Indian political leaders and bureaucrat

06-27-2007, 01:41 AM

QUOTEMaya grew 400% richer in 3 years
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NEW DELHI: UP chief minister Mayawati's wealth has grown by over 400% in the last three years. While filing her papers for the Lok Sabha election in 2004, she had declared her assets at a little over over Rs 11 crore. And now, as reported by TOI on Tuesday, she has declared in a sworn affidavit that her wealth amounts to Rs 52.5 crore.

The real growth in her wealth during this period has come from property investments. On April 4, 2004, when Mayawati filed for contesting from the Akbarpur Lok Sabha seat, she declared that she owned four houses â all of them at Inderpuri (C-57, 58, 74 and 75) in Delhi â which were cumulatively worth 1.25 crore. 

This time, she has declared some prime pieces of property in Delhi â one of them on Sardar Patel Marg, an exclusive locality abutting the Capitalâs diplomatic enclave. According to her, this alone is worth Rs 18 crore, although real estate agents place its market value at much higher. The rest are commercial properties in the city â two in Connaught Place, worth Rs 3.3 crore, and another in Okhla, worth Rs 15.5 crore.

At the same time, she has added jewellery and diamonds worth over Rs 70 lakh. Earlier she had declared jewellery worth nearly Rs 31 lakh. Now, she possesses jewellery in gold and diamonds worth over Rs 1 crore. In cash alone, from Rs 1.5 lakh in 2004, she now has over Rs 50 lakh and her money in banks and other financial institutions has grown from Rs 9.78 crore to Rs 12.88 crore.

07-08-2007, 07:20 PM

<img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/specool.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='specool.gif' /> FROM THE RINGSIDE A very dull House indeed
N K SinghPosted online: Sunday, July 08, 2007 at 0000 hrs

Do nations have the collective guts to look global risk in the face?

After the installation of the new president, the attention of policy makers will inevitably shift to the pending business of government. Getting stalled legislations off the ground is one such area. Since the monsoon session is around the corner, the broad picture on pending government bills looks worrisome. Bills pending before the last budget session were 65, and 26 new bills were introduced during the session, adding up to 91 bills.

Out of these only 20 could be passed in the last session and the cumulative pendency of 71 suggests a growing backlog. Needless to say, the bills relate to important areas of policy. Among them are the Pension Fund Regulatory & Development Authority Bill, Small & Medium Enterprise Development Bill, the Indian Medical Council Amendment Bill, the Labour Laws (Exemptions from Furnishing Returns & Maintaining Registers by Certain Establishments), Forward Contracts Regulations Bill, Payment & Settlement Systems Bill. There are others pending in the Rajya Sabha, introduced before the formation of the 14th Lok Sabha, including the Coal Mines Nationalisation Amendment Bill, the Arbitration & Conciliation (Amendment) Bill, Private Universities Establishment Regulations Bill, and Foreign Contribution Regulations Bill. These, of course, do not include other important legislations promised by government in areas like insurance, which is yet to be introduced.

There is no dearth of literature explaining the factors behind Parliament becoming increasingly dysfunctional and its serious consequences on the governance matrix. A recent book by Arun Maira, Discordant Democrats â Five steps to Consensus, goes a step prior to the introduction of legislation, namely, seeking ways in which we can proliferate what he describes as the âways in mass dialogueâ. In the tool kit suggested by him, the first principle is to light the spark of aspirational vision by asking people what they care for most and why they do so, and thereafter engage people to frame the issues based on the diversity of views after listening to them and building deeper channels for communication beyond recognised institutions. These can be in multiple forms from civic bodies, building societies, co-operative federations, or even resident welfare organisations. The objective would be to work towards a programme in which corporations, NGOs and governments can be provoked to ask three questions: If not this, then what? If not now, then when? If not you, then who?

The methodology of consensus building prior to action provides a bridge to the second book, Indiaâs Politics â A View from the Backbench, by the noted economist and parliamentarian Bimal Jalan.

Jalan laments the decline in institutions whose meshing together constitutes the basic fabric of governance. In his section on âThe Reform of Politics in a Resurgent Indiaâ, he has made important recommendations including options for state funding of elections, defining the role of small parties in government where they can be prevented from commanding a disproportionate influence as partners in coalition politics and improving the conduct of Parliament.

His many suggestions on improving the conduct of parliamentary business can help in enabling legislators to focus more coherently in fulfilling their principal obligation, mainly as law-makers: to legislate. While these will help, there are more basic questions which remain unanswered. Why, for instance, in the age of electronic media, is there greater glory for MPs to be disruptive than orderly? Does the electorate value its representative more if he has stalled parliamentary proceedings on some extraneous issue than if he makes a valuable contribution in shaping an important legislation? How is it that while we claim ourselves to be a mature democracy electoral campaigns rarely highlight a parliamentarians performance in the analysis and skills he has brought to the debate on an important legislation? If law making is so dull as not to evince electoral interest, then one of the cardinal functions of our parliamentary system is at peril.

