EDITORIALS

Lynching and after
The jungle raj continues in Bihar

EVEN as the nation was recovering from the shocking lynching of 10 thieves, by an irate mob at Hajipur in Bihar, reports of their improper cremation by the district administration comes like a bolt from the blue. The recovery of seven partially cremated and decomposed bodies speaks volumes for the insensitivity of the police and civil authorities. Worse, stray dogs reportedly fed on some of the bodies swept ashore at Konhara ghat. It is unthinkable that the officials had simply dumped the bodies in the river without cremating them to save money on firewood required for the last rites. The ends of justice will be met only if the CID makes a thorough and comprehensive investigation and all the officials concerned are punished for gross negligence and dereliction of duty.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has transferred the Vaishali District Magistrate and the Superintendent of Police and suspended two other officers for their laxity and callousness. Clearly, he has fixed accountability on the top officers of the district but this is not enough. A lot more needs to be done to sensitise the civil and police authorities. What Bihar requires today is a drastic overhaul. As in other states, the police in Bihar, too, acts more as an arm of the ruling party, than as an agency to maintain law and order. The reforms suggested by the Supreme Court, if implemented in the right spirit, will help insulate the police from political and bureaucratic control.

In the context of increasing incidents of mob violence, the Bihar government has rightly decided to fix accountability on the public too. There will be a collective fine on the people -- Rs 5,000 per person -- of the locality where such incidents take place. The people’s culpability for mob violence cannot be overlooked because recent incidents suggest that they don’t rise to the occasion and check incidents of this kind. The system of punitive fine will serve its purpose if it helps step up vigilance and acts as a strong deterrent. There is need for an effective people-police relationship on maintaining law and order in the state, besides punishment for all those who take the law into their own hands.

Deceptive statistics
Number One has little to celebrate

BOTH Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his immediate predecessor Captain Amarinder Singh have claimed credit for Punjab having been adjudged the number one state at the fifth India Today conclave in New Delhi last Friday. Mr Badal says the honour has come to Punjab as a result of the performance of his SAD-BJP government, formed over six months ago. But the Captain’s view is that the figures highlighting the state’s performance relate to the period he was heading the Congress government in the state. Whatever their claims, the truth is that only these three parties have been in power in the state since its reorganisation in 1966. Naturally, they have to share the laurels as well as the criticism for the present-day situation. And the picture is not as rosy as is being made out to appear.

If Punjab is far ahead of other states in areas like agriculture, infrastructure development, consumerism and the management of the macro-economy, it is not doing well in providing an attractive investment scenario, primary health care, primary education and law and order. Punjab’s performance is the worst so far as the male-female ratio is concerned. Power supply remains a major problem. There are few big industrial projects in the state. What is there to celebrate then? There is ample scope for attracting investment in the knowledge industry, food processing and the retail sector, but the government is not doing enough.

The unhelpful investment climate in Punjab has forced many potential investors to prefer states like Himachal Pradesh and Haryana. Clearance of projects is not easy in Punjab because of bottlenecks at various stages. The state of agriculture, too, is not as good as has been projected. There must be some reason why a number of farmers have committed suicide in the state during the last few years. Instead of gloating over the statistics, Punjab should concentrate on developing world-class infrastructure and create an investment-friendly environment. It must get ready to make use of the opportunity that may come its way because of the rising cost of production in Delhi and the surrounding areas.

Aerospace education
Vital to keep the nation competitive

A CONTROVERSY over land acquisition has detracted from the inauguration of a landmark academic institution, set up with laudable aims and with creditable speed, by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Called the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST), it has been temporarily housed at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre at Thiruvananthapuram, and 140 students from all over the country have enrolled for the various undergraduate and masters courses. They are to move to their own campus in a couple of years and ISRO has acquired 82 acres at Ponmudi near the city from a private party. But the opposition Congress in the state has alleged irregularities against a certain minister and his role in the sale of what they deem ecologically sensitive government land.

