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AP’s missing
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Serialised sops
The camp follower
An IT university
with a difference Delhi
Durbar
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AP’s missing voters Reports
of large-scale deletion of names from the voters’ list in Andhra Pradesh are a cause for serious concern because the state is already in the election mode. As the State Assembly has been dissolved, Andhra Pradesh is likely to have simultaneous elections to both the Assembly and the Lok Sabha. Against this background, it is surprising how the names of as many as 93.4 lakh voters — which roughly accounts for 7 per cent of the electorate — have been deleted. Clearly, this is unprecedented in the annals of the country’s electoral history and needs to be probed thoroughly. The Election Commission should investigate the whole issue and try to set things right. It should also expand the scope of its investigation to all other states and Union Territories and enlighten the people about the current status of the electoral rolls and the steps it has taken to rectify the anomalies within a specific timeframe. One reason for the large-scale deletions in the electoral rolls in Andhra Pradesh is said to be the failure of the authorities to revise and update them for many years. As a result, bogus voters continue in the lists. Apparently, the second house-to-house search carried out in the state by the Election Commission following complaints of deletion and non-inclusion of names has failed to rectify the anomalies in the final voters’ list. The problem of faulty electoral rolls is not new. Similar complaints were made during the elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Delhi recently. The problem arises mainly because of the failure of the officials in making a proper and thorough verification of voters in each village. Equally responsible is the apathetic attitude of the voters themselves who do not report to the Election Commission in time about the change of address and the revision of electoral rolls accordingly. While free and fair elections are the sine qua non of a democracy, people’s faith in the system will get eroded if elections are not held in a transparent manner. It is, therefore, necessary for the Election Commission to resolve the problem of electoral rolls with a sense of urgency. |
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Coal crisis NOT just a few states but the entire country may face a serious power crisis if the critical shortage of coal at the thermal power stations does not end immediately. More than 40 per cent of the 75 power stations are on the verge of closure because of the shortage. According to Central Government’s guidelines, thermal stations far away from coal mines are required to maintain 30 days’ stock of coal. But 15 stations, many of them in the northern region, have stocks for less than three days. Since the stocks of less than 10 days put them in the critical list, their condition can only be called precarious. Things are that bad not only in the northern region but also in the eastern and western regions. It is hardly a consolation that the situation is comfortable in the southern region. If some stations get shut down, there will be a domino effect plunging large areas into darkness. All this is happening despite the fact that the Centre reviews the coal supply position on a weekly basis. The supply has not declined all of a sudden. The dispatch situation has been bad since April last but adequate corrective steps have not been taken. With Bharat Coking Coal Ltd and Eastern Coalfields Ltd having been declared sick, there is little hope of a dramatic improvement. Even import is not going to ease the immediate situation because the process will take several months. Even when the supply is normal, the quality of coal is so poor that no thermal power station is able to function properly. Internal problems in Coal India Ltd (CIL) have brought the situation to such a pass. Thermal power stations too cannot escape responsibility because many of them default on payment. The new Coal and Mines Minister, Ms Mamata Banerjee, has her task cut out for her. |
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Kalyan’s homecoming? POLITICS is said to be the art of the possible. So there is little surprise if today’s enemy becomes tomorrow’s friend. Who could have imagined when former UP Chief Minister Kalyan Singh was shown the door by the BJP, that he would be wooed by the same party four years later? That is precisely what has been happening ever since he met Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee in a blaze of publicity a few weeks ago. That he met the Prime Minister was in itself an event of great significance as few other political leaders have used abusive and intemperate language against Mr Vajpayee. What’s worse, he had even attempted to sabotage the Prime Minister’s electoral prospects in Lucknow. Small wonder that it was Mr Vajpayee who ensured his exit from the BJP. There is no doubt that the former Chief Minister’s ouster proved costly to the BJP. It is true that the Rashtriya Kranti Party, which he floated, did not set the Gomti on fire. But he disproved his critics, who thought that he had no political future outside of the BJP. Far from that, in the political uncertainty that prevailed in the State with no political party enjoying a clear majority, he found himself being wooed by all the major political players. He managed the situation so well that when Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav approached him for support, he could extract his pound of flesh. Today his controversial supporter Kusum Rai