCP alliance government and replacing it with a Shiv Sena-BJP coalition. But the real and powerful motive is to prevent prosecution of those found guilty by the Srikrishna Commission which went into the 1992-93 communal riots. All those who will face trial are Sena men starting with Mr Bal Thackeray himself. He would love to scuttle this possibility and he can do it only if he can bring down the government and have an ultra subservient one in place which will forget the commission’s recommendations. It is not only the survival instinct. The Home Minister who alone can initiate criminal proceedings is Mr Chhagan Bhujbal, a former Shiv Sainik, whom the Sena pramukh hates more than anyone else (and he hates a lot). And the sentiments are mutual. It was Mr Bhujbal who cleared the file for the arrest of Mr Thackeray just about a year ago and frustrated Sena men from paralysing life in the metropolis. There is a second way of stopping prosecution. It is to mount pressure on the Centre to warn the Maharashtra government against taking any action which will create a law and order problem. The same old threat but now sounding a little less convincing. Mr Thackeray felt strongly encouraged after the Centre invoked non-existing rules to summon the services of three top police officers of Chennai, who had a hand in the midnight arrest of Mr Karunanidhi. It was bowing to the pressure of an NDA ally and the Sena too is an ally and the oldest electoral partner of the BJP. When Mr Thackeray’s soundings went unheeded in New Delhi he noisily ordered his party workers to start mass mobilisation work. Not only in those Assembly constituencies which have elected Sena candidates but even in those from where BJP men have won. Then came the Sanjay Nirupam accusation and the BJP’s shrill demand that he should apologise unconditionally. But the BJP has a different plan. It wants to join hands with the NCP, wear a softer Hindutva mask and grab power. The BJP, as the leader of the ruling alliance at the Centre, looks at it from a larger perspective. If it can free itself from the steely embrace of the Sena and lure the NCP to walk into its parlour, it will achieve two things. At the state level it will widen its base with the help of the NCP which is not confined to one region. At the national level it will look a little more secular or a little less prone to hawkish Hindutva. It is a deep struggle and has the potential to reshape the future. |
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Code of conduct for whom? PRIME
Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's threat to resign forced the National Democratic Alliance partners to temporarily fall in line. However, his spin doctors' ill-advised move, that of setting up a four-member committee for evolving a code of conduct for the members of the ruling alliance, has given birth to yet another avoidable controversy. Only the Prime Minister's close aides would be surprised at the negative response to the decision to draw up a comprehensive code of ethics for the alliance partners. The non-saffron members have opposed the move on the ground that it would take away from them their democratic right to criticise what they percieve to be the wrong decisions of the government. The fact that only the Bharatiya Janata Part extended unqualified support to the initiative to throttle the right to free speech within the NDA did provide more than a broad hint about whose interest the proposed code of ethics was supposed to protect. The Shiv Sena and the Janata Dal (U) have openly expressed their unhappiness and the Telugu Desam too has questioned the wisdom of Prime Minister's spin doctors. Mr Vajpayee would do himself a good turn if he were to change his present set of advisers. They are a bunch of incompetent self-seekers. As a democrat he should have asked himself whether the proposed remedy was what the NDA needed to avoid creating the kind of crisis which prompt him to offer his resignation. In a manner of speaking the rules of behaviour for school boys were sought to be thrust upon the 24-party NDA. What the ruling alliance needs is better coordination among the different constituents. A rigid code of conduct for silencing critics is not what the NDA needs for strengthening the hands of the Prime Minister. There is substance in the non-saffron constituents' complaint that they are not taken into confidence by the NDA's top leadership, dominated by the BJP, while framing policy on important issues. Had Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Nirupam been provided an opportunity to speak his mind without fear or favour on the UTI scam at an NDA forum, he may never have made the speech in Parliament which prompted the Prime Minister offer his resignation. In any case, the emergence of the electronic media, as a powerful and credible purveyor of the latest news and views from across the globe, too has drastically redefined the parameters of the code politicians, cutting across party lines, are expected to follow. It is simple. If members are denied the right to express their views at party forums, the same views tend to pop up in one or all of the television channels as news. |
