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To the polls Speaker’s anguish |
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Reality bytes Teach youngsters to act responsibly WHEN cyber space and reality collide, it is the real world that dominates, as the individuals allegedly involved in the making, transmission and selling of an explicit video-clip of two Delhi school students have found out.
Pugwash initiative on Kashmir
(In)security check
Gambling on guaranteed employment Chatterati
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To the polls THE election dates have such a profound bearing on the itineraries of leaders these days that the sudden announcement of the schedule for Haryana, Bihar and Jharkhand by the Chief Election Commissioner has thrown the best-laid plans of politicians out of gear. Such a veil of secrecy was maintained that nobody was certain of the likely dates even 24 hours before the actual announcement. Such shock tactics is unavoidable considering that self-serving leaders open the strings of their Santa Claus bags at the last minute to ensure that they can garner maximum benefit out of the contrived benevolence. Parties and leaders in power will now, hopefully, be less successful in wooing the voters through a brazen misuse of public money. To that extent the surprise element is justified. It is another matter that this will also hamper the holding of even genuine development work, considering that the model code of conduct will now come into operation and the election process is to continue for a long time. Needless to say, a fair and violence-free conduct of elections is absolutely essential because in today’s situation, even one wrongly elected MLA is capable of tilting the balance greatly. Both Jharkhand and Bihar areas have a history of rigged elections, although this is the first time that Assembly elections are being held in the former since it was declared a State in 2000. Perhaps that is the reason why the Election Commission has thought it fit to deploy double the forces than were on duty during the general election in April-May this year. It is indeed unfortunate that the impartiality of elections depends on how many security personnel can be spared for the elections but that is how things are and the only way to curb the professional trouble makers is through the use of force. Despite this difficulty, the holding of elections in three phases in Bihar and Jharkhand – on February 3, 15 and 23 – stretches things a little too far. Is it really unavoidable to take 12 and eight days to shift forces from one constituency to another? This might have been understandable in a general election but when only three states are going to the polls, surely the Election Commission can make quicker arrangements. The present schedule will entail a long wait of 24 days between polling and counting of votes in Haryana and some constituencies of Jharkhand and Bihar. That is anything but ideal. |
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Speaker’s anguish THE Speaker of the Lok Sabha enjoys a unique position in the country. He is the custodian of the House and has the onerous responsibility of ensuring that its work is carried on smoothly. With so many members representing so many parties and viewpoints, it may not always be possible for the Speaker to satisfy everyone. That is why only people of eminence who can rise above party considerations are chosen for this august office. The House is privileged to have one of the best parliamentarians as its Speaker. True to expectations, Mr Somnath Chatterjee has been discharging his responsibilities to the best of his ability and satisfaction of the members. It, therefore, came as a surprise that he was forced to make an offer to quit. He took this step when he found that the members were not listening to him. The problem arose over Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav’s absence in the House when it met after the train accident in Punjab. Ideally, he should have been in the House to answer questions from the members. Instead, he chose to address a meeting of his party in Patna on that day. However, the Opposition has not crowned itself with glory when it refused to hear any explanation from any other minister. It should have known that the government is collectively responsible to the House. As such, any minister is competent to answer any question concerning the government. But what agitated the Speaker was the charge that he was dictatorial to the members. There is little doubt that Mr Chatterjee is one of the most democratic persons in the House. Little surprise, he felt injured when the Opposition flung that charge at him. He would rather quit than put up with such low-level accusations. Former Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee has, subsequently, expressed his party’s full confidence in Mr Chatterjee’s stewardship of the House. He would do well to remind his party members not to create situations which do not allow Parliament to carry on its business. Mr Chatterjee has asked a pertinent question: what will the people of the country think if the MPs cannot conduct themselves in a disciplined manner in the House? One can only hope that the members would maintain the decorum of the House and not create unmanageable situations. |
