‘Monkey Man’ strikes
again, crack team to
unravel mystery

NEW DELHI, May 17: Delhi Police today announced the formation of a crack team to nab the elusive...more

Dismissal of employee
subject to approval
of tribunal: SC

NEW DELHI, May 17: During the pendency of a dispute between an employee and employer before .....more

RS polls to fill 5
seats on June 11

NEW DELHI, May 17: Election Commission will hold elections on June 11 to fill five seats in Rajya ......more

ULFA warns Congress

GUWAHATI, May 17: The banned ULFA has warned the Congress, set to form the....more

Karunakaran’s son
new KPCC chief

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, May 17: K Muraleedharan, MP, son of veteran Congress leader K.......more

Rajasthan battles 3rd
successive drought
with administration

JALORE, May 17: The relief operation being carried out in this district showcases the good work .....more

2 former Marxists among
veterans in Antony Ministry

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, May 17: The new A K Antony Government has veterans forming a ....more

Cutting edges of right to
information movement

By Ajit Bhattacharjea

NEW DELHI, May 17 : Travel in any direction through the arid, undulating land around Beawar in.....more



‘Monkey Man’ strikes again, crack team to unravel mystery

NEW DELHI, May 17: Delhi Police today announced the formation of a crack team to nab the elusive ‘Monkey Man’ as it struck with a vengeance across the capital defying security vigil and injured over a dozen people.

A baffled city police has also sought additional central forces to deal with the menace and was contemplating action against bogus callers who made over a hundred calls last night itself. Only 16 calls were found to be "genuine", police sources said.

After a day’s lull, the ‘mystery creature’ struck in a big way in north-east Delhi where seven people were injured. Most attacks took place in Krishna Nagar, Gandhi Nagar and Bhajanpura localities.

In west, central and north-west Delhi, 11 calls were received and one person was injured in Shakurpur, when he fell down while running in panic after allegedly sighting the ‘Monkey Man’, Joint Commissioner of Police (Northern Range) Ajay Chadha said.

All the 12 calls in south district were found to be hoax, while 7 calls were received in south-west district "where nothing concrete was found", Joint Commissioner of Police (southern range) Amod Kanth told PTI.

He said local officers have been directed to submit detailed reports on the incidents.

Meanwhile, Joint Commissioner of Police (New Delhi range) Suresh Roy said a crack team of experienced officers has been formed, who would go a "whole hog" to unravel the mystery.

"We have also sought additional central forces as our hands are really tied", he said.

Zoo authorities have ruled out the involvement of any animal in the attacks "as is evident from the mystery creature’s behavioral pattern", even as police remained clueless about the `Monkey Man’ that has triggered widespread panic in Delhi since Saturday last and had terrorised neighbouring Ghaziabad township of up for over a month. (PTI)

Dismissal of employee subject to approval of tribunal: SC

NEW DELHI, May 17: During the pendency of a dispute between an employee and employer before the industrial tribunal, the employer can dismiss the employee from service only with the express permission of the tribunal if the dismissal is linked to the same dispute, the Supreme Court has ruled.

An employer has the discretion to initiate departmental inquiry and pass an order of dismissal or discharge against the workman, but "the order remains in an inchoate state till the employer obtains order of approval from the tribunal," a bench comprising Justice D P Mohapatra and Justice Sihivraj V Patil said in a recent judgement.

"By passing the order of discharge or dismissal de facto relationship of employer and employee may be ended but not the de jure relationship for that could happen only when the tribunal accords its approval," Justice Mohapatra, writing the judgement for the bench, said.

The relationship of employer and employee is not legally terminated till approval of discharge or dismissal by the tribunal, he said.

Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation dismissed one Neethivilangan from service and sought approval of the dismissal from the industrial tribunal. The tribunal rejected the application by the corporation and its appeals against the order was also rejected by the High Court and the Apex Court. (PTI)

RS polls to fill 5 seats on June 11

NEW DELHI, May 17: Election Commission will hold elections on June 11 to fill five seats in Rajya Sabha, including the vacancy created by the retirement of senior Congress leader Dr Manmohan Singh.

