A Great Indian Patriot Remembered

Kudos to the UPA Government at the Centre and DMK Government in the State of Tamil nadu and thanks to the efforts of Union Minister Thiru G.K.Vasan, the Tuticorin Sea Port has been named after the great patriot and freedom fighter V.O.Chidambaram who successfully launched two ships between Tuticorin and Sri Lanka in 1906 about 95 years ago.

The real heros like V.O.C need to be remembered and celebrated with the naming of some such public utilities after their names. It will not only exibit our gratitude towards such great people but also justify such an action on our part executed after at least 50 years of their demise. It is a real tribute.

INFLATED COVERAGE IN IMPLEMENTATION

A study on the Immunisation coverage has indicated that only 87% of children in Tamil Nadu have received the Measles Vaccination much lower than the figures of 98% suggested by a Government-owned survey.
It is a fact that many of the programmes/projects undertaken by the Departments of Health in the country have a tendency to project an unrealistic and unverifiable physical achievement invariably. If such an over-reporting is taking place in the State of Tamil Nadu one can very well imagine the state of affairs in the States like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. The lower functionary in the Department of Health like in the case of Revenue Department always indulges in quoting the higher percentage of success in implementation of projects knowing fully well that there is no agency in the country to verify the reports submitted by them. Unless there is a change in the mind set of the Senior Officers in Health Department and they are willing to make spot inspection/verification at least on a random basis on the results being quoted/achieved at the grass roots, the bogus figures would invariably be manipulated and reported while the general public would continue to be befooled all the time as usual.

Auditing of Accounts

It is the policy of any democratic country to have the accounts of the schemes and projects undertaken by the regular departments and other government agencies audited regularly to ensure the judicious and fruitful utilization of the funds spent with the approval of the Parliament or the state legislatures as the case may be. Especially where the budgeted and alloted funds are huge and thrust upon the existing apparatus already overburdened or found inefficient in delivery, it is all the more neccessary to have the audit mechanism kept ready and made operational simultaneously so that any deviations or aberrations in the implementation are noticed and corrected from the beginning. But the admission of the Union of India (Govt. of India) before the Supreme Court on Friday, January 28, 2011 that it did not carry out account auditing at any level despite the fact that the Centre released Rs 1.00 lakh crore to states under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme since February 2006.

What a fantastic achievement by the UPA government at the Centre? Performance audit reports have revealed the inherent and acquired deficiencies in the system. Who has the time and wherewithal to check the deviation and pilferage in the working style of the government machinery? The so-called local government structure in the form of Panchayat Raj institutions and their public funtionaries like Sar Panchas (Panchayat Presidents) along with the technical staff are there in the field not to serve the poor and the needy but to enrich their pockets. The public representatives enter the public office from Panchayat level to the top positions mainly to loot the treasury funds to the extent possible in all sorts of ways . No fear whatsoever towards public money!

What mechanism one can think of in such a scenario, God only can tell us. A quick disposal of exemplary trials and punishments for those found guilty alone can control the situaion to a large extent and none else, I suppose.

Unproductive Expenditure by the State Exchequer

Example: The following advertisement appeared in the Daily Newspaper, 'The Hindu' on Saturday, May 22, 2010 (Pages 10 & 11)

“A.3/Pers(Rectt)PMS-Advt/BSF/2010: Ministry of Home Affairs, Directorate General of border Security Force (Personnel Directorate: recruitment Section)”

11 categories of posts numbering 283 vacancies (subject to change) with details like Grade Pay, Age Qualifications, Physical Standards, Medical Standards, Age relaxations, Detailed Selection Processes for constables etc., Method of applying for the post, Full application form, Admit card form, Caste Certificate form, Chest Measurement form B.C Certificate form et al.

Totally the ad was running into the newspaper’s one and a half full pages. God knows at what expense – may be a few lakhs of rupees (considering the space and the advt. rate charged by the paper management)?

The government departments can in fact give a small ad stating the general information on the authority putting up the ad for the vacancies along with a clue/key for obtaining all the relevant details separately either from their offices in person or by post or on the web-site. This way the page-size ad in several newspapers spending lakhs and lakhs of rupees can be avoided.

