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Sunday,
July 7, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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REFORMING THE SYSTEM A POINT OF VIEW KASHMIR DIARY |
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History does influence the present
Pant eyeing Vice-President’s post
They are the same lot, but speak in different voices
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REFORMING THE SYSTEM THE scheme for the creation of Public Service Commissions was originally mooted for the provinces and presidencies in British India in the Government of India Act, 1935. In the wake of Partition, these bodies were again given a constitutional status in the Indian Constitution in 1950. The Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) was reborn in East Punjab, with Mr Ram Chandra as its Chairman. Later, it was reconstituted with the merger of PEPSU in Punjab. From 1947 to 1960, the PPSC continued to function as a perfect role model, being stewarded by highly competent and outstanding stalwarts. The dull course in its life set in during the first half of the 60’s. The declining curve became apparent after 1966 in the reorganised Punjab, when state politics became local in its squeezed boundaries. The effect of decadence in public life began to appear in the appointments of subsequent chairmen and other members. The PPSC’s inflated size comprising six members including the Chairman was unwieldy for a state with shrunken boundaries. The vacancies in the PPSC started to be filled up by caste and ulterior considerations and members thus appointed were of such unimaginable poor stuff that like street urchins, they slapped each other in the Commission premises during working hours. Some of the members stooped down to such a low level as to touch the feet of their beneficiaries in public. Their photos splashed in The Tribune are a witness to such a downfall. The expectations of candidates are bound to be frustrated in such a scenario. If the powers that be are sincerely interested to stem the rot in the PPSC, they should note that one or two appointments would not help. Such a step does not reflect any silver lining in the cloud. Superficial and cosmetic treatment besides hoodwinking candidates and the public are of little consequence. If the PPSC is to be genuinely purified, it has to pass through the baptism of fire and given shock treatment. The PPSC has viciously played with the lives of young promising aspirants, some of whom have left India in disgust. Whose loss is such a brain drain? Obviously, it is Punjab’s loss. The government of the day should atone for the sins of its predecessors during the last three decades and take drastic steps to introduce some meaningful remedial measures. The government’s mindset should undergo a radical change. Mr Ravinderpal Singh Sidhu is not the precursor of corruption in the PPSC. It was already there when he took over. Jobs were sold clandestinely by members. For their personal gains, they were willing to sell their souls, like Dr Faustus. The balloon of corruption was dangling. At last, it burst like the “South sea bubble” in his person. There is an urgent need to overhaul the PPSC so that it regains its lost image and credibility. Some reforms, if introduced, could make the PPSC quite impeccable. These may be contemplated if the intention is to catch the bull by the horns so that deserving candidates could hope for justice purely on the basis of their merit and distinction. The Archilles’ heel in the PPSC is the sphere of examinations /interviews /viva voice. It was in the first half of the 80’s that the then chairperson hijacked the system of setting the question papers to her sphere of influence. Successive Chairmen followed suit. To favour their siblings, they appointed obliging and pliable examiners from local universities. A separate autonomous Examination Cell, completely detached from the PPSC’s sphere of influence, is the need of the hour. A direct recruit IAS officer should head this Cell as the Secretary. He should necessarily be a non-Punjabi, with a three-year tenure in the said post. He should be under the administrative control of the Chief Secretary, who should be his reporting authority. The staff, posted in the Examination Cell, should be under his undisputed control. The examiners without personal contact and from distant places should be appointed by him. According to the present practice, the Chairman/Members, after interviews/ viva voce, retain the award list in their sleeves. This should cease. The award lists of the interviews and viva voce, under sealed covers, should be under the custody of the Secretary of the Examination Cell. This should be a daily exercise without any delay or lapses. The Secretary on receipt of the answer books, after evaluation by examiners, should decode the fictitious roll numbers and consult the award lists of the viva voce/ interviews, add the same to the marks obtained in written papers, candidate-wise, and declare the result. Simultaneously, he should forward the copies of the result to the government for notification and to the PPSC for information. Once the work of declaration of any result is taken up, the same should be processed and finalised without any delay. Viva voce marks for the PSC (Executive Branch) should be reduced from 75 to 50 and for PCS (Judicial Branch) from 100 to 50. The experts should not be selected