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Inter-state water woes Rationalise use of antibiotics |
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India-Pak relations after elections
Building nests to bond with nature
Conflicting interests bane of polity
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Inter-state water woes THE Supreme Court's judgment on the Mullaperiyar dam on Wednesday may have ramifications beyond Kerala and Tamil Nadu. In 2006 the apex court had allowed Tamil Nadu to raise the water level in the dam from 136 ft to 142 ft. Within 15 days of the judgment Kerala passed a law preventing Tamil Nadu from raising the water level beyond 136 ft. An authority was set up to ensure safety of the dam. Tamil Nadu went back to the court challenging the Kerala law. Now eight years later a Constitution Bench, headed by Chief Justice R.M. Lodha, has declared it unconstitutional. The court's verdict can have a bearing on the fate of the Punjab Termination of Agreements Act, 2004, about which a Presidential reference has been made to the Supreme Court. The court has ruled in favour of Tamil Nadu, saying Kerala's law is void because there is a breach of separation of powers among the judiciary, the executive and the legislature. By enacting the law, the Kerala legislature has nullified the 2006 judgment, usurped judicial power and interfered with the judicial functioning. "A decision which disposes of the matter by giving findings upon the facts is not open to change by a legislature", the court has ruled. In 2004 the Punjab legislature passed a law invalidating the Supreme Court verdict, delivered in 2002, asking the state to complete the SYL Canal for sharing the surplus river waters with Haryana. Punjab maintains that it has no surplus waters to share. Its unilateral abrogation of the previous agreements under which additional water was to be shared with Haryana and Rajasthan created a political storm. Asset division is often problematic when new states are formed. While the judiciary acts on the basis of law, evidence and accepted principles of dispute resolution, mature political dialogue carried out in the spirit of give and take can sometimes better resolve complicated, emotive issues. Water is the lifeline of agriculture and human survival. Therefore, efforts should also be made at the Central, state and community levels to conserve water resources.
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Rationalise use of antibiotics THE first worldwide report by the WHO examining the issue of antibiotic resistance is particular interest to developing countries like India, where the burden of infectious disease is high and healthcare spending is abysmally low. The cost constrains the replacement of older antibiotics with newer, more expensive ones, with lesser probability of developing a resistant strain. Every time an antibiotic is used, whether appropriately or not, in human beings or in animals, the probability of the development and spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria increases. Therefore, their use should be minimised by taking to alternative medication. The bacterial diseases in India are among the highest in the world. Therefore, antibiotics are needed to play a critical role in limiting morbidity and mortality. Pneumonia alone causes 410,000 deaths each year and is the number one killer of children. Many deaths occur because patients do not have an access to the life-saving antibiotics. At the other extreme, antibiotics are used in situations where they are not expected to improve the patient's condition, for example for the treatment of common cold and uncomplicated cases of diarrhoea. The life-threatening phenomenon of antibiotic resistance should be taken with a sense of alarm by the health authorities. The actionable policy recommendations made by the Global Antibiotic Resistance Partnership (GARP), especially relevant to low and middle income countries like India, should be followed. It recommends a national surveillance of antibiotic resistance and antibiotic use and suggests better information on standard treatment guidelines, education and other actions, as well as the monitoring of changes over time by increasing the use of diagnostic tests. It recommends the strengthening of infection control committees in hospitals, providing safe drinking water and affordable means of maintaining hygiene and restricting the use of antibiotics in agriculture. It also advises an increase in the types and coverage of childhood vaccines offered by the government to reduce the use of antibiotics.
