EDITORIAL
Justice
gap
Justice gap is an expression often
used to drive home the difference between the
number of recorded crimes and their conviction
rate. It can be best understood by the
observation of a panel in the United Kingdom:
"Data on reported rape cases... show a
continuing and unbroken increase in reporting to
the police over the past two decades but a
relatively static number of convictions, thus the
increasing justice gap." In terms of
statistics it is thus explained: in a particular
year 5 million crimes were registered but only
19.8 per cent of them resulted in being
convicted. The gap between the two of them is the
justice gap. It is a matter of record that of all
the rape cases in a year just 5.7 per cent
resulted in conviction in Britain which has the
lowest conviction rate of any big European
country for this crime. In such an instance
justice gap is equated with "moral
collapse" apart from, of course, the
inability of the dispensation to deliver the
desired results. There is a revealing facet of
justice gap in our country. The figures are
slightly old but there is little reason to
believe that the scenario has improved on any
count. Our conviction rate has declined from 64.8
per cent in 1961 to 41.8 in 2000 and 40.8 in
2001. But it does not tell the actual story. The
reality is disturbing. The majority of these
convictions relate to parking offences and other
violations for which the accused get away by
paying a prescribed fee. In heinous crimes they
are abysmally low. Murders, for example, don't
have more than 10 per cent convictions. At least
one former Union Law Minister has forcefully
employed this information to push his plea for
ushering in necessary reforms. How does one
explain that our conviction rate for terrorist
and disruptive activities is not even one-fifth
of the total recorded happenings? There is merit
in the argument that a person should be
considered innocent till he is proved guilty.
That is why many concerned observers look askance
at high conviction rates in Japan and China (more
than 98 per cent each). They feel that this can
mean that the people are not being given a fair
trial. Should that mean, however, that the wheels
of justice move slowly?
From time to time we have analysed the causes for
low conviction rate in these columns. These
include extraneous influences like pressures from
politicians, dearth of investigation offices,
corruption at various levels and an over-burdened
judicial structure. This background is precisely
what one makes sceptical about the fate of good
work done by the State Vigilance Organisation
(SVO). According to a report in this newspaper,
the SVO has got a go-ahead signal from the
Government for presenting challan in 68 cases in
courts of law. As many as 105 government
officials including 30 gazetted officers are
involved in these matters. Prosecution sanction
has gone up nearly five times last year as
compared to that given in 2003 and 2004. The
maximum number of them in one year before the
present drive against corruption was 56 in 1999.
There is no doubt that the SVO's interventions
have prevented loot worth crores of the State
exchequer. The departments directly dealing with
public like revenue, education, police, public
health engineering, rural development and health
have emerged as the biggest culprits. This is not
very surprising considering that the Transparency
International, a global anti-corruption watchdog,
has already unmasked deep-rooted corruption in an
overwhelming majority of government services
offered to the people at large in the State. One
should applaud the SVO for having tried to catch
the bull by the horns. However, what we have seen
so far is only one side of the coin. The other
side raises a relevant question: what about the
conviction rate? According to our report the
conviction rate during the last 10 years has
remained an unimpressive 12 per cent. The reasons
cited as being detrimental to reaching the
logical denouement are prolonged probes and long
trials.
If we apply the theory of justice gap, it works
out to be 88 per cent as far as the SVO is
concerned. Clearly it is distressing. It is said
that the SVO has recommended the creation of two
additional anti-corruption courts for speedy
disposal of cases. At least once in the past it
has indicated that it is under-staffed and
requires more force to accelerate inquiries.
Justice gap is, however, widely prevalent.
Responsible people have often struck a serious
note of caution that the ordinary citizens are
fast losing faith in the judiciary because of
pending matters. Justice delayed is justice
denied. One and all recognise the necessity of
making necessary corrections in the entire gamut
extending from investigations to judicial
processes. Still all of us are extremely slow in
doing the needful. We should wake up and bridge
the justice gap before it becomes broad enough to
be a graveyard of credibility of some of our
valuable institutions.