by the PPSC. Instead, it should obtain the names through the Heads of Departments concerned relating to the subject of the interview. With regard to the viva voce for PSC (Judicial Branch), the High Court Judge to be associated should be one from outside Punjab; he will have to be a non-Punjabi. Another vicious practice plaguing the PPSC is of splitting the Commission to conduct the interviews. This procedure was started in the early 80’s. This device is replete with malpractices and should be given a go-by forthwith. As Punjab is a small state, it would be advisable to reduce the strength of the PPSC members from six to three including the Chairman. A seasoned, retired IAS officer of the rank of Chief Secretary or Financial Commissioner with an impeccable service record of proven integrity and honesty should be selected as the Chairman. A retired district judge, with a transparent record of reputed honesty may be considered for appointment as a member. The other member known for dedication and probity may be selected from public life. The best talent should man the PPSC regardless of community, caste or religious considerations. In the interest of the future of Punjab’s children, quality should be the hallmark of selection and a sound criteria for appointments should be evolved; petty considerations should be shed at any cost. The PPSC staff and the proposed Examination Cell should be interchanged with the secretariat staff. Such a provision would act as a deterrent against the emergence of vested interests within the employees of the Commission and in the Examination Cell. The PPSC secretariat should continue to have a secretary from the PCS (Executive Branch) cadre whose service record should be transparent. On receipt of requisitions by the PPSC from the government to notify the vacancies and invite applications, much spade work has to be done. Applications so received need scrutiny to determine the eligibility of the applicants for the job. In this area, processing has to be done in the secretariat, headed by the Secretary. Lists of the eligible candidates should be sent to the proposed Examination Cell for further action. The Secretary should operate in the official area of his functions as hitherto. The marks secured by successful candidates in the written examination should be kept confidential; these should not be communicated to the Commission, while making available the lists of successful candidates for the viva-voce to the Commission. On completion of viva voce/ interviews to all the notified posts, even if to be filled solely on the basis of interviews, the PPSC should become functus officio. Thereafter, the thread for further action should be passed on to the Secretary, Examination Cell. A system of checks and balances in the two autonomous wings would be conducive to a healthy work culture and clean atmosphere. The system of table marking in the PPSC office should be stopped. To deal with cases of different departments referred to the PPSC for advice, approval of promotions, approval in disciplinary matters etc, the departments are distributed amongst the Chairman and members. So far so good. The Member (Establishment) is in charge of the Establishment. This charge should not remain with the Chairman on a perennial basis. It would be better if this post is rotated on an annual basis among the members and the Chairman. If these suggestions are accepted and enforced by the Government, the PPSC’s functioning can be streamlined. There is no legal obstacle to reforms in the PPSC. If salutary improvements are wrought, it would be like ‘Prometheus Unbound’, because the sword of Damocles would cease to hang on the fate of future candidates and fairplay of a substantial nature could visibly be ensured for them. Readers are invited to send us specific suggestions, briefly if they have something worthwhile and new to offer, on the subject as discussed by the writer, a former IAS officer.  |
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A POINT OF VIEW THERE is no nation in the world that is racially and culturally homogeneous. There are groups within nations which differ from one another by one or more than one affinity — race, religion and language. Political boundaries rarely coincide with ethnic, religious and linguistic borders. When different groups live within a nation state, democratic culture requires that they live under a law and institutions that guarantee equality and non-discrimination. The ideal of protecting minorities in a nation came to be accepted as an international principle after the First World War. India has not been a culprit of any large-scale or deep-rooted persecution of minorities and consequent migration and exodus of population as in many western countries. The problem in India is of internal political rivalries manifesting in group clashes which can be checked only by people putting the nation before group attachments. Politics has exposed another face of minorities. Though it sounds paradoxical, there are cases of a majority by number fighting their minority status in public and political life. The Black minority of South Africa is a classic example of a numerical majority pushed down to the status of a minority politically. In India, in Tamil Nadu, in the 1920s, a movement called the Non-Brahmin Movement, calming to speak on behalf of 97 per cccg to all states, institutions, and groups in this regard and has suggested measures to eliminate