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Reality bytes WHEN cyber space and reality collide, it is the real world that dominates, as the individuals allegedly involved in the making, transmission and selling of an explicit video-clip of two Delhi school students have found out. The month-old case has led to the arrest of the CEO of Baazee.com, an online portal, for investigations into the clip’s sale. An IIT-student has also been held, and the boy who started it all is also under investigation. The clip was made with a MMS-equipped cell phone and it was transmitted through similar mobiles and computers. The IIT student who allegedly put it for sale on the portal got it through the local area network of his institute. It is tempting to blame high-technology for the crime. However, the same hi-tech tools allowed the long arm of the law to trace and catch those involved in the affair. The individuals concerned have violated the law, and they must face the consequences. Often, users feel that what comes in cyberspace is ethereal and cannot be traced, which gives them a false sense of security and anonymity. However, every computer transaction or a mobile call/message can be traced back, if the police need to have it done for investigations. The mask of anonymity often tempts individuals to leap from misdemeanours to crimes, and the latest case will surely serve as a deterrent. Lack of proper guidance and an attitudinal change among teenagers is a major factor in the increasing rise of promiscuity and consequent rise in the spread of sexually explicit material. Hi-tech gadgets aid such behaviour. Everyone affected by the case has been scarred, and it could have been avoided had there been better supervision by parents and teachers, who also share the blame to a certain extent. The moral of the story: individuals should behave in virtual space as they would in real life. |
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The only reward of virtue is virtue; the only way to have a friend is to be one. — Ralph Waldo Emerson |
Pugwash initiative on Kashmir
Pugwash, a US-based think tank, organised an intra-Kashmir dialogue between leaders of the Indian and Pakistani parts of the state “to resolve the Kashmir issue” at Kathmandu. There were around 60 participants including not only politicians, academicians and journalists but also former generals and diplomats of India and Pakistan. Personal-level contacts and dialogue are certainly a better substitute for violence. To the extent the Kathmandu conference creates an atmosphere for peace and amity between the two countries, it should be welcome as should all other avenues of people-to-people contacts and track II diplomacy. But if it creates expectations, as claimed by the organisers, that it would seek a solution of the problem, and if these expectations are not fulfilled, the backlash cannot be ruled out. As none of the participants had authority on behalf of the people or the government, they did not deviate from their formal positions. But an opportunity to know, first hand, the views of the other side might be a gain. If it were a meeting of intellectuals and experts, they could exchange their knowledge and views and even prepare a roadmap for various stages that have to be covered before a final solution is attempted. But if politicians also join them, it is difficult to avoid a controversy over their representative character. Senior leaders of some of the parties, though invited, choose not go to Kathmandu. They included Syed Ali Shah Gilani, Mr Yasin Malik, Mr Mehbooba Mufti, Mirwaiz Omar Farooq and Mr Yusuf Tarigami. No representative of the Congress party, the Ladakh region and the Gujar and Pahari communities was invited. Would any concrete decision of the conference — apart from pious sentiments of mutual goodwill — be acceptable to these absentees? It would be far better to persuade the two governments to allow leaders and people on both sides of the LoC to visit the other side, interact with the persons of their choice and be acquainted with the realities on the ground, subject, of course , to the security concerns of the two governments. On return, they can discuss their impressions with their colleagues and, if they like, with their governments. Again, this will not, in itself, obviate the necessity of internal dialogue. No two parties in the Kashmir valley, at present, are on speaking terms with each other. The Hurriyat, which at one time claimed and was recognised by the international media and foreign governments as the sole representative of the people of the entire state, or the separatist camp, is split in at least four parts. The relations between what are called the mainstream parties — the ruling PDP and the main opposition group, the National Conference — are no better. Much more serious damage that an international conference like that in Kathmandu does to the cause of finding a solution of the Kashmir issue is to the internal coherence of the state. As external relations of the state become paramount, regions and communities will have a tendency to be pulled in divergent directions. Unless internal harmony between the aspirations and interests of all the diversities which the state is endowed with