Route
of terror
Mendhar in the border district of
Poonch is once again in the news for all the
wrong reasons. During the last one week it has
witnessed three major encounters between the
security forces and the militants who in the last
round belonged to Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT). These
occurrences underline the reality that Mendhar
remains one of the most favoured infiltration
passages of agents of terror. Its undulating
mountainous terrain on the Line of Control (LoC)
comes in handy for them. A silver lining from our
viewpoint is that no more are they able to cross
it without risking their lives. This is unlike in
the late 1980s and early 1990s when they are
stated to have operated in this area with
comparative ease. Off and on in the recent past
they have managed to smuggle in arms as well
taking them as far as to Uttar Pradesh in order
to inflict death and destruction. It is necessary
to stop them at all costs. To their credit the
men in uniform have been exercising utmost
vigilance. It is possible that the supervision is
lax on the other side of the LoC and the
militants are taking advantage of it. The
militants may well also be aware that Mendhar has
been considerably if not completely de-mined in
the wake of enhanced bonhomie between New Delhi
and Islamabad making their movement relatively
free from hindrances. They may beat a retreat and
sit back in their dens after their fresh
excursions have ended in disasters. There can't
be the reason for us to relax our surveillance.
People
centric economics
By
Narendra Sharma
As the UPA
Government completes four
years of governance, the
working class is in deep
disillusionment. The
resultant discontent can
boil over in the days to
come because the Manmohan
Singh Government , it is
felt, is too deeply
committed to serve the
corporates, national and
international, in its
eagerness to achieve
higher growth rates,
unmindful of its
implications for growing
unemployment,
impoverishment and
yawning economic
disparities.
This was evident from the
deliberations at the
meeting of the Sponsoring
Committee of central
trade unions and
federations, which was
held here on January 23,
to review the
Government's response to
working class issues,
some pending since the
erstwhile NDA regime and
others that formed part
of the commitments made
in the National Minimum
Common Programme(NCMP).
The Sponsoring
Committee's review
directions cannot be
ignored or minimised
because, collectively, it
covers not only the Left
and the not-so-left trade
unions like AICCTU,
AITUC, CITU, HMS, UTUC,
UTUC-LS, TUCC but also
federations of Central as
well as state government
employees, Federations of
Departmental Undertakings
and Federations of Public
Sector Employees covering
extensively every
economic sector.
The INTUC, too, was
invited to the meeting,
but understandably, it
avoided it. The
Sponsoring Committee,
however, avoided the BMS
in view of its communal
propensities, to fight
which the committee's
participants had
supported the UPA
Government. However, the
Sponsoring Committee has
to have a fuller review
of the UPA Government's
performance later this
month. It is also
expected to chalk out the
future course of action
including a nationwide
strike and so on.
Despite the
disillusionment, the
Sponsoring Committee
sources rightly claim
that their struggles
during the UPA regime
were able to extract
important gains for the
working class while also
keeping the labour
movement relatively
uninvolved with divisive
forces. One such gain was
forcing the Government to
set up the Sixth Pay
Commission, which is
expected to submit its
report in March this
year. The Central
Employees Joint Action
Committee had to call for
a general strike before
the Government could
agree to appoint the Pay
Commission and not compel
the employees to remain
satisfied with the merger
of DA with the basic pay.
The constituents of the
Sponsoring Committee had
fully supported the
Central employees' demand
for another Pay
Commission. They would
like to wait for the Pay
Commission report and the
Government's response. A
recent observation by
Planning Commission
Deputy Chairman Montek
Singh Ahluwalia has
served as a warning: he
said there was no need to
raise the wages of
Government employees
since the indexed
dearness allowance has
continued to raise their
salaries, neutralising
the rise in consumer
price index. In this
context, Central
Employees federations
would wait for the Pay
Commission report before
responding to such
extraneous observations
or chalking out their
course of action.
Yet another achievement
was the passage, in
Parliament, of the
National Rural Employment
Guarantee Act after the
Government accepted some
important amendments on
legislative assurance to
provide jobs to at least
30 per cent women labour
and arrange facilities
for working women at the
work site. More
importantly, the
Government has been made
to accept the demand that
the NREGA be implemented
forthwith throughout the
country, which will be
done from April 1, 2008
and not in five years
from February 2, 2006 as
originally conceived.
The policy-makers'
generous approach towards
the private, national and
foreign corporates and
niggardly attitude
towards urban and rural
working people(seen in
the tardy implementation
of NREGA and corruption
in other welfare schemes)
can be seen to have
increased in four years.
