Jan Lokpal: confusing people in the name of debate

We have seen columns after columns telling us why Jan Lokpal Bill is no good, and that making  another legislation will do no good to the country. We, many journalists, know that many of these columns have been prompted by politicians and their spin machinery and also by journos eager to please the powers that be. 

Who, by the way, said that Jan Lokpal Bill / Act will overnight remove  corruption from the country? Who said that this Act will finish corruption 100%? Who said that the only problem this country is facing is corruption? 

Anna Hazare and his team have been saying this:

• That the pubic representatives are chosen by the public, they are our trustees, and they have no right to loot the country.
• That if a strong Lokpal Act is in place, it will act as a great disincentive to corruption and will reduce the tendency to indulge in corruption.  It will also embolden people to demand services without paying bribe.
• That if a strong Lokpal Act is in place, it will reduce corruption, especially corruption by the mighty, by about 60-65%.
• That there are many more issues that the country faces, including looting in the name of land acquisition, people’s right to recall elected representatives, judicial reforms, and so on. Anna has chosen one issue that has become very important not only because of its direct impact on the common man, but also because one after the other many politicians and bureaucrats have been found to have robbed the nation of billions of rupees. Not only that, the governmental machinery has been trying hard to shelter them. It is only because of pressure from the higher judiciary and civil society that the government is acting against some of them – even then half-heartedly.

Because of the reputation of some of our senior journalist and columnist colleagues, I feel that they too have an axe to grind in confusing people about Jan Lokpal. If a momentum has been generated to rid the society of one of its major malaise, questioning premises that are not the basis of Jan Lokpal is to obfuscate the matter, and NOT to have a balanced debate as these biased johnies claim.

India wins, democracy wins!

India wins second freedom- 
freedom from corruption
freedom from apathy

It is a great day for India, despite the cynicism that one Lokpal bill is not a panacea for the country's ills.
A lot has been said and is being said about why the day is so important, how parliament had to heed people's will, why the Jan Lokpal is faulty, and so on. Media has been blamed for going overboard; the Anna fight is being dubbed as hurtful to minority and dalit interests; legal and political luminaries are afraid that the trend set by Anna has set wrong precedents.
Social media played a big role, whether the traditionalists like it or not. We, the tech-initiated Indians, flooded social media platforms, especially Facebook and Twitter. I too tried to be active in small bursts, and made my little contribution, and I am proud of that.
In this unusual buzz, whatever I say will be a repetition. Today is not the time to analyse corruption or Lokpal seriously. Today is the day to live and watch Anna break his fast. In 40 minutes from now, he breaks his fast after shaking India, the young India, of its slumber.
Hail the new spirit of democracy, hail the new momentum for good governance!

Lokpal Bill, Jan Lokpal Bill and the two together

Anna with supporters burning the bill

The Lokpal Bill has finally been introduced in the Lok Sabha - the lower house of Indian parliament. Meant to put accountability on Ministers and public servants, and to take action against the corrupt, this bill is the outcome of enormous pressure put on the executive by social activist Anna Hazare.

The authority that is to be created for the purpose of taking action against the corrupt is called Lokpal [lit= people's protector].

I give here the link to the full text of the bill the way it has been introduced in parliament here:
Lokpal bill.

This is the link to the Jan Lokpal bill, the draft prepared by Anna Hazare's team: Jan Lokpal bill
This is the link to the pamphlet circulated by Anna's team to educate people about the shortcomings in the official draft, which is dubbed as 'joke pal' by the activists.Pamphlet on Jan Lokpal vs Official Lokpal
They burned copies of the official draft after it was introduced in the Lok Sabha yesterday.

Just to complete the story, Anna Hazare has threatened to hold fast and satyagraha [=protest] in Delhi on August 16 against dilution of terms of reference of the Lokpal bill by the government in the official draft.
[Since these linked files are hosted on a free server and are big files, do save them instead of opening in the browser itself.] 

My earlier posts on the Lokpal:
Baba Ramdev and Anna
Anna being pitched against Ambedkar
Anna's fast: what next

Baba Ramdev's fast and a third-rate government

Baba Ramdev

For now, Baba Ramdev has been quashed.

But this shows terminal weakness in the government, not in Baba Ramdev. Of late, Baba had acquired a cult figure and unfortunately he was conscious of it. Had he been more sober and not play into the government's hands, his movement would not have ended this way. His and his advisers' inexperience in handling a cunning government resulted in his 'deal' being 'exposed' by a government waiting for any such opportunity, and he became defensive. Then the government machinery struck.

Thanks to Baba's appeal for calm and no use of violence, the Delhi Police were emboldened to carry out the task assigned to them, when people were half asleep. This is no great show of government's strength; it shows government's insecurity.

