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Pitfalls of bureaucracy:
Reform or perish
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Tackling the scourge of terrorism by M.C. Bhandare The terrorist attacks in Ayodhya and London prove that there has been a global upsurge of terrorism. At the same time, launching avoidable and illegal war on Iraq without any trace of weapons of mass destruction and with Osama Bin Laden still at large raises a vital issue whether war is an answer to terrorism.
Reflections Profile Diversities — Delhi Letter Kashmir
Diary
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Pitfalls of bureaucracy:
Reform or perish
A typical district officer is usually stilled in his twenties or early thirties. But unlike his ICS predecessor, the IAS District Collector or Deputy Commissioner has neither the unquestionable authority conferred either by racial exclusivity or superb education or social class or all three to dominate and control the lower bureaucracy. As required in a democracy, the executive is subservient to a government by elected politicians. According to a study by Mr S.K. Das, an IAS officer, the average tenure of a district officer is now about seven months. He or she invariably falls victim to the constantly changing and treacherous currents of an intensely competitive political system. The lower and permanent bureaucracy has adjusted well to this essential change and has become a tool in the hands of the politicians. In fact, the lower bureaucracy has increasingly become the nursery for the new political class. For instance, former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda earned his spurs, as an overseer in the Karnataka PWD while former Union Communications Minister Sukh Ram was a clerk in the Manali Municipality. Interestingly, the last contest for Vice President was between two former policemen. Shekhawat was a constable in the Rajasthan Police while Shinde was a sub-inspector in the Maharashtra Special Branch. Little wonder, no one gives a fig for our district officers anymore. That may not even be so bad considering the kind of stuff that makes it into the IAS nowadays. But quite clearly, the common people are paying a heavy price for this. India still ranks among the bottom ten of the international human development index. Clearly, we need to restructure government and administration in each of India’s 568 districts. The District Collector, like his ICS predecessor, must become the executive head of the district with all branches of government subject to his/her authority and power. This must particularly include the police. He/she must be re-designated as the Commissioner and should be an officer with over 16 years of service, a mature and seasoned individual with the seniority and clout to exercise complete authority over the administrative apparatus. This seniority will also give him/her the experience and guile needed to deal with the political system. Above all, the Commissioner must have a fixed tenure of at least five years and a board consisting of elected representatives of the district as well as administrative superiors must make his/her selection to the position. In the late 1980s, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was reportedly contemplating such a restructure of government. No sooner the word got around, the traditional politicians opposed it, as it would deprive them of much of their clout. Former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal jeered it as a PM to DM system which would bypass all other political structures. From the mid-90s, even amidst the most severe economic downturns, one industrial segment has posted consistent and significant growths. This is the segment called the white goods sector, which accounts for consumer durables like refrigerators, washing machines and other home appliances. This spurt coincides with the selective implementation of the Fifth Pay Commission’s recommendations. Apart from recommending whopping increases in salaries and benefits, the Fifth Pay Commission noted the low productivity and also recommended that the numbers employed in government should be drastically slashed. At the time this award was accepted, India probably had its weakest, most corrupt and ultra populist government ever. This was the government of Inder Kumar Gujral whose only notable achievement was to import a million tonnes of wheat from Australia by paying about Rs 200 more per quintal than what it would have cost to procure in the domestic market. Consequently, the wage bill of the Central Government alone is now Rs 35,490 crore with an additional Rs 12,843 crore for pensions. In 1990-91, these were Rs 12, 389 crore and Rs 1,650 crore respectively. This does not include salaries and pensions of defence personnel. The state governments together now directly employ 7.5 million people in addition to the Central Government that gainfully or painfully employs about 3.3 million. Given the commonly high salary levels in the Central and state governments, one can easily compute the approximate cost of government by way of salaries alone. In addition to this huge army of babus, the Centre and the states employ a further 6.3 million people in PSUs and departmental undertakings like the Indian Railways. Local bodies like municipalities, Zilla Parishads and panchayats employ another 2.3 million. This entire cohort of about 20 million belongs to the 27.2 per cent who make up our middle and upper income groups. A look at the Capital Expenditure on account of “development” (2004-05) suggests that it costs the Centre and the states about Rs 10 to give us a benefit of Re 1! Revenue expenditure very simply means wages, utilities, fuel, repairs and maintenance, and chai-pani aur dawa-daru kharcha. So the effective cost of government is Rs 723,002 crore out of the cumulative receipts of Rs 898,290 crore which the Centre and the states collect as taxes from us and/or beg, borrow and steal for us. This is about a good third of our GNP and growing! However, the real slap in the face is that “Public Administration” is categorised as a part of the Services sector for national income accounting, and the 14 per cent annual growth in the cost of government is what mainly accounts for the growth of this sector. The growth of the industrial sector has been marginal and that of the agricultural sector has been negative in the past two years. Can the government and the RBI still claim that the national economy is bounding along at nearly 6 per cent? The burgeoning cost of government is our single major public policy issue. Yet, it is not debated at all. All parties go into a funk when confronted with these facts. Thus for the BJP, once again it seems, there are only two issues that matter — Hindutva and Babri Masjid. And as for the sycophants in the Congress, they are only concerned with the Congress President’s two issues. Rahul or Priyanka. Poor Dr Manmohan Singh has listed the reform of the bureaucracy as his first priority, but the politicians pay no heed to him, and hence the bureaucracy sees no need to take him
seriously.
