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Via Bathinda ‘No’
to Mewat district |
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Fencing
B’desh border It must be accompanied by diplomatic initiatives The Cabinet Committee on Security, which discussed the Bangladesh factor in the Northeast on Wednesday, informed the nation that the fencing work on the eastern border will be over by March 2006, as scheduled.
by H.K. Dua
Ending justice!
85th Amendment on
promotions Defence
notes
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Via Bathinda The North in general and Punjab in particular is woefully short of large industry. A mega project can change the face of the state, which happens to be hamstrung by stagnation in agricultural growth. Under such a situation, the far-flung high-risk border state should be making all attempts to grab a prestigious industry like the Bathinda oil refinery by offering the most attractive incentive package. But in actual practice, quite the opposite is true. The project is being treated as some kind of a hot potato. Statistics are being bandied about that if Punjab abides by the financial package granted by the previous Akali-BJP government, the state will lose hundreds of crores every year (the figure varies from Rs 600 crore to more than twice as much). What actually matters is that Punjab needs the refinery, and badly so. It is one thing to strike a hard bargain but quite another to let a gift horse run away. An exasperated Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) has threatened to shift the refinery to Rajasthan if the Punjab Government failed to fulfil its promise of extending sales tax exemption and other concessions. What all concerned must appreciate is that the delay in the setting up of the refinery is a loss for the entire northern region. What should not be lost sight of is the fact that the establishment of such a huge industry at any place brings about a sea change in the economy of the entire area. The project itself may not generate too many employment avenues for the local populace but ancillary units more than compensate for that. The value of this employment generation must be taken into account while calculating the supposed loss that the state will suffer if it offers the tax exemptions. In any case, it is only notional considering that VAT is going to be in place soon enough. All parties should desist from sticking to their high horses and discuss the whole issue dispassionately. Only if they think out of the box can they reach an amicable solution. And letting the refinery slip out of the hands of Punjab is no solution at all. |
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‘No’ to Mewat district It is indeed surprising how the Haryana government went ahead with its proposal of creating the district of Satyamev Puram in Mewat, despite an explicit ban on the creation of new administrative units by the Delimitation Commission. In view of the ongoing delimitation work of both the Assembly and the Lok Sabha constituencies in the state, the commission had asked the state Chief Secretary not to create a new district and instead keep it in abeyance until the completion of the work. In fact, the Delimitation Commission is a high-power body set up by an Act of Parliament. Its directive, which has the force of law and cannot be called in question before any court, has not singled out Haryana alone. It has directed all the states to defer their plans to help complete the delimitation work. It has also turned down similar requests from Bihar, Uttaranchal and Jharkhand governments. Consequently, having due regard to the directive of the commission, Chief Minister Om Parkash Chautala should have refrained himself from announcing the new district on October 2. Clearly, Mr Chautala acted with an eye on the ensuing elections to the State Assembly. This makes the entire exercise of the government suspect, because the creation of new districts, without valid and justifiable reasons, is a drain on the exchequer. The Mewat region may have remained backward for years, but how would a district tag help resolve its problems? On the contrary, the government should launch suitable socio-economic programmes in the neglected region, if necessary, through special assistance from the Centre. If a district is very large, its bifurcation may be justified, but not in the case of small districts which will bleed the state with more bureaucracy, more staff, more offices, more vehicles and more overhead costs. Also, small districts will not be economically viable because of their small size and the lack of an economic base. Capacity constraints at the local level will also be exacerbated as the “mother” districts from which the new district is carved out have major capacity constraints. In any case, the Haryana government should heed the directive of the Delimitation Commission and restore status quo ante. |
