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Erosion of credibility On Record by Ehsan Fazili
Profile
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‘We are trying to remove the labour inspector raj’
There are major issues of providing workers with social security, ensuring fair wages and reducing the exploitation of contract labour. Apart from that, the unemployment figure remains high. Though India has one of the largest and youngest labour forces in the world, there is a tremendous shortage of skilled workers. The problem of child labour too has been inadequately addressed though it has become an international concern. In an exclusive interview with Editor-in-Chief Raj Chengappa, Union Labour and Employment Minister Mallikarjun Kharge talks about these and other issues concerning India’s labour. Excerpts:
What are your key priorities for 2011? We want to ensure that under our health insurance scheme for the poor, the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna, at least 75 per cent of the people who are below the poverty line can be covered. I want to bring those in the unorganised sector — domestic workers, vegetables vendors and street hawkers etc — under the scheme too. The second area is that the Industrial Disputes Act, which I have already got amended in the last parliamentary session, should be implemented this year strictly. This will speed up the settlement of disputes. The amendment will allow workers to go to court direct after a 45-day waiting period rather than wait for the government to take its time over arbitration, which in many cases, took years. Even the tribunals have been empowered to speed up decisions. Are you planning any reforms for the unorganised sector, which still constitutes over 90 per cent of the Indian labour? Yes, I want to bring reforms in contract labour in the unorganised sector to end their exploitation. In the organised sector the contract labour’s interests are more or less safeguarded. But in the name of outsourcing contracts, even many state governments and Central institutions are allowing contractors to exploit labour in the unorganised sector. So we want to give them some justice and fix equal wages for equal work, and provide social security to them. They will slowly come in the organised sector as a result. If they get fair wages, then the consuming capacity of contract labourers will go up and result in an overall economic growth. I have moved the proposal to the Union Cabinet, which has constituted a committee of secretaries to look into it. Do you expect any obstacles in implementing it? I need the help of trade unions, employers and the media to speed it up. All such agreements are tripartite involving the labour, the employers and the government. If all the three stakeholders agree, we can move fast and do justice. In a democracy there are hurdles. We can’t just overrule the opponents and make or amend laws. The industry remains unhappy with the stringent industrial laws that make issues like retrenchment or exit extremely difficult. Every amendment is discussed in detail. The labour and employers are there at meetings but the industry does not come forward with a solution. While suggesting solutions, they should also tell us how other countries are doing it and what facilities they are providing as compared to ours. Are there examples in other countries where industry can retrench labour suo moto without any social security? If there are such laws in any country, we will study them. I do not agree with this habit of simply complaining about being harassed. Yes, we have to see that a labourer should work for whatever salary he gets and whatever laws are there he has to follow. But at the same time the managements should also follow these rules. In spite of there being so many labour laws, courts and industrial tribunals, we are noticing that many institutions are not making permanent appointments but only outsource workers. Is that not exploitation? Essentially, the industry wants reforms in the hire-and-fire policy They usually want reforms which result in the harassment of labour. The labour laws
and regulations have been in practice for a long time and were formulated by great personalities like Jawaharlal Nehru, B. R. Ambedkar and Jagjivan Ram. At that time everybody was in favour of labour and industry. Consequently, public sector units were set up during those days. So it is wrong to say that these laws were formulated to harass managements. However, if managements have some specific instances of harassment and indiscipline by the workforce under some specific labour laws, we are always open to suggestions and amendments. The industry’s main complaint is that the laws are heavily loaded against managements and lead to slackness of labour Who says the labour laws are there only to protect the workers and create indiscipline and other issues? If any worker/employee does not work and misbehaves, the management should issue him/her a notice and after adopting a proper follow-up procedure of holding inquiry, etc, the guilty worker can be sacked. But for any disciplinary action and sacking, a proper procedure has to be adopted because we are living in a democratic country where everything has to be done in accordance with the laws. The other problem area is the harassment of the industry over the observation of labour laws The culture of inspector raj has become outdated. We are trying to give it the complete go-by. So, the role of the inspectors has already been reduced. We are trying to remove the labour inspector raj and instead will give a nomenclature like social welfare officer or welfare inspector, etc. We have to take care of the labour also. We have to make a balance between the labour and the management and protect the interests of both. There has been a significant decline in labour unrest in the past decade. Is there any particular reason? Part of the reason is that there is a realisation that if the labour does not work, the industrial unit will close down. I have observed here and the world over that if there is social and job security, the workforce does not turn against the management. However, in case the management tries to harass and exploit workers, and does not follow the labour laws and regulations, then there are chances of unrest and confrontation. If the management does everything according to the labour laws, the worker is certainly going to get a satisfactory share of the profit. Moving to the overall labour scenario in the country, rural unemployment remains high. How is the government addressing it? In agriculture the Government of India, particularly Mrs Sonia Gandhi and Dr Manmohan Singh, have taken a lot of interest to protect agricultural labour and small and marginal farmers under the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme under which crores of people are employed. There is a guaranteed minimum 100 days’ employment in a year which usually happens during the off-season for cultivation. The wages may be low but other safeguards are given. For example, for food, fair price shops are providing grain at Rs 3 a kg and mid-day meals in schools support their children apart from education being made compulsory and free. That is why there is not too much hue and cry because the government is taking care of their food, education and even health needs under various programmes. The well-to-do should not complain about the subsidies for such programmes. After all, don’t we give subsidies to big industries either through electricity or setting up special economic zones and give them land cheap and exempt them from taxes? While India may have one of the largest and youngest labour forces in the world, what we lack is skilled labour. What is the government doing to encourage skill development? Skill development means more or less vocational courses. We are upgrading our present ITIs and enhancing their intake capacity. We are permitting two or three shifts in each institute for shorter courses. We have prepared separate syllabi for the Modular Employable Scheme (MES) where, according to a student’s educational level, he or she can take suitable courses in any field of his or her interest that could be of a duration varying from three months to three years. Under the Skill Development Council a lot of work is being done and the Prime Minister and the Planning Commission are formulating schemes that in the next 12 years or so will train more than 50 crore workers. What efforts is the government making with regard to arresting child labour, which has become an international issue? The child labour issue in India, I think, will be wiped out by the end of the decade. According to the enforcement of the Child Labour Act and the rules for compulsory education of children by the UPA Government, a child above six years and below 14 years should get compulsory education. For the implementation of these rules, every Deputy Commissioner and officer concerned should be held accountable. One thing is that every parent and every district administrator will ensure that every child goes to school. Secondly, there is another attraction why children should go to school. They will get mid-day meals in school. Also, with their parents being supported economically by giving them employment under various schemes, child labour is expected to come down. So these are good programmes. The only problem is that, unfortunately, NGOs don’t take up such programmes seriously nor do many political parties. If each NGO takes up just one scheme and promotes it, tremendous work could be done.
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Erosion of credibility
The Central Bureau of Investigation;s move to close criminal proceedings against Ottavio Quattrocchi has drawn flak from the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, New Delhi. He criticised the CBI’s role in the investigation of the case against Quattrocchi and questioned its decision to approach Interpol for removal of the red corner notice against him before obtaining the court’s permission for withdrawal of the case against him. Increasingly, the CBI is losing credibility as an independent investigating agency. This will seriously impede any meaningful efforts to combat corruption. The CBI was set up under the Delhi Police Establishment Act (DPEA) in 1946. During its early years, the organisation, under able and upright Directors like D.P. Kohli and F. Arul enjoyed enviable reputation for transparency and professional competence. It selected its officers carefully and brooked no interference in its work. For IPS officers, deputation to the CBI was a prestigious assignment and they could function free from the pulls and pressures of the state politicians. The CBI’s decline and erosion of its credibility started during the Emergency (1975-77). The organisation became politicised. The Shah Commission of Inquiry which looked into the excesses perpetrated during the Emergency severely indicted the CBI’s role in a number of cases. In some cases, it was acting malafide and had become an instrument of harassment of innocent people. The then CBI Director D. Sen, an officer of great professional competence, inspired fear and awe from the subordinate staff. But he capitulated before the baleful pressures exerted by all powerful Sanjay Gandhi and his cronies and besmirched irretrievably the reputation of the organisation. The Shah Commission deplored the politicisation of the CBI and said that the fairness and objectivity which an organisation functions would ultimately depend upon the extent to which the higher executives of the organisation are allowed to function freely and objectively and at the same time ensuring their accountability to statutorily constituted bodies. An important reason for the CBI’s erosion of credibility is political interference in its investigative functioning. Section 4 of the Delhi Police Establishment Act provides that CBI must function under the “superintendence” of the central government. Superintendence does not control or interference in the investigation conducted by CBI. In the case of Vineet Narain (1998), the Supreme Court held that Section 4 cannot be construed so as to prevent actual supervision of the investigation of an offence by the CBI and the Central government is precluded from issuing any direction in the CBI to curtail or inhibit its jurisdiction to investigate into offences. Unfortunately, the CBI has been functioning under successive Central governments, as eminent jurist Fali S. Nariman has put it, “not by notes on files but on nods or winks” of the minister or the senior bureaucrats in charge of the administrative ministry. In cases involving the Commonwealth Games and 2G Spectrum, the CBI moved with disturbing slowness in conducting raids of houses of the officers and suspects, freezing their bank accounts, interrogation, etc. The people cannot be blamed if it draws adverse inferences .Now it has to investigate the 2G Spectrum case under the apex court’s supervision. In Vineet Narain’s case (better known as the Hawala case), even under the court’s scrutiny, investigation was so inadequate that charges could not be framed by the trial courts against the accused persons. Indeed, much depends upon the Director’s mettle. He should be able to stand firmly against the nods and winks of the political masters. Now a fixed tenure of two years after selection as the Director gives him some elbow room. The government should ensure that organisations like the CBI are led by competent self-respecting individuals who are known for their appreciation of values and concern for the interests of the country