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Attempts to derail N-deal Killers at large |
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Rebuilding confidence
Policy to fight Naxalism
Looking at us
Delivering services to citizens Please stop praying for me, now! Chatterati
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Attempts to derail N-deal As expected, a seesaw battle is on in Washington over the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal. While the George Bush administration is, no doubt, leaving nothing to chance in getting an India-specific amendment in the 1954 American Atomic Energy Act passed by the US Congress, the detractors of the agreement are raising baseless objections to kill the deal in its infancy. The change in the law being sought will not be a problem in the Senate. It is the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the US Congress, where the battle demands special skills for a decisive victory. Most members of the Lower House are yet to get convinced about the merits of the deal. Some Congressmen like Mr Tom Lantos, Chairman (Democrat) of the powerful House International Relations Committee, are trying to find alibis like recent joint exercises between the Indian and Iranian navies to deny Congressional support to the nuclear cooperation programme. There is, however, no need to get pessimistic as a “very broad support for the Indo-US partnership” can be easily seen in Washington, as pointed out by Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran during his just concluded US visit which he undertook to help defeat the designs of India-baiters. If people like former US President Jimmy Carter are indulging in scare-mongering, misleading the US lawmakers about the implications of the deal, there are personalities like ex-Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who are of the view that the civilian nuclear deal “promises to make a seminal contribution to international peace and prosperity”. Dr Kissinger’s arguments cannot be dismissed as being of no consequence as he is admired the world over for his understanding of strategic affairs. Some of those who are critical of India like Mr David Albright, head of the think-tank Institute for Science and International Security, have tried to belittle India’s record as a responsible nuclear weapon power. But their logic is hollow, as India’s impeccable credentials in the area of non-proliferation are too well known by now. Such people have the habit of looking at India vis-à-vis Pakistan, which has been found to be involved in non-proliferation activities through the A. Q. Khan nuclear walmart. The Bush administration will have to successfully blunt the efforts of the sceptics of the nuclear deal. After all, its rejection by Congress will be more embarrassing for the US than for India. Hopefully, the US Congress will not let President George W. Bush down. |
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Killers at large There seems to be an acquittal epidemic sweeping the country. The Best Bakery case, the BMW case, the Jessica Lall murder case, the Priyadarshini Mattoo murder case and now even the Irfan murder case. The accused are going scot-free repeatedly. Mind you, these are only those cases which got wide publicity because either the victims or the culprits were well-known. There are many more of the same kind which never come to the limelight. If even this does not move the authorities, the public faith in the judicial system will totally evaporate. One cannot expect the Supreme Court to step in in each such case. In fact, the need for it to do so in the Best Bakery case itself was a sad commentary on the state of affairs in the country. Unfortunately, the situation has not improved even after that. With such a mess even in criminal investigation, one can well imagine the rot in the investigation of civil cases. Here the finger is not being pointed at any particular case, but at the overall situation. The unfortunate fact is that the criminal justice system leaves much to be desired. The investigators appear to suffer from the lack of training and motivation and at times tend to succumb to bribery, making a mockery of the legal system. The way the prosecution presents its case often reeks of incompetence. That is the familiar scenario; often it seems obvious that the police is actually batting for the accused. The situation goes completely out of hand when state government officials themselves play a brazenly partisan role, as it happened in the Gujarat riots cases. In such a dismal scenario, the common man feels totally abandoned and comes to the conclusion — not entirely wrong — that the whole talk of justice and fairplay is a sham. That is what leads to many volatile and disillusioned people deciding to settle scores themselves—as is shown in Bollywood films. The situation has become so bleak that even a day’s delay in applying correctives will be fatal. But who bothers? |
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Rebuilding
confidence Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Dhruv has got a shot in the arm with the Cabinet Committee on Security clearing the purchase of 20 additional Dhruvs at a cost of Rs 955 crore. For Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), the order is a statement of confidence in its flagship product, and it comes at a crucial time – only a few weeks ago, the entire fleet flying with the forces, about four dozen choppers, was grounded after a couple of accidents. A defect in the tail rotor was identified as the source of the problem. Both HAL and the forces subsequently made all the right noises about the problem being rectified and the fleet being well on the way to being back in the air. Our defence public sector units (DPSUs) and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) laboratories have always sought firm orders, in sufficient numbers, in order to keep various weapons platform programmes going. They have argued, and with some justification, that orders are necessary not only to keep the programme viable, but also to sustain the capabilities, expertise and knowledge networks that would otherwise be disrupted and dissipated. This has happened in two well-documented cases – the HDW submarine and the HF-24 Marut aircraft. With the end of these programme, an entire knowledge base vanished. The forces, on the other hand, need reliable and high-performance platforms. When required equipment is being indigenously sourced, it is the job of the DPSUs and the DRDO labs to give them the best. Great synergies and breakthroughs will not happen without concerted and joint effort. Now that the orders are indeed coming, the production of confidence-inducing aircraft, tanks and missiles will generate more orders, creating that sorely needed lift into a positive and energising cycle. HAL and the ALH should now show the way. The next batch should not be anything less than outstanding.
