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Visa power Punjab’s gesture Connectivity rates |
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Only policies matter
Of another connecting chord!
The raj of panchayats Europe’s worry — the declining population Chatterati Morality and sting operations
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Visa power THE Centre is justified in lodging a protest against the denial of a US visa to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Diplomatic niceties demanded that he be given an appropriate visa to take part in an event in the US. Far from acceding to the request, the US cancelled his existing visa as an angry reaction to his role in the Gujarat riots in 2002. Almost all political parties have expressed their reservations about the US decision, which was not taken in the best interests of bilateral relations. By taking a principled stand, and that too promptly, the government has taken the steam out of what could have been Mr Modi’s campaign for “self-respect.” It is doubtful whether the Chief Minister realises that even those who have sprang to his defence vis-ŕ-vis the US action have difficulty in pleading his case if they recall what happened in Gujarat three years ago. In post-Independence India, the Gujarat Chief Minister caused greater damage to the image of the nation than any other leader by the nefarious role he played in the riots that followed the Godhra massacre. He has described the US action as an insult to the Indian Constitution which, incidentally, he did not uphold when at least 1,000 innocent people were killed and their property destroyed. It forced the then Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, to remind him of his “rajdharma”. At one time even his strong defendant and party chief Lal Krishna Advani was forced to admit that what happened in Gujarat was a national shame. Small wonder that even those who do not see the US decision in a good light have difficulty in defending Mr Modi. The US has invoked the Immigration and Nationality Act which makes those who are guilty of severe violations of religious freedom persona non grata in the US in cancelling his existing visa. There were also demands from legislators in the US to deny him entry to the US. What’s more, many Indian-Americans also opposed his visit for reasons which are well known. Whatever be their case against Mr Modi, it is one more reminder to the BJP leadership that Mr Modi’s continuance as Chief Minister is a liability to the party and certainly an embarrassment to the country. The BJP will do well to realise that the criticism of the US action is not an endorsement of the brand of politics that Mr Narendra Modi represents. |
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Punjab’s gesture By terminating all water agreements with the neighbouring states last year, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had gone up the popularity chart in Punjab, but he had also caused extreme disquiet in Delhi and elsewhere in the country. One question on everyone’s lips was that if inter-state accords could be terminated by a state unilaterally, what was the sanctity attached to them at all. The move not only fell foul of the Supreme Court, even the Centre did not back it. This widespread criticism of the Punjab Termination of Agreements Act 2004 seems to have triggered a rethink on the issue, which is clearly reflected in the address of Governor S. F. Rodrigues on the opening day of the Budget session of the Punjab Assembly on Friday. He unequivocally said that the state was open for discussion with the neighbouring states to resolve the bitter disputes over river waters. Although he has also said during the same speech that “there have all along been misgivings as to the fairness of the manner in which waters of the state’s rivers are sought to be allocated”, the conciliatory gesture will go a long way towards soothing the ruffled feathers. The policy statement should control the damage done to Punjab by the termination and also, hopefully, help in deciding the matter in a fair and transparent manner. Actually, a settlement of water dispute will ultimately come through talks and not through tribunals and long-winded arguments in courts, vitiating inter-state relations. It is just that self-serving politicians have fanned the disputes to a feverish pitch by feeding partisan pussions to their respective constituencies. Any kind of a gesture by one is projected as an “abject surrender” by another. The unfortunate consequence is that even the little water that is available is not being put to good use. It is ironical that in a land of five rivers there is a bitter tussle for appropriating every drop of water for one’s own use. At a time when we are reaching out to Pakistan, surely Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan can be more considerate towards each other. Now when there are Congress governments in Punjab and Haryana – the two main parties in the SYL canal dispute – the talks proposed officially by Punjab can lead to efforts to sort out the issue. |
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Connectivity rates THE information technology (IT) industry on the whole and the business processes outsourcing (BPO) segment in particular have reasons to cheer up following the decision of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to cut international bandwidth prices by 35 to 70 per cent. This is expected to result in lower tariffs for international long-distance (ILD) calls, Internet access and broadband services. Though it is difficult to say at this stage precisely how much impact it will have, there is no doubt that the IT and IT-enabled services (ITES) companies are going to be the main beneficiaries. Retail customers, too, are likely to find Net surfing cheaper after the order comes into effect next month. TRAI has fixed a ceiling on tariff for international private leased circuit in respect of the speed of 2 mbps (mega bits per second), 45 mbps and 155 mbps at Rs 13 lakh, Rs 1.04 crore and Rs 2.99 crore a year, respectively. This is a reduction of 35 per cent, 71 per cent and 70 per cent in tariffs from the earlier prices. NASSCOM president Kiran Karnik is right when he says: "This is a good step for the Indian IT and ITES industry." Bandwidth is more expensive in India than in most of the developed countries, and this has been an impediment in the growth of the IE and ITES sector, which has, in spite of such roadblocks, grown at a phenomenal 40 per cent. A major complaint of anyone surfing the Net has been the overall unsatisfactory quality of service. While TRAI is right in reducing the rates for broadband access, it should also ensure that the Internet service providers redress the quality-related grievances of their customers. TRAI has rightly observed that there has been a lack of competition in this segment since there are only three gateways in India-owned by VSNL, Reliance and Bharti Televentures-that give access to international bandwidth, which is the medium of carriage of data and voice services across countries in the world. It has brought about the much-needed correction in the tariffs, which will lead to more growth in the IT sector throughout the country. |
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A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.