This asymmetry between parliamentary performance and electoral campaign need to be bridged to improve the conduct of business within the House. It is only when parliamentarians realise that their behaviour in Parliament is making an electoral difference and impacts votersâ choice will there be a strong enough incentive to carry out their functions in an appropriate manner. Educating the electorate on the conduct of parliamentarians has received scant attention. While the electronic media has been aggressive, the space for coverage of parliamentary performance over the years in the print media, particularly in the vernacular and regional languages, has suffered greatly. This has compounded our woes.

In the final analysis, it is a principal obligation of the government in office to get legislations debated and enacted. The complexity of negotiations, even in a coalition government, can mitigate but not absolve failure to get key legislations off the ground particularly those perceived to be central for economic development and addressing security concerns. Redressing this failure will improve governance.

09-19-2007, 01:28 AM

QUOTESC raps Govt over misuse of bungalows 
Pioneer News Service | New Delhi
The Government's generosity in gifting prime bungalows in the Lutyens Zone as party offices and memorials came under attack in the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

Anguished by the Government's casual approach in converting Government bungalows into party offices, quite against the prescribed rules, the court said: "If this is the way the Government proceeds, a time will soon come when most of the Government bungalows will become memorials."

The court's comment was in the wake of the recent decision of the Centre to allot a spacious bungalow to the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) as its party office and a separate bungalow as a memorial for former BSP chief Kanshi Ram.

Acting tough against the Centre, the bench of Justices BN Agrawal and DK Jain sought the Government's response by Wednesday on whether the Government could arrest those persons (including politicians, artists, bureaucrats and journalists) who continue in unauthorised occupation of Government accommodations without payment of penal rent. In this regard the court had proposed amendments in IPC Section 441 (criminal trespass) to make it a cognisable and non-bailable offence.

The bench also sought to know from Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Amarendra Saran appearing for the Centre to state how the Government would conclude that a person has no means to pay the penal rent. Whether his assets including property, fixed deposits or other liquid assets be taken into account.

The bench said, "You don't have guts because it concerns your vote bank. You hang the peon and leave the big people." What added to the court's worries was the fact that the lost list of defaulters included top political persons including former Bihar Governor Buta Singh, BJP president Rajnath Singh, senior BJP leader Jaswant Singh, three general secretaries of the Congress, Rajmata Gayatri Devi and MP Ashok Pradhan.

While the Centre suggested that it was considering to regularise the allotment of the three Congress general secretaries, there was not a whisper made by it on the pending penal rent to the tune of over Rs one crore.

10-17-2007, 02:11 AM

<img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/dry.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='dry.gif' /> Meets top leaders in Britain
17 Oct 2007, 0058 hrs IST,Mohua Chatterjee,TNN
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NEW DELHI: If Rahul Gandhi has finally been made a general secretary in the Congress party after a long wait, the young Gandhi is also being groomed for a larger political role it seems.

On his way back from New York, where he had accompanied his mother Sonia, Rahul stayed back in London for a couple of days.

But interestingly, Rahul was not really holidaying in London from October 4-7, according to top government sources. He had a quite but very hectic schedule during his stopover with meetings lined up with dignitaries and political leaders in the city.

Rahul held extensive meetings on October 5 and 6 at India House, the Indian high commission in the UK.
Rahul met former British PM Tony Blair and UK's foreign secretary David Milliband. He also met former minister in Blair's cabinet Peter Mandelson, who is the British representative to the European Union. The young Gandhi also found time to interact with Sir Suma Chakra-barti, permanent secretary, Department of Foreign Investment and Development (DFID), and Jim Drummond, director, South Asia, DFID.

Caroline Harper, OBE and CEO, Sightsavers International, along with Peter Ackland, director of overseas programmes, were amo-ng those who had formal meetings with Rahul.

Surprisingly, Rahul's high profile itinerary, facilitated by the Indian mission headed by ambassador Kamlesh Singh, considered close to the Gandhi family, went unpublicised. According to political circles, the reasons for not publicising visit could be that it involves a "serious" business of projecting the young Gandhi as a future leader, beyond the domestic domain.

01-12-2008, 09:07 AM

Politics Inc vs India Inc: It's all about the money

01-12-2008, 11:23 PM

[center]EC holds Rajeev Shukla guilty of violation of model code[/center]

5 Jan 2008,PTI

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission has held Congress MP Rajeev Shukla guilty of violation of model code of conduct for his remarks against Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi during the Assembly polls in the state and advised him to be more cautious in future.

