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Hijacking national politics
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Making service commissions
fair and impartial Tokenism won’t do On Record
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Hijacking national politics It is, therefore, almost certain that general election results to the Lok Sabha from UP in 2009 would materially affect the formation of a government at the Centre then. Let us examine their effect on the four major players at the national level — the UPA coalition, the NDA coalition, the Leftists group and the Bahujan Samaj Party. In the UPA, the Indian National Congress is the leader. Its present strength in the Lok Sabha is 146 with nine MPs from UP. Unless its strength crosses the 200 mark, it will have to depend on critical support from other like-minded parties and the Leftists. An optimistic estimate can be that it may take away about 50 seats from the BJP in MP, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Gujarat. But this gain can be offset by losses in AP of about 10-15 seats; and having to give about 10 extra seats to the NCP in Maharashtra. Let us thus assume that the Congress strength will barely go up to 200 seats. Even then, it will have to depend on other parties for critical support. It already has the bitter experience of paying the price for the Leftists’ outside support. The RJD strength of 23 MPs is likely to go down steeply in Bihar. Even the DMK strength may be reduced by the AIADMK’s challenge. Thus, unless the Congress strength of nine MPs from UP goes up substantially, the UPA coalition strength would not be better at all than what it is now. In fact, it is very likely to be less stable than at present because the Congress will like to have BSP as a partner in the UPA. Taking note of Ms Mayawati’s unabashed ambition and the confidence gained by her thumping victory in the state elections, the BSP will fully leverage its position in the UPA to gain more power to itself. Thus, UP politics would very critically affect the UPA’s fortunes in general and of the Congress in particular. The prospects are rather bleak as the Congress strength is unlikely to go above 10 in UP keeping in view its performance in the Assembly elections. As its likely partner in the UPA, the BSP would be most unwilling to concede to the Congress more seats for the simple reason that Ms Mayawati would like to build and protect the BSP’s base in UP to gain and strengthen its position at the national level. UP will affect the NDA in a much more harsh way. The BJP will find it very difficult to compensate its losses to the Congress in MP, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Karnataka by gains from the Congress in other states. It will, therefore, be far more dependent on UP to increase its present strength of 10, which however, seems to be almost impossible considering the opposition it will have to face from the BSP and the SP. Some of its allies like the JD (U) and the JD (S) might improve their position but not very substantially. The recently formed Third Front could also eat into the NDA’s strength. Therefore, unless there are miracle results from UP to give the BJP 40-50 seats, the NDA coalition will be in dire straits. The Leftists groups have their strength concentrated in West Bengal and Kerala. UP results will in a way affect their present strength of about 60 MPs in the Lok Sabha. For the BSP, which is now emerging as a national force, UP elections will be very material. Ms Mayawati has reportedly started identifying about 220 Lok Sabha seats all over India, which if won, can give her a commanding position to form government at the Centre with herself as the Prime Minister. For this, the quota of seats won in UP will be very critical. She will, certainly, try to get more than 60 seats from UP which the Congress used to do till 1970s. UP has already hijacked Indian politics now which will become clear from 2009 onwards when the next general elections take place. Is it fair and healthy for Indian democracy if only one state has the capacity at the expense of other states to materially control our federal democratic structure? UP has 80 seats in the Lok Sabha out of 545 seats. The next state, after UP, to have more number of seats in the Lok Sabha, is Maharashtra with 48 seats. Three other states have 40 plus seats. All others have below 30 seats each. UP is a monster — politically, administratively, socially and economically. Good governance, social justice, law and order do not figure in its politics. What dominates this state are five ‘M’ — Mandir, Mandal, Minorities, Money-power and Muscle-power. It is the largest state both population-wise and area-wise. It is an administrative nightmare to govern this state with about 75 districts; 32 per cent of its population is below poverty line as against the national average of 24 per cent; infant mortality rate is second from the bottom; and in per capita income it is fourth from the bottom. It is rich in resources, but its contribution to the country’s GDP is far below than that of Maharashtra, a much smaller state. The Ram Mandir-Babri Masjid controversy starting here completely vitiated the communal situation in the country. The OBC problem in the state mandalised the casteist situation in the country to such an extent that we started wondering which is more vicious — casteism or communalism. Most political parties started certain practices to woo castes, minorities, OBCs to gain votes in UP and these practices spread out to other parts of the country which severely affected the country’s socio-political fabric. In a federal nation like ours, no state should have more than 10 per cent of the seats in the Lok Sabha. Therefore, we must seriously start considering dividing UP into two states. Mr K.M. Panniker, Member, the States Re-organisation Commission, appointed in 1950s, suggested dividing UP into two states if the state was not to use undue influence at the Centre. These smaller states will be in a better position to be administered well and to accelerate economic development. But a far better advantage will be that there will remain no state which will have more than 10 per cent of seats in the Lok Sabha and thus will have a domineering influence in the formation and working of the Central government. n
