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EDITORIAL

Transparency

Visit of European Union delegation to J&K State reflects total transparency of whatever has been happening in the State. To be precise EU ambassadorial visits to the State that commenced in 1994 have come to stay as an annual feature. For one thing it shows that all the countries the world over with whom . .....more

Stem the rot

It has become a fashion to paralyse medicare in Government hospitals on this or that pretext. There is hardly a month that passes without strike. Sometime it is attributable to manhandling of the staff by the attendants of the patients due to ‘negligence’. Sometime it is delay element playing havoc with ..more

The messiah of poor

By Arun Shourie
For a decade now many in media have been hailing Laloo Yadav as a messiah of the poor. Others have been proving their vicarious commitment...more

A short memory
equals a long life

By M J Akbar
It is a mistake to consider yourself a mathematician just because you have won a lottery. The BJP's victory in the 13th general elections ......more

India-China Diary – III
Chinese cartographers
have not given up Ladakh

From B L Kak
Ladakh has shrunk in size as a result of the occupation of a part of its territory by China and Pakistan. Ladakh.....more

EDITORIAL

Transparency

Visit of European Union delegation to J&K State reflects total transparency of whatever has been happening in the State. To be precise EU ambassadorial visits to the State that commenced in 1994 have come to stay as an annual feature. For one thing it shows that all the countries the world over with whom India has strong relations and cooperation do take keen interest in democratic India. There was a time during initial stages of insurgency when J&K remained out of bounds to all those who could fish in troubled waters of Jhelum which included foreign ambassadors, Human Rights bodies and others who could misconstrue the then prevailing situation. There is no denying the fact that State then was under gubernational spell and for quite sometime pro-Pak militants called the shots. But by 1994 the State had gained upper hand and legitimacy of the governing apparatus restored. Soon thereafter State was exposed to Lok Sabha polls and average voting percentage logged compared favourably with the national average. It was followed by assembly elections and with popular Government in place the State was exposed to two more Lok Sabha polls in 1998 and this year. It thus follows that democracy is in place in J&K and as much strong as in any other part of India so much so that immediately after war Kargil logged voting percentage of 73. So strong is the will of the people of this strife torn region.

Transparency ever since has been the password. European ambassadorial delegations have paid many visits. Same is true of ambassadors from USA, British MPs delegation and Human Rights bodies. It is so because popular dispensation has nothing to hide. There are scribes from all the world media present in the State. If it was a hideous approach, these foreign scribes could have been kept far away from Valley. There are of course problems but then no State is immune from it. For instance terrorism lasted in Punjab for more than a decade. It has been there in the north eastern States for decades. Bihar faces terrorism from Maoist brand of terrorists while Andhra Pradesh is hounded by Peoples War Group (PWP). J&K hogs the limelight because here terrorism is totally Pak sponsored with very little indigenous content. Yet a lot of hue and cry is made and media fed with disinformation campaign by Hurriyat and those who are on the pay roll of Pakistan. If it were an indigenous movement there was no need to let the insurgency be spearheaded by mercenary organisations like Harket-ul-Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Toiba or Al Badr and others of their ilk, all Pak based. It is here that irrelevance of Hurriyat manifests itself so clearly.