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On Record The Rajya Sabha or the House of Elders
will definitely be enriched further with the election of Mrs Brinda Karat as
a member. Brinda created history by being the first woman to be elected to
the 18-member CPM Politburo. Vice-President of All India Democratic Women’s
Association, she has been crusading for the cause of the unorganised textile
workers, handloom workers, street vendors, disabled women and women in
distress. Brinda is married to CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat. Excerpts:
Q: Isn’t it embarrassing for the Left to continue supporting an
anti-worker government from outside given the recent police crackdown on the
Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India workers in Gurgaon? A: Our support
to the government is based on assurances made in the Common Minimum
Programme. The Gurgaon incident is a reflection of the marginalisation of the
working class by the new liberal framework. We are strongly opposed to this
and will fight it at every level as we have done in Haryana. There can never
be a compromise on this and any policy which requires ratification by
Parliament or a vote in Parliament will have to pass this test before its
support by the Left. Q: Can any multinational company decide to disallow
the constitution of an association of workers? A: The labour laws are
applicable for every company in India, foreign or Indian. In the last session
of Parliament, the UPA government bought the Special Economic Zone Bill in
which it is proposed to suspend labour laws in such zones. This would have
legalised practices like those being followed by the Honda management. It was
a Finance Bill and if it had been defeated, it would have had serious
consequences for the government. But the Left parties took a very clear
position that they would never compromise on this and the responsibility for
the government’s stability lay with the government. Q: What about the
National Commission for Women’s recent meeting of women MPs, activists and
legal experts to discuss the imperative need for passage of the Women’s
Reservation Bill? A: It was an important initiative because for the last
three years, the strength of a joint initiative between the National
Commission for Women, women MPs and women’s organisations was absent and
this weakened political intervention on women’s issues. Such initiatives
should, therefore, continue. Q: Women MPs and activists who took part in
this meeting voiced concern over the Union Home Minister’s proposal on
adding one-third seats to existing seats. What is your opinion? A: The
Women’s Reservation Bill should be passed in its original form. The current
proposal to shift ground and discuss the addition of one-third seats is
impractical and could also be diversionary. The exercise of delimitation is a
contested and disputed area and would give an excuse for further delay of
one-third reservation for women in Parliament and State Assemblies. Q:
Can women having political aspirations hope to get tickets in the Bihar
elections? A: Very unlikely. For there are very high stakes in the Bihar
elections and the present reality of caste equations, the power of criminals
and the use of violence crowds out other issues including women’s
participation. Q: Do you think that the passage of the Domestic Violence
(Prevention) Bill will help check the increasing matrimonial violence that
women have to face? A: Violence cannot be checked through law alone, but
the Bill will offer protection to women who are facing violence by ensuring
their right to residence. The Draft Bill provides for the right to residence
and this is very crucial. According to the National Crime Record Bureau
figures, there were a total of 1,42,035 crimes against women in 2004. Thus,
on an average, 132 women are abused by their husbands and in-laws everyday
and 18 dowry deaths take place everyday. Q: Will the Madhya Pradesh
incident where an Anganwadi worker’s hands were chopped off for standing up
against child marriage affect the workers’ morale? A: I met the worker
in the hospital and took up the case with the police. A clear cover-up was
being attempted which sent the message that the government was not interested
in taking up the issue of child marriages. On the contrary, a senior minister
in the state participated in a mass child marriage ceremony. This is an
example of how the government patronises such practices in the name of
tradition and puts the burden on implementing the law to the most vulnerable
section of working women who is the Anganwadi worker. We have demanded that
all state governments withdraw the circular that mandates Anganwadi workers
to fight child marriages and instead set an example by holding themselves
accountable. Then alone can they get help and cooperation of other sectors.