If the government had been (i) committed to uprooting corruption, (ii)showing its intention to resolving conflict borne out of civil society activism and public anger, and (iii) firm, it would have acted much before Baba took the fast. Insted of rushing very senior ministers to airport to talk to Baba, it should have engaged Baba much earlier. Administratively, it should have not allowed Baba Ramdev to hold yaga shivir in Ramlila Ground or for that matter anywhere in Delhi. It [basically Congress only] first bent forward, then backwards and then prostrated and then exploded: figuratively it was what Nalini did to Rajiv Gandhi, no?

I wrote earler, I am not a Ramdev disciple. I am against government's conduct and its slimy ways. Most of our leaders are corrupt to the core. They make laws and they lead the nation. They are protected while innocents die from malnutrition, terrorism, etc. They are responsible for the poverty, caste divide, naxalism, land issues, poor infrastructure.... all our woes. Then they treat the public anger with utmost contempt. In case of Congress, it has contempt for its allies and opposition too. They need to be taught a lesson - the sooner the better.

My earlier take on government's plans on Baba Ramdev's agitation.
All my corruption related posts.

Lokpal, Baba Ramdev, Anna Hazare and the government

The following developments have taken place in the last few days:

• PM says, Lokpal Bill will be placed in Parliament before the deadline of June 30.
• Governement develops cold feet on including PM, judiciary, even MPs uner the purview of Lokpal. Hazare’s team in the drafting committee shows unhappiness.
• Government is seeking views of political parties and states on the proposed Lokpal Bill.
• Baba Ramdev wonders how PM and judiciary can be included in the Bill.
• Govrnment has set up two committees to assess money stacked by Indians in foreign banks and find ways to tackle black money.



Government's game: Anna Hazare vs Baba Ramdev

• Baba Ramdev sticks to his fast threat.

What does a common man make out of it all? Prima facie, the government is not serious about tackling corruption in a big way, perhaps apprehending political problems. It also does not want to take on higher judiciary as it is fighting many sensitive cases in the Supreme Court. It does not want to annoy politicians in general as it will be the pliable MPs from any party who may come to its rescue when it is in trouble. So, it is playing politics with the two prominent camps – under Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev.

Baba Ramdev seems to be a man with a mission to clean India of its ailments – biological as well as social-political. But he is impetuous, he is easy to play into the hands of state players, he is one-man institution without an internal system for deliberating on issues, and he speaks too much before TV cameras. If you play into others’ hands, you tend to lose your purity of purpose and purity of action. You have already fallen prey to others’ machinations before you realize your mistakes. Baba does not know this, and nobody is in a position to tell it to Baba.

The government fears Baba Ramdev more than Anna, and has opened many channels of diplomacy on him, because of his huge fan-following. But if Baba does not reform his ways, he will be weakening the momentum created by Anna’s fast against corruption, and his own mission to reform the society and politics will fritter away. This is what the government wants and all corrupt bigwigs want.

The top agenda of Hazare camp right now should be to make Baba Ramdev see the game behind the government opportunistically agreeing to his demands and propping him up. Ironically, right now this assumes more significance than the fight against corruption.

Earlier, we carried a post exposing how Ambedkar was used to weaken Hazare's movement.

Anna being pitched against Ambedkar: cunning plot!

As we have alreday stated on this India News Today post, there would be different views on the way Lokpal Bill has to be drafted and many more views on how corruption can be tackled. Anna's close colleagues also do not seem unanimous on all counts. A number of newspapers have been critical of the draft of Jan Lokpal Bill as proposed by the activists. Different shades of opinion are what make a democracy vibrant.

Do you think, the spirit and tools adopted by Anna are against the constitution? The government nominees in the drafting committee would let Anna or his people - legal luminaries included - do something that is against the constitution?

However, to hold a rally against the proposed Lokpal Bill in the name of constitution is not resistance but a ploy to derail the process of weeding out corruption in public life. Who other than those with vested interst in corruption would do this? Such elements seem to have found a helping hand from anti-Anna Maharashtrian lobbies. They feel, by invoking Ambedkar they would also confuse and thus sway dalits too to their side.

It is said that patriotism is the last refuse of scoundrels. The proposed rally seems to be last refuse of the scoundrels in the garb of protectors of the constitution.

Anna Hazare's fast, what next India?

Anna's fast, people joining him in hordes, government losing its resistance to drafting an effective anti-corruption law - these augur well for our democracy. By showing a non-violent, Gandhian, way to achieve people-centric goals, it has strengthened the voice of democracy anywhere in the world.

What next, and what we didn't achieve?

The first and foremost, the cause for which Anna undertook the fast is a very narrow one: drafting and implementing a law to book the mighty. As Anna himself said, only framing a law won't do: India is supposed to have the largest number of laws but when it comes to implementation, we fail miserably. So, we - and Anna's group - must realise that though it is a great victory for the people of India, this should be taken as the stepping stone in the fight against corruption, not the last stone. Taking from the victory, Anna's group must make a roadmap not only for passage of the Jan Lokpal Act, but ending corruption in daily life of Indians.