Current EU delegation has widely interacted with cross section of public opinion as also Government functionaries. They have taken pains to visit both winter and summer capital for authentic appraisal. Basically, EU delegation wanted to know the impact of the latest events on situation in Jammu & Kashmir. It is nice of them not to believe in hearsay but have personal touch of the eventful period starting from Kargil warfare. The delegation is more than convinced that Pak intrusion in Kargil by its regular troops in the guise of Mujahideen and their subsequent ignominious withdrawal under presume from USA and India's military might has lowered Pak image in public esteem and undermined cause of its cronies like the Hurriyat who have been playing Pak tunes. They now find it very difficult to convince the people asto why Pak forces let them down once again. In fact, Hurriyat and others have openly accepted that Pak intrusion damaged their cause. The delegation also is fully convinced that Hurriyat is not a representative body of the entire J&K State. Its influence is confined to some pockets in Valley and to that extent it is bad to give them undue importance. If they really represent people, they should have participated in the electoral process to test their popularity. The second aspect about which the delegation was specific relates the impact of military takeover in Pakistan on Jammu & Kashmir. Its impact is quite visible and transparent. More than 300 mercenaries have been killed by our troops during the last few weeks. It shows that our forces are in full command of the situation now. Military rulers understand what regular war with India means. That is why they have withdrawn from International border. Left to themselves they would do the same on LoC as well but for the adverse back-lash in Pakistan. Military rulers are in the full know of India's might. While India can easily absorb even a nuclear first strike Pakistan has no depth to withstand Indian strikes. That is why rulers are laying stress on putting their house in order rather than engage in any more misadventure in J&K. The third event is the impact of latest Lok Sabha polls held simultaneously in J&K alongwith rest of the country. Low polling in valley is more than offset by heavy polling in Ladakh and reasonably well in Jammu region. The delegation is convinced that it was the threat of bullets that kept the voters indoors in valley in sensitive areas. But taking entire J&K State as single unit, the polling more or less corresponds to national average.

Transparency thus pays good dividends particularly when democracy has been given short shift in Pakistan even as it is not only alive without any interruption or dilution but with more strength than ever before in this country, J&K included. EU delegation is not only better informed but it means more support for India vis-a-vis Pak sponsored terrorism in J&K and non-representative character of Hurriyat amalgam.

Stem the rot

It has become a fashion to paralyse medicare in Government hospitals on this or that pretext. There is hardly a month that passes without strike. Sometime it is attributable to manhandling of the staff by the attendants of the patients due to ‘negligence’. Sometime it is delay element playing havoc with the services. This time round it is one section of employees ranged against the other that has resulted in throwing medicare haywire to the detriment of citizens. It clearly shows that administration is conspicuous by its absence. Unionism is more assertive than public service. The question is why people are held to ransom because of internecine squabbles, misunderstandings and lack of cohesion. Paralysing medicare is not condonable and administration must devise ways and means, including proper Code of Conduct that helps diffuse the situation and amicable settlement. Unionism does not mean that it should exceed its own brief that puts a big question mark on the noble profession. People are not concerned with who manhandles whom. The law of the land is very clear to take care of any criminal act. Be it the abusive language, be it the manhandling, be it the insubordination, be it even physical injury. None is above law and law is equal for all. There is no special class of employees that can enjoy immunity. Likewise there are service rules both for the gazetted as also non-gazetted cadres. It is here that the administration must become assertive. Such type of frequent paralysation of medical services is exclusive to this State and the administration must devise suitable mechanism so that such random strikes do not recur at least where essential services are concerned.

The messiah of poor

By Arun Shourie

For a decade now many in media have been hailing Laloo Yadav as a messiah of the poor. Others have been proving their vicarious commitment to the cause of the downtrodden by reveling in his crudities. What has been happening to Bihar in the meanwhile? A glimpse is provided by the recent Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India on the Government of Bihar. In this series I will merely reproduce verbatim some representative items -- just a few items -- from the summary of this Report circulated by the CAG.

Do read them, and, as you do, ask: (a) should one go by the clownish demeanour of a ruler, or by what is happening to institutions during his tenure?; (b) what is the commitment of a ruler to the poor when this is what is happening in departments and activities which directly impinge on the lives of the poor?; (c) will such a collapse of norms and institutions in a state which by itself is larger than any country in western Europe not drag India down into the abyss? And do remember that these are just a few items from just the summary of the CAG's Report, that the Report itself furnishes findings about only of a small sample of items which were taken up for examination.

One thing that I will leave as an exercise for the reader is to find out what has happened on any of the items since the Report was submitted to the Bihar legislature. A clue: the answer consists of just one word.

