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Sunday,
July 21, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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REFORMING THE SYSTEM — A PUBLIC DEBATE
Standing the test of impartiality |
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Of
fair selection & transparency
Pitfalls of information gathering
VP poll: Opposition expects cross-voting
Modi’s decision on elections not surprising
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REFORMING THE SYSTEM — A PUBLIC DEBATE I
am responding to your invitation to a debate on the subject of restructuring the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) to restore its lost glory (July 7). The main thrust of the suggestion made by Mr V.I.K.Sharma, the writer of the article on this theme, is to introduce a separate autonomous Examination Cell, completely detached from PPSC's sphere of influence. A direct recruit non-Punjabi IAS officer should head the Cell as Secretary 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 officer. The strength of the Commission should be reduced from six to three members including the Chairman who should be a retired IAS officer. A retired district judge may be considered for appointment as a member and the other member may be selected from public life. Some other minor and procedural changes suggested by Mr Sharma are aimed at doing away with table marking, discontinue splitting PPSC to conduct interviews, appointment of “Member Establishment” to be rotated amongst members, timely submission of interview marks awarded by members and interchanging of PPSC and Examination Cell staff with the Secretariat staff. He has also suggested that the post of present Secretary should continue but he should be from the PCS cadre. At present this post is tenable by IAS/PCS but the incumbent has always been from PCS. There could be no disagreement in introducing checks and balances and streamlining procedures to ensure that the “spoils system” did not raise its ugly head and an umbrella is provided to the civil services to protect them against personal and political influences. The commission can only choose to ignore some of the procedural safeguards as enumerated by Mr Sharma at its own peril. However, creation of a separate Examination Cell under the control of Chief Secretary would seriously impinge upon the independence of PPSC. This can spell disaster and is against the spirit of the Constitution of India as enshrined in Articles 315 to 323. What is the guarantee that ten years down the line functionaries of Examination Cell will not do what functionaries of PPSC are alleged to have done in the past? It is like cutting the nose to get rid of a fly. With the cancer of corruption spreading from politicians in high offices to judiciary, universities and the civil, police and military services I wonder where does the answer lie to restore their lost credibility? Similarly, the suggestion to reduce the strength of the commission from six to three including the chairman with the composition as suggested is not going to restore its lost credibility. The volume of work, particularly if the extension of commission's functions (as discussed subsequently) is to be accepted, will result in enlarging the membership rather than curtailing it. With respect to PPSC, the answer lies in selecting its members (which includes chairman) with utmost care and giving them the autonomy and independence as envisaged by the framers of our Constitution. Let us “bet on people” as in the ultimate analysis it is the members who have to operate the system. Do not limit the choice of members to just one service or the other. Let us get them from whereever they are. In fact the first Chairman of the Punjab and North West Frontier Province Joint Public Service Commission (the fore-runner of PPSC) in 1937 when its jurisdiction extended from Khyber Pass to the Jamuna River near Delhi was from the police. The commission secretary was a serving ICS officer. Its area included the whole of Pakistan excluding Sindh and Baluchistan, and the present states of Punjab, Himachal and Haryana excluding the princely states. For more than six decades many eminent persons from public life, civil services, police, and armed forces including educationists and technocrats have served the commission with distinction. The low points came only when the appointing authority placed its bet on wrong people who either lacked administrative experience or record of proven and impeccable integrity and honesty or both. It has been alleged at times that in some cases members had been appointed for considerations other than merit. There is vast reservoir of trained and experienced manpower in the country and there is no dearth of suitable candidates to man PPSC provided the appointing authority has the courage to invest in them. We have gone through an era where we needed to restore the lost credibility of the appointing authority more than the PPSC. Let us not help such elements by hastily tinkering with constitutional measures and further denigrate the PPSC. Most of the ills of PPSC owe their origin to its neglect by successive governments. Two things that emerge clearly are one, to keep politicians off the PPSC and two, to take good care not to appoint a non-official member as its chairman. In terms of precedence, pay and perks the chairman and members should rank at par with judges of the high court. The appointment of a three-star General with distinguished record of service as head of PPSC has been widely acclaimed in the state. The credibility of the appointing authority is more than established. We must now give the General a chance to restore the lost credibility of PPSC. In 1950 when the Constitution came into being, the functions of the government were limited to administrative and governance of the country. Consequently, the scope and functions of Public Service Commissions were also limited to civil services and posts, which form not more than 3 per cent of total number of people employed by government. The development of public and private sectors, government and semi-government bodies, banking, transportation, insurance, financial institutions