The writer is a former Cabinet Secretary to the Government of India and Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister
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Profile Her best defence came from her arch rival Begum Khaleda Zia. The two women have reportedly not spoken to each other throughout the past 15 years, when they alternated in power but now they have joined hands against the military supported regime. Khaleda too faces charges of extortion and abuse of power and she could also be detained soon. Both the former prime ministers deny any wrongdoing and say the charges are designed to force them out of politics. Expressing distress over the “disgraceful” arrest of her erstwhile rival, Khaleda described her as “a former Prime Minister, chief of a political party (Awami League), daughter of a national leader, an aged woman as well as a distinguished citizen of the country”. Sheikh Hasina’s detention destroyed the image of the government at home and abroad. Besides being the Prime Minister for a full five-year term (1996-2001), Hasina is the daughter of Banga Bandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rehman, the moving spirit behind the liberation of Bangladesh. Remember the murky night of August 15, 1975; Sheikh Mujib, then the President of the liberated Bangladesh and his family members were gunned down in a bloody coup. She and her sister, Sheikh Rehena, survived because they were at that time away in Germany. Hasina faced the catastrophe with courage and determination. She moved to London and then was in self-exile in India before returning to Bangladesh. Since then, life has never been normal for Sheikh Hasina; it was a saga of ups and downs, of strife and turmoil. When Sheikh Mujib was imprisoned in Pakistan, Hasina, then a young mother, was under house arrest in Dhaka with her mother, brothers and sisters. Hasina’s involvement in politics before her father’s assassination was minimal, as Sheikh Kamal, her brother, was touted as Mujib’s successor. Then everything changed; she became the inheritor of her father’s legacy. Her political and personal destiny was irrevocably altered on that fateful night. She again faces, perhaps, the most daunting challenge of her three-decade-long vibrant political career. Hasina will turn 60 in August and incidentally, next year, the Awami League, the party which led Bangladesh to Independence, also celebrates its 60th anniversary. The interim government strove hard to ensure that Hasina remained in exile. It had similar plans for Khaleda Zia also, contending that political reforms would be difficult if the two former Prime Ministers stayed on the scene. So much so that the military-backed regime tried to dissuade international airlines from carrying Sheikh Hasina from a holiday abroad to Bangladesh and also tried to persuade Khaleda Zia to leave for Saudi Arabia. Hasina spent almost two months abroad and got stranded in London as the virtual military regime tried to force her into exile. International pressure and opposition at home, however, forced the government to abandon its exile strategy. On arrival at Dhaka’s Zia International Airport in a blaze of publicity she exclaimed: “It’s my country, it’s my home. I am so excited to be able to return to my country”. The former Prime Minister did not retreat after her return but more vociferously campaigned for an early election, suggesting that the military-backed caretaker government did not have a mandate to govern for a long time. She doubted if the government would hold elections before the end of 2008 as promised, arguing that it is too long a period to remain in power without any accountability. She intensified the campaign and did what has long been regarded as “taboo”; she publicly accused the defence intelligence agency, the DGFI, of meddling in politics and arresting and torturing politicians. Also she charged the agency with efforts to make or break political parties. It became clear to observers in Dhaka then that it was only a matter of time before she was arrested. Hasina’s arrest indicates a significant trend in Bangladesh politics. The message of the caretaker government is loud and clear to the Awami League — change the party’s leadership before elections. Hasina has the people’s support and there is a feeling in Dhaka that if Hasina remains at the helm of politics, the reformists would lose the battle. She is in a position to directly appeal to the masses. n |
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— President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam — Union Women and Child Development Minister A task force is giving a second look at the sex education module. We want the message to be loud and clear for the senior secondary students to understand. There should be no shadow boxing about HIV/AIDS. — Sujatha
Rao, Though I have promised to share power with the BJP, I also need to respect the decision of my party. — Karnataka Chief Minister, — Kabir Bedi — Sushmita Sen
— Film director Karan Johar |
Making service commissions