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Thought for the Day
I was married by a judge. I should have asked for a jury. —Groucho Marx
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Paying patients THE system of admitting paying patients into hospitals and allowing them to make their own arrangements for the diet and convenience of the patients is expected to become more general than at present. It is interesting to note that the paying patients system was introduced into the Agra Lunatic Asylum last year and its results were gratifying. Arrangements were made to admit patients prepared to pay all Government charges and in some cases providing private attendants, punkahs, &c. These cases had their own cooking arrangements and caste prejudices and customs could be fully complied with. Four such patients were in the Agra Asylum in January 1913 and 13 were admitted during the year. Of these five have been discharged, cured or improved and the rest remain. Col. Manifold remarks that all classes and castes seem to appreciate the benefits of this sytem. Distribution of land in the canal colonies THERE is certain military officer in one of the Cantonments of the Punjab, who is influentially connected and who has "friends" on the Olympian heights to further his schemes and objects. This officer found that rules regulating grant of lands provided for the gift of a square of land to any person who undertook to keep a horse of the prescribed breed on the property, the object of which being to help the propagation of animals of good breed for military purposes. If a Military Officer of position and influence, undertook the propagation of horses it was inferred the Government would have to bless both the officer and his scheme, and thus advantage was taken by the officer referred to above of the provision in rules to apply for three hundred squares of land in the belief that the application would be granted.
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India-Pak relations after elections THERE is little doubt that there will be a change of government after May 16. It is likely that the new government will be that of the National Democratic Alliance. The BJP is the largest single party among the NDA constituents. Notwithstanding doubts expressed by persons such as Sharad Pawar, Narendra Modi is likely to become the Prime Minister. His emergence as Prime Minister would carry its own message which would reverberate across the continent and even beyond. Modi has stated that he would run the government according to the Constitution and that there was only one religion for the government -- India First. He has also stated that Muslims need not fear him, that he would carry forward Atal Bihari Vajpayee's foreign policy and he believed that co-operation should be the basis for relationships with foreign countries. Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit has welcomed Modi's statements saying that Pakistan is interested in engaging quickly and comprehensively with the new government in India. Pakistan should remember that during the visit to Lahore by Atal Bihar Vajpayee along with an entourage of journalists and old friends of Pakistan, Gen Pervez Musharraf was busy planning the Kargil attack with the presumed approval of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Sharif had then rushed to the US to seek the mediation by President Clinton, who advised Pakistan to withdraw its forces from Kargil without delay. Nawaz Sharif suffered the humiliation of complying with the advice of President Clinton, but General Musharraf himself went scot free. Soon after, Musharraf carried out a coup and took over power after overthrowing Nawaz Sharif. There is speculation that following the footsteps of Vajpayee, Narendra Modi would make an early visit to Pakistan after he becomes Prime Minister. But is Pakistan in a position to host him? The reappearance of Maulana Abdul Aziz, an extremist cleric who had earlier failed in his attempt to impose strict sharia law on Pakistan's capital, carries an alarming message for the future of Pakistan. The Red Mosque and madarassa complex in Islamabad was stormed four years ago on the orders of Musharraf. Dozens of people had died during the attack but Aziz himself escaped dressed in burqa. Seven years later while Musharraf is facing trial on charges of high treason, Aziz is back in full force and busy rebuilding another marble edifice which would accommodate seminary students and teachers. Pakistan has yet to successfully prosecute the accused arrested in connection with the Mumbai attack on November 26, 2008, and thereby prove its bona fides. Stephen P Cohen, who has been described as a "guru of gurus" and, more importantly, a great student of the subcontinent affairs, was in Delhi some time back and he said that many people felt that Pakistan was a failed state and if Pakistan broke apart, millions of Pakistanis would like to go back to their ancestral home in India which would create a huge problem for India. Stephen Cohen said that it was outrageous that a man like Hafiz Saeed was allowed to parade himself in Pakistan. Cohen said that left to him, he would like to send a missile against Hafiz Saeed and went on to say that perhaps Pakistan was too weak to do anything. Pakistan is now struggling with the problem of Afghanistan. Cohen added that the two countries were so different, and clubbed together, they would not succeed in the next two hundred years. Cohen said that India had to deal with Pakistani jihadis as it would deal with any other terrorists and that India had to live with troubles from Pakistan and deal with them as the situation arose. Will Nawaz Sharif be able to set his house in order? Does he exercise complete authority over the military authorities? General Kayani, the previous Army Chief of Pakistan, was patronising Lakshar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed and that he considered him as a strategic asset to be used against India. The new Army Chief, General Raheel Sharif, reportedly visited the ISI headquarters on April 23. The ISI continues with its highhandedness in