— George Bernard Shaw |
Only policies matter
Foreign policy analysts around the globe do attach importance to personal chemistry between leaders in international relations. In India, we overdo it. We thought that President Clinton’s romance with India would create a new architecture for Indo-US relations. But we learnt too soon that he was pursuing his own agenda and he was himself surprised that the Indian Parliament cheered him when he chastised India for its nuclear policy. We believed that hush-hush confabulations between Mr Strobe Talbott and Mr Jaswant Singh would remove the cobwebs created by the nuclear tests of 1998. But Mr Talbott confessed that he realised soon enough that his counterpart was not India, not even the BJP. We attributed Mr Colin Powell’s frequent visit to this part of the world to renewed Republican interest in India. But it turned out that he was influencing the course of India-Pakistan relations in accordance with US policy. We learnt again and again that policies mattered, not personalities. They may add nuances, but the policies of the super power do not change on account of personal predilections. We still went overboard over Ms Condoleezza Rice’s alleged fascination for India when she decided to stop by on her first visit to Asia as the Secretary of State. It was projected by some commentators as a unique opportunity to sort out all the issues in India-US relations like technology denial, arms sales to Pakistan and Security Council expansion. Ms Rice made it plain enough that her visit was part of the US agenda to tackle Iran. The first item on the US agenda today is to dissuade Iran from pursuing a nuclear option. We have been politically correct in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in the last two years when the Iran issue came up there despite our traditional relations with Iran and our own non-NPT status. We affirmed that Iran should abide by the commitments it had undertaken voluntarily under the NPT, though we refused to be involved in the various interpretations of the provisions of the treaty. In keeping with our traditional policy of keeping away from any consensus on NPT-related issues, we did not join the rest of NAM to move amendments to the Western draft resolution on Iran. The US had no reason to complain about our stance. But it always had the nagging suspicion that India would not support a tough resolution on Iran if it came to a vote. The US, therefore, preferred consensus resolutions in the IAEA even if that meant a certain dilution of their own position. Having succeeded in keeping the friends of Iran on the right track in the IAEA, the US now wants to ensure that bilateral relations, dictated by oil, should not be a barrier to unified action against Iran if it became necessary. The pipeline deal is a negative development from this point of view, though the US should have normally welcomed it as a regional energy initiative, involving both India and Pakistan. The readiness to discuss India’s energy needs is an irresistible carrot for India, but the stick is sure to follow if India is perceived to be supportive of Iran’s nuclear stance. Ms Rice hinted at the second phase of NSSP as a way forward for sharing technology in designated areas, but just like in the earlier times, there is no move to remove the legal obstacles in the way of technology cooperation. Both the Republicans and the Democrats like to operate within the non-proliferation regime and the NSG guidelines to deal with India’s energy needs. As the Foreign Secretary stated just after the Rice visit, India has no option but to meet its energy demands through the development of nuclear technology. In fact, no other country in the world is engaged in constructing as many nuclear power plants as India today. Whether the rest of the world co-operates or not, India cannot turn away from the path it has taken. Nuclear energy is the cleanest source of power from the greenhouse gas emissions point of view, but environmentalists are still wary of accepting nuclear energy as a clean development mechanism. The US position on nuclear energy is helpful as it was seen in the case of China recently, but its unalterable position on proliferation remains intact with regard to India. The signals on defence cooperation are not new and they were there under Mr Colin Powell too. In terms of military-to-military cooperation and joint exercises, we have come a long way from the days of the “nuclear winter” in Indo-US relations at the end of the last century. The US appears quite prepared to sell defence equipment to both India and Pakistan. But whether it takes care of our aspiration to have Soviet-model production arrangements to insulate the supplies from the vagaries of international politics remains to