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Accounts of the state government: Budget estimates for 1997-98 envisaged a revenue deficit of Rs. 431 crore which was revised to Rs. 1563 crore in Revised Estimates. The actual deficit was Rs. 1052 crore.// Against the total investment of Rs. 641 crore by the state government up to the end of March 1998 in various public sector undertakings and cooperative institutions, dividend received during the years 1993-98 amounted to Rs. 1000 only. In 12 government companies and 2 statutory corporations the accumulated losses (Rs. 769 crore) were more than the investment (Rs. 173 crore)....// Annual plan size was projected at unrealistically high level and then drastically reduced at Revised Plan Stage. Actual expenditure was lower than even the revised outlay every year.... Entire plan expenditure was financed by central support.... Huge plan funds relating to General Education, Social Welfare of SC/ST/OBC and Rural Employment during 1994-97 kept in Civil Deposits were booked as expenditure and helped in boosting up the cash balance of the government. Poor plan performance continued in 1997-98 also....// As of December 1998, excess expenditure of Rs. 6045 crore pertaining to the years 1977-78 to 1996-97 had also not been regularized....

Working of Health, Medical Education and Family Department: X-ray machines in 10 hospitals were either non-functional or not installed for 1 to over 24 years.// 7 hospitals had no ambulance facility for various periods during 1990-95.// Blood Banks in Sadar Hospitals of the districts test-checked were not functioning since 1994-95 due to lack of necessary instruments and apparatus.// Manpower management was deficient and the department had no information of overall sanctioned strength and men in position in the State.// Nugatory expenditure on idle staff was for Rs. 3.48 crore.// Service books of employees were not properly maintained leading to manipulation in service books for continuance in government service after superannuation.

Incidence of Malaria in tribal area varied from 3.03 per thousand to 6 per thousand, though it was targeted to be brought down to 0.5 cases per thousand by 2000 AD. Average rate of blood examination was very low. Plasmodium Falcifarum cases of fatal nature ranged from 61 to 65 per cent of positive cases detected during 1992-97. In 2 districts (Ranchi, Singhbhum) such cases were still higher varying from 70 to 88 per cent during the same period. Tests of blood samples were delayed.// One round of spray of DDT instead of 2 rounds resulted in wasteful expenditure of Rs. 1.66 crore in 3 districts. DDT was sprayed in excess of norms resulting in doubtful consumption of 37.32 tonnes of DDT valued at Rs. 23.70 lakh.// Less than 10 per cent of Fever Treatment Depots and Drug distribution centres (voluntary organisations) were functional....// Collection of blood smears under Urban Malaria Scheme was poor and only 1 to 1.5 per cent of population was covered. Incidence of positive cases of malaria increased during 1992-97. State Government did not send the names of 3 towns for coverage under Urban Malaria scheme by Government of India. Most of the expenditure in UMS was on staff and hence scheme was ineffective. Only one Malaria Clinic was opened in each town as against 19 required to be set up.// Delay in issue of machinery and equipment occurred for 1 month to 4 years. Besides, 96 (out of 97) microscopes received in July 1996, 10 stir-up and 10 knapsack pump received in June 1995 were not issued as of August 1998....// In Primary Health Centre, Manika, Palamu 50 bottle of dextrose which had developed fungus and which were not fit for human consumption were administered to people.// Malaria Action Plan introduced by Government of India in 1995 was not implemented in the State.// Director General was not aware of sanctioned strength of various categories of posts and number of manpower deployed against them....