Protests & Results

“India Cherishes Protests, But Curses Their effects” was an article by Jim Yardley in the New York Times International on Wednesday, September 15, 2010).

[A picture of a gas station was printed alongside the article in which the employees were shown resting without work in Calcutta in the first week during a strike called by trade unions to protest inflation and privatization].

The sadistic and lampooning caption was as follows;

“What Gandhi used to free a nation is sometimes just a pain”
Today many Indians see these bandhs as symbols of dysfunction rather than of political vitality. Unlike other forms of protest, the bandh can inflict huge economic losses, often to the common working person in whose name such strikes are called. No corner of the country is spared. Even the educated professors in a college or university or the government doctors on duty resort to strikes as and when necessary. No political party including a ruling party in the country avoids this sort of protest to convey annoyance or seek public sympathy over an issue. India’s Supreme court has issued rulings against bandhs and, in certain cases fined political parties for conducting them. Trade union leaders justify such protests as their legitimate way of expression. Common workers and business men suffer a lot due to such bandhs. One Janardan Mandan, the owner of a garment factory in Calcutta was found doing exercise in a city park during the bandh complaining that it was the 10th day of closure during the year on account of such bandhs forced by the parties.

What is the remedy? Even the highest court of law in India hasn't been able to tame the situation for the better so far!

Editorial : “JPC is an imperative”

The Hindu’s (Saturday, November 27, 2010) editorial by N.Ram on the 2G Spectrum scandal is an impressive and thought-provoking piece. He has rightly questioned the inordinate delay and the reluctance on the part of UPA Government in the center in setting up a JPC for a detailed probe into the scam. After all it is going to be another fact-finding approach but having a mischievous potential for embarrassment on a continuing basis to the Congress and its government. That explains the predicament of the Congress leadership at the present juncture. But the adamancy with which the entire opposition is supporting the AIADMK is likely to succeed in its attempt with a condition from the side of the ruling coalition government for the total coverage of the National Telecom Policy 1994 and its implementation since then. I think that should be fair enough for the parties engaged in the current imbroglio although the fate of such a probe may be like that of Bofors scandal over a period of time. N.Ram pleads for a time-bound procedure for arriving at the conclusion by the JPC so that it can prove to be a fruitful exercise. But given the conditions in India it might only be a wishful thinking for the better.

Ratan Tata’s suggestion for a probe by an auditor seems to be born out of his ignorance or out of his instant reaction to the media coverage of his role on the appointment of central ministers as an outburst without taking assistance from his legal experts. After all there can’t be an auditor who is superior in status and leverage compared to the CAG. As a sequel to this development a question arises as to how effectively the CAG office and his paraphernalia can prove its utility and justify its existence at such a cost to the state exchequer if its report to the Parliament is to be taken up by one or more committees.

JPC might be interested to know whether the minster has transgressed his power and the officials have sincerely followed the rules of business and the principles of integrity and fair-play in their official dealings but they can’t punish any wrongdoer on its own .For that, one has to approach the criminal court. So why not approach the court directly on the basis of a report submitted by a constitutional authority with a list of documents and witnesses for a special and summary trial for a conclusion and judgment in a few months' time and tell the nation that the government means business and exhibits transparency in governance, normally and invariably promised on the eve of General Elections.

It is for the judiciary to finally decide whether the conduct of public servants was above board and if not the extent of punishment due to them under the statutes. Ratan Tata feels bad on the type of media assault he is facing today. The conduct of some media personnel as revealed by Radia tapes shows the immaturity and the biased nature of reporting some of them have been indulging in India. Thousands of innocent and well-meaning Indians have been prosecuted and persecuted blindly by media pundits on the basis of half-baked truths so far. Rogues are roaming freely on Indian roads whereas the true nationalists and principled Indians are sitting idle and facing hardships.

It all depends what we want in the final analysis – Speedy trial and quick redress & justice or a political game serving the interests of warring groups in Indian polity and protecting the personal interests of powerful politicians.

