Open Forum

New Delhi, 11 August 2010

Scams And Scums

SAVE INDIA FROM SHAME

BY Dr P K Vasudeva

The Planning Commission recently reported that corruption “has permeated the entire social fabric” leading to “large-scale mis-utilisation of resources”. At the same time, it offered totally workable solutions. Provided there is a political will to act firmly and severely punish the culprits. Namely, quick identification of the guilty; swift decision; deterrent punishment; dispensing with the scope for discretion in decision-making and ushering in more transparency.

Recall, in the 50s-60s scams and scums were few and far between, and it was feasible to bring them to book. Finance Ministers, R. K. Shanmukham Chetty and T. T. Krishnamachari, left the Cabinet for lapses which today seem piffle.  During the Janata rule, Morarji Desai and Charan Singh came in for a lot of criticism due to the former's son and latter's wife besides other relatives dabbling in Government affairs for a consideration. Particularly, as corruption was then considered unethical and punishable acts.

 But, by today's standards, the former Prime Ministers’ progenies’ transgressions are a mere speck in the political spectrum. Even the Bofors payoff is considered peanuts compared to the dizzying heights of sleaze scaled by persons in positions of authority in recent years.  

The day is not far off, if not already there, when a passer-by will demand a few rupees for telling you the time or guiding you to some unfamiliar location. No public figure, institution, authority, politician and bureaucrat any longer command the people's confidence for unimpeachable rectitude. Every one is assumed to be in on the take, to have a price tag.

Right from the registration of one’s vehicle, issue of passport, ration card, No Objection Certificate for setting up an institution, licence for starting a business, publishing news, admission in a professional college, employment for a class IV job to the purchase of property everything is seeped in corruption with unscrupulous elements amassing colossal wealth in Swiss banks.

From Central-State Ministers and Chief Ministers, MPs, MLAs down Supreme Court and High Court Judges, University Vice-Chancellors, bureaucracy, police, media barons to the last but not least, the Commonwealth Games (CWG) Organising Committee’s office-bearers --- the cancer has metastasised into every nook and corner of the country. There is a regular flow of news, almost by the hour, of some big shot or the other being either caught in the act or covering up his and his cohorts' corrupt misdeeds.

The monumental sums being bandied about in the corruption-infested CWG are beyond belief. It is not even the tip of the iceberg. In fact, we will never know the actual amount of the taxpayers' money that has gone into private pockets. This is highly shameful. Where will the buck stop?

The international community has started looking down upon Indians for our corrupt practices. Time is not far when we will not be issued visas to travel to some of the countries lest their citizens get infected with corrupt practices, unless corruption is ruthlessly crushed.

Remember, when Bihar’s infamous fodder scam touched Rs. 900 crore, it seemed like a huge amount. Today, the plunderers of public coffers might sue one for defamation if they are accused of fleecing such ‘paltry’ sums. Specially in a milieu where the Madhu Koda’s and their ilk have swindled over Rs 4,000-6,000 crore as the minimum ‘respectable' amount for qualifying as a star swindler, to be conferred with a Satyavadi Ratna.

Sadly, our judicial system cannot guarantee justice, fairness and equality. The police cannot protect simple, poor and honest citizens. The law makers are law breakers. Casteism and nepotism thrive among the corrupt to protect each other. They revel in being “thick as thieves”. Thanks to vote bank politics where castes and corruption are supreme, not people below the poverty line.

Most of the alleged ‘kleptomaniac’ politicians and bureaucrats lack empathy and therefore rarely regret or fear the consequences of their misdeeds. This only makes them more culpable and perilous. A scourge on the nation.

Significantly, in the US during the last five years, two Governors and six Senators and   Congressmen have been sentenced to serve 6-12 years in jail for crimes.  In the same period, China executed five top officials, including a Mayor and the head of a Government agency after summary trial. Worse, many Europeans believe India is irredeemable and incorrigible.

Corruption has eroded the nation's foundation to such an extent that not a few consider it wishful thinking to expect that corruption could be reduced to manageable levels. The tragedy is that India is perceived as among the most corrupt nations, occupying a prominent position in the intercontinental rogues' gallery. 