"The Commission, after careful consideration of all aspects, has come to the conclusion that in the instant case, the model code of conduct has clearly been violated by you," the EC said in its order passed on December 31.

The EC conveyed its "severe displeasure" to Shukla and advised him to be more cautious in future so that the provisions of model code of conduct are adhered to and duly observed in its letter and spirit.

Shukla had been issued a notice by the Commission for his critical comments against Modi at an election rally in Valsad on December seven.

The Commission noted that the Congress leader has not denied the comments in question and said the justification provided by him for making the remarks was "not acceptable".

"These words/utterances amount to an attack on the personal character of a political functionary named and identified by you in your speech," it said.

The BJP had filed a complaint on December 13 against Shukla along with press enclosures and a CD of the speech.

01-15-2008, 01:00 AM

QUOTECongress MLA aides damage hospital property 
pioneer.com
Staff Reporter | New Delhi
Angry supporters and relatives of Congress MLA from Nasirpur, Mahabal Mishra damaged the property of Mata Channan Devi hospital in Janak Puri on Sunday afternoon after the death a 70-year-old woman. The deceased woman identified as Devki Devi Mishra, was maternal aunt of Mishra, who blamed the hospital authorities for the cause of death. On the other hand, authorities of Mata Channan Devi hospital suspended doctor Rajender Kumar, who failed to attend the patient in the emergency.

The Congress MLA complained of serious chest pain in the morning and she was rushed to Mata Channan Devi hospital located in Janak Puri. According to the family members, Dr Rajender Kumar in the emergency did not give her any medical attention, and even did not allow the family members to take her to another hospital. " She was complaining of severe chest pain but the doctor told us to wait as there is no space in the ICU. Later, the doctor went to sleep and did not provide any medical attention " said Congress MLA. Later, the relatives and the local supporters of Mishra charged the hospital premises and damaged operation stretchers and even broke main entrance door of the hospital. " The patient died in the hospital after complaining for an hour of severe chest pain, and then after her death the doctor said take her to the ICU, and then we could revive the patient " added Mishra. The family has asked the hospital authorities to take action against the doctor and held hospital authorities for the death of the patient. The hospital authorities said the matter would be investigated further and in the meanwhile Dr Kumar has been suspended

If politicians can take law into thier hands why to stop common citizens, they have far less power and resources.

01-15-2008, 09:00 AM

Is the Bharat Ratna coming to Karunanidhi?
RC Rajamani and Hemendra Narayan

NEW DELHI, Jan. 14: The Bharat Ratna 'race' picked up greater momentum today with the names of former UP chief minister, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav, and former Bihar chief minister Karpoori Thakur being mooted for the nation's highest civilian honour.

After the demand by BJP and BSP for Bharat Ratna to former Prime Minister Mr AB Vajpayee and Kanshi Ram respectively, the Assam unit of the Samajwadi Party today said the award should be conferred on party leader Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Joining the intense political lobbying, the RJD today asked the Centre to bestow posthumously the honour on Karpoori Thakur.

Thakur, popularly known as 'jan nayak' or people's leader, was one of the socialist leaders close to Jayaprakash Narayan who spearheaded the movement for 'total revolution' as well as protests against the Emergency.

Meanwhile, LJP chief and union minister Mr Ram Vilas Paswan demanded conferring of the award on 19th century social reformer Jyotibha Phule, Dalit leader Jagjivan Ram and singer Mohammed Rafi, all posthumously. Mr Paswan said it was better to confer the award posthumously because then proper judgement could be made on the achievements of the person concerned. Mr Paswan said that if the award was to be conferred on a political person then his first choice was Babu Jagjivan Ram. . As for Mahatma Phule, Mr Paswan said he did a lot for uplifting the destitute and downtrodden, and worked tirelessly for educating the women. Mohammad Rafi is his idea for a person from the arts. In 2001 Lata Mangeshkar was conferred the award, and now the award should go to Rafi for his contribution as a playback singer was equivalent to that of Lata.

The campaign for Bharat Ratna began with the BJP's Mr LK Advani writing to the Prime Minister, strongly suggesting the 84-year-old former PM, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, for the honour. Mr Jyoti Basu's name was suggested and shot down with equal speed over the weekend. The other contenders are BSP founder Kanshi Ram and Mr M Karunanidhi, the 84-year old DMK patriarch and Tamil Nadu chief minister.