fair and impartial THE State Public Service Commissions (SPSCs) have been deteriorating in terms of competence and independence. They seem to have failed to recommend candidates for civil posts fairly and objectively. The system of recruitment for state civil services needs a complete overhaul. The two committees of the Punjab and Haryana High Court appointed to look into the modus operandi of the Punjab Public Service Commission during Ravi Sidhu’s chairmanship voiced grave concern about the evaluation of the papers for PCS (Judicial and Executive) services and termed the entire process of recruitment as a fraud upon the deserving candidates and the system. The malaise is not confined to Punjab and Haryana alone. It is endemic in all other states. Clearly, appointments by dubious means open the gateway to corruption. Civil servants recruited under extraneous considerations try to recover the money they have invested to get the jobs. For them, every decision will be an opportunity to promote nepotism and make money. Perverted merit poses serious challenge to the survival and sustainability of governance and the democratic foundation of public administration. The spoil system is being reincarnated in the name of merit. The SPSCs’ lost glory can be revived only by genuine reforms. We need to review the method of appointment of chairpersons and members of SPSCs. They are appointed by the Governor on the recommendation of the Chief Minister. Experience shows that the Chief Ministers had recommended names for these posts purely on the basis of their loyalty, social ties and electoral calculus. Ideally, a committee comprising the Chief Minister, the High Court Chief Justice in the case of Chairperson and senior most judge of the High Court in the case of member, Leader of Opposition and Chairperson/ member of UPSC should prepare a panel of three names against a single vacancy. After thorough discussion in the State Assembly, the Governor should shortlist the names on the basis of one’s intellect, character, academic qualifications, proven professional excellence and public image. Before assuming office, they should also declare their assets. To insulate the commissions from political interference, the Constitution envisages a stringent removal procedure. But then, this shield of constitutional autonomy is being misused as a sword by politically appointed members of the commissions to continue in the office even at the government’s displeasure. To avoid tussle between the members appointed by the previous government and the new government, the Constitution should be amended to empower the Governor to remove members following a six-month cause notice with restoration of membership if the charges are not proved. After failing to rope in political loyalists, the government of the day takes the extreme initiative of excluding the SPSCs from the purview of consultation on matters of recruitment. This is unconstitutional because the commission’s authority to select efficient civil servants is transferred to the Departmental Selection Committee. This has happened in Punjab, Haryana and UP, sowing the seeds of mistrust, suspicion and lack of understanding between the government and the commissions. There is an urgent need to evolve a national policy for better understanding and coordination between the government and the commission by taking the cue from the UPSC in regional conferences and periodic attachment of officials to learn and exchange experiences and innovations. The government should also provide all infrastructural support to the commissions. The members of legislative assemblies take a much too narrow view of the annual reports and memoranda explaining reasons for non-acceptance of the commission’s advice when tabled for discussion. Their lackadaisical attitude towards the commission’s reports undermines the executive’s responsibility towards the legislature. Special sessions of the assemblies, therefore, should be convened to debate and discuss the reports to reinforce the commissions’ accountability. The system of examination and interview must be revamped at par with the UPSC in a scientific and transparent manner. A separate Examination Cell should be created in the commissions manned by experts and support staff by rotation. The equivalence scaling mechanism adopted to keep the scores of all subjects on an even keel should also be credible, uniform and scientific. There should be three sets of question papers out of which one should be selected by the draw of lots just before the examination’s commencement. The commissions, after due consultation with senior faculty of universities and the UPSC, should prepare a panel of examiners, paper setters and evaluators subject to periodic revision. Strict disciplinary action can be initiated against evaluators for manipulation, tampering and fraudulent award of marks. The candidates should, under the Right to Information Act, 2005, be allowed to see their answer scripts. For imparting fairness in the interview, a committee consisting of top academics, directors of research institutes, and professional specialists can be set up. The members should be shuffled frequently and one member should not be allowed to sit on the same committee for more than two days. Before the interview, the committee should evolve a consensual formula for giving detailed exposition on how to allot marks. Preference should be given for co- and extra-curricular activities like sports, NSS, NCC, debates and so on. The results should be declared soon after the interview. The proceedings of the interview should be video-recorded. Dissent of expert(s), if any, and misdemeanor should be reported to the Chief Secretary for prompt redressal. The examination system must be uniform in the country for attracting talent. These suggested measures will not bear fruit without the active support of the media and the judiciary. Politically committed and insensitive civil servants have often been riding roughshod over the common masses when they ask for prompt and fair delivery of services in education, health, development and law and order. A reversal of the disturbing trend brooks no
delay.