discriminations in the recognition, exercise, and enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedom in all fields of civil, economic, political, social, and cultural life. The United Nations proclaimed a Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief in November 1981. Under this, any form of discrimination between human beings on grounds of religion or belief constitutes an affront to human dignity and a disavowal of the principles of the UN Charter. Another Declaration was made in December 1992 asking member states to promote the identity of the national or ethnic, cultural, religious, and linguistic minorities within their territories. The India n Constitution accords recognition to minorities based on religion, language and culture, grants them the right to conserve their language, script and culture, and to establish and administer institutions of their choice. The Government of India set up a Minorities Commission in 1978 which is now an organ under the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992. Religious groups such as Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Zoroastrians constitute a little less than 20 per cent of the population have been recognised as minorities. The National Commission is vested with the authority to monitor the working of the safeguards provided in the Constitution and laws, make recommendations for their effective implementation, look into complaints of violence of rights and protection of minorities, and submit periodic reports to the Union Government on matters pertaining to minorities. Besides Constitutional provisions, progressive legislations take special care of minority religions and other groups. Still, the minorities, particularly Christians and Muslims in recent years, ever since the demolition of the Babri Masjid and stray instances of violent clashes, appear to be living in fear, anxious about their personal safety and communal interests. Such instances are not many and the fear is not widespread. Indeed, large parts of the country are totally free of any majority-minority problems. But the few incidents have attracted worldwide attention and are sufficient to damage the reputation of the normally tolerant majority population of this country. India does not lack necessary legal instruments to protect the minorities. Nor any malice between majority and minority groups divides people. Clashes wherever they occur, do not seem to be a symptom of incompatibility and hatred among the concerned groups. There are, no doubt, forces in the Indian society interested in provoking clashes for political purposes. Such forces must be tackled instead of preaching to the concerned groups to live in amity. On the whole, it seems that what India needs is not lessons on co-existence, but a climate conducive to natural cultivation of attachment to the nation. The essential identity of the citizens in the USA is political and economic — firm adherence to individual freedom and loyalty to the nation’s economic progress. That these loyalties can make a strong nationhood is a political reality for which there is no better example than the USA. The ‘melting pot’, that is the American people of diverse ethnic groups are bound by a strong bond with the nation. Such a bond of Indianness, by whatever name it is called, must be cultivated if the different groups are to live in amity and jointly build the nation. Today, the bonds within groups in some pockets appear to be stronger than the attachment to the nation in normal times. National unity seems to appear only in times of grave threat to the safety of the nation. If the attachment to the nation transcending all other loyalties as a principle of daily life does not develop spontaneously, it has to be consciously promoted. The hold of religion, race, and language has assumed political and quasi-political significance, and thus intervenes between the individual and the nation. As they are birth-based and rather permanent, they are not like membership in institutions, organisations and localities. India is suffering from two types of opposite maladies — ill-treatment and atrocities on minorities in some places on the one hand, and too much pampering of minorities on the other without consideration for the nationality. National consciousness is certainly present in India and binds together all groups not excluding political parties against foreign enemies but not against internal foes. Communal clashes, atrocities on weaker sections, fight between linguistic groups occur, and are not amenable to any reasoning. That these loyalities are purely private affairs and have no public significance is something to be driven home in the minds of all. Contrary to experience all over the world, minorities are granted rights and equality without any fight in India. But, efforts to cultivate a feeling of Indianness are lacking. After the national movement for freedom, there has been no common all-India movement to bind together people of all religions, languages, races and cultural forms. Symbolic Indianness like common prayer or a common dress code are not the answer. They would rather intrude into individual freedom and will provoke only resistance. Like a common currency, uniform law, fusion of cultures, and a common value system must be evolved. Education is indispensable for the cultivation of Indianness without which the very concept of nation and nationalism will be incomprehensible.