While ISRO has tailored the course curriculum with its own manpower-starved situation in mind, there is no doubt that such an establishment will automatically serve a larger purpose. Aerospace science and technology will play an increasingly important role in the future. A large pool of human resources is critical to being cost-effective and cutting-edge. While the Bachelor’s programme appears to have a technology and engineering focus, with the option to specialise in subjects like propulsion and embedded systems, the integrated masters programme adds sound theoretical content. It will be a wonderful opportunity for the students to work with high-tech ISRO units -- living, breathing facilities with advanced, on-going, satellite and launch vehicle programmes.

The Kerala government has promised to provide 200 acres of free land to ISRO. The ISRO chairman has said that they would not insist on a specific piece of land, but has pointed out that high altitude land was needed and Ponmudi was “ideal”. While irregularities should not be condoned and ecological sensitivities should indeed be kept in mind, let not political issues stymie an important educational initiative. In fact, ISRO should already be thinking of replicating the project at other sites in the country, to feed our aviation, missile and space-related programmes.

Thought for the day

There is divinity in odd numbers, either in nativity, chance or death. — William Shakespeare

ARTICLE

The stressed Army jawan
Case for reduction in retirement age
by V.S. Jafa

Recently the Standing Committee of Parliament on Defence expressed grave concern over the rising number of army jawans killing themselves or their colleagues and superiors. Earlier this year a study on this issue was carried out by the Defence Research and Development Organisation and it was concluded that, among many factors, stress is a major cause for these unfortunate incidents.

Since the malaise facing the Indian armed forces is causing widespread concern, this should be an occasion to take a look at some of the basic issues that have somehow not attracted attention so far.

In most countries the period of service for the troops is five years or less, after which a person goes home and starts another career and eventually retires at the usual retiring age. Even we had only seven years of colour service until 1962. A jawan went home at an early age; he was not married; in any case he did not have children and troops were young, fit for a fighting force. The seven-year colour service was extended to meet a situation of rapid expansion. Having achieved it, we should have rolled it back, but didn’t. In the bargain, we have bought numerous problems for ourselves. In fact, former Army Chief General Sundarji told me several times that much time was spent on questions relating to jawans’ housing, separated families, education, health care, pension, etc. He would have much preferred to spend more time on crucial issues, but the problems of the jawans were also important.

The extension of colour service from seven to 17 years has generated new problems, both for the jawan and the Army. For one, it has created an adverse age profile in the armed forces. It does not need a debate to appreciate that only the young and healthy are fit for a fighting force. Whereas in earlier years the troops were in 17-25 age bracket, now they are in 17-37 age bracket; JCOs are in their forties and early fifties, and battalion commanders in mid-forties. So, we now face the geriatric problem.

There is also the practical problem for the jawan. With the breakdown of the joint family, the jawan faces the problem about the stay of his family while he is away, and the education of children, etc. Even in cases where the family stays in the village, or elsewhere, problems are being faced, including the mistreatment and abuse (in many cases even sexual abuse, which is a major cause for stress).

At 37 we ask a jawan to go home on retirement when he is already married, has children and looks forward to educate the children and get them settled in life. The thought of going home at the age of 37 in great uncertainty about his future is itself sufficient cause for anxiety and mental stress. At this stage of life he must also seek ways not only to augment his pension income but also to keep himself busy.

To compensate him the system has devised ingenious ways — give him more money, on one count or another. To my mind, the approach to the problem adopted so far ignores the basic issues — the adverse age profile in the Army and retirement of a jawan at an unrealistic age level.

The problems facing the forces can be resolved in two ways. One, a long-term solution introducing a reduced colour service of five years and addressing the consequential changes, together with working out a detailed plan for helping the released personnel to settle down in another occupation. Second, developing an approach for the short-term, which will affect all the existing personnel until they are released from service.

The question of rolling back the period of colour service, whenever discussed, has never progressed. Consequently, the critical issue of adverse age profile has not been addressed. And the problems arising out of the unrealistic long period of colour service have sought to be resolved by tinkering at the edges.

The Services have usually proposed higher emoluments as a solution. However, whereas more money in the pocket is always welcome, it only gives a false sense of satisfaction to all concerned that the needful has been done. Merely more money in the pocket does not solve the problems facing the troops. Besides, the established relativities in the government pay system are not easy to be overlooked. Moreover, in the government (including the armed forces), salaries are uniformly given to all irrespective of the nature of job or individual performance. Neither any difference made in the salary level on account of differing hardships, importance or stress level involved in different jobs.