Two seats in Assam will fall vacant on June 14 following retirement of Singh and Joyasree Goswami Mahanta, wife of Assam Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mohanta.

The Commission would also conduct by-elections to fill three casual vacancies in the upper house, one each from Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh following death of Devi Lal (Haryana) and the resignations of Raj Mohinder Singh (Punjab) and Raj Nath Singh (Uttar Pradesh),

According to the poll schedule announced by the commission, notifications will be issued on May 25 and the last date for filing nominations is June one and scrutiny will take place the following day. Contestants can withdraw their candidatures on June four.

The counting of votes will be conducted of June 11. (PTI)

ULFA warns Congress

GUWAHATI, May 17: The banned ULFA has warned the Congress, set to form the new Government in Assam tomorrow, against "repeating its history of betrayal and fratricide" and criticised the outgoing AGP Government and its poll partner BJP.

In its first reaction after the just concluded Assembly elections published in its mouthpiece ‘Freedom’ and carried by local media, the ULFA, describing the Congress as old wine in a new bottle, said it "hoped the Congress reads the writing on the wall and does not repeat its past history of betrayal and fratricide".

Describing late Hiteswar Saikia’s Congress Government as a "brutal regime", the `freedom’ said there was no need for the people of the state to be jubiliant at the victory of the Congress.

The ULFA also pilloried the agp stating the "ballot dethroned the Indian occupation collaborator — AGP Government in the garb of a regional flag bearer — of the forcefully imposed Indian elections".

It criticised the BJP for aligning with the agp "to grab power for another term as a reward for AGP’s collaboration with India".

Accusing the AGP of coming to power "by deceiving the people of Assam", the mouthpiece charged the party with tarnishing the name of the state by "enlisting the services of the notorious secret killers and forming extra-constitutional armed gangs under the supervision of a unified command structure against the people of Assam".

The ‘freedom’ alleged that though Governments changed, the people of Assam "received nothing from them. The burning problems like growing unemployment, illegal immigration, flood, health and economy were not properly addressed by any of the successive Governments". (PTI)

Karunakaran’s son new KPCC chief

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, May 17: K Muraleedharan, MP, son of veteran Congress leader K Karunakaran, was today appointed president of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Commitee (KPCC) by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, party sources said here. The decision of Sonia Gandhi to appoint Muraleedharan was communicated by AICC general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad at a press conference here.

Azad said the incumbent president, Thennala Balakrishna Pillai had submitted his resignation to Sonia Gandhi, which has been accepted.

Muraleedharan would continue as KPCC chief till the organisational elections of the party in the state, which would take place in two years’ time, Azad said. (PTI)

Rajasthan battles 3rd successive drought
with administration

JALORE, May 17: The relief operation being carried out in this district showcases the good work being done in Rajasthan to mitigate the severe drought that has struck the state for the third consecutive year.

Jalore has shown good progress in implementing the relief measures even though 666 out of its 712 villages have a "Kharaba" (crop destruction) of 75 to 100 per cent. The district, which falls under the desert development programme area, has been hit by 29 droughts in the last four decades.

Though it received ‘normal’ rains (less than 50 cm) this year, jalore has been badly affected by the presence of fluorides in sub-surface water creating problems like dental and skeletal fluorosis.

Yet, the district has made sure that people and cattle do not suffer. It has been engaging more people in relief works than the number sanctioned - 13,746 engaged to 9,500 sanctioned in January, 38,044 for 26,000 in February and 51,974 for 40,000 in March, and utilised a high number (80,954) of the sanctioned figure (86,800) in April.

The authorities were able to do this by organising funds from all sources, even involving international agencies like the United Nations in its effort.

The entire administration has been geared up to ensure that the wages of the people involved in the relief works were paid without much delay, District Collector Shikhar Agarwal says. The average wage paid to a person in Jalore ranges between Rs 50 and 55.

"We had made all preparations before January 15, so no time was wasted after the announcement for commencing relief work was made," he says, adding, "the work is being done more efficiently this year as it is executed through Government agencies and not village sarpanchs, who do not have the resources and can be biased."

