|
|
|
|
|
Politics over terror
The shirts are off |
|
|
Tapping tourism for jobs
Teaching the right lesson
A long battle is won for pension parity
OROP explained
|
Politics over terror BY staying the release of the seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, the Supreme Court has averted Tamil Nadu's needless stand-off with the Centre. The lightning speed with which Jayalalithaa acted to free the convicts soon after the apex court commuted the death sentence of three of them over inordinate delay in carrying out the sentence has backfired. The case may now drag. The next hearing is on March 6. Jayalalithaa's swift and misguided action was motivated by a desire to score over her rivals in the DMK in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections. It is true under Section 432 of the CrPC her government can free prisoners. But in haste the government forgot, or did not care, to follow the due process of remitting the sentence of the convicts. An advisory board has to be set up based on whose recommendations a decision on the remission of the sentence can be taken. Since it was a TADA case investigated by the CBI, Section 435 of the CrPC requires the state to consult the Centre. According to experts, the Centre's decision is not binding on the state, which can go ahead with the release of the prisoners if it wants to. Instead of "consulting" the Centre the Chief Minister served an ultimatum on it to either act in three days or she would release the prisoners. Such arbitrary functioning and playing politics over terror do no credit to a politician who aspires to become a Prime Minister -- should the numbers work to her advantage. Apart from the indecent haste and questionable legality of Tamil Nadu's decision, the Chief Minister displayed utter insensitivity towards the gravity of the matter. After all, a former Prime Minister of the country had been assassinated. Terrorist acts cannot be taken lightly. Rahul Gandhi did reflect the feelings of victims when he said: "If a Prime Minister's killers can be released, what kind of justice should the common man expect?" If state leaders start misusing powers given under the Constitution for political reasons, they may lose these ultimately.
|
|
The shirts are off Honourable
members of our esteemed Assemblies and Parliament, it seems, can't keep their shirts on. Or contain their violent urges. We thus have a TDP MP hitting out at the Rajya Sabha Secretary-General, a PDP MLA in the J&K Assembly repeatedly slapping a marshal, and RLD MLAs in UP baring their torsos. They would have us believe they are doing it to defend the interests of the people they represent. They need to understand their acts are seen for what they are - criminal offences. Were these committed outside the protection of the House, these people could be prosecuted for their actions. The privileges as members of the highest bodies of the land are meant only to guarantee freedom of expression, not insult all that the institutions stand for. Besides offending the sensibilities of everyone concerned, especially the voter, these members are also doing a disservice by not doing what they are supposed to. Arguing and presenting a reasoned case for their cause is supplanted by a false demonstration of agitation. It is for people to agitate; their representatives are to present their side of the story. This is perhaps a cover for the members' personal lack of ability or sincerity in performing their duty. If the goal is to embarrass the Treasury Benches, that can be done more credibly by unearthing wrongdoings and presenting facts to establish that. It would be argued that Opposition members are not given time to speak despite their issues being important. While they must realise there are no non-pressing issues in a House, the floor managers and the Speaker must also realise the importance of justice being seen to be done. Blocking the live telecast of Parliament proceedings gives rise to the suspicion something shameful is happening - that it needs to be hidden. What is happening at present betrays lack of faith in the democratic system. If heckling is the way to say your piece, then that can be done in the streets too, we don't need Parliament or Assemblies for that.
|
||
|
The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
|
||
HIS Highness the Aga Khan in his reply to the address presented to him by the Mahomedan community at Rangoon gave his idea of bringing about the union not only of all Indians but of all the Asiatic communities living in India and enjoying the privilege of being the subjects of Indian Empire. He suggested the formation of clubs, societies and associations in addition to starting courses of lectures on the subject and inviting eminent speakers to guide public opinion. We believe that the greatest necessity is to bring about union and complete understanding between the Hindus and Mahomedans who are the greatest communities that go to form the Indian nation and contribute to most of its activities. The other Asiatic races are not so very important, nor do their interests offer any great difficulty in solving national problems. According to the latest census report neither the Asiatic nor European races form any large number in India and offer any particular difficulty. Of the 504,113 Asiatic races living in India, 280248 or more than half were those coming from Nepal. Comparative view of General Progress of Education SOME telling figures are given in the chapter which deals with General Progress in the Quinquennial Review which has been just issued. In 1907, the number of pupils under instruction was 5,388,632. In 1912, it was 6,780,721, an increase of 1,392,089. Mr. Sharp says that this is equivalent to an increase of 26 per cent. But that is not the way of looking at educational statistics. An increase of 1,400,000 in five years is equivalent to an increase of 280,000 per annum. Mr. Sharp deals with 255 millions of the population, and taking the population of the school age at 20 per cent (his rate of 15 per cent being utterly unsuited to this country) the question is how many years it will take to educate about 45 millions of illiterate school children.