and a son are ministers in UP. For a person who remained Chief Minister and still nurses high ambitions, these are just lollipops. But he is also realistic enough to know that the RKP is unlikely to take him far. Mr Kalyan Singh needs a big party just as the BJP needs a known face that can galvanise the organisation. In all the by-elections held in the recent past, the BJP ended up at the third or the fourth position. It knows that many castes like the backward Lodhs, to which Mr Kalyan Singh belongs, have moved away from the party. Its prospects of winning the next election depends to a large extent on the number of seats it garners in UP. While this explains the BJP’s keenness to have him, it is not certain whether the party would entrust him with the state leadership. But then the former Chief Minister knows that the BJP wants to exploit his backward class base in UP. |
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In examinations those who do not wish to know ask questions of those — Walter Raleigh |
Serialised sops From
January 8 onwards, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh has announced numerous changes in tax rates and unveiled policy pronouncements that are together tantamount to a full-fledged Union Budget. Now everyone knows why he has made these announcements. After all, once the election process formally gets going, the Election Commission would enforce its model code of conduct and the government would be unable to display its generosity towards the electorate. To what extent the measures initiated by the Finance Minister would be welcomed by voters is not an easy question to answer. The ruling coalition evidently believes that these moves would enhance the much-talked-about feel-good factor that is supposed to be permeating through the minds of not just the middle-class, but the entire population of the country. The Opposition, however, argues that Mr Singh’s initiatives would have little or no impact on ordinary people who would discount these measures as pre-election gimmicks. Either way, few believe the Finance Minister when he claims that these “sops” — a term he clearly disagrees with —are nothing but policy changes that have been made after due deliberation and have nothing to do with the forthcoming general election. Mr Singh has said the steps he took were not “taken in a fit of amnesia” and were aimed at stepping up growth and stimulating investment. He added that certain decisions were in the nature of fulfilling commitments he had made in last year’s budget — for instance, the commitment to cut customs tariffs and increase the cap on foreign direct investment in private banks. The Finance Minister stated that the budget process should not be treated like a “mela” to be held for one day. It is one thing to argue that economic decision-making is an ongoing process and should not be confined to the last working day in February. Mr Singh would also be correct in contending that the importance of the budget day should be downgraded and reduced to what it is in many countries, namely, just an occasion when the government presents the nation’s balance-sheet: an account of what has been earned and what has been spent. The annual budget would thus be shorn of media hype and bereft of hectic consultations and weeks of expectation of changes in tax rates. This would perhaps not be such a bad thing for, in recent years, the presentation of the Union Budget has become a gala affair for the Finance Minister to build his personal brand equity by playing Santa Claus, doling out goodies to all and sundry. The weeks before the presentation of the budget proposals have been marked by hectic lobbying, with industry associations releasing advertisements in newspapers and chambers of commerce preparing long wish-lists. That’s not all. There is also a great deal of secrecy surrounding the budget that can easily be dispensed with. However, none of these considerations have mattered much this year as the simple fact that elections are round the corner. On the first day Mr Singh announced a host of changes in customs and excise duty rates, it was evident that only the well-to-do would stand to gain. The tax cuts were aimed at bringing down the prices of computers, digital video discs, video compact discs, cellular phones, imported liquor and, of course, inland air travel. He also liberalised baggage rules for imports under the transfer of residence scheme. The peak customs duty rate on non-agricultural products was cut by 5 per cent to 20 per cent, as were the rates on imported coal, power equipment and life-saving drugs. One particular announcement the Finance Minister left for the Prime Minister to make the next day at the inauguration of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas. Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee announced that the government would allow Indian corporate entities to undertake investments overseas up to 100 per cent of their net worth (against a ceiling of $ 100 million earlier). Indian corporates were also permitted to invest in agricultural activities outside the country. In addition, the government simplified rules for filing income tax returns, exempted pensioners from the one-by-six scheme for assessment of income tax and allowed the filing of electronic paperless returns for income tax and service tax. Useful as these initiatives may be, the fact remains that barely 3 per cent of the population of India pays income tax. Mr Singh clearly had to do something to ensure that a pro-rich tag was not stuck on him. The populist announcements came the following day, that is, on January 9. This time the focus was on the rural sector, on infrastructure development and helping small-scale