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Snub for Governor Revolt against Modi |
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Tackling cheating
Breaches in the dykes
Overseas adventures of a cop
Agenda for new Haryana govt Desperate to be housewives: women yearn for Delhi Durbar
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Snub for Governor WEDNESDAY’S Supreme Court ruling advancing the vote of confidence of the Shibu Soren government in Jharkhand from March 15 to 11 is apt and timely. Significantly, the three-member Bench consisting of Chief Justice R.C. Lahoti, Justice Y.K. Sabharwal and Justice D.M. Dharmadhikhari passed a series of orders. These include restraining Governor Syed Sibtey Razi from nominating an Anglo-Indian member to the Assembly (it would have given an edge to the Soren ministry); ensuring a smooth floor test by providing adequate security to all the members; and video-recording of the proceedings. Ever since Mr Razi’s questionable role in installing Mr Soren as Chief Minister on March 2, there had been reasonable apprehensions among various sections on the conduct of the crucial vote in the Assembly. The 20 days time given to Mr Soren to prove his majority was too long and thus reeked of blatant partisanship on the part of Mr Razi as it could have helped Mr Soren to engineer defections and cobble together a convenient majority. Amazingly, even after President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam’s intervention, Mr Razi advanced the floor test to March 15 with a questionable agenda like allotting two days for swearing in 81 MLAs, another day for the Governor’s address and two holidays before fixing the floor test on March 15! When questions were raised on the very legitimacy of the government because of a clearly dishonest action of the Governor, the agenda looked specious. Mr Razi’s continuation in office as the Governor has become untenable following the court’s observation that there was a strong prima facie case of mala fide against him and that it was issuing interim orders to prevent “a double fraud on the Constitution”. The uproar in Parliament on Thursday on the court’s directives to the Governor and the Pro-tem Speaker is understandable. Members voiced concern about the increasing interference of the judiciary in the sovereign domain of the legislatures. Ideally, the legislature, the executive and the judiciary should work within their limits. However, being the sentinel and final interpreter of the Constitution, the Supreme Court is duty-bound to protect it whenever a constitutional authority or functionary transgresses its constitutional limits. The court’s action on Wednesday is in tune with this cardinal principle and as such has served a healthy purpose. |
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Revolt against Modi THE rebellion in the Bharatiya Janata Party in Gujarat is not a sudden development. Rather, it was precipitated by the alleged incident of telephone tapping in which even party MLAs became victims. It is the first time since the BJP returned to power in 2002 that so many legislators – 35 according to a news agency report – have come out in the open against him. The figure can be higher. The rebels have gravitated towards former Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel, who has described the situation as a “mini Emergency”. Since the BJP has 126 MLAs and it enjoys two-thirds majority in the Assembly, Mr Narendra Modi is unlikely to be perturbed by the development. Whatever may be Mr Modi’s own comfort level, the rebellion shows that anti-Modi feelings have become strong among a section of the party legislators. They have spoken against the strong-arm methods used by him to enforce his writ on the party and the state. Telephone tapping is just one of the ways in which the Chief Minister wants to exercise his mafia-like control over the party legislators. If this allegation is indeed true, he has no right to continue in power even for a day. Politically, too, the Chief Minister has proved a liability for the party. It is true that Mr Modi was the architect of the BJP’s victory in the last Assembly elections. But then who does not know that he merely exploited the primordial passions of a large section of the voters in the wake of the Godhra massacre? However, his style of politics did not find favour with the electorate elsewhere in the country. This was apparent when he failed to click in Himachal Pradesh, where elections were held immediately after Gujarat. What’s worse, one of the main reasons why the BJP lost in state after state in the last Lok Sabha elections was the Opposition campaign against the Modi brand of Hindutva and politics. Thus, if any one person was responsible for the defeat of the BJP, it was Mr Narendra Modi. Obviously, this realisation has begun to dawn on the BJP legislators too and if steps are not taken to address this problem, he will cause greater damage to the party. The earlier the BJP led by Mr Lal Krishan Advani realises this, the better it will be for the state and the party. |