and its citizens. Even now without extraneous interference, the CBI has done laudable investigation in cases relating to Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination in May 1991 and the 1993 Mumbai blasts. Its performance has been acclaimed by all. To restore its credibility, the Centre should make the CBI an effective instrument for combating corruption. There should be a comprehensive enquiry into the functioning of the CBI by an eminent professional of untarnished reputation or by a Joint Parliamentary Committee. The recommendations of such a committee have to be implemented in letter and spirit. There are suggestions to give the CBI Director an independent constitutional status like the CAG. Another alternative is to put it under Parliament’s control. If the Australian model is introduced, it could be made accountable to Parliament. An Independent Commission against Corruption (ICAC) in Hong Kong has done a remarkable job in reducing corruption. The Chairman, known for his unimpeachable integrity, has prosecuted some big fish. Strong political will is needed to make the CBI independent, apolitical and effective. Another factor sapping the CBI’s efficiency is that its charter has been widened to deal with various other forms of crime not connected with corruption. It is saddled with all kinds of cases. Its strength has to be substantially augmented. In 1996, the Federal Bureau of Investigation had 11,400 investigating officers while the CBI had only 1031. The ICAC’s activities, confined only to Hong Kong, had 684 investigators in its rolls. At present, the CBI refuses to take over many cases but has to accept some of them either under court’s orders or pressure of public opinion. The CBI’s functioning suffers because of constraints beyond its control. Its monthly crime reports for September 2010 indicated that as on September 30, 2010, 9895 cases were pending for trial. As many as 108 cases are pending with Central Government departments /authorities and 24 cases pending with state governments for sanction. Prosecution sanction was ostensibly meant for a check against non-appreciation of departmental procedures by an investigating agency or the court. So the department was given the discretion. But the influential and the forceful can manage its denial (as shown in the case of P. J. Thomas) and frustrate the ends of justice. This provision needs to be removed from the
statute. The writer, a former IPS officer, is currently Senior Fellow, Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi
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On Record by Ehsan Fazili Prof Abdul Wahid, Vice-Chancellor of Central University of Kashmir, Srinagar, is a renowned educationist. A former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Kashmir, he is a recipient of many awards.Prof Wahid has been a member on the Jury of Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding for three years. He has also been a member of the Indian Council of Cultural Relations and the Aligarh Muslim University Court. He speaks to The Tribune in Srinagar about his plans for the university. Excerpts: Q: How far you have advanced in the last one year? A: We could proceed with the university’s activities only from early last year. The university has significantly moved forward. It conducted a meeting of its statutory bodies and adopted necessary subordinate legislation in the form of ordinances, statutes, rules and regulations. We have put in place necessary physical infrastructure and student support services like library, computer lab, browsing centre, teaching aids, hostel facility etc. We successfully launched three academic programmes — Masters in English, IT and Business Administration this year. Q: How many students are on the rolls for these academic programmes? A: Students have been selected, 30 in each of the three courses, through an all-India Common Entrance Test. Students from Tamil Nadu, Bihar and other states have been provided with hostel facilities in the rented campus at Sonwar in Srinagar. Q: Are there any hindrances like the law and order situation or lack of funds in developing the university? A: No. There have been no hindrances. There was some turmoil during summer months during which not many students from other states could join our university. Q: When would the varsity campus get ready? A: The campus site near Ganderbal is accessible from Srinagar city. There will be several alternatives routes for reaching the campus. The state government has started the land acquisition process. Though the process has got delayed, it should not take a long time. Once the land is transferred to the university, we have to engage an architect to prepare the Master Plan for the campus. Then, we can engage construction agencies for raising the buildings. Obviously, construction takes its own time. Q: How is your university different from state universities, particularly in Kashmir? A: Universities have to produce capable leaders in various walks of life. Of course, a Central University differs from state universities in certain respects. First, admission has to be on all-India basis with GoI’s reservation policy. Secondly, funded by the Centre, these should provide high class infrastructure and student support services. Thirdly, these universities are expected to implement the latest academic reforms like semester system, choice-base credit system, use of multi-mode teaching methodology with focus on capacity building and personality development of the learners. For example, in our university every student is required to take up a skill-based course and a socially-oriented course in addition to his/her main discipline. Q: What new streams are introduced in the university? A: Our focus is on academic programmes which are market-driven and socially relevant. We are offering Masters Degree in English, IT and Business Administration — all these are in great demand in the country. We will also offer innovative programmes like Nanotechnology, Biodiversity and Conservation, Climate Change once our campus and labs are ready. We are planning to offer Masters in Convergent Journalism, Mathematics, Economics and integrated degree in Law. Some of these are vocational courses. Kashmir attracts people from far and wide because of its natural beauty and for knowledge and scholarship. Q: Does your university pose a challenge to the University of Kashmir? A: The Central University does offer slightly better perks as also higher retirement age to its faculty. But this is no challenge to any university. We have to select the best available talent at the national level. Of course, talented teachers retiring from University of Kashmir and other universities will have opportunities of joining us. I feel all the universities in the region promote a common
cause.