Two. Corruption won't end by laws and also by sundry movements. It will need systemic cleansing the system. Ironically, Hindustan Times carried the story of a babu taking bribe of Rs 10000 next to the report on Anna's fast three days back. The rhetoric in TV channels that all 120 crore Indians have joined hands to finish corruption does not wash because at least one-tenth of us are beneficiaries of corruption and all of us have become too meek to challenge it. We need to mobilise people to an extent when they are ready to suffer but not indulge in corruption.
The present movement, like many others seen in recent times, is also narrow in its support: it is supported more by middle income group people, socialites, public personalities and the media. They create hype by holding candle marches, giving juicy bites to the media, doing token fasts, tweeting. Television channels add fuel to the fire by going over-board. This is all good, but unsustainable unless people from all walks of life join them. There is an urgent need to take this movement to the common man - the lower middle income group urbanites, students in government schools, urban labour force and factory workers, panchayats, villages, self-employed small traders, migrant labour... Participation should not be limited to drum beating and gathering in large numbers, participation should be in action. People need to be blacklisting local known corrupt politicians, judges and babus, they need to raise voices when a man demands bribe, they must come to support those victimised by the high and mighty. Once people start taking action [not taking law in their hands, and how to keep the fine distinction would definitely be difficult.] against corruption, the movement will have succeeded and corruption will eventually die down.

Three, the composition of the committee to draft the bill. Baba Ramdev has rightly questioned the inclusion of Shanti Bhushan and Prashant Bhushan in the committee while ignoring other well-known anti-corruption crusaders. However grand their achievements may be [India News Today earlier supported their cause], it is not proper to include the father-son duo in the small committee. This also shows that people join such movements often with their own interests in mind. Why didn't it occur to anybody in the group, more so the two Bhushans, that it was not proper to include both their names in the committee? If Anna loses sight of such boarders in his bandwagon, and does not act extremely righteously, he will fast lose people's support after the current euphoria. If cynicism sets in, the war against corruption will be lost, more devastatingly. On the government side, interesting that they did not find a name from the UPA coalition other than the Congress ministers.
Another risk is there, that is of the Hazare group getting divided on various issues and falling apart. There will be forces active to create fissures in the group, including the Intelligence Bureau and corrupt politicians, corrupt corporate bigwigs and criminals. Let's face the human frailty: some of them will be offered padma awards and plum posts to wean them away, those who do not get publicity will sulk, ego problems among the socialites and NGO bosses might come to surface. So, as said above, Anna will need to be careful that from the beginning, all decisions are taken in the most transparent manner and taking public into confidence, so that some of the present big supporters do not harm the movement for their selfish reasons, for fear of facing public wrath.

Anna Hazare shakes government, finally

India News today salutes 

Anna

Social activist Anna Hazare is on fast-unto-death to force the government to form a joint committee comprising fifty per cent officials and the remaining citizens and intellectuals, to draft the Jan Lokpal Bill. This bill is a strong version of the Lokpal Bill (Ombudsman Bill), 2010 submitted by the government and takes into account the views and suggestions taken from civil society and common people. Hazare and many others feel that the Lokpal Bill, in its present form, is toothless. 

Hazare’s fight is against the government’s mindset, as much as it is against corruption.

The Congress party is behaving the way it behaves whenever it is faced with embarrassment: field its public faces, most of them lawyers, to give specious arguments instead of taking a corrective step. Remember the arguments they proffered to avoid JPC on 2G, while allowing the parliament to not function? Moily now says, government is open to all discussions… the bill will be discussed in parliamentary standing committee…Manish Tiwari says, PM has already constituted a committee [suggesting that till the committee gives its report, agitating against graft is premature]... PMO said, Anna’s action caused them deep disappointment… Hazare is insisting that only his draft should be accepted, without dialogue... PM, himself, is mum as is expected of him. 

When the Congress stooped again and launched a smear campaign against Hazare’s fast, the septuagenarian leader could not resist writing to PM, slamming the reaction of his government and Congress to his fast and urging him to show courage to take necessary steps to fight corruption. As of dialogue, Anna says, “When did we say no to dialogue. Dialogue should take place with those who have power to take decisions, whether (Congress chief) Sonia Gandhi or Prime Minister.” 

Now that people have found a torch-bearer, they are supporting him in hordes. Political parties too are supporting him, with the intention to prove clean. A person of highly suspect integrity, OP Chautala, during whose rule in Haryana it was said that he takes bribe even from his own father, too showed the guts to visit Anna! Good that he was shooed away by Anna’s supporters.

