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Chaos on roads
Victorious in US
Nurturing ground |
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Growth without jobs
A bitter-sweet bond
Police itself must push for reforms
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Chaos on roads
Traffic
on Indian roads can be exasperating. If judges too lose their patience with those responsible for the chaos on killer roads, one can understand and appreciate. Perhaps, the judiciary alone can push the governments to do what needs to be done. A Punjab and Haryana High Court Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Augustine George Masih showed tremendous restraint on Friday when, instead of launching contempt proceedings for disobeying the court orders, it gave three weeks more to the governments of Punjab and Haryana to remove liquor shops situated along the highways. It does not require much intelligence to realise the dangers such liquor vends pose to public safety. Yet if these are not touched despite court directions, there is a reason: these are patronised by politicians in power. The same day another judge of the high court, Justice Rajive Bhalla, heard contempt proceedings for the non-implementation of the court’s traffic guidelines issued in 1998. He told the Commissioners of Police from Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Gurgaon, Faridabad and Panchkula that if police officers failed to act, they would be jailed. “This is no empty threat,” he warned. The judge raised some important questions. For VIP visits, cops are found standing every 10 metres, but what about the general public? Which law gives policemen the right to stop vehicles at nakas? Why is the road from the Governor’s house to the PGI (Chandigarh) carpeted every three months? What about other roads in the city? Why are vehicles allowed to park in green spaces? Do we need roundabouts? These are valid questions for the authorities to ponder. The practice of stopping traffic to make way for VIP vehicles had incurred the Supreme Court’s ire also but the powers-that-be seem to disregard courts', and public, annoyance. Pulling up police officers may not help much unless the ministers and bureaucrats concerned are held accountable. Self-serving politicians get the best available vehicles and helicopters for personal use at the taxpayers’ expense, while remaining indifferent to the plight of people faced with accident deaths and caught in traffic jams in day-to-day life.
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Victorious in US
Americans of Indian descent are a rising
force in American politics as the recent election results in the US show. On Tuesday five Indian-American candidates emerged victorious-three have become legislators in two states and two won the polls to local bodies. New Jersey has a significant population of expatriate Indians and thus it comes as no surprise that two of them, both Democrats, are in the State Assembly. Upendra Chivukula will now have the company of a newcomer, Kolkata-born Raj Mukherji. Another Democrat, Latha Mangipudi, has won as New Hampshire's State Representative. A fairly large number of Indian-Americans fought in the elections, and as expected many lost. Participating in the local electoral politics, however, has generated its own awareness about the Indian community in the US, and shows the confidence of the immigrants in their adopted land. It also signals a willingness to go beyond the much-reviled 'ghetto-mentality' and join the mainstream as citizens. While there were exceptions like the Amritsar-born Congressman Dalip Singh Saund, who became the first Indian-American to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from California in 1957, it is only in the new millennium that Indian-Americans have made their presence felt in US politics. Indeed, now the community can boast of Indian-American governors - Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Nikki Haley of South Carolina - both Republicans, even as most of the Indians maintain loyalty towards the Democratic Party. The younger generation of Indians is looking beyond the traditional careers in academics, business or IT and forging out success in diverse fields. It is only recently Nina Davuluri became the first Indian American to win the Miss America title. The rough and tumble of politics exposes Indian expatriates to the world beyond their own comfort zones, and some of them are thriving. While success or failure depends on the challenges each individual faces, there is no doubt that as a community, Indian-Americans now have a significant presence in the politics of the land they now call their own.
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Nurturing ground
There
can be little doubt that after home, school is the most important place where children not only learn the right values but also develop self-esteem. Sadly in India, more often than not schools turn out to be anything but a nurturing ground. The Hisar incident, in which a 12-year-old school girl’s face was blackened and she was paraded in the hostel, is once again a reflection of the ills that plague our schooling system. The Hisar case is not an isolated example. Similar incidents involving outrageous acts of teachers have been reported across the country, at times with fatal consequences. In Kolkata, where the suicide of Rouvanjit Rawla raised some discomfiting questions about teaching methods, the inhuman face of a teacher manifested itself once again recently when the head of an eight-year-old boy was banged against the wall, leading to his death. Despite the Supreme Court ban on the corporal punishment it continues under the guise of a disciplining tool and is erroneously perceived as a pro-student measure. Even students in elite public schools are not spared and have to face the wrath of teachers often for no or little provocation. Though the RTE classifies mental harassment as part of corporal punishment, children are invariably ridiculed and rebuked. This causes irreparable damage to young impressionable minds. Yet the authorities concerned remain oblivious. The school administration in Hisar is yet take action against the erring staff members even though the incident occurred several months ago. The school authorities have to ensure that learning places are safe havens where children blossom into confident beings, not settings where they are traumatised. The teacher-taught relationship in India has traditionally been a hallowed one and carries much significance. In modern India, the teaching community must realise that by saying no to corporal punishment, it would not undermine its position, only cementing the teacher-taught bond. Under no circumstances should teaching become a ruse for scarring children in formative years, for they are likely to carry the scars well into their adult life.