The writer is Senior Lecturer,
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Tokenism won’t do Amidst talk of declining sex-ratio in Punjab and Haryana, there is simultaneous concern about how it would be difficult for a family to find a bride for its sons. Ironically, even in these seemingly innocuous pro-female articulations, patriarchy perpetuates itself. Is a woman’s death merely a moment of short supply? What about the loss of a life in or outside the womb? Patriarchy breeds in the dark and devious lanes of cognition and makes us behave as some new variant of Homo sapiens. Clearly, the issue is not merely about deficit of some disembodied numbers. A cursory glance at the Punjab and Haryana census from l911 reveals a shocking deficit of women in this region. Post-Independence as development caught on, many expected a reversal in the trend. This did not happen. Instead the situation worsened. The prosperity of the community led to withdrawal of women from the public domain leading to their further marginalisation. The notion of a son-less mother as incomplete and even inauspicious gained cultural currency. Easy access to medical technology such as ultrasound machines made the task of terminating an unborn baby girl much easier. The horrific instances of butchered female foetuses dumped in deserted wells as reported from Patran in Punjab and Pataudi in Gurgaon point to the continuity and inheritance of a tradition much documented in the history of North India and the North-Western region. Economists Amartya Sen and Jean Dreze (1995) have highlighted this peculiarly Indian phenomenon of an inverse relationship between prosperity and gender relations. The pressure of population control which has led to a new phenomenon of “arrested family” further narrows the chances of a girl child being allowed to be born. Chandigarh, India’s mascot of modernity, is a case in point. It has the highest per capita income in the country. Yet, the 2001 census shows its female-male ratio as 777. It is only an extension of a larger malaise, showing that modernity is not merely about its visible sign posts. The issue here is the change in attitude. Why the latest sex ratio is shocking is Chandigarh’s portrayal as an island-city completely insulated from all its historical and cultural moorings. As a planned, as opposed to an evolved city, Chandigarh draws the majority of its population from areas with a history of unabashed son-preference and regressive patriarchal values which are mirrored in the continued deficit of women in the city. Interestingly, in the critical age group 0-6, sex ratio in rural areas shows healthier results than the urban areas in Chandigarh. This debunks the myth that the foeticide is practiced only by illiterate or poorly educated villagers. Criminal involvement of urban educated class in this homicide frenzy exposes the dark side of mistaken modernity. Finally, when the fight is essentially against savage mindsets, monitoring has a limited impact. We must be more focused in our crusade against gender-based biases. Genuine women’s empowerment sans tokenism is the key.n
The writer teaches Sociology at
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On Record Union Water Resources Minister Saiffudin Soz has sought to build a participatory approach in making water conservation a mass movement. Amid demands for water from different sectors of a growing economy, he remains confident of the country meeting the challenge through technological interventions to tap unrealised potential of surface water coupled with conservation efforts.