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KASHMIR DIARY A dissipate, worn reality peeps through Noor Mohammed’s potbelly and stubble, belying his expansive, confident air. He is full of tales of his turbulent life as he sits with me and a common friend on the carved and cushioned seats at the front of his houseboat. In front of us is the stream that connects the Dal lake with the river Jhelum, its still, dirty water reflecting unhappiness. Noor tries to liven up the evening, talking of his trip to Australia with a young woman he befriended on his houseboat. He keeps reverting to tales of his days in Australia, obviously the high point of his life. The anchor of his life, though, was in the ancient Dal and he has recently married a beautiful young Kashmiri woman, after his first wife died a year ago. To spice up his stories, he orders fried chicken pieces for us to munch with our drinks. Noor fits the archetypal image within conservative Kashmiri society of the Hanji — the caste of boatmen here — as fast-living, even loose-living, people who tend to get too intimate with outsiders. From his own point of view, life has had its high points — although the current phase is surely a trough. The long line of houseboats from Noor’s, stretching right down the west bank of the Dal, each carries a sorry board with bold, black letters, “To Let.” Rooms are available at rock-bottom prices as owners decide that anything is better than nothing, but there are no takers. The eyes of some houseboat men who had gone to the airport, hoping against hope, lit up last Tuesday when three Europeans came off a flight from Delhi, but they turned out to be staff of the International Committee of the Red Cross. There have been exactly 1,015 foreign tourists in the valley in the first half of this year, according to government tabulations. The lowest figure for a full year so far has been 4,627 in 1991, when militancy was at a peak. Warnings from various governments to their citizens regarding the possible threat to their life in the subcontinent has taken a major toll on the incomes of Noor Mohammed and the thousand-odd other houseboat owners of Kashmir. Even Indian tourists are staying away this year, although, at 7,993, there have been more than double in this half-year than came in the six years between 1991 and 1996. “Gujarat has made a major difference to us,” says Mohammed Ashraf, Director General, Tourism, pointing out that a substantial number of tourists in the April to June peak season used to be Gujaratis. The current total of 9,000 tourists in the first half of the year “would be 50 to 60 per cent of the total,” he says as he gears up for no more than a quarter of last year’s 72,591 tourists by the end of this year. Hotel owners are even worse off than houseboat owners, except those whose hotels have been entirely occupied by security forces. Houseboat owners have taken the lead in recent years by taking the marketing bull by the horns. They have diversified into the travel agency business in order to grab business at source. All that enterprise has come to naught, however, in the face of that ephemeral factor, fear, that affects holiday plans more than perhaps any other. One of the only houseboats that still does some business, albeit at discounted prices, is Clermont, nestled in the far secluded corner of the Dal. Its owner, Mr Butt, has decades-old albums with pictures of celebrities, ranging from Julie Andrews to George Harrison, who have stayed at Clermont. Butt built his houseboats in the last years of the British empire, using craftsmen from Calcutta, and catered to particular English tourists who stayed for months at a time. At that stage, most houseboats were stolid, workaday structures, the majority used for commercial river traffic down the Jhelum to the Punjab. Only by the 1960s, when films starring Raj and Shammi Kapoor and other Hindi filmstars showed the world the natural wonders of Kashmir, did demand for these exotic homes away from home grow. Today, the houseboats have become ever more luxurious. Built with pine boards and a superstructure of walnut wood, they are intricately carved outside and fitted within with rich carpets and carved, walnut furniture. To build one of the more luxurious ones costs up to Rs 50 lakh — or $ 100,000. The state government has tried to keep the houseboat business going over the past few years, by disbursing loans upto Rs 20 lakh. The government pays the entire interest — about Rs 10 crore has been paid already — and there is a moratorium on repayments until 2004. Even at such extremely attractive terms, Noor and about a thousand others who have availed themselves of the facility will have a very tough time in a couple of years if the flow of tourists remains as restricted as it has been over the past few months. |