Police: Deployment of force in the districts was neither based on population nor on incidence of crime. High crime prone districts were not adequately staffed by Police Force compared to low crime districts. There was large scale vacancy in Thana/Outposts/Police Chouki, while overall strength of police force in the districts were only marginally short of the sanctioned posts.// While the thanas/outposts/chouki etc. were not adequately manned, large number of police force was unauthorisedly deployed as security guards of Ministers, MPs and members of State Legislature in excess of admissible norm. BMP force was unauthorisedly deployed as security guards of VIPs though prohibited. Large number of police force was unauthorisedly deployed as security guards to non-entitled persons. District Police force and BMP personnel were also unauthorisedly deployed as house guards for senior officials, political executive etc.// In 10 districts test-checked 160 vehicles were without drivers, while there was no vehicles for 64 drivers in 3 districts and 2 battalions of BMP test-checked.// Strength of Police force was not increased with formation of 2 additional battalions (BMP 17 and BMP 18). Rs. 5.21 crore sanctioned for construction of buildings for these battalions were misutilised by the Bihar Police Building Construction Corporation. Arms and ammunitions, vehicles, fax and photo copies and others purchased for Rs. 6.22 crore with the funds sanctioned for these battalions were also misutilised.// Ex-DGP made large scale appointment of constables unauthorisedly in violation of rules and norms during the fag end of his career and extended period. In test-check, 177 such appointments made by him involved expenditure of Rs. 63.72 lakh annually. DIG Magadh Range illegally appointed 12 class-III employees involving expenditure of Rs. 11.72 lakh up to March 1998. Two Superintendents of Police (Gaya and Munger) made 42 illegal appointments of constables.// In 9 out of 15 districts test-checked a large number of constables was not provided with any professional training for 1 to 15 years since their recruitment.

Modernization of police force: 188 Police Stations in the State had no vehicle. In 15 districts test-checked, 125 (out of 432) Police Stations in problem areas had no vehicle. Wireless sets were not available in 91 Police Stations including 6 sensitive Police Stations of 5 (out of 15) districts test-checked. No district in the State was adequately equipped with security devices.

28 computers valued at Rs. 70.96 lakh supplied by Government of India for control of crime were not installed since April 1995. Air Conditioners for computers were installed at the residences of Superintendents of Police in 40 districts.

Electoral expenses: Budgetary and expenditure control system was non-functional. Detailed contingent bills for Rs. 14.33 crore were not submitted to AG by 10 districts. In 3 district offices, advances aggregating Rs. 7.26 crore remained unrecovered. 6 district offices misutilised Rs. 1.79 crore for other purposes.// Failure of the government in verifying financial capabilities of an agency resulted in futile exercise on partial preparation of the Photo Identity Cards and fruitless expenditure of Rs. 32.17 crore.

Besides, due to several acts of omissions Rs. 11.08 crore remained unrecovered.// There was wastage in excess printing of Presiding Officers' hand books for Rs. 52.57 lakh. Utilization of paper valued at Rs. 14.49 lakh was not ascertainable. There was embezzlement of Rs. 17.04 lakh. There was excess expenditure of Rs. 28.23 on carriage of ballot papers. Articles valued at Rs. 22.26 lakh purchased were not accounted for.// Rental charges of Rs. 27.11 lakh were paid for 20187 idle electronic voting machines.

Dhotis and saris for the poor: Government scheme to supply dhoti-sari to the poor failed due to mismanagement of the contract which resulted in undue favour to the supplier (ACASH) for Rs. 60.76 crore, and loss to government for Rs. 65.33 crore.

Payment without sanction: In 10 forest divisions 55 officials were posted without sanction of posts for them resulting in unauthorized payment of Rs. 63.93 lakh to them up to March 1998.// A Referral Hospital constructed at Navhatta (Saharsa) in 1992 at a cost of Rs. 37.83 lakh was rendered unfruitful due to lack of necessary infrastructure.// Rs. 2 crore were unnecessarily drawn from treasury by Assistant Controller of Accounts, Industries Department in 1994-95 and kept in current accounts in banks for 3 years resulting in blocking of funds and loss of interest of Rs. 1.08 crore.// In 3 districts 136 assistant teachers were illegally appointed in Basic Schools involving expenditure of Rs. 3.82 crore up to March 1998.// In 22 High Schools Rs. 63.80 lakh was incurred during 1991-98 on pay and allowances of 22 instructors who were not having any work.