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Tackling cheating COME board examinations, reports of cheating in various centres in Punjab abound. Certain parents, local officials and teachers allegedly collude to cheat children of their education and future. Copying in examinations is age-old, but it cannot be condoned. It is distressing that the pressure that children face because of stiff competition is immense, but they have to be trained to deal with it without resorting to unfair means. Life is bound to throw up challenges that will force them to take hard decisions, and they have to be taught to make the right choices. The system has to be toned up to ensure better vigilance. The CBSE has ensured proper admission cards with signatures and photographs. Local administrations provide police and other personnel; flying squads have also been mobilised at various centres. However, cheating continues in certain centres, and every year there are thousands of such cases nationwide, though, thankfully, this year there have been no reports of examination papers being leaked. But the CBSE needs to look beyond better policing. The examination system itself has to be restructured and more stress laid on objective-type questions and answers. The open-book system has merit, since it allows students to see whatever reference material they have to, but gauges their comprehension, logical thought process and analysis. The Indian Institute of Banking and Finance recently took the initiative of harnessing technology and moved its examination system online for its 20,000 candidates. Each candidate faced a unique set of randomly generated questions, and the results were available as soon as the candidate finished the examination. Such measure, if applied in a phased manner, can go a long way in tackling the menace of cheating. |
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If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by a spectacular error. — J.K. Galbraith
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Breaches in the dykes SINCE the imposition of President’s rule in Bihar —widely welcomed because of its inevitability, given the circumstances — it has been difficult to shake off two streams of thought, an ironic one about the past and a deeply depressing one about the future. Those with short memories need to be reminded that the main actors in the current dismal drama — the Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo, Mr Laloo Yadav, the Janata Dal (United) leader, Mr Nitish Kumar, the Lok Janshakti party chief, Mr Ramvilas Paswan, and the state BJP leader, Mr Sushil Kumar Modi — were the four most important and cherished lieutenants of Jayaprakash Narayan, better known as J.P., during the famous Bihar movement that later turned into a countrywide crusade against Indira Gandhi. They were the Gandhian leader’s hope for the future. But look what they have done. Instead of total revolution they seem to be ushering in total chaos. Remarkably, more and more people are now arguing for the dissolution of the newly elected Assembly and for holding fresh elections. They have a point because the present composition of the legislature, combined with implacable personal hatreds among the rival leaders, makes the emergence of a viable ministry virtually impossible. But would a fresh poll produce a materially different outcome, unless there is first the long-awaited electoral reform prescribing that to get elected every candidate in every election must secure more than 50 per cent of the votes cast. Such a reform would have the salutary effect of liberating the electoral process from the stranglehold of caste across much of the country, especially in the Hindi heartland. But to expect that the requisite change in the election law would indeed be brought about is a classic case of the triumph of hope over experience. That is where forebodings about the future come in. Consistent, persistent and escalating undermining of Indian democracy — by both the ruling combination and the Opposition parties arrayed against it — has gone on for a very long time. After what has gone on in Jharkhand and Goa — where no elections were held but partisanship of the Governor had touched as low depths as in Ranchi — things are descending dangerously close to breaking point. At this rate, India might end up honouring only the form of democracy and destroying its substance. The root cause of this is that in this country the be-all and end-all of democracy has been reduced to the holding of elections regularly and throwing all other democratic attributes, such as scrupulous adherence to the letter and spirit of the Constitution, rule of law, and respect for liberal values, out of the window. Mercifully, Indian elections are, by and large, free and fair. But this is thanks to the objectivity of the Election Commission and the vigilance of the higher judiciary. There is no dearth of political parties and their autocratic leaders determined to win the elections more by crook than by hook. Once the elections are won, the victors embark on an orgy of abuse of power in which constitutional authorities, such as Governors and even Speakers of legislatures, merrily join. The crowning irony is that whoever captures power indulges in reckless shenanigans, forgetting all that he or she used to denounce these while in opposition. Similarly, like the proverbial cat that embarks on a pilgrimage after devouring 900 mice, parties losing power start shouting hoarse against the “murder