EDITORIALS

Meaning of militant attacks

THE terrorist attacks on a passenger bus on the Jammu-Pathankot highway and the storming of an Army camp at Kulachak, near Jammu, on Tuesday morning are pregnant with deeper meaning. The incidents have occurred on the day of US Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca's arrival in New Delhi on a mission to ensure that the eyeball-to-eyeball positioning of Indian and Pakistani troops does not lead to a full-scale war between Asia's two nuclear powers. The Americans are worried that an outbreak of military hostilities in the subcontinent will weaken their campaign against the Al-Qaeda and Taliban networks. Their interest seems to be limited to this much. The Kashmiri militants are being used by Pakistan to tell the world, particularly the super power, to put pressure on India to give undue concessions on the military stand-off issue as also on the separatists' pointless grievances. The foolish idea appears to be to prove that cross-border terrorism is prospering because India is not prepared to engage itself in a dialogue process with Pakistan. That is why there is a major terrorist strike every time an American dignitary visits the region these days. Pakistan is desperate to end the military standoff because it is finding it too difficult to bear the daily cost — approximately Rs 50 crore — incurred on the deployment of its armed forces close to the border. However, in the process the Pervez Musharraf regime is getting exposed so far as its commitment to the world community to help stamp out terrorism is concerned. He is saying something and doing something else. He may be acting against Al-Qaeda and Taliban brand of militants, but there is no proof of any effective step taken against the terrorist outfits operating in Jammu and Kashmir with their bases in Pakistan. That is why there has been no let-up in terrorist infiltration and violence ever since the cunning General made his much-publicised January 12 speech to keep the Americans in good humour.

The Americans must realise that President Musharraf is an expert in projecting his own interests as those of others. His frequently mentioned “moral support” to the so-called Kashmir cause is meant to strengthen his own position among the Pakistani masses. He might have convinced Washington that this is also in the US interest as Pakistan under General Musharraf is part of the global coalition against terrorism — which means the problem emanating from Afghanistan. That is, perhaps, why the USA is yet to force Pakistan to stop selling cross-border terrorism as “freedom struggle”. The Americans should remember that once the Pakistan-sponsored terrorist forces, now working against India, regain the strength they have lost after September 11, they will not spare the USA too. The destructive elements may re-start their Afghan chapter anytime after they are successful in sustaining themselves in Kashmir. Thus, terrorism of every variety must be crushed while the efforts are on to prevent a military conflict between India and Pakistan.

Better late than never

IT is but natural for the detractors of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to raise doubts over his reported attempt to build bridges with members of the minority community. The diehard sceptic is not willing to believe that a Chief Minister who for 45 days showed little concern for the safety of Muslims following the post-Godhra wave of hate crime across the state now wants to help them. However, a better approach would be to give Mr Modi a fair chance to fulfil the promises he made to the members of a Muslim delegation. Better late than never. Of course, the task is not going to be easy. He will have to make sure that the thousands of Muslims who are now living in rehabilitation camps are provided the basic amenities like access to medical care, adequate supply of potable water, wholesome food and an improvised cooling system for helping them cope with the unbearable summer heat. His evil face got blown out of proportion. It is up to him to redeem not only his image but of the state known for its religious tolerance and spirit of compassion. The Chief Minister should remember that from now on his actions would be under far greater scrutiny. Why? Because his Newtonian approach to responding to the post-Godhra carnage made him an instant devil in the eyes of all right thinking people. That he was incapable of seeing any good among the Muslims or doing any good for them or speaking well about them was taken for granted. Now that he has done what he should have done after February 27, the same set of people would be monitoring his actions, not so much to give him a certificate of good conduct, but to cry wolf for even a minor slip up.