As far as AIDWA is concerned, we believe the children’s rights are also
being violated. We are running a campaign in the states where this practice
exists. Q: You recently suggested upgradation in the status of the
Chairperson and members of NCW. Would you please elaborate? A: It is
absolutely shocking that after setting up a Commission that is supposed to
deal with discrimination against women, the government is itself setting the
most unfortunate example of discrimination by giving a lower status to the
NCW Chairperson compared with heads of other Commissions.
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Tackling the scourge of
terrorism
The terrorist attacks in Ayodhya and London prove that there has been a global upsurge of terrorism. At the same time, launching avoidable and illegal war on Iraq without any trace of weapons of mass destruction and with Osama Bin Laden still at large raises a vital issue whether war is an answer to terrorism. India’s efforts in the international arena on issues relating to terrorism have been serious, sustained and substantial. It has taken a lead role in developing an effective and viable international rule of law regime to check terrorism. To fill the gaps and loopholes in existing sectoral conventions on terrorism and strengthen the international legal framework In 1996, the United Nations should adopt the Convention on International Terrorism. Terrorism is still prevalent in Jammu and Kashmir, North-East and through Maoist and Naxalite violence in Andhra Pradesh and other states. In Kashmir, it is a proxy war launched by Pakistan which is in no mood to demolish the terrorist infrastructure on its soil. The five elements or five D’s formulated by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan form the backbone of the new anti-terrorism strategy. These are, dissuade disaffected groups from choosing terrorism as a tactic to achieve their goals; deny terrorists the means to carry out their attacks; deter states from supporting terrorists; develop state capacity to prevent terrorism; and defend human rights in the struggle against terrorism. India fulfills all the five elements. Yet, it may not get a permanent seat in the UN Security Council. If she gets one, it will be without veto. The US is openly opposing the expansion of the UNSC. Terrorism can be curbed through a determined united effort. One wonders whether the US is reaping what it has sown. It is paying for having supported the forces of terrorism in Pakistan. India follows the democratic path of dialogue, persuasion and reforms. When constitutional provisions are there to safeguard democracy, rule of law and human rights, there can be no place for terrorism. The media and NGOs are the watchdogs for protecting human rights. We have an independent judiciary to protect human rights and the rule of law. The Supreme Court has given landmark judgements protecting and promoting democracy, human rights and the rule of law. Democracy, human rights, rule of law, development and peace are Panchsheel or five pillars of a civilised society, so preciously preserved in India. Terrorism seeks to pull down each of the above five pillars. Eternal vigilance alone can vanquish the threat of terrorism. Let every citizen remain ever
vigilant.