Feeling the heat, the government too has started making slightly saner noises. Kapil Sibal, after meeting Hazare supporters - Swami Agnivesh and Arvind Kejriwal - said today that the government was one with the agitators and would work with them and have further dialogue with them. 

India News Today, in its small way, has been raising its voice against corruption through its posts. Since blogging demands a lot of time, especially when you try to write sensibly, we have not been very active and so not very popular. Yet, with about 400 visits a month, we perhaps have been able to share our views with at least some people. We strongly support Anna.

Rs 2300 crore public money for closing eye to corruption?

It’s difficult to find a sound reason in the government raising the MPLAD funds from Rs. 2 crore to Rs. 5 crore. As is reported in the press, the government chose to ignore the objections / negative comments from Planning Commission, CAG and NAC.

Though legally valid and theoretically sound, this scheme of MP Local Area Development fund is said to have become another fountainhead of corruption. Ironically, this act of the government, itself stung by corruption charges, is appeasement of parliamentarians. One is tempted to feel that it is being done so that vocal votaries of MPLAD scheme, some of whom happen to raise banner against government in corruption cases, do not raise too much noise.

If media reports are to be believed, MPLAD funds have sometimes been diverted to non-allowed purposes, even for clubs and schools run by relatives. There are reports even of some to be taking their ‘cut’ from the contracts given out of their funds.

Recently the Bihar government has decided to do away with MLA fund because of poor utilization of funds and its misuse. The centre should have taken a leaf out of this sensible move, but chose to pamper MPs with over Rs 2300 crore of public money.

Why does Manmohan Singh gets so pissed off with judicial activism?

Why does this guy look green these days?

We saw a high level of judicial activism a decade back when the administration was falling apart. This time again, as more and more scams have come to surface. The first time this Prime Minister was voted to power, there was a greater sense of administration and the top judiciary took some break. 


It is ironical that the same Prime Minister is sitting over a mound of huge scams, inaction and overt or covert connivance with wrong-doers. Many of his cabinet colleagues have either been charged with frauds, or are known to have amassed enormous wealth but there is no visible proof of their wrong-doings or are known to have been taking decisions influenced by personal considerations or have crime record or are even mafia kingpins. The persons in high places of authority, such as the CVC, Prasar Bharati CEO, some PSU chairmen, even the President - are known to have dubious past. Worse, the Prime Minister feigns ignorance of all the rot going on under his nose, in the departments directly supervised by him, in the committees chaired by him...


What can be more ironical than that this very Prime Minister tells the judiciary to not interfere in administration. As recently as last month he said while addressing an international conference: “While the power of judicial review must be used to enforce accountability, it must never be used to erode the legitimate role assigned to the other branches of the government." Remember, how steadfastly the government had been defending CVC Thomas and its lawyers even making observations against the powers of the Supreme Court? When the Supreme Court chided the government over massive foodgrain rotting in FCI granaries six months back, Manmohan Singh had asked the court to be within its limits while defending his food minister.  “The Supreme Court should not get into the realm of policy formulation,” Singh had said.


It is high time, Supreme Court judges stop respecting the post of the Prime Minister and show Manmohan Singh his place. If he cannot keep his house in order, he has no right to be in the saddle. BJP leader Advani said it rightly yesterday that Manmohan and Sonia should thank their stars that there is no VP Singh today. 

Let Shourie bare it all!

Arun Shourie on India News

Shourie seems to be passing through ashwathama hatah (अश्वथामा हत:) movement in his life. Remember the episode in Mahabharata, when Yudhishtira had to tell a truth couched in a way that would hurt Dronacharya, his master on the enemy side. He had to suffer for the adulteration he made to the truth, but it achieved a public good.

Let Shourie tell everything about the norms created during his times [and are being used as defence by Raja to justify his own misdeeds]. It is difficult to doubt personal integrity of Shourie. He was executive editor of Indian Express and took the paper to its peak in terms of journalism with his relentless exposes of corruption at high levels.

If Shourie can establish why his actions, when he was Telecom Minister under Atal Bihari Vajpayee, were in good spirit, were necessary at that time of evolution of telecom industry, and did not unduly benefit some people or business interests, it will help in focusing the investigations where the focus should be.

Whatever wrong was done, if it was indeed done, during Shourie’s time does not absolve Raja and the present UPA government, but the truth needs to be known. To that extent, Shourie’s deposition before CBI should not only clean him of the muck Raja has thrown on him, it should establish the personal culpability of Raja. Shourie should tell much more than he is asked to do by CBI. He should bare all he knows and thinks about the 2G policies and their implementation over the years.

Awake, governments, or your fall is near!

A poll by Times of India suggests that people are getting fed up with governments, both at the central and in states.  ‘Inflation is beginning to hurt seriously, corruption is at an all-time high and the government is not doing enough to tackle either problem,’ is how Times of India sums it up.