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Peace assurances THE assurance given by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to a group of 300 "Muslim clergy, academics, lawyers and others" that the peace process initiated by him would continue is a welcomeiteration of a rather repetitive but genuine stand. Neither the organisers of the "receptive" group — Mr Shahnawaz-Husain and Mr Omar Abdullah — nor the respected men accompanying or led by them provide any clue to the timing or the cause for the meeting. They belonged to a particular community of Indians and they apparently did not need any assurance or reassurance. So, there is an element of a community-based impulsive initiative about the exercise. Mr Vajpayee traced his peace activity to 1977, when he was External Affairs Minister, to say that peace with Pakistan was his priority even when he was not the Prime Minister of India. His reference to the Lahore Declaration was appropriate although while listing the efforts at establishing normal relations with Pakistan it won't be improper ever to begin with Tashkent, move on to Simla and then proceed to Lahore. Perhaps, as a rare reference, Mr Vajpayee has mentioned Kargil and obliquely its Pakistani architect before giving credit to India's wisdom in inviting General Pervez Musharraf for a dialogue. The epithetised hawks and the so-called doves surely had an inkling of the Musharraf way of Kargilisation of Indo-Pak relations. The assurances of the Heads of the successive Governments at the Centre after Jawaharlal Nehru and Lal Bahadur Shastri to the composite community were loud and clear. So is Mr Vajpayee's capsule evocation of the appeal to the 300 Muslims. The basic need is that of assuring all Indians that the life and limb of the Kashmiris and the visiting foreigners would be safe. The larger issue is the irrevocable resolution that the whole of Kashmir would remain a trouble-free part of India. If negotiations are held on the sovereignty of the nation, national respect would not remain inviolate and failure would succeed failure. Home Minister L.K. Advani spoke two days ago of the failed Agra summit, cross-border terrorism and crushing the anti-India armed movement from across the Pakistani border. Media memory is not short. This newspaper gave him the credit of popularising the expression "proactivity" in the Kashmiri context. All claims about such activity were drowned in the logic of intelligence failure. It is time to ask the Home Minister what belated steps he plans to take now in the name of proactivity. Does he, as Home Minister, have some responsibility in peace-keeping in sensitive areas like Doda? The group of 300 that met the Prime Minister can at best create a congenial localised atmosphere. Mr Vajpayee and Mr Advani can ensure, and assure the nation of, the absoluteness of sovereignty and a terrorism-free atmosphere. The Kargil menace put our valour to test. Let cross-border terrorism also do so. Our powder is dry and the road from Doda can be seen moving on to the Line of Control — if not beyond! |
Damaging politics of power sector THE reforms in the power sector initiated in a couple of states are facing stiff resistance from the public. This has led to the exploitation of the situation by the political parties in the opposition by promising the other extreme of free supply of power if they are voted to power. This is being cited as one of the major factors for the reverses suffered by reformist Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and his Telugu Desam Party in the recent elections to panchayati raj institutions in Andhra Pradesh. The other states which have also initiated reforms in the power sector like Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal might witness sooner or later similar situations of political parties resorting to the game of oneupmanship to defeat the reforms. The independent Electricity Regulatory Commissions that have been set up have, therefore, seriously suggested a consensus among political parties to be worked out on this question. Any consensus should be based first on a clear understanding of the problem and the issues involved. It is unfortunate that the reforms in the power sector have been initiated now in the new millennium when the situation has deteriorated to the extreme. It is only in the nineties that the problems of the state electricity undertakings have begun to slip out of hands. The problem was less due to technical factors than to the lack of political will to resolve it. It was at the beginning of the reform decade in 1991-92 that a fundamental shift took place in the pattern of consumption of electricity. The share of the subsidised domestic and agricultural sectors began to surpass the share of the industrial and commercial sectors that subsidise the former. The foundations for the rapid expansion of the agricultural sector through rural electrification were in fact laid in the eighties when there were stable governments at the Centre. There was a tremendous spurt in the share of agriculture and domestic