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Start with what is right rather than what is acceptable. — Franz Kafka
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Growth without jobs
The
Union Government has claimed a number of times that growth has accelerated after the adoption of economic reforms in 1991, and the reforms have had their positive impact on the economy. But while looking at inflation, increasing unemployment and inequality, declining value of the rupee against the dollar, the shortage of houses and lack of social security for the common man, one has to ponder over the impact of economic reforms and one becomes even more puzzled as to who has gained from these reforms. The more and more liberal policies for private enterprises are described as economic reforms, which have impacted multinational companies and large enterprises but at the cost of labour and inclusive growth. By adopting big and specialised machines, automation and remote control, the number of the unemployed has further increased. In the last 23 years about 10 million new job-seekers entered the job market, though only 2.7 million jobs were created annually. That is why unemployment has further increased. The main reason for poverty is unemployment. Employees agree to work at lower wages. If 60 per cent of the population was engaged in agricultural work in 1991, still it is 60 per cent at present, although the absolute population has increased much more. The non-agriculture sector has not developed much to absorb the released labour force of agriculture. That is why under-employment in agriculture is still continuing. People engaged in agriculture do not work for more than four hours a day. Although it is seen that less of big and specialised machinery is used in agriculture, yet no new jobs have been created in agriculture and allied professions. Being unskilled and under-employed, a majority of youth has to depend on agriculture for employment or they cannot make an addition to their income. Sixty per cent of the population engaged in agriculture contributes only 14 per cent to the GDP of the country, meaning that the remaining 40 per cent of the population is contributing 86 per cent to the national income, indicating a widening inequality between the two. It is because of economic reforms and by adopting new techniques that entrepreneurs laid stress on replacing labour with less and less amount of capital. Earlier, Rs 1.70 lakh could create a job for one person, now Rs. 1.05 lakh is enough. On the other hand, productivity of labour has increased by 34 per cent with the adoption of new machines. Large-scale units and multinational companies have no doubt gained, but whether the labourer or the common man has gained by increased productivity is still doubtful. The trend to appoint labour on contract or on a daily basis has increased because of the economic reforms. At present 75 per cent of the labourers work on a temporary basis; they are not sure if they would ever be employed permanently or have any social security coverage. Ignoring the government instructions, large-scale units get their jobs completed either from smaller units or from domestic labourers who are beyond the organised sector. In this period of 23 years, a number of public sector units have been sold to the private sector in order to obtain the objective of increased production. But this increase in production is achieved at the cost of labourers. Though the corporate sector has gained millions, neither an increase in employment nor in social security of the labour has been realised. The main stress of these large units is to replace labour with more capital. Labour is such a service that cannot be stored. If service is not performed today, it cannot be stored for tomorrow and that would go waste. Now when 160 million people are unemployed, does this mean that there is no output from this big chunk of population and there would be no increase in their income? This is not just a loss on the part of the individual but also a big loss for the country. It is observed that 386 out of 1,000 people are employed but this was 420 out of 1,000 in the year 2000. Besides, they are under-employed and they do not make any efforts to get themselves employed. This is why it is seen that the per capita income has increased to Rs 53,000 per annum, but according to the N.S.S. survey, 60 per cent of the people earn merely Rs 35 a day and there are 10 per cent who earn even less i.e. Rs.15 a day. This presents a very bleak scenario — a low earning capacity of the majority of the population. The main reason for this is unemployment and due to that they are compelled to lead a poor standard of living. When the Janata Party came to power in 1977, unemployment was considered as the biggest problem of the country and an employment plan was prepared in which it was envisaged that every year 10 million jobs would be created and unemployment would be removed within five years. But the Janata Party remained in power only up to 1979 and the employment plan ended thereafter. But then the Congress came to power and it also gave priority to employment generation. But instead of creating employment in the organised sector it focused on self-employment for which subsidies, loans and training were provided. The self-employment scheme was a big success, though in certain cases loans were diverted to unproductive purposes. A large number of people gained employment. Most of the schemes of self-employment were related with agriculture. So employment opportunities could not increase in the non-agricultural sector. But after the adoption of economic reforms, only one MNREGA scheme was launched for the promotion of employment in 2004. Under the scheme an able-bodied person, male or female in a family, was given employment for 100 days in a year by the village panchayat, but unemployment was not taken seriously. The employment aspect was left to the private large-scale and multinational companies in the belief that once there would be surge in investment, employment would automatically increase. But though the rate of growth had been 6 per cent in this period, employment rose by 1 per cent. There was only 0.1 per cent increase in employment in 2004-2005. So the employment situation worsened. In a statement Anand Sharma, Commerce Minister, has said that "foreign direct investment shall increase only if more economic reforms are adopted". One is compelled to ponder over the issue: what other reforms are there? Already the liberalisation policy has not decreased economic problems. The investment that increased with economic reforms has led to an increase in profits only and not employment. How can the jobless growth be called
development?