The 8-city survey, though urban-centric, reveals people’s digust with government only doing lip service when it comes to prices of items of daily use.  Similarly, it displays the ‘enogh is enough’ mood of the people regarding scams tumbling out of government stallion.

Not only have people shown displeasure at constantly high inflation, they have said, they have indeed reduced consumption of some items, put off purchases or reduced savings. Six out of seven have blamed either the central or the state governments or both for this. Nearly two-thirds say, government has not done all it could.

On corruption, 83% say, it is at an all-time high. Three-fifths of respondents blame politicians for wide-spread corruption and over one-third believe that the government is not serious about the problem.  Almost everybody maintains that corruption scandals have tarnished the government's image.

• 97% say price rise has impacted family budget
• 86% blame Centre and state governments for inflation
• 62% say government hasn't done all it can to curb prices
• 83% say corruption at all-time high
• 60% feel politicians main culprits
• 64% say government not serious about tackling graft
• 96% say central government's image damaged by spate of scams

courtesy: Times of India

The specturm saga goes where it belongs: the skies

After two days of hot media and political debate whether the spectrum deal of ISRO/ Antrix with Devas is bigger than the 2G scam, Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, Secretary, Department of Space, held a press conference 'to clear the air', as the PIB officer told the reporters.

In the press conference [live at PIB site], the Secretary sought to claim that nothing wrong has been done, though he agreed that the fact of S band spectrum being offered to one company, that too without competitive bidding, was not explicitly told to the cabinet. He also said, the process of termination of the agreement with Devas is on, and it is taking time as the terms of cancellation are very 'complex'. To recall the case, it is said that ISRO/ Antrix gave away highly prized spectrum to Devas in the form of long lease, and it has caused about Rs 200,000 crore loss to the government. Fingers were also raised at the PM as he heads the Space Department.

Yesterday, the PMO issued a clarification saying: 'This office has seen reports alleging loss of Government revenue in a contract entered into by ANTRIX and Devas Multimedia Pvt. Ltd. due to lease of space segment capacity which would use S Band Spectrum. The Comptroller and Auditor General’s office and the Department of Space have already issued statements stating the factual position on the matter. It is further clarified that no decision has been taken by the Government to allocate space segment using S-Band Spectrum to ANTRIX or Devas. Hence, the question of revenue loss does not arise and any such reports are without basis in fact.' 

We'll come to know more bits of the reality in a few days, and possibly the full picture months later. For now, despite BJP and Times Now raise the pitch, things are not too clear to conclusively call it a scam. But the thing called spectrum is becoming too hot to handle for this government.

20 die in illegal unit fire, but who cares?

So far, 20 people have died of burns out of boiler blast at an illegal garment unit in Delhi fortnight back.  The survivors and  families of those killed have no money to take care of medical and family expenses. Eleven people with over 60 percent burn are getting treatment in government hospitals.

Media and city's social activists are playing their usual game: they are conspicuous by their absence. Had the same thing happened in a posh colony and affected rich people, they would have raised hell. Police, as expected, are downplaying the incident. Most of the victims are poor workers from UP.

The illegal factory at Tughlaqabad Extension ran there for ages, in collusion with police and city administration and in recent times it had expanded into an export unit. A chemical leak on January 25 when about 36 people were working in the factory lead to blast in a boiler used for dyeing garments. A fire tender was called, and it did come in time and doused the resultant fire. It found many victims unconscious when the rescuers reached them. However, the police say, it was a simple fire.

Only exposes the rampant corruption in city administrations and police, and society's indifference to the calamities affecting the poor.

PJ Thomas case: how IAS and politicians knit arguments to protect themselves

CVC Thomas case shows how IAS and politicians knit arguments to protect themselves. One after the other, they have not only shielded the tainted bureaucrat, they put him on top of the anti-corruption machinery of the country. Isn't it ironical that he supervises the very agency, CBI, that is entrusted with inquiring into his role in 2G spectrum scam?

This time, they have excelled themselves. Arguing before the Supreme Court, the Government first challenged the very authority of the highest court of the country to look into suitability of Thomas for the CVC post. It gave him also the certificate of being 'outstanding civil servant of impeccable integrity'. They didn't have shame also in lying that the selection committee was not aware of Thomas's full bio-data.

