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A new medical council
Crisis in Manipur
Allusions and allegories |
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Dangers of Dantewada
The last journey
Silence over scams
UID: Being reduced to a number Inside Pakistan
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A new medical council THE Union Cabinet’s decision to promulgate an ordinance to reconstitute the Medical Council of India under the aegis of the Union Health Ministry signals an end to the autonomous status of the watchdog body of doctors and of medical education. With the MCI coming under a cloud following the arrest of its longtime President, Ketan Desai, allegedly for accepting a bribe of Rs 2 crore for recognizing a medical college in Punjab, few tears would be shed for the loss of its autonomy. While the council will be run by a board of governors appointed by the ministry for one year, it would be decided during this period whether it would come under the Health ministry or the Human Resource Development ministry. In either case, a professional body of doctors has forfeited its right to be governed independent of governmental control. Indeed, the council’s poor record should be a lesson to all professional bodies. Ironically, an earlier attempt under UPA-I to amend the Indian Medical Council Act of 1956 to allow for government intervention was turned down by the parliamentary standing committee on health, which argued that the move would destroy the council’s autonomy. But things came to a head this time as Ketan Desai was exposed the second time over and his deputy was seen as a protégé of his who had kept the President’s chair warm for him when Dr Desai was first arrested in 2001 on corruption charges and later acquitted for lack of evidence. That Dr Desai returned to head the MCI again is a telling commentary on how the vast body of medical doctors surrendered their right to be governed by a person of the right moral standards apparently through sheer apathy. Dr Ketan Desai has indeed brought the whole medical profession under disrepute. The criminal cases registered against him must be pursued with vigour and he must be brought to book. As for the Medical Council of India, the Government must nurse it back to health and then restore to it a measure of autonomy that is the need of every professional body. The doctors on their part must draw the right lessons — never to let the council be hijacked by unscrupulous elements.
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Crisis in Manipur NEW Delhi’s writ over the North-East has always been shaky, not the least because of its distance from the capital and its geographical isolation. Add to it the history of violent insurgencies, warring tribes and competing ethnic claims and it becomes clear why the North-East remains a minefield even now. But it is still distressing to see the helplessness of the UPA government at the Centre, which is unable to persuade the Congress-led government in Manipur to allow the rebel Naga leader Thuingaleng Muivah to visit his ancestral village in Manipur. Nor has New Delhi been able to persuade Muivah, who is technically an insurgent negotiating peace with New Delhi, to quietly visit the village and leave. The rebel leader, the general secretary of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim ( I-M), turned down New Delhi’s offer to fly him to the village. Also, Muivah has been insistent on travelling by road and addressing a public meeting there to score a political point. The strained relationship between the Nagas and the Meiteis , who constitute 70 per cent of Manipur’s population, is a matter of great concern as is the continuing blockade by the Nagas of the highway, which is a lifeline to land-locked Manipur, where profiteers are reportedly selling petrol at Rs 150 per litre and an LPG cylinder for Rs 1,500, to oppose the decision of the Manipur government. The escalation of tension in the two states and the current stand-off, with neither side willing to give in, bodes ill for peace in the region. New Delhi must be regretting its initial consent for Muivah’s plan to visit the village, particularly now that the rebel leader is accusing the Centre of not fulfilling its commitment and actually going back on it, without taking all the stakeholders into confidence. The stalemate , however, would have conveyed a timely signal to Muivah that his options too are limited and he can no longer afford to stick to his archaic plan of creating a Greater Nagaland. The crisis does not seem to have gone down too well with ordinary people in the two states, who can see that it is after all a game of political one-upmanship. It is, therefore, to be hoped that the escalation of the crisis would eventually lead to a more permanent solution to the vexed issue of a separate
Nagaland.