is restored, it cannot aspire for a stable and satisfactory status. The only other alternative is to split the state, which inevitably would tend to be on religious lines. No wonder, most of the US-based think tanks come out with such simplistic solutions. Can the state, India and the subcontinent afford another division on religious lines? If not, internal reconciliation must precede any discussion on the external status of the state. I had, therefore, invited the Hurriyat conference when it was formed in 1994 for a dialogue on inter-regional relations irrespective of the stand of the participants on the external status of the state. It was necessary not only to seek a final solution of the problem but also for internal peace and good governance. We need not postpone, I argued, all our internal problems till the final solution. I did get a response but after two years. When Dr Farooq Abdullah had formed his government and the Hurriyat had its first split after Mr Shabir Shah was expelled. But the Hurriyat would not sit with any representative of Dr Abdullah or Mr Shah. Any solution — merger with Pakistan, independence, the status quo or autonomy for the state — in the absence of systemic changes in the present over-centralised state which has in-built provisions for regional tensions would be wrecked and further accentuate internal tensions and divisions. The Delhi Agreement on the autonomy of the state in 1952, with overwhelming popular support of the people of the Kashmir valley, it may be recalled, was wrecked, not by the Government of India, but by massive opposition to it by the people of Jammu. They were afraid that more autonomy to the state would increase the capacity of Kashmiri leaders to dominate over them. In 1952, my suggestion for regional autonomy to ensure credible safeguards was accepted by Nehru and Abdullah. But somehow it was never implemented. Again, the J&K People’s Convention, convened by Sheikh Abdullah in 1968 and attended by each and every section of the Kashmir valley, adopted a resolution to seek a solution of the problem keeping in view the interest of all the regions. It offered to settle the terms with either of the two governments that would implement a five-tier constitution of the state, which defined the distribution of powers at the state, regional, district, block and panchayat levels. If a dialogue is started and a consensus is reached within the Indian part of the state on the basis of the 1952 commitment of Nehru and Sheikh Abdullah and of the People’s Convention, or any modification thereof, it would be easier to initiate a dialogue on the external status of the state with leaders across the LoC and the governments of the two countries. For, there would be better appreciation of the aspirations of people by each community and region. |
(In)security check IT happens when you are too conscious of anything. Perhaps, this became the cause for my getting jolted for a few minutes at Singapore airport recently. It was not because I had with me anything objectionable so far as the security aspect of air travel is concerned. Also, I had always thought of me as one who could never pose a threat to security. Those who can rarely get scared even when they are face to face with adversity. It did not occur to me at that moment of trial that the man doing his duty honestly at the final point after which passengers are free to board a plane could not function successfully unless he dealt with everybody scrupulously. Anyway, I was taken aback when the security man did not feel satisfied after he had frisked me. He was right. He asked for a repeat performance. He was guided by the instrument he had in his hand. The instrument indicated that I had with me something dangerous from the security point of view. The security man asked me to look into the pockets of the clothes I was wearing. I did it again and again, but there was no end to my trauma. He too gave the impression of feeling embarrassed at my plight. But he could not take the risk. Strange thoughts came to my mind during that moment of agony. “Now I may be asked to take off my clothes. If they could do it in the US to Mr George Fernandes when he was India’s Defence Minister, what prevents Singapore to make me, a nobody, to have a similar experience. After all, the city-state has the reputation of being strict in allowing its laws to take their own course.” I got scared. I implored God to help me out of this “crisis”, but he too refused to listen to my plea immediately. Ultimately, the security man gave up and asked me to board the plane. He smiled at me, but I was too upset to respond in the same manner. I requested him to allow me to stand in a corner for a while and try to clear his doubts again. Now I was successful. A tiny key in a pocket of my trousers was the culprit. I felt greatly relieved. The security man and his colleagues too were happy with the short drama coming to an end to the satisfaction of all. All this reminded me of what I had seen outside a place of tourist attraction in Singapore. A snake-charmer was furiously playing his musical instrument as if to force reptiles to come out of a bag kept in front of him. But to the amusement of all those watching him, only a mouse was seen running away after his strenuous efforts.