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History does influence the present Excerpts from the interview: Q: History writing or rewriting has been in the news. Are there limitations in terms of historians’ ideology or capability to research? A: There is no doubt that even factual objective history can be written in many ways in accordance with the capabilities and general predilections and interests of historians. Nonetheless, the present controversy over the writing of history textbooks stems from the assumption that older textbooks have been written under the influence of ideology. Opposition to new revised textbooks also stems from the same source. Schools and colleges should be free to use textbooks they like; there should be free marketing of textbooks. The present emphasis on objective questions has reduced the scope for wide studies. Q: How can historians detach themselves from the present political atmosphere and the needs of the elite to mend history to their needs? Can they be dispassionate observers of the past? How can one assess a particular work of history as an honest one without being tainted or coloured? A: Objectivity is an accepted ideal for historians, but it can be achieved only within limitations. While good historians do not consciously seek to serve the ends of the elite, they can certainly be influenced by those values, which they accept. These values may belong as much to the elite as to the common people. Historiography cannot be valued free because human nature is unavoidably moved by values. The only yardstick for judging the objectivity of a historical work is provided by the requirement of its fidelity to the original sources and by the requirement of describing human behaviour of a different age for society as neutrally as possible. These are not absolute criteria but they have a working value which help eliminate gross prejudice or inaccuracy. Q: What impact history has on the present and future life of nations? A: The image, which the historian provides of the past, exercises, a great influence on the present directly or indirectly. The way one looks upon one’s heritage, or on the circumstances which have led to the present conditions necessarily influences one’s understanding of the present and the planning of the future. Q: You have to your credit over five decades of research, writing and teaching history. How would you describe this contribution? A: I would classify my contribution in three ways. One, historical study gives the same kind of wisdom as experience does in life. It is enlightening, absorbing, and not fully communicable. Historical understanding cannot be summarised like scientific knowledge. Two, while tradition preserves the past partially, it also tends to alter it. While tradition in the West has generally assumed the form of historical memory, in India, it has been a living tradition going back to the remote past. Nonetheless, socially, this tradition has grossly debased the past and distorted it especially during the last few centuries. That’s why, the social reform movements of the 19th century were an attempt to recover the past. The reform movements of the 6th century BC, both Buddhist and Jain and the Bhakti Movement of the 16th century AD were similar in this respect. And three, history doesn’t show any clear patterns in events. Neither is pre-history definitely knowable nor the future of mankind. Q: India is passing through a period of crises — economic, social, political and even moral. Over 30 crore people have no two meals a day. Safe drinking water is still a dream. Communal and caste clashes claim hundreds of lives each year. How will intellectuals respond to this situation? A: During the freedom struggle, the intelligentsia had a social concern, which is lacking today. There is no Servants of India Society today nor any mass leader noted for dedication or self-sacrifice. Intellectuals advocate only technical, economic and constitutional or legal remedies for the improvement of the country. We seem to have lost faith in the efficacy of moral energy and have ceased to produce any genuine leader who would not be self-seeking. Gandhiji went to
Noakhali. No one undertakes such visits today. We have adopted a false doctrine that the responsibility for social improvement rests on the government. Eliminating poverty is no longer considered an ethical ideal. It is now regarded as the competitive pursuit of self-interest. Our intellectuals should discard cliches and stereotypes. They must think afresh. There is tremendous load of deterministic views today — economic determinism, global determinism and historical determinism. We can build up self-confidence if we are able to produce original scientific discoveries and technological innovations, befitting a vast country like ours. |
The two-goal hero’s tryst with destiny Ronaldo wears jersey number nine which he gifted to the Italian referee Pierluigi Collina. The referee was excited about the special gift that he received at the end of the match; the Brazilian number nine jersey, Ronando’s jersey; the world champion; the hero of the game. Holding the
World Cup in his hands Brazil’s two-goal World Cup hero yelled: “This is one of the most incredible moments of my life. If I was asked about my wildest dreams, I would never have considered this”. Few know that Ronaldo observed celibacy for 40 days before the Brazilian team entered the finals. Asked what was more rewarding-winning the World Cup or breaking the abstinence after 40 days — his one-line reply was: “Winning the World Cup was more rewarding” . Brazil’s press corps as well as their hero burst into laughter till their eyes watered with tears at this unique query. Ronaldo’s original name is Luis Nazario de Lima. He belongs to a very poor family of Brazil having grown in the narrow lanes of a shanty suburb, a slum of Rio de Janeiro. Incidentally, the name of the doctor who attended the soccer hero’s birth was Ronaldo Valente. Infant Luis Nazario since then came to be known as Ronaldo. Youngest of his three brothers, the great football player of the future, never took seriously to studies; he, in fact, disliked the school and preferred to kick around the grand round ball. He broke the glass panes and windows of his neighbours with powerful drives but there was nothing to shatter in his own house; it had no windows. His ideal was his elder brother who also incidentally became a professional footballer. Ronaldo’s father was an alcoholic. When he was 14 his parents separated. He was brought up by his mother who worked at an ice cream parlour to eke out a living. The soccer star has been very attached to his mother, Dona Sonia. As he made strides and football earned him more and more money, he went to the ice cream parlour one fine morning and told Sonia’s employers: “My mother will not be working any more. I am going to pay her more to stay at home”. Ronaldo brought a five-star apartment for his mother in a posh area of Rio and put a BMW at her disposal. He also purchased flats for his brothers and other close family members. Ronaldo does not have the personality of attracting women but he ventured into love making at 13 as he entered the age of adolescence having hooked a girl,