of democracy” by “supari killers” or whoever. In the dykes that the founding fathers built to protect and preserve democracy there are so many breaches as to make one wonder as to who can plug the leaks and how. Merely to indicate what is wrong makes one’s heart sink. There are, to begin with, large-scale and blatant attempts to win the elections through the use of musclemen and criminals, almost always heavily armed and enjoying political protection. Why else would the EC need 70,000 para-military troops and three weeks to complete the polling in benighted Bihar? As the Sarkaria Commission noted, nothing has done so much harm to the democratic system as the gross misuse of Governors’ powers to get rid of duly elected governments in states not to the liking of the party or coalition in power in New Delhi. Yet this scourge persists — under all dispensations, regardless of political labels. The BJP’s vigorous protest against the outrages committed by Governors of Jharkhand and Goa — both “loyal” members of the Congress — is perfectly legitimate. But might one ask Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Mr L. K. Advani what had prevented them, during their six years in the saddle, to build up adequate safeguards against the kind of skullduggery perpetrated by Mr SC Jamir in Panaji and Mr Sibte Razi in Ranchi? They could have enacted the Sarkaria Commission’s excellent recommendations on the subject. To say this is not to condone even remotely the despicable acts of the twosome, particularly those of Mr Razi. No one believes that either of them acted entirely on his own, without any instigation or approval by his mentors in New Delhi. That should explain why the damage-limitation measures belatedly taken by the Congress president, Ms Sonia Gandhi, and the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, failed to produce the desired results. Terms of political discourse in this country had nose-dived long before the shameful events in Panaji, Ranchi and the national Capital. They have now reached rock bottom. The daily disruption of Parliament as a means to protest against injustice and political immorality is a remedy worse than the disease. But from this there seems no escape. In a moment of anger, perhaps, Mr Advani allowed himself to declare that the United Progressive Alliance government was behaving exactly the way Indira Gandhi had done just before the imposition of the Emergency in the mid-seventies. The fear of a fresh Emergency is unfounded because conditions in the country have changed radically. No party can hope to have the kind of sway that Indira Gandhi did. Neither the media nor the judiciary is likely to be half as pliant as they were 30 years ago. The rusted administrative and police set-up is also in no position to enforce any dictatorial measure. However, there is one grave danger. The speed with which the BJP and its allies on the one hand and the UPA on the other are losing confidence in each other’s good faith, if unchecked, can spell a greater disaster for democracy than anything
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Overseas adventures of a cop I
am on a year-long assignment with the UN, in Europe. My friends back home consider me lucky to be away from the rut. They say, on my return I’ll have a lot of money and great experience. To them I would say, “My dear folks, all this would happen ONLY and ONLY if I survive”. On my arrival here I was received by Indian friends who helped me carry my bags, find a house, provide quick lessons in driving a car on the right (read wrong) side of the road and assistance in clearing a driving test. I have had to learn a few things quickly: drive yourself to work, unlock your office, smile artificially at ALL your colleagues and wish them a very good morning without even bothering to know their names, acknowledge similar greetings with a smile and a nod, fix your own coffee (no peons or orderlies here), not to invite friends to your workplace for a little chat/ general gossip or a cup of tea and switch off the lights and lock your office after work. But the most agonising part of my story is the post-work struggle in the kitchen. In my 35 years of existence on planet earth, I had never stepped inside a kitchen to cook. A set of loving parents followed by a cop’s job ensured this seemingly simple luxury. Here, you either eat out, like most Firangs or if you are programmed to save hard earned money, then you fix your own meal. God help you if you are used to the elaborate Indian culinary style. In that case, my dear, I suggest you take some time off and learn some important basics about an art called cooking. My wife like all good wives had packed some pre-cooked stuff and some packets of instant noodles for me. All this lasted precisely six blissful days. Then I was at sea. The seventh night I attempted to boil vegetables and rice together in a pressure cooker, assuming that this was a shortcut to making Pulao. What turned out was something a little inferior to what we feed our cattle when they stop milking. Cooking is the easier part. Consuming the results of your own experiment always follows. Hang on. That is not the end. It is succeeded by an elaborate exercise affectionately referred to as doing the dishes. How I miss our cooks and orderlies and our sweeper and all the elaborate paraphernalia of a cop posted in a district in India. Above everything else I miss my dear wife. Now before you are convinced that I am a complete MCP and the Women’s Activist start burning my effigy, let me confess — I miss her not just for my daily traumas in the kitchen but also for the void I feel in my heart. My good friends try and console me. They suffer my stories with a laugh. Some even cook for me, which, no offence intended, is only slightly better than mine. They tell me about possible career growth through such godsend opportunities. Above all, they tell me that this experience is a great