The impression is of a disorganised, muddled, messy, free-for-all country which lacks patriotism.  Moral values seem to have rapidly and irrevocably declined. The fact that many citizens intentionally disobey the laws of the land is a reflection of the insanity and breakdown of law and order. Wherein the country continues to wear the badge of dishonour and infamy.

What next? Indians need to realize we are all fighting a common enemy in corruption. Plainly, all the corrupt need to be taken to task. Be it motorists, armed robbers, militants and Naxalites, as also fraudulent Government officials. Another way to curb this scourge is through external control, whereby the Government makes corruption a very dangerous exercise.  

If truth be told, India’s survival and that of our future generations depends on eradicating corruption. Answers to this can be found in our ancient scriptures. The Rig Veda which has been accorded “Heritage” status by UNESCO contains a large number of hymns on the causes of corruption and how to eliminate the same in any mosaic society. In the other three Holy Vedas too a few mantras/hymns relate to corruption. Will India stand by its heritage?

Unquestionably, the time is ripe to nail all guilty of misdemeanor who violate India’s pride and continue to humiliate the nation before the international community.  The ‘corrupt’ buck must stop at all levels. Especially the top! ----INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

Open Forum

New Delhi, 5 August 2010

Environment Calls Shots

VIKAS KA RAAVAN WELCOME

By Proloy Bagchi

Minister of State for Environment & Forests Jairam Ramesh asserted the other day that he was generally called “Vikas ka Raavan”. Clearly, inferring to his colleagues in the Government.  Remember, Raavan was the ten-headed mythical demon king of Lanka, now Sri Lanka, portrayed negatively in the Hindu epic Ramayana for kidnapping Sita, the revered wife of Lord Ram. But not many are aware that Raavan was a great scholar, maestro at playing the veena and was profoundly devoted to Lord Shiva.

Obviously, Ramesh used this simile in reference to Raavan’s negative aspects.  Times out of number, with his brief to ensure conservation of the country’s environment he has had to take positions against various proposals mooted by other ministries to further the process of development (vikas).

In fact, many people who are concerned about our deteriorating environment dread the word development aka vikaas. In the name of development, progress and economic growth, forests are being plundered, land rendered barren, rivers polluted and the air fouled up. Benefitting only big business houses and their political supporters who make money on the side while cutting deals with the Government on behalf of the industrialists.

Other beneficiaries are bureaucrats and engineers who, regardless of the damage that construction projects cause to the environment, are all for them as these allow them to make tons of money by short-changing the Government. Specially, projects in the public sector.

Sadly, a vast majority of people get the rawest deal in the name of development. Not only are their ancestral lands acquired for the venture forcing them to move their hearths and homes but also they get no compensation and benefit.  Worse, even where reimbursement is paid, at best it is a puny amount which is never paid on time. And promises of rehabilitation generally remain unfulfilled. Precisely what has been happening in dam projects, mining ventures, setting up of steel, aluminium and power plants.

True, “development” conotates progress and prosperity, but it also suggests ruination of the environment and misery to the countless faceless and, now not-so-mute, poor and tribals. Any wonder that all the environmentally vital areas of the country, endowed with dense forests and rich eco-systems in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Bihar, have become conflict zones – conflicts of the poor who own or are settled on the lands/ forests with the promoters of the projects.

Leading to clashes within the Government. After all, various Ministers’ raison d’être is development and, hence, for their own perpetuation they have to push for more development. When proposals emanating from their respective Ministries are shot down by the Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF), its helmsman, Jairam Ramesh, gets a mouthful and is called all kinds of names, one being “Vikas ka Raavan”.

Interestingly, prior to Jairam Ramesh’s taking over, the Environment Ministry had a quieter time. The Ministers, who held charge during the United Progressive Alliance I Government and, before that, in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) regime, were perhaps, not very interested in conservation of the environment. From all evidences, it was for them, another job. Thus, very large tracts of forests and lands were degraded and numerous rivers polluted due to the lack of alacrity on the part of the Ministry.