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Allusions and allegories WE all have a high regard for the courage of a lion, talk about elephantine memory, and admire someone who swims like a fish, and dare we say, swear by the loyalty of a dog, and have done so since eons. Leaders and politicians have used rhetorical tools to further their arguments and stir passions since time immemorial. They build on resemblance and use similes, metaphors, and allegories. The tone and tenor of discourse must always keep the audience in mind. However, some leading lights shock us early morning because of their intemperate, ill-considered comments. Around seven months ago, it was Sashi Tharoor, the darling of the chattering classes, who kicked off the issue with his remark that that he would travel “in cattle class out of solidarity with all our holy cows”. The jury is still out on whether it was the transportation arrangements or the reference to the hoary seniors that got him into hot waters, but he was singularly responsible for bringing Twitter into the political consciousness of the country. The irrepressible Tharoor was eventually brought down by his erstwhile buddy, Lalit Modi, whose tweets raised a din that eventually cost both of them their jobs. Jairam Ramesh did not need any technology; his foot-in-the-mouth disease manifested itself in China, where his inappropriate comments caused considerable embarrassment to his party, his government, and one is sure, chagrin to himself. He is expected to be ‘as quiet as a mouse’, for how long he manages to do so remains to be seen. RJD leader Laloo Yadav loves to be compared to a lion, but not in the past tense, as was done by the BJP President in Chandigarh, where, to make matters worse, he also brought in a canine comparison, which made Laloo as angry as a bull. Prominent people must be careful with what they say, and the words they use. It is unfortunate that the level of discourse in public life is sinking to abysmal levels even as most politicians have yet to discover something that tickles their sense of humour. Not funny, really.
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Faith is not like a delicate flower which would wither away. — Mahatma Gandhi
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Dangers of Dantewada THE massacre at Dantewada was not only a great tragedy but possibly an event of far-reaching consequences. The scale of the tragedy is dismaying. The fact that the police party was ill trained, lacked coordination with local police and poorly led is an issue which needs no elaboration, but the larger issue is the state of Central Police Organisations (CPOs). Why the CRPF with a strength of 210 battalions depend on the military for training when by now they should have had, along with other CPOs like the BSF, the ITBP, etc.) their own training schools? The higher hierarchy in this and other CPOs have no ground level experience in counter-insurgency operations. Small wonder, there is little central policy or doctrine and no accountability. The government seems to be groping in the dark. One proposal is to raise another police force exclusively to deal with Maoists. Another one is to shift some RR units from Jammu and Kashmir for this task and/or raise more RR units. Equally weird is the idea to induct Remotely Piloted Planes to locate Maoists in thick jungles and much else. Yet another is to have a Central body to control and co-ordinate all anti-Maoist operations in the Red Corridor. Shifting RR battalions from J&K appears unlikely. If new units are raised, their command and control will have to rest with the military. So, willy-nilly army will get sucked into anti-Maoist operations. The Army’s hands are already more than full and landing it with this additional commitment will have serious implications for national security. Placing these units under the CRPF control will not work. The CPOs often operate in companies and not as full units and there lies a serious drawback This arrangement creates functional problems in command and control, performance and cohesiveness. There is little unit spirit when companies operate in mixed groups and can seldom meet serious challenges. Such an arrangement may work in duties at election times, but combating insurgency is a different ballgame. The ease with which Maoists have been raiding prisons, police stations, taking away police weapons and attacking CPO camps does not speak well of the morale of the police. There is little motivation and leadership appears indifferent. For the Centre to pass the buck to states will not wash because higher leadership of the state police is from the Central cadre so also that of CPOs. It is no more a mere law and order case. The Home Minister may, as a first step, bring in accountability of higher police set-up: much else will, thereafter, fall in place. As for naming of these CPOs as ‘paramilitary’, there is nothing about them that even remotely resembles the military, except