The writer is a former Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, Khalsa College, Amritsar
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A bitter-sweet bond Like
most Indians born in post-partition India, I have grown up with mixed feelings about Pakistan. Daughter of a father born in Gujaranwala, granddaughter of a doctor who studied at Lahore’s medical college and fed on umpteen tales (both bitter and sweet) of Pakistan in childhood years, I have always felt a strange nostalgia for a land I have never had a chance to visit. Indeed, Pakistan continues to figure on my wish list of destinations to be visited. Yet caught in the political dynamics of Indo-Pak relations, I have often found myself nodding along with Indian hawks who advocate a tough stance against Pakistan. Indeed, why should India give in more than Pakistan does? Often I have joined the chorus of the Shiv Sena’s battle cry — out with Pakistani artists. Like them I too have believed that Pakistani artists have no business cashing in on the Indian market. Of course, none of my radical thinking on Pakistan has stopped me from falling in love with the voice of Abida Parveen or Ghulam Ali or Arif Lohar. Like millions of their fans I have rejoiced over their songs and sung paeans in their praise. Whole-heartedly I have agreed with all those who believe watching Abida perform is like meeting God and no one sings Jugni like Arif. But the true test of what I feel comes on a neutral ground. Here as I stand outside the Vatican City, a land-locked sovereign city-state in Rome, I am approached by a man I mistake to be an Indian. The moment he speaks, his accent and diction gives him away.... he is from Pakistan. Of course, the conversation he has started continues. He strikes a personal note, talks about the bomb explosions in his country a day before and how he has lost his relatives in the blasts. Whether he is trying to make us sympathetic to his cause by telling a sob story or genuinely wants to share his moment of sorrow I really don't know. His reasons for approaching us are not borne out of the desire to connect in an alien land. An astute salesperson he is trying to sell us a guided tour of the Vatican City, home to St. Peter’s Basilica, the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museum. On our own he is dead sure we would be completely lost in the maze of hundreds of rooms abode to art works of artists as great as Raphael and Michelangelo and wouldn’t know what and how to see the great art collection. Not the one to be easily lured, the tight-fisted me walks away only to be accosted by another agent (Italian this time), palming off a similar package priced a few Euros less. As for the actual entry fee, well it's less than half of the guided tour price. My husband looks at me in askance. Now having lost his maternal uncle in the 1965 war, coming from a family of army officers he is not on the same emotional page as me as far as Pakistan goes. But knowing me, he knows I will go back to the nameless man from Pakistan and I don't disappoint his understanding of me, his life-partner of over two decades. Love them or hate them, Pakistan and Pakistanis would always enjoy most favoured status with us Indians whose emotions with the neighbouring nation run deep and survive long after the umbilical cord has been cut
asunder.
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Police itself must push for reforms
IN a landmark reformative verdict, the Supreme Court has passed orders for the establishment of Civil Services Boards (CSBs) to ensure good governance, transparency and accountability in governmental functions. This has raised hope among the public and well-meaning bureaucrats on the cleansing of the administrative system. Also this year, taking a serious note of the continuing police excesses against women across the country, the Supreme Court said it would go into the issue of the states setting up security commissions as part of the police reforms directed by it in the Prakash Singh case. The court in its judgment dated September 22, 2006, had directed the states to constitute a State Security Commission, Police Establishment Board, Police Complaints Authority and Central National Security Commission. The order is aimed at insulating police administrators from inappropriate pressure; promoting greater transparency in transfers and postings; and acknowledges that the administrators have the authority and responsibility for administration of the department while being accountable to the law and the people. Taking note of the fact that though most states have set up security commissions meant for ensuring that police functioned free from unwarranted political interference, they have conferred upon them only recommendatory powers, the apex court Bench said this was not acceptable. The states should give the commissions adequate powers as the commissions would need teeth to prevent police excesses, it pointed out.
