The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Girls interrupted
Working women’s choices curtailed

THE spree of crimes against young working women who brave the big bad world with courage to claim their space has once again sent shock waves. Does their freedom spell their doom? And who scripts their doom, the young men stalking them, unable to take a ‘no’ for an answer? Both men and women come out of the same social structure, then why is one doomed for success? All these rape and murder cases have highlighted three major facts about our society. One, there is a growing animosity against working, independent women. While women’s contribution in ‘nation building’ is welcome, their choices are curtailed. Chetan Shoran, who slit Varsha Yadav’s throat outside her college in Hisar, was her batch-mate. He could not take a ‘no’ from her. Sajjad Ahmad Mughal took a fancy to a lawyer, Pallavi Purkayastha, living in a highrise building of Mumbai. The lawyer was much higher in all social parameters; Sajjad could only kill her to avenge rejection for his advances. The call centre worker gang-raped near Faridadad had known the culprits, one of them is a boy-friend of her friend.

Two, while women have empowered themselves with education, the other social tools to support their newly carved out role, like law and order machinery, safe housing and transport facilities have remained abysmally inadequate. And the hangover of patriarchy has remained glued to the male psyche. In both cases the apathy of neighbours and bystanders reflects people’s lack of confidence in the efficiency of the legal system.

Thirdly, the so-called private security agencies have turned out to be more of a liability. When the Mumbai police checked Sajjad’s verification form, they found his home address to be blatantly fake, but his background was never checked. In the absence of computerised linking of thanas, it takes close to six months to verify antecedents. If women have to work and support GDP, the least the government could do is to offer a more efficient security apparatus for them.

Steal, don’t loot
Of ministerial realities and perceptions

WE must always be one up on our erstwhile colonial masters. A number of less-than-distinguished members of British Parliament were exposed for charging the exchequer for a variety of goods, including two “limed oak toilet seats”. There were other more serious charges like taking £22,500 to have “dry rot treated”, against the British MPs, but we did not devote much attention to it. The rot that this scandal exposed in 2009 was enough to claim the careers of a number of prominent parliamentarians, even though the pickings were slim by many standards.

British peccadilloes aside, the Indian reality is distinctive. Here we don’t question how the income of public servants shoots up at a rate that defies the norms of economics. On the other hand, we take it in our stride, to the extent that a minister tells his civil servants to work before they steal. A reasonable enough statement, on the face of it. One might even say that the minister concerned was merely stating the obvious, even as he exhorted his staff to do something they were unfamiliar with, work. To be fair, we all know that they work hard to keep their positions, to ensure that their political masters are happy, and that they will continue to enjoy the fruits of the position they hold. Actually, work for the public? You got to be kidding!

The minister, on the other hand, was merely being managerial in making the performance-based incentive (PBI) a part of the deal — you work, and I will let you steal, a little, as long as it is not loot or dacoity. Can anything be as reasonable as that? Expectations and rewards laid out in black and white. And that too in a world where the distinction between the two has blurred to an extent that it is difficult to distinguish one from the other. Then there are those who are masters of converting black into white, what with the help of party workers who donate just a few rupees each — together the amount becomes Rs 175 crore or so. The visionary, who decided to provide PBIs to the bureaucrats, should not be reviled, he should be lauded. Keep a watch on him, soon there will be students from Harvard to study how the scheme produced results, just as their predecessors studied the great “turnaround” of the Indian Railways by a minister who had prime ministerial ambitions.

Thought for the Day

Life is a long lesson in humility. — James M. Barrie

ARTICLE

The dark side of North Korea
Rampant human rights violations must end
by Rajaram Panda

THE world knows North Korea more because of its nuclear proliferation activities than anything else. Little is known to the outside world about what happens inside North Korea. The hermit state maintains a strict and rigid information control system, and any violation of it results in the harshest of punishment, including public execution. North Korea does not allow outside surveys on its human rights situation. The only information that filters outside the country is through defectors, many of whom succeed to escape, but those who are unlucky and caught face death or hard labour.

According to defectors, there are three categories of people who are publicly executed. The first category of public execution in North Korea is of those who resist the communist regime. Those who commit murder, rape and human trafficking, illicitly circulate information from the outside world and take part in the drug trafficking and contraband trade face harsh punishment. There is the case of a North Korean resident who was charged with killing a public security officer and publicly executed because of dissatisfaction over North’s reinforced social control of its residents in the course of the hereditary power succession from Kim Jong-il to Kim Jong-un. This single instance explains the state repression against those who indulge in anti-state activities and challenge the socialist regime.