perhaps their dress. The law of the land forbids any one to copy and wear any item of uniform that resembles that of the military. Here most brazenly the uniform and accruements are copied with impunity. This creates identity confusion and the military’s impact on terrorists and miscreants gets diffused. The CPOs have none of the military’s ethos, traditions, skills, spirit and leadership. On their own and with the right leadership, they can be first-rate police force. There is little to be gained in aping the military in dress, form and formulations. CPOs have little to claim as paramilitary and dislike being called police. Resultantly, they fall between two stools. The military has been ambushed on many an occasion but never at such a scale. Its casualty ratio between troops and officers in counter-insurgency operations is in the region of 1 to 13.4. That is for every 13/14 men killed there is an officer casualty and figure for officers in the last decade and a half is by now well over 560. These are commissioned officers ranging from Lieutenants to Colonels and in a few cases even higher rank officers. The military has been combating well trained and motivated insurgents in the North East and J&K. Whereas Maoists are a ‘ragtag’ force in its present state. To achieve results, police leadership will have to be up front. The Indian state has been painfully slow in waking up to the Maoist threat. Even the Prime Minister’s wake-up call had gone unheeded. Over time conditions have been allowed to deteriorate resulting in large-scale disaffection amongst vast sections of marginalised and dispossessed population, whom all development and poverty alleviation schemes have simply bypassed. Whose small land holdings have been taken over by mining mafias, hydel projects, MNCs and some others whose forest rights have been dissolved, leaving them no means of livelihood? Added to that has been the gradual withdrawal of governance at district level and the all-pervasive corruption. As administration shrank and poverty alleviation schemes and development plans were hijacked by corrupt officials and colluding politicians, in district after district, disaffection and deprivation spread. District officials seldom stirred out and often functioned from within their high security residences and offices and on return to Delhi, became experts in dealing with Maoist movement. Given such conditions, the Maoists kept enlarging their foothold and spread the field of activity while Delhi slept. The media hype over the Dantewada incident portends ill for the developing situation. A kind of hysteria has been created where elimination of Maoists has become the top priority without regard to means and methods. Terms like revenge, enemy and war are being bandied about. What may follow are extreme excesses by the police: provincial and CPOs. Arrests, interrogations, torture and torching of villages, dislocations, fake encounters could become a daily occurrence. Custodial deaths too will become a common feature, more so when senior leadership stays away from the field. Police brutalities can push more people into the Maoist fold. However, the Home Minister is expected to exercise a sobering influence on the anti-Maoist operations. There is talk of accelerating development of these areas. If the same set of government machinery is to undertake this task, on which it so miserably failed in the past, how is it expected to do better this time? Government officials are loathe at venturing into these areas. So one proposal is to first bring the affected districts under control, restore law and order and then start developmental work. Yet another view is to start rapid development (whatever it means) as pockets are cleared of Maoists, because time is at a premium. In the proposed development plans, it may perhaps be possible to make roads, healthcare centres, hospitals and schools (doubtful though) but the larger problem which makes a substantial difference is the creation of jobs, gainful employment and economic activity for the vast majority. That is an area which takes a lot of planning and time. So it is possible that the Maoist problem will not go away in a hurry and police retaliations, consequent to the hype created by the media, may exacerbate the already deteriorating situation. A new legislation to deal with the Maoists needs to be brought in where this CPO(s) have the authority to operate in various Maoist affected states. It should be placed under a Central authority which co-ordinates its actions and intelligence work with the state police. The answer lies in splitting the CRPF into two, with about 150 battalions forming the core of the anti-Maoist group, which should be given intensive training in counter-insurgency operations and provided young and competent leadership at platoon, company and battalion level. Perhaps IPS officers with less than 10 years of service be made to spend two to three years leading platoons and companies with anti-Maoist
outfits.