|
Tapping tourism for jobs
India's
GDP growth rate for 2013-14 is now forecast at around 5 per cent and the impression is that recession has bottomed out. But is this growth sufficient to create jobs for 66 per cent of the young population which is the highest in the world? The slowdown can be attributed to both domestic and external factors. Policy unpredictability and slow implementation were in turn due to the tangled political situation at the Centre which contributed to industrial slowdown. External factors like slack import demand from the US and the EU were behind the low export growth. Inflation and its control led to high interest rates that stifled investment. The latest ILO data, however, show that 17 million jobs were created in the past few years (2009-2012) but 85 per cent of the jobs offered no benefits or social security. Job creation will thus remain the prime economic challenge in the forthcoming general election for any political party aspiring for power. Even with a marginal rise in the GDP growth rate, which could be due to higher agricultural growth this year, the job situation may not improve much. It would require at least 6 per cent growth rate to create enough jobs in the economy. Also the need of the hour is for the Indian industry to adopt more labour-intensive techniques and not go in for more capital-intensive production methods. Because of the small number of jobs created in the formal sector, job seekers have to find jobs in the informal sector where there is little job security. One of the ways to create more secure jobs is to give an impetus to the service sector. With so many wonderful things to show, India ought to attract a huge number of tourists whose demand would be able to support a number of people in the service sector. Even villages can be great tourist spots if there are good places to stay and things to do. Experiencing life in an Indian village should be an exciting adventure for anyone coming from Western countries. Instead of developing village and making them additional centres for tourism, there has been a strong migratory flow to cities and towns in search of work. Most villages have neglected rest houses and few places to eat. In some regions, there is a short supply of labour to work during the harvest time. Many blame the MNREGA for this shortage but the real reason is that people migrate to towns and cities in search of regular jobs and higher wages. The cities, on the other hand, absorb migrants but are short of housing space and the new migrants end up in slums. Around 50 per cent of the people in Mumbai live in slums. As a result, cities have huge inequalities and recently IMF chief Christine Lagarde said in London that the networth of Indian billionaires has soared 12-fold in 15 years. But wages of the poor have not increased much by comparison. Most Indian cities have become very congested and the poor are huddled together on the outskirts as in Delhi or live in the dirtiest areas, often near drains, in the inner city. There already is a big problem of solid waste disposal and availability of safe drinking water. India is now extending 'visa on arrival' to tourists from 180 countries to encourage tourism. But budget tourists, who aim at staying in small hotels/guest houses and not five-star hotels, face problems in finding clean and safe accommodation. Seeing open garbage all over cities is a big turn-off. Sanitation problems will plague Indian cities in the future most. Even if the slums are hidden away from the main city centre, lack of sanitation will have an impact on the whole city. Garbage disposal is a huge problem and much of it is burnt which adds to pollution. On an average cities generate 31.3 million tonnes of garbage a year and 86,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste per day. Water treatment plants are also not adequate. As a result, raw sewage is released into rivers and the sea. In most western cities, there is no open garbage to be seen and sanitation is a top priority for the local municipal government. Tap water is safe and the air is clean. Pollution in big cities in India is also being caused by vehicular traffic. Lack of an efficient public transport system in major metro cities has led to the rapid growth of vehicular traffic. In no other city is traffic as thick as in Delhi where the density of cars is among the highest. This is because there is no network of commuter trains connecting suburbs with the capital and the underground metro connectivity is not adequate and hence each middle class family has a number of cars. The per capita income is also the highest in Delhi. High-spending tourists may not experience seeing slums but are bound to see open garbage from the airport to the hotel surrounded by stray dogs and beggars/scavengers. They will also experience air pollution but may escape water pollution by drinking bottled water. But on the whole the strain could be too much to make them want to come back. Women tourists will not be attracted to Delhi, given the reputation of being the rape capital. Not only Delhi, rapes are common in other cities also. In all there are many deterrents to the targeted increase in tourism in India today. Thus tourism and the accompanying hotel, hospitality and aviation industries are likely to suffer. Thus in the service sector, only the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can generate more jobs in future but educational and technical requirements and the ability to speak English will restrict the numbers. Hence, there will be problems in the service sector's ability to create jobs. For a higher GDP growth the main generator of employment and income is the manufacturing sector which should grow faster in future. In the past due to low investment, manufacturing growth has been below par. It is again infrastructural constraints that are standing in the way of a higher manufacturing growth rate that plunged to 0.2 per cent in 2013. Lack of good roads (though there is much progress in some states), poor port facilities involving long waits, along with water and power shortages are big problems for industry in India. Also, land acquisition and clearances can cause huge delays. Hence, the only way out is to create industrial parks and special manufacturing zones/hubs for industrial development that would generate jobs for the semi-skilled youth.