and research and development organisations have turned out to be major employers of educated youth. This has given rise to multiplicity of recruiting agencies, variations in recruiting standards, terms and conditions of service as also qualifications laid down in various jobs, much to the harassment of both the employers and job seekers. Are we to stay content with PPSC catering to only 3 per cent of the civil servants, leaving the bulk of job seekers and employees to the whims and fancies of various corporate bodies, associations, societies and multiple recruiting agencies set up by the government from time to time? If there are better people available outside of PPSC to recruit these 97 per cent job seekers, let us get them into the PPSC because that is what our Constitution demands. Article 321 of the Constitution provides for extension of functions of Public Service Commissions and it is recommended that the Punjab Government should as a first step do away with the Subordinate Services Selection Board and bring all the Class III and IV posts under the purview of PPSC. The existing infrastructure of the Board including its staff should be placed under the command of the PPSC. The strength of the members of PPSC should be suitably enhanced as a long-term arrangement. The Punjab Government should follow the example set by the Kerala Government where as many as 37 corporations and companies in the Public Sector have been brought under the purview of the Kerala Public Service Commission. Both in the USA and the UK, the organisation and functioning of Civil Service Commissions (CSC), the forerunners of Public Service Commissions in India, have undergone major conceptual changes. The CSC in the USA has been designated as Office of the Personnel Management (OPM) and apart from performing its traditional role it serves as a management arm of the President and assists him in making top policy decisions. The Director OPM acts as adviser to the President on all personnel matters. In UK, the CSC no longer functions in old traditional manner and is subjected to greater control and coordination by government. It must however be said to the credit of the British system that its autonomy and independence have not been diluted. In both countries, the responsibility of imparting training to their civil services has been given to the commissions. I recommend that in the long run, PPSC should be given the responsibility of training of selected civil services during the probationary period of candidates selected by the commission. Finally, responsibilities of both Government and PPSC towards traditional functions of the latter namely recruitment, promotion, discipline and service rules need to be reviewed. The government should exercise full control over the last three functions and PPSC should play only consultative and advisory role. With regard to recruitment and training as and when the latter is entrusted to the Commission, PPSC should exercise full control and government should play a consultative and advisory role. This will speed up the clearance of cases and ensure harmonious working between the government and the commission. A special cell should be set up as a link between the government and the commission to maintain closer liaison between the two and all departments of the former should deal with the latter through this cell. At the policy level, PPSC should be associated with personnel management, organisation and classification of services including their pay scales and cadre management. In view of ramblings of favouritism, nepotism and corruption from neighbouring Haryana to distant Maharashtra, a high powered committee of former chairmen of commissions and eminent lawyers should be set up at the national level to suggest various ways and measures to restore the lost credibility of Public Service Commissions in the country. The writer, a retired Lieutenant-General, is a former Chairman of the Punjab Public Service Commission. |
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Standing the test of impartiality THIS has reference to Mr V.I.K.Sharma’s article on restructuring PPSC (July 7). The PPSC chairman should be selected from among the serving/retired officers in the pay scale of Rs 24050-26000 from among three all India Services, State Services, Army or Central Services. They should have an impeccable service record and high reputation for integrity. A panel of ten names may be prepared (not more than one from a cadre). The final selection may be done by a committee consisting of the Governor, the Chief Minister, the Chief Justice of High Court, one member of UPSC and the Chief Secretary. The number of members should continues to be six. Persons having high integrity and honesty from the following section of society should be appointed. Three all India Services — IAS, IPS and IFS by rotation (superscale or above), Army (Brigadier or above), Engineering Departments (Engineer-in-Chief), Judiciary (Sessions Judge or equivalent), State Services (Head of the Department) and public life. There should be three sets of question papers out of which one should be selected by draw of lots just before the examination depending upon the number of the question papers required. The papers should be got marked from two examiners separately and average marks awarded by two should be taken as marks scored. The interview board should consist of four i.e two members of PPSC (including Chairman) and two experts i.e technical members. Two PPSC members should be selected by draw of lots everyday just before the start of interview. One of the technical experts should be from outside the state (HoD level) and the other from the State Department concerned from a panel of five (Joint HoD rank or above). One of the five experts should be called for interview everyday by rotation. The four members of the interview board should award marks independently and the average should be recorded, duly signed at the end of the day. Interview marks should not be more than 10 per cent of the total marks, based on academic record, extra-curricular activities, games and athletics, personality, experience, if any, and viva voce, duly decided before the start of interview.
