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For a change, senior rung of the bureaucracy and Ministers have been brought under the ambit of austerity. Many restrictions have been imposed and facilities enjoyed by them heavily curtailed. The number of cars at the disposal of ministers has been reduced to only ..more Some token concession have been announced in the proposed taxation measures. One really does not know how much in terms of money these concession would benefit the common man. It seems items chosen for slidedown are such that will not after the earlier mobilisation effort. For instance water charges that were enhanced from Rs. 10....more |
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HERE
AND THERE For Dr M Aslam it has been an exciting experience. He worked ..more Poor performing Those who are at the helm of affairs
feel it below ..more Beware of the
ides of March, said the soothsayer to .more |
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EDITORIAL For a change, senior rung of the bureaucracy and Ministers have been brought under the ambit of austerity. Many restrictions have been imposed and facilities enjoyed by them heavily curtailed. The number of cars at the disposal of ministers has been reduced to only one. Besides, they have been barred from using departmental vehicles. It has been the wont of the ministers to requisition vehicles from departments under them and then go on obliging missions to their kins, friends and others enjoying their political clout. Instances have come to the notice when such vehicles were used in marriage parties and other functions quite unrelated to the official functions of the ministers. The most beautiful part of this relates to the effect that all additional vehicles at the disposal of ministers barring one stands withdrawn within 24 hours. In addition family members of the ministers are barred from using the ministerial car. The axe has also fallen on tours and travels. Jaunt happy bureaucrats shall have to be judicious and economical. They shall be entitled to only 600 kms per month use of official vehicle within the State. Any expenditure incurred on travel beyond 600 kms would be borne by the concerned official. This automatically restricts usage of vehicle strictly for official purposes. Families however could use the vehicle due to security reasons on token payment of Rs. 400 pm only in specific cases and not as a matter of routine. And the indiscriminate use of telephones by ministers and bureaucrats is now sought to be curbed by imposing restrictions on bills payable from Government. For residential phones the limit is Rs. 2500 for ministers, officers of Secretaries rank Rs. 2000 and HODs only Rs. 1500. All bills above this limit would be payable by the concerned ministers/bureaucrats. STD facility will be available only to HODs and those below face STD bar. A fresh list is being prepared for those who can use official cars/vehicles and those not entitled will be barred from using the same. On the travel side restrictions are equally substantial. It has been decided that no minister or HOD would travel by Executive Class of flights and that they shall be allowed only Upper Class air travel. This is not all. Chief Minister says it is just the beginning and some more austerity measures are on the anvil. It has been felt that maximum misuse of official perks is ether in vehicles or telephones. That is why these have been selected to go austere in right earnest. These measures are expected to save upto 50 crore per annum. This shows how extravagant J&K administration has been till yesterday. If these two heads consume 50 crore one shudders to think of other heads. It would have been in the fitness of things to put maximum limit on consumption of electricity as well. It has been done for MLAs staying in hostels where meters are ordered to be installed but ministers and other senior bureaucratic hierarchy stands excluded. This fifty crore saving is in addition to 10% cut ordered in expenditure which would save another 100 crore if implemented scrupulously. As on date there is thus announcements for a total saving of Rs. 150 crore in official expenditure. This is quite welcome in that it marks the beginning of the realisation that charity must begin at home. One is really surprised on the assertion of CM that jumbo cabinet cannot be reduced due to various reasons like giving representation to various regions and sections. But rags in the corridor of power do confirm that downsizing of the unwieldy cabinet is on cards after the assembly session. It however remains the prerogative of CM to have the last word on it. Small cabinet reflects compactness, austerity and fast delivery. CM is definitely placed much comfortably with more than two-third majority and unchallenged leadership. To that extent he shall apply the guillotine soon and have a team which is not only small but also quite fast on delivery. Some token concession have been announced in the proposed taxation measures. One really does not know how much in terms of money these concession would benefit the common man. It seems items chosen for slidedown are such that will not after the earlier mobilisation effort. For instance water charges that were enhanced from Rs. 10 pm to Rs. 20 have been reduced to Rs. 15 p.m. The claim that water charges are yet the lowest in northern India is not tenable when interpreted in terms of the total time for which water is supplied to the consumers, the pressure and the perennial scarcity summer through winter. Not a word is said about improving water supply at good pressure and increasing the timing in