As many as 24 Gaushalas (cow shelter) and two Gaushivirs have been opened this year benefiting 23,657 animals so far, as opposed to 17 Gaushalas and four Gaushivirs last year. Encouragement is given to Gaushalas as they are permanent in nature, Mr Agarwal says. Last year’s 17 fodder depots and the 38 sanctioned this time are either being run by gram panchayats or village development cooperative committees. The effort is to open at least one depot in each Gardawari (revenue record book) area, the Collector says.

Out of the 170 mt and 160 mt of cattle grade wheat and rice made available to the district, 166 mt and 160 mt, respectively, have been distributed.

More than 50 per cent of the hand pumps sanctioned this year have already been commissioned. A total of 646 hand pumps have been repaired in the district. Steps are being taken for giving electricity connections to as many water sources as possible for installing motors, Mr Agarwal says. Of the 66 such requests made so far, 59 have been favourably dealt with. Also, twenty-two tankers are providing water to habitations where other sources of water were not available.

About 130 monthly medical and 60 veterinary camps were being set up at places where such facilities did not exist.

The implementation of the ‘relief code’ and all other schemes under the drought relief operations were also being done smoothly.

Stress has been laid on water conservation and harvesting efforts on the orders of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, who says "Khet Ka Pani Khet Mei Aur Gaon Ka Pani Gaon Mei." (Water meant for the farm must go to the farm, and water meant for the village to the village)

In Jalore, fluorosis has been controlled through a multi-pronged strategy, which includes water treatment, distribution of domestic activated alumina pots and dietary advice.

The district is, however, awaiting the delivery of more than 370 km of pipeline sanctioned under the drinking water scheme and another of about 100 km, which the Jalore administration had asked for, is yet to be sanctioned.

But, in a review note on the progress of relief activities undertaken till April end, State Relief Secretary Ram Lubhaya has mentioned that except Ajmer, no other district, including Jalore, made available the bull subsidy offered by the State Government to the people.

It also said that distribution of damaged rice and wheat (cattle feed) needed to be brought up to the mark in the district. (UNI)

2 former Marxists among veterans in Antony Ministry

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, May 16: The new A K Antony Government has veterans forming a majority of its eight ministers, with two of them being one-time Marxist leaders — octogenarian K R Gouri and Mr M V Raghavan.

The longest-serving legislator in the Kerala Assembly, Mrs Gouri (82), became minister today for the fifth time in her six-decade-long career, her earlier stints being in the first two communist ministries headed by Mr E M S Nambodiripad in 1957 and 1967 and in the Marxist-led E K Nayanar ministries (1980-81 and 1987-1991).

This is the first time that Mrs Gouri, the oldest member in the present Assembly, is becoming a member of a rightist Government, while Mr Raghavan, who heads the Communist Marxist Party after his explusion from the CPI(M) 14 years ago, has served as a minister in the 1991-96 Congress-led ministry in the state.

Mrs Gouri, a law graduate, who has won all the Assembly elections since 1952 with the exception of 1978, was almost a cult figure in the state’s communist movement till she was expelled from the CPI(M) in 1993. Her persecution by the police in the days of the underground movement in the late 1940s and early ’50s, her marriage to party stalwart T V Thomas, and their separation in the wake of the split in the communist party make her a part of history.

She has also been noted for her role in the pioneering land reforms in the state. Mrs Gouri’s name is also etched in the public mind as a fearless, educated woman who fought against the social odds of gender.

One of the greatest administrators and law-makers of kerala, it was she who piloted the Kerala stay of eviction bill, the agrarian relations bill, Kerala public men’s corruption bill and the Kerala women’s commission bill.

By winning the May 10 elections from her home constituency of Aroor in the coastal Alappuzha district, she set a record as being the longest-serving Kerala MLA. Having represented the Assembly ten times, she has served as a member of the house for a total of 13,581 days. Her election in the recently-held poll was the eleventh in the series.

Mrs Gouri had, in 1957, married her ministerial colleague and partymate T V Thomas of the ministry headed by the late Mr Namboodiripad. But when the party split in 1964 the husband and wife found themselves on two sides of the ideological divide.