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For Justice, though she’s painted blind,/Is to the weaker side
inclined.
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Policy to fight Naxalism
On March 13, 2006, the Union Home Minister announced a 14-point policy on Naxalism in the Lok Sabha as outlined in a booklet, “Status Paper on the Naxal Problem”. In an effort to counter political criticism and allay the oft- repeated concerns of knowledgeable and informed circles, who have moaned about the lack of a Central policy and action plan on fast spreading Naxalite violence in the country, the Home Minister stated, “…We were telling them that we do have a policy and we are following the directions given in that policy and yet every now and then we were told that we lack a policy. So we thought of putting the policy in a booklet form and giving it to the (honourable) Members.” A policy is a course of (expedient) action, a programme or a strategy. It is supposed to be formulated on the basis of all related operational and political factors and reflects a fair amount of consensus. The status paper, unfortunately, falls far too short in those terms. Speaking on the very day (March 13) when the Home Minister spoke in Parliament, Mr Raman Singh, Chief Minister of the worst-Naxalite-affected state, Chhattisgarh, said there was “confusion” in the policy response to the Naxalite threat and there was little or no coordination among the affected states. On a number of occasions before he had called for a national policy on the Naxalite problem. Earlier, on August 21, 2005, Mr Sitaram Yechury of the CPM had made a diametrically opposite statement in Hyderabad that “it was not possible to have a national policy on the Naxalite issue”. It is not known when the Union Government framed this counter-Naxalite policy. Most analysts are apprehensive of the quality of inputs and the level at which these were received, and whether the affected states were consulted adequately. It is also not known whether the policy to tackle the most serious internal security problem confronting India currently was discussed and approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security. However, now that a policy is in the public realm, it would be useful to make a preliminary assessment of some of its aspects. Point III of the policy reads: “Naxalism being an inter-state problem, the states will adopt a collective approach and pursue a coordinated response to counter it”. The government had made similar assertions in Parliament on different occasions. However, the contradictions and lack of coordination are self-evident. Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu have proscribed the CPI-Maoist. Orissa was against such a ban earlier but is mulling over its revision now. West Bengal has “ruled out” the possibility of proscribing the Maoists. Mr Raman Singh complains of “confusion” in the policy response with no coordination among the affected states and little guidance from the Union Government. “We need an integrated plan to tackle this problem among the affected states, and under this plan there has to be joint action…”, he states. Point V of the policy says: “There will be no peace dialogue by the affected states with the Naxal groups unless the latter agree to give up violence and arms.” But, speaking on the sidelines of the Conference of Chief Ministers of the Naxalite-affected states on September 19, the Home Minister said: “If they drop arms, it is good. But if they want to carry arms and still talk … we don’t have any difficulty. We are not afraid to do so.” Was it in line with this idea that the Andhra Pradesh government implemented a peace process with the CPI-Maoist and the Janasakthi, allowed them to bear arms brazenly, and sat at the negotiating table with them on October 15-18, 2004? The present U-turn reveals the Central government’s confusion and betrays a lack of consistency in policy formulation. Arms or no arms, a dialogue with the Naxalites and Maoists would be futile at present because they believe in talks as a “war by other means”. Point VIII of the policy says: “Efforts will continue to be made to encourage local resistance groups against the Naxalites but in a manner that the villagers are provided adequate security cover and the area is effectively dominated by the security forces”. This can be a dangerous course and one wonders if it has political and operational consensus. The Chhattisgarh example is becoming counter-productive. In that state, a peace campaign, known in Gondi as Salwa Judum (Purification Hunt), has been continuing since June 2005 under the leadership of opposition leader and Congress legislator Mahendra Karma. (Here one is reminded of Bhindranwale in Panjab.) The state government supports this movement. However, contrary to the government claims, ground reports indicate that the campaign is neither voluntary nor spontaneous. Some people in the tribal population have been designated as Special Police Officers (SPOs) and given arms to resist the Maoists. In sum, the tribal people have been set off against one another. This action has resulted in the uprooting of 46,000 tribals from their homes, and the tribal population continues to face repeated reprisal attacks by the Maoists in the camps. There is a possibility that the armed SPOs at some stage may get out of the control of the security forces and create lawlessness. Many experts feel that the movement should have been confined to encouraging “peaceful revolts” by the people, as was done successfully in numerous villages in Andhra Pradesh. Point XI of the policy notes: “The Government of Andhra Pradesh has an effective surrender and rehabilitation policy for the Naxalites and has produced good results over the years. The other states should adopt