|
||||||
Teaching the right lesson Soon the bus moved and in about half an hour reached Dhand, a small town of Kaithal district. The conductor, by turn, came to us. We gave him the money but did not get any ticket. I asked the conductor twice and thrice for the tickets but he did not pay any heed. Irritated by his behavior, my teacher scolded him angrily and then very reluctantly he gave the tickets. But he did not maintain this practice with other passengers, who in spite of giving money, were not given any tickets. Nobody complained. I was unable to tolerate the wrong practice and couldn’t hold my anger anymore. I asked him in a raised voice why he was not giving tickets to every passenger from whom he had taken the money. The conductor replied rudely, "Tereko ticket mil gai ha na? Ab tu apna kaam kar" (you have got the ticket, so mind your own business). My teacher, who is a very disciplined and strict man, thought that the conductor should be taught a lesson. He asked me to note down the names and addresses of all passengers who gave the money but did not receive the tickets. As I was moving from one passenger to another, the conductor looked at me and asked what I was doing. I said, “Tene toh apna kaam kar liaa, ib meine b karan de” (you have done your job, now let me do mine). The conductor asked what you would do with this. My teacher said he would send this information to the Transport Minister along with the list of passengers also with a written complaint against him to set him right. The conductor was shocked as he never imagined such a thing would happen. Worried about the consequences, he came to us and started apologising that he would not repeat this in future. Calming himself down, my teacher asked him to do two things. First, he should give tickets to all passengers, and secondly, he should become a 'murga' in front of everyone along with an apology that he would not do this in future. After that my teacher said he could be spared. The conductor did both things and the passengers clapped and applauded my teacher. They appreciated him for his courage. Finally, when we were getting down from the bus at Hisar, the driver admitted that he had also warned him many times but he never listened to him. Perhaps, a teacher alone can teach the right lesson.
|
||||||
A long battle is won for pension parity
FOR students of military history, the only significance of February 17 is that on this day in 1864, Hunley became the first submarine ever to engage and sink a warship during the American Civil War. But for Indian veterans, February 17, 2014 marks another important milestone. It was on this day the Union Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, during his presentation of the interim budget in the Parliament made an announcement of the government accepting the concept of “One Rank — One Pension” (OROP). If many veterans who were watching the live telecast wanted to reconfirm if what they heard was correct, it was understandable. They had been short-changed and their expectations had been belied so many times that hope was almost lost. Many are still not reconciled to the reality that it has actually happened. OROP had been projected as a demand for the first time in 1982. It had been simmering since then. It was rekindled and put on the front burner and truly on the national map by the Indian Ex Servicemen Movement staring in 2008. Today almost everyone in the country is familiar with the term, though not many outside the uniform may understand its nuances. Armed forces personnel have to be young in age in keeping with their roles and tasks that require a high standard of physical fitness. Therefore, unlike all other central government employees, they are compulsorily retired at an early age. Nearly 85 per cent defence personnel retire before they reach 40 years of age. It is a big blow to a person to be thrown out of his job at an age when his financial commitments are at the peak. There is no provision for him to be absorbed in another government job till his normal age of superannuation. Nor is there any compensation worth the name. OROP is designed to partially address this issue. What is OROP? The central pay commissions are constituted every 10 years. Every pay commission recommends enhancement of salaries keeping in view the prevailing cost of living and other relevant factors. Rise in salaries leads to an increase in pensions, which are a percentage of the salaries. The increase in pension is always applied prospectively and past pensioners are left out. This creates a gap in the emoluments of old and new pensioners and this gaps keeps widening with every successive pay commission. Since pension is a remuneration for services rendered, this is an unfair disparity between two defence pensioners that have rendered equal service and have handled the same level of responsibility. To remove this anomaly it is essential that persons retiring after rendering the same length of service and from the same rank always get the same pension. In other words, “equal service, equal rank, equal pension.” This is referred by its shortened version of “One Rank — One Pension.” Why only the defence pensioners have been persistently demanding OROP? As already explained, this is a partial compensation for the curtailment of their service. For clarity on why it affects the defence pensioners more, an example may be in order. Let us assume there are two young men of the same age and same education. One joins the military and the other the police. Let us assume they are unable to rise above their lowest rank of sepoy and constable, respectively. Statistically, if they both survive till the age of seventy-five years, the difference in their total earnings through salary and pension is nearly Rs 47 lakh in favour of the latter. This of course does not take into account the psychological trauma the soldier suffers for losing his job when he is in his 30s, which can never be compensated. Veterans’ war strategy How was the present OROP battle won? When the Sixth Pay