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Probe yes, vendetta no CAT on the hot tin roof Human bondage |
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Limits of investigative journalism
The prompter
Can Punjab avoid ‘failed’ state tag?
DELHI
DURBAR
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Probe yes, vendetta no CORRUPTION in public life is one of the most daunting issues facing the country. Things have come to such a pass that all politicians evoke public ridicule. Impartial judicial inquiry against the persons under a cloud is necessary not only to bring the guilty to book but also to give an opportunity to the honest ones to clear their names. To that extent, now that the matter against former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal is in court, all parties should show faith in the judiciary and let it come to a conclusion giving enough opportunity to the defendant. What needs to be ensured is that such cases are decided expeditiously, since they involve the image of public men. If a person happens to be innocent, his or her credibility should not be kept in doubt just because there is a case pending against him and if he is guilty, he should not be allowed the benefit of a delayed punishment. At the same time, the Amarinder Singh government has to go out of its way to allay apprehensions that it is guided by political vendetta. As said earlier, corruption is a very vital issue but it is not the only one. If it is made into a one-point programme, then it takes the contours of witch-hunt. Too much focus on the deeds of Mr Badal can help the latter acquire the halo of a victim, which is going to be counter-productive. The Chief Minister should not only be impartial and fair but also give the impression of being so. If the government has shown excessive zeal in carrying out the investigation, the Akalis too have not conducted themselves too responsibly. Action against Mr Badal and his men has been projected as an anti-Akali crusade. The state-wide rasta roko agitation that was launched in protest against the challan put up against them predictably turned violent at a few places, resulting in avoidable loss of public property. At least responsible leaders should refrain from such brazen display of political muscle. Mr Badal and his family should not only cooperate with the court, but also seen to be doing so. Both Captain Amarinder Singh and Mr Badal ought to know that they both are ultimately accountable to the people. And they are watching. |
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CAT on the hot tin roof THE people's confidence in one more institution has been shaken with the cancellation of the Common Admission Test (CAT) for the prestigious Indian Institutes of Management held on Sunday. The racketeers had obtained copies of the question paper well in advance to sell them at a hefty price to those who were willing to pay. The arrest of eight persons, including three doctors, suggests that behind the leak is a well-established gang with operatives in various cities. The authorities have claimed that the leak could have occurred only at the printing press level. This is, perhaps, their way of warding off allegations that some among them are hand in glove with the scamsters. Their claim that such leaks had never taken place can be taken only with a pinch of salt. Just because there had been no detection of leaks, it cannot be surmised that everything had always been prim and proper. Leakage of question papers is not a new phenomenon as many prestigious examinations had to be cancelled in the past because of this problem. In fact, the common perception among the people is that those who have the money power can easily circumvent the secrecy of question papers as had been proved in the Punjab Public Service Commission scandal. With newer and newer technologies available to the cheats, it would be difficult for the authorities conducting such examinations to check them. They have to evolve newer systems like providing multiple question papers to the students to choose from. There are other intelligent ways in which examinations can be made leak-proof. But for the present, the Central Bureau of Investigation should go to the bottom of the racket and ensure punishment to all those guilty, however highly placed they may be. After all, cancellation of examinations entails severe hardship to the genuine candidates who burn their midnight oil to appear for them. |
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Human bondage NATIONAL Human Rights Commission Chairman Justice J.S. Anand’s direction to states to enforce the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act is timely. At a seminar in Chandigarh the other day, he has asked the authorities to remove the shortcomings in eliminating bonded labour. Sadly, though politicians wax eloquent on their efforts to usher in a welfare state, they do not have the political will to eliminate the growing socio-economic problem. Parliament had enacted the legislation abolishing bonded labour as far back as 1976. Yet, little has been done to check the problem. Even the Supreme Court’s directions to states from time to time have not been implemented. Surveys conducted by the Reserve Bank of India in 1953 and recent figures show that though 30 per cent of rural credit has gone to rural areas as against 3 per cent in 1953, hardly 5 per cent of the country’s needy rural people enjoy the benefits. As these sources of institutional finance go to the sections already empowered, they become cheap labour for money-lenders and big landlords because they are re-loaned at higher interest rates. In addition to economic equations, reflected by class inequality, the caste compulsions in rural society are an important cause of bonded labour. Unfortunately, district officials do not bother to tackle the problem with the attention it deserves. In the absence of appropriate regulatory measures, they take several months to act on complaints of prevalence of bonded labour. Statutory registers are not maintained properly and those employing bonded labour are not prosecuted, apparently under political pressure. There is also the problem of immediate rehabilitation of freed bonded labourers. Deputy Commissioners in some states like Punjab and Haryana have complained of fund crunch in this regard. As suggested by Justice Anand, the Union Ministry of Labour should explore the possibility of creating a corpus fund to rehabilitate freed bonded labourers.