In the current confusion and lack of unanimity, Mr Karunanidhi may emerge as the ultimate winner, according to political circles.

http://thestatesman.org/page.news.php?clid...ess=1&id=185773

01-15-2008, 10:26 AM

Why Robert Vadra or Rahul Gandhi or Paula Maino are not on Bharat Ratna list?
or cook or sweeper of 10 Janpath.

01-15-2008, 10:34 AM

Modi pitches for inclusive growthQUOTEHe said that during the period of 1857-1947, "scores of Indans fighting for independence fought, died or were jailed, an effort which was limited only to individuals. But it was Mahatma Gandhi who turned the struggle into a mass movement that won us independence".

"This was Gandhiji's greatest contribution to India's freedom struggle," Modi said.

...........
He also made a veiled reference to his Tamil Nadu counterpart M Karunanidhi's poll promise of free colour televisions and said Congress too had made a similar promise during the recent assembly elections in Gujarat but it fell flat.

"When the media sought my reaction to Congress' promise, I said I will serve notice on people who had failed to pay their tax. The people of Gujarat only elected a man who would serve notice on them. For, from where else can I mobilise the money for the development of the poor?" he said.

"The voters there (in Gujarat) were a matured lot who were not impressed with free CTVs," Modi said while ridiculing the "media sessions discussing if something was wrong with the people of Gujarat" to have voted him back to power.

Recalling the controversy over the US denying him a visa post-Godhra, Modi said he had then "vowed to create hundreds of Americas inside Gujarat and make the Americans visit the state and seek visa to visit my state," Modi said.

01-24-2008, 07:09 AM

Quality of democracy is not fine
By Dr P.C. Alexander

The latest annual survey conducted by the New York based Freedom House, a watchdog organisation for democracy, shows that only 90 countries among the 193 countries of the world have been found eligible to be called democracies. Sixty countries are considered as "partly free" and the rest are considered as ineligible to be named free. The criteria for judging whether a country is free or democratic are the generally accepted principles such as free elections, free press, independent judiciary, commitment to human rights, respect for Opposition parties, etc. These criteria cannot be clearly measured in tangible terms, but are reliable indicators about a countryâs commitment to democracy. India, of course, finds a place in the list of democracies, but certain trends which have set in recent years in the functioning of democracy, are causing concern about the state of the strength and stability of democracy and of its future in India.

The most important among the causes of concern is the increasing tendency in India for substituting elections with nominations within political parties. It is an axiomatic truth that no democracy can be considered as healthy and sound unless there is a healthy and sound party system based on inner party democracy with regular elections at all levels of the party hierarchy. With the exception of a few, practically every political party in India has found it convenient to dispense with elections and to resort to nominations by the partyâs high command. 

Whenever elections are held (which have become now rare occasions) they are more "command performances" at the behest of the high command than free exercise of the will of the members of the party. Much has been said and written about this trend in the last quarter of a century, but very little has been done to correct it. If political parties continue to replace elections with nominations, it may not be very long before India finds its place in the list of "partly free countries."

An equally disturbing trend in India, today, is to treat political parties as instruments for manoeuvring for power without any consideration for principles or ideologies. There is nothing wrong in considering acquisition of power as the main objective of political parties in democratic countries, but it is important that the means for it have to be clean and fair. The tendency, however, is to go ahead with the chase for power without bothering about any principles. 

Several instances of compromises on principles can be cited to prove the dangers involved in the practice of politics bereft of principles. When the Morarji Desai government collapsed in 1979, Charan Singh the number two leader in the Janata Party, had no compunctions to form a coalition government on the basis of the offer of support from the Congress from outside. The Congress had been the target of the harshest and severest criticism by him till then, but all these were set aside in the pursuit of the prime ministerial chair. Charan Singh had to resign without facing Parliament even for a day, as it became clear to him that the offer of support made by the Congress was only a snare to ensure the fall of the Janata regime. In 1989, the National Front government of V.P. Singh was kept floating through the support given to it by two political groups, the Leftists and the BJP, which had nothing in common with V.P. Singhâs party except their common anti-Congressism. Then followed another unprincipled arrangement by which Chandra Shekhar who had just 54 MPs in a Parliament of 543 formed a government with the offer of support by the Congress Party from outside. This government could not last even six months and it collapsed because of the withdrawal of support by the Congress.

After the 2004 elections, the Congress Party which had only 145 members in the Lok Sabha chose to form a coalition government on the support of a group of Left parties led by the CPI(M) from outside, even though the history of governments based on support from outside had been quite discouraging. The CPI(M) and the Congress are bitter political rivals in West Bengal and Kerala, the only two major states where the CPI(M) is in power, but neither it nor the Congress had any inhibitions in entering into an agreement for running the government with CPI(M)âs support from outside. This has led to the incongruous position of the CPI(M), which secured just 5.5 per cent of the votes in the general elections, exercising veto over several important measures, which the Congress, which had secured 26.7 per cent of the popular votes, wanted to implement. But the Congress has been putting up with this thoroughly frustrating handicap because of its keenness to remain in power. 