Autonomy essential The Korean police had been under the direct control of the interior ministry, which oversees various elections including the presidential election. There had been no independent civilian oversight, which could check and prevent the politicisation of the police. Promotions of high-ranked officers have not been based on the performance of their duties, but rather on their relationship with the ruling parties and loyalty to the regimes. In addition to the lack of external control mechanism, the structure of the police itself — a highly centralised and vertical paramilitary structure from the top to the bottom — makes it easier to be manipulated as a political tool by appointing and assigning politically oriented officers in high ranks. There was a long standing demand from civilian organisations and even the police at various forums to have a mechanism that could insulate it from political misuse. Finally, with the enactment of the Police Act in 1991, the National Police Board was created to ensure political neutrality and autonomy. And the current police, Korean National Police Agency (South Korea) KNPA, was brought out of the direct control from the Ministry of Interior. However, despite the enactment of the Police Act, it has not been effective in ensuring political neutrality. The reasons are: the board belongs to the Minister of Interior as an advisory committee, thus significantly diminishing political neutrality of the Korea Police Board itself; the board is only responsible for advising police policy such as budget, equipment, and personnel administration. It is not given actual power to supervise the operation of the police, becoming a perfunctory organisation, useless for ensuring and increasing political neutrality and transparency of the KNPA; and the National Police Board did not become a superior office, and is not vested with actual authority to administer the KNPA in many areas, especially the appointment of high-ranked officers in top administrative positions, including the Commissioner General. The Commissioner General has been frequently changed at the will of the President. The average tenure has been around a year, thus significantly diminishing the political neutrality and autonomy of the police. The Korean example highlights the fact that despite the constitution of regulatory mechanism for police there has been no improvement in police functioning due to lack of independence to these bodies. Countries like the UK ensure that these bodies function in a totally independent and objective manner. The experiences from other nations like Korea provide important lessons for India, to ensure independence and effective functioning of the regulatory security commissions.
Commission members The commission should not be just a glorified and perfunctory replication of departmental committee of serving bureaucrats with some members from political executive. It should be ensured that it is representative of the community so that they enjoy the confidence of all sections of the community and the police. Selection of commission members should be done carefully as the members need to think boldly, have a vision, focus on results and have the ability to think strategically. The membership of the commission should also be reviewed periodically to ensure that no one interest group dominates the proceedings. Another concern would be the post-appointment conduct of the members of these commissions. There is a danger that without adequate safeguards these members may start misusing their authority, and these commissions slowly may act as another power centre. While the regulatory body is meant to make police accountable, it is also equally important that accountability mechanism for the members should be created. The authorities should be able to negotiate with the government concerning which policy or programme outcomes should be achieved on priority. When these goals are met, the members should be rewarded. When the goals are not met, the government should review the role of members from time to time.
More teeth Truly, mere constitution of commissions with recommendatory powers will have no impact unless these bodies are given sufficient powers to enforce their decisions. If their decisions have no impact, the commission members would lose interest in participation. The State Police Commission can play an important role to improve policing, therefore, care should be taken that its work is properly resourced, so that recommendations can be based on research and surveys for which it has an effective secretariat to document and support its work. The commission will also have to guard against the reluctance to determine the law enforcement and police service policy on the assumption that the police receives all necessary guidance in law enforcement from the courts, the prosecution, and the law. This is not true, as most police operations are outside criminal justice process and there are vast areas of police discretion with which the law, the courts, and prosecutors are not concerned. The commission can effectively contribute in these areas by forthrightly providing policy guidelines. However, it should also be seen that the commission is not allowed to step over the line into the day-to-day operations and functioning of the police department. It must let the leadership in the police develop and implement action plans to carry out strategies and show outcomes. While it is essential to give teeth to the commission, the effective and impartial functioning of such bodies would largely depend on functional autonomy, self sufficiency in terms of infrastructure and operating expenses, and the manner in which the members of the authority are selected.
Road ahead No mechanism can be a panacea for all the ills in any department. In the event of the setting up of such commissions too, how much the police is able to keep itself aloof from the politicians in power, is difficult to predict. Unless a strong will to resist the pressure from outside is exhibited by the police officers themselves, no amount of outside support or legislation can ensure police neutrality. There is always a possibility of mutually beneficial nexus being formed between some police officers and politicians. In various other logistics and service matters, the police would remain by and large dependent on the government and cannot ignore the ruling party in its functioning. Also, too much should not be expected too soon from the security commissions as it takes time to produce results. Even the infrastructure and building, for such bodies to operate, would take several years. In order to provide greater autonomy to the police, accompanied by greater accountability to the people for their performance and ethical conduct, a beginning has been made with the establishment of State Security Commissions. Their composition, functions and procedures that are established at this juncture would be critical in determining whether they would merely work as rubber stamps or would develop into instrument of substance for reforming the police in India in future. While efforts are under way to reform the institutional system of the Indian police by ensuring political neutrality and autonomy, it is important that the police itself makes sincere efforts to evolve itself into a democratic force and show genuine determination to reform it.
The writer is an ADG in the Punjab Police
What security commission needs
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