Therefore, the proponents of developmental projects had little difficulty in getting their proposals rushed through the Ministry. All kinds of stratagems – fair or foul – were used, occasionally even invoking the clout of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). Indeed, the PMO is reported to have issued directives that no hindrances would be placed before any developmental project, which would have to be cleared as quickly as possible. Resulting in the Environment Ministry being reviled as a “rubber stamp” during UPA I.  

The UPA II hoped to repeat the same as it is chasing a double-digit GDP growth-rate.  However, with the advent of Ramesh at the helm, the Ministry has ceased to function as a “rubber stamp.” The Minister has not only infused tremendous vigour into the Ministry and made it what it should have been all these years ---- a vital cog in the process of effective governance for balanced economic development. That takes into account all environmental considerations (breathe fresh air, drink uncontaminated water, watch animals in their native habitat), along with providing the fruits of development to the people.

Development projects for are now being critically examined by several invigorated and re-constituted bodies with a view to scrutinising their impact on the environment – forests, wildlife, rivers, air et al. Unused to this kind of resistance the development-oriented Ministries consider the Environment Ministry a roadblock and, therefore, let out shrill, often abusive, cries.

Consequently, Ramesh has landed himself in trouble on several occasions. On a few occasions thanks to his ‘avoidable’ faux pas. Recently, on a visit to China he took pot shots at the Home Ministry regarding it’s paranoia about Chinese workers in India. Next, on a visit to the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal he held a piece of rock and claimed it was not contaminated.

Nonetheless, he has brought   environmental issues on newspapers’ front pages and saved many forests from being destroyed. Two recent instances come to mind. One he rejected the Adani group’s application for mining coal in the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve for setting up a 1980 MW power plant at Gondia. On the ground that coal-mining would destroy the rich forests and tiger habitat in the area.

Likewise, the Ministry rejected the proposal to amend the Coastal Regulation Zone Notification to eliminate a massive mangrove zone to accommodate the second airport for Mumbai. The promoters were asked to look for an alternative site. Reportedly, the Prime Minister has intervened in the matter. But the last word has still to be said on this.

Many environmentalists heaved a sigh of relief when Ramesh was renominated to the Rajya Sabha. All in all, India’s environment needs this Raavan to be around, faux pas and all! ---- INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

Economic Highlights

New Delhi, 20 August 2010

Corporate Slavery

WORKERS NEED HIGHER WAGES

By Shivaji Sarkar

The workers and the Chief Executive Officer (CEOs) are living in two different India’s. While the CEOs are generous with giving themselves a raise, the workers have hardly got much, a mere one per cent wage hike in the last 20 years while average GDP growth was 5%.

The top executives got a raise of 33% against a 25% profit growth in 2009. Over 100 of them are earning up to Rs 80 crore a year as their salaries, a manifold rise in the last 20 years. It used to be counted in lakhs earlier.

Consider. The country is ranked ninth in the list of countries offering highest disparity in wage and productivity growth since 1990, according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) which surveyed 32 countries. Even computer major Hewitt Associates said in a report that the average rise in India was around 6.3%, a fraction of what CEOs have got. Significantly, this is considered an unwelcome situation because coupled with high inflation, over 16% on an average, it means severe erosion in real income and the purchasing capacity of the working class.

About 175 of the over 4,500 listed companies in India have disclosed the last pay package for their CEOs and other top managers. As many as 60 companies have paid in crores to one or more of their top executives. The CEOs take high salaries as part of their ego-boosting. But the benefit to the economy is doubtful. Even if they want, they cannot spend even a fraction of what they earn. Moreover, many purchases are also credited to the companies they serve. Contrary to this an average worker spends most of his earnings on purchases of essential and some non-essentials items. It is they who keep the economy rolling and growing.

In fact, the ILO study has attributed the inequality in India to high food prices. This has a negative effect on the purchasing power of households. It notes that the decline in urban Indian households varies from 5.1 to 3.5% due to the rise in food prices, a major area of spending of the average lower and middle income groups. The poorest households are stated to have suffered the most with over five% erosion in purchasing power against the comparatively affluent with a drop of 2.2%.