I agree, perhaps. Yet I am convinced I would rather be completely characterless but in the company of my wife and my two lovely kids in my own
country. |
Agenda for new Haryana govt
THE new Chief Minister of Haryana, Mr Bhupinder Singh
Hooda, faces a daunting task. Most Chief Ministers have failed to adopt a visionary approach and an agenda of development. The new Chief Minister, therefore, will do well to learn from the mistakes of his predecessors and draw a road map for economic development of the state. Much will depend upon its implementation. The most distressing problem of farmers is the inadequacy of irrigation water and its unequal distribution amongst the southern districts. The demand during the peak sowing season is 11,000 cusecs whereas the availability is hardly 3,500 cusecs. The Yamuna generates a flow of 8.0 maf and only 2.5 maf is utilised and the rest of the flow goes to the sea without any use. Therefore, the only way to augment the flow in the WJC is to build dams across the Yamuna (Lakhwar Dam) and its two main tributaries i.e. Tons (Kesao Dam) and Giri (Renuka Dam). Another alternative is to bring surplus water from the Ganga to the Yamuna through an 80-mile canal. The SYL canal is another source for augmentation of canal water and the matter is sub-judice. The government must initiate steps to improve the working conditions of all primary health centres, district hospitals, and the PGI, Rohtak. A sum of Rs 100 crore is needed to renovate these hospitals to bring them on a par with the best hospitals in the country. Likewise the government needs to invest in improving the sanitary and hygienic conditions within buses and at bus terminals. This will comfort a large number of the travelling populace. The entire effluent (200 cusecs) from different sewage disposal stations should be reused for irrigation after giving proper treatment. The growth of vegetables using sewage effluent should be totally banned. The problem of employment of educated youth can be partly solved if special employment exchanges are set up in towns having industrial estates and industries are directed to make all recruitment through these exchanges only. The recruitment for class III and IV employees should also be made through the existing exchanges only. Students with ITI diplomas be given financial assistance to start their own ventures. Youth should also be given loans to help them purchase land in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh states for scientific farming. During heavy rain the loss to the crops due to floods is colossal. The recurring problem can be solved by excavating more drains in the districts of Kaithal, Jind, Hisar and Bhiwani. Primary drains should be linked with secondary and tertiary drains. At least 43 towns in the state are still without sewerage. The government must spend Rs 20 crore urgently to lay sewer lines in all towns. The drainage system too should be improved to pump out rainwater. The traffic problem in different towns is getting serious day by day. This problem can be solved by constructing elevated tracks for light vehicles, bypasses and flyovers where railway-crossings are creating traffic jams. More veterinary hospitals need to be set up in the state. In fact, modern research institutes for the prevention of cattle diseases needs to be set up simultaneously. The situation on the power front has eased after the completion of the 8th unit at the Thermal Power Station, Panipat. Still the state needs 1,000 M.W. of additional power to meet the demand. This can be accomplished by setting up gas-based power plants at Manesar and Panipat. Gas pipelines should be laid in all cities for the distribution of metered supply of gas for domestic, commercial, transport and industrial uses. GAIL has sufficient gas for this purpose. A special programme should be taken up to remove insanitary conditions in towns and villages. Unhealthy conditions still prevail even after the brick pavement of streets for want of proper disposal of solid waste . The government should reassess the water supply situation in villages and towns. It must stop over-spending to increase the water supply level to 70 lpcd. The same money should be spent on generation of treated water and its proper distribution will ensure 40 lpcd to each individual. The state should also set up additional milk plants to promote dairy development. Providing potable water supply to cattle too has become a problem and village ponds need to be improvised. Villages with a population of more than 10,000 should be converted into towns to be governed by municipal committees. Markets should be set up in each village to give them an urban