This is the reality and
has nothing to do with
the Left criticism. The
stark reality has been
brought out by the
National Commission on
Enterprises in the
Unorganised Sector(NCEUS)
where it draws the
attention of all
concerned that the total
number of poor people in
India "having a
daily per capita
consumption of less than
Rs 20 in 2004-05 is 836
million, constituting
around 73 per cent of our
population."
Economic reforms,
corporatisation of
economy including
agriculture, complete
silence on land reforms,
permission to corporates,
national and foreign
retail trade, with
increasing prices of
essential commodities has
only worsened this
situation outlined by the
NCEUS.
As for the organised
labour, an ILO report has
shown that between
1990-2002, labour
productivity in India had
gone up by 84 per cent
but real wages in the
manufacturing sector
declined by 22 per cent.
Growth of Indian
billionaires by dozens in
recent years on the one
side, and growing
unemployment and
impoverishment, on the
other, point to
unprecedented growth in
disparities to which our
policy-makers close their
eyes by callously
pointing only to GDP
growth rates which are
not ipso facto
accompanied by growth in
jobs.
In this backdrop, the
Sponsoring Committee has
to decide what course to
adopt to ensure that the
UPA Government takes
positive steps on
workers' outstanding
issues. These, for
instance, are enforcement
of labour laws, growth
with employment
generation and not by
reducing it as is
happening in public and
private sectors, and
disinvestment of public
sector enterprises
including entry of the
private sector in Defence
Production units under
the euphemistic
nomenclature of
"Raksha Udyog
Ratnas", restoring
the previous practice of
making public sector wage
agreements valid for five
years and stoppage of
imposition of the 10-year
term, halt to reckless
expansion of SEZs, no
further dithering on the
Social Security Bill, no
playing with pension
funds , no EPF investment
in the Special Deposit
Scheme and, last but not
the least, land reforms
and higher allocation for
agriculture.
Only people-centric
economic policies can
inspire the people to
work for national
regeneration and face
globalisation challenges.
In an election year,
Governments go for
face-saving devices to
hoodwink the people. The
trade unions and
federations gathered in
the Sponsoring Committee
certainly will have a
difficult task ahead. One
has to wait and watch to
see what course of action
they choose to adopt.
(IPA Service)
|
|
|
Develop Zero
tolerance of terror
By Arun
Nehru
The UP Chief
Minister and the STF must be
complemented on the arrest of six
Lashker -e- Taiba who were
responsible for the death and
destruction on the CRPF camp in
Rampur and the attack on IIS
Bangalore and a sizeable quantity
of arms ,ammunition and AK 47
guns were seized from these
criminals. Detailed interrogation
reveals they were all 'sleeper'
units and received instructions
and training from the ISI units
in Pakistan and I wonder how long
the Center Government can afford
to 'sleep' on these terrorist
sleeper units and allow the free
flow of immigrants from
Bangladesh through Assam.
Demographic patterns in several
districts in Bihar, West Bengal
and Assam have changed and we
have millions of illegal
immigrants from Bangladesh [they
deny their existence and will
refuse to take them back] and
whilst it is true that 99% of the
illegal immigrants cross the
border for economic reasons, the
reality is that this route is
being used by the ISI to slip in
terrorists and create 'sleeper'
units. Zero tolerance of terror
in Gujarat and now in UP will
result in 'positives' as action
is taken against criminals and
those who give them sanctuary.
Few if any will complain of harsh
steps taken to curb these
criminal acts and it is tragic
that a soft approach is being
adopted for vote bank
considerations and minority
appeasement. A criminal is a
criminal and a terrorist kills
without any consideration for
religion, caste and it makes
logical sense that most of the
'terrorists' from Pakistan and
Afghanistan will be from the
minority community and I cannot
see what relation this has with
the minority community in India
[they suffer like any other
Indian] . CM UP Mayawati has
raised security issues and it
would be foolish for the Center
to quote rules and procedures and
those who fight the forces of
terror need the best protection
and this should be given if
necessary at the expense of those
who get security [ornamental]
because they are close to those
in power.
UP with 80 seats will have a very
deep impact on the next Lok Sabha
election and a hard nosed
approach to terror and action
taken in the field will determine
public opinion and as things
stand the BSP will gain whilst
the SP is clearly on the
defensive and the Congress will
also suffer unless it takes a
hard approach to these criminal
acts.
PM Manmohan Singh is from Assam
[Rajya Sabha] and it is no secret
that he has no political
authority but can it be possible
that he is unaware of the
situation in the state?