Another reason for income inequality has been attributed to the growing trend of temporary jobs. Indeed, the Indian situation is not only worse than Europe but also Latin America. Average temporary jobs in the country are of casual nature and workers are paid 45% less than normal wages. This is 43% in Latin America and 20% in Europe and other western countries.

India is a growing economy while the other two regions are gasping and trying to make course corrections. It appears strange that the working class is being treated so harshly and being marginalised in an economy that is expected to surpass the growth of most major countries.

While many countries in Europe are passing through a severe financial and economic crisis and are planning a jobless growth, the situation in India baffles experts. They are intrigued at how the country would be able to sustain its growth trajectory if the working class is kept on the periphery. Declining growth in the manufacturing sector is a grim indicator that people are not flocking to buy. Even the glut in the real estate sector exposes the problem the economy is facing.

The attitude of companies in rewarding the CEOs and raising a bogey to keep wages of the workers low is intriguing. The ILO finds them following a global trend. But what it does not say is that in India poverty is at a high level and one income is shared by a larger family than an average nucleus family in the West.

Corporate India is keen on taking advantages of a shining India but when it comes to rewarding the workers or taking social responsibility like removing poverty they look towards the Government. It is the mindset of the 1950s. The corporate forgets that the situation had led to a socialistic pattern of sharing the wealth with a larger Government role that had marginalised them. The protesters at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) meet in Seattle had raised the issue of “corporate slavery”. Not many possibly took note of it but it may be the beginning of a new era if the corporate do not mend their ways.

The Government has been tolerant and helping corporate growth. But the corporate world is not paying it back. The social turmoil against corporate expansions in Orissa, Karnataka and UP is a manifestation of a trend that may have started in Seattle. An economic failure need not happen because of the Government, which is easy to blame for all the ills.

A drastic change in the outlook of corporate is a necessity. They need to ponder whether the two-thirds of top executives, who pocketed $ 1 million or more last year needs to be rewarded more at the cost of the workers whose toil, as well as pay cuts in many cases, has brought them high profits.

Though it looks like an innocuous comparison, the corporate need to learn from recent history. The Soviet Union did not collapse for political reasons. It was the high production and low wages there that led to a glut and political turmoil. So far in India, the situation is being controlled by the Government, which still continues to be model employer despite some changes in its outlook. The number of Government employees is shrinking. So the safety valve that had been at work may not be effective for long.

The hire and fire principle to earn high profits is not a long-term panacea. The corporate should realise that they are social entities. Any degradation would ultimately recoil on them. Singur represented a mindset and so does, to some extent, the situation in Dantewada. Given that unwise steps provide strength to the movement and builds up a psyche.

Clearly, the corporate should listen to the ILO. Which states in its report “rising income inequality represents a danger to the social fabric as well as economic efficiency when it becomes excessive” and calls upon the corporate world to adopt long-term structural reforms. Will they? ---- INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

Round The States

New Delhi, 26 August 2010

“Saffron Terrorism”

CENTRE ALERTS THE STATES

By Insaf

All the States have been put on the alert against what is being officially called as “saffron terrorism”. Inaugurating a Conference of Directors-General and Inspectors-Generals of police on Wednesday last in New Delhi, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram pointedly talked about “the recently uncovered phenomenon of saffron terrorism”. This form of terrorism, he stated had “been implicated in many bomb blasts of the past.” While he did not elaborate, Chidambaram was obviously hinting at the blasts in Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad in May 2007, Ajmer October 2007 and Malegaon in Maharashtra in September 2006, wherein Sangh Parivar activists or Hindu extremists groups are alleged to be involved. Expectedly, the BJP has taken strong exception to his remarks and asserted that terrorism has no colour or religion and that it could not be labelled saffron or green. What is more, the BJP leaders view Chidambaram’s stance as unabashed political posturing to please the Muslim minority once more.