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Fencing B’desh border The Cabinet Committee on Security, which discussed the Bangladesh factor in the Northeast on Wednesday, informed the nation that the fencing work on the eastern border will be over by March 2006, as scheduled. This means that after one and a half years Bangladesh will not be able to play the dirty role in the manner it has been doing so far. Should India wait that long? In any case, the fencing will cover only 3286 km of the total 4096 km border with Bangladesh, leaving more than 1000 km still open. Obviously, the entire length cannot be fenced because of various problems. This shows that the country should not depend on fencing alone for eliminating the Bangladesh factor from the Northeast. The truth is that no country can prevent infiltration by simply erecting physical barriers, thought these have become unavoidable in these times of cross-border terrorism. India’s own experience on the western border, with Pakistan, provides proof that terrorists or saboteurs cannot be stopped on their tracks if the neighbouring country refuses to cooperate. This is, however, not to say that fencing along the Bangladesh border should be abandoned. That will amount to accepting the Bangladesh viewpoint which has been opposing fencing. The point that needs to be stressed is that India needs to do more on the diplomatic front to convince Bangladesh that it should not lose New Delhi’s goodwill and ignore Indian interests. Negative politics and attitude do not help beyond a point. Greater economic cooperation can help improve relations between the two neighbours. New Delhi can facilitate the growth of exports from Bangladesh, as sought by the other side, but only when Dhaka stops providing sanctuary to the Northeast insurgents. India has been studying certain investment projects for Bangladesh, besides Rs 100 crore aid for its railways, which may get delayed under the prevailing circumstances. Tatas signing an MoU with Bangladesh for investing a sizeable sum in one of its industrial projects is a step in the right direction. |
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Do not wait for leaders. Do it alone, person to person. — Mother Teresa |
The growing cancer For
nearly two centuries and a half India in its own ways has been contributing to richness of the English language. Over 7,000 words in the Oxford English Dictionary have been borrowed from Indian languages. From
"dal" to "dhanshak", and "shanti" to
"dharma" are Indian gifts to English. Not all the other words which have found their way into English leave a good taste in the mouth or give the exact flavour of Indian ethos and culture. One word which has lately got entry into the Oxford Dictionary is "hawala". It describes only one form of corruption and it helps those who know how to launder money without the help of lawful banking channels where incomes face disclosure and taxes become payable — a prospect many people don't relish. "Hawala" is in common use in Mumbai, both in technique and language. The Great Hawala Scam hit the headlines and reached the Supreme Court during the times of Mr P.V. Narasimha Rao's government in the early 1990s. It's still in usage in the nation's commercial capital. Also, there are varied other forms of corruption in the country all having a pervasive influence on life, culture, mind, economy and politics. Not only corruption — like cancer —has spread far and wide in the country, the malignancy has gone too deep for anyone to find an easy cure for it. While the problem is increasingly becoming more serious affecting the daily life of the people, and distorting the politics and the economy, it is a pity not much is being done to tackle it. Corruption is bad for the country in many ways and makes the survival of democracy uncertain. It benefits those who can simply find their way through, at the same time denying others their rightful due. What is worse is that it is being accepted as a way of life by most people who benefit from it and with a spirit of resignation by others who have no choice but to live with it. More than the growth of corruption, what is dangerous is the general attitude of the people. Rather than the country choosing to cleanse itself, it is growingly becoming permissive and tolerant of corruption. The widespread indifference of the people is becoming deleterious with only a few wanting to put up a fight against it. For the common man the administration is distant and callous, the better-off people and busybodies find it most often obliging and cooperative. For the elected representatives who once in five years knock at your door corruption is no longer an issue. The judicial process is too dilatory and costly for the people to continue having faith in the "kachehri". Corruption has become only a subject for academic discussion at seminars and workshops with only a few ready to take on the corrupt. Some NGOs are doing good work by fighting for the Freedom of Information in some pockets of the country and there are others who are promoting the use of IT to make governance more transparent. The well-meaning effort is dispersed and doesn't touch the core of the problem. The fact is there is no widespread revulsion against corruption being wantonly indulged in by the politicians, bureaucrats — many of whom willy-nilly collaborate with the politicians — and the ways of the lower judiciary. "What can be done, after all"; "Nothing will happen, you know"; "Everyone