Yes, he must understand the gravity of the challenge that he has accepted. It should be understood in the context of the climate of suspicion sweeping the state. For over two months nothing much was done to restore peace and communal amity in the land of Mahatma Gandhi. And suddenly one fine Monday morning Mr Modi wakes up to his responsibility as the Chief Minister of Gujarat. It is indeed never too late. The Muslim shrines and mosques that were destroyed by the mobs should be restored to their rightful owners after being repaired. Priority should be given to rebuilding the mausoleum of Wali Dakhani, whose liberal values and pioneering work in helping Urdu grow as a language have earned him respect and admiration from people even from outside Gujarat. Mr Modi should also ensure that the elements that have reportedly issued diktats, spelling out atrocious conditions for letting Muslims return to their homes in the villages, are identified and punished. A special cell should be set up for investigating crimes against women and children. Today Mr Modi represents the evil face of humanity. If he is able to fulfil the promises he has made to members of the minority community, he should not be surprised if both Muslims and Hindus hail him as the Chhote Sardar of Gujarat. Yes, the people of India seldom nurse a grudge for long. All he has to do is to ensure justice and fairplay in dealing with the elements that gave India a bad name at the global level for winning back the trust of all sections of Gujaratis.

Fast-track justice

IT is difficult to make up one’s mind as to which of the two promises made by the government is older: the one to provide speedier justice or to ameliorate the lot of the poor people. What is indisputable is the fact that both these assurances have been made for so long that they have stopped being taken seriously. That is why even the approval granted by Parliament to the Code of Civil Procedure (Amendment) Bill, 2000, has not generated much hope among the suffering public. Only when the tall promises translate into actual improvement on the ground will the flurry of activity hold any meaning. With over two crore cases pending in lower courts and over 35 lakh in high courts, that brave new world is not going to be upon us anytime in the near future. It is not as if the reasons for this perennial denial of justice through delays is not known to the authorities. It is just that nobody seems to be losing his sleep over this problem. Leave alone rationalising and simplifying the existing laws and procedures, the powers that be are not even filling the vacancies in various courts. How can justice be dispensed speedily in such circumstances? There are loopholes galore. That is why the conviction rate in even criminal cases is no more than 6 per cent. This despite the fact that such cases form about two-thirds of litigation in lower courts. All that the government does is to bring in more and more stringent laws like POTA. As far as civil suits are concerned, the government itself is the biggest litigant. No wonder, cases drag on for decades.

Manipulators have used the loopholes in the system to bring it to a virtual standstill, so that they and their cronies can evade justice. Whether it is the sensational Tandoor murder case or the multi-crore Harshad Mehta scam, every case moves at a snail’s pace. Why, even the 1984 riots case has not gone anywhere in all these years. The end result is that the common man has lost faith in the system. That is why the use of extra-constitutional methods is on the rise. Terrorism and separatism are getting a boost. In the North-East vigilantes and people’s courts are ruling the roost because getting justice from designated courts in time is out of the question. Perhaps, a lesson can be learnt from the USA where less than six months after Mark Anthony Stroman shot Vasudev Patel, an Indian gas station owner, he was arrested, tried and sentenced to death. That is the kind of fast-track justice urgently needed here!

OPINION

The diseased state apparatus
How PSCs rendered the administration anti-public
D. R. Chaudhry

TWO cheers for the Punjab Chief Minister, Captain Amarinder Singh, for cracking a whip on Ravinder Pal Singh Sidhu, Chairman, Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC), for converting the institution he headed into a money-spinning machine. The third cheer is reserved till all those involved in this colossal scandal are hauled up. The Chairman of a Public Service Commission does not have powers to override other members. He is only the first among equals. All important decisions are taken either unanimously or through the majority vote, and it is unthinkable that one man could run such a major racket single-handedly. Active connivance of some other members — since retired or still in service — is inevitable.

An agency that recruits personnel to run the administration should be above board, like Caesar’s wife. Unfortunately, the credibility of PSCs stands totally eroded in most of the cases. What is true of Punjab is true of many other states of the Indian Union. There is the difference of a degree, not of kind. Take the neighbouring state of Haryana. The reputation of the recruitment agencies of Haryana is in jeopardy. Whatever be the degree of truth in all kinds of bizarre stories in circulation about recruitments in the state, truth that socially matters is what people perceive to be true. In people’s perception one cannot aspire to get into state services unless one has top political backing or one has a bagful of cash. Names of several candidates had appeared in the Press when they were likely to make the grade in the HCS (Executive).