The second category of people who are publicly executed are those who fail to supply electricity to the capital Pyongyang and those who squander state properties. People of this category are viewed as doing anti-state crime hindering the country’s self-proclaimed goal of constructing a “Kangsong Taeguk”, or a strong, prosperous and powerful country.

The third category of public execution is of those who are engaged in livestock trafficking of such animals as cows and goats. Even some are charged with eating human flesh. Executions in this category increased after Pyongyang’s botched currency reforms in 2009, which caused massive inflation and worsened food shortages. It is reported that even a few of those who were responsible for the currency reforms were secretly executed. This demonstrates how difficult the country’s economy is and how severe the food shortages are.

However, since 2011 the cases of public executions are reported to have decreased. There can be three reasons for this. First, the North Korean authorities have changed their strategy to conduct secret executions rather than public executions because of international criticism. It is also possible that more and more convicts are given life sentence and punished to do hard labour at its concentration camps and, therefore, cases of executions have got reduced. Second, North Korea has not gained anything from these executions. Its real intention seems to maintain the dictatorial regime and create a sense of terror among the citizens. The third reason for the reduction of public executions may be related to rampant corruption that has crept into North Korean society. This means those in authority take bribes from those to be executed and let them escape execution with lesser punishment. However, these are half-truths as information from defectors might not be accurate. Public executions in small and remote areas may still be going on as usual.

At the moment it is unclear if the young leader, Kim Jong-un, who succeeded his father after his death in December 2011, will increase public executions to continue horror politics and to strengthen dynastic rule, or go in for handing out more sentences of hard labour in recognition of international criticism. The judicial procedure regarding public executions is such that death sentence to criminals are awarded as per the Criminal Code and related criminal clauses. Once the sentence is awarded, the condemned criminals are soon executed, something akin to the Chinese way of execution by firing a bullet on the back of the head.

Other harsher ways of punishment are torture, forced labour and beatings, which are common at various correctional facilities such as detention houses and concentration camps. In most cases, members of the prisons, meant for providing guidance, conduct cruel acts on those imprisoned. Nutrition and medical conditions for detainees are poor. Those inmates who become very weak because of lack of food are exempt from forced labour but are kept without the benefits of obtaining medical treatment. No wonder, many of the detainees suffer from malnutrition and succumb to injuries because of severe beatings and torture, and no medical treatment.

It is believed that infringements of corporal freedom and safety rights occur more frequently at the Chongjin concentration camp in North Hamgyong province. Of the detention facilities, the Onsong county camp operated by the state security department is the most notorious for its human rights infringement.

It is estimated that around 1.5 to 2 lakh political prisoners and their families are confined to various detention camps. The crime of this category of people normally is alleged espionage and aborted attempts to defect to South Korea and unauthorised contact with South Koreans. The family members of those who fled the communist state are sent to concentration camps and face state oppression.

Economic offenders are imprisoned in political camps and face severe charges. Once in a political camp, the detainees are deprived of their resident certificate, barred from getting normal rations of food and medical benefits. Marriage and childbirth are also prohibited. Camp rules in political camps are strictly imposed. If a married couple is in the same camp, they are forced to work separately, one at night and one during the day, so that they cannot have sex. The inmates who violate rules are also drowned in a waterway located at the No. 22 control office so that precious bullets are saved.

Under Kim Jong-un’s rule, there is a possibility that these kinds of human right violations will increase as he has to assert his authority. But as information has started filtering in by way of cell phones, videos, TV programmes and publications, more of these kinds of information will reach the outside world. The new regime might not be able to control information outflow and, therefore, cases of human right violations are expected to decline. However, a complete end to such repressions is not likely.

The writer, an expert on East Asian affairs, is a former Senior Fellow, Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi.

MIDDLE

God hunt
by P.C. Sharma

MAN does not know when God came into his life. But, as George Bernard Shaw says, “the greatest creation of man is God: omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent…etc.” Invocations to God in early scriptures like Vedas — “Tamso ma jyotirgamye” (lead me from darkness to light), and the Old Testament — “And God said, ‘let there be light and there was light’ — symbolise the limitations of man and his faith in God’s limitless powers to do anything for mankind.

Failure of man to find his own creation has led to a massive hunt for God in Geneva, near the Swiss-French border, to find out what exactly God is or whether there is God at all! Is He just a particle or a paramount power having sway over the havens and the earth which are all believed to be His creations.