Bihar Plateau Development Programme: The programme aimed at increasing the income and alleviating poverty of tribal people.// Against targeted upgradation of 1200 kms of road and 4780 metre of bridges up to March 1998, only 18 per cent of the road work and 13 per cent of bridge work was completed.// In construction of rural roads wasteful expenditure due to wrong selection of roads, inadequate survey and investigation and deficiency in design aggregated Rs. 7.62 crore, besides, avoidable expenditure of Rs. 3 crore. Extra expenditure due to non-adoption of IRC specification, decision of tender on item rates, inadmissible allowance of price adjustment aggregated Rs. 13.99 crore, besides extra liability of Rs. 10.86 crore. Mobilization and equipment advances of Rs. 19.34 crore were unauthorisedly paid to contractors by the Chief Engineer.// Abandoned rural roads suffered damages during rains, and expenditure of Rs. 45.33 lakh was rendered wasteful. Cost of hard rock excavated valued at Rs. 68.61 lakh was not accounted for, and not recovered from contractor. Excavated earth valued at Rs. 69.40 lakh was not utilized in works. There was doubtful expenditure of Rs. 12.20 crore on construction of road and unauthorized expenditure due to change in alignment and carriage of moorum for Rs. 1.97 crore.// Avoidable payment to consultant for road works aggregated Rs. 6.88 crore and there was additional cost of Rs. 40.61 lakh on allocation of vehicle for consultant. BPDP incurred expenditure of Rs. 40.46 lakh on ungainful deployment of consultant for training for road works.// Execution of agreements for works at abnormally higher rates, wasteful expenditure on unsuccessful bore wells and provision of erroneous quantities in bid documents involved expenditure of Rs. 11.77 crore. Inadmissible payment of secured advance and undue favour to contractors aggregated Rs. 1.09 crore.

Minor Irrigation schemes: Progress was slow due to non-adherence to the work programme. For execution of minor irrigation schemes, approval of abnormally higher rates resulted in extra cost of Rs. 18.32 crore. Rs. 3.79 crore was spent on incomplete works which were executed against fake bank guarantees. Unauthorized allowances of price adjustment resulted in excess payment of Rs. 82.35 lakh and non-acquisition of required land and public hindrance resulted in wasteful expenditure of Rs. 26.92 lakh on abandoned works.

Non-installation of seed processing plants due to non-availability of space for installation resulted in idle investment of Rs. 64.45 lakh.

Justification for purchase of furniture valued at Rs. 10.74 lakh for old established units was not available. There was misutilisation of funds for procurement of vehicle for Rs. 80.66 lakh for mass communication. Consultant for mass communication and financial consultant were unauthorisedly appointed at a cost of Rs. 43.86 lakh.

Rehabilitation of persons displaced by major irrigation works: Rupees 31.04 lakh meant for development of rehabilitation sites were diverted for maintenance of Administrator's residence in Subernrekha Project.// Despite expenditure of Rs. 2.94 crore on development of rehabilitation sites and plots under Icha and Chandil sectors of SMP, no family was rehabilitated.// In Chandil sector, of 395 Indira Awas and low cost houses constructed at a cost of Rs. 65.70 lakh, 393 houses collapsed due to use of substandard material. There was fictitious construction of Indira Awas at expenditure of Rs. 6.39 lakh. School buildings constructed at an expenditure of Rs. 74.31 lakh in Subernrekha Project were not utilized for want of students, and 48 open wells, 205 tubewells and 6 ponds were constructed at a cost of Rs. 1.34 crore at places where no displaced persons had settled. Fake and irregular appointments in Bagmati and Kosi projects involved expenditure of Rs. 1.08 crore. In disregard of rules, temporary advances for Rs. 74.14 lakh remained unrecovered/unadjusted as of March 1998.// Unproductive and nugatory expenditure on staff in Minor Irrigation Division, Chapra aggregated Rs. 2.92 crore during 1991-97.// Rupees 1.35 crore was spent on Lift Irrigation Schemes which remained incomplete since 1990 and failed to create intended irrigation potential.