dealing with the perceived enemies of the State such as Hamid Mir, a Pakistan journalist who was shot at recently in Karachi. The Army chief's visit to the headquarters was apparently meant to show the military establishment's full backing of the ISI. Taking into account all these developments, Pakistan looks like descending into a morass of "jihadism" and mullah dominance. The Karachi Project, headed by Major Zakir-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, is still very much active and it continues to plan attacks at various places of India. The arrests of Abu Jundal and Yasin Bhatkal have revealed the continued Pakistani backing to jihadi elements who are trained by the ISI and Lakshar-e-Taiba and pushed into India for jihadi attacks. Will Pakistan be able to dismantle the jihadi machinery operating under the supervision of the Army and the ISI and resume the essential character of a normal state before the prospective visit of an Indian Prime Minister to Pakistan? A perceptive Pakistani columnist has referred to the foot-dragging by Pakistan in restoring free trade after having signed the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) agreement with India. Pakistan's non-state actors do not want trade with India since they look at trade as a "dangerous alternative" to war. Nawaz Sharif's younger brother, Shahbaz Sharif, who is Punjab Chief Minister, has disclosed that the Pakistan Army does not want trade with India. The columnist goes on to say that Pervez Musharraf's decree of 2006 to remove jihad from the textbooks was ignored by the provinces and the new textbooks actually make fun of "enlightenment" as an "alien doctrine". Pakistani nationalism is now manipulated by the clergy and the Army under the increasing shadow of Talibanisation.
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Building nests to bond with nature AN NGO which is ordinarily cash deficient is like a car without fuel. Even a quarter load of fuel in it may keep it going for a short destination. This only means however short you may be of funds the spirit to carry on public service-oriented work will not lag. This initial response was, however, rejected on the plea that this NGO could take a lesson from the gentle bird species like Robin, Sparrows, Weaver, who fly about to collect pieces of dry grass, twigs, dry leaves, small hair and even polythene to build nests for roosting, breeding and nurturing their young ones. Taking a cue from this, the society members decided to explore the wholesale market for dry shisham wood and, wood ply and other accessories and have the wood and ply planks cut to the required shape and size. It was further decided to utilise the experience of one of the members in carpentry in addition to engaging a professional carpenter for the job. Three suitable designs for the nest boxes were short-listed and finalised. One common feature of these boxes was a slanting roof and two openings of suitable diameter, one on the front and the other on the side, to serve as entry and exit points for birds. Only the slanting roof and sides of these boxes were to be painted in green so that the boxes merged with the natural greenery. A feeder pipe with a saucer was to be attached to these boxes. The process of constructing these boxes turned out to be an exciting venture of self-help spurring them to work in unison to fulfill the aims and objectives of their society. Even most voluntary contributions from educational institutions, own members and like-minded supporters from the public have helped the Nature Conservation Society to carry out extensive sensitisation campaigns related to the preservation of wild life, plants and environmental issues in several schools, colleges and training institutions in Punjab through short films, slides and talks and also spot visits to wet lands, forests, dam sites and lakes for bird watching. This was done even in the severity of the frosty winter months of January and February in 2014. The response of the students and the general public for this programme of bonding with nature has been overwhelming indeed. Taking inspiration from this, the members of the NCS have always borne in mind that life, no matter how wonderful, is full of problems and challenges. Actually, it is the existence of problems and challenges that has made the society members stronger and wider in their nature conservation campaigns.
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Conflicting interests bane of polity Conflict of Interest (COI) is the clash between a person’s public duty and his private interests, especially when that person happens to be in a decision-making position in government. It arises out of the ability to improperly influence the policies and also the final decision. COI stems from the simple premise: the primary aim of a corporate entity is to make profit, whereas that of a state, a minister or a civil servant is to protect the interests of people. In the process of looking after people’s interests, one may even be called upon to deprive private entities of their profits. Such improprieties are not limited to the political leaders alone. They would also concern MPs, MLAs, civil servants and those employed in public sector undertakings. There is also ample scope for COI in the service industry. There have been allegations of ministers, MPs and civil servants having a controlling interest in school and hospital chains bending rules in their favour. Incidentally, the issue of conflict of interest does not find mention in the Constitution. After Independence too, the need for incorporating safety valves on COI into either the Constitution or in anti-corruption laws was possibly not felt because those occupying high offices were expected to ensure that like Caesar’s wife, they were not only correct but also seen to be correct. And to their credit, it must be stated here that most of them ensured that this did not happen. However, of late, with the general degradation of morals and also with crony capitalism creeping in at all levels, COI is widespread and hence the need to bring in a system of checks and balances.