S.K. KAPUR, IFS (retd) Case for checks & balances Whatever organisational structure we evolve for PPSC, it may not be foolproof unless the people manning it are able to withstand the onslaught of intense greed from within. However, checks and balances are a must to maintain the credibility of an important institution. The basic components of the selection system are the organisation, the methodology and the staff. To make the institution reliable, each component needs to function like a well-oiled machine in close professional proximity of others. After a tumultuous exposure of job-for-cash scam, the government should think seriously to resurrect a trustworthy PPSC. The organisation should be compact and efficient. In this case, the PPSC should be divided into two wings — administrative and technical. The administrative wing may comprise an office, examination cell and the call-up cell. On the other side, the technical wing must have an interview board with requisite administrative staff. The most important part of this organisation is the staff which must comprise persons of impeccable integrity and upright outlook. The administrative wing can be headed by a serving defence officer on deputation for a maximum period of three years. He should be responsible for the conduct of written examination, call-up candidates for interview and compilation of results. During this tenure, he should work under the Chief Secretary. The job of detailing evaluators should be by rotation among the universities in the state. A high court sitting judge is an ideal person to preside over the interview board, comprising eminent persons from different fields. The board should have a mix of retired and serving officials. The tenure of the board should in no case exceed three years. No single person in hierarchy should wield unlimited powers. Any misdemeanour noticed during the interview could be reported by way of dissent notes or directly in the form of a letter to the Chief Secretary. There is no substitute to efficient functioning of an organisation. As soon as the written examination papers are received back after evaluation, the Examination Cell should immediately declare the result after decoding the fictitious roll number. At this stage, the call-up cell should despatch call-up letters for interview to the candidates on the basis of their merit in the written test. The interview board should assemble at a specified time and date to conduct interviews. Strict time schedule should be followed and after the day's interviews, candidates must be informed orally as to who were found suitable for recommendation. Each day, the results of interviews must be submitted to the Examination Cell in writing by the board. This Cell, after the whole batch having been interviewed, should compile the final result and declare the same in order of merit without any delay. Transgression into each other's sphere of action must be curbed. Any dispute arising out of the difference of opinions or interpretation of rules must be settled by the Chief Secretary and finally by the High Court. COL.
K.S.GREWAL (retd)  |
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Link tenure with performance Mr V.I.K. Sharma's suggestion for an autonomous Examination Cell is most welcome. However, it may be headed by an officer of impeccable integrity — Punjabi, non-Punjabi, direct recruit or promotee IAS/ PCS officer. The tenure should depend upon his performance. It may be for three years or terminated at any time. The Examination Cell should remain under the overall administrative control of the Chairman, who, being the Constitutional authority, is answerable to the government as well as the general public for the smooth and clean functioning of the commission. If the administrative control is divided, then the possibility of clash of personalities cannot be ruled out leading to unsavoury situation of affecting the coordination in the functioning of the commission. It should remain the privilege of the Government to appoint Chairman and members of the commission. Certain parameters can be laid down in this regard so that only capable personalities can be appointed. A Standing Committee of eminent personalities should be constituted for making recommendations for appointments of various important functionaries, including the Chairman and members of the commission. Table marking should be adopted in a more effective manner as it ensures quick and unbiased evaluation of answer-sheets. MANJIT SINGH, PCS, |
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Of fair selection & transparency TO bring about a change for ensuring just selections for top state jobs, two basic principles will have to be adhered to: fair assessment and transparency. For this purpose, the PPSC Secretary should be an IAS officer from outside Punjab, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal. The members too should be from outside Punjab. Fair selection can be ensured even in case of marking of scripts which can be got carried out by examiners from distant states. This may, however, result in two genuine problems. The candidates from other states may excel those from Punjab. Legally, there is no distinction between a ‘native’ and an ‘outside’ candidate. But the practice in every state has been to select the former through manipulations particularly during interview, as the board has always been composed of the locals. This can be overcome by making adequate and justified provisions in the Constitution or rules and regulations such as 10 per cent weightage to ‘native’ candidates. If some ‘outsiders’ make it to the top slots, they deserve to be selected. Another principle that deserves to be adhered to is that of transparency which can be ensured by publicising the marks of interview awarded to the selected and the rejected candidates under each head (which should be many), predecided and publicised by the interview board. Both types of candidates should have the right to point out in case any positive merit of one has been ignored/undermarked. Candidates should also have the right to point out at any subsequent stage for a period of say, five years, if some selected person has taken undue advantage. KHAZAN