is corrupt", — such lazy drawing room comments reflect the general mood. The people in general seem to have thrown up their hands. Apathy and disillusionment of the people are risky for the people themselves. The smart alecs, who have greater energy and resources, will continue making hay at their cost. Often it is a frustrating experience for a citizen whenever he or she comes into contact with the administration — it can be while getting an electricity and water connection, making payment of municipal taxes, or when getting a copy of record of your own land from the village patwari, or even when getting a railway reservation. The police, public works departments in most States, excise and income-tax departments, or those who decide official postings and transfers should not be enjoying the reputations they have come to acquire. The list is only illustrative and doesn't give the extent to which a citizen is being denied his or her rightful due as a matter of right. Where can the common man, particularly the poor who suffers the most because of corruption, should go when the administration is distant and indifferent — the Municipal Councillor? the MLA? The Member of Parliament? If you are rich or a local tough, they will come rushing to your house, if nothing else than to seek your help for winning the next election. If you are not, they can't be reached when needed. There have been scores of committees to find a remedy for corruption and lots of administrative reforms have been recommended since Independence, but these haven't brought relief to the people. On the contrary, corruption has grown. Not that the people haven't developed a deep dislike for the corrupt and their ways. They are, however, too resigned or find themselves too weak to fight the corrupt and the system that is allowing them to flourish. Also, the people are still hoping that the rulers will deliver them from corruption one day. This appears to be a false hope. Exceptions apart, many politicians in India have become parasites who are feeding themselves at the cost of the people. To expect a solution from those who are the cause of the problem is a wasteful exercise. Corruption at the lower rungs of the administration — despite its widespread and coercive influence on the daily lives of the people, particularly the poor — cannot be eradicated unless it is tackled at the higher levels of the state apparatus, and the political leadership which certainly lacks will. A major hurdle is that considerable political landscape has already been captured by businessmen, middlemen, contractors, liquor barons, and fixers of all sorts who have developed a strong nexus with the politicians in most states. It is such people who give money to the politicians for fighting elections and then encash their investment on them for protection and freedom to prosper at the cost of the rest of society. Enter criminals! They too have joined in to share the loot — and lately, political power. The politicians in many states take the help of the local thugs to win elections without realising that no free lunch is offered by anyone anywhere in the world, certainly not the mafia. Now the criminals themselves have chosen to enter politics, Legislative Assemblies in the process gained more clout and a share of political power. A chunk of seats in the Legislative Assemblies in Bihar and UP, and many other States have already been captured by people who have a history of crime to adorn their CVs. Lately, men with criminal background have landed in the sacred precincts of Parliament to get greater advantage. Businessmen and criminals have acquired enough blackmail power on the politicians of practically every political hue to influence their decisions. For the people to go on expecting that they will liberate them from corruption would be naiveté and living in a make-believe world. The remedy for corruption has to come from honest citizens who have to shut the door against the corrupt and the criminal and the political parties who harbour them. This will require considerable courage and may be some sacrifice in personal terms. The effort will be worth it — for the survival of democracy in the country and good of
all. |
Ending justice! The
panchayat members took their bath, wore new kurtas and pyjamas, and came to the Big Tree. They bowed reverently, and took their seats under it. An able, dashing official was assisting them. Earlier, they had settled ticklish cases concerning a woman who married again, not knowing her first hubby was alive; and a couple who had married into the same gotra. No wonder they were smiling proudly now. “Janaab,” the officer began, “the first case. This man violated the two-child norm. He is disqualified from continuing as municipality member. He heard our reputation and has come for guidance.” “Simple,” beamed an elderly member, “let him disown the extra child by declaring it illegitimate. Let his wife also support ! Alternatively, let them first declare they are no longer man and wife. Then , on an auspicious day fixed by our poojari they should tie rakhi and become brother and sister. The status of those children will change automatically.” Cheers and claps from the gathering