sectors that jumped from a mere 28.8 per cent in 1980-81 to 45.5 per cent in 1991=92 and that of the industrial sector fell from 64.1 to 47.8 per cent. The problem of subsidy was very much manageable at the time. The power subsidy in agriculture was about 75 paise per kwh and that in domestic sector about 25 paise per kwh. Their combined total subsidy of Rs 7248 crore was being met almost equally by the industrial and government sectors leaving a deficit of Rs 3231 crore—about 25 paise per kwh on the whole. That gap could have been plugged by improved efficiency and minimising the transmission losses. With a decade of unstable governments at the Centre (there were from December, 1989, to 1999 seven governments at the Centre with five general elections to Parliament), the situation was allowed to slip badly. The agriculture and domestic sectors continued their momentum of growth in consumption at the rate of 9.1 and 11.3 respectively on average per year between 1991-92 and 1999. But the consumption growth rate by industry fell to 4 per cent. This itself is intriguing as the index of industrial production during the same period increased by an annual average of 7.6 per cent. This is only partly explained by the growth of generation of electricity by non-utilities by an average of 6.7 per cent per annum. But that constituted only about 8.8 per cent of total generation. More alarming was the escalation that had taken place in the subsidies. The subsidy in the agriculture sector sky-rocketed by 34 per cent per annum in the nine years of the decade to Rs 24178 crore. The domestic sector rose at even higher rate of 66.7 per cent per annum to record a subsidy of Rs 9174 crore. The subsidies per kwh respectively were about Rs 1.58 and 87 paise. While the subsidy on agriculture rose by about four times and that on the domestic sector by seven times. These two sectors were the main voters and the political parties, obviously, went all the way to appease them. The government bore the maximum brunt, its share rising by nearly 50 per cent per annum during the decade. The subsidy from the government touched Rs 10938 crore in 1999. That was more than double the gross subsidy borne by industry. The earlier balance of the government and industry bearing the subsidy burden equally was upset. Though some corrections had been initiated in 2000-01 by slowing down the rate of increase in the subsidy on agriculture and the domestic sector as well as the subsidy given by the government, the budget estimates for the year 2001-02, according to The Economic Survey, show again an increasing trend. The gross power subsidy is expected to touch an all-time high of Rs 41238 crore— about 75 paise for every kwh. This is equal to the total revenue deficit of all the states that stood at Rs 40,724 crore as per budget estimates for 1999-2000. The World Bank, therefore, rightly considers that “The reform of the power sector is the single most important element of structural and fiscal reform” in the states. But there could not be full agreement on the remedy of privatisation they have suggested. Though privatisation and unbundling of the electricity supply industry (ESI) is a world-wide phenomena, detailed comparative studies, taking every measure possible, undertaken into the working of those units both in the public and private sectors in all the countries of America, Europe and Australia (see the comprehensive study “Ownership and Performance in Electric Utilities” by Michael G. Politt, Oxford University Press) have shown that as far as the ESI is concerned, there is no difference in performance of either private or public undertakings. On the contrary the study concludes, “given existing technology, we cannot expect privatisation to lower costs. We find no evidence for expecting lower costs in the transmission and distribution functions in the short run or the long run. In the ESI as a whole it is likely that the biggest gains are from restructuring and better government management of state-owned electricity assets”. Even the World Bank agrees that the operational efficiency of generation plans run by the Electricity Boards in some states like Andhra Pradesh “compares well with the international standards.” In India, the privatisation faces further hurdles. The private sector units are catering only to the industrial and commercial sectors where the power rates are artificially high, leaving the heavily subsidised agricultural and domestic sectors to the state-owned units. This has made the problems of the latter further compounded. So much so that the Electricity Regulatory Authority has prohibited energy sale by private operators to third parties. But the order has been challenged in the High Court. There will be prolonged litigation in other states as well. The major affliction of the ESI in India is the high supply leakage of as much as 40 per cent. All this is not due to transmission or technical reasons. The technical line losses at best could be 20 per cent, which should be plugged by investing in better transformers and capacitors. However, the very fact of wide differences noticed in the rates