Examples can be multiplied. There may be an element of exaggeration in all this, but that is where the truth lies. The UPSC mercifully, still enjoys a good deal of credibility, but it cannot continue for long as an island of probity and integrity floating in a sea of corruption.

It is the officials of the state services in the executive, the judiciary and departments like the police, excise and taxation, food and civil supplies, PWD, revenue, agriculture, forest, public health and a host of other government areas that deal directly with the public. Officers of the Central services generally perform the supervisory role. The state services, thus, constitute the backbone of the state apparatus. If the backbone gets diseased, the whole organism becomes dysfunctional. This has happened in most of the states, rendering the administration thoroughly corrupt and anti-public.

One who worms one’s way into services through the conduit of wealth freely plunders the public. To carry on this pillage, one has to share one’s loot with one’s bosses both in the administration and political set-up. Corruption in this way seeps into the vitals of the social organism. It has assumed alarming proportions and has become a menace to the very survival of the system. It has bred cynicism in the public as whatever is the change through the electoral process, the system remains the same. Rather it gets worse with every electoral exercise. It is time to give a serious thought to the problem before it gets too late.

There is no mention of any qualification in the provision governing the appointment of members of a PSC except a stipulation under Article 316 of the Constitution that, as nearly as may be, one half of the members should have held office for at least 10 years under the Government of India or under the government of a state. There is no insistance on the minimum academic qualifications or professional attainments for appointment as a member of a PSC. Though an academic qualification per se is no guarantee for one’s integrity since education, as observed by Rousseau, makes one clever, generally for mischief, its desirability cannot be questioned when the selection is to be made for top positions in the services. This vagueness in the Constitution has been fully exploited.

With political morality in our system at its lowest ebb, ruling politicians are always in a hurry to pack the PSCs with such persons as would be pliable tools in the matter of recruitment. Academic worth, intellectual calibre, experience of men and matters, and integrity are of no relevance. What is important is a person’s “dependability”. There is no wonder that most of the state PSCs are infested with members who themselves would not qualify even for a class three job in a fair competition, but they make recruitment for top positions in the state services. One can imagine the consequences. The provisions governing the appointment of members of the PSCs need a serious critical look and radical revision.

There is need to inject transparency in the functioning of the PSCs. Their functioning must be brought under public gaze. At present, there is a halo of secrecy and confidentially surrounding the functioning of the PSCs and secrecy always breeds corruption. Moreover, it is not at all necessary as its functioning involves no defence secrets. Several ingenuous methods in PPSC chairman Ravi Sidhu’s modus operandi have come to light like the leakage of question papers to the candidates to be favoured a night before the commencement of the examination, substituting original answer-books with new ones written by a candidate with the help of books and experts after the examination is over, etc. To obviate such malpractices, the conduct of an examination should be an exclusive preserve of a cell in the PSC and members should have nothing to do with this except the general supervision. There should be a provision of revaluation of answer-books and a candidate should have the right to have a look at it in the case of suspicion of tampering with it after paying a certain fee within a stipulated period.

Subject experts are invited from different government departments by a PSC to assist it in the selection of technical personnel. In many cases, the impartiality of such experts is under suspicion as they often come with political recommendations to help particular candidates. Every PSC should draw a panel of experts from universities and other bodies not directly under the control of the state government.

The assignment in a state PSC is for a fixed tenure of six years, and there is a bar in the Constitution of India on taking up a job in the state or Central Government after one’s tenure is over except the elevation of a member as the Chairman in the PSC or an assignment in the UPSC. This obviously deters one from taking up a PSC assignment at a comparatively younger age if one is not interested in minting money. (This writer would never have joined the HPSC as he did if the university rules had not permitted lien with his original job.) To mitigate this hardship the pension paid to one who has retired from a PSC should be remunerative enough to enable one to lead a reasonably comfortable life. The present measly fixed amount paid as pension is a joke. The amount should be suitably enhanced and be linked with DA.