It was in 1994 that she fell out with the leadership of the CPI(M). She then accepted the chairmanship of the Alapuzha district development committee formed at the initiative of Mr Raghavan, who was then Cooperation Minister.

After her explusion from the party for "defiance" of the state leadership, Mrs Gouri floated a new party, the Janadhipatya Samrakshana Samiti. She won the 1996 election with the support of the congress-led United Democratic Front.

Like Mrs Gouri, Mr M V Raghavan was also a top ranking leader of the Marxist Party who parted ways under unpleasant circumstances. Mr Raghavan was expelled in 1987 from the party for advocating a tie-up with the Muslim League, prompting him to launch the Communist Marxist Party (CMP).

He served as Minister for Cooperation in the Congress-led ministry during 1991-96, but lost the 1996 elections. He won the Thiruvananthapuram west seat in the last week’s election with a good performance.

Being hated by the CPI(M), Mr Raghavan had to face many problems from that party, especially during the LDF regime. One was the consistent attempt to destroy a snake park he runs in Pappinissery town near Kannur. Marxist workers attacked the park twice, torching several snakes and other inmates. Still the park survived, but only to face a joint raid by the forest and police officials early last year in a messed-up Government attempt to force its closure. The raid resulted in the wanton killing of several snakes, crocodiles and other animals.

A leading cooperator, Mr Raghavan is credited with the opening of the first medical college in the cooperative sector. The Pariyaram Medical College in northern Kerala was the brainchild of Mr Raghavan.

He was elected to State Assembly in 1970,1977, 1980, 1982, 1987 and 1991.

Kerala Congress(M) leader K M Mani is another veteran in the Antony ministry. With a vast experience as minister for more than 15 years,he has proved himself as a good administrator and champion of the farming community.

Mr Mani (68) has the rare distinction of being the only Finance Minister in the state to have presented eight budgets.

An articulate orator, Mr Mani is a suave and affable leader who has succeeded in getting himself elected consecutively for the tenth time from his traditional constituency of pala. He is the only politician in the state to have been elected ten times, without break, from a single constituency. It was in 1965 that he first represented Pala. (UNI)

Cutting edges of right to information movement

By Ajit Bhattacharjea

NEW DELHI, May 17 : Travel in any direction through the arid, undulating land around Beawar in south Rajasthan it’s like traversing a campaign map marked with historic revolutionary battles. The names of many villages and small towns huddled in the folds of the Aravallis have become familiar. They recall the scenes of a very different kind of engagement, but which will equally go down in history. Here local villagers have successfully confronted and exposed misrule non-violently, starting a movement that has spread through the nation. The weapon they have used is information. This is the cradle of India’s unique grassroots right to information revolution.

Not all the names mark confrontations. The earlier names recall the preparatory phase, when a small band of social activists, some from far away, joining to form the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS), won local confidence by living in the area and identifying themselves with local causes. Like the small town of Bhim where the MKSS set up a fair price shop to bring down prices. Or Lutyana where Shankar Singh, the bard of the campaign, was born. Or Devdoongri, where Aruna Roy, once of the IAS, lives in a mud hut and, with her small team, has charted the course of the movement for over a decade.

The scale of corruption unearthed, even in a small corner of Rajasthan, in mind-boggling. It shows why rural India remains poverty-stricken in spite of the thousands of crores supposed to be spent on development over the years. The cutting edge of the right to information movement is the Jan Sunwai (public hearing) where villagers assemble to testify whether the public works detailed in official bills and vouchers secured by them actually exist. Right to information gains force by being linked with right to livelihood. The occasion itself is an impressive demonstration of direct local democracy, with officials invited to be present.