The Home Minister is under
constant attack and this is
unfortunate as Shivraj Patil is
well informed and competent but
does he have the authority to act
on political issues and do the
PM/HM have the authority to have
the best available talent within
the party to be in Ministerial
positions in the Home Ministry.
We have complex issues of
internal security
and we face a war like situation
in several states due to growing
Naxalite violence and we have
terror threats on both sides of
the border and in the Home
Ministry we need the best talent
available and do we have these at
the moment? There is talk of a
Cabinet reshuffle and there is
talk of the 'youth' and I think
it is time for talented young men
with initiative and energy to be
inducted into key positions
within the Home Ministry. The
action has to be taken in the
States but co ordination and
sharing of intelligence are
critical in handling a situation
with some success. Security may
well be the 'key' issue for the
2009 Lok Sabha elections and the
public mood can get very ugly if
there are any further incidents
from 'sleeper units'.
The ruling UPA being the
Government of the day will no
doubt attract a great deal of
criticism but the NDA with Atal
ji as PM and LK Advani as Home
Minister did very little during
their tenure in governance to
curb the inflow of illegal
migrants from Bangladesh and the
flow of terrorists into India and
the formation of 'sleeper'units.
We can complement CM's Narender
Mody in Gujarat and Mayawati in
UP and Central security forces
for taking effective action in
dealing with the situation in
Delhi but the 'source' of the
ailment lies in effective action
by the Center and the political
will to deal with the situation
with both Pakistan and Bangladesh
on our borders and this has been
lacking in both the UPA/NDA over
the past decade. We have the
intelligence, we know the
location of the terrorist camps,
we have the 'tools' to deal with
the situation but we lack the
'will' to act in a decisive
manner. Security agencies and
Police in several states have
conducted 'raids' and unearthed
huge quantities of arms,
ammunition , bombs and explosives
and what has happened to all the
'intelligence' gathered during
these raids and has action been
initiated against those who were
involved in these criminal acts?
We have a economic meltdown in
the global stock markets and I am
quite amused to see all the
economic experts giving their
views with the benefit of
hindsight on the situation in
India [greed and excesses]. The
reality of the situation is that
in a global economy we cannot be
immune to the slow growth in the
USA which constitutes 1/3 rd of
the global consumption and to
ensure that our GDP will grow at
8% plus we will have to deal with
several challenges during the
year and many of these should be
directed in 'reforms' and 'timely
changes' which give our business
efforts a competitive edge to
deal with global trends.
The pressure of 8% plus growth in
GDP is evident as
'infrastructure' projects do not
keep pace with the efforts of the
private sector and we cannot take
success for granted.
|
|
BJP-need
to redefine strategy
By Sunita Vakil
It is not difficult to conclude that the
recent meeting of the BJP's National
executive has ended in a whimper, without
making any substantial headway. Though a
myriad of issues were raised but the
entire exercise proved to be futile as
both the Prime Minister is waiting as
well as the party chief failed to put
forward any clear cut prescription for
reversing the electoral fortunes of the
party. If the meeting was meant to
showcase the party as a serious contender
of power amidst speculations of the
approaching elections it certainly did
not send the required message down the
line. Needless to say, the exercise only
served to make a replay of the earlier
resolutions with everyone taking refuge
in high sounding words in praise of the
Gujarat Chief Minister Mr. Narendra Modi.
The outcome of the session was as vague
as the rampant confusion riling the party
cadres.
Though the National Council meeting
failed to break any fresh ground, the
message emanating was loud and clear that
even after about four years of political
hiatus, the party has not yet learnt to
put its house in order. The inability of
its leaders to remove the ideological
confusion that has come to grip the party
in the past few years together with their
refusal to look hard facts in the eye
have eventually proved counter
productive. They have failed to see the
writing on the wall and make corrections
accordingly. The fallout of this
procrastination is there for all to see
as the party has been staggering from one
crisis to the other.
Indeed, after the NDA lost power in 2004
in the wake of general elections, it
could not come to terms with its shocking
defeat. Then later, the party suffered
further demoralisation at the hands of
BJP in Uttar Pradesh. Since then, it has
been on the lookout for alternative
strategies to turn around its fortunes.
It was for this purpose only that the
party opted for the old Hindutva warhorse
in order to go back to its basics under
the illusion that miracle may happen a
second time also. The party has only
itself to blame as it has not really made
any effort to mobilise political opinion
against the ruling UPA's shortcomings.