greeted the solution . “Janaab, they should do it in your auspicious presence,” suggested the dashing officer and picked up the next two cases. “ This man married outside the caste against villagers’ wishes. And , that woman standing there entered love-marriage against her uncles’ wishes. She was promised in marriage, when she was five years old, to that bulky gentleman who has come to claim her now.” “Bhai, the caste case is easy. Order him to marry four times again — but women from his own caste only. That will cure his desire to marry at any cost!” “But sir, the law may not permit it,” ventured the official feebly , less dashingly. “Shut up. Bakhwas. Our panchayat laws are divine, received in dreams monthly, after periods of abstinence. Much higher than your angrejwallah things.” “The next case thoda complicated hai, bhai,” continued the mukhia, “but promises must be kept. And, this modern disease love should be cured. Why did the bulky gentleman delay his claim? Ask him to come here every year, marry her according to our customs, take her away for six months. She can spend the other six months with the love-wallah. She must also do Draupadi-pooja every day.” “One last case, sir,” the bureaucrat cleared his choked voice . “That fellow there molested a woman.” “Tit for tat,” announced the members unanimously, “she should reciprocate on full-moon days for six months…” The dashing official, at his wits’ end , dashed off to an undisclosable destination… |
85th Amendment on promotions “Practical difficulties could come in the way of implementation of this amendment, which was aimed at negating the judgements of the Supreme Court on the issue of speedy promotions of Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) officials,” says an expert. The 85th Amendment has been the subject matter of discussion in various legal and political circles as its implementation would have far-reaching effect on the rights of government employees. The Amendment says that in Article 16 of the Constitution, in clause (4A), for the words “in matters of promotion to any class”, the words “in matters of promotion, with consequential seniority, to any class” shall be substituted. The Amendment was deemed to have come into force retrospectively on June 17, 1995. The statements of government functionaries that the amendment would be implemented soon were perhaps more due to the by-elections to the vacant Assembly seats in Punjab, particularly Garhshankar, a reserved seat, than anything else. Incidentally, Capt Amarinder Singh recently told mediapersons that he had cleared the file to implement 85th constitutional amendment that would give breathing space to reserved categories in promotion. However, the real test, experts say, will be at the time of its implementation. Notes Punjab and Haryana High Court Advocate Gurminder Singh: “The
Supreme Court in its various judgements has said that a person who got a promotion to a higher post by virtue of a roster point would not continue to get that benefit at every stage of his career. This means that a SC/ST employee who is promoted to the next level before the general category officer would become junior to the general category officer as and when the latter is promoted to that higher post.” Experts say that the 85th Amendment is an enabling provision has to be cleared by the Cabinet before it can be implemented. The Constitution allows special provisions to facilitate proper recruitment of SC and ST candidates with a view to giving them due representation in government services. While enacting such provisions or framing policies for reservations, the State has to take into consideration the legality and validity of the Reservation, extent of such reservation and at what step the reservation is to be given. Experts say that there are two stages at which the reservation becomes materially important. First is the initial stage of recruitment and second the promotion to the higher post within the service. The implementation of such an enactment is likely to cause heart-burning among the general categories due to lack of jobs, abolishing of posts, etc, say experts. Such enactments are made in order to balance the rights of the general and reserved categories. “But, even the Supreme Court has held that affirmative action stops where reverse discrimination begins. For example, while it is okay to give some benefit by way of reservation to the weaker sections of society in jobs, etc, the same benefit cannot be discriminatory to the other sections,” says an expert. In many cases, the Apex Court has been seized of the issue of reservation and its beneficiaries. Questions like what would be the right of the persons recruited in reserved category to the promoted posts, can such a candidate, in case he has been promoted on roster point, be given accelerated promotion on the next point, etc, have arisen before the SC in some cases. The reserved candidate, who gets promotion due to roster point, is already being given an accelerated promotion. In Jagdish Lal versus the State of Haryana, the Supreme Court held that seniority had to be on the basis of continuous officiation on the post. However, in Ajit Singh versus the State of