Just look at some of the way the Central and Kerala Governments have been making light of the palmolein scam and choosing not to take action against him, and how the Central Government of today has been defending him before the Supreme Court:

• As per the chargesheet filed by the Kerala Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau against PJ Thomas, he was secretary for food and civil supplies department during 1991-92 when he ‘entered into a criminal conspiracy’ for importing palmolein directly to Kerala. The government of India, the policy making authority for imports, had no such policy at that time. The imports are supposed to have favoured a business concern and caused a loss of Rs 2.32 crore to the exchequer.
• In December 1999, Kerala government sent a proposal to the Central Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT), seeking sanction for Thomas’s prosecution under Section 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
• DoPT consulted the Central Vigilance Commission.
• In May 2001, CVC advised DoPT to seek an 'opinion' from the Department of Legal Affairs.
• The Legal Department took three years and in December 2004 said that it could not give advice as there was no investigation report or evidence on the state government’s request on Thomas.
• In January 2005, the Kerala government wrote to DoPT withdrawing the request for sanction for prosecution. The state said, it ‘had been re-examining the case in the meantime’ and found that ‘there was no base for the allegation’ and ‘no irregularity’. It also said, ‘at best procedural deviations alone could be cited against them (Thomas and fellow-IAS officer Jiji Thomson who is now JS in Agriculture Ministry) and no criminal involvement’.
• In March 2005, Kerala government informed DoPT of its decision to move the Special Vigilance Court for withdrawal of the case against Thomas and Jiji Thomson.
• In July 2005, in reply to a letter from DoPT, Kerala Chief Secretary said, the reason for reversal of stand was that ‘the allegations of the investigating agency were not valid’.
• In October 2006, Kerala government made another request for Thomas’s prosecution. The Centre sought CVC’s views and wrote to CVC: ‘The see-saw on the part of the state government should not lead to the end of the career of these officers as far as the Government of India is concerned.’
• In June 2007, the CVC ‘categorically’ observed that Thomas was only acting on a legitimately taken cabinet decision and no loss was caused to the state.

[Thomas was Telecom Secretary when 2G scam took place, and the CBI [the agency is under CVC!] is still inquiring into the scam and has issued a chargesheet against him.]

• On September 3, 2010, selection committee for Central Vigilance Commissioner [consisting of PM, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Home Minister] held its meeting. Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj objected to Thomas being made CVC. The other two members ignored her advice and cleared the name of Thomas. The meeting notings say: After due consideration, the majority of the Committee recommended the name of Shri P J Thomas IAS (KL/73) for appointment as the Central Vigilance Commissioner in the Central Vigilance Commission, with Smt Sushma Swaraj recording her disagreement.
• On September 7, 2010, Thomas was sworn in as the Chief Vigilance Commissioner and thus held the highest vigilance post in the country.
• In October 2010, Public Interest Litigations by an NGO named Centre for Public Interest Litigation and the former Chief Election Commissioner JM Lingdoh challenged Thomas’s appointment as CVC.
• On 17 January 2011, Government filed affidavit before the Supreme Court, stating that Thomas was an 'outstanding civil servant of impeccable integrity' and 'fully eligible to be the CVC as per the CVC Act'…. 'The question of suitability is squarely the domain of the appointing authority and suitability of a candidate (for CVC) cannot be raised in judicial proceedings. Further questions of integrity of an individual are a matter of suitability and not eligibility'.
• On 27 January 2011, Attorney General G.E. Vahanvati told the Supreme Court that the selection committee did not know much about Thomas. They had access only to his bio-data, which did not mention details such as the fact a corruption case was lodged against him. Nor did they know that the state government had sanctioned Thomas’ prosecution.
• Sushma Swaraj counters it and says: It is not at all true. I personally brought this fact to the notice of the Prime Minister and home minister in the meeting itself but they persisted with this appointment… I had even asked the government to put off the decision by just a day to look at the issue in its entirety… They, however, decided to go ahead with the appointment.

India News Today, a small voice so far, has been raising the issue of appointment of Thomas as CVC. Our first post was this: The new chief vigilance commissioner

Pranab dada on black money: no name to tell, another committee...

Pranab at news conference: India News

Pranab Mukherjee says, there is black money stacked abroad, but the government has no names to tell. Why, he says, he is not bothered about names. Hasan Ali just slipped out of his mind.
He also says, there is no proper legal framework in place to deal with black money and that another committee will be set up 'to get studies conducted to estimate the quantum of illicit fund generated by Indian citizens.'  He may also b;ring in an amnesty scheme for tax evaders.

To be fair to any government of the day, it is very difficult to estimate, unearth and get back black money from abroad. But the point is, are the successive governments serious and sincere about it? Are they at all serious about corruption? Have treaties been followed properly where they exist? Forget the black money abroad, what has been done to clean the domestic systems? How have the IAS Joshi couple amassed a billion rupees of ill-gotten money [if you do not remember, they were raided recently by IT guys]? How did the 2G, Adarsh, CWG scams take place in the first place and what has been done to punish the guilty?

During the Press Conference held on [25th Jan 2011] specifically on this issue – on the direction of PMO – Pranab gave details of the ‘five-pronged strategy’ that the government is following to tackle this. The strategy includes:

• Joining Global crusade against ‘black money’;
• Creating an appropriate legislative framework;
• Setting up institutions for dealing with Illicit Funds;
• Developing systems for implementation; and
• Imparting skills to the manpower for effective action.