Instead, its leaders busied themselves
with raking up emotive issues that did
not find much resonance among the people.
Stuck in the rhetoric of its bygone days
the "party with a difference"
does not seem to have moved beyond
raising the religions bogey for its
return to power. This was apparent from
the executive meet where the party
members were not averse in the least to
reassert their hard-core Hindutva
moorings. The BJP president Mr Rajnath
Singh speaking of minority appeasement,
compulsory singing of Vande Matram and
UPA's soft on terror policy are cases in
point. They all raved ranted about the
growing terrorist acts conveniently
forgetting that the most dreaded among
them like the attacks on Akshardam
Temple, Parliament, Red Ford and
Reghunath Temple took place during the
NDA regime.The BJP has to understand that
condemnation of congress and its allies
may not win them votes. The party's Prime
Ministerial candidate may well be within
his rights to slam the UPA Govt for
giving unofficial clemency to parliament
attack convict, Afzal Guru. But even
those who have forgotten now may refresh
their memory that it was the then
External Affairs Minister of the NDA who
personally escorted hard-core terrorists
to Kandahar to secure the release of
hostages. It may also be recalled that Mr
Advani was the man at the time who was at
the helm of affairs as Deputy PM as well
as Home Minister.
Though the saffron party cries hoarse
about UPA's pandering to Muslims, it is
really to buttress its own Hindutva
agenda for consolidation of the Hindu
votebank. It is rather sad that the party
has nothing up its sleeve but falling
back on minority appeasement, decrying
dynastic politics and calling for the
death of a terrorist to shore up its
prospects in the coming polls. The
executive conclave also set the tone for
capitalising on the Ram Sethu Controversy
by dredging up the Hindu sentiments. All
these may be worthy issues to beat the
UPA with but is the BJP seriously
thinking of making these issues their
main electoral platform? Won't it be akin
to suggesting that the first
nationalistic party of India has
completely run out of ideas? What about
the core concerns of the common masses?
Unfortunately, rather than focusing on
the lapses in governance of the ruling
party, its leaders seem to be lost in
their own maze of self indulgent rantings
as an alibi for confronting the
government.
There is also the problem of factionalism
and infighting within the party that
keeps on showing every now and then. The
BJP seems to be the in the throes of a
severe internal crisis with its leaders
talking indifferent voices. This was also
evident during the recent meeting which
saw verbal fisticuffs between Rajnath
Singh , the BJP Chief and Vinay Katiyar,
former Bajrang Dal Chief. It is
therefore, not surprising that beneath
the veneer of unity, groupism rules the
roost. Every leader worth his salt is
more driven by personal ambitions in a
party choc a bloc with Prime Ministerial
hopefuls. The party's high profile
leaders are forever seen settling scores
while potential rivals are downsized in
the game of one upmanship. The bottomline
is that with no clear focus on the
electoral strategy, each leader has
become a prisoner of his individual
aspirations.
The BJP's recent decision to provide for
33 percent reservation for women in
organisational posts is also being seen
as an electoral gimmick to score browny
points over its political opponents. Had
it been sincere it should have directed
its exertions towards women empowerment
during its tenure at the centre.
Having said that, one could not miss the
upbeat mood in the BJP during the
National Executive Meeting. The optimism
of the party supremo that it stands a
good chance of winning the polls in many
states in 2008 and may be even
parliamentary elections in 2009 is not
entirely misplaced. As things stand, the
party has come a long way from the last
rout in Uttar Pradesh to the two
successive electoral triumphs in Gujarat
and Himachal Pradesh. Moreover, with Mr
Advani firmly in the saddle, the
leadership issue is as good as settled .
Also with AIADMK all set to partner the
NDA, the party seems to be set to return
to its falcon days. However, all this
does not necessarily mean that the party
is on a comeback trail. The party stands
irreversibly weakened since 2002. When as
many as nine constituents have deserted
NDA. This development is bound to impact
upon its electoral fortunes in the next
Lok Sabha elections.It remains to be seen
whether Mr. Advani's declarations of
ending the "days of weak leadership
at the top" will go down well with
the voters or not. However, for that to
happen an attempt has to be made to chalk
a new course based on an ideology with a
new vision rather than hark back on old
issues. The sooner the party cadre
realises this, the better it would be for
its future.
|
|