The political developments in some of the states also, in recent months, have served to expose how politics has been reduced to a game of chasing power without any respect for principles. In Karnataka, the JD(S) had no hesitation in going back on its pledged word that it would support the BJP in leading the government during the second part of the tenure of the coalition. Though political pundits have been asserting that in future no political party will make any alliance with the JD(S), no one need be so categorical in making such forecasts in the present state of political morality in our country. On the other hand, one can safely predict that if JD(S)âs support is found necessary again to form a government in Karnataka, there may not be any hesitation on the part of the parties aspiring to form the government to secure such support forgetting JD(S)âs past record about keeping its word.

The recent developments in Goa where attempts were made to bring down the government through resignation by some MLAs, again illustrate how principles have little place in politics in India now. The reports in the media show that "the crisis has been satisfactorily resolved" but there may not be many takers for such assurances. Since these are crises which arise in the fight for power without any basis of principles, it will be difficult to believe that the crisis is really over.

An unfortunate aspect of the Goa crisis has been the controversial conduct of Constitutional authorities like the speaker and the governor, particularly the latter.

The governorâs action in proroguing the Assembly before it could pass the Appropriation Bill has invited the criticism that he was helping a government which had lost its majority to buy time for its survival. Such an action by the governor is not anything new; the memories of similar decisions in states like UP, Jharkhand, Bihar, etc., are quite fresh in our memory.

The danger that democracy in India faces today is that most politicians seem to believe that departing from the norms of decency and fairness are part of the political game and therefore not anything to be overly worried about. If this feeling gains general acceptance in the country, we may end up by having the shell of democracy minus its true content and quality without even our being conscious of it. 

Dr P.C. Alexander was the Governor of Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu and is at present a member of Rajya Sabha

Capt M Kumar · 03-12-2008, 11:27 AM

<!--emo&

--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif' /> Advani's book gives BJP sleepless nights
12 Mar 2008, 0000 hrs IST,TNN
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NEW DELHI: Memories can be a mixed bag, but BJP's recent experience of memoirs penned by its leaders has been entirely forgettable.

With Jaswant Singh's "US mole" in the P V Narasimha Rao PMO goof-up still rankling, party leaders are waiting for L K Advani's forthcoming "self-portrait" with crossed fingers.

The BJP veteran and prime ministerial nominee's book, titled My Country, My Life , promises to reveal Advani's account of some of the more tumultuous phases of his political life, both in power and Opposition. Events like the Kandahar hostage swap, the Jinnah episode, the Advani-Vajpayee relationship and the failed Agra summit will figure in the book.

While there is a sense of curiosity and anticipation over an insider's account of milestones in politics, and Advani's revelations are expected to be instructive, the possibility of fresh controversy is worrying BJP brass. It is felt that even "factual" accounts, which might seem innocuous enough, might end up giving political opponents an opening.

Senior party leaders point out that BJP had been pushed on the backfoot for almost an entire session of Parliament when Jaswant Singh's A Call To Honour spoke of a mole who accessed information in the Rao PMO.

He was subjected to sustained barracking by the ruling party with PM Manmohan Singh daring the former foreign minister to name the American implant. BJP had to repeatedly fall back on the thin defence that Jaswant Singh had not actually used the word "mole".

In the current instance, Advani only let his colleagues know recently that a memoir was in the works. While some feel that a book was not at all needed, others wonder whether the enterprise could have waited a little longer. The publisher's promotional remarks promising that chapters on terrorism, Agra summit, Kargil war and the Jinnah controversy would be "particularly riveting" have hardly helped settle the nerves of BJP leaders. They are now wondering what exactly is in store when the book is released.

There are, it is felt, quite a few minefields that the book can set off. The behind-the-scenes events of the botched Agra summit with Pervez Musharraf has always been seen in the backdrop of the Pakistan president's charge that "hardliners" in A B Vajpayee's Cabinet sabotaged a breakthrough. The highly controversial decision to release three hardcore terrorists in exchange for the hijacked airliner, IC 814, generated accounts of Advani's resistance to set free a much higher number.

The BJP's relationship with RSS has also been a rich source of juicy controversies with Advani himself having to intervene to hose down saffron infighting.

03-20-2008, 08:55 PM

HC admits Bihar Govt appeal against Lalu, Rabri

Mar 20, 2008

In a setback to Railway Minister Lalu Prasad and his wife and former chief minister Rabri Devi, the Patna High Court on Thursday admitted for hearing, the appeal by Bihar government challenging their acquittal in a disproportionate assets case, an off-shoot of the multi-crore rupees fodder scam.