SINGH GULIA How an aspirant looks at it
The marks obtained by all the candidates should be widely publicised after the selection process in the Press. The prospectus should carry in detail the syllabus for preliminary and mains. Books should be recommended for preparation as the objective is to check one’s knowledge. Students should be given the answer key of the question paper in the prelims and a marked copy of answersheets in case of mains. Allow them to take question papers after the exams or publish them in three newspapers of the region, besides making available on the PPSC website. The interview panel should not be made aware of the marks obtained by candidates in the main exams (written). Otherwise, the panel would not be able to award fair marks to them. In the interview, only the abilities and personality of the candidate should be assessed as his\her subjective and written knowledge has already been judged in prelims & main. Make the process timebound and all records pertaining to the personal profiles of candidates, marks in the recruitment exams as well as previous academic record should be made available to people for a nominal fee or made available on the website of the government \commission. Checks should be conducted on coaching centres claiming sure success. Increase the student intake at university coaching centres. The candidates should have access to the master answer sheet/answer key. Provide photocopies of answersheets for a prescribed fee. This would help them know about their shortcomings. PUSHPESH
KUMAR |
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Seek university help The infrastructure, experience and expertise of Punjab’s universities should be utilised for the PPSC examinations as well. The examination, of course, should be held under the guidance of the PPSC. It should get more than one question paper set for each test (may be two or three). The paper setters should send the question papers to the university registrar. All the question papers — printed and sealed — should be in the custody of the registrar. The PPSC should appoint observers for each examination centre. The answersheets, sealed by observers, should be handed over to the registrar in person. Table marking should be conducted at two or three centres after ensuring secrecy on the answersheets by the university. There should be a coordinator for each question to see that evaluation has been done according to the key supplied by the papersetter. In case of difference of opinion, both the examiner and the coordinator should evaluate the answersheets together and duly sign on them. Answersheets should remain in the custody of the university. Award lists should be prepared in the presence of the registrar and a member of the commission. The list of successful candidates for interview should be released under the seal of the PPSC Chairman and the registrar. Each interview should be video recorded and preserved by the commission for ten years. For the sake of transparency, “in exceptional cases”, video recording and answersheets may be shown to the candidates. It would be degrading for the State to import people from the other States for these purposes. A.B. SINGH, |
Pitfalls of information gathering TWENTY-YEAR-OLD Mohsin Mir is duskily good looking. As far as I can make out, he has not been involved with militancy. His father teaches at a college on the outskirts of Srinagar and belongs to a relatively respectable family. At almost 10 pm on July 12, he was picked up by the Border Security Force (BSF) personnel for questioning. A few days earlier, Mohsin, who fancies himself the local hero, had got into an altercation with a drunkard who had entered the family compound. The drunkard happened to be a former militant, now reportedly a security forces informant. It transpired that he had informed a BSF unit that Mohsin harbours foreign militants. He had promptly been picked up. Mohsin says the soldiers wrapped his face in a towel and poured mugs full of water over it. The technique leaves the victim feeling as if he is drowning. Gasping for breath, he becomes willing to tell all. Mohsin, feeling he was about to die, heaved hard and broke the bonds that tied him to the cot. He was secured again while he kept yelling that he knew nothing and had been falsely accused. He adds that he had already softened a couple of his captors by telling them that he had been framed because of a dispute over love. That apparently made some soldiers sympathise but their officer had given orders that Mohsin be put through the mill. So he was given electric shocks. Mohsin says he kept yelling his innocence and, to win over his captors, threw in a couple of India’s patriotic cries: “Vande Mataram,” “Bharat Mata ki Jai” at the top of his lungs. He says that his sense of humour saved him, for he used the intervals in his torture to crack jokes and tell the soldiers tales of his sexual escapades and lost loves. By the early