To attract young persons to the armed forces, the system should offer opportunities for gainful occupation following the short engagement in the Services. It would not be possible to guarantee employment to all those released from the Services, which the armed forces have been insisting upon, but it is certainly possible to create conditions that the jawans get a gainful occupation on release from service.

It is a view held strongly in the armed forces that the para-military organisations and the state police should absorb them on release from the Army after 17 years of colour service. This is not working for the reason that these organisations are unable to absorb persons coming in at the age of 37 or so. They face resistance from their own employees and also have their own age profile to take care of.

The BSF and the ITBP have duties at the country’s border, except during a war, and are also engaged in anti-insurgency duties (like the Army) and find it difficult to absorb the aging personnel from the Army. In fact, cases of suicides and fratricides have been reported also from the CRPF. On the other hand, these organisations should have no problem absorbing a person with five years of service. In any case, they recruit persons in that age group.

The Directorate of Resettlement will have to be proactive and develop an efficient system for sponsoring candidates in proper time and following up with the concerned authorities. The job should be available to the jawan soon after his tenure in the armed forces ends and he should be informed about it well in advance. Since a jawan is a matriculate now, opening in civil jobs, both in the central and state governments, and also in public sector should be explored. There are reservations in various organisations for the employment of ex-servicemen. Even the private sector has been helpful. But one major obstacle to re-employment, at present, is the retirement of the jawan at age 37 or so.

There are a number of civilian jobs under the Ministry of Defence itself, and also under the Army, Navy and the Air Force. While reservation beyond the present level may not be feasible, it should be possible to offer training programmes to the released personnel and enable them to compete for these jobs, not only under the central government but also in the states and the private sector.

In a growing economy, there are ample opportunities for persons with some skill and one can even consider a stipend for a year or so to enable a released jawan to acquire some professional experience and qualification. There can be many other approaches to equip the jawan to secure gainful occupation. There will be problems on the way and solutions will have to be found.

It is important to bear in mind that there is no perfect solution to any problem. The introduction of a short colour service will resolve the problem of adverse age profile and will also enable a jawan to settle in life on a long-term basis. There is an ongoing system, and even if a change is made now, for the next 15 years or so there will be persons engaged under two different terms and conditions. So, the change has to be made in a phased programme and in a manner that does not unduly affect the organisational efficiency. Unless this change comes about, the problems arising out of the adverse age profile and the unrealistic retirement age will continue.

The writer is a former Secretary (Finance), Ministry of Defence.

MIDDLE

Snub for CM
by A.J. Philip

I REACHED the Raj Bhavan at Thiruvananthapuram on the dot. Governor Ramdulari Sinha came out of her room to receive me. Protocol did not demand such a courtesy. After all, I had only a nodding acquaintance with her.

What compelled the Governor to be extra-courteous was the sudden arrival of a VIP, which upset her schedule that afternoon. The VIP had to be given the time allotted to me and this made her a little guilty.

Ms Sinha did not leave me to thumb the pages of some old magazines in the waiting room. Instead, she took me to the office of her Secretary, Ms Lizzie Jacob, a middle-aged IAS officer, and introduced me to her as a journalist from Patna.

Ms Jacob told me that the Governor had a lot of visitors from Bihar, who would also like to visit Kovalam and Kanyakumari, preferably in a car with the Raj Bhavan emblem. Was it an indication of her disapproval of my intrusion into her time?

No, she told me about her field postings, including as Collector of Kottayam district, which she enjoyed more than the secretarial postings. Hers, I could make out, was a difficult job.

Ms Sinha was not on the best of terms with the Left Front Government led by the late E.K. Nayanar. The Chief Minister had a grouse that he was not consulted when she was appointed as Governor. The Communists’ aversion to the post of Governor began when the President, on the recommendation of the Governor, dismissed their first government in 1959.

Small wonder that Mr Nayanar considered Ms Sinha virtually “an agent” of the Centre. The relationship was such that when Ms Sinha asked for the change of a toilet seat, which she found uncomfortable, the government had the toilet closed. She was told the toilet seat was an antique piece.