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The last journey THE depressing yet mystic environment in a cremation ground never ceases to amaze me. An endless queue of vehicles and humans, cries of relatives, breaking of earthen pots and lighting of pyres goes on. Still there is a distinct difference from the cremation grounds of Kashi — where the pyres keep on burning 24x7 — the queue being so long that even the asthis have to be picked up then and there and immersed into the Ganges. Here at Chandigarh the cremations stop after the sunset and the asthis are collected the next day. It is believed that the atma of the dead stays on top of the pyre in a state of waiting for a few days till it gathers enough energy to cross the bhavsagar into the mrityulok. Sometimes a Buddha or spiritually elevated atma helps it in this endeavour. Therefore, as a matter of abundant precaution, the old wise people pick up a bone from the burning pyre before leaving the cremation ground so that the tantriks are not able to overpower the atma, as the skeleton is not complete. I vividly recall the immolations and the violence that took place after the Mandal Commission report. I was then the Deputy Commissioner of Chandigarh. The Army had to be called in as the local police could not adequately control the situation. However, by then, several promising young boys and girls had immolated themselves. As Deputy Commissioner, I had two jobs to perform, one of enforcing law and order without giving a cause for provocation, and at the same time providing a soothing touch to the grieving family members by facilitating them in performing the last rites. The atmosphere at the cremation ground used to be surcharged till the cremations were over which more often than not fell on holidays. Therefore, it may sound grotesque, but we had to keep a stock of cremation samagris in the DC office, ready at hand. Years passed by and once again I came to the cremation ground to attend a funeral. I looked around and saw utter disbelief in the eyes of the mourners. They could not imagine that a person so young could pass away suddenly. Still they had the wishful belief that such a thing would never happen to them, but in spite of the gloomy atmosphere some persons were dreaming in their own world, some were busy in networking and some were looking at their wrist-watches as from here they planned to go to a marriage function. I felt disgusted and gently sat down. The burning pyre was having the hypnotic effect of inducing ‘shmashan vairagya’ and a feeling of detachment started overtaking me. Minutes later, I picked up a wooden splinter and offered it to the pyre and gradually started walking back. The shmashan vairagya did remain with me for several hours before I got busy in the mundane activities of life. The queues at the cremation ground go on. Everyone experiences this shmashan vairagya. The burning pyre conveys a message to us — that the worldly desires mean nothing in the ultimate analysis. But do we translate that into our actions and thoughts? This is the question I often
ask.
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Silence over scams
THE Indian democratic system, however wanting, has come to have enough openness to ensure that scams and scandals tumble out of the cupboard sooner or later. Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s purchase of Bofors guns, the manipulations in the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket or the sale by central minister A Raja of 2G spectrum, the mobile band, are some recent stories of corruption. The public is aghast over the disclosures. The media has criticised them endlessly. Parliament has registered its protest through walkouts or long debates. Yet no head has rolled. No minister has ever been prosecuted. It is business as usual after a scam has hit the headlines. Two main reasons for lack of action are the absence of morality in politics and the government’s control over the investigating and prosecuting agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The shame for having been caught with the hand in tiller is no more deterring. The truth is the casualty. The guilty goes scot-free. Rajiv Gandhi was directly involved in the payoff. He manoeuvred the Joint Parliametnary Committee (JPC), which gave the verdict that no kickbacks were received. The successive Congress governments have seen to it that Ottavio Quattrocchui, an Italian, is not punished although his role as a middleman has been proved beyond any doubt. The scam of IPL may well be the biggest ever known in sport, running into millions of dollars. Only a tip of the iceberg has come out at the first peeling of the onion which has numerous layers. Too many politicians and too powerful ministers are involved, both at the state and central levels. A junior minister of external affairs has gone because of his own indiscretion after initiating a process during the bidding which brought the IPL scandal in the open. The case of Telecommunications Minister Raja, who cost the exchequer a whopping figure of Rs 64,000 crore in selling mobile bands, was beginning to be concretised when income tax officers probing the scandal were transferred. They had hit upon another scandal, the spectrum 3G which is yet to come to light fully. This is when Raja’s mentor, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, came to Delhi and met Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Raja is a member of the DMK which is crucial to the life of the Manmohan Singh government. Karunanidhi made it clear even before he left Chennai that he would see to it that no harm came to Raja. It has happened exactly that way. Raja continues to stay in the Cabinet that Dr Manmohan Singh with the highest reputation of honesty heads. The tax probe has been stopped without giving any reasons. The CBI’s long effort against the UP Chief Minister on the one hand and former chief ministers of UP and Bihar on the other was stalled by the ruling Congress party a few days ago to save the government from defeat on the cut motion in