Need for stringent systems In fact, some safeguards to prevent conflicts of interest have existed in the service rules for officers all along. For example, the Central Civil Service (Conduct) Rules forbid a retiring Group A officer from seeking re-employment in commercial organisations for one year. It is another matter that this rule is being violated with impunity now. Since there have been no norms on COI for political leaders, even the rules for civil servants have been bent over the years. The relevant provision in the IAS Cadre Rules prohibiting bureaucrats from going on deputation to corporate entities registered under the Companies Act, 1956 was changed in 2011. Now they can serve in private companies for up to five years. One is not sure if there are stringent systems in place to ensure that the officers on return to the government have no dealings with the companies with which they were on deputation. For want of a “cooling off” period on retirement, civil servants and even defence services officers have been given sinecure posts. Since these are given to the handpicked few and without following a transparent selection process, the inference of the appointed persons toeing the line of the appointing authority when in service can’t be discounted. This would indicate in such cases possible “convergence of interest”, which, I suppose, is no different from conflict of interest. For want of clear parameters on what exactly constitutes COI and how this can be prevented, unscrupulous politicians have unashamedly diminished the dividing line of their private businesses and government responsibility. Nation-wide there are examples galore of politicians and their kith and kin having allowed their private enterprise to grow at the cost of their rivals and also the public sector undertakings. The Tribune investigations last week into the COI of the extended family of the Punjab Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal is one such example. These series of reports brought out the business dealings of the maze of the companies of the Badal-Kairon-Majithia families with various departments of the government.
Bending rules In case of the power sector, for example, what comes out is that the companies of the family of CM’s daughter and son-in-law, Adesh Partap Singh Kairon, had been dealing with the Power Corporation, which reported to the Punjab Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal, who was also holding the power ministry portfolio. In some cases, as the reports brought out, the companies were given contracts allegedly by bending rules. In case of the renewable energy sector, the series brought out COI of Bikram Singh Majithia, Minister of Revenue and Renewable Energy. Majithia is the brother-in-law of Deputy CM, Sukhbir Singh Badal. The company in which he and his family members had stakes had dealings with the Punjab Cooperative Department through the Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA), which was the facilitating department. PEDA reported to the ministry of which Majithia held the portfolio. It also emerged that delay in carrying out works on the part of Majithia’s company had resulted in losses to the sugar mills that were to be revived through the scheme. In the transport sector, it is common knowledge that the Punjab Government headed by the Chief Minister has been promoting luxury and AC buses in the state — a sector in which they have slowly gained monopoly since coming to power in 2007. The Tribune investigation brought out that the major beneficiary of Punjab Government’s transport policy, including the taxation policy, were luxury buses. The reports further highlighted how the transport officials in the state closed their eyes to the blatant violation of bus time-tables and permits by the “favoured” companies. What has given another dimension to the COI in Punjab is the fact that not only are 27 of the 50-odd ministerial portfolios held by the extended Badal-parivar, the head of the Council of Ministers in the state is Parkash Singh Badal himself. There are numerous other instances of COI cutting across political parties and states. In Himachal Pradesh, for example, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and members of his family have been accused of allegedly having business and monetary transactions with a private entity, which was first granted a hydel power project in the state and later given repeated extensions in work following delays. Virbhadra’s bête noire and BJP leader, Anurag Thakur, too, has been accused of allegedly using his political clout to occupy land belonging to Himachal Sports Department for the HP Cricket Association, of which he is the President. In Haryana, businessman-turned politician, Naveen Jindal is facing CBI inquiries in the Coal Block Allocation Scam for his company’s alleged monetary transactions with business entities of the former Minister of State for Coal, Dasari Narayan Rao. Those in the eye of the storm in Punjab and elsewhere would of course point out — and rightly so — that nothing in the law books prevented them from running businesses. Also that despite such issues having been in the public domain, they have been re-elected in polls. Yet, does that absolve them of conflicts of interest? Dr Arun Gupta, Convener, Alliance Against Conflict of Interest (AACI), that has been taking up this issue, says, “It is time to make the governments more accountable. India and its states should have a law to prevent conflict of interests in public policy development and its programme implementation.”