of growth of industrial production and industrial power demand shows that there is widespread corruption leading to commercial losses. The stiff measures taken by the Transmission Corporation in Andhra Pradesh, for example, this year has increased the monthly revenue collections by Rs. 200 crore, according to its Managing Director, Mr P. Ramakanth Reddy. But even this could not wipe out the monthly subsidy of Rs. 130 crore still being provided. Even a bold Chief Minister like Mr Chandrababu Naidu had wilted and deferred an increase in the power rates recommended by the APERC because of the elections that were due to the panchayati raj institutions this year. If the Indian State could not rid itself of endemic corruption in the ranks and irresoluteness at the top, then privatisation is the only solution. Regarding the highly volatile issue of removal of subsidies in the agricultural sector and metering all the agricultural power connections, there is some sense in the alternative suggestion of charging a progressive flat rate on the lines of water cess on farmland holdings. The income tax could not be extended to the farm sector because it is cumbersome and costs are high both to the government as well as the farmers. The same reason holds good at least partly in the case of power rates to farmers. The Chairman of the Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission, Mr G.P. Rao, has rightly said that a broad consensus is required on subjects like tariff reforms and metering of agriculture services.” The consensus should cover other issues as well. The writer is a veteran journalist and economic commentator. |
Kitty money, mehnat ki kamaai “KITTY
party” is the in thing now. The word “kitty” has invaded every household, depending upon the financial status the amount may vary from Re 1 to Rs 1 crore. Though it is your own money, which you had invested earlier, but, when you get the booty, there is a strange feeling of happiness and elation. Age is no bar. Now you hear of children’s kitty and Senior Citizens’ kitties. Not only this but Nanand-Bhabi, sister-sister kitty and the latest sh’sh! Girlfriends kitty. Even religion has been invaded hawan kitty & kirtan kitty. Once a forbidden name in the average household and an exclusive arena of the rich, kitty has become a status symbol of the average and neorich families. “It is the best way of collecting money,” said one of the enthusiasts. “Hell, my husband is always ready to pounce upon the kitty money. I work hard collecting money and he is there to collect the fruit,” said the other lady. “It is an opportunity to meet each other and have nice food,” said another lady. However, many people feel this is the best way of saving money and buying things which one could not have afforded otherwise. “All my sets of jewellery, I bought with my kitty”, said a lady. One woman was boasting about her Solitaire set which she had bought with the kitty money. “Oh! sheer wastage of money”, said her husband. The wife retorted. “This was my kitty money, which I had spent, and not yours”. The husband snubbed her, “Paise to meri jeb se hee churai theh”. It seems kitty money is hard earned money, whether saved from shopping spree or stolen from the husband’s pocket. Most difficult part of life is to hand over kitty money to the husband. Hence the money finds a place under the sarees or in the middle of suits etc. Though safe in the eyes of the kitty holder it is exposed to everybody else. Even the household servant knows about it. Actually it is the smile and shine on the face of the lady, which speaks. One of our friends came back from kitty, tired and exhausted, hence there was no time to keep the money in the almirah. In the morning she woke up to realise that the money was missing. Naturally, a sudden commotion started. Everyone woke up. For a minute nobody knew what had happened and then through person-to-person the news reached everyone that the precious kitty money had been stolen. I was immediately called for. Being a doctor accustomed to many emergencies in life, I told her to be quiet for a while, relax and have a cup of tea and then think again where she had kept the money. “Bhai shab, sochana kya hai”, I had kept the money right there”, said my friend’s wife. The enquiry started. Naturally the first suspect was the husband “You must have hidden my money some-where to tease me”. Said the wife to her husband. “No darling, How can I dare to do such a thing? I have to live the whole life with you” said the poor embarrassed husband. After the husband did not bow down to the threat we sat together to think upon the next strategy. I asked for a cup of tea and she shouted for the servant. After getting no response, the poor husband got up to call the servant from the quarter whom we thought may be sleeping because of late night. Lo! there was another commotion. The servant room was empty. The whole family along with the other servant had run away. The poor husband made the tea and we sat with grief to sip the tea. With tears in her eyes she said: “Moya, marjana gaddi thalle aa ke marega. Meri saal dee mehnat bekaar kar gaya”. Poor