character. Towns with a population of 2 lakh should be governed by municipal corporations, which can run essential services like sewerage, education etc. The system of e-governance should be promoted on a massive scale in all government and non-government organisations/institutions. A changeover to this system will bring in a lot of efficiency and employment opportunities. The education system in the state is still in a shambles. The programme of setting up plus-two schools in big villages is proving highly demanding financially. It would be much better to revert to the early system of matric and four-year degree course in colleges. The present syllabus in schools and colleges has been contrived to promote private tuitions. The strength of students is dwindling in government schools day by day and the education cost per student is increasing. Consequently, the government schools need to be regrouped to bring down the cost. These steps may form part of the government development strategy. I am sure the results would be highly rewarding — both to the government and the electorate. |
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Desperate to be housewives: women yearn for THEY are the generation of women who grew up expecting to have it all. No longer forced to choose between children and a career, they were set to embrace superwomanhood by doing both, while holding down a perfect relationship and keeping a spotless home in their spare time. But modern woman has taken a reality check. The average 29-year-old now hankers for a return to the lifestyle of a 1950s housewife. The daughters of the “Cosmo” generation of feminists want nothing more than a happy marriage and domestic bliss in the countryside, according to a survey. Research into the attitudes of 1,500 women with an average age of 29 found that 61 per cent believe “domestic goddess” role models who juggle top jobs with motherhood and jet-set social lives are “unhelpful” and “irritating”. More than two-thirds agree that the man should be the main provider in a family, while 70 per cent do not want to work as hard as their mother’s generation. On average, the women questioned want to “settle down” with their partner by 30 and have their first child a year later. Vicki Shotbolt, deputy chief executive of the National Family and Parenting Institute, said: “This is the generation of young women who have seen the ‘have it all’ ethos up close and personal, and they have realised that it doesn’t work. “Their own mothers may have tried to juggle motherhood and careers, and it may have been the children who feel they lost out ... I think women really are coming of age now, and are accepting that it is virtually impossible to have it all.” And after decades of soaring divorce rates and a rise in births outside marriage, it appears the next generation of mothers is reverting to more traditional social mores. Nine out of 10 young women would rather be married when they have children, while 75 per cent believe that modern couples do not make enough effort to stay together. A quarter of those questioned intend to give up work and be a full-time mother when they start a family, with just 1 per cent saying their career will remain a “top priority” once they have children. According to the survey, for New Woman magazine, young women do not crave the singleton glamour of the Sex and the City series, nor the suburban competitiveness of Desperate Housewives. While just 28 per cent want to live in a city, 34 per cent desire life in a small town and for 38 per cent, their ideal life would be in a village. Just 5 per cent rate their top priority in a relationship as “great sex” while 95 per cent say what they really want is commitment from a partner. Even traditional hobbies, such as knitting, have been making a comeback, with cinemas offering “stitch and bitch” sessions for women who want to watch a film while creating the perfect homespun jumper for their man. And the “superwomen” role models of the 1990s have also fallen from grace. Last year Nicola Horlick, who wrote a book entitled Can You Have It All? about her life as a mother of five and millionaire fund manager, announced she and her husband were to divorce. Lorraine Candy, the editor of Cosmopolitan, resigned from her job and later attacked the magazine’s owners over comments they made about her taking maternity leave. “There is a growing realisation that being at the top of a career might not make you happy in the way that marriage and children might do,” she said. Margi Conklin, editor of New Woman, said: “There has been a fundamental shift in young women’s attitudes towards life and work. They’ve watched their own mothers trying and often failing to ‘have it all’ and have decided they don’t want it all. They don’t want to work crazy hours while their children are put into nurseries and their relationships disintegrate under the strain.” She went on: “Young women today are increasingly putting their personal happiness before a big salary or high-powered career. Above everything else, they crave a work-life balance where they can enjoy a fulfilling relationship, raise happy children and have a job that interests them but doesn’t overwhelm them. The age of the ‘superwoman’, who wants to be the world’s best mother, wife and boss, is dead.”