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Gambling on guaranteed employment After a Cabinet clearance to the employment guarantee scheme last Wednesday, a Bill will be moved in the Lok Sabha on December 23. This being the last day of the winter session, Parliament will not be able to discuss it. The National Rural Employment Guarantee Bill is likely to be referred to a standing committee. Sceptics call it populism. “If the right to education has not put all children in school, will an employment guarantee ensure full employment”, they ask. Can jobs be created just by passing laws, wonder others. Where’s the money to come from? Does the project deserve such an amount when only 15 paise of a rupee allocated to a government scheme reaches the ultimate beneficiary? Some pro-market economists say a government should only facilitate a growth environment. Jobs follow growth. But this has not happened in China after two decades of reforms and growth. In India, National Sample Survey data indicates, job opportunities have shrunk while the economy is one of the fastest growing. Reform benefits have not percolated downwards. Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, a supporter of Maharashtra’s employment guarantee programme, says “employment by itself does not add to the productive capabilities of people. Education, healthcare as well as expansion of physical infrastructure are needed to enhance productivity”. He wants the Centre to ensure first how resources will be generated and what will be the burden on the states. First, the money part. The Prime Minister says the financial burden should not come in the way of “this visionary and far-reaching initiative”. Dr Manmohan Singh, an economist, is not known to make empty talk. He, hopefully, will arrange it. But how, he has not yet specified. Use banks’ NPAs and recover tax arrears to fund the scheme, suggests CPM leader Sitaram Yechury helpfully. The Left claims the pro-poor project to be its baby. Some 200 academics, artists, filmmakers and social activists signed a campaign in its support the other day for publicity and pressure. Another way to mop up funds is to widen the tax base. For years the tax revenue has not risen beyond 10 per cent of the GDP. Besides, corporate and other defaulters need to be caught in the net. Tax arrears running into crores are stuck in court cases. The money can be released by simplifying and sensitising the tax administration as the Kelkar committee has suggested. Also offered for consideration is the idea of squeezing defence expenditure. That may not be difficult with a sustainable peace environment building up. Then the non-merit subsidies can be pruned and targeted at those really deserving. The black money in circulation, estimated to be around 40 per cent of the GDP, can also be tapped. Some suggest the food-for-work route for job creation. Since foodgrains rot in FCI godowns or are dumped in foreign markets cheaply as cattle feed, why not give these to hungry workers and, in return, deploy them to conserve the environment, preserve and replenish underground water sources, besides building roads, bridges, schools, canals and hospitals? And save on the foodgrain storage costs as well! The impact on the economy will be tremendous. The country will not benefit just by upgrading physical infrastructure or having it where none exists, the release of such a massive amount in rural India will push demand for goods and services, leading to an industrial upsurge. If each household gets Rs 60 daily for 100 days as planned, 75 per cent of the household will come above the poverty line. This seems too good to be true. Hurdles are there. The toughest is the role of the states, most of them nearly bankrupt. A clause in the Bill says if an able-bodied rural poor asks for work and the government fails to employ him in a specified time limit, the state will have to pay one-third of the minimum agriculture wage to him. This will result in a drain on the states’ limited resources. West Bengal is the first to object to this part of the scheme. Other states ask for a central bailout. Lobbying has already begun among the ruling parties and politicians to bring maximum districts from their own states under the programme, though on paper it is the Planning Commission that has been asked to identify the poorest districts. The overall contribution of a state will be 10 per cent of the proposed expenditure. Each employed person will get Rs 60 a day, while Rs 40 will form the non-labour component, including the administrative charges. If the Maharashtra model is followed, the non-labour cost can be reduced from 40 per cent to 25 per cent, which means a substantial savings. As for the well-entrenched sharks surviving on welfare money released in the system, Dr Manmohan Singh hopes to counter them by involving the stake-holders, the panchayats and block-level bodies. The system leaks badly, no doubt. The Manmohan Singh government will have to carry out extensive repair work. More than anything else, the success or failure of this project will show whether reforms can have a “human face”, whether a government should create jobs through legislation and whether large resources should go into pro-poor schemes. Is it another “Garibi Hatao” gimmick? Will it take off or remain in files like the river inter-linking project? |