There should be provision for the severest possible punishment for members who indulge in corruption in recruitments. Anyone found at any stage during the course of one’s service career to have wangled one’s post through money must lose one’s job and face speedy prosecution under the law. Necessary legal provisions may be strengthened to make penal steps effective.

These are some of the suggestions that can be made off-hand. We have reached a stage when the composition and functioning of our PSCs should be critically evaluated. Public interest demands that the functioning of the PSCs should be widely debated through media and other forums. It is high time the Central Government appointed a working group to suggest wide-ranging changes in these bodies and the necessary amendments be carried out in our Constitution to make recruitment to the state services as fair as possible in the light of the experience so far.

The writer is a former Chairman of the Haryana Public Service Commission.

How Service Commissions function
C. D. Verma

AFTER the Punjab Public Service Commission, it is now the Haryana Service Commission (HPSC) which is in the eye of a storm. Two MLAs of Faridabad — Mr Karan Singh Dalal (RPI) and Mr Krishan Pal Gujjar (BJP) who is also the leader of the BJP Legislative Party in the Haryana Assembly — have demanded a CBI probe into the selections of the kith and kin of the VVIPs for the state civil service (executives) and allied services. They have now been joined by the Indian Youth Congress Chief, Mr Randeep Surjewala, and his counterpart in Haryana, Mr Satwinder Singh Sandhu, who have demanded action against the Chairman and members of the HPSC under Article 145 and 317 of the Constitution.

The HPSC Chairman has been at pains to explain to the media that all the candidates were selected on merit. However, one tends to doubt all the selections, past and present, as invariably fair and on merit.

In fact, the malaise lies in the system. The Chief Ministers have been appointing members of the State Public Service Commission on their whims and fancy and not on merit. They have used their prerogatives to adjust and favour their friends and political supporters. And for this they have taken advantage of the infirmities inherent in the Constitution.

Article 316 of the Constitution envisages that the Chairman and members of the State Public Service Commissions shall be appointed by the respective Governors, that nearly half of the members shall have 10 years service either under the Central or state governments and that the number of the members of the commission and their service conditions may be determined by the Governor.

What are the pros and cons of these statutory provisions? The proliferating malaise emanates out of the flawed provisions of the Constitution which does not prescribe any qualification for the commission members. Nor does it specify any criteria for the number of the members of the commission. Even a babu with 10-year government service, or a low-rung politician can become a member if he has the right connections and enjoys the patronage of the political leadership.

Let us take the example of Haryana to substantiate the point. In 1996 Haryana was parcelled out as a separate state. A two-member Public Service Commission, with a business man as the Chairman and a retired IAS officer as the lone member, was put in place. So the constitutional provisions that nearly “one half of the members have held office for at least 10 years” in the central or state government was fulfilled.

Subsequently, the strength of the commission was first raised. By a natural corollary then the numerical expansion of the commission helped the successive Chief Ministers to politicise it and adjust more and more of their men.

Let us have a look at the merit of the members appointed over the years. One of them has been the owner of a rice mill. The other owned a dharam kanta (weighing machine). The fault, therefore, lies with the system. The system perpetuates corruption. It has ruined the careers of thousands of young men and women.

There is a Chinese proverb that behind an able man there are other able men. But in Haryana, ability and fairplay have been of little account. Jobs are distributed on extraneous considerations, and not on merit. In order to stem the rot, it is imperative to take statutory steps to being merit and transparency in the appointment of the members and in the functioning of the commissions. It is suggested that the state commissions should be taken out of the control of the states and put either under a central agency or under the Union Public Service Commission.

The writer is Reader and Head, Department of English, Hansraj College, Delhi.