Thought for the day All those men have their price.
— Robert Walpole
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Limits of investigative journalism BACK
in the early eighties, “investigative journalism” was the rage in the Indian Press. Every reporter wanted to become an investigative reporter and the Press was full of exposés of one kind of another seeking to excruciate individuals and institutions with breathtaking audaciousness. Investigative journalism died a natural death because much of reporting that paraded as such was polemical writing or one-sided reports. The principles of true investigative reporting were thrown to the winds because it requires meticulous hard work, a scrupulous regard for giving the other party a fair hearing before publication (not applicable in every case) and often much time and money. Reporters were anxious to bask in the glory of a scoop without putting in hard work or giving the offending party an opportunity to rebut criticism. In any event, many establishments were not prepared to put up the resources required for a meticulous investigation. Little wonder then that investigative journalism died a natural death. Readers tired of scoops that turned out to be untrue or greatly exaggerated and newspapers tired of issuing denials and corrections. In time, the print media's baton was taken by the plethora of television channels that sought to lend some credence to investigative reporting, having the advantage of showing their “scoops” visually. But compared to the heyday of investigative reporting in the print media, television reporting, in the context of scoops, was small beer. The picture changed dramatically with the website tehelka.com on the Internet and its earth-shaking investigation of the climate of corruption in defence purchases and at the highest party level in the Bharatiya Janata Party. The investigation, shown on its website and generously provided to the private television channels, was earthshaking. The BJP President, Mr Bangaru Laxman, had to resign and the Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes, resigned too although he reclaimed his ministerial berth without the inquiry being completed. Tehelka was, without doubt, a sting operation and the government was left panting because new electronic journalism gave it an advantage print media do not have. The single frame of Mr Laxman accepting wads of currency notes, allegedly to speed up a sought-after fictitious military contract, was worth a million words. It immediately carried conviction and the luckless party president was reduced to pleading that the money he had accepted was for party activities. That the government did not like what it saw was clear from its elaborate investigation of Tehelka and its sponsors and supporters. The main Central ruling party's efforts were directed at limiting the damage to an organisation that prided itself on being a “party with a difference”. Tehelka seemed to confirm the widespread impression that while the Congress took decades to cut corners and accept “donations” of one kind or another for the cause of individual or party profit, the BJP took only a few years to embrace the precepts of the old warriors. Most recently, the Indian Express, which had initiated its brand of investigative reporting in the eighties, got back into the act by demonstrating that it could give as good as the newer electronic media. It emblazoned its front page with a series of grainy picture frames purporting to show that the junior Central minister and the BJP leader in Chhattisgarh, Mr Dilip Singh Judeo, was accepting money for favours. And the exposé's impact was the greater because the state was on the verge of going to polls and was locked in a bitter battle with the Congress in the state. There were reasons for the state Chief Minister, Mr Ajit Jogi, to smile while the BJP leaders set about performing a damage control exercise. The minister's resignation was sought and accepted although the BJP strategy was to brazen it out, retaining him as the chief campaigner, at the same time blaming Mr Jogi for the “conspiracy”. The BJP's reaction was in striking contrast to its approach to bundling off Mr Laxman in haste, revealing more than the imperatives of the election fray. The BJP seems to have decided that the electorate has become so cynical about politicians and their conduct that corruption is viewed as a minor factor in determining its voting pattern. Hence, in the party's view, Mr Judeo's local credentials were more important than his allegedly accepting money. He has implied accepting the money by suggesting that even Mahatma Gandhi took money for the benefit of the Congress, a comparison most Indians of any political stripe will find highly offensive. Leaving aside the travails of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Judeo episode, as the earlier Tehelka revelations, raises important issues for the media. Is such a sting operation justified, a point raised by Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani? What are the limits of investigative journalism? In essence, how can media perform their legitimate task of investigating wrong-doing by those in authority while maintaining their integrity? Electronic media retain the advantage of revealing misdemeanours because they can attempt to record them on camera and tape. And since those who choose to accept bribes will not pose before a camera to broadcast their