Justice R K Dutta, who had on February 18 reserved the order on conclusion of arguments on the admissibility of the state government's appeal, admitted it for hearing and called for documents from the special CBI court which had acquitted the duo.

Arguing on behalf of the duo, who had contested the state government's competence to move an appeal against the acquittal, noted criminal lawyer Ram Jethmalani had on January 28 described the NDA government's appeal as having arisen "unquestionably out of political vendetta".

Senior Supreme Court lawyer and state counsel Surendra Singh had, however, countered the charge, saying the trial court had not relied on evidences produced by the prosecution (CBI) in support of the DA case against the duo.

"Instead, the CBI court seems to have been influenced by the income tax appellate tribunal's order exonerating the couple of the charge of amassing assets disproportionate to their known sources of income," he had pleaded.

That order "should not be binding", Singh argued and urged the court to set aside the CBI court's order.

Jethmalani then said, even the informant in the case, CBI Dy SP R K Kharagwal, on whose statement the FIR was registered on August 18, 1998, had during the course of cross examination said he did not know why his name figured in the investigation and that he was not aware of any facts in the case.

Disputing Jethmalani's claim, Singh said the informant had submitted a confidential report to the then CBI SP V S Kaumudi which had formed the basis for registration of the FIR in the case on August 18, 1998.

Counsels for the CBI and Lalu-Rabri had, during the hearing of the special leave petition filed by the couple in the Supreme Court, contested the Bihar government's right to challenge their acquittal by the trial court.

Since the CBI, which is a central government agency, had probed the fodder scam cases, the premier investigative agency or the Union government alone and not the state government, was competent to challenge the acquittal, they had argued.

However, the Supreme Court had not given any relief to the couple saying it could hear the SLP only after the state government's appeal was admitted.

Earlier, during the resumed hearing in the Patna High Court on the admission of Bihar government's appeal, its counsel and Supreme Court lawyer Surendra Singh had on January 24 argued that the CBI had grossly erred in calculating the household expense of Lalu and his wife.

The Bihar government had on February 19 last year moved the Patna High Court against the acquittal of Lalu and Rabri in the DA case by CBI judge Muni Lal Paswan on December 18, 2006.

The DA case charged Lalu Prasad with amassing assets worth over Rs 46 lakh beyond his known sources of income when he was chief minister between 1990 and 1996. Rabri was made a co-accused for abetting the offence.

Capt M Kumar · 04-16-2008, 12:34 PM

<img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/india.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='india.gif' /> http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/N...how/2954751.cms
"PUNE: Sanjay Kamble is a talathi in a distant village in the Konkan, at the lowest rung in the hierarchy of the revenue department. His effort now is to break the habit of a 25-year working life, learning to address the district collectorâthe top boss of the Indian administrative system at the district levelâby his first name, and not as he has been trained, as sir or even sahib.

With the help of a B-School project, Sanjay has got so far as addressing his boss as Vikasji. Now, he has to reach the next level of calling him Vikas. The Ratnagiri district collector Vikas Chandra Rastogi started a programme last April to improve the responsivness of the administration.

This is where the Pune-based Symbiosis Institute of Business Management (SIBM) stepped in, and among its first suggestions was the need for greater communication between the layers of the government machinery. What better way to achieve this than by letting the subordinates call their boss by first name"?

06-06-2008, 12:31 AM

QUOTEIt's not all over for bureaucracy

India's 'steel frame' may be rusting, but it does not seem to be beyond redemption, writes MV Kamath (Pioneer, 19 May 2008)

The Changing Face of Bureaucracy: Fifty years of the IASÂ Author: Sanjoy Bagchi Publisher: RupaÂ Price :Rs 795Â Â Â Â Â Â

Never before has the Indian Administrative Service, the successor to the famed Indian Civil Service (ICS), come under such sharp criticism as Sanjoy Bagchi's book has done. This is not the work on outsider, nor is it a reflection of one's animus towards one's colleagues.

Bagchi joined the IAS in 1953, served it for two decades abroad, before returning to India, only to find his beloved service going to pieces. Shocked, he sought the views of his contemporaries and colleagues. To his dismay, he learnt that what he thought was the steady decay of the IAS was only too true. He attributes it to Emergency declared in 1975 by Mrs Indira Gandhi.