husband turned to console her but she shot back:” Tuhadi hee nazar lagee hai.” However, things started getting settled as the police doesn’t register an FIR for the loss of kitty money and even Mahila Police does not have any sympathy with the ladies for this cause. As doctors usually do, I consoled her.” Mehnat kee kamai hamesha wapas aa jatee hai”. She shook her head in unison as her husband brought a cryptic smile on his face. As week passed, we had started forgetting the incident. One night as we were having another kitty party the phone rang and asked for doctor sahib i.e. me. I said hello and as customary I asked who is speaking. The person on the other side said: “I need your help. I am the person who stole your friend’s kitty. I can’t sleep. I don’t know where to keep the money. I have tied the money on my abdomen, so I can’t eat properly. I am very scared as I feel everybody is watching me doctor sahib. Please help me”. I thought for a while and advised, it is better if you return the money. We will take no police action and I will request my friend to give you some money. He said: “you are like a God to me. I have full confidence in you”. The time and place was fixed. We all wanted to fly to reach the place. We spent the most difficult four hours of our life. He returned the money to my friend and apologised. We all laughed. God is very kind and great. As we were returning my friend’s wife said, “Doctor Sahib mehnat ki kamai hamesha wapas aa jatee hai.” |
Depression during pregnancy DEPRESSION
during pregnancy is more common than and can be just as serious as postnatal depression, British doctors have said. Postnatal depression, a well known phenomenon that affects about 10 per cent of women, has caused widespread concern following highly publicised cases of women who have harmed or killed their children. But new research reported in the British Medical Journal showed depression was most common during the eighth month of pregnancy and least common eight months after the birth. “Our results show depression during pregnancy is more common than postnatal depression,” said Jonathan Evans, a psychiatrist at the University of Bristol in south-western England. Evans and his team studied the mood swings of more than 9,000 women who recorded their feelings during and after pregnancy. Their symptoms were measured against a recognised depression scale. “Symptoms of depression are not more common or severe after childbirth than during pregnancy,” Evans said, adding that treatment during pregnancy might be necessary for the wellbeing of the woman as well as the child. Huge changes in hormone levels are blamed for the mood swings, or baby blues, that women suffer during and after pregnancy. Anxiety and irritability are common complaints that usually pass but if they persist and lead to anger, guilt, confusion, delusions and obsessional thoughts, the problem is much more serious and professional help may be necessary.
Reuters Hope on Alzheimer’s vaccine A new vaccine blocked the development of Alzheimer’s disease in mice genetically engineered to carry the human gene for the degenerative brain disease, researchers have said. Researchers at New York University School of Medicine have said they expected to test the vaccine in initial human clinical trials within a year. They also expressed optimism that the vaccine would prove to be safer than another one already being tested in human clinical trials. “The potential for vaccination as a therapeutic approach for Alzheimer’s disease is something that’s very exciting,” Dr Thomas Wisniewski, an author of the study, said in an interview. “But this (new vaccine) is a particularly good line of investigation. And it looks like it will be translated very rapidly to human use.” Alzheimer’s disease is characterised by the destruction of nerve cells, especially in the areas of the brain responsible for memory and learning. Abnormal structures in the brain called plaques are one of the hallmarks of the disease. As the plaques accumulate, nerve cell connections are reduced. The plaques are made up of deposits of a protein called amyloid beta, which is toxic to cells and can damage and kill them. Alzheimer’s is a progressive, degenerative brain disease whose victims experience confusion, personality and behaviour changes and impaired judgement. Most people with Alzheimer’s disease become unable to care for themselves.
Reuters More violence on TV America’s children are being exposed to more violence and swearing on television during the evening “Family Hour,” and while there is less sexual content per hour, prime-time programmes are getting raunchier. The Parents Television Council, a group aimed at “restoring responsibility to the entertainment industry,” examined six weeks to programming during the traditional family hour. “Broadcast television’s family hour is more violent and vulgar than at any time in history,” said Brent Bozell, President of the council. “Oral sex, pornography and the like are now viewed as acceptable for the family hour, an hour during which an average of 10 million children are tuned in each night,” Bozell said.