Punjab, the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court held that the principle of continuous officiation would not apply to promotions made on the basis of roster. In the same case, the court held that seniority in the feeder cadre would be restored when the person of general category catches up with the person who has got out-of-turn promotion to the next post. Article 16 has already been amended many times in the past. When the Supreme Court, in Indira Sawhney’s case, held that the total reservations cannot exceed 50 per cent in a given year, Clause 4 (B) of Article 16 was added, which says that carry-forward vacancies will not count while calculating this 50 per cent limit. The issue of implementation of 85th Amendment will certainly result in some problems for the Punjab Government. A lawyer notes that implementation of the 85th Amendment will not be a smooth affair for the Congress Government as the general category officers will resist it tooth-and-nail. On March 16 this year, during a session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh could not inform the House what technical problems had stalled the implementation of the 85th Constitutional Amendment. In response to a question on why the Amendment had not been implemented, Capt Amarinder Singh said that the Punjab Cabinet had cleared it and authorised him to implement it. “However, it could not be implemented because of some technical problems,” he stated, while reiterating his government’s commitment to the Amendment. However, despite repeated queries as to what those technical problems were, the Chief Minister did not respond. |
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Defence notes In an apparent bid to bring in more transparency in arms purchases, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is said to have suggested country’s watchdog organisations like the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) be involved directly in the arms procurement board rather than they going through the papers later. Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee had recently said that he would also go by the suggestion of the Prime Minister and
institutionalise arrangements by bringing in bodies like the CAG and the CVC to vet proposed procurement. This, however, is still a proposal and further steps are yet to be taken in this regard. Incidentally, the government is in the process of reconstituting these Procurement Boards to make the process more transparent and speedy to cut the red-tape in arms deals. The earlier NDA government had brought in a new system of procurement on the recommendations of the committee which went into the Kargil conflict, which were approved by the Group of Ministers. Under the system, a four-tier organisation came into being with a Defence Acquisition Council headed by the Defence Minister on top of the pyramid of three services and Ministry’s Procurement Boards.
Disability no bar Mr Navin Gulia is an ex Gentleman Cadet, who had to leave the Indian Military Academy due to a fall during training which left him hundred per cent disabled and 90 per cent paralysed. The brave 31-year-old did not let his disability hinder him from intellectual and adventure pursuits. After the unfortunate incident Navin, who is wheelchair bound, worked hard to overcome his disability while simultaneously honing his academic skills. He completed his post-graduation in computers and then first taught computers for two years and then later mathematics for three years. Undaunted by his medical handicap, he took to adventure activity also. Recently, after being flagged off from India Gate, he covered a distance of 1200 km in a specially modified Tata Safari car, passing through seven of the world’s highest passes, including Marsimik La in Ladakh (height of 18632 feet). The journey, completed in 60 hours, has been recognised by the Limca Book of Records.
NCC, Cancer Care join hands The NCC and Cancer Care India have joined hands to fight cancer by training young cadets to create awareness about various dimensions of the killer disease. For this purpose the Cancer Care also organised a special seminar and workshop at the Thal Sainik Camp, at the Delhi Cantt where the young cadets interacted with the experts in the field. After undergoing training at the camp the cadets will educate others and spread the awareness about the prevention, detection and treatment of the disease. Incidentally, over the past several months the Cancer Care and the NCC have jointly conducted 11 cancer awareness programmes at various places in the country. Leading oncologists of the country have also shown tremendous response to the seminars and workshops being organised by the NCC and the Cancer Care. |
The year and the day of my wedding is fixed. Come my mates, pour oil on the threshold and bless me that I may attain union with my Lord. — Guru Nanak No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon. —
Jesus Christ While there was the darkness of ignorance, I saw the whole universe as a reality. But when the sun of knowledge has risen, I see nothing at all. This is wonderful indeed! — Sri Adi Sankaracharya |
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