Well, for once, let’s believe in the government’s sincerity. Let's hope that under Supreme Court pressure, the government really works full throttle to unearth black money in India and abroad. But will this five-pronged strategy work even if it is implemented in letter and spirit?

Perhaps no, till the government works at least on three more prongs:

• Changing people’s mindset. Unless we attack at the root of corruption, black money will keep getting generated and traded in and out of the country. You will reduce the incentive and increase risk in corruption, but unless you make corruption despicable to people, you cannot reduce it below acceptable levels.

• Making election funding transparent and reasonable. If people come to politics with the main motive to make huge moneys, favour their kins and get all types of amnesties and powers to curb action against themselves, and if there is no disincentive to do so, we will not be able to bring probity in public life. Election malpractices and discretions, amnesties and powers to public servants are in fact one of the biggest source of corruption in India. 

• Bringing about large-scale reforms in bureaucracy and government systems. This needs to be tackled at all levels: induction/ recruitment, training, sensitisation, system building, use of new technology, strong disincentives and punitive action, and so on. Volumes have been written about administrative reforms but no government is willing to implement them.

But who listens? India News Today has been doing its bit on exposing and talking against corruption. [Do click here to get older posts.]

G14: when prominent citizens give a wake up call

It was heartening to note that 14 prominent citizens has written an Open Letter To Our Leaders to express alarm at the governance deficit in government, business and institutions.

India News Today had carried an essay yesterday on a similar theme, titled India a failing society?

We feel, more and more people should express their views, so that the governments are forced to act against the corrupt and put the system in place. If the quality of governance does not improve, whatever progress we are making of late will be lost, and it will be lost too soon. The people of India had given the UPA a stable mandate to lead the country for the next five years, but instead of reforms and higher levels of governance that were expected of it, UPA has decayed to unimaginably low levels.

Significantly, the group also says that growth is not reaching the poor and marginalized, and insists that it should be inclusive.

But will Manmohan get up from his Kumbhakarnic stupor?

KG Balakrishnan: homing pigeons

'ex-Cheap Justice of India?', asks India News Today

It is amusing to see how one's deeds spin a man's fate. It looks ironical too when the man happens to be one of the most influential persons of the land and his earlier subordinates point fingers at him for his misdemeanours.

K G Balakrishnan, the chairman of the National Human Rights Commission and the ex- Chief Justice of India, was a long time CJI of Kerala High Court. Now the Kerala High Court Advocates Association has adopted a motion against him. They demand that he step down from the chairmanship of NHRC until the allegations leveled againt him are found false.

Earlier, the Bar Council of Kerala had petitioned the President to order a comprehensive investigation into allegations against the former Chief Justice of India, K.G. Balakrishnan, and his close relatives.

Balakrishnan's two sons-in-law - Sreenijan and Benny - and younger brother K G Bhaskaran have been accused of amassing huge properties. Last week, a local court in Kochi directed the police to look into these allegations.


India News Today had earlier noted the petition by Shanti Bhushan stating that at least 8 CJI of India were corrupt. Do read it here.

India a failing society?

You know that India is a happening story: see the growth charts, the malls, the new roads, multi-story complexes, NREGS type mega welfare schemes, high FII investments and share indices at great heights, and so on.
With China, it becomes Chindia - the duo that are driving the economy of the world. With Brazil etc, it becomes BRIC - a new powerhouse. With South Africa et al, it becomes BASIC - a pan-global interest group.
Top world leaders descended on Delhi one by one in the last three months. It is now a UNSC member and is being supported by many world powers for a permanent seat in the Security Council.
Obama tells his contrymen, they must follow Indians otherwise Indianswill overtake them. In any case, on purchase parity basis, Indian economy has overtaken many earlier economic powers and is third biggest economy, only after the US and China. It showed its strength during the recent global recession and bank falures.

That's India. So why this doom-saying heading. It must belong to Pakistan, not India.
Yes, but no. India is growing, India is rising, and India already is a developed nation (to quote Obama), BUT Indian society has decayed so much that many things may never be redeemed.

Take for instance the family. It is not my case that Indian family was a 'paragon of virtues'. It was beset with many ills and bred many hidden misdeeds. But it was a great support to all in the family, especially the old, in absence of good provisions for health, child-care, old-age and rehabilitation, and without an overall social security infrastructure. The facilities have not improved but the family support has gone. Villages and cities are full of widows, the aged and the chronically ill who nobody cares for.