This gigantic effort by CERN (European Organisation for Nuclear Research) has been made by setting up under the earth something hitherto unknown in the annals of physics. Known as LHC (Large Hydron Collider), it is a vast ring that will be used to collect protons and their particles, accelerate them in opposite directions at record energy and give some idea of the creator.

When I was in Geneva last year I got an opportunity to visit CERN and see for myself the LHC. This experiment was being conducted in a huge tunnel running for miles under the earth. Seeing this huge project, I got some glimpses of understanding of this complex concept.

Deep down in the abysses of the earth, at “beam level”, this scientific experiment being pursued for decades at an astronomical cost is awe-inspiring, but what it does not inspire is the belief whether God will ever be found. With my own limitations of knowledge — both scientific and spiritual — I felt sceptical about the outcome of the staggering scale of this experiment. Can God ever be found? “Our highest knowledge of God is only partial. There always remains something which is unseen and unspoken,” says Dr Radhakrishnan. But this pursuit of the “unseen and unspoken” has impelled humans to go deep down under the earth and the oceans and also soar high into the space to probe planets.

In her latest space journey, Sunita William is carrying with her a copy of the Upanishad. Perhaps, to get some “higher” knowledge about God or just to pray that God help her in her space odyssey.

The ultimate end of all these endeavours is neither partial, nor provisional. It is not even close to what the scriptures say, “Anaadi Anant” (God has no beginning and no end). Even the imagination of the poet fails to conjure up any palpable image of God. William Cowper says:

“God moves in a mysterious way/ His wonders to perform/ He plants his footsteps in the sea/ And rides upon the storm/ Deep in the unfathomable mines/ Of never failing skill/ He treasures up his bright designs/ And works His sovereign will”

Religion, the mind of man and science will go on launching greater endeavours in pursuit of God but what has been known is not even a particle of God and what possibly can be added to this knowledge in future will also not be even a particle of God.

While coming out of the CERN headquarters and being highly sceptical of the experiment of this scientific Titanic, I realised intensely the truth of Vedic saying: “Ataman Veti” — instead of chasing God, “Know thyself”.

OPED — GOVERNANCE

Graft not confined to govt
Corruption pervades the whole spectrum of society and, perhaps, exists in greater measure in the private sector, where everything having a positive impact on the balance sheet is acceptable
K. M. Chandrasekhar

There is a spurt in the number of scandals, provoking public protests, because it is no longer possible to sweep major acts of corruption under the carpet because of the Right to Information Act. Tribune photo: Anand Sharma

I realise there has been enough written and spoken on corruption during the last few months. The issue however, remains live and has resurfaced again.

Corruption existed before Independence, after Independence, throughout history. When feudal lords, the Mansabdars of yore, extracted pounds of flesh from peasants, that was an act of corruption. When armies raided towns and villages and looted the people, that was an act of corruption for they where abusing their power and authority for personal gain. Corruption has lasted over time, through history and corruption has existed and continues to exist everywhere in all countries. If there is a single solution that would root out corruption in it entirely, a single institution with magical power that brings corruption to an abrupt end, then such institutions or solutions would have been adopted every where and corruption would have ceased to exist on earth.

Nor is corruption a governmental preserve. It pervades the whole spectrum of society and perhaps exists in greater measure in the private sector, where the bottom line is defined in terms of money earned, every investment, whether legitimate or in the nature of corruption, would be considered acceptable if it has a positive impact on the balance sheet and the income and expenditure statement. Hence, corruption is often driven by the corrupting, not just the corrupted or the corruptible.

The power of RTI

The great new development that has taken place in our country in the recent past has been that an act of corruption in the government cannot easily be swept under the carpet as it could have been a few years ago. The Right to Information Act has been a far more revolutionary instrument of legislation than we think it is. The Act has brought about significant changes. First, it affords access at low cost on all matters relating to governance. Secondly, such access is provided not by individuals in the actual line of implementation that led to suspected corruption, but by a parallel set of functionaries, who often do not know the significance or potential of what they provide.

Thirdly, failure to provide information, except under certain sharply defined circumstances, entails personal liability on the functionary charged with providing such information. Hence, governmental information can be easily accessed. However, information relating to other sections of society and the economy is still hidden. We do not know what happens in the private sector, in the non-governmental organisations, in sports bodies, in the news media and myriad other institutions which have an interface with the public. Transparency cannot be confined to the government alone. Transparency must extend to all other sections -- if not by law, at least by voluntary choice.

Governmental action to bring acts of corruption to the public eye is not confined to the right to information alone. Amendments to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act made in the recent past brought the Prevention of Corruption Act within it the penal provisions so that ill-gotten gains can be frozen and, later, confiscated.