Reuters |
NDA code: skirting real issues BY no stretch of imagination can one conclude that last week’s uneasy peace or the proposal for a code of conduct will end all of the NDA’s internal tussles. Mr Vajpayee’s leadership has never been an issue for the allies. Neither have any of them raised the question of his getting “old or not well”. If at all, such insinuations had come from his BJP colleagues. Pinpricks from the allies, often plain blackmail, have not been new to this coalition. Then what made Atal Behari Vajpayee suddenly issue his angry quit threat and the NDA leaders hurriedly reiterate their “trust” in him? The only provocation has been Shiv Sena member Sanjay Nirupam’s direct attack on the PMO for its role in the UTI muddle. He gave the cellphone numbers of those who had talked to the sacked UTI chief during the crucial days when the latter revised his decision to buy the controversial UP firm’s shares. The Shiv Sena member had further hurt Vajpayee — something even the opposition members avoided — by cunningly mentioning “somebody’s son-in-law” who could be “anybody’s, even Subramanyam’s”. Though the media put out only a scrappy version of what the member had said, even this had made an aghast PMO send frantic messages to the Shiv Sena boss to force the member issue an apology. Apparently, Thackeray had his own axe to grind. And by the time the PM’s aides had issued a denial stating no one in the PMO had talked to the UTI Chairman in favour of Cyberspace, things had gone too far. Vajpayee’s foster son-in-law Ranjan Bhattacharya later conceded he did make at least five calls to the UTI chief but claimed they were only about the sale of his daughter’s units in a particular scheme. (It is a different matter that even someone from the PM’s house had admittedly to make as many as five calls to the UTI Chairman for a routine work). This personal factor, a direct attack on his foster family, had prompted Vajpayee to express his anger by way of resignation. However, to be fair, Vajpayee has not rejected holding a probe into the involvement of his men in the UTI scandal. The resignation offensive has enabled the Prime Minister to rally his allies round him at a time when he finds himself most vulnerable. But in the process it also bared his highly assailable position. Even while he got a fresh endorsement from his allies, a minor leader like Digvijay Singh had set terms and got back his Railways portfolio. Vajpayee was forced to invite the PMK to the meeting despite his earlier brave words about still “considering” its admission. The Shiv Sena, the reigning villain, boycotted the meeting and continued to adopt a hit-and-run strategy. This close communal cousin has for some time been giving sleepless nights to Vajpayee on a range of issues that would appeal to the Hindu extremists. Different denominations of the Shiv Sena have sprung up in the cow belt. As a coalition partner, the Shiv Sena also seeks plum posts and portfolios. Thus it will be futile to conclude that the NDA’s reposing faith in Vajpayee will discipline those like Thackeray and Mamata who will be guided by their own interests and game plans. Similar is going to be the case with the proposed code of conduct. The suggestion for a four-member panel to draft the service rules came up merely as a palliative. The Congress, whose decadent work culture the Vajpayee era BJP emulates, has realised that more rigorous the rules, more of its violations. One can well imagine the fate of conduct codes in the NDA brand of coalition. The word of the boss is the code for most of the one-leader parties constituting the NDA. How can these members, who take pride in being remote-controlled by a super boss, observe the culture of conduct code and collective responsibility? Once a disciplined party, the BJP leaders should know that the observance of organisational rules can be effective only in an atmosphere of constant consultations and consensus. One of the three proposed rules seeks to prevent the ministers from criticising decisions of the Cabinet. None other than Mamata Banerjee had resorted to this practice. She had often deliberately stayed away from Cabinet meetings so that she could assail them if public opinion turns against them. What about the Shiv Sena ministers who are solely bound by Thackeray’s whims rather than the Cabinet’s collective decisions? The problem with Cabinet-based consensus in a central coalition is that the real decision makers of state-based parties are in provincial capitals. Hence each controversial decision will have to be referred for consultation in states. The core issue brought up by the brief resignation drama in Delhi relates to the ill-effects of political meddling in economic governance. We have reached an anomalous situation where more reforms and deregulation have led to increasing official interference, corruption and scandals. Perhaps, vested interests and manipulators with the connivance of the South and North Blocks on Raisina Hill have looted more public money in the first decade of reform than during the entire 45 years of the “permit-licence raj”. As the political leadership becomes more weak and pliable, financial institutions, bureaucrats, politicians and corporates get a totally free hand to play havoc with public money. The corporates have their own moles in such institutions. During the parliamentary debate on the UTI fiasco, the name of a top industrial house was mentioned repeatedly for draining the financial institutions with the help of politicians. But did any one report it honestly? Small-time businesses, friendly media groups and fund-givers used politicians to extract shady funds from FIs and banks against all economic justifications. This benefits every one except the tax payer. This is what had happened in the case of firms like Cyberspace. Unrecoverable loans by the high and mighty from government banks have already crossed the Rs 72,000 mark. Such unholy alliances under the new regime has put all FIs in deep trouble. A temporary patch-up in the NDA does not address any of such more fundamental issues. |