proportion to increase in charges which shall be now 600 per cent over what prevailed a year back. For a change a team should be deputed to neighbouring States to ascertain the number of hours water is supplied to the consumer and number of minutes as the supply in vogue in this State. Reduction of sales tax on dhabas and tent houses is welcome although dhabas that remain the mainstay of poor man's feed deserve better treat. Reduction of levy on soaps is welcome. So is the withdrawal of increase on one room tenements of Class IV employees. But major levies that hit the common man below the belt remain in place despite demands from MLAs cutting across party lines, the protests by trade and political parties and overall disappointment expressed by Government employees and the people. While Government does face financial crunch and it needs more money to run the affairs, major areas that would have obviated the necessity of additional imposts and hikes have not been addressed. This includes rampant corruption without any accountability and reckless expenditure sometime on paper only and on projects that have long been abandoned half way. The Government is aware about these thrust areas but it seems vested interests have penetrated the power apparatus and continue to enjoy not only privileged postings but also the benefits of unabated corruption. That is why people feel more perturbed. If only the system was efficient and fast on delivery, probably people would have taken the hikes in its stride. That is why they are unable to reconcile with such hikes and fresh imposts. There is thus the imperative need for giving people a better deal so that additional hikes imposed to mop up over 500 crore result in improvement in services like power supply, potable water, LPG and kerosene, good quality stuff from ration outlets and responsive administration. But if services continue to slide downwards, people have every right to question bonafides of the popular Government. |
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HERE AND THERE For Dr M Aslam it has been an exciting experience. He worked as Joint Director, Institute of Management & Public Administration (IMPA) in Kashmir in 1992. Presently, he is Director, School of Continuing Education (SOCE) in Delhi’s IGNOU(Indira Gandhi National Open University). Dr Aslam, I am sure, was not tension-free in Srinagar in 1992 when the militancy and insurgency, aided and abetted by Pakistan, left little room for people pursuing creative, academic and artistic pursuits. He may not have totally lost interest in the mercurial world of Kashmir politics. But the fact that he wants to make his presence felt in Indira Gandhi National Open University has been borne out by his involvement in the institute’s projects on Panchayati Raj and rural youth. And Dr Aslam had strong reasons to jump up in ecstasy when the distance education material produced under the Panchayati Raj project of IGNOU recently received Commonwealth of Learning President’s award . Yes, the award for recognising it as excellent distance education material produced among the Commonwealth countries. The award was given at a function held at the International Convention Centre, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei, Darusalam. Dr Aslam told me that the Panchayati Raj project on "education and training of elected functionaries through distance mode" was taken up by Indira Gandhi National Open University with the support from the Ministry of Rural Areas and Employment. The main objective of this programme is empowerment of rural masses through elected functionaries for effective participation in the process of self-governance. The self-learning print material (SLPM) consisting of 23 booklets is prepared in the most simple language and is extensively illustrated, he says and adds: "The material can be accessed and assimilated even by neo-literates. There are also six video programmes and 12 audio programmes specially prepared for this programme". The multi-media package has already been introduced among 58,000 functionaries in four selected districts of Madhya Pradesh, namely, Bastar, Dhar, Guna and Raigarh. It is being translated and dubbed into major Indian regional languages. The reputation Chandigarh is acquiring as the ‘city of women’ merits mention. Chandigarh has been a ‘city with a difference’ for some years now. It has women officers in various key departments of the administration. But the reputation soared higher when Ms Kiran Bedi became its Director-General of Police (DGP). Chandigarh boasts of women at the helm of affairs in department slike Home, Income Tax, Industrial and Tourism Development Corporation and Chandigarh Housing Board, to mention a few. Those in the know of things insist that it was definitely not by design that the administration is loaded so heavily in favour of women, nor is it on account of any exalted status women in power enjoy here. The chance coincidence, therefore, is all the more gratifying. The Magsaysay Award winner, who is also the first women DGP, can be depended upon to enhance the prestige and profile of the administration. Award are nothing new for Mahasweta Devi. The noted writer, social worker, journalist teacher and translator has been decorated with Sahitya Academy Award (1979) and Jananpeeth Award (1996), besides numerous prestigious awards which includes the Jagattarini gold medal of the Calculla University. The Union Government honoured her with the Padmasree in 1986 for her working among tribals. What is however remarkable about the latest award to be conferred on this legendary writer is that she is the first