An academic, the 70-year-old minister is involved with the Centre’s efforts to bring peace to Jammu and Kashmir. In an interview to The Sunday Tribune, he says, “India’s food security depended on enlarging the country’s irrigation”. Excerpts: Q: What steps are being taken to improve the per capita availability of water? Q: How do you look at the irrigation scenario in the light of a decline in investment? A: True, there has been a steady decline in investment in irrigation as a percentage of GDP except in the Sixth Plan. But that trend has considerably changed now because irrigation is in focus with the Prime Minister’s initiative to increase the irrigation potential. Q: Will you meet the targets? A: Under the Bharat Nirman programme, within four years, we are trying to bring one crore hectares under irrigation through the Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme (AIBP). We have sought Rs 49,000 crore in the Central sector and Rs 1,33,000 crore for the states in the next five years. Irrigation is basic to all agriculture progress and the Agriculture Minister is conscious of it. Our growth in agriculture is low and if we have to reach 4 per cent growth, we have to make sizeable investments. It is on irrigation that India’s food security depends. Q: Are you satisfied with the progress under Bharat Ni man? A: These are essential services and the government has the social responsibility to do better. Private sector is dictated by profit. We don’t grudge that. We are working on how public-private partnership will be accepted with some precautions and ensure results. Q: What about the Standing Committee’s suggestion to bring all water-related subjects under one ministry? A: The government has to decide. There is some difficulty and coordination should improve. But experts should examine this. Q: Do you support the idea of keeping in abeyance the new water projects in the 11th Plan till the 593 pending projects are completed? A: Whenever states take up an irrigation project, there are Q: Some blocks in Punjab have reported over-exploitation of ground water. How is your ministry responding to this? A: I have taken it up with Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. We have sanctioned some projects for Punjab on the basis of the state’s requirement. I told Badal that he should examine the model Bill for management of ground water. Punjab is drawing water from deeper aquifers and the state is India’s granary. To keep water resource intact, there should be ground recharge on a mass scale and a vigorous movement for rainwater harvesting. All this water will belong to Punjab. The Chief Minister assured that he will examine the model Bill.
Q: Is Punjab doing enough?  |
He replied: “The illumined sages say knowledge is twofold, higher and lower. The devotees of God are ever in bliss. —Guru Nanak The hunger of the devotees is for the praise of God, As his true name is their sustenance. — Guru Nanak The eye cannot see it; mind cannot grasp it. The deathless self has neither caste nor race, neither eyes nor ears nor hands nor feet. Sages say this self is infinite in the great and in the small, everlasting and changeless, the source of life.
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THE results of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections have created strong undercurrents and waves in Indian politics. This is because, as one weekly said, “who gets to lord over the Vidhan Sabha (of UP) will have the bearing on who rules at the Centre.” UP has been dominating Indian political scene right from Independence. It had a virtual monopoly of providing Prime Ministers. It sends more than 80 Lok Sabha members out of 545. Unless any party or a coalition of parties has a strong representation from UP, it cannot form a stable government at the Centre. 
Sheikh Hasina
Wazed
I will leave the Rashtrapati Bhavan with two small suitcases. Of course, I will take my own books. My father had taught me not to accept any gifts that come with a purpose. On Wednesday, a well known person gave me a gift of two pens. I had to return them to him with unhappiness. Manusmriti says that by accepting gifts, the divine light in the person gets extinguished.
You (women) can’t trust men or your husbands. If you believe that men will be careful, then you can forget about protecting yourself. Men will not buy a condom when they come staggering home while drunk. Women must not be embarrassed to ask for condoms. They need to get condoms to protect themselves, let the men be suspicious.
There is very little scope for an Asian face in America, though I did quite a bit of movies, television and video, including “Octopusy”.
Actress Mallika Sherawat has a lot of spirit and spunk and tremendous audacity. To have come from where she has and to establish her own identity, and to have that kind of spirit couldn’t be easy. But she has done it…
Tailpiece: Europe can get quite depressing with the breakdown of their family system and everyone being so alone and self-centred. When there is no family behind you, you start thinking small. In India, however, we are all about family and attachment. We laugh loud and we cry even louder. We are not brushing any emotions under the carpet. Family support helps us think big and do well. 