It is a different matter that stories abounded about how the lady Governor tried to squat on the western toilet seat and fell, suffering a sprain in the ankle.

The government also accused the Governor of being a spendthrift. Ms Jacob defended her boss on all these allegations. “Far from being a spendthrift, the Governor travels by AC two-tier while she is entitled to travel in a saloon”, she said.

Years later, Ms Jacob moved to New Delhi as Commissioner of Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan. One day, I called her on the phone to invite her as the chief guest of a function. Her secretary put the call through to her the moment I said, on a query, that I knew her. Of course, I forgot to tell the secretary that she might not remember me.

That is precisely what happened. Ms Jacob could neither recall our meeting, nor accept or reject the invitation. “Please send your invitation in writing first, and then contact my secretary”, she said brusquely. Though her reply punctured my ego, she went up in my esteem as a punctilious officer.

I could not pursue the invitation, as I did not have much time on hand. Instead, I tried my luck with another VIP, who graciously became the chief guest. Though I never interacted with her after that, I have been keeping track of her progress as an IAS officer.

From the little I know of her, it did not surprise me when, last week, Ms Lizzie Jacob preferred to resign as Chief Secretary when the loose-tongued Chief Minister, Mr V.S. Achuthanandan, accused her in public of not consulting him on a matter which was well within the Chief Secretary’s purview.

OPED

Zero-risk blood transfusion
Country needs a national blood policy
by J.G. Jolly 

It is gratifying to note that the WHO, in active collaboration with League of Red Cross Societies and other international agencies associated with the promotion of Blood Transfusion Services, have chalked out a global program for making safe blood a reality. How effectively its quality and quantity can be ensured is the prime consideration for health authorities throughout the world.

The problem has attained greater significance in this region. It is to be hoped that blood transfusion workers in all countries will give a serious consideration to all aspects of Transfusion Medicine, to achieve the target of zero risk in transfusion practice and for establishing a programme of perfect coordination for raising the standard of these services throughout the world.

In the Preamble to the Constitution of the World Health Organisation it is declared that the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is to be “one of the fundamental rights of every human being without distinction of economic and social condition.” But the blatant exploitation of human beings in the matter of the blood trade makes a mockery of the sanctity and worth of this fundamental right. There could be few things more degrading for human beings than that they should be forced to sell their blood for paltry monetary gain.

Talk of human dignity becomes ironical as long as the ill-fed and under-nourished men and women are driven by force of circumstance to knock at the doors of commercial organisations. The United Nations General Assembly also refers to this mercenary exploitation and invites the World Health Organisation to pay particular attention to the problem of the protection of broad sectors of the population against social and material inequalities.

Nevertheless, while men of good-will pass well-intentioned resolutions at the international forums, commercialism in blood thrives unchecked. There can be no doubt that this nefarious exploitation of human beings amounts in practice to denying them the rights embodied in the constitution of the WHO. Indeed, the present trend of the flow of blood from the developing countries to the developed ones needs to be reversed so that legal blood from the healthy countries is made available for all those in need of it.

The role of a transfusion unit today is not restricted to the collection and supply of blood only but also entails numerous other responsibilities in the light of recent advances in this field. These include transplant immunology, immunogenetics, blood fractionation and application of serology for therapeutic and research purposes. It is necessary to keep abreast of these advances, and this aim should remain prominent.

It is in this context that transfusion organisations have a vital role to perform by way of raising the academic standard of workers and establishing liaison among various blood transfusion units. That will, in turn, assist in achieving the requisite standards and technical uniformity in blood transfusion throughout the world.

A major factor responsible for the slow growth of this service is the lack of appreciation, on the part of health authorities and the medical profession, of the importance of this discipline. It should be remembered that the success of any programme depends upon the involvement, enthusiasm and dedication of the workers engaged in it. As it is, there is lamentable shortage of workers in this service and even those who are there are constantly on the lookout for opportunities to switch over to other disciplines for reasons, which are not difficult to understand.

The nature of the work they are called upon to do is highly specialised, especially on account of the rapid advances made in the field during the recent years. One can to some extent understand the indifference of administrative authorities to this discipline but not the lack of interest on the part of medical educationist and universities. And yet, lack of interest alone can explain why it has not been considered necessary even to introduce specialised post-graduate course in this field.