Departmental control was absent on allotment and drawal of funds in Public Health Engineering Department leading to excess drawal of Rs. 1.53 crore in 3 divisions during March 1997, and unauthorized drawal of Rs. 26.27 crore by Engineer-in-Chief and PHE Division, Patna West. Road works: Lack of proper supervision of road work in RC Division, Jamshedpur by Government officials led to substandard execution of work, consequent failure of the road constructed at a cost of Rs. 71.90 lakh, and additional expenditure of Rs. 38.60 lakh on repair work.// NH Division, Muzaffarpur violated instruction of Vigilance Department in execution of work of construction of high level bridge over Sultana Nala in National Highway-28, and Rs. 53.09 lakh spent on this incomplete construction was rendered unfruitful.// Chief Engineer (Mechanical), RCD, Patna, 2 Superintending Engineers and an Executive Engineer made 883 illegal and unauthorized appointments in disregard of rules and norms involving expenditure of Rs. 2.68 crore up to May 1998. No action was taken by the department against officials guilty for these illegal appointments.// In 5 divisions, Assistant/Juniors Engineers did not render accounts of temporary advances of Rs. 2.48 crore. In 5 divisions misappropriation and loss of cement aggregated Rs. 2.64 crore. Advance payments of Rs. 1.37 crore for supply of cement made during 1989-94 were not recovered for cement company.// In Sone Canal Division, Ara defalcation of Rs. 15.23 lakh was facilitated as rules regarding handling of cash were not followed by the Executive Engineer and other officials.

Failure of the Superintending Engineer (SE)/Drawing and Disbursing Officer and the Treasury Officer, Deoghar culminated in fraudulent drawal and defalcation of Rs. 8.69 lakh by a clerk in the office of the SE, Design Circle, Deoghar.// Idle investment on Suru Reservoir Scheme for 10 years aggregated Rs. 2.35 crore, besides expenditure of Rs. 48.35 lakh on idle staff up to July 1998.// In Kharkai Canal Division, Rajnagar mobilization and machinery advance for Rs. 93.89 lakh was unduly paid to 6 agencies resulting in loss of Rs. 1.57 crore on account of recovered advances (Rs. 72.84 lakh) and interest (Rs. 83.82 lakh).// Executive Engineer, Design Division, Kosi Project, Birpur failed to comply with rules regarding drawal of funds from treasury, and accounting thereof and Sub-Treasury Officer, Birpur did not properly check genuineness of the relevant bills facilitating fraudulent and fake drawal of Rs. 55.96 lakh during 1991-98.

In acquisition of land for 3 major irrigation projects (Kosi, Bagmati and Subernrekha) there was extra payment of compensation for Rs. 64.11 lakh due to delay in award of land.// Avoidable liability of Rs. 48.83 lakh was incurred due to delay in payment of compensation. Lapse of acquisition in February 1991 and acquisition of the same land subsequently resulted in loss of Rs. 85.50 lakh. Compensation of Rs. 35.94 lakh for government land was paid unauthorisedly to individuals by 2 Special Land Acquisition Officers.// Excess payment of compensation by ignoring depreciated value of structures aggregated Rs. 24.38 lakh. Change in classification of land led to fraudulent excess payment of Rs. 26.21 lakh.// Compensation money of Rs. 2.52 crore was unauthorisedly diverted for other works. Rs. 1.75 crore remained blocked for nearly 6 years outside the government account causing loss of interest of Rs. 1.89 crore....

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Apart from the questions which had been listed at the beginning, three things stand out. First, every function of the State has been made a business of. Second, every one has made a business of his office. Third, the laws and regulations of the State are as nothing to even officers of the State. That is the situation in the second largest state in India, a state which is larger than any country in western Europe.

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