OPEN FORUM

A landmark in the crusade against corruption

MR Hari Jaisingh's front page editorial “No, my Lord” (May 5) is a landmark in The Tribune's crusade against corruption in society. The orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court imposing a blanket ban on the investigating agencies and respondents regarding disclosing the details of the statements and confessions of the accused in the Ravi Sidhu scam is highly unfortunate, to say the least. This judicial pronouncement is aimed at gagging the Press and the public opinion by holding out the threat of the contempt of the court. This should be treated with the contempt it deserves and The Tribune should continue reporting on this mater as fearlessly as it has done so far as eventually what matters most is the people's court and the people are solidly behind The Tribune in this matter.

Punjab’s Vigilance Bureau has revealed several names who bought jobs through Sidhu but has kept the names of some high court judges who are alleged to be involved in the scandal under wraps. Why? Why should judges be treated as demi-gods if they take recourse to corrupt practices? Their names should be revealed for public consumption and they should be debarred from handling judicial work till their names are cleared.

The attempt to shield corrupt elements in the judiciary will erode people's faith in this important wing of our system and would prove to be the last nail in the coffin of Indian democracy.

D. R. Chaudhry, Rohtak

Press as the watchdog of democracy Enlightened public opinion is an essential prerequisite for the functioning of a robust democracy. The Fourth Estate has been a watchdog jealously guarding any onslaughts on the rights of a citizen. A democratic structure also lends itself to truth being hijacked by vested interests through the misuse of the very institutions that democracy seeks to preserve. Thus, for example, you could have a committed judiciary, a committed bureaucracy/police or a committed Press, et al. Each of these is committed to one section of society much to the detriment of another. Mr Hari Jaisingh is right in suggesting that the result which flows from the influence of these committed institutions is skewed/distorted reporting, due dissemination of misinformation. The Press, in this case, The Tribune, as a part of its crusading effort to stem the rot in the system, is sparing no effort to get to the bottom of the referred scandal. Any spanner put in its works will deprive the public of its inherent democratic right to information and the resultant enlightened public opinion. V. B. N. Ram, New Delhi

We are proud of you

The editorial “No, My Lord!” (May 5) and Mr Anupam Gupta's write-up “Sidhu's case: High Court gags crusade against corruption” (May 6) are brilliant examples of journalism.

While Mr Jaisingh deserves to be complimented for voicing the sentiments of the common man in a lucid, yet very forceful manner, Mr Anupam Gupta deserves kudos for dissecting the judgement of Mr Justice K. S. Grewal in a manner which exposes its seamy side to society.

The alleged involvement of High Court judges in the multi-crore recruitment scam, spearheaded by Ravi Sidhu has come as a rude shock to the man on the street. On tends to pray silently that the allegations are not true. But since the needle of suspicion points so accurately and pointedly towards certain custodians of law, it is in the fitness of things that “the law must take its own course”. Regrettably, the course of law has been thwarted by a single summary order of the High Court! It leaves the seekers of truth with only two alternatives — fly or fight. And that they will fight is evident from the mood of 500-odd lawyers of the High Court who have decided to bring out the truth in the matter.

As a humble representative of millions of Indians, who look up to judges as demi-gods, who expect and presume that they shall do their duty with honesty, commitment and courage, I sincerely hope that there are no skeletons in their cupboards, but if there are any, they will finally emerge. For, “if gold rusts, what will iron do?”

As a conscience keeper of society, The Tribune has done a wonderful job by calling a spade a spade in the present case. With out buckling under any kind of pressure, it has indeed shown rare courage by speaking what others did not for obvious reasons. The advocates unconsciously voiced the sentiments of millions of readers of The Tribune when in their meeting on May 6 they said, “Tribune, we are proud of you”.

Only journalism like this can prevent gold from rusting! 
Satyamev Jayte!