a similar policy.” The “package” seems quite favourable to make Naxalites surrender. But the surrender policy has also created a small band of criminals who run protection rackets and have entered the lucrative real estate business, sometimes by eliminating business rivals. The implementation of the package is known to be tardy and caught in the bureaucratic red-tape. As a result, some surrendered Naxalites have already returned to the Naxal-fold. The lesson, therefore, is that great care needs to be exercised to ensure that there is effective and speedy implementation of the package; surrendered militants do not indulge in criminal activities; they do not return to the Naxal fold; and hardened, serious offenders of law are not allowed to go unpunished. Under all circumstances surrender and rehabilitation should be accepted on a case-by-case basis. With the Maoists and the Naxalites conducting spectacular attacks one after another, a serious, well-informed debate is essential on the Union Government’s policy on Naxalism. There is no time to score brownie political points. The policy requires an urgent political consensus. A well-coordinated Centre-state action plan is essential to tackle the menace.n General Malik, a former Chief of Army Staff, is President, Institute of Security Studies, Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi, and Mr Ramana is a Research Fellow.
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Looking at us
I
have in my possession a little book entitled “In India” written by one G.W. Steevens and published in 1899.
The first sight of India, says the author, is “amazing, entrancing, stupefying”. Bombay, where he landed, presented itself to him as a city of “monstrous contrasts”. He compares the elegance of the public buildings along the sea front with the lowly huts of matting, thatched with leaves. He then plunges into a description of the various types of humanity that he sees in the city. He picks out the Arab horse-dealer of whom he says: “Compared with the Indians, his mein is high, his movements free and dignified, his features strongly cut and resolute”. Then there are the Baghdad Jews, the Afghan money-lenders, the Maharashtrians and the Gujaratis. He is greatly impressed by the Parsis and says: “To the nervelessness of the Bombay natives one race furnishes an exception — the Parsi. He walks out with his wife — a refined looking creature in a pale, pink or lemon-yellow gown, with a pea-green, crimson-edged shawl passed over her head — to hear the band at sunset, and talks to her as a man might talk to a friend.” Next to the Parsis, the author admires the Rajputs whom he encounters while visiting Jodhpur as a state guest. After expatiating on the excellent stable kept by the maharajah and his prowess at polo and pig-sticking, he says: “Conceiving the British to be the only true sportsmen in the world besides themselves, the men of Marwar are loyal beyond suspicion to the suzerain”. Delhi, the author calls “the most historic city in all historic India”. He gives a brief account of its beginnings and its fate under different rulers. There are three Calcuttas, says Steevens. “The winter capital of India, the metropolis of the largest white population in the country, and the tightest-packed human sardine tin known outside China”. The book contains an interesting description of the administrative machinery of the time with the district officer as its pivot. There are chapters devoted to “native self-government” meaning municipalities, education, justice and the frontier question. In conclusion, the author calls India a “land of ironies”. Other countries, he says, “have a measure of consistency. They are either wholly civilised or wholly barbarous, affect splendour or accept squalor. India sees stateliness in the filthiest faded silk, shot with pearls”. The last paragraph reads: “It is far too early to despair of India yet. It is not only the land of ironies; it is also the land of patience”. I couldn’t agree
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Delivering services to citizens The Punjab Finance Minister in his budget for 2006-07, has proposed “privatisation of rural health services”. He plans to hand over rural health institutions to village panchayats which would receive a lump sum from the government to pay medical professionals who, in turn, would be responsible for running the medical unit in the village. This proposal was aimed at bringing the village local body, the state government and the medical service providers in a mutual system of direct responsibility and accountability. While specific and logistical details are contained in the relevant notifications, there is no doubt that the Finance Minister has attempted a new method of delivering health services to the rural people, especially the poorer sections. This approach of bypassing, as it were, the traditional health delivery system and opting instead for a public-private partnership under the regulation of a decentralised political set-up viz. the panchayats, is a decision of farreaching consequence. It is important not only by itself, but also because it has initiated a debate on the appropriate delivery mechanism for social welfare and poverty alleviation schemes. The record of the State in delivery of basic services, especially to the poor, has at best been mixed. To quote an example, a 1999 survey by a Probe team found that in random visits to 200 primary schools (in India), there was no teaching activity in half of them at the time of visit. There are numerous other examples which indicate how social services funded through public funds and delivered (or supplied or works executed) through government or its agencies have failed to deliver the desired outcomes. Anybody who has been to a public hospital without