activities, any recording must necessarily be surreptitious. It was telling that BJP leaders sought to gloss over the illegality of a Central minister taking "donations" by venting their ire on the alleged conspiracy hatched by Mr Jogi. The other argument, that every political party needs “donations” to survive, is equally trite. Prevailing mores of conduct do not justify an illegal and corrupt act. The limits of investigative journalism must necessarily be defined by good taste and the public interest. While Tehelka can be faulted for gratuitously ruining an Army career in at least one instance in trying to prove its point, the Indian Express is not guilty of such conduct. One cannot agree with the argument that the Express should have suppressed the report merely because it might work against the interests of a particular party at election time. It is the media’s job to tell the truth irrespective of where the cards may fall. But there can be no justification for sloppy or biased reporting. Technological progress and miniaturisation have given the media valuable tools for performing their duty. They cannot be frittered away in the cause of individual glory or to enhance profit. In any media, true investigative reporting should remain a treasured part of journalism. |
The prompter ONE of the most looked forward to events in my last school was the staff play at Founders. In spite of my secret theatrical ambitions, I had to be content to be the prompter. I had my work cut out for me. Many of the actors just could not learn their lines, the most incorrigible being two senior teachers who had been my teachers when I was in school. One year, they had a rather extended scene between them. The scene opened to a complete and deadly silence. I threw them a line with no response. I threw it again. But all they did was to smile — first at each other then at the audience. Then one of them turned his back to the audience, and through the side of his mouth muttered. “Babu it’s your line.” Then he turned back to the audience and smiled. After a pause the other actor repeated this performance and said, “No, Babu it’s your line.” For the rest of the scene my prompting took the form of: “Mr G. Sir, your line ‘- - - - - - -’ ”. “Mr B. Sir, your line ‘- - - - - - -’ ”. At the traditional greenroom party a member of the Board of Governors asked me: “Were you in the play too? I don’t remember seeing you on stage.” “I was the prompter” I said with the right touch of modest pride. “Oh!” he said. “You did your job very well. We were up in the gallery, and we could hear every single word you said, throughout the play.” Another time a teacher had a walk-on part in the third act as the butler. All through rehearsals he would stand close to me muttering for hours on end. It destroyed my concentration and one day I snapped at him, “Look you don’t come on till the third act — what are you muttering away for already?” “I need to learn my cues, don’t I ?” he said and went on with his muttering. On the final day, his cue came and he was nowhere to be seen. He had to bring in a pie and for the next 10 minutes the dialogue centered around this pie. In despair the director called out to the actor on the stage: “Just pretend to eat the damn pie.” The actor tucked his serviette under his chin, sawed at the tablecloth with his fork and knife and pretended to eat the pie. A crisis was averted. Later in the act the young lovers settled down to play out their famous love scene. Just then the butler appeared behind them, carrying his tray, and announced in a deep sepulchral voice “Here is the pie.” Once the director gave me a small role. I had a love scene. Everything went well till the dress rehearsal, when there was a loud scream from my little son who was sitting in the audience: “Wait till I get home. I am going to tell Mummy what a dirty man you are.” After this, I stayed firmly behind the curtains and limited my role to that of the prompter. |
Can Punjab avoid ‘failed’ state tag? THE
World Bank is optimistic that Punjab's growth rate can be accelerated to provide more employment opportunities, improve the level and quality of service delivery and address key social sector problems, if the reform agenda is implemented. This will be possible only by developing a financial restructuring plan for the power sector, exploring ways to assist in the institutionalisation of the Fiscal Responsibility Act and providing technical support on how best to decentralise control over teachers and medical staff to the panchayati raj institutions. And also by analysing unexplored areas, including problems of slow growth in industry and need to address the gap between the state’s high-income status and less impressive health and education indicators. There is a renewed interest in the World Bank to work with Punjab to solve its problems as well as take up development challenges facing the state. To achieve this, Punjab has demanded a slice from the bank’s structural adjustment loans. Even if this does not mature, there will still be options like technical assistance or sector work, enabling Punjab to implement its key policies. The objective of the World Bank is to “restore Punjab's status as the leader in growth and development”, despite setbacks received due to terrorism, long spells of the President’s rule and political populism that made a mockery of financial management. This can be achieved through resuscitation of fiscal health and