Dr Sushil Kansal, Ambala Cantt

We must be prepared to face more hurdles The editorial “No, My Lord!”, Mr Anupam Gupta’s “A point of law” and the whole-hearted support and resolve of the lawyers of the Bar Association of Punjab and Haryana High Court of May 6, 2002 are the morale booster for Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and the investigating agencies. They also serve as a clear-cut warning to uproot this disease. The action of a single judge of the court completely prohibiting Punjab and others from disclosing the details of the statements and confessions of the accused Ravi Sidhu is not surprising. This was inevitable. The corruption hawk has very long hands. He has sown more than 3,000 seeds in the state executive and judiciary, they will never like to be exposed and uprooted. The people and the investigating agencies should be prepared to face more and more hurdles created by the unscrupulous and selfish elements. It is also true that the thieves are very true to each other’s salt and they never hurt each other’s interest or strike in their areas of operation. Therefore , this is the time for the Don to have the price from his chosen thieves. They are occupying high chairs and deeply penetrated in every field of the state administration and have the capability to exploit the machinery to their benefits; they will use all fair and unfair means to defeat the crusade against corruption. It is also a fact when Punjabis gird up their loins for any work, they complete it at any cost. Punjabis have suffered a lot from terrorism, loot and arson for more than 12 years but they did not bow before it. Corruption, nepotism and favoritism is worse than this and every man irrespective of cast, creed, social status barring a few manipulators are up in arms against these vices. They have shown to the world the burning state of Punjab a few days back is number one peaceful state of the day. We sincerely hope that “My Lord” will definitely respond to people’s psyche and the noble cause started by the Chief Minister, enjoying the support of all sections of the State, suitably honored. Mr. Hari Jaisingh, please take over reigns of this pious work and eliminate this cancerous disease in the setup. You are on the right path. The public is with you and Almighty God as well. The field is in your hands. God bless you! V.R. Kumar & Others, Dhilwan

Deserving accolades

The editorial “No, My Lord!” expectedly received accolades due to it. But the spark which ignited the fire to destroy corruption — Bhupjit Singh — hardly finds place in your columns or other social platforms for his courage to take on the corrupt system which no body had dared to attempt all these years.

The Press should take the lead in patting the back of such courageous characters so that more Bhupjits come forward to expose corruption at various levels and departments. In fact, The Tribune should take the lead in evolving a mechanism which invites lead from harassed individuals who are willing to expose the corrupt but lack proper backing which prevents them from coming forward. Grit and character are reflected in the said editorial and the tremendous response it evoked has put more responsibility on the shoulders of Mr Hari Jaisingh.

Pradeep Malhotra, Bathinda

Media as a force multiplier Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh deserves to be complimented for launching the drive against corruption. The drive against corruption must be a multi pronged affair, with the political leadership driving it, the administrative machinery sincerely performing their allotted tasks and the media supporting it. In Kargil, the media was a force multiplier, in this case the media has to play the role of a watchdog and conscience keeper. The Tribune Editor deserves to be complimented for boldly facing up to the gag orders of a court — freedom of the Press has to exist for battling the evil of blatant corruption. At the same time, our society has to be sensitised by the political leadership and the media so that those who seek to deflect the issue by bringing in community affairs, which may divide our society, go unheeded. Punjab needs a cleansing drive so that our youth remain motivated and positive minded and merit prevails. This shall create a feel-good environment in our society and allow the creation of a conducive environment for socio-economic development. Care must be exercised to ensure that the drive against corruption is of a permanent nature and is taken up to the village level in due course. The drive must target all wings of governance in the State so as to ensure its credibility and to win the trust of common members of society. This menace must be tackled early in all wings of governance before it makes Punjab regress in its development. This can be achieved if the media, specially an important paper like The Tribune keeps focused on the task by continued coverage of the anti-corruption drive as also educating society. Maj-Gen Rajendra Nath (retd), Chandigarh

An eye-opener

“No, My Lord!” coming from the mighty pen of the Tribune Editor is an eye-opener. It is a very courageous write-up rarely met across. He has said what he has not said. The reservations about the PPSC have shaken the entire country. He has rightly pointed out that denial of the people's right to information on such sensational matters is a blow.

This blow has another ramification. People have great faith in our judiciary. Its activism has done much good to the country. Even if some judicial decisions are not well taken by the people at large they are accepted with respect. Our administrators lack in providing the desired inputs to the courts and inconvenient decisions are a result of this. But common man is baffled on the decision of the court in the case of the PPSC because revelations have raised the pitch both of despair and hope.