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Our humble farmers by Devi Cherian HOW many kisan netas we have cropping up with their "humble-farmer" background. First we had North Indians like Chaudhry Charan Singh, Devi Lal etc. Then came the humble farmer Deve Gowda, who was humbled by Sita Ram Kesari, who abruptly put an end to Gowda's Kisan Raj. Now Gowda has reinvented himself, revealing his lesser known side of civil engineering after he was accused by the Bangalore IT sector of being an obstacle to the state industrial growth. Necessity in Deve Gowda's case has proved to be the mother of reinvention. This dhotiwala now is showing off his engineering side to the industry. In the meantime, we have Ajit Singh, Sharad Pawar, who especially took the portfolio of agriculture, and now Sunil Shastri, all portraying themselves as new kisan netas. Netas and birthdays The common man in Delhi had a good dekho at marriages in the ruling party and now the public is being entertained at the birthday celebrations of the netas. First was Congress President Sonia Gandhi's B'day. As usual, each neta tried to outdo the other in expense and celebrations to show his loyalty. Cakes, flowers, cards, song and drama you name it. It was a spectacle worth watching. Remember Mr Vajpayees B'days. My God! They were celebrated with the same fervour and gusto. But the elegant B' day party was of Mr Sharad Pawar's dinner hosted by his colleague, Praful Patel. No song and drama. Elegant, warm and cozy. The Prime Minister, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, Shiv Raj Patil, Renuka Chaudhry were all at Praful's house for dinner. The Prime Minister tucked in a good amount of delicacies as his wife was not around and the food was irresistible. Shotgun is claiming how these new Bollywood guys came in when the BJP was the ruling party. He has not hankered for any post and is still faithful. Rahul Bajaj, Subhash Chandra, Naresh Goyal along with some old friends of Sharad's were present, Sharad's daughter Supriya with Praful's wife and three daughters made excellent hostess. Boys show talent If you thought female beauty contests are filled with well rehearsed clichés and trite pomposity then you should have witnessed the prelims of the Grasim Mr India 2005 contest. Enthusiastic teens and some twenty somethings boys strutted around trying to impress the jury with not-so-clever one lines, tattooed arms and attitude. Guess what! Dance was the most popular choice of talent. I wonder if these youngsters realised that what captivates a judge is not a pompous sounding youngster declaring I am the best, but who knows what he is saying. Hey! You know what! Most of them wanted to become "Mother Teresa". That established once and for all, these male Priyanka Chopras will go a long way in their chosen line of work. Need more proof? Most of them wanted to dance around trees in Bollywood. Now, for their general knowledge, which they all declared to have worked on. Who is our Finance Minister? Ummm! Is it Jaitley! Oh! Actually I am not in touch with politics and I am on a fast today for Lord Shiva. "Oh! God! Actually they all looked like poorly turned out clones of John Abraham and Salman Khan. |
The wise man knows that the earnestness is the most beautiful jewel in his crown. Hi happiness is not marred. It is the only jewel which grains in beauty with every passing day, where diamonds and rubies lose their gloss with every passing day. —The Buddhism Devotion to God is strengthened by love for all of His creations. This love is impartial and is to do the greatest good to the greatest number. —The Bhagvad Gita Brave and fearless must be the actions of the king. Quick and light be the movements of the king. Skilled and true must be the thrust and parry of his weapons. Then the watching subjects will be full of admiration and will adore him ever more. —The Mahabharata You cannot give to the outside what you do not have on the inside.... compassion and love have to grow from within. —Mother Teresa The quest of truth involves self-suffering, sometimes even unto death. —Mahatma Gandhi  |
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IT is an ambitious project — and hugely expensive. The aim is to provide 100 days employment to one member of a rural family below the poverty line in 150 districts in the first year, raising it annually to cover 600 districts by the fourth year. Four crore rural households are expected to benefit. The total cost: Rs 1,20,500 crore.