For the existing teaching institutions and hospitals, a large number of trained workers are needed for the proper functioning of the blood transfusion program. This deficiency of trained personnel should be made up and the existing services in all institutions should be made to conform to the specified standard of technique and quality.

Thus, a high level commission of experts should examine all aspects of the multi-dimensional blood transfusion program, with term of reference on the following lines:

To draw up the broad objectives of a National Blood Policy and its effective implementation; to review the present set-up with the aim of constituting a National Blood Transfusion Service; establishment of National and Regional Institutes, for research, training and supply of quality materials; establishment of liaison with national and International bodies to keep abreast of their latest developments.

One wonders at the rapid pace of development and the sophisticated blood transfusion techniques in advanced countries, whil at most of the centres in developning countries techniques which are no more than curiosties of historical interest are being employed. We must keep ourselves abreast of the latest developments. In order to attain the objective of proper growth and development of blood transfusion services in a uniform manner, it would be necessary to take appropriate steps for the establishment of a National Transfusion Service.

A phased program for the esablishment of such services and setting up of Central and Regional Institutes of Transfusion Medicine will go a long way in improving the lost of blood transfusion workers and raising the standard of these services of providing adequate facilities for research and development in the methodology of blood banking.

What is indisputable is taht there is no room for complacency for we are engaged, as it were, not merely in the task of popularising the voluntary blood donation movement, but also in transforming the psyche of the nations which cling to old ways of throughts and beliefs about transfusion services, to achieve the goal of zero risk transfusion. Out determination and steadfastness will sweep away all these obstacles.

The primary responsibility of any scientific organisation is to provide a forum which will entrich its workers through the mutual exhange of ideas and sharing of each other’s experiences which ultimately helps in enlarging the sphere of their activities. Any organisation can hardly afford to igonre this vital function and more so when it is in the phase of infancy and is connected with a discipline which is of comparatively recent origin. Continuting education thus becomes an added responsibility of such an organisation, not only for raising the standard of its worker, but also for bringing about their greater involvement, os that they may be in position to face the challenge confronting them.

The writer is an Emeritus Professor, Transfusion Medicine, PGI

Father, son aim to outsmart BJP
by Jangveer Singh

Politics is not about intentions alone. You can have the best of intentions but still be “unable” to do as you wish. This has been ‘discovered’ by Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy recently. Kumaraswamy has been steadfastly claiming that he would transfer power to his coalition partner, the BJP, come October 3, to honour an agreement brokered while bringing down the Dharam Singh-led Congress government twenty months ago. He is suddenly in a bind as his party will not “allow” power transfer without its approval.

Ironically, Kumaraswamy was responsible for splitting the Janata Dal (Secular) and leading a team of young legislators to partner with the BJP even as his own father and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda and other senior party leaders cried hoarse against the move.

Twenty months down the line the father and son are the face of the party even as all its senior leaders who aligned with Gowda against his son have been marginalised. The ‘party’, comprising loyalists of the Gowda clan, has suddenly decided to exercise control over Kumaraswamy with newly nominated party State President Merajuddin Patel announcing that only the party high command (Deva Gowda) could take a decision on transfer of power to the BJP and that Kumaraswamy could not even make statements on this issue without consulting the party.

Deve Gowda, who started off with disgust against his son after he aligned with the BJP, later took on an air of indifference, and then quickly reverted to becoming a grudging and then full scale admirer of his son, has now made it clear he wants to keep Kumaraswamy in the CM’s chair. Gowda has stated recently that transfer of power to the BJP cannot happen till he gets some assurances from the BJP high command and has announced his decision to meet central leaders like Vajpayee, Advani and Rajnath Singh soon.

Gowda’s public grouse against the BJP? “Muslims do not feel secure in this country. This has to change. Some people know caste politics does not pay”. His not so public grouse according to observers: Take action against legislator Janardhan Reddy and minister B. Sriramulu who have made bribery allegations against my family. His take in case the consultations are not fruitful – get ready for elections.

Kumarswamy, who has all along given the impression of being his own master, now has this to say – “I have never said I will not transfer power. I will, but I cannot overrule my party and will have to abide by the majority decision”.