industrial units. The Finance Minister announced three new loan schemes for these three segments of the economy, involving a stupendous outlay of as much as Rs 1,10,000 crore or more than 5 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product. As the three loan schemes entailed banks and financial institutions disbursing loans at rates of interest that are two percentage points lower than the prevailing prime lending rate, the total subsidy that the government would have to provide banks for this proposed biggest-ever loan mela would be in excess of Rs 2,000 crore. These schemes will not take off in a hurry and will take not less than three years to be fully implemented. But the government was eager to announce them merely to convey an impression that it was doing something for the infrastructure, for small entrepreneurs and, above all, for the rural masses. For example, Mr Singh pointed out that the housing boom fuelled by low interest rates had remained confined to urban areas. Whether or not the announcement of these grandiose loan schemes would influence voters, is unclear. Nevertheless, they were clearly made to project a picture of a government that is concerned about the welfare of the proverbial unwashed masses. Thus, on January 15, when the government announced that it was lifting the ceiling on foreign direct investment limits in the banking and petroleum industries, it also announced that it had approved a national policy on resettlement and rehabilitation of tribal families displaced by the construction of projects (a section being actively wooed by the ruling party) and would widen the health-care system. It further said it would start a new television channel and 96 new radio stations specifically for farmers. Though it is the prerogative of the executive to make changes in indirect taxes as and when it wants, the ethics of announcing fiscal measures and loan schemes involving an outgo of not less than Rs 10,000 crore a year from the public exchequer without going through Parliament are certainly questionable. More importantly, it is not certain if these “budgetary” proposals would result in the spread of the feel-good factor among those sections living below or on the margins of the poverty line — after all, these are the very sections of the electorate that cast their votes in larger numbers than their better-off counterparts. But those in the government seem to believe that its strategy may pay electoral dividends. |
The camp follower MY wife had reason to rejoice when she read about our Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes, being thoroughly frisked recently by the American airport security despite being told of his identity. If they did not spare our Defence Minister, who were we to complain about some harrowing time that we had gone through during our various visits? After every brush with the US airport staff, she would merely state: “How can they be that stupid?” She believed that we looked far too civilised — age had conferred that honour — to be any of the creed that they could be looking for. I told her time and again that their security did not go by extraneous factors like appearances, clothes, status etc but she remained unconvinced. She had another reason to be aggrieved. She felt that they never put me through as harsh a scrutiny as her. I tried to console her that between us, she looked more like the leader of the squad. We visit America virtually every year to be with our grandchildren. Every visit is a joy except for the security and immigration formalities. Our visit to Boston was a frightening experience. We were stopped and asked brusquely as to how many US dollars were we carrying? While we were trying to compute our meagre resources, a very young security/custom officer ordered us to move to a small windowless room and told us to put our hands on a table while he went through our hands baggage. My wife informed him, “my husband is a retired senior officer of the Indian Army and we had never been treated that shabbily on earlier visit.” He ignored that and after satisfying himself told us that we should know the exact amount of money that we possessed. It was futile to explain that $ 878 in various hidden pockets and purses were difficult to account for in a hurry. The next time was no better. We were put through the same kind of routine but without being taken to the isolated room. “Are you from the middle-east?” was the query. “No, from India,” my wife replied. “That is the same part of the world.” My wife wanted to educate him but I restrained her. This time a few oranges bought in London were the object of his scrutiny. It is ironic that it is the same airport from where the four
hijacked aircraft took off for the 9/11 mission. Our softest entry was a month after the 9/11 attack. There was virtually no security check at the New York airport. We thought that the Americans were too shellshocked. As we were about to leave the departure lounge, a puny dog with a small placard proclaiming “looking after the US agricultural interest” or something of the kind started sniffing at my wife’s hand bag. To cut a long story short
kaju ki burfi was confiscated as it was the same colour as anthrax. We have stopped being sensitive about the special treatment meted out to us. My wife, however, is still irked by the extra attention that she always gets. The last time an intimidating American examined each of her hair pins. She has finally begun to accept that she has the looks of a kamikaze leader. I, however, feel a bit depressed that I continue to appear as a follower in a special mission squad of two. |