stabilisation reforms, administrative or governance reforms, creating an enabling environment for private sector growth and human resource development. These observations are made in a concept paper “Punjab Economic Report” the World Bank has submitted to the government. Relying heavily on a plethora of reports, surveys and analyses on various facets of the Punjab economy and politico-administrative systems, the paper is a roadmap for resurgence of the state. Several experts are involved in compiling the final Punjab Economic Report, which is expected to be available in June, 2004. It is likely to cost US $ 252,000. The World Bank analysis is a telling comment as much on Punjab's present socio-economic and administrative systems as on political governance. It observes that the state, confronted with severe financial problems, could end up in bankruptcy, if these remained unresolved. After all, Punjab has the highest per capita income, nearly Rs 30,000 (2001-02), and the lowest poverty head-count ratio; only 6 per cent (1.5 million poor) of the 25 million people. They are below the official poverty line as compared to 27 per cent for all India. On an average, a Punjabi earns one-and-a-half times more than an average Indian and three-to-four times as much as an average person in the poorest states. Punjab’s prosperity is illusionary viewed in the mirror of multiple challenges — fiscal crisis, stagnant economy and disconnect between its level of income and level of human development. And the magnitude of the fiscal imbalance leaves Punjab with little “fiscal space” endangering future growth prospects and quality of public service delivery. Punjab also fairs poorly in terms of revenue deficit to revenue receipts. The state's economy is on the decline, while several other states are fast catching up with its high per capita income. Forget the pre-Green Revolution period or phase of terrorism (1980s) or spells of the President’s rule. Punjab has suffered because of low level of public investment due to misplaced fiscal policies and spluttering of productivity growth in agriculture in 1990s. There is concern over the poor health and education indicators as compared to other high income states like Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu. The overall health picture in Punjab is gloomy in terms of infant mortality, under five mortality, maternal mortality, sex ratio (number of women per 1,000), births attended by health professionals, births delivered in medical institutions and number of children vaccinated. This was despite Punjab having the highest percentage of population with access to improved water sources, lowest prevalence of tuberculosis and second lowest prevalence of under-weight children in India. Punjab, however, is better placed, marginally, in respect of education than several states. Punjab is credited for its reform agenda and several significant steps to implement it — withdrawal of free power and water to the agriculture sector, the Fiscal Responsibility Act, the voluntary retirement scheme and rightsizing of the government (though there are no tangible results, so far), the medium-term fiscal reform programme, power sector reforms, infrastructure development, privatisation, contract farming, disinvestment, deregulation, decentralisation and gender equalisation by taking up female foeticide on priority. While identifying the key challenges before the government, the World Bank also observes that Punjab is not counted among the best governed states. It takes cognizance of the mark left on the state's governing machinery by poor fiscal health, past problems while suggesting making the government more efficient, responsive and transparent. Effective steps to improve investment climate, to raise levels of human development and to reduce social disparities are the other suggested measures. Most of the problems are because of lack of monitoring and regulatory mechanism for efficient use of facilities and effective service-delivery in health, education and social welfare. This has less to do with the level of investment or availability of infrastructure. This syndrome stems from over-staffing and loss-making public sector undertakings. The ratio of committed expenses, salaries, pensions and interest repayment, to total revenue is around 114 per cent. Despite the Disinvestment Commission's recommendations that out of 49 public sector undertakings and apex co-operative institutions, 20 should be closed down, 13 sold to the private sector and 16 restructured or merged with others, nothing tangible has happened so far. The total operating income of 49 PSUs is Rs 11,600 crore, annual losses Rs 185 crore and total debt stock Rs 25,500 crore. The number of employees is 118,624. And the recommendation on disinvestment in five PSUs remains on a slow track. Punjab must also take steps to resolve the critical challenges of administrative reforms, ranging from dealing with chronic over-staffing to reducing corruption, improving service delivery in agencies with large public interface and at the local level through decentralisation. It must also cap “politically motivated” transfers that “undermine service delivery by disrupting managerial continuity and generate corruption by creating a market in posts”. How about a law on posting and transfer, as Maharashtra has done or constituting a civil service board to approve transfers? Punjab today has the highest ratio of civil servants per 100 of population in India: roughly 2.24, as compared to the all-India average of 1.4. The ballooning wage bill got further worsened due to the Fifth Central Pay Commission recommending enhanced salaries, an increase in the number of group A cadres from 161 in 1998 to 211 in 2001 for political reasons, introduction of the guaranteed assured career progression programme and significantly higher pay scales of Punjab employees. In this backdrop, the World Bank would watch how the political executive and the bureaucracy implement the reform agenda, lest Punjab should acquire the tag of a “failed state”. |