a recommendation would have an experience of the shortage of drugs and equipment and unresponsive, often arrogant behaviour of the staff. Similarly, there are enough examples of illegal and corrupt usage of funds meant to be used on various rural poverty alleviation programmes. What is even more disturbing is that while service outcomes for general citizens are usually below expectations, the delivery outcomes for the poor people are much worse. In Pune, low-income purchasers of water were reported to have paid up to 30 times the sale price of the metered water that middle and upper income households used. The traditional public administrative model of service delivery has, therefore more often than not, failed to deliver the desired results. A rigid hierarchy-driven, rule-bound, top-down system lacking accountability to the final consumers (the poor) leads to many intended and unintended follies. On the one hand, there is the problem of inefficiency, waste and non-adherence to objective and, on the other, there is downright rent seeking as is evident from the large-scale corruption in many poverty alleviation schemes. It is this failure of the traditional delivery model that has forced development practitioners worldwide to search for alternative solutions so as to maximise developmental objectives The simple question that has been sought to be answered is whether there are alternative modes of service delivery whereby traditional bureaucratic systems can be bypassed and effective services can be delivered to citizens, especially to the poor. There are no easy or single solutions to these questions. A wide variety of solutions have been experimented with. Civil service reforms, privatisation of services, democratisation, decentralisation, sub-contracting, making use of NGO services, empowering the poor, participation, social mobilisation, grouping of the user poor and so on are just a few of the attempted solutions. The success of most schemes and techniques is difficult to replicate and scaling, therefore, becomes difficult, if not impossible. There is still no single recipe for success. The World Bank, in its World Development Report 2004, has developed a set of conditions that determine the success of a model. The starting premise of the World Bank’s accountability based approach is that the only hindrance to better performance is lack of accountability among various agencies. In case of public provisioning, accountability between the providers and the citizens is almost always indirect, though the state, which is expected to modify the behaviour of the providers through a suitable fiat. In practice, however, this route of accountability is both long and tenuous and the results are not always predictable. In particular, what can be safely said is that there is no direct accountability route between the provider (the bureaucracy) and the receiver (the citizen). The citizen cannot stop using the services — it is a natural monopoly. All issues of improving services, must, therefore, centre on improving the accountability, usually direct, of the provider to the citizen. For a variety of reasons, the traditional publicly funded — publicly delivered service delivery model is flawed. It is held in low esteem by a majority of the public. Hence any talk of privatisation or privatisation-like activity is often thought of as being the ultimate solution for all the above ills. In practice, however, a flawed market can deliver results far inferior to that of a flawed public utility. There is no doubt that the market responds quickly and efficiently to the demands of consumers. Particularly, in the case of service delivery, it can introduce the crucial and long absent element of accountability. However, to succeed, the private model, requires many preconditions to be fulfilled. The role of the government in monitoring and regulating becomes even more crucial. A well-meaning, pro-poor government can ideally harness the equity concern of the public sector and the efficiency of the market. ——The writer is an IAS officer of the Jammu and Kashmir cadre |
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Please stop praying for me, now! We are praying for you ... you will be in my prayers.” In this ostentatiously religious country, such phrases drop routinely from the lips before an operation. But do prayers make any difference? If a major scientific study here is to be believed, the answer is, no. Indeed, if a patient knows there is organised prayer on his or her behalf, such intercession might actually make matters worse. These are the main, if highly tentative, findings of one of the most ambitious exercises yet to evaluate the power of therapeutic prayer. The $ 2.5 million study was done over a decade at six major US medical centres and involved 1,800 patients who had heart bypass surgery. The patients — 65 per cent of whom said they believed in the power of prayer — were split into three groups. Two were prayed for, the third was not. Of those who were prayed for, one group was told so, and the others were told merely that they may or may not be prayed for. Three congregations were recruited to do the praying, one Protestant and two from Catholic monasteries, and given the names of patients. Prayers began the night before surgery, and continued for two weeks after, using the same intercession, for “a successful surgery and a quick healthy recovery with no complications”. After 30 days, researchers went through the results, or lack of them. There was no significant difference between the groups, they found. This study is no more likely than its many predecessors to resolve the issue. Indeed, sceptics and believers in the power of prayer claim prayer is a supernatural force, beyond the reach of science. Thus, even the most scrupulous research