Veronica. This was, however, an experiment which led him to another affair and to a third one which turned out to be a serious matter. Truth is still not known but his third girl friend, Nadia Franka, pressed him to tie nuptial knot saying that she was pregnant. Whose baby was that? Was it the child of Ronaldo? He wanted to have a DNA test to be sure that the baby was his, apparently, having doubt about the paternity of the child. Nadia, in the meanwhile, disappeared and the affairs ended there. As he rose from strength to strength and was playing for Barcelona, Ronaldo fell in love with a
model, Susana Werner, who also played football and the romance attracted media attention in Spain. So precious Ronalda is in the soccer world that his powerful legs have been insured for a fabulous sum of $26 million and Inter Milan sells 200 “Ronaldo shirts” every day. The ruling politicians in Brazil hired him for their election campaign in 1994 hoping that he would be able to woo young voters. They proved correct; the charm of the master footballer did work in the soccer-crazy nation. Success has not always smiled on
Ronaldo. There were moments of disappointment and frustration initially. The biggest disappointment was when the renowned football club, Flamengo, did not allow him to play for the club. “The biggest disappointment I ever had was when Flamengo turned me down. They assured me that they will include me in the team but later excluded me. They did not give me money for the bus fare to return home”. Apparently, the would be star footballer did not have money to buy a bus ticket. It was a Brazilian sports lover, Jairzinho, who discovered the talent in Ronaldo and assessed the power behind the young boy’s legs. The first club which hired the footballer was founded by Jairzinho who ultimately became his agent introducing him to big-time Brazliian clubs. A club known as Cruzerio entered into a contract with Ronaldo and he
excelled. Two years later playing in the Brazilian first division, Ronaldo hit the headlines having scored 54 goals in 54 games, bypassing the legendary Pele who could not perform a feat of this magnitude at the start of his career. Since then there has been no looking back for Ronaldo except the injury in the right knee which kept off the field for three years. |
Pant eyeing Vice-President’s post
HAVING lost out in securing a more high profile ministry in Atal Behari Vajpayee’s cabinet, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman K C Pant is reportedly pitching for the post of Vice President. He is said to be seeking the good offices of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu to influence the top BJP leadership. This was evidenced from Mr Pant’s new found enthusiasm to forge a personal equation with Mr Chandrababu Naidu. Mr Naidu, who was in the national capital last week for AP’s annual plan discussions, was entertained to a cosy dinner by Mr Pant. Soon after the outlay was finalised for Andhra Pradesh in Yojana Bhawan, Mr Pant whisked Mr Chandrababu Naidu away to his residence for dinner. Clearly, Mr Pant, who is also the BJP-led NDA’s pointsperson on Jammu and Kashmir, sought to promote his candidature for the Vice-President’s post. Prior to this when Mr Chandrababu Naidu had come to New Delhi for consultations with the BJP-led leadership on the Presidential candidate, Mr Pant had a
tęte-ŕ-tęte with Mr Naidu over breakfast. However, all the lobbying has come to nought because of his strong Congress connections of the past. Outgoing Vice President Krishan Kant was left by the wayside in the Presidential sweepstakes because of similar reasons. Mr Kant, who completes his tenure next month, also tried to influence the BJP leadership through the TDP supremo for the high office of Rashtrapati but the exercise came to naught.
Riding high
horse The blustery Venkaiah Naidu has come a long way in being made the numero uno of the BJP since his days as a nondescript member of the saffron brigade in Hyderabad. An unabashed follower of Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, one of the first things that Mr Venkaiah Naidu did was to invite his mentor’s family for a homely but spicy Andhra luncheon. Thereafter, he took off on a three-day tour of his home state of Andhra Pradesh by first going to the pilgrim centre of Tirupati and Tirumala for Lord Venkateswara’s blessing. Before arriving in Hyderabad for all the accolades and a civic reception, he also paid a visit to Nellore from where he hails. Major newspapers in the region have carried full page advertisements and prominently covered his activities. He proposes to revamp the BJP organisation in the next ten days. Mr Advani has hinted at some more ministers being drafted for party work. With the powerful backing of the DPM, Mr Venkaiah Naidu is surely riding a high horse.