P.M's Dilemma

The Prime Minister of India, Dr Manmohan Singh has expressed the view that he is not an astrologer but is confident of bringing the price situation under control. How soon he would ensure reduction in price level, nobody including him knows for sure. Unfortunately planning and execution of plans for balanced and demand -linked production of agri-goods are not attended to at the government level nor at the private initiative as indicated by me in an earlier dispatch. Things are likely to take an adverse course very soon if no serious steps are mooted with a vigour and vision.

Enigma over Shyness of Bankers toward Small businesses

Concern expressed by the USA's Federal Reserve chief Ben S.Bernanke and other economists was that the lending to small businesses contracted substantially over the last two years. Small businesses -- those having fewer than 500 employees – employ half of all Americans and account for about 60 per cent of gross job creation. Lending to such companies fell to below $670 billion in the first quarter of this year from more than $710 billion in the second quarter of 2008. Many entrepreneurs say the bankers are wary of financing and denying loans to creditworthy borrowers as part of an overreaction to the bad loans of the last economic expansion and heightened scrutiny by regulators. A collapse in the value of real estate and other collateral used to secure loans posed a ‘particularly severe challenge’ to small businesses, Mr. Bernanke said.

We can expect a similar situation in India too where the role of small scale ventures/businesses is equally important from the point of view of its contribution to employment and value of production and exports vis-a-vis the medium and large-scale sectors. But the fate of its existence as well as its access to credit from financial institutions is less said the better. The governments in India both at the central level and state level are unfortunately found wanting in encouraging their manufacturing and marketing of their products unlike in developed nations like USA.

Intimidating Inflation

Food Inflation has a major role in impacting the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) of late in a realistic manner thanks to the due weightage given to food prices found to be fluctuating rapidly and almost consistently for a couple of years now. Both the Central and State governments are groping in the dark as how to keep inflation and especially food inflation under check. Look at the concerns being expressed by the Union Finance Minister from time to time. The latest concern is towards a sudden surge in food inflation to double digit at 12.13% for the week ended December 11. The Minister appears to have attributed the present rise to the sky-rocketing prices of the famous vegetable-spice namely the onion in the last few weeks which in turn was the result of excess rains and floods in some production centers of states like Karnataka and Maharashtra during this period.

Despite the concern expressed by the Minister and the Committee of Secretaries headed by the Cabinet Secretary in Government of India, the inflation continues to rise due to unrelenting trend in prices of onion, edible oil, milk, fruits and vegetables. The WPI inflation data reveals that the annualized increase in prices of onions worked out to 33.48 per cent, fruits 20.15 per cent, eggs, meat and fish 19.35 per cent, vegetables15.54 per cent and milk by 17.83 per cent. Onion seems to enjoy a pride of place in the market. Hence the necessity of a meeting of Committee of Secretaries on Thursday, December 23, 2010 to take stock of the situation while continuing to battle against onion prices that touched Rs 70-80 a kg in the last few days. Responsible people in the government and the trade unfortunately fail to set up a regular mechanism to study the situation, anticipate the factors responsible for fluctuations in the supply of those vulnerable goods and take timely remedial steps on a continuing basis. Fire-fighting exercises from year after year expose the hollow nature of understanding and awakening on such a burning issue.

Long-term planning and medium term strategy to thwart such a scenario is totally missing in the present scheme of things. And nobody is sure of finding a permanent solution to normal supply of agri-goods on a perennial basis without any hassles and excuses. Looking to the inelastic demand for such products in the short-run and medium term it should not pose any problem for the planner or administrator to estimate the actual demand of various food products at different times of the year under varying conditions and contingencies and once such an exercise is complete, the authorities should explore the possibility of meeting such sustained demand with the available self-correcting sources of production and systematic procurement by the private as well as public agencies. These calculations and arrangements for execution should ensure the availability of all those food products uninterruptedly in the market. It is easier said than done in the present scenario.

Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council Chairman Dr C.Rangarajan made a prophecy on Monday, December 27, 2010 that inflation was expected to come down to 5.5% by March, 2011. “ I think any level of inflation beyond 5% ( threashhold level of inflation) is unavoidable” he said. It is a paradox that an Economist functioning as the Prime Minister, a World Bank-trained economist Dr.Montek Singh Ahluvalia working as the Dy.Chairman of the Planning Commission and a well known Economist, namely, the Chairman of Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council and the farmer Governor of Reserve Bank of India viz., Dr.C.Rangarajan are unable to control the inflation in this country.

Poverty in Richest Country?

Is it the bane of human society or the inevitable law of nature that irrespective of what system man had improvised so far, the humanity is destined to live with irreversible income and intellect disparities for the ages to come? How does one comprehend otherwise that despite the golden mix of capitalism and democracy ruling the richest nation viz. the USA the government there can’t abolish poverty of its citizens in the last two centuries? It is indeed one of the inexplicable developments with the Census Bureau reporting that the percentage of Americans struggling below the poverty line in 2009 was the highest it has been in 15 years. The number of people living in poverty last year climbed to almost 43.6 million up from 39.8 million in 2008. The percentage of people living in poverty also increased to 14.3 per cent, the highest rate since 1994. Poverty in USA has been defined as pretax cash income below $ 22000 for a family of four. This is a development which one notices in spite of federal assistance like expanded unemployment benefits (helping three million families).

An unexpected development but a welcome one from the stand point of joint family system in US society is the necessity of younger generations along with other members of nuclear families to shift to the homes of their parents to tide over the poverty situation for the present. The Census study found an 11.6 per cent increase in the number of such multifamily households over the last two years. Unemployment remains near 10 per cent and there are strong signs that the high poverty numbers have continued into 2010. Poverty had been concentrated among young adults without college education and their children.
One indirect sign of continuing hardship is the rise in food stamp recipients, who now include one in seven adults and an even greater share of the nation’ children. By mid-2010 the number of recipients had reached 41.3 million, compared with 39 million at the beginning of the year. Food banks too report swelling demand.

The poverty rate for non-Hispanic whites was 9.4 per cent, for blacks 25.8 percent, and for Hispanics 25.3 percent. The rate for Asians was unchanged at 12.5 percent. “This is the first time in memory that an entire decade has produced essentially no economic growth for the typical America household”, Mr. Lawrence Katz, an economist at Harvard. The poverty line is no doubt a flawed measure, experts agree.

STEPHEN HAWKING'S NEW THEORY

The greatest and the most revered scientist after Einstein, namely, Stephen Hawking is a formidable mathematician and a powerful salesman. He, otherwise a declared atheist, has confirmed and reiterated his thesis on the basis of M-theory that several universes in existence have had necessarily not required the hand of a supreme being for this happening. This is what one reads from his latest sales-sensation entitled "The Grand Design" co-authored with Leonard Mlodinow.

I take nature and the supreme being as one entity, or give any name you like, and feel that something is required to lead to another. Nothing is created out of vacuum, I suppose. So my theory is that some super nature or being is responsible for what we have or what we perceive in the universe.

POLICE REFORMS

Government of India and some State Governments seem to be quite reluctant to implement the reforms suggested by the Supreme Court of India in the year 2005. They seem to be quite perturbed particularly by two directions issued by the Court i.e,

1. Fixing of tenure for Director General of Police (DGP).

2. Selection of DGPs from the empanelement done by the Union Public Service Commission.

It is a well known fact that the State Governments especially the Chief Ministers normally try to select a person who is amenable or appears to be pliable to the dictates of the state-level political boss. Since the top cop of the State is meant to toe the lines of the Chief Minister blindly, it would be very difficult to expect the Police Force working under him to act independently. This is exactly the reason why the Apex Court thought it proper and better to introduce the police reforms in the aforesaid manner.

It is therefore beyond one's comprehension that the Apex Court is being approached or pressurised after five years by the Government of India and some States to have a rethinking on the direction given by the Court. It would be quite unfortunate if the Apex Court concedes to this request and allow the reforms to be diluted to the disadvantage of the law-abiding citizens of the country.