hours, some at least of his tormentors were bantering with him. The next morning, he says, they gathered round him for more stories. They had evidently accepted by this time that the boy was not hiding anything from them. By then, his family too had discovered at which BSF camp he was confined and, through a friend of a friend in the J& K police, his father arranged to have Mohsin released soon after lunch time on Saturday. One might well take the view that all’s well that ends with only a few welts on the back and red bruises on both legs, but Mohsin’s experience could be a chilling warning. It shows how, in an environment brimming with angst that often borders on the psychiatric, boys involved in no more than the most mundane personal clashes can find themselves confronted with a situation like this. The incident also reveals the pitfalls of an unprofessional system of gathering information from people, eager for the money that security forces pay for information on terrorists. It also highlights the possibility of innocent boys thus tortured, or their relatives, signing up for militancy in anger, or for revenge. Violence, like a hurricane, makes its own rules, after all. |
Fortune smiles on Shekhawat again Over the years, both have established themselves as leaders. They are now locked in the predictable contest for the post of Vice-President manifesting the success of democracy in India. “It is a miracle of democracy. Even those who begin their career at the lowest rung may aspire to go to the top”, virtually yelled a senior leader from Rajasthan as he garlanded Mr. Shekhawat who will be the first-ever leader from the state to occupy such a high office. The outcome of policeman versus policeman contest is well known given the majority the ruling NDA enjoys in the electoral college for the Vice-Presidential elections. Making a humble beginning in their careers, both Shekhawat and Shinde, having an age difference of 16 years, struggled hard to come up in life. Mr. Shekhawat, now 79, has raised the BJP unit in Rajasthan and the void created by his elevation to the Vice-President’s post will be difficult to fill. Comparatively, Mr. Shinde is a light weight and the opposition has set him against Mr. Shekhawat in what is described as “a symbolic fight”; he is a Harijan. Generally, Mr. Shinde contests from a reserved seat but in the last election he was elected to the Lok Sabha from a general seat — Solapur — of Maharashtra. While Mr. Shekhawat has been three-term Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Mr. Shinde was Maharashtra’s Finance Minister. He held other important portfolios from time to time. For almost half a century, Mr. Shekhawat has been the fulcrum of anti-Congress politics in Rajasthan and the credit of building a strong unit of the BJP goes to him. He was elected to the state assembly for the first time in 1952 and, coincidentally, he will be the first leader from Rajasthan to acquire the second highest post of the land exactly after 50 years. He has faced many challenges in his variegated career but the worse crisis came in 1997 when some BJP MLAs joined hands with independents to oust him. Though he managed to tide over the crisis, Mr. Shekhawat could not withstand the shattering blow which came in 1998; the BJP was wiped out in the elections and a veteran like Shekhawat was humbled by an upstart like Ashok Ghelot. Luck has again smiled on the veteran BJP leader as his victory is certain in the Vice-Presidential elections. Mr. Shekhawat’s style of functioning is different than other BJP leaders as he has built up a following of his own which cuts across party lines; he has, therefore, come to be known as the moderate face of the BJP. He has as many friends in the Congress party as in his own party and he gets along with them very well. Mr. Jaswant Singh, now the Union Finance Minister, is known to have been brought in politics and groomed by Mr. Shekhawat and subsequently helped to enter the Rajya Sabha. Mr. Jaswant Singh had bright career in the army but he had no experience of the treacherous world of politics; initial lessons to him were given by Mr. Shekhawat. It will be very difficult for the BJP to find a replacement for Mr. Shekhawat in Rajasthan. So towering was his personality that the second rung of leadership could not grow; some compare him with banyan tree under which nothing grows. Mr. Shekhawat agrees that the young leadership in the state has not grown because of him but he is confident the new leadership will take its place before long. As he moved along in the Central Hall of Parliament after filing his nomination papers, he was congratulated by members cutting across party lines. Mr. Shekhawat told this correspondent as he moved seeking support of MPs: “I am here but my heart is in Rajasthan. The shadow of drought is looming large and I can image the plight of the people if monsoon fails”. He also said that it would be very difficult to snap his ties with Rajasthan because as Vice-President he could not even talk of politics. Asked if he would poll more votes than expected because he has friends in the Congress party too, Mr.Shekhawat said: “I have all my long life made friends and not enemies. I may have political opponents but I have never made enemies”. Whether the Congress party supports or opposes him in this election, it would hardly make a difference, he says, adding: “Friends will remain friends. I feels a consensus for top posts like that of the President, the Vice-President and the Speaker will be in the national interest and in the larger interest of democracy”.