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Reflections
I had two memorable yet totally different experiences from two separate visits one followed by the other. One to a top school in a metropolitan city: the other in an upcoming post graduate management institute. I was invited to speak at both these places of learning. First about the school. As I arrived at the school, even though it was raining I was received at the gate by the Principal. She expressed her excitement at the expected interaction between me and the children. As we went to her office she said, “all of us know you, hence I have not prepared any introduction”. I was bit surprised. For I do not expect children to know me well at all. At the most they may know that I belong to the Indian Police Service. And that is not enough as an introduction to capture their imagination. I also believe that an appropriate introduction, relevant to the audience is always helpful in setting the tone, especially for children who are a much younger generation. We need not be presumptuous! I suggested to the Principal if she could pick a few of my academic and sports highlights to share with the children to know. Particularly how as a student one can earn two parallel scholarships, academic and sports at the same time. This obviously would not be known to them. But it is important for me to build on this when I interact with the children to inspire them as something which is possible, provided they follow a particular way of student life. She conceded and started to take down notes. After hearing me a bit she admitted that she ought to have done some prior preparation. Meanwhile, we downloaded the bio-data from my website and I tick marked for her the relevant portions for the students. As I got to the hall where the senior school children had assembled, I saw them sitting cross-legged on the floor, rather uncomfortably. And uncomfortable audience does not listen, certainly not the children. They were crouching and restless! Hence I first had to make them sit up to establish a meaningful and an inspiring communication with me. I tried to engage them by an imagery of a school performance in which some were brilliant and some out of step. Through this imagery I tried explaining to the children that you are always under a watch. Be it by your parents or other guardians. And as you grow up by all around you! Each of the students belonged to some crorepati family. I did not feel inspired communicating with them. I had to make a constant effort to keep them with me in eye contact. In the Q&A I was asked, “what is better — political correctness or honesty?” I said, “it depends on what you are looking for? Long term or short term? If it is short term then one goes for political correctness. If one is on a long haul then it would be honesty”. After the interaction when I sat over a little snack with the Principal, she told me that yoga teacher had to be withdrawn for the students would refuse to listen to the teacher. I asked did any of the teachers join in. She said, ‘No’. Well then we know why. She realised! The whole mindset of these rich and ‘considered’ bright children was evident for me. For me it was no small effort to hold their interest. The only other way was to be an entertainer! Now compare it with my second experience or encounter. As I entered a makeshift hall it had 300 graduate students. All sitting cross-legged on a covered floor! Yearning to hear and learn. Looking up straight into my eyes, as if saying, ‘tell us all’. They got the maximum out of me. What made them do so was? Besides all other reasons the most predominant was their own leader. Their own teacher. Professor Pillai who set up a management school just two years ago all with the help of his past students from Symbiosis in Pune. He told me how he selected the students for the course. 160 in a batch! By showing them a film on poverty and environment. Those students who showed high EQ i.e. emotional quotient were tested on IQ i.e. intelligence quotient. All these students swept the road across the institute daily as a part of daily service to the community. All did yoga daily and meditation besides excellence in studies. The institute appeared to be a Gurukul in modern times. They saw the presentations, they asked questions, made notes, and responded as per the situation. They wanted more and more. They were different. They were in a gurukul and getting ready to make the world a better place. For us
all.
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Profile Thackeray reacts sharply: “What is wrong in loving one’s son? Doesn’t Rane love his son? But I am not Dhritarashtra”. The fact, however, remains that Bala Sabhib has pitch-forked Uddhav to the post of Sena’s Executive President and declared him his political heir bypassing, in the process, loyalists like Rane. There is something perceptibly different in Narayan Rane’s exit because he was not just yet another leader in the Shiv Sena. When Chhagan Bhujbal left, Sainks labelled him a traitor, attacked his residence and rallied behind Thackeray. When Sanjay Nirupam, known as Sena’s North Indian face, quit Sainiks said it was good riddance. But when Rane was axed, the general mood in the party was one of shock and dismay. Sainiks felt this will hurt the party badly. The grassroot workers sympathise with Rane and feel he got a raw deal. Having grown with the Sena, Rane has widened the party’s base in Konkan region and Mumbai immensely. It is not a mere coincidence that the Sena has more followers in these two areas than in western Maharashtra. Fifty-three-year-old Rane, who migrated to Mumbai to work in textile mills later became part of the Sena’s “son of the soil” culture. Starting his political career as a Corporator in Mumbai Municipal Corporation, Rane went on to become the Maharashtra’s Chief Minister in 1999. He has been a member of the Maharashtra Assembly without a break since 1990. In Rane, the Sena Chief found not only a trusted deputy but also a leader with a true “street-smart” image. All this changed with Uddhav’s arrival. Till then leaders like Rane never had any problem as it was believed that Raj, Sena Chief’s nephew, and not Uddhav, who would be the torch-bearer for Sena. Rane had excellent rapport with Raj. But with Uddhav’s emergence, both Raj and Rane found themselves in the cold. Rane started feeling ignored when his supporters were denied tickets in the last Assembly elections though he had offered to ‘sponsor’ more than half of the 171 seats the Sena contested. The result: debacle for the Shiv Sena. The gulf further widened when Uddhav tried to replace Rane as the Leader of the Opposition. That was the last straw for Rane who finally decided to take on Uddhav. He expected that given his loyalty and commitment to Sena, Thackeray would stand by him. His hopes were belied when Sena Chief choose to side by his son and dumped a trusted lieutenant like Rane. This was for the first time in his 30-year-long association with Sena that Rane misread his mentor’s mind. Even though Thackeray has always been the undisputed leader, there was a battery of senior leaders whom he always took into confidence. These leaders had free access to the Sena Chief and he never took any major decision without consulting them. But in the changed system, Uddhav became Bala Sahib’s eyes and ears while the senior leaders were marginalised, ending the time-tested tradition of ‘group leadership’. For Rane, a new chapter in his political life has begun. He has landed from one dynastic party to another with much bigger dimension. But dynastic rule in the Congress is different than the Sena’s. Rane will be a great asset in rebuilding the Congress in Maharashtra, particularly in the Konkan region. Some say, Rane may emerge as a future Congress Chief Minister of
Maharashtra.