P. D. Sharma, Ludhiana

A big fraud

It has now been firmly established that the selections made to PCS by the PPSC in 1999 were illegal. However, still the selected officers are continuing to hold posts of SDM, DTO etc. Even a single minute of their further continuation in office brings incalculable pain to those deserving candidates who would have been selected in their place, had the system been based on merit. These selections should be cancelled at the earliest and re-examination be held. It would be a big slap on the face of all those who had committed a very big fraud on our society.

Sanjeev Sethi, Patiala

Real crusader

I have been a regular reader of The Tribune since my college days in 1972. Though I rarely go through the editorials, I never miss the pieces written by Mr Hari Jaisingh on the front page. He is a real crusader against corruption. He became the pioneer to tell the print media to wake up and guide to save the masses of this soil against the misdeeds of the legislature, executive and judiciary, in any form.

P. K. Passi, Khanna

Priceless freedom

Congratulations to The Tribune Editor for his editorial “No, My Lord!” and to Mr Anupam Gupta for his article “A point of law”. It is really very heartening that we have in you a very able Editor who can raise a bold voice for your people’s right to information and freedom of the press.

Though much is lost for the hapless janata — the so-called real masters in this corruption-polluted polity — the courage shown by you will sustain their faith in a fair play. Please keep it up and continue to ensure that people remain alert to their priceless freedom.

Mr Gupta was as lucid as always in laying bare the intricacies of law before the layman. People are proud of him for being such a bulwark against not only the misuse of law but also its mis-interpretation even by those who are supposed to uphold it.

I, sitting thousand of miles away from you, send my greetings to you both for your bold and enlightened writing.

A. S. Kandola, Auckland, New Zealand

People’s voice

In the present scenario, when it is almost impossible for a common man to raise his voice and grievances, The Tribune has done a great job by providing a platform for people’s voice. Really the fourth tier of democracy is on run. I congratulate Mr. Hari Jaisingh and readers of The Tribune for their courage and boldness in unearthing evils of society.

Sushil Soni, Jhalera (HP)

No accountability

Ravi Sidhu’s case is creating lot of waves everywhere. People are coming up with their personal experiences. But Sidhu’s are everywhere. It is common knowledge that there are fixed rates for getting anything done in India. People now ask about merit. But nobody asks about why in India people are so crazy about government jobs.

It is non-accountability and security of the government jobs. I have seen doctors, university and school teachers receiving their full salary and perks without even attending to their duties. One can go on up to five years of leave in many government jobs.

Why a scientist, engineer or a doctor would want to become an IAS or IPS officer? It only happens in India.

In India, everybody is academically overqualified for the job and the only criterion to differentiate is how much one can pay. It is a sad situation but nobody can eradicate corruption in India until government jobs are made more accountable and less secure. Because both academically bright people and others need jobs; everybody in society has a right to earn a decent living. It is society’s responsibility to create work for everyone.

RAJ CALAY (On e-mail)

Relentless tirade

Please accept my heartiest congratulations on the relentless tirade launched by you on the PPSC scam. It leaves one dumbstruck to merely imagine the blatant manner in which the likes of Ravi Sidhu and his ilk have held the very core democratic values to ransom. That this country, where the Ravi Sidhu’s continue to flourish, still shows some resemblance of governance is no less a wonder than any of the seven wonders.

My kudos to Captain Amarinder Singh, who has taken this issue to heart, and has so swiftly and so surely started his crusade against this ‘Ravana’ of the 21st Century. I am sure, it is the soldier in the worthy Chief Minister and the soldierly values imbibed by him, which have given him the direction and strength to tackle the demonic forces of corruption.

Why is it that in our country today, only a soldier rises to the occasion to protect the fabric of our democratic society?

I appeal to powers that be to punish Ravi Sidhu and his clan. We owe it to our future generations.

Lt-Col B. B. K. Bose, C/o 56 APO