is ultimately pointless. “God must be smiling broadly,” said Sister Carol Rennie, the prioress of St Paul’s Monastery in St Paul, Minnesota, one of three praying congregations. “It [the study] tells me frankly that God’s way of working with people is a mystery, and that technology can’t determine the effects of prayer.” But it has raised intriguing questions about whether people should be told others are praying for them. A slightly higher proportion of whose who knew they were the subject of prayers suffered complications than those who did not. The difference was very small — 59 per cent compared to 51 per cent — but researchers wonder if the problems among those who knew they were being prayed for reflected in part a “performance anxiety,” said Charles Bethea, an Oklahoma cardiologist and an author of the study. “It may have made them uncertain, wondering, “Am I so sick they had to call in a prayer team?’” That is conjecture. But two things are certain. A study supposed to be the last word on the subject will be followed by others. And, whether or not it works, Americans will keep on praying. By arrangement with
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Chatterati I am just back from Melbourne where the city and its people were overawed with the spectacular Indian pageantry at the Games closing ceremony. It was a proud moment for the country when Sheila Dixit was handed over the white flag of the Commonwealth Games to be held in Delhi in the year 2010. I think we were all a bit apprehensive when we boarded the flight from Delhi to Melbourne but were pleasantly surprised when nothing went wrong. We were made to feel at home and hotels, meals, tours, entrance tickets and even the right mix of people at gatherings were looked into in great detail by the Indian team. Suresh Kalmadi, Randhir Singh, Aslam Khan, Baldev Singh, Amrit Mathur and their team got a standing ovation from all. Hospitality was at its best with the sophisticated Farooq Abdullah displaying a sporting spirit to dance on stage with the “rustic” Milkha Singh under Shamak Dawar and Sonu Nigam’s directions. The beauty of Melbourne was breath taking and its people were admirable. They left work for a week and wanted to take their guests all over their town free of cost. Taxis were on call for nothing, trams & buses were also free, for registered “Delegates”. Volunteers did all the work there. Gold, Silver and Bronze medals we got back in plenty. The only missing link here but not one that was missed, was that Union Sports Minister Mani Shanker Aiyar and his Secretary for sports were not there. Shiela’s team of Delhi’s ministers, MLAs and officials was impressive in their turnout. The Indian dinner hosted by Sunil Munjal, President CII, was a gala event with the Indian glitterati of young politicians, film stars and sportspersons dazzling one and all. The speeches were crisp and impressive. The dignity and authority exhibited by the Indian delegates was laudable and clearly visible in their meetings with the Earl of Sussex, Prince Edward and other Commonwealth delegates. The Indian delegation had the right blend of youth, intelligence, glamour and dynamism and clearly left an impact on the foreign delegates. With India emerging as an economic power and Indians excelling themselves at various international forums, the respect with which Indians are viewed abroad was visible at hand. In fact, it is the others who now want to humour us and dine and wine with us, and even the tables are changed accordingly. The Indian Government and the games authority have an uphill task in front of them but they have the grit and strength to rise to the occasion. If a relatively small town like Melbourne could organise the Games with corporate backing, I am sure we can do a better job. The expectations after the spectacular Indian extravaganza at the games ending are at an all time high. The Australians will always remember the Bollywood dances by the likes of Saif Ali Khan, Rani Mukerjee and Aishwarya Rai accompanied by the fireworks and colours. The captivating 11 minute ceremony is still the talk of Melbourne today. Back in Delhi, the Commonwealth Games 2010 will really test the Indian Government. Delhi’s infrastructure has to be upgraded still further and the plans on anvil would require time bound implementation —on the Games village, venues, airport, hotels, transport, and traffic management. Best of luck to the team.
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From the pages of War scare and prices The first evil effect of the war scare in India is a sharp rise in the prices of foodstuffs and fuel. A general feeling of nervousness prevails. It is true that every day that passes increases the gravity of the situation in Europe. But there appears to be no danger of an immediate clash. Of course, Germany is anxious to see that the dry powder is ignited at once. She had no other escape from the economic mess she has created. But even her most intimate friends are reluctant to co-operate with her in this matter. Singly she will not venture to start a fight. That fact alone cannot, however, be reassuring to the people at large. So long as the war preparations go on the war scare will remain. Unfortunately, eminent military men are contributing to its perpetuation.
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The road to amrit is strewn with discarded desires.
When a person is strong, valorous, skilled and intelligent, why question his lineage? Like a river’s noble course, deeds should proclaim the warrior. Who wants to know the river’s source?
Do not seek your friends among the the evil doers. They may have money and other comforts but if they have been acquired in the ways of sin, take care to avoid them.
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