woman to be awarded a D.Litt. (Honoris Causa) by Indira Gandhi National Open University. In the past, the first open university of the country conferred Hon. Doctorates on Dr Shridath S Ramphal, Prof G Ram Reddy and Prof James A Maraj. A unique feature of the university’s 10th convocation, where the 73-year-old author of 177 books would be decorated, is that a tele-conference is being organised on the occasion. Mr Jyoti Basu, Chief Minister of West Bengal, who is in the thick of a controversy for having rewarded his biographer with a plum post in the Calcutta University, added to his already long list of enemies among party colleagues for his daily appeals to the Congress to come forth and assume gaddi at the Centre. The five-time Chief Minister’s explanation within party fora that the Left must extend support to the Congress "for the time being" to get rid of the "communal BJP", particularly since the third front was "very weak", failed to mollify party theoreticians who fear erosion of the Left movement’s credibility and support base. The invitation to the septuagenarian Left leader to help consolidate the currently scattered third front parties, coming as it did from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president and moving spirit behind the nebulous RLM, was a morale booster. The CPI(M) think-tank heaved a sigh of relief when their by far the most charismatic leader softened his public stand to the effect that his offer to the main Opposition party in Parliament being limited to providing the necessary numerical support to the Congress on issue to issue, should the situation so warrant. "Spot the odd-man out" contest was least called for at the civic reception to felicitate the Prime Minister on completion of one year in office. Delhi’s Chief Minister, Ms Sheila Dixit, stuck out like a sore thumb in the sea of saffron that the red Fort had turned into on the occasion. The Delhi Chiefr Minister could only squirm in her seat when praise was heaped on Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee by speaker after speaker. Quite clearly, the district Congress president in Ms Dixit could not stomach it, even as the Chief Minister in her made her maintain her cool to uphold protocol. Years of training and political experience stood her in good stead when her own turn came to address the gathering. Invited to say a "few words", Ms Dixit limited herself to just that - a few words. "I wish Mr Vajpayee best of luck", she said and turned to her seat, even as one of her supporters from the crowd asked whether the luck was for the treasury benches or the Opposition benches. |
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One year of Vajpayee government Beware of the ides of March, said the soothsayer to Julius Ceasar, two thousand years ago. He could as well have been warning Atal Behari Vajpayee, a year ago. That March, Ceasar headed no warnings and went ahead to be crowned. Only to get beheaded, or so does Shakespeare say. Last March, no Shakespeare was around and Vajpayee got himself crowned. He is slowly getting the better of the March ides. There is saying : "yaar zinda, sohbat baqi" — if the friend lives, you would have get-togethers. Did Atal Behari then, reckon : Let the crown come, tides woud ebb in time? During the year that is past, the tides have kept raging, now on Pokhran, now in the parliament, now on the onion fields, now in Bihar, and always consistently on the whims and fancies of allies as well his own partymen. Yet, the tides have ebbed in the sense that they have fallen into a pattern, rather become a part of the pattern. The sudden tyfoons that could rock the boat are now a regular feature, becoming a factor in stability itself ! The boat continues to reel, continues to rock and continues to ride the waters, Vajpayee government continues, probably because of the push of the stormy waves. Avoidable fiascoes Looking back it appears that the government could have avoided a number of embarrassments. It could easily have avoided the "roll-back" label that began with the rupee/half-rupee increment in the urea prices in the last budget and ended (for the year) with the telecom price hike. The government could have done without the botched transfer of Bezburvah from the Enforcement Directorate. The earlier Bihar resolution, too. The government had no need to heap indignities upon the Bhandari after the sack of RJD government. Or, to put a petty inspector of police to trail Air Marshal Sarin. It certainly should have avoided the Bhagwat fiasco. Whatever the later ramifications, it is clear that, from the very beginning, the stand of the Admiral of the Navy was not seriously examined, nor the implications considered in proper perspective. The episode has proved that there exist three preferences of authority : the Minister is the king, the civil servant is indispensable, and the rest, including a service chief, do not matter. The only redeeming feature in the whole affair, is that George Fernandes is an exceedingly honest man. Everything else was wrong, wrong ! And avoidable, too. Pliant compromises : Very clearly there has not been much circumspect co-ordination in the coalition. While fire-tenders, ranging from Jaswant Singh to Fernandes to son-in-law Bhattacharaya, have been rushing promptly to extinguish the flames there has been little activity to prevent the cantankerous allies from getting furious in the first place. All this post facto placation has resulted in some very unethical compromises being made to keep the allies happy. In Tamil Nadu these have ranged from the appointment of Jaya's partymen as the legal counsels of centre, to