be seen. Not even the friendliest of Secretaries of State could have pleased India on the question of expansion of the Security Council. The US policy, as read between the lines of its statements from time to time, on this issue has remained the same through several administrations. Expansion, yes, but limited to the induction of Germany and Japan as permanent members without veto. Others can come with regional endorsements for limited periods and play their role, but the total number should not exceed 20 or so at any time. Permanent membership for India with veto power is not even in the distant horizons of US policy makers. When they speak of the need for “international institutions to accommodate the changes”, they probably refer to the emergence of a unipolar world and not the emergence of new global players. Perhaps, we should not embarrass ourselves and our guests by asking them to pledge support to us when they are here. For starters, how about the membership of the APEC, from which India has been excluded for lack of consensus? Has anyone spelt out to us why India does not qualify to be in this economic grouping? Personalities with benign images like Ms Condoleezza Rice spread sunshine and cheer wherever they go. But the clouds of real policy will descend soon enough to make us realise that even strong “relationships that are based on common values” are swayed by fundamental national interests. —
The writer is a former Ambassador of India to the UN, Vienna. |
Of another connecting chord!
To keep looking for greener pastures is a natural “humanimal” instinct. Maybe that is why the legal licence for foreigners to work and settle permanently in the US is called “Green-card”. The card holds such a special charm that almost everyone, like a passionate lover boy, gets attracted towards it. Though a number of my close relations are settled abroad neither my wife nor my daughters ever showed any mad interest to follow them to the alien lands of plenty. Long ago one of my foreign settled brothers-in-law asked me to give him my resume so that he could look for one or the other opportunity to call us there. I instantly asked him that can he get me there a lucrative job, like the one I am holding here, where there is no work! My routinely rude remark made him so speechless that he never dared to repeat his “benevolent” offer till date. However, every time someone would come from overseas, carrying monumental and mercilessly-stuffed suitcases that are eagerly awaited to be opened, I would often regret my decision of not giving this even a try. As luck would have it I had to marry Sonoo, my elder journalist-daughter, to a British citizen. Though the fears and anxieties of sending Sonoo to a distant and not-easily-approachable land continued disturbing us till we actually saw her home, we were thoroughly pleased with the arrangement. More so because the boy, having his own house in a “Gora” locality, is very much caring and Sonoo managed to continue her journalistic career by entering into mainstream journalism within a couple of months of her entry into the Great Britain. Though the development of fast communication means has made the long distances appear to be not that long, we often miss each other. While we occasionally talk to Sonoo about our distance-pangs explicitly she never brings them to the fore. Almost every year she visits India not only to meet us but also to satiate our long-cherished wish of opening exclusively-for-us suitcases loaded with worth-flaunting “firang” goods. Rest of the year she keeps us in good humour by sending everyday a couple of e-mails, carrying pictures or chronologies of her daily routine, and a long-distance long chat on the phone every weekend. She makes us richer also, both in letter and spirit, by signing and sending cheques, to celebrate this or that occasion or anniversary every now and then. Last week Sonoo sounded explicitly happy. And so were we. She informed, through her e-mails, that she would soon be getting her formal citizenship and be holding, from now onwards, a prestigious red-coloured (Green-card?) British Passport that would end her visa hassles for visiting Europe and many other countries. On the day she was to go to the Council’s office for the formal oath-taking ceremony, to show her allegiance to the Queen, a seemingly excited Sonoo sent details about the preparations of her visit; the colour of the new dress she would be wearing, the mode of her transport as it was snowing heavily etc. On that very night my wife rang her up to congratulate her and to ask about the actual ceremony. She told her about the brief function rather briefly and without much enthusiasm. She hanged the phone by concluding: “Mama, another connecting chord seems to have been severed.”