the Lok Sabha. The CBI diluted the case of disproportionate assets against Mayawati who commanded 21 members in the Lower House. Affidavits by the CBI in the disproportionate assets case against Mulayam Sinmgh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party were changed to ensure his support. The CBI weakened the disproportionate assets case against Lalu Prasad Yadav by transferring the public prosecutor. The Income Tax Department, another setup at the mercy of the government, was pressured on Lalu’s cases. Former CBI Director Joginder Singh has told me how he was asked not to pursue Lalu’s cases. No doubt, the government’s credibility has been hit, but so has been that of the CBI which has many honest and distinguished officers. When the BJP was in power, Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani had the retiring CBI Director appointed as a member of the Human Rights Commission for the “services he had rendered” to him by not pursuing the case of Babri Masjid’s demolition against him. Had the CBI been put under the charge of the Central Vigilance Commission, an autonomous body, things would have improved. There was such a proposal before the Home Ministry’s standing committee of Parliament. But the CBI itself objected to it. The agency’s reputation can be retrieved if it is made responsible to Parliament directly, not through the government. The Centre has also re-armed itself with the authority to sanction not only prosecutions but also probes against officers with the rank of Joint Secretary and above. The Supreme Court rejected some years ago the anomaly in seeking permission for Joint Secretary and above and not for officers of the lower rank. Joint secretaries and secretaries are supposed to know the mind of ministers and act according to the unwritten orders. It is apparent that a similar law, pending the scrutiny of the Supreme Court, has been enacted so that senior officers are not arraigned before the court for their wrongdoings, which are normally at the instance of political leaders. The fact is morality has ceased to count in political affairs because power is all that matters to the parties. They have neither the desire nor the inclination to act according to what is right. Without that realisation India may stay democratic but it will be only to the extent of electing members and forming governments by the majority. Once the polls are over, the nation is back to unprincipled governance. Scams and scandals are the natural fallout. The fact is that there is no sensitivity either in the government or in political parties to follow principles or norms. The democratic system has become an instrument to commit illegal acts and suppress those who protest for the rights of people. Unfortunately, power has come to be considered an opportunity to make money by politicians for themselves and the party they represent. After all, the parties have to keep their flocks together and, on the top of it, meet the ever-increasing poll expenses. There is no stir, no protest. The intelligentsia has become part of the system. They are horrified over disclosures of corruption at high places. But they are too comfortable to risk their luxurious living. Silence has proved to be more beneficial than the bravado to oppose.
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UID: Being reduced to a number
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time has come when men will have a number and no name. An official representing the Census Department may knock at your door any time and ask you a volley of questions about every occupant of the house --a major or a minor, an octogenarian or a newborn. A unique feature of the 2011 census is the collection of biometric data of all individuals for the preparation of a national population register and later allotment of a 16-digit identity number to them. All persons above the age of 15 will be required to furnish their photograph, all ten finger prints and both iris scan. Children will also be covered by this exercise but since their biometrics are not considered to be stable, their photograph, fingerprints and iris scan will be updated every five years until they attain the age of 18. Even illegal migrants and visitors holding visas will be eligible to get a UID number. The idea behind this colossal exercise is to give a one-time, single proof of identity to every individual and spare him the botheration of proving his identity every time he approaches a government agency for some favour. It is expected to improve the efficiency of government machinery in providing services to people under various schemes. It is especially meant to serve the under-privileged, the poor and the marginalised who cannot avail themselves of the benefits of the social welfare schemes for want of satisfactory proof of their identity easily. It is also expected to improve internal security and check frauds and misrepresentation. The project has been given an attractive name, Aadhar. The scheme is estimated to cost about Rs 3,500 crore which is expected to increase as is common with every government project. It is planned to issue 60 crore UIDs during the next five years. It will take at least another five years or even more to cover the total population of 120 crore, as it stands today. It will be a continuous process of updating the data of those who are now below the age of 15 years till they attain adulthood and thus with the passage of time an independent top heavy organisation may come to stay in position. Now the question is: Will the whole exercise serve the intended objectives? To me, the operation appears to be a cumbersome, impractical, wasteful and futile exercise. Ten years is quite a long period to cover the existing population. No provision has been made in the time-frame for weeding out the deadwood and including the newborn. One third of the country's population is still ignorant, illiterate and poverty stricken. How can you expect these people to remember a 16-digit number when they cannot count even up to 10. And where is the guarantee that