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VP poll: Opposition expects cross-voting
Congressmen are emphasising all those points, which they feel distinguishes their candidate from the nominee of the NDA. The party has circulated a two-page “bio-profile” of Shinde, portions of which are in the bold. The bold portion states that though belonging to SC community, Shinde had won Lok Sabha elections from a general constituency. The bold letters then tell that Shinde is BA.LL.B. The bio-data speaks of his having represented the country in international conferences and having received an award from Mother Teresa. The Congress, which says that it was opposed to RSS men getting top political offices, and describes the vice-presidental contest as a “principled fight”, is also pitching in for support from the “so-called secular allies of the NDA”. The allies, it says, have now been completely marginalised by the BJP and must now speak up against “communalisation of Indian polity”. High-sounding words for a high-office contest. Young leaders However, if the party mouthpiece “BJP Today” is to be believed, Naidu’s takeover has only rectified the aberration. According to an analysis of the age profile of presidents, Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee himself was only 51 years old when he founded the Jana Sangh and both Atal Behari Vajpayee and L.K.Advani became chief of the Sangh when they were below 50 years of age. Dr Murli Manohar Joshi too was about 50-years-old when he became BJP president in 1991.Young presidents it appears are not new to BJP. Sena
support Former Maharashtra Governor and now an independent candidate for the July 25 Rajya Sabha election P.C. Alexander got worried when he received information that Shiv Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray was annoyed with him because the arrangement for filing his nomination papers for the upper house of Parliament were made by none other than state Home Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, who was once in the Shiv Sena and now a sworn rival of Shiv Sena. Not only that Bhujbal had made arrangements but Alexander had also travelled in the Home Minister’s vehicle. Not wanting to leave anything to chance, Alexander sought an appointment with the Shiv Sena chief. Balasaheb Thackeray promised Alexander full support of his party swearing in name of his two successors Raj and Uddhav who were also present at the meeting between the Shiv Sena supremo and the erstwhile Maharashtra Governor. Out
of Left orbit? Minister Rajnath Singh. An indication of the new equations could be available when Samajwadi party MPs may vote in the Vice-Presidential elections. They may not vote for Congress candidate Sushil Kumar Shinde. Yadav and Amar Singh have reportedly conveyed to the Left parties that the Samajwadi Party would have supported any non-Congress candidate but voting for a Congress nominee was out of question. Media blues The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is known for organising interactive meetings with visiting high level dignitaries from abroad and do some blunt exchange of views. The apex chamber recently fell out with the government when it kept the burning Gujarat issue as one of the topics at the annual meet. The chamber caught the Government’s eye once again when it invited British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw for an interactive meeting. The Ministry of External Affairs promptly moved in to bar the media from covering the event. Not to be outdone, Mr Straw finally arranged his own press meet and shared his views with the Indian media. Gutka
ad The day the Maharashtra Government banned sale of gutka pan masala, the news item got prominent place in the news broadcast of various news channel. One of the channels showed some actresses, singers and models celebrating the ban in Mumbai. Having played the social role, it was time for a break and the same channel was seen displaying the advertisement of a gutka company. Commercial interest afterall overrides the social cause. Contributed by Prashant Sood, Satish Misra, T.V. Lakshminarayan, Girja Shankar Kaura and S. Satyanarayanan. |