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The raj of panchayats The Government of Haryana has enacted the Haryana Panchayati Raj Act for implementing this amendment. The powers pertaining to 16 departments were devolved to the panchayati raj institutions through a notification in 1995. Subsequently more powers regarding 12 departments were also devolved. Despite these steps, the studies show that the panchayati raj institutions have remained very weak in Haryana on account of lack of political will on the one hand and some structural defects in the institutional frame-work of panchayati raj on the other. The following suggestions are, therefore, being made to the New Government for strengthening the panchayati raj in Haryana. There should be a separate Gram Sachiv for every gram panchayat. But he should be converted into a multi-purpose worker on the model of the VLW (Gram Sevak) so that he could work for the social and economic development of his area. The entire field staff of the Line Departments be put under the control of the gram panchayat. The Gram Sabha should be strengthened to make the gram panchayat and the village level Line Departments functionaries accountable to it. There should be an integrated panchayati raj administration at the block level under the leadership of the BDPO and all the block level officers of the Line Departments should be under his control as was the practice in the pre-panchayati raj period. However, the BDPO should be put under the effective control of the Chairperson of the Panchayat Samiti. The committee system also needs to be strengthened for proper supervision and control of rural development works. The MLAs should be excluded from it and the SDM should not have control either on the official functionaries or over the Panchayat Samitis and the gram panchayats. While the gram panchayats should be under the control of the Panchayat Samiti, the Panchayat Samiti should be put under the control of the Zila Parishad. The DC should be kept away from the Zila Parishad. The DRDA should be merged into the Zila Parishad. The CEO of the Zila Parishad should cease to be ADC. An officer of the rank of DC be appointed as the CEO. All the heads of the Line Departments be placed under his control. The CEO should, however, be put under the control of the President of the Zila Parishad. The MPs and the MLAs should be excluded from the Zila Parishads. As a matter of fact, the model of the panchayati raj administration suggested by the Naik Committee and adopted in Maharashtra in the 1960s should be adopted. The only modification in it should be the retention of the block-level rural administration under the Panchayat Samiti. Although there should be an organic link at the three levels of the panchayati raj administration by making provision for representation of the gram panchayats in the Panchayat Samitis and of the Panchayat Samitis in the Zila Parishad, there should be a clear-cut demarcation of functions among the three for avoiding duplication and for fixing responsibility. Concerted efforts be made for imparting genuinely effective training to the elected and official functionaries in the panchayati raj administration at all the three levels. However, separate training programmes need to be organised for the women representatives. The mindset of the elected representatives, official functionaries and political leaders requires to be changed for making the panchayati raj administration genuinely democratised and decentralised. Decentralised planning be promoted by adopting the Kerala model. The District Planning Committees be made operational for this purpose. Adequate and timely untied grants be given to the panchayati raj institutions at various levels for this purpose so that plans could be made in accordance with the local needs. A strong commitment of the political leadership and the bureaucracy is also needed for the success of the decentralised planning. The required structural changes be made in the panchayati raj
administration in Haryana in the light of these suggestions. However, more important than the structural changes are the behavioural changes through changes in the administrative and political culture of the state. The panchayati raj administration should be made to change its focus from construction works and should give greater attention to economic development and social justice. It should also learn from the experience of West Bengal, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh, where activities such as pilot tubewell groups, agro-processing industries, contract farming, local skill-based medium industries, water conversation programmes, self-help groups and other pertaining to social development are being carried out at the grassroots levels. —
The writer is a Consultant, Haryana Institute of Rural Development, Nilokheri |
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Europe’s worry — the declining population A
drastic slump in birth rates combined with an ageing population will undermine Europe’s prosperity within the next 20 years unless life is made easier for parents and immigration is encouraged, according to a European Commission report. The document published yesterday points to a demographic timebomb and a widening gap between the European Union and the United States, as European workers age and birth rates lag across the continent. The document points out that the fertility rate in Europe is “insufficient to replace the population” and adds: “Never in history has there been economic growth without population growth.” More controversially, the green paper also concludes that “ever larger migrant flows may be needed to meet the need for labour and safeguard Europe’s prosperity”. The findings challenge policies adopted by many European countries, which have rushed to introduce populist measures to restrict immigration. The figures suggest that governments may be sacrificing long-term economic prosperity for short-term electoral gain. They also indicate that more effort should be made to help young couples to balance the demands of working and parenting. Between now and 2025, the population of the 25 countries of the European Union will grow slightly from the