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DELHI
DURBAR THE Congress is facing a tough time in states like Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. While old fox K. Karunakaran is baying for Chief Minister A.K. Antony’s head having set a fresh deadline of November 25, a somewhat unsure Congress high command has expressed its intention to set up a committee for Telegana in Andhra Pradesh. Despite the unending problems thrown up by Karunakaran which can come to a head sooner than later, Antony is hoping the party high command will not pull the rug under his feet. With Congress leaders from the Telengana region unrelenting in demanding a separate Telegana state, it is apparent the AICC leadership does not want to create a serious rift in the APCC at this juncture. It is clearly biding for time as the ruling Telegu Desam party and Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu are not only against the creation of Telengana but also preparing for assembly elections in March next year. While the TDP has moved to the election gear, the Congress is battling to get its house in order in Andhra Pradesh.
Sinha’s gestures External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha has been giving interviews to the Pakistan media in an exercise aimed at clearing the cloud in the mind of the people at large. It is in this context that Sinha’s interview to a private Pakistan TV channel assumes importance. The transcript of the interview has also been well received in the print media across the border and at home as well. Will such a frank interface help or remain an exercise in futility? That is the million dollar question.
Time for change? Certain Congress leaders campaigning for the party in Madhya Pradesh where assembly elections are to be held on December 1 believe that Chief Minister Digvijay Singh has a tough time ahead. In quiet drawingroom conversations these leaders keep their fingers crossed for a dramatic turn-around for Digvijay Singh in the next few days. While acknowledging that after having ruled the state for two terms, the anti-incumbency factor is double fold. Then, compounding matters is also the adequate number of Congress rebels in the electoral fray which is also true for the BJP. Digivijay Singh has made it a point to speak to his Congress
colleagues over the telephone and assure them of his innate confidence that the ground is not slipping under his feet.
PM’s campaign Vajpayee’s two rallies in Delhi on Thursday for the BJP turned out to be a lacklustre affair. People had to face wrenching traffic stoppages in South and North Delhi for more than three hours in the evening where the PM addressed meetings. Some where deep down Vajpayee appears to be acutely aware that the BJP has an uphill task against the Congress government in the national Capital led by Shiela Dikshit. Even the Capital’s masses have refrained from being highly critical of Shiela Dikshit, whose soft and grandmotherly approach has evoked greater sympathy than remorse. Vajpayee has, therefore, underlined the need for a change of guard in Delhi as he believes it is always better for giving an added impetus to developmental
endeavours.
Indians in US Indians accounted for the largest number of foreign students in the US. Out of a total of 586,323 foreign students in America, Indians accounted for 74,603 representing 13 per cent of the international students. China came second with 64,757 students in the current academic year, according to a report of the Institute of International Education in Washington. The report drew pointed attention to the significant decrease of students in American universities from West Asian countries in the wake of 9/11. Despite the problem of processing student visas, the US remains the premier destination for foreign students. Contributed by T.R. Ramachandran, Rajeev Sharma and Gaurav
Choudhry. |
May earth be free from disturbances, may the atmosphere be calm, let the earth be peaceful, may the persons be peaceful, let us all be gracious. — Ath. Veda Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this Divinity within, by controlling nature, external and internal. Do this either by work, or worship, or psychic control, or philosophy — by one or more or all of these — and be free. This is the whole of religion. Doctrines, or dogmas, or rituals, or books, or temples, or forms, are but secondary details. — Swami Vivekananda All knowledge, unrelated to God, is vain (so far as the ultimate good of man is concerned), O brother! — Guru Nanak The Upanishads sing the great glory of the Self frequently, and repeatedly exhort man to give up vain talk and realise the Self for it is the bridge of immortality. By realising it, one goes beyond all sorrow and attains infinite bliss. — Shri Adi Shankaracharya  |
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