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Profile
One can never call B. Saroja Devi, decorated with the prestigious NTR (N.T. Rama Rao) National Award, a forgotten actress though she is 73. She acted with all the legends of Indian film industry. Talk about them and she gets energised. MGR (M.G. Ramachandran) was her guru. “I have not seen a more generous person than him”, she says. She acted, besides MGR, with two other heroes in Tamil those days — Sivaji Ganeshan and Gemini Ganeshan — and also with two stars of Kannada cinema, Dr Rajkumar and Telugu superstar NTR. To Hindi superstars, Dilip Kumar and Shammi Kapoor, she showed her supremacy. She acted in more than 170 films. Initially, Saroja Devi, also winner of the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award, wanted to be a teacher. As a little girl, she loved her school, St Theresa’s. She was taken in by the teachings of Jesus. Discipline, sincerity, respect to elders, love for fellow beings...all this was taught to her in her moral science class and all these virtues became part of her life. “If I became the most sought-after actress and was known for my discipline, I owe it to my foundation”, she says. Like every girl of her age, Saroja Devi too sang and danced, helped her mother Rudramma with every chore till one day the senior actor-raconteur Honnappa Bhagavathar spotted her and offered a role in films. She was not interested, she told her mother but Rudramma was hardly the one to relent. She ensured that her daughter accepted the offer and there she was, acting as the lead in Mahakavi Kalidasa. That was the year 1955. Those days, films were made in Madras studios, and she was spotted by MGR, Sivaji Ganeshan and offers from Tamil started flowing in. She told her mother she wanted to stop acting and go back to school, but that was not to be. Her mother was a major force in her life. “I can’t recall a single occasion, when I had the courage to go against her wishes”, she says. Rudramma was very pragmatic and a woman of enormous foresight. She took care of her daughter’s call sheets, her schedule, what she wore, what she ate, and her hairstyle. Rudramma also ensured that Saroja got an encouraging gift each time her films ran for 100 days, or 25 weeks, or won a National Award. Way back in 1966, Rudramma imported a blue Chevrolet for her daughter from the United States. When the film Sasuraal was a huge hit, she gifted her daughter a gold chain; it’s the same one that Rajkumar put around her neck in the film Bhagyavantaru. “My mother was my universe, and to this day, I need someone to tell me what sari I have to wear. I am a very dependent person...”, she says. By that time school was completely out of her life and she went on to become the highest paid actor. With the film Kalyana Parisu becoming a big hit, she shot to fame and began to work four shifts everyday. She had no time for other activities. In between, she would just shut her eyes and go to sleep. And she literally starved to achieve those enticing body contours in the absence of gyms and celebrity workouts. One free afternoon, Saroja Devi drove off her blue Chevrolet to her aunt’s house and a jyotshi (soothsayer) came straight to her and predicted that she was going to get married in a few months to a man who works with metals. Initially bemused, she found herself crying, assuming that she was going to marry a blacksmith. Soon her marriage was fixed to Sri Harsha, a mechanical engineer. She describes her late husband animatedly. Soon after her marriage, Saroja Devi ran into serious income-tax problem and her entire property was attached. “Overnight, from the peak of glamour I had sunk to the bottom. I had come to believe that everything was over for me. But it was my husband who brought me out of the mess. If I am living peacefully, without any financial woes, it is because of him”, she says. Saroja Devi is known for her philanthropic and social consciousness. She organised many endowments in the name of her late husband, daughter Bhuvaneshwari and her mother and has constituted charitable trusts, rehabilitation centres and health
programmes.
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