all government departments will accept the UIDs the final and authentic proof of a person's identity. There are too many schemes and categories of beneficiaries -- MNREGA, NRHM, BPL, APL etc.etc. and each scheme has its own requirement to be fulfilled for proving his identity by a person. The UID will be no substitute for the various types of cards in use today such as green cards, yellow cards, saffron cards, ration cards, voter's I-card, PAN card and so on. In fact no cards are proposed to be issued with the UID number assigned to an individual. No government department. would like to abdicate its authority to satisfy itself about the identity of a beneficiary. Will a UID number help in doing away with the requirement of character verification of an applicant for a passport? No. Will it help him prove his place of residence or domicile which a ration card alone can do? Will it prove his economic status as a BPL or APL citizen which might change with the passage of time and which will still be checked and verified by the department concerned before extending the benefit of the particular scheme? In a country like ours where red tape rules the roost in every office, how will the babu be satisfied with just a number? It is not understood as to how the scheme will prove effective in ensuring security when every resident, visa holder and migrant labourer will be eligible to have a UID number allotted to him. If it is thought that the scheme will prove effective, then it could be given a trial in J & K and the North-East first. Just a last word. We are a democratic country. All citizens have been guaranteed certain freedoms by our Constitution. The project sounds to be an assault on privacy, prestige and freedom of the individual. In history, slaves, convicts and prisoners of war are known to have been assigned a number. The British tried to introduce the Euro pass system something akin to the UID scheme but gave up the idea considering that it might hurt the feelings of a free people. Thank God, the scheme is voluntary. There is no compulsion or statutory obligation to furnish the biometric details or other
particulars. The writer is a retired IAS officer and former Director, Census Operation, Haryana
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Inside Pakistan
THERE are many members of Pakistan’s National Assembly (parliament) holding fake degrees. They might have acquired these degrees during Gen Pervez Musharraf’s regime to enter the House. The ruling General had got a law enacted in 2002 to prevent any non-graduate from contesting elections. Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani says the main target was popular opposition leader Nawabzadah Nasrullah Khan. President Asif Zardari, too, was believed to be a non-graduate, but he managed a degree from some little known institution to contest the polls. Speaking at a public rally on Wednesday, Gilani said, as reported by Daily Times, “Parliament is empowered to legislate on all issues ... it should also take (up) issues related to fake educational degrees of public representatives ... (who) are being disgraced ... it is being said that 80 per cent of the total parliamentarians hold fake degrees.” According to Daily News, Gilani said the condition of holding a graduation degree for contesting elections was no longer there. The law has been repealed to enable people to select their representatives irrespective of their qualifications. But the controversy relating to the degrees of parliamentarians is refusing to come to an end. Many cases have been filed to expose those having fake degrees, but the courts’ judgements are not known. Wheat smuggling Pakistan may face an acute atta shortage in the days to come, as it experienced in the past. The primary reason for this situation is the smuggling of wheat into Afghanistan, where the prices are higher than in Pakistan. Many cases of wheat smuggling have come to light though the harvesting season is yet to be over. According to The Nation, “The middlemen are picking up the crop from the farmers at a price far below the official support price and then smuggling it across the border at a higher price. Reportedly, the notorious truck mafia is also in cahoots with the middlemen and is transporting the stocks greasing the palms of border officials. It is a vicious circle that would not just snatch the bread out of the farmers’ mouth, but would also have serious repercussions for the country’s food security.” With corruption being rampant in both Pakistan and Afghanistan, wheat smugglers face little difficulty in carrying on this illegal trade. Reports say that border guards can easily be bribed. Significance of May 12 Lawyers observed a strike throughout Pakistan on May 12 and demanded that the government and the Chief Justice of Pakistan must do whatever was necessary to bring to book all those who indulged in large-scale violence on this day in 2007. Those associated with the struggle to revive democracy in Pakistan during the Pervez Musharraf regime will hardly forget what happened in Karachi on May 12, 2007. On this day PPP workers, lawyers and other civil society activists were forcibly prevented from receiving the then deposed Chief Justice, Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, who had come to the provincial capital on an invitation from the Sindh High Court Bar Association to address an important function. The MQM was a part of the Sindh government, which used the force in a reckless manner. Nothing has happened to the perpetrators of the May 12 violence because the MQM happens to be a major constituent of the PPP-led coalition government in Islamabad today. But, as Daily Times says, “no matter how much they deny and twist the sequence of events, they cannot escape culpability for the horrendous crimes that took place that day… Almost a year later, on April 9, 2008, 11 people lost their lives in Karachi, including six lawyers who were burnt alive when some miscreants set a plaza housing lawyers’ offices on
fire.”
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