The best
source With the Election Commission deciding to implement the Supreme Court’s order that every candidate contesting elections must file an affidavit disclosing not only about his movable and immovable wealth but also about his antecedents and educational qualification, the big question remains how is the EC going to verify the authenticity of the information furnished by the plethora of candidates. The Commission is not unduly worried about this as it believes that the best agency to verify the details would be the opponents of the candidates. Chief Election Commissioner J.M.Lygndoh told a questionner at a press conference recently that the best agency to verify the information furnished by a candidate is to tap his rival. “His opponent would give us all the details of his past and wealth,” the CEC said. Incidentally, the Commission would also be looking into the liabilities of the candidate. Any candidate heavily burdened with loans from public sector banks and financial institutions could be disqualified for fear that he may use the public office to get the loans waived.
Security lapse Visitors to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in South Block have to undergo a comprehensive security check. They have to leave their mobile phones at the reception if they are carrying one. But if you happen to be a friend of the security officer in South Block housing the Defence Ministry, then skipping the security checks and keeping the mobile phone on your person is no problem. At a recent press conference, when all the correspondents were
frisked thoroughly and asked to leave their mobile phones behind one of the ‘friends’ of the security officer carried his cell phone along and flaunted it. One wonders that in these times of
heightened security could it be the security officer who is contributing to breach of security?
Advani's role Immediately after his announcement of being appointed as Deputy Prime Minister, Lal Krishna Advani took command of the situation and played an crucial role in the cabinet reshuffle-cum-expansion of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee asking all those Ministers who had to be dropped to submit their resignations immediately. A minister received a call at midnight from the DPM and directed to send in his papers next morning without delay so that way was clear for others to join the government. While Advani performed the unpleasant job for the Prime Minister, Vajpayee also ensured that the Deputy Prime Minister’s wishes in the cabinet expansion were honoured. At Advani’s behest, former Minister of State for Railways Digvijay Singh was moved to the Ministry of External Affairs at the specific request of Advani’s long term friend and political colleague from emergency days George
Fernandes.
In new avatar It’s back to lights, sound and action for Bollywood veteran Vinod Khanna. In his new avatar as the Minister of State for Tourism, Mr Khanna has to perform the dual role of being the cultural ambassador of the country while providing leadership to the sagging tourism sector. Known to gel strikingly with his subordinates, the suave and polished Mr Khanna sprang a surprise by offering an
impromptu invitation to his staff at the plush ITDC-run Ashoka Hotel. The state of affairs at the hotel, however, was an eye-opener for the film-star turned politician who was visibly hassled by seeing the poor parking facilities and other lacunae in the hotel service. Known to be a connosieur of culinary delights, Mr Khanna opted for Frontier restaurant in the hotel and selected a particular salad. To his utter dismay, he was dished out some other salad, ostensibly, not conforming to his blend of choice. Taking serious note of the issue, the minister is believed to have issued a stern warning to the hotel management and staff to adhere to the standards within a fortnight’s time. One wonders, whether it was a case of too little, too late by the government judging the pace at which ITDC-run hotels are being disinvested.