Commission report came out at the end of March 2008, it was patently damaging to the interest of the veterans. Some of us ex-servicemen got together and founded the Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement (IESM) to push the case with OROP as their bell-weather demand. Additionally, a separate pay commission for the armed forces and an Ex Servicemen Commission with constitutional powers to ensure the enforcement of central schemes was demanded. Military service imposes many restrictions on one's freedom of expression. Having served for decades in military uniform, ex-servicemen were quite naturally reluctant to voice their demands in public. They, therefore, made many attempts to press for OROP through memorandums and meetings with decision makers. In April 2008, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh gave a personal audience to ex-servicemen who requested for the grant of OROP. His reply was that if the government gave OROP to defence pensioners, others would also demand it. We contended that if soldiers are kept in a government job till the age of 60 like the others, then even we would not need it. This argument was met with silence. We then cautioned the government that we would be forced to take to the public platform to voice our demand. Simultaneously with the public demonstrations, we also kept the channels of communication open. We kept meeting Defence Minister AK Antony, regularly. These meetings proved useful in that we never felt that the doors were finally closed. We also briefed the Members of Parliament who individually were in support of OROP but towed the party line in the House. The media covered our activities widely. The issue became known and we were able to win public sympathy and support. We also kept the public shows totally disciplined and dignified. A monumental exercise What happens now? While OROP has been accepted in principle on the floor of the House by the government, and cannot be reversed or modified, it has not fully removed the apprehensions in the minds of the veterans. There have been too many dashed hopes along the long journey of the OROP; some hapless veterans passed away in its wait. Admittedly, there is vast diversity among the defence pensioners. Apart from the three different services of the Army, Navy and Air Force with their own peculiarities, the Army itself has 17 ranks in its hierarchical ladder and numerous different groups, categories, trades, etc. Each case requires individual handling. Considering that there are nearly 30 lakh defence pensioners, the task of working out the final details will indeed be a monumental exercise. However, the veterans have shown perseverance in their struggle and will now show patience. There are many knowledgeable veterans willing to render assistance. We veterans are responsible people. We are disciplined, patriotic and harbour a strong loyalty to the nation. We understand the constraints of the system and do not ever make unreasonable demands. We only seek our legitimate dues. Kautilya, the legendary political strategist had told Chandragupta that the day the soldiers have to demand their dues, would be the saddest day for the empire. In fact, when the Congress vice president, Rahul Gandhi, came to interact with the veterans on February 14, 2014, had said that he believed the soldiers should be given their dues without their having to ask for these. One does hope all governments in future will follow this dictum. Getting OROP sanctioned is widely considered as a great victory for the veterans. Notwithstanding the fact that we were compelled to air our demands in public as all other attempts had failed, it ran counter to our intrinsic soldierly values. The government must remain sensitive to the genuine needs of the armed forces. The writer, a former Deputy Chief of Army Staff, is Chairman, Indian Ex Servicemen Movement
The Long Haul
|
|
ONE rank one pension implies equal pension for having served in the same rank and having rendered the same length of service. At present, the pension of armed forces personnel who have retired at different times is different even though they are similarly placed as far as rank and length of service goes. This is because after implementation of a new pay commission, the revised pension is fixed at the bottom of the new pay scale corresponding to a particular rank or grade. While those in service get annual increments and hence their pension, which is 50 per cent of the last drawn pay, increases, the pension of prior retirees remains fixed at the bottom of the scale. An officer, for example, who retired prior to 2006, when the Sixth Pay Commission was implemented, was getting lower pension that a colonel who retired after 2006 as he had the benefit of additional increments. Judiciary on pension
Parliamentary panel’s stance Parliament’s Standing Committee on Defence had, in its report submitted in December 2001, observed that OROP had been in vogue till 1973, when the Third Pay Commission had taken an ex-parte decision to do away with this concept. While affirming the tough service conditions, high risk to life and disturbed family life in the armed forces, the report stated that if the concept of OROP had been working satisfactorily for 26 years after independence, that what was the harm in continuing with the concept now. Excerpts from budget speech There is still a small gap in pensions in the ranks of Sepoy and Naik and a gap in the ranks of Major and above. We also need to take care of those who served in the defence forces only for a limited number of years. Government has therefore decided to walk the last mile and close the gap for all retirees in all ranks and has accepted the principle of One Rank One Pension for the defence forces. This decision will be implemented prospectively from the financial year 2014-15. The requirement for 2014-15 is estimated at Rs 500 crore and the sum will be transfered to the Defence Pension Account in the current financial year itself.
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