Add to this, a slew of administrative measures and we have a frame work, however incipient, however undeveloped, to tackle the problem of corruption. The Aadhar number provided by the Unique Identification Authority will remove to a great extent corruption in the disbursement of concessions to targeted sections of society. This will be further bolstered by the efforts being made by the Ministry of Finance for financial inclusion, which provides a platform for direct cash transfers to beneficiaries through bank accounts rather than through individual officers.

Promoting e-governance

Another important element in the thrust towards a relatively corruption-free structure of governance would lie in the simplification of procedures, particularly the rapid growth of tools of e-governance. And, in my opinion, a great deal is being done, quietly and unobtrusively, in different parts of the country in this direction. The Direct Tax Code and the Goods and Services Tax would themselves bring in a measure of predictability, stability and simplicity in taxation procedures.

The Income Tax Department has conducted an interesting experiment of separating the assessee from the assessing officers, first by interposing a refund banker between the two, who is responsible for making refunds to the assessees directly and, secondly, by setting up centralised processing units, where returns are processed and refunds determined impersonally, rather than by leaving it to individual assessing officers.

The Chhattisgarh model of public distribution, which is based on computerised tracking of all stocks and all movements of food grains and replacement of private ration dealers by Self Help Groups and local bodies, is an impressive new venture. E-ticketing introduced in the Ministry of Railways is another administrative measure that has greatly reduced the scope for corruption.

In spite of the Right to Information Act, in spite of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, why have more suspected corruption scandals surfaced during the recent months? Primarily, because it is no longer possible to sweep major acts of corruption under the carpet. Also, because we are going through a period of transition. The Right to Information Act protects the honest officer. It does not threaten him in any way because it gives him the power to write what he thinks is proper, because anything improper would definitely be exposed.

However, officers and other functionaries, including political functionaries, have not realised the power of the Act and its implications. What could have gone unnoticed in the not too distant past can no longer escape public attention. This realisation is gradually beginning to dawn on policymakers and implementers of policy at all levels and this will, in time, mark a change in approach to issues.

In the beginning there could be some administrative confusion, some fear that could slow down the wheels of governance, but ultimately it could lead to the re-emergence of the steel frame. This period of transition needs to be carefully handled. It could lead to a stronger administration; it could also lead to inflexibility, a blind adherence to procedure and complete loss of risk-taking ability in an uncertain and dynamic environment.

Fostering competition

Fostering competition is a sine qua non for reducing corruption. Three decades ago when Indian Airlines had a monopoly of domestic travel, there was palpable corruption in the sale of tickets in different sectors, particularly the sale to NRIs coming home on limited leave. When the manufacture of cars was limited to two or three players, there was a premium attached to the sale of every car, even second-hand ones. When telephones were the preserve of the Posts and Telegraph Department, jumping the enormously lengthy queue necessarily entailed an act of corruption of sorts either by manipulating levers of power or paying money. The advent of competition changed all this. Ideally the Competition Commission of India should become a powerful body to identify and ruthlessly eliminate monopolistic and oligopolistic tendencies where ever they exist.

The Lokpal is another instrument that is proposed to be employed in the war against corruption. What shape the organisation will take, will be obvious only after Parliament has finished its deliberations. However, it would be naive to expect that the Lokpal by itself will spell the end of corruption. We had the same expectations when the CVC was formed, when the CBI was formed, when Lokayuktas were formed, when Ombudsmen were appointed in different sectors. The Lokpal can deal with individual cases, as and when they come to its notice. I think it would be placing too great a burden on the Lokpal, when it is formed, to expect that corruption would cease the moment it comes into existence or within a few months of its formation. Let us not crush it under the weight of unrealistic expectations.

Systemic change

The focus, in my view, should be on rapid systemic change in areas prone to corruption. The Central Vigilance Commission and the State Vigilance Commissions, acting in tandem, could identify such areas both at the Central level and at the State level, creating such mechanisms as are necessary for the purpose. They should have the mandatory power with changes in legislation, where necessary, to enforce systemic changes with consequent severe penalties on the defaulting implementing authorities. Combined with this should be strengthening the autonomy and effectiveness in the functioning of institutions charged with responsibilities relating to vigilance and proper functioning of government bodies.

Corruption in the government is only a part of the overall problem of corruption in society. This is an oft-ignored area that needs to be addressed quickly. Civil society should turn its attention to this area if the problem of corruption is to be dealt within a holistic and comprehensive manner.

The writer is a former Union Cabinet Secretary