It is not out of place to point out that some other countries have guidelines in place to deal with such cases. In fact, the UN Convention Against Corruption has often stated that for anti-corruption laws to be effective, conflict of interest should be addressed. Most countries have laws and rules that forbid ministers and those in executive positions from actively running their business enterprises. Most of these countries extend the same rules to their legislators. The European Parliament even has a code of conduct for its members. It tightens rules on financial declarations and their contacts with lobbyists to even avoid any perception of conflict of interest. In US, the Supreme Court has upheld the legitimacy of laws that prevent officials from voting on issues in which they have a conflict of interest. In India, the first serious attempt in this direction was made in 2007 when the Lok Sabha constituted a committee under Kishore Chandra Deo to look into the alleged misconduct of some MPs. The report was submitted in March 2008, but there has been little forward movement on it. Though the Code of Conduct for MPs requires them to declare and register their pecuniary interests, it has not been enforced. The code even mandated the MPs not to vote on an issue or a question in which they have a direct pecuniary interest. In 2011, Rajya Sabha MP, Dr EMS Natchiappan introduced a private members' Bill — The Prevention And Management of Conflict of Interest Bill. Unfortunately, nothing of the sort has yet seen light of the day.
Feeble attempts * Lok Sabha constituted a committee under Kishore Chandra Deo
in 2007 to look into the alleged misconduct of some MPs. The report was submitted in 2008 but no action has been taken in this regard so far. *
Rajya Sabha MP, Dr EMS Natchiappan introduced a private members’ Bill — The Prevention And Management of Conflict of Interest Bill — in 2011. But it hasn’t seen the light of the day so far. *
Code of Conduct for MPs requires them to declare and register their pecuniary interests. It has not been enforced.
Guidelines for political leaders
* A person, on becoming an MLA/minister, will make public in form of an affidavit all his and his immediate family's business dealings, including directorships and shareholdings, including the ones held in the past. *
The company/companies of the minister and minister's family will have no business dealings in or with the Union or state government (where he or she is holding the post). *
A minister will abstain from any meetings, including Cabinet meetings, wherein any issue/matter pertaining to the product(s) of the company that his family is engaged in figures. *
A Chief Minister will abstain from presiding over the Cabinet meetings, wherein issues/policies pertaining to the businesses of the members of his family are to be discussed. *
An MLA/MP/minister will abstain from voting on an issue that pertains to his/ her business interests in or outside the Parliament/Assembly.
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An analyst has written that Pakistan is watching the election scene with trepidation. The prospects of Narendra Modi emerging as the new Prime Minister are causing uneasy feelings among large sections of Pakistan because of his Gujarat antecedents which inevitably trace their origin to the 2002 riots. During the electoral process a few rabble-rousers from the VHP and the Sangh Parivar made some utterances with anti-Muslim and anti-Pakistan overtones which attracted prompt action from the Election Commission. Modi himself has taken strong exception to such irresponsible statements and appealed to them to desist from making such statements.
In a situation of financial stringency like this the supply order for the construction of one hundred wooden nest boxes came as a whiff of fragrance to an NGO, Nature Conservation Society, clearing the way for some money flow into its kitty. The first reaction of some members to this development was to outsource the work and be content with a marginal profit. 
COI is wide-ranging and could include a host of things. Broadly, it would mean that not only should a minister owning an industry not hold the Industries portfolio, neither should he hold the Environment portfolio, as that ministry provides clearance for factories. It would also mean that a minister who has stakes in the real estate business would not even remotely associate himself or herself with the Ministry of Urban Development. A leader owning a media house would not hold the portfolio of Information & Public Relations or any other office having direct or indirect professional or business dealings with the Press. Similarly, an MP or a minister either owning an airline or having business interests in the aviation sector should not be involved in the process of framing aviation policies. Since such interests could be spread across the spectrum, the definition of COI ought to be all encompassing.