Captain &
Sonia Congressmen find novel ways of displaying their loyalty to the first family of the Congress and Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh has not been found lagging behind. The new four-page calendar of the Punjab government contains photographs of the Chief Minister and his family in front of the Golden temple as well as Durgiana shrine in Amritsar. However, the one that would interest the political class the most is his photograph with Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Normally state government calendars have photographs of either the President, Prime Minister or state governor. Only this time and true to Congress style it has the photograph of the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha. The photograph, perhaps, is intended in conveying that the Chief Minister enjoys full confidence of the Congress president. Capt Amarinder Singh has lent a personal touch to the calendar through his message in Gurmukhi about the state government’s resolve to provide better governance and sought the cooperation of the people in some tough measures on the anvil. The calendar begins from April 2002, when the Congress government was firmly in the saddle. Tailpiece: With the present Indo-Pak standoff and nationalistic feelings running high, the latest in the city’s ‘short message service’ is: “Do you know for every message that we send, it takes two bucks, which could have been used to feed a hungry Pakistani. So let’s keep messaging and starve them”. Contributed by TRR, Satish Mishra, Girja Shankar Kaura, S.Satyanarayanan and Prashant
Sood. |
They are the same lot, but speak in different voices
THE latest round of ministerial reshuffling has surprised even the BJP sympathisers (my sympathies with them,
anyway!). What with party president Jana Krishnamurthy preferring a ministerial seat, Shatrughan Sinha manning as serious a portfolio as Health, Vinod Khanna taking care of our culture and tourism (when there’s little left of it and Home Minister L K Advani getting officially upgraded to be the next prime minister or what. A merry round of musical chairs for Yashwant Sinha and Jaswant Singh as they swap portfolios, as though it takes little to move one to the next slot. After all, they are the same lot...ah, yes, they do speak in different voices though. And today as more than half of Delhi sits without water and power, the citizens are least interested whether Vinod Khanna gets a bucketful of actresses to show that we are cultured or Shatrughans’s wife lends a helping hand to her minister husband or the duo stuff sweetmeats into each other’s mouths...its all too filmi. Medical professionals tell you that Shatrughan’s predecessor, Dr C P Thakur, at least knew the priorities on the health scenario. But now they are still trying to figure out the exact language they will have to use to put across to Shatrughan the medical ills facing the country. There is a nagging doubt in many a healthy head that it is his wife who’d call the shots in the ministry. A one time Miss India, Poonam Sinha, has always played a role in his professional life, right from his Bollywood days, even when he’d upgraded himself to the politician’s level. Several years back, when I had interviewed Shatrughan ( I think that was the time his arch rival Rajesh Khanna was fighting a political battle here in New Delhi) in his frilly White House apartment he sounded like a child who had been forced to upgrade himself and bragged of his prowess. Anyway, now since he has been entrusted to take care of the health problems and periodical bulletins of all those up there, sitting on the high seats of power, he wouldn’t have to feel insecure. And before the average citizen can cry out his reaction(s) to these changes (does he even have the reserves to do so?), there’s coming up the election for the post of the President. Though the results are rather too obvious right from stage one, the Left’s candidate Capt Lakshmi Sahgal hasn’t shown a single sign of a losing candidate. She has left no opportunity unturned to blast the doings of this present establishment. Information is that this coming week she could be here to attend a special meet to focus on the ongoing Gujarat carnage (contrary to government reports the situation is far from normal in Gujarat). Whoever comes back after visiting those camps sits dazed for days, for the realities and the accounts of the carnage are too harsh to take in. Each one of them have come back depressed — right from filmmaker Gopal Menon to former bureaucrat Harsh Mander to artist Anjolie Ela Menon to activist Shabnam Hashmi. Gopal Menon told me that he couldn’t sleep for days to come because those shots kept hounding and Shabnam Hashmi says that those survivors from the minority community are living like second class citizens in order to somehow survive. Last week, Sahgal had also visited these camps and probably she will also recount her feelings. |
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The two-goal hero’s tryst with destiny
PROF.GOVIND Chandra Pande is a noted historian. He has written six volumes on Asia’s ancient history. For him, history is full of social, political and cultural significance. His interests are not limited to ancient or modern history; he is also a philosopher, litterateur and poet. He writes poetry in Hindi and Sanskrit. He is a scholar of Pali, Prakrit, French, German and Budh-Chinese, besides some Indian languages. After teaching at Allahabad University since 1944, he became the Vice-Chancellor of Rajasthan and Allahabad universities.
THE
first act of Brazil’s World Cup hero, Ronaldo, after scoring two goals against Germany was to thank God and his physiotherapist for helping him to recover from the knee injury in time for the momentous event. French doctor, Gerard Sailtant, had reconstructed his right knee and the physiotherapist worked hard for 30 long months to put Ronaldo on his feet. May be it was a coincidence but the World Cup hero met the French doctor hours before his tryst with destiny. The doctor and the therapist were the proudest persons as their patient scored both goals that brought Brazil its world crown. Ronaldo dedicated the first goal to his family and the second to his physiotherapist. The Brazilian wonder boy’s career had virtually come to an end by a terrible knee injury three years ago and, it appeared, he would never be able to kick the ball again but miracles do happen.