an outright transfer of her cases from the special courts, even as the case of special courts was in the Supreme Court. The perpetual postponement of the cabinet expansion comes courtesy Mamta. She, along with Samta, forced the central government to send assessment teams to Bihar and West Bengal, only to be snubbed by the state governments. Some how the Chautala threat on the increased prices of PDS goods did no bend the government, but the credit for that must go to an indifference of the general populace. Probably, after purchasing onions for Rs. 60/- a kilo, the people think nothing of the rise of a rupee in the price of rice, wheat, sugar, or even diesel. Yes, the people have become desensitised. Deliberate indifference ? For its part the government too has desensitised itself from many of the issues that used to vex the party no end, when it was in the opposition. Autonomy of the electronic media, for instance. Like their predecessors in the UF, the members of the ruling coalition too had made a career of the demand of "autonomy for Radio and T.V." It used to be an article of faith. But articles of faith and principles are for the opposition, like the religion which is for the poor. Gujral promulgated Prasar Bharti when his government had practically fallen; Vajpayee felled it. Filling vacancies at the top, used to be another beloved tenet when these parties were in the opposition. Once in power, after one year, the government has shown no urgency to fill the top slots in Public Sector Undertakings, boards, even Raj Bhavans. Other pet issues are petering out, as the exigencies of holding on to power sink deeper. Chief Vigilance Commissioner has been a non-starter. The statehoods for one and all are frozen as the party, regional, and sectarian considerations are impinging upon the minds of the ruling coterie. Even Kalyan Singh backed out of a full statehood for Uttranchal ! Of course, full statehood for Delhi an old demand of BJP can't be granted to a Congress-ruled Delhi from a BJP-ruled centre ! Were these "principled demands" raised without any political motives ? Objective unclarity ! The same question of motives would be asked with regard to the one singular achievement of the Vajpayee government viz. nuclear tests. Was it the result of a sincere appreciation of the national need or a clever political calculation ? The common Indian, the army, the expatriate Indians, Indian scientific community, all see the Pokhran II series as a national achievement, and support it. But how exactly did the ruling party reckon Pokhran ? The nation needs to know whether the "national interest" or the "political calculation" was the primary determinant. Nation also needs to know if the Lahore yatra was another impulsive calculation, or result of a weel cognitated policy. Or, in compliance to the dictats from across the seven seas ? Last year's Kaveri accord was seen as a landmark one. The summer is drawing near. Water levels are about to shrink, yet, none has heard again of Kaveri, after the August agreement. Pokhran, Kaveri and Lahore would be counted as the achievements, glaring achievements, of this year-long rule. Would the bombs end in CTBT, Kaveri in inaction and Lahore in recriminations ? If the main objective has been a temporary political gain, there is good reason to expect that the advantages would dissipate. Economy, at last Surprisingly, the fiddling government has come up with a reasonable budget. The results are already on display on the stock markets. The rupee is up after a long time, though only slightly. Other budgetary measures like those in agriculture and housing should give a further impetus to a sagging economy. One thing is certain that there is nothing dismal about the budget. The reported intervention by the Prime Minister's Office would show that Vajpayee is at last, overcoming the teething troubles. That in itself is a good news, for the nation cannot afford to wait for long years for the ruling party to get the ropes of governance. The government must now, act on the double, if it intends to make up for all the time that has been lost in un-necessary inaptitude. India's showing at the G-15 has been reassuring performance after quite an interregnum of slippage. Would these advantages be pressed ? Lesser strain. The Lok Sabha vote on Bihar showed that the government is in command of numbers. Though the uncertainty over the TDP was wearisome for the government, it, nevertheless, proved that there is no alternative course for the allies. Unless the BJP does push them out (Oh yes, they are quite capable of that !) the allies are willy nilly caught with them, and that gives a big advantage to the government ; it makes the government out of the red. Today it certainly is better situated. If an alternative was un-formed then, it is almost un-formable now, with the Congress-SJP tussle, AIADMK inability, TDP's rising compulsions, the communists losing their sheen and Akali Dal getting freed from Tohras weight. These are definite advantages for the ruling coalition. And then, accidental aids may always come. Like the Congress volte face on Bihar. In this loss the government may have gained an advantage, an enormous advantage ! This may even be sufficient to catapult the ruling party into electoral respectability again. And there you are : the knocking waves come to raise your stock, if you can ride the storms Vajpayee rode the tides of the year. Yes, the ides of March are in high tide, but all seem to have gotten used to the idea. That may carry Vajpayee over another year too. Or, four? Wait and see ! |
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