If, as Bagchi sees it, any one person can be charged with distorting the image of the IAS, it was Mrs Gandhi. He writes, "A reincarnation of despotic Mughal durbar

Writes Bagchi, with seeming contempt: "The different (IAS) youngster of the early idealistic years, in course of time, is transformed into an arrogant senior, fond of throwing his weight around, he become a conceited pig." Harsh words surely and unlikely to be applicable to all IAS officers and Bagchi concedes that. But he insists that "the knowledge about corrupt IAS officers is spontaneously known to their superiors and Ministers". The "real problem" being that "it is difficult to take disciplinary action against a corrupt IAS officer because he is entitled to protection according to principles of natural justice".

Bagchi is very crucial of the CBI as well. He writes, "In recent year, the CBI has been dismal comprehensively," adding, "The CBI has increasingly started resorting to framing false cases, with a shrewd eye on the political who's who." The book has to be read to be believed.

Bagchi traces the history of the civil services from the days of the East India Company and the role that the District collector had to play for decades. It is a detailed study of the administrative structure in India throughout the British regime. No matter how much one hated the British rule, the fact remains that the ICS was held in high esteem because it was accessible to the common people in rural areas. It was admired for its impartiality and efficiency. It had no political axe to grind.

Independence and the rise of political parties changed the contours of the IAS, which followed its predecessor ICS. Vallabhbhai Patel, who was responsible for the setting of the IAS, would be now crying in shame to see what has happened to it. Bagchi is clear that the IAS today is not the meritocratic entity which one would associate with the premier civil services, is not the lean and compact organisation which it was when first it came into existence, has no shared vision and it has now become customary for IAS officers to attach themselves to sub-goals like caste, communal or political for IAS officers to attach themselves to sub-goals like caste, communal or political assignments.

Bagchi asks a sensible question: "Should there be a brand new service to take the place of the IAS, avoiding the defects that have been plaguing it?" We need a Central service to remind regional Governments that the ultimate power lies in Delhi, which is the final authority in a united India. Under no circumstances should the IAS be dissolved.

Indeed, Bagchi agrees with this when he says, "It is evident that winding up the IAS without finding a substitute service is not a workable proposition, particularly in view of the complexity and diversity of the huge country with varying economic and political conditions in the States." What comes a s relief is to hear him say that "the IAS does not seem to be beyond redemption." There is still hope. This country does not lack idealistic young men and women. Only they are waiting for leadership. had been created in the Prime Minister's house; the rule of law has broken down and the wishes of the 'Empress' and her minions, lawful or otherwise, became the directives of state policy. Personal freedom was severely circumscribed, the Press was muzzled and the most atrocious deeds were perpetrated by the state agencies." As Bagchi saw it, for the IAS, the desire to please the dictator at all coats has become the prime motive.

http://dailypioneer.com/indexn12.asp?main_...t&counter_img=3


QUOTEDecline of IAS: Entire blame rests on political parties

By Rajinder Puri (FPJ,

If the IAS has lost its shine, the blame rests solidly on our ruthless political parties with their own agenda. Repairing the administrative system, then, must begin with repairing the political system. And the task must be immediately taken on hand. And that is the responsibility of the citizens and the people who have the power to vote out the corrupt.

A few years ago, the nomination of M. S. Gill by the Congress Party to the Rajya Sabha had raised some very valid questions of propriety. The induction of the same gentleman into the Union Ministry as a Minister of State on April 5, raises even more disturbing questions.

Gill, it may be remembered, was once the Chief Election Commissioner of India. Should a one-time civilian, to whichever cadre he belongs, have the privilege of being nominated to membership of Parliament, let alone to a Ministry? What kind of message is the Congress Party sending to civilians, more notably the Indian Administrative service? That they can expect higher positions in government after retirement, if, as civilians, they serve the party's interests faithfully? Even as matters stand, the Indian Administrative service (IAS) is under heavy attack.

One has only to read the newly published book on fifty years of the IAS by Sanjay Bagchi, himself a retired member of the elite service to realise to what depths of degradation the service has come to, Bagchi had joined the IAS in 1958 and was one of its proud members for the next quarter of a century.

He says he was fortunate to receive "unlimited co-operation from a large number of IAS officers" in writing of his book which constitutes the most damning indictment ever written about the Indian Administrative service. The condemnation is total and unreserved which makes one wonder whether the government and the country should not give serious attention to new and more efficient ways of running the government.

The IAS was set up, following India's attainment of independence and the inevitable winding up of the then prestigious Indian Civil Service (ICS), which was a pure British invention, because nothing like that had existed in India from the days of Ashoka to the end of the Mughal Empire. The ICS was efficient; those were colonial days and the ICS reflected colonial government at its best. In retrospect, they were easy days when industrialisation was in its infant stage, technology was just a dream and there were no specialised fields in which expertise was needed.