— The Independent, London |
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Delhi Durbar Congressmen are highly circumspect about LJP leader and Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan’s role in state of Bihar where the assembly elections have thrown a fractured verdict. With President’s rule in place for the eighth time in Bihar, Paswan is insisting he is not going to lift a little finger for a month in ending the impasse on government formation. However, what worries Congress leaders is his insistence on keeping Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav’s RJD out of reckoning. Laloo insists that a government without the RJD in Bihar is inconceivable. The apprehension that the LJP would necessarily have to be backed by the BJP goes contrary to Paswan’s assertions. Should that happen, Laloo is bound to seek the ouster of Paswan and his LJP from the UPA.
Blind to problems of the challenged
The Disabilities Act, which provides equal opportunities to the challenged, was violated right under the nose of Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment Meira Kumar at a function in the Capital to mark the International Women’s Day. The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, which is supposed to protect the interests of the disabled, did not care to provide temporary ramps at the Vigyan Bhavan’s main hall during the function held to honour successful women entrepreneurs. Congress President and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi sensed the problem faced by a disabled recipient in climbing the steps leading to the stage and came down to hand over the award to a 22-year-old wheelchair bound lady. The Chief Commissioner of Persons with Disabilities was also present at the function. Ms Gandhi, however, promised that ramps would be provided at such functions in future.
Memorial to Narasimha Rao?
Former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao’s family has urged the Manmohan Singh government to turn Rao’s government bungalow on Moti Lal Nehru Marg in the Capital into a memorial to him. The bungalows of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi were turned into memorials, the family is understood to have pointed out. At the same time, not all dead Prime Ministers have been bestowed this privilege. The government of the day resisted the requests for converting Charan Singh’s bungalow into a memorial. In the case of Morarji Desai no such request was made. But in politics sentiments rule over logic, or that is how it seems. While Prime Minister Manmohan Singh got his political break- through Mr Rao, the Cabinet committee on accommodation is headed by HRD Minister Arjun Singh, who was forced out of the Congress by Rao.
Cold is back, so are woollens
Shawls and jackets were out again on Thursday as Delhiites made their way to offices, schools and colleges on an overcast, nippy morning when the minimum temperature dipped to 14.5 degrees Celsius. The morning after squalls and hailstorms in several parts of the Capital saw thousands of schoolchildren in their uniform cardigans huddled outside their examination halls. Some were consulting one another frantically, while others strutted around with textbooks as the CBSE held its Class 12 exam for business studies.
***** Contributed by Prashant Sood, S. Satyanarayanan, Tripti Nath, IANS |
If you feel proud, let it be in the thought that you are the servant of God, the son of God. Life is a long lesson in humility. He who is unattached everywhere, who neither welcomes nor hates when he obtains good or evil, has his wisdom firmly fixed.
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