An IT university with a difference Solan: It’s a university where one gets the feel of corporate culture at every step. What sets it apart from other professional institutes is the fact that the students here wear a uniform. Also, Jayprakash University of Information Technology functions without the support staff of peons and clerks. Discipline, team work and a sense of belonging to the institute are imbibed in its students, says the Vice-Chancellor, Dr Yajula Medury , an IIT professional from Kharagpur with a doctorate from the University of Wisconsin, USA. “As a preparation for their entry into the corporate sector, which the young students here aspire to join, an effort is made to enable them to get a feel of the demanding corporate world,” he asserts. Employees of corporates giants like Maruti Udyog and Infosys are distinctly recognised by their dress, which gives them a sense of pride for the organisation they represent. About students’ reaction, he says they have finally accepted it after some initial resistance. The absence of support staff like clerks and peons catches the attention of every outsider. It give the university the look of a corporate house-in-the-making. Everyone is computer savvy and able to accomplish one’s daily tasks. The Registrar of the university, Brig( retd) Balbir Singh, says, “ The system allows us to optimise our earnings by avoiding unnecessary expenditure”. This has disappointed local residents who had expected jobs from the university. The locals had surrendered their land for the setting up of this university. They had been banking on the government’s much-hyped 65 per cent job reservation for the locals in the industrial ventures in Himachal. The Registrar, painting an optimistic picture about employment, said the university would bring about an overall development of the region. Providing neither jobs nor adequate reservation for the Himachalis, the university is poised to serve the interests of only a select group of the elite, feel the residents. Spread over 25 acres at Rachiana village, near Waknaghat, the university became functional in July, 2002. Operating from make-shift offices, the Vice-Chancellor, the Registrar and other officials of the university are yet to settle down. The land which was initially earmarked for setting up IT-based industries was granted on a 99-year-lease to JP Industries on September 12, 2000. A sum of Rs 25,75,148 was deposited as the first instalment and the rest was to be paid in two equal instalments of Rs 77,25,445 with a token amount of Re 1 as rent for the remaining lease period. While this has stirred up a controversy with the present government blaming the previous BJP government for giving away the prime land for a song, a vigilance inquiry has been ordered to look into the matter. The manner in which the lease amount was calculated and the expenditure incurred on the construction of the approach road are all under a vigilance scanner now. The Vice-Chancellor praises the previous as well as the present government for extending them maximum cooperation in setting up and running this university. Their demand for getting university status right from day one was granted by a university Act through an extraordinary gazette notification on May 23, 2002. Inaugurated by the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, in October, 2002, the university is the third educational venture in the field of information technology of the Jaypee group of industries in the country. The other two are at Guna in Madhya Pradesh and Noida in Uttar Pradesh. The proposal to open IT universities was mooted by the Chairman of the group. The Vice-Chancellor says subjects like IT and its allied areas in the form of computer science, electronics, bio-informatics and biotechnology are emerging areas of international interest. With the country lacking trained manpower for handling prestigious projects like specialised highway constructions, tunneling, generation of electricity through tunneling, hydel and hydro power projects as well as flyovers and bridges, the university hopes to provide expertise in these fields. Technical expertise comes from Germany, Japan and the USA for handling such projects in India at present. Being in its nascent stage, the university has a phased construction plan spread over five years envisaging a total built-up area of over 500,000 sq.ft. A Canada-based architect group, Arcop Associates, has been entrusted with the designing aspect while the construction work has been undertaken with the group itself. The policy of reserving a mere 5 per cent seats for the Himachalis has drawn flak from student organisations across the state. The Registrar, however, justifies this saying the institute wants to have an all-India character, which will benefit the students. He adds that the number of students from Himachal has been increasing as a number of them has made it through the screening test. Having a highly qualified faculty, many of them from esteemed foreign universities, the institute tries to maintain high academic standards. Dr Ashok Subramanian, a doctorate from Stanford University, USA, Dean (academic and research), while expressing concern over the superficiality of information technology, says unless there is a support system to develop IT-based infrastructure for the uplift of the rural India, its utility remains restricted to the mere corporate world. While some efforts have been made in the southern part of the country to develop infrastructure for the rural masses with the help of IT, the concept is largely amiss in this part of the country, he observes. Areas like education, health care and agriculture, where the application of IT can bring glowing changes, have remained largely unexplored, he regrets. The university is faced with an acute shortage of water and efforts to exploit nearby natural sources have been stiffly opposed by the locals, who feel their ground water sources would dry up if the lifting of water is allowed. A proposal to provide 50,0000 litres of water per day to the locals with the construction of a tank has now been approved by the panchayat concerned and has been presented before the district administration for approval. This is slated to solve the problem of water, which has forced the university to shell out at least Rs 3 lakh per month for deploying water tankers on a daily basis. Another proposal to set up a stadium which is the prime requirement of a university is also being opposed by the villagers. The university has linkages with the University of California, the University of Frankfurt, Germany, and the Mapua Institute of