At the latest jan sunwai in Janawad (Rajsamand district) on April 3, an audience of about 3,000, most of them women in traditional multi-coloured ohrnis, sat through the day while the panchayat records were examined. Villager after villager got up to testify that some of the roads and buildings paid for had not been built, including a non-existent school, or the same building had been paid for more than once. Some were half-finished. Among the witnesses was the new woman sarpanch, who sat veiled through the day after confessing that the signed whatever was put before her. Securing access to the records had taken more than a year and to prevent some being copied, the local gram sewak had secured a stay from the Jodhpur High Court. Yet the outcome of the examination conducted at the jan sunwai was astounding. Out of the bills and vouchers detailing expenditure of Rs 65 lakh, no less than Rs 45 lakh was found to be misappropriated. The dirt could no longer be hidden. Nor could the delaying tactics of local officials. Less than a week later, three local officials involved were arrested. Thus Janawad gained a significant place in right to information history: for the first time a jan sunwai had forced the administration to take action against erring officials. The scandal had been substantiated not by hidden cameras but in full public view. The amount misappropriated in one panchayat provided an insight into the extent of corruption in development, exceeding the scope for corruption in defence. The tehelka revelations pale into insignificance.

Kot Kirana (December 1994), in Pali district, may go down as the scene of the first jan sunwayi. This was before the state Government was forced to authorise access to panchayat records, but documents like muster rolls (listing names of people paid to work on a project) and payments for an unfinished patwar ghar were available. And the familiar spectacle of villagers standing up to cite false names in muster rolls and identify ghost buildings began. An FIR was filed against the junior engineer and gram sewak who had signed the false documents, but there is no record of action taken. A former Deputy Speaker of the Rajasthan Assembly camped there to prevent villagers from testifying but failed.

Three more jan sunwayis were held that winter to coincide with the approach of panchayat elections in Bhim, Vijaypura, Jawaja and Thana, leading to similar exposures. The readiness of local villagers to stand up and give evidence against the local power structure, often in the face of those responsible for corruption, strengthened the movement and forced the Government to consider the demand for right to information.

The way was now clear to press the demand for official recognition of right to information. Beawar was the scene of a major engagement in April 1996. A revealing jan sunwai was followed by a 40-day dharna in which the activists were fed and sheltered by the public. Milk and vegetables were contributed daily. Another 40-day dharna was organised in Jaipur. The demand got publicity throughout the country and could no longer be ignored.

The Rajasthan Government responded reluctantly. Chief Minister Shekhawat announced the people had the right to demand and receive details of expenditure on developments work in their villages, but the procedures prescribed were discouraging. Time would show that many local officials felt free to ignore or circumvent transparency orders. At Kishangarh, in Ajmer district, 60 applications were made for information, and a bandh threatened, before some was released. No action was taken against the local officials. Even so, official recognition of the right to information made it easier to insist on access to panchayat records. Some of the achievements at later jan sunwayis were striking. In Kukarkheda panchayat, sarpanch Basanti Devi returned Rs 50,000 from the one lakh shown to be misappropriated at ajan sunwai, with the rest to be returned in two installments in two months. In Surajpura, the sarpanch promised to repay fraud amounting to Rs 5 lakh. In Rawatmal the amount to be repaid was Rs 1.50 lakh.

The impact of the grassroots campaign was soon felt. Three months after the Beawar jan sunwai and dharna in April 1996, politicians, jurists, former bureaucrats, academics and others joined in demanding right to information legislation at a two-day conference in the chamber of the Press Council of India in New Delhi. A committee headed by Justice P.B. Sawant was authorised to draft a model bill. The message spread to state capitals and right to information bills were passed by six state legislatures. The bills varied in quality, with loopholes purposely provided in some to evade answering inconvenient inquiries. A Central bill in New Delhi has gone through several drafts and is currently before a Parliamentary committee.

Though encouraged by the local response, in 1996 nobody at Beawar could have hoped that the right to information movement would spread so fast. Its success was patent when the fifth anniversary was celebrated in the town soon after the epoch-making Janward jan sunwai. Nearly 500 participants registered, with groups coming from distant states. Citizens contributed local hospitality, one even handed over the keys to his house to serve as headquarters. A local youth group took time off from visiting poor patients in hospitals to welcome visitors at the Railway Station. A hela group of 50 singers and drummers from Swai Madhupur enthralled the gathering with an hour’s choral chronicle of the movement updated to Janawad.

Nothing could have established the unique popular roots of India’s right to information movement more firmly.(UNI)

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