Take the values. I admit that despite numerous scriptures, reformers, great leaders and preachers, Indian society has not learnt to conduct itself in a human and humane way. But the baggage ofpast values and traditions itself checks prople from going astray. The respect for the elderly and teachers, letting the elders take major family decisions, helping the needy, voluntary participation on social and religious occasions, not raising hand on women etc were ingrained into Indian child's psyche and he / she did not question the norms unless they became too inconvenient. It is good that many of the earlier conservative notions have become diluted especially in urban areas, but what we see today is a mix of very conservative [remember recent khap dictats and honour killings, or the way people came out when an illegal religious structure was broken down in Delhi?] and ultra-modern. People keep their conscience by convenience. And the results are showing in the form of crimes, deviations, depression, broken families, lifestyle diseases and so on.

Take probity in public life. It is [again] not my case that Indian society was more honest earlier than today. In fact, corruption in various forms has been part of all societies allwhere. But the current level of corruption, its acceptance by the society and involvement of opinion leaders and top government functionaries are not a small matter. When corruption reaches such levels, societies and nations fall apart. Look at Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and many African nations: corruption in differnt forms is also responsible for the sorry state of affairs in these countries.

The sad part of the story is, neither the Union or State governments or various institutions are trying to reform the system. The educational institutions - from play school to top management instituties - have become commercial entities. Among those who can afford good education, the premium is not on character building and overall personal growth but getting into IITs etc.
Governments are mired in corruption. Those who can make huge money for the party in power or its boss get top berths in Ministries and are made chairmen of various corporations and other public bodies. Favours are distributed freely, decisions are bought and sold, lobbyinsts are allowed to influence public policy... 'Cuts' in public contracts [even in NREGS] are a standard now. Fake bills, fake enrolments, fake works - these are commonplace. Everybody knows how the traffic police takes 'weekly' from trucks and private buses at the crossings and it is common knowledge that the money so collected goes to top levels in the police. You put a layer of inspectors over engineers and policemen - and the next day they start sharing the booty collected by the corrupt. Another layer above them and you add another layer of corruption.

That's where one feels, the society is in a state of decay: institutions are churning out garbage; those who should lead are leading donwwards; instead of showing resistance, the society aceepts and extols deviance.

Kapil Sibal’s defence of Raja: how low will Congress sink?

What Kapil Sibal said yesterday in Raja’s defence is utterly specious and devoid of credibility. What he said might be technically arguable, because a lawyer of his stature is not likely to be wrong there, but the type of politics and governance the Congress is displaying is despicable for more reasons than one.

One, when it is a fact that Raja gave only one hour or so for submitting bids that required filling longish documents and submitting drafts, what does it show other than blatant favouritism by twisting procedures? Is it not an impropriety to predate a press release so that only your men know of the bidding? Does any amount of argument that Raja had not been asked against first-come-first-served by PMO or that NDA ministers also followed the same procedure make the loot pardonable? Does any amount of corruption that people in NDA government might have indulged in [that is what Kapil Sibal, Manish Tiwari, Jayanti Natrajan and other Congress spokespersons harp on on television] make Raja’s decisions right? 

What Sibal is saying is that Raja murdered an innocent because NDA beat up an innocent too, and that’s why Raja did no wrong.

Two, why are we hankering on presumptive vs substantive loss to the exchequer and the correctness of CAG calculations? Do these matters of detail take away the sting out of the massive crime and breach of public trust that have been committed? 

Is the Congress trying to say that Raja murdered the innocent with only four stabs but the opposition and CAG are saying that he stabbed the guy ten times, so Raja did no wrong?

Three. The more the Congress tries to argue in favour of Raja’s actions, the more it makes light of the impropriety most of the political masters in India indulge in. In a Minister or public authority’s role you are not a lawyer or a businessman; in fact you should not even act as a party-politician when you are taking a public decision. You are there to make right policies, implement them rightly and take actions only with people’s good in mind. You should be ready to sacrifice personal gains for the general public good. You should, by your conduct, lead the bureaucracy under you and those who follow you otherwise. Do any of you politicians remember the oath you took at the time of taking charge as a Minister? 

Four. For the sake of parliamentary functioning, Congress is supposed to take the leadership role. By joining issues instead of extending its hand, it will further alienate the opposition. Will it gain by doing so? Will the country gain? Will the democracy gain? The sole responsibility for letting parliament run smoothly rests with the ruling party, like the running of a household traditionally rests with the father. If the houses do not run smoothly, dear Manmohan, Sonia, Sibal and your likes, you are to blame, not the opposition.

A party that tries to search for facts and issues to browbeat the opposition, instead of introspecting, saying sorry, taking corrective action and compensating with better governance is a morally sick party. Prudence too says, such a party will not prosper politically in the long run.

India News Today maintains its earlier stand on 2G scam, because happenings of late are only proving it right. Do see our earlier posts:
Parliament logjam
Overscamming NDA: Sonia style
High time you resign, Sardarji
Sonia, Rahul, Manmohan, your words sound hollow
Shame on you, Raja... more shame on you, Manmohan