Modi’s decision on elections not surprising Mr Narendra Modi and the Parivar have declared Assembly elections in the riot-stricken Gujarat. A move that hasn’t surprised any here, especially those who have been in close touch with that state. Just last weekend, a meeting was held in New Delhi’s Constitution Club — ‘Gujarat Unreprieved’ — and you should have heard what some of the Gujarat-based activists, who are involved in the relief and rehabilitation work, had to say about the “fascist games“ being played by Modi and his men. The meet was chaired by Nirmala Deshpande and Ahmedabad-based social scientist Achut Yagnik. Contrary to the propaganda unleashed by Modi that all Hindus are towing his hatred philosophy, a majority of the speakers at this meet were non-Muslim men and women from Gujarat. They were blatant enough to call Modi a modern day Hitler, VHP as Vishwa Hilter Parishad and emphasied that the ground has been systematically ‘prepared‘ by these men to hold elections in Gujarat. “There’s that misconception created by Sangh Parivar that Gujarati society as a whole is endorsing the carnage...in today’s Gujarat sane voices are getting stifled by coersion...” Activist Wilfred D’Costa, who spoke extensively on the economic blockade against the Muslims, emphasied that “just prior to these riots in Ahmedabad, about 15,000 to 20,000 men were trained to attack, by the VHP...and in the first phase of the
rioting, these trained men who were initially unleashed, had mobile phones, they could open any lock in half a second, they had actual charts of the properties which were to be looted and burnt...for training bandobasts they got funds from the three US-based groups which are said to fund the VHP — Sewa Bharti, Sewa International and United Way...” Baroda-based Trupti Shah, who is associated with PUCL highlighted another angle. For the first time, women also took part in the rioting. Dr Harsha Hedge spoke on how medical professionals were being bullied. Ahmedabad-based filmmaker K.Stalin spoke of the local media’s role. Mahesh Bhatt, Atul Sinha and Amreesh Patel, all lawyers, spoke about the civil rights violations. Child psychologist Sulakshana Sirur, sent by the Mumbai-based Tata Institute to study the mental health of Ahmedabad’s riot-affected victims, cited examples of how young children were affected. And as Bhavna Ramrakhiyani, who is associated with an Ahmedabad-based NGO, spoke about the housing situation in the city what with no compensation coming for those whose entire homes and their belongings got looted or burnt. “I couldn’t help asking her whether her family supported her efforts to reach out the affected Muslims.” “ Today in Ahmedabad alone, about 34 Hindus are heading NGOs involved in the relief and rehabilitation of the affected Muslims. Should we call this a silver lining to the games being played by Modi and his tainted men?
Delhi
powerless!
Yes, Delhi sits powerless, in every sense of the term. Yet there are parties, get-togethers. Restaurant ‘Spirit’ stood stuffed with lovers of the Lebanese cuisine. Heavy turnout from the diplomatic circle — ambassadors and commissioners of several Arab and African countries but none wanted to comment on the internal mess in the country. “No, we can’t comment on Gujarat ..” They say, “it’s all internal and we external !” Just yesterday I got a little surprise. A lovely note from Mrinalini Vikram Sarabhai. It is touching to know that she and her daughter Mallika are working against odds, doing immense work in the relief camps of Ahmedabad.
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Fortune smiles on Shekhawat again
TWO
former policemen are in the fray for the second highest office of the land. Both — NDA’s candidate Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and Opposition-supported
Congress nominee Sushil Kumar Shinde — began their respective careers as constables. Mr Shekhawat, a matriculate, plunged into politics, quitting state police service, quite early in age. Mr. Shinde, on the other hand, while holding arduous job of policeman, did his graduation and, later, obtained a law degree before trying his luck in politics.
WITH A.P.J.Abdul Kalam now the President-elect, the focus is on the election of Vice-President. The contest, though largely loaded in favour of NDA nominee Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, is not without interest. The Congress along with several other opposition parties has pitted a Dalit leader Sushil Kumar Shinde against Shekhawat in the hope of garnering support from SC MPs in the NDA. The hope of cross-voting is not unfounded considering that Capt Laxmi Sahgal, candidate of the Left in the presidential race, polled more votes than were estimated.
When Venkaiah Naidu, 53, took over as BJP President after the party was headed by a string of veteran leaders like L.K.Advani, Khushabau Thakre and Jana Krishnamurthy, the media called it the advent of the new generation.
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, who was once totally aligned with the Left parties and was the most favourite person of CPM General Secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet, appears to be out of the Left orbit. Yadav, who has prime ministerial ambitions, is trying to increase his clout by roping in other backward leaders in Uttar Pradesh but what is interesting to note is that his “Man Friday” Amar Singh is also in close touch with former state Chief