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To be an engineer in Punjab THE so-called people-friendly government of Punjab has surpassed all other states of India in making the engineering degree a distant dream for normal students. Such are the intricacies of Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar, that they have left the common man in utter confusion. The Punjab Government did a blunder by detaching the engineering colleges from the reputed Panjab University to a non-descript Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar, which does not enjoy any respect among the various universities of India. This university has allowed mushrooming of many engineering colleges all over the state. Almost all these colleges are set up by private businessmen with the sole motive of earning profit. All these colleges lack basic infrastructure required for a degree college as per the AICTE norms. We fail to understand how these institutions get affiliations at all. I studied the brochures of one of these colleges. In the computer science department there were 15 posts of which nine were to be filled. Further, the CET is conducted by PTU charging every student Rs 500. Then every student spends Rs 500 or so again on each form of the GND University, Panjab University, PAU and the Thapar Institute of Patiala. Huge funds are collected from poor students and are misappropriated later on by the powers to be in these institutions. When the basis of admission in all these institutions is the CET rank, then why does the Punjab Government allow this legal loot. These colleges give receipts only for the tuition fee as prescribed by PTU. For other charges no receipt is issued because they charge about 10 to 20 times more than the standardised charges. For example the hostel rent for a room shared by four students is Rs 400 p.a. But these colleges charge 20 to 25 times of the actual rent. Even after all these hardships there are no takers of PTU degrees. This university is churning out a large number of degree holders just to make more money. Only one combined test like the CET be conducted charging reasonable fee and admissions to all colleges be done through a single centre. The pass percentage be increased from the low of 20 per cent to at least 50 per cent marks in the CET so that only intelligent students get admission in the engineering colleges. All private colleges be reorganised and restructured in such a manner that they provide all facilities required by students as per the AICTE norms and they get high quality education and are able to compete with the students of other states. The teachers in these colleges must have the minimum qualification of M.Tech and they be given the training and opportunities to keep their knowledge update. The fee should be reduced adequately so that if it is not less than Haryana colleges, it should not be more at all. It will prevent our brilliant students from going to Haryana colleges. We must do away with the system of payment seats which allow a rather dull student to get a plum branch in a reputed college just because his parents can pay more. It may be continued a but only for NRI quota seats. I hope the authorities rise to the occasion and take all positive and prompt steps to streamline the engineering education in Punjab and bring relief to the already oppressed middle and upper middle class of Punjab. |
Alleged Arrest of Akalis at Jaitu THE S.G.P.C. has received a telegram from the Administrator, Nabha, that their information regarding the arrest of three Akalis at Jaito for wearing kirpans is incorrect. As a matter of fact, these Akalis had been arrested for keeping longer swords besides their kirpans, in violation of the State regulations. |
My death is dead, I have been made immortal; Death's edifice has crumbled, its source is destroyed, And I have become oblivious of my body. The raging tide of joy and sorrow has ebbed, And now my earthly life is all contentment. Absolute was my state in times primordial, O Tuka; I have realised it through consummation with the Eternal. — Sant Tuka Ram, Gatha, 2348 ***** When you reach the heart of life you shall find beauty in all things, even in the eyes that are blind to beauty. ***** You see but your shadow when you turn your back to the sun. ***** You may judge others only according to your knowledge of yourself. Tell me now who among us is guilty and who is unguilty? — Kahlil Gibran, Sand and Foam ***** O my joy and my Desire and my Refuge, My Friend and my Sustainer and my Goal, Thou art my intimate, and longing for thee sustains me, Were it not for thee, O my Life and my friend, How I should have been distraught over the spaces of the earth. — Rabia's morning prayer. From M. Smith, Rabia, the Mystic ***** Just as only others can see a man's back while he himself cannot, we too cannot see our own errors. ***** Every minute of my life I am conscious of the presence of God. Why, then need I fear anyone? ***** Sacrifice which causes pain is no sacrifice at all. True sacrifice is joy-giving and uplifting. — The Collected Works
of Mahatma Gandhi, Vol. 80 |
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