Technology, Manila. Students are continuously exposed to latest tools and techniques. A placement cell having linkages to the industry has been opened at Noida. A four-storeyed library is in the making. |
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Delhi Durbar With
the BJP and the Congress heading the two broad fronts in the political firmament, forging alliances in the most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, which contributes the maximum number of 81 seats to the Lok Sabha, is taking some queer twists and turns. Even as Mayawati’s BSP is waiting and watching, Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party appears resigned to going it alone in UP. The SP’s entreaties and warning to the Congress not to have a truck with the BSP has come unstuck, compelling its new-found Thakur leader Amar Singh to aver that they will support a secular, non-communal formation at the Centre in the post-poll scenario. At the same time, they find it inconceivable to be part of any arrangement which has the BSP in its ranks as the SP is enlarging its MYT (Muslim-Yadav-Thakur) vote bank. The BJP, on the other hand, has not shut any of the options in UP — be it the BSP or the SP. By way of posturing, some BJP leaders are talking of going it alone in UP, while a minuscule few at the top are not ruling out a subterranean understanding with the SP. In this context, these leaders point out that the significance of Mulayam Singh Yadav’s recent meeting with Vajpayee and L.K. Advani should not be undermined.
Priyanka and Rahul Even as Congress President Sonia Gandhi hit the campaign trail with a new-found zeal to strengthen ties with the party’s allies and forge new alliances, her children — Priyanka and Rahul — have once again raised hopes of entering the political arena and the election fray. While Priyanka is not new to Amethi, having returned to the constituency at frequent intervals, Rahul’s presence after an extended gap has drawn comments of being his father’s son. Some sections have even gone to the extent of suggesting that Rahul should contest from Amethi? Does this mean that Sonia Gandhi is losing her sheen in Amethi. Yet again speculation is rife that Priyanka might contest from Rae Bareli, which was represented by her grandmother.
New CEC Chief Election Commissioner-designate T.S. Krishna Murthy has sought to dispel apprehension that the multi-member Nirvachan Sadan is on a collision course with the BJP-led NDA government on the issue of holding early elections. Krishna Murthy succeeds Magasaysay Award winner James Michael Lyngdoh, whose term ends on February 7. Despite an element of unease for some time that an outsider might be directly installed as the CEC, the Vajpayee government, in keeping with the precedent, elevated the seniormost Election Commissioner, thus avoiding a controversy. Krishna Murthy’s first comments were that he would like to have cordial relations with the government and did not envisage problems in holding the general election at the earliest.
Media hiccups The leaders of the North-East People’s Forum, who came to the Capital to announce their support for the NDA, were not meticulous about their media planning. The leaders held their meeting when the media had landed in full strength at the Nagaland House, the office of the NEPF. Once the meeting was over, the leaders could not decide if the interaction with the media should be held inside or in the open. After the journalists had made five trips in and out, it was decided that the print guys could go inside while TV bytes will be given in the open. The meeting had the stamp of P.A. Sangma, not only in the way resolutions were adopted but also by the regard shown to him by the Chief Ministers present. Sangma had one answer to all the difficult questions — a big smile. Contributed by T.R. Ramachandran, Satish Misra and Prashant Sood.
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Whatever be the religion, language, custom, caste or dress of individuals, since they are all human beings, there can be no objection to their interdining or intermarrying. — Sree Narayana Guru A thousand-year long Buddhistic heritage could not be done away with. The good points in it, which are not contradictory to the Vedic doctrines, must be fused with the Vedic heritage, purifying and modifying both to suit the times. — Shri Adi Shankaracharya The fire of anger is fatal. — Guru Nanak Today varnashramadharma and Hinduism are misrepresented and denied by its votaries. The remedy is not destruction, but correction. Let us reproduce in ourselves the true Hindu spirit, and then ask whether it satisfies the soul or not. — Mahatma Gandhi Many think of God only after receiving blows from the world. But blessed indeed is he who can offer his mind, like a fresh flower, at the feet of the Lord from his very childhood. One should practise renunciation in youth. — Sarada Devi |
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