current figure of 458 million to 469.5 million, although this 2 per cent rise is because of immigration. But by 2030 that figure will fall to 468.7 million. Between 2005 and 2030, the number of working-age people (between 15 and 64) will fall by 20.8 million, or 6.8 per cent, while the number of those over 65 will more than double, growing by a total of 40 million. Britain and France are the only two big nations in which population will rise in the next half-century, and in one-third of Europe the demographic decline is already under way. By contrast, projections show the American population increasing by more than a quarter between 2000 and 2025. The European employment and social affairs commissioner, Vladimir Spidla, called for consultation and argued: “All age groups will be affected as people live longer and enjoy better health, the birth rate falls and our workforce shrinks. It is time to act now.” Surveys show that Europeans have fewer children than they would ideally like, the document says, adding: “The low fertility rate is the result of obstacles to private choices: late access to employment, job instability, expensive housing and lack of incentives (family benefits, parental leave, child care, equal pay).” Though it suggests immigration alone is not enough to solve the problem, the report says it “could help to mitigate the effects of the falling population” and adds: “The option of a wider recourse to immigration ... needs to be discussed”. The Commission’s report, which is designed to start a consultation exercise, also points out that young parents “may want to spend more time with their children and work more at another time in their life”. — The Independent |
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Chatterati V.S. Naipaul releases Tarun Tejpal’s book It was clearly the biggest book launch of the year. Yes! Tarun Tejpal’s book was released by none other than Sir VS Naipaul, who happens to be Tejpal’s constant inspiration and good friend. Published by Aroon Purie’s Harper and Collins, India venture, the first lot of “The Alchemy of Desire” was a sellout. It is set in the backdrop of India at the turn of the millennium and has a couple gloriously in love. A book reading by Tejpal was followed by a staged discussion with Vir Singhvi. Tarun wrote this book when he was going through the harrowing phase of his life after the Tehelka expose. At that time Tarun was bankrupt and was being harassed by the NDA government for doing his job as a journalist. Geetan, his wife, two daughters and a handful of good friends were there to support Tarun financially, emotionally and stood with him through his court cases and raids etc. A big do, a big celebration and a big guest list of who’s who — a fitting launch for Tarun. Attended by the elite and power brokers, who turned up in full strength. The book has already been hailed as the biggest literary debut of the year. From TV quiz master Sidharth Basu Rajdeep Sardesai, designer Ritu Kumar to several editors-in-chief, everyone took out time this evening for Tarun. Sir Naipaul’s comment was: “At last a new and brilliantly original novel from India.” Remembering Madhavrao Scindia
It was a very emotional moment for Mrs Gandhi who recalled his great service to the nation. Releasing the Rs. 5 stamp, Communication Minister Maran said Scindia had an outlook that was both liberal and modern. Mr Scindia, who was born to privilege but chose to throw himself into public service, is remembered as a great speaker, a keen cricketer and a golfer. His popularity was evident as VVIPs thronged the Teen Murti Bhavan auditorium, Right from Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, BJP General Secretary Arun Jaitely, Praful Patel, Shiv Raj Patil, Arjun Singh, Shiela Dixit, Ambica Soni, Ahmed Patel, you name it, and they were there. In a brief but emotional address, Scindia’s wife Madhvi Raje Scindia, told the audience that what mattered to her husband was his personal integrity and welfare of the people. In the Railways Mr Scindia ushered in computerisation and introduced super fast trains like Shatabdi Express. In civil aviation he is credited with the open sky policy and in HRD he pushed the literacy for all and education of the girl child. It is now that the public looks upon his son, eloquent Harward-educated Jyotiraje Scindia, who shares the same dreams as his father, which is only to serve his people. Everyone’s eyes were moist on remembering the young and dynamic Madhavrao Scindia. Morality
and sting operations
The topic of discussion was, of course, sting operations by journalists and private TV channels. The exposes on personal lives of celebrities were not appreciated by anyone. After all whatever was shown on the channel was consensual in nature and not forced upon the so-called victims who, in any case, were mere decoys. Moral policing may best be left to the public to judge. After all such cases do not have any impact on national security or the national treasury. Catching or luring small fish for these operations also was not done, they said, Sting operations done on corruption or misuse of public office is what needs support. Questions on ethical and moral grounds of such sorts is a sign of derogatory journalism.
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If we liberate our souls from or petty selves, wish no ill to others, and become clear as a crystal diamond reflecting the light of truth, what a radiant picture will appear in us mirroring things as they are, without the admixture of burning desires, without the distortion of erroneous illusion, without the agitation of clinging and unrest. — The Buddha  |
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The 73rd amendment to the Constitution (1992) was enacted for strengthening panchayati raj in India by according it a constitutional status, listing 29 subjects in the 11th Schedules for making plans for economic development and social justice.
Top politicians, cutting across party lines attended the 60th birth function of the late Madhavrao Scindia. The former minister died in an air crash, creating a vacuum in the Congress. The Department of Posts issued a stamp commemorating the late Maharaja of Gwalior.