Meanwhile, Kashmir poses a fresh challenge to India’s secularism. Last week the Sikh community in the Valley received anonymous letters asking it to either embrace Islam and join the protests against the Government of India or leave. While the Omar Abdullah government, the Centre and even the separatists have sought to dispel fears of various Sikh delegations which have taken up the matter, one cannot help but remember the turmoil of 1989. The State witnessed ‘ethnic cleansing’ with the separatists’ movement forcing the Kashmir Pandits to flee the Valley and, horrendously, become refugees in their own country. The 60-000 strong Sikh community is the single largest minority group in the Valley, which braved the insurgency and decided to stay back. Both the State government and the Centre are clearly on test. Will they protect the Sikhs or allow the separatists to go ahead with their plans to convert Kashmir into a wholly Muslim State.

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Haryana Farmers’ Novel Offer

Three cheers for Haryana farmers from Sirsa district for their vision and wisdom. They have decided to gift 125 acres of land to the local administration without taking a single paisa. The offer will help the District’s Deputy Commissioner to get requisite funds from the Hooda government to build a dam on the Ghaggar river and save the villages from floods. The project involves an investment of Rs 273-crore and will shortly be sent to the State Flood Control Board for approval. Forest officials too have got cracking on the project and sought clearance for felling of trees in and around the Ghaggar. Another project to raise the existing road around Sirsa town to protect it from floods has also been prepared. With the farmers’ novel offer in place, all eyes are on the Hooda Government to respond favourably to their gesture.  

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Cong Talks Tough In Andhra

The Congress High Command has finally decided to talk tough with Andhra Pradesh MP Jagan Mohan Reddy. Last week, the MP from Kadappa and son of the Late Chief Minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy, was cautioned by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee against undertaking the second leg of his Odarpu Yatra from September 3. It would not be tolerated and would invite disciplinary action, was the clear message. Last time, Jagan had defied the party president, Sonia Gandhi’s diktat saying that he had to console the families of those who had died due to the shock of YSR’s death. A successful yatra will not only cause the party great embarrassment but will provide leverage to Jagan to topple Chief Minister Rosaiah. The Congress can ill afford this as it views Andhra as its bastion in the South.

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NREGA A Joke In Rajasthan? 

The much-touted National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme has turned out to be “cruel joke” on the villagers in Rajasthan’s Tonk district. A group of 99 people from Gudaliya village toiled for 11 days in May to dig a check-dam in the district. At the end they got a princely sum of Rs 11 each at the rate of Re 1 per day of labour! The group has refused to accept the payment saying it was a “cruel joke” and have decided to write to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot suggesting the sum should be donated to his relief fund. Sadly, this is not a lone case for the Gudaliya residents. For four jobs done between April and June the labourers were reportedly paid Rs 1, Rs 7, Rs 12 and Rs 25. With the recent case hitting the headlines, the State government has ordered a “full inquiry” into the incident on Tuesday last. In addition, it has promised to correct the lapses in the implementation of the scheme.

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Centre Yields To Uttarakhand

The Centre has finally yielded to the Uttarakhand Government. On Saturday last, the three-member GoM headed by Pranab Mukherjee reversed its earlier decision and ordered the closure of the 600 MW Loharinag Pala hydroelectric project on the Bhagirathi river, a tributary of the Ganga. The reason was not tit-for-tat as sought by Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nashank, whereby his government’s two dam projects (381 MW at Bhairon ghati and 480 MW at Pala Maneri) had been stopped but one of ecological impact and “religious sentiments of millions”. Union Minister Jairam Ramesh told Insaf that though the Centre had already spent Rs 650 crore on the project, it did not want the Bhagirathi to be reduced to boulders without water. Indeed, he favours a clear policy decision taken of how many power projects any river in the Himalayas can take without losing its water.

Justice Is Criminal In UP

Uttar Pradesh is a classic case of the adage “justice delayed is justice denied.” A report submitted to the Supreme Court on Tuesday last, reveals that for 30 years no proceedings were held in 70 criminal cases! Worse, most of those involved—either the complainants, or accused, or investigating officers or even the judges would have either retired or died. Apparently, the cases are pending without investigation or trial because the Allahabad High Court stayed the proceedings and simply forgot about them! Unacceptable, the apex court has suggested that the Department of justice make UP a test case for a pilot project to speed up the justice delivery mechanism by finding out the details of cases in which trials had been stayed. One can expect more startling revelations.---INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)