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Diversities — Delhi Letter August 1 would see the
formal release of Professor Amartya Sen’s book The Argumentative Indian (Penguin)
at the India Habitat Centre. It’s a
collection of his writings on Indian history, culture
and identity. The same evening, he would be speaking on
the theme, "Understanding India". People’s anger against
the establishment, whether it’s to do with the killing
of three innocent school
boys in the Kashmir Valley by the Indian Army
or the gruesome incidents
of violence in the very outskirts of
the capital city of
the country or the tragic reports pouring in
from Mumbai, the human
being stands devastated. This brings me to write
about another book that’s all set for release the
coming week at the India International Centre. It’s journalist Shankar
Vedantam’s The Ghosts of Kashmir (Tara India Research Press).
Rajmohan Gandhi comments about the book and its
contents thus, "stirring evocations where the subcontinent’s
angers dissolve in sadness, and
human pain overcomes political passion". Admiral L.
Ramdas, recipient of Magsaysay Award for Peace and
president of the India-Pakistan People’s Forum
for Peace and Democracy, sums up
the essence of Vedantam’s writings,
by stating that he "has
excelled in succinctly conveying the plight of
the people of Jammu and Kashmir". Yes, Vedantam,
who is a national staff writer at The Washington Post,
takes you to the actual crisis and through
his debut collection of short stories he focusses on the
conflict between India and Pakistan over Kashmir.
"Neighbours make great
friends and vicious enemies. Ordinary Indians
and Pakistanis in these stories find themselves
torn between hostility and affinity, drawn
together by common cultural histories and divided by
poisons of politics and pride". UPA govt’s one year of governanceStill along the strain of people’s anger, are we doing just about anything for the release of that anger? It’s really frustrating and upsetting to know that even a big body like the National Human Rights Commission cannot investigate directly any violence-related crimes committed by security personnel in any of the troubled states of the country, because of the Special Acts and many other problems. This summer, soon after the UPA government at the Centre had completed its one year in office, there was a meeting of some leading NGOs and academics of the country. Thankfully, there were no "jai ho" sessions, but they were critically accessing the one year of governance. Giving it a bad report card. As the well known human rights activist and academic Kamal Mitra Chenoy said, "This government could have empowered the National Human Rights Commission and the State Human Rights Commissions to investigate military and paramilitary committed offences and human right violations being committed by them. There has been no review of the POTA cases, no follow up on the Manorama Devi rape case, those Special Acts still continue to be there and none of the bad Acts have been removed."