The latest round of subterfuge less than one month before the Chief Minister’s post is scheduled to be handed over to Deputy Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa of the BJP, is the culmination of a well-orchestrated move by the JD(S) to stick on to power. Earlier, even while the Chief Minister kept reiterating his stand to hand over power to Yediyurappa, his ministerial colleagues kept harping on the fact that Kumaraswamy was the only alternative for political stability in the State besides claiming that some BJP legislators also wanted him to continue in office.

Even now Merajuddin Patel, a political lightweight who has been made the JD(S) State President by the Gowda clan, also spouts the same formula. “JD(S) workers and a majority of the people want the same structure (Kumaraswamy as CM and Yediyurappa as his Deputy) to continue. Things have to happen as the majority wants them to”, he adds never mind the fact that the JD(S) has 50 odd legislators against 79 of the BJP.

Considering the autocratic functioning of the Gowda clan there is every possibility of Yediyurappa doing a Mulayam on Kumaraswamy by splitting the JD(S). Even if this does not happen, the JD(S) feels handing over power to the BJP would enable the party to get a firm foothold in the southern state which would be to the detriment of the JD (S) in the long run.

So there are only two options before it - either don’t hand over power or hand over power only to topple the government over some “secular” issue in the coming months. Till very recently the party was inclined to exercise the second option.

The BJP is apparently weighing its options as it stands to gain in case of a mid-term election vis-à-vis the JD(S) and is putting up a bold front to show it remains unfazed by the father-son machinations. The heir apparent Yediyurappa is maintaining a silence saying he will give a reply to all questions only after October 2.

BJP State President Sadanand Gowda has maintained that the party has an understanding with Kumaraswamy and not his father and it is upto Kumaraswamy to honour the agreement made by him or face the consequences of “betrayal”. Even if the JD(S) allows the BJP to take over power after October 3, it will not mean an end to political uncertainty in the State. Then will start the question – how long will the BJP-led government last?

Delhi Durbar
Regional claims within AICC

With the resignation of Andhra Pradesh Congress chief K. Keshava Rao, the AICC has to decide on one more PCC appointment in the near future. The speculation over early appointments has forced aspirants from states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab to keep visiting New Delhi to make the rounds of the AICC.

Most of the contenders from Punjab were in the capital last week amid indications that the high command has begun the final round of consultations to select the next PCC chief. The leaders from Majha and Doaba regions of the state, where Congress fared poorly in the last assembly polls in comparision to its earlier performances, seemed hopeful that the central leadership will prefer appointing one of them to the top organisatonal post in the state. However, if the choice comes to a leader from Malwa, they want greater representation of the two regions in the AICC.

Salaried await new I-T code

With the prospects of an early poll looming large, salaried employees are the most worried. They are hoping that the Finance Minister P. Chidambaram would be fulfilling his promise of introducing a new income tax code that would simplify and replace the 50-year-old law by 2008. With the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations expected to submit its report by the end of this year, government officials had taken out the calculator to assess their tax liability after the new code comes in place

Chidambaram had promised that the code would begin from a zero base and have varied tax slabs to reward honest taxpayers. The income tax system has been in existence since time immemorial. Even Manusmriti and Arthshastra have mention of it. However, in modern India, Income tax came into existence in 1860 and since then many Acts have been implemented, the most important being the Income Tax Act, 1961. A senior government official said if the new code fails to take off, the ruling coalition and others would have to face the ire of the salaried class.

Dorjee, “the savior”

As the blame game between the Ministries of Culture and Law was going on in the government to fix the responsibility for filing the controversial affidavit in the Supreme Court in the Sethusamundram case, putting the UPA dispension on the defensive and forcing it to take a virtual u-turn on the project giving an indication that the ‘Ram Sethu’ might not be touched, some elements in the Sangh Parivar are hailing

ASI Director (Monuments) C. Dorjee who affirmed the affidavit, instead of condemning him. They say by making such a controversial assertion in the affidavit, Dorjee has virtually helped in saving the Ram Sethu, an important symbol of faith for millions of Hindus like the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

Contributed by Prashant Sood,R. Suryamurthy and S.S. Negi