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Kashmir
Diary I escorted a couple of young Kashmiri
women a few days ago on a shopping trip in New Delhi. They were there
to purchase dresses and jewellery for a wedding trousseau. At
one rather large store in South Delhi, they were looking at endless
pieces of fabric for lehangas and salwar suits when a
Pandit came around with charanamrit after a puja he had
performed near the store’s entrance. He offered it to one of the
Kashmiri women, both Muslims. She respectfully accepted and placed
some on her head. I was surprised for a moment but then I remembered
another young Muslim Kashmiri who had visited Delhi last winter. He
told me of participating in a havan that was held in the Pandit
house at which he was staying. He had not only sat with the family
around the havan kund through the day, he had retained for
several weeks the moli thread that was tied around his wrist
for the ritual oblations. He seemed quite proud to have been accepted
into the religious life of the Hindu family. As for that family, he
told me that his participating in the havan had changed the
attitude of his host’s parents, who had hitherto been resentful of
Muslims owing to the cruel violence that Pandits faced in the valley
in 1990. It seems clear that the anti-Pandit hatred that had animated
many Kashmiri Muslims at that time is long over. Even the All Parties
Hurriyat Conference led by Mirwaiz Umer Farooq warmly met a delegation
of Pandit migrants that visited Srinagar last fortnight. The Pandits
were welcomed with garlands and wide smiles and encouraged to return
to the valley. However, the spontaneous responses of these young
Muslims is a more vital indicator of the future than the Hurriyat’s
political gestures. Although they are from very different backgrounds,
both these friends preferred to stay with Pandit friends, even though
they both have relatives in Delhi. Indeed, the young woman who had
gone to shop for her wedding stayed with the children of a man who had
for more than 50 years been like a father to her mother. "She is
my emotional daughter and this is my biological daughter," he
says, comparing the bride’s mother with his own daughter. The
extent to which such young Kashmiri Muslims reach out to Pandits may
be an important political indicator in the current context but the
relative openness of Kashmiri Muslims towards other religious
traditions is not new. Indeed, the reason they find it so easy to
participate in Hindu rituals is that their own religiosity is similar.
Islam as it is practised in Kashmir is far more lyrical and
ritualistic than Islamic practice in most parts of the world. Indeed,
many Wahabi and other Puritanical Muslims find it downright
heretical. A Muslim friend told me that when, several decades ago,
the head of the Cairo-based Al Azhar Theological University had
visited Kashmir, he was shocked at the worshipful reverence Kashmiris
show toward the relic at Hazratbal, a hair of the Prophet’s beard.
It should immediately be buried, he had advised. To him, reverence for
the relic smacked of idolatry. That, however, is only the tip of the
iceberg. That cleric would have been appalled at the similarity of
many other aspects of Kashmiri Muslims’ religiosity to what he would
have considered paganism. Kashmiris very often sing hymns in
congregations at mosques after namaz. These auraat-e-fathiya
hymns, unique to Kashmir, are reminiscent of Hindu bhajans.
The practices at Kashmir’s ziarats (graves or relics of holy
men) are even more similar to Hindu worship. For example, at the ziarat
of Sheikh Hamza, commonly known in Kashmir as Makhdoom sahib,
hundreds of devotees daily sit and meditate, pray or read the Quran
while others sing hymns and yet others circumambulate the shrine
clockwise. Many devotees take a small amount of holy water and drink
it respectfully, light agarbatti sticks and offer some money to
the keepers of the shrine who hand out sweet puffed rice — very much
like Hindu prasad. Indeed, the shrine keepers’ demands for
offerings too often remind one of priests at Hindu temples. Strobe
Talbott, who was the US Deputy Secretary of State in the Clinton
Administration, once said that Kashmir was far too complex a problem
to compare with any other international issue. Certainly, despite
every effort by Pakistan for almost 60 years now, Kashmir just refuses
to fit into the Two-Nation Theory paradigm that seeks to reduce the
subcontinent to Hindu-Muslim terms. The fact is that Kashmiris are
insecure about their distinct identity and that insecurity at times
gets expressed in communal terms. However, to view communal conflict
as the primary issue in Kashmir would be a great mistake. In fact, it
is Kashmir’s practice of Islam that places it at the heart of the
subcontinent’s eclectic diversity.
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We owe all our success to all of our failures. — Book of quotations on success
One fails over and over again, that is why one succeeds. — Book of quotations on success
The road to amrit is strewn with discarded desires. — The Upanishadas
Luck is not experiencing obstacles, it’s the ability to overcome them. —Book of quotations of success
May my ears only hear good. — The Upanishadas
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Narayan Rane, who slogged for 30 years to build Shiv Sena and, now unceremoniously thrown out of the party, likens his one-time mentor, Bal Thackeray, to legendary Dhritarashtra. In the epic Mahabharata, the blind king’s love for his progeny led to the great battle which destroyed his 100 sons. Nothing upsets Bala Sahib more than being called Dhritarashtra, ostensibly, for the blind love of his son, Uddhav.