Officers, in the circumstances could be transferred from one Ministry to another with ease, since the issues arising in any Ministry were largely administrative in content and could be tackled with reasonable case and efficiency. Our present governments do not seem to have realised that times have changed, that specialisation has become the order of the day and what seemed justiciable in the days of the ICS cannot be defended any longer.

But the IAS is following the ICS path. As Bagchi has correctly noted, members of the IAS "roam from one department to another, from one field to another, and from generalised administration to somewhat specialised functions" being "neither masters of a particular discipline nor really jacks of all trades".

They have become the laughing stock of administrators in private industries. As an IAS Officer can be a Secretary of, say, Ministry of Commerce, to take up in due course the Secretary-ship of another, totally alien, Ministry, without knowing anything of his new assignment. There have been IAS officers who have never held a camera in their lives, know nothing of mutli-camera production, have never written a script or a play, cannot distinguish malhar from malkauns, never ever asked to summarise parliamentary proceedings or summarise a speech given by a public figure, wishing to be Directors General of Doordarshan or All India Radio.

The presumption was that Journalism is an easy subject to Master and isn't the applicant a member of the elite IAS anyway? The senior members of the DD and AIR staff, professionals to their finger-tips, who have spent a lifetime of service in their respective fields cannot aspire to be Directors General even when they are professional experts. What is even more tragic about the IAS is the quota system.

The promotion quota was enlarged to 33 percent from 25 percent in 1979. A massive quota was introduced for OBCs in 1994, which together with earlier quotas for SC/ST, removed one half of the annual intake from the merit criterion of open competition of the IAS.

Currently, the merit criterion has been substantially diluted, being limited to merely 33 percent of the Service and, if Bagchi is to be believed, "it could be further curtailed in the near future". If this is what the future is going to be, why have the IAS at all? Bagchi has no doubt that quotas ab initio, reduce quality and efficiency of the service. Following the Emergency says Bagchi, "the desire to please the dictator at all costs became the prime motive" of the IAS cadre and "sycophants from the cadre ruled the roost".

Apparently, the IAS has tended to become highly politicised and "increasingly corrupt" since then. For that, one supposes, one has to be thankful to Indira Gandhi to whom is ascribed the dangerous decline of the IAS. From what one gathers, the top levels of state administration now contain the good and the bad in "almost equal" proportions.

Promotion has become a rat race with "consummate operators in the Civil Service routinely making use of the services of power brokers, fixers et al. The IAS gives the impression that it has gone down the drain and lost its moral standards. With the quota system it had long ceased to be a elite club. The time has come to rectify the situation before it gets worse.

The obsession with the quota system must go. The management of state enterprise must be taken out of IAS hands and must be given to professional managers of whom there is no dearth in India. Indeed, in every department of administration where expertise is clearly called for, the manning of the same must be entrusted to professionals, as in the Banking Sector, and never to IAS Officers.

According to R. K. Trivedi, a very Senior IAS Officer quoted by Bagchi, the most question is "whether the IAS as a potent tool should be allowed to degenerate and destroy itself or whether corrective measures are still possible". One suspects that it is never too late to learn and certainly, it is never too late to restructure the entire IAS edifice. Obviously, winding up the IAS, as it is, without finding a suitable alternative is foolish and, in the long run, damaging.

This is where one has to address oneself to political parties which have been largely responsibe for damaging the IAS reputation. They must be made to realise that using the IAS for party benefits can only undermine the base of democracy and destroy the already rusting "Iron-frame" of administration. If the IAS has lost its shine, the blame rests solidly on our ruthless political parties with their own agenda. Repairing the administrative system, then, must begin with repairing the political system. And the task must be immediately taken on hand. And that is the responsibility of the citizens and the people who have the power to vote out the corrupt.

http://www.freepressjournal.in/08052008/Edit2.htm

Capt M Kumar · 07-21-2008, 04:52 AM

"Independence is no doubt a matter of joy. But let us not forget that this independence has thrown on us greater responsibilities. By independence, we have lost the excuse of blaming the British for anything going wrong. If hereafter things go wrong, we will have nobody to blame except ourselves. There is a greater danger of things going wrong. Times are fast changing," he had said.

Despite the strides by India, things have actually gone wrong, especially in politics. Instead of accepting the blame, the politicians or those at the helm of affairs have always found the 'foreign hand', 'communal forces', 'pseudo-secular forces', 'Manuvadi forces' or 'imperialist forces' handy to point fingers at.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/H...how/3257044.cms

07-23-2008, 06:43 AM

Remains of the day 

Pratap Bhanu Mehta

Posted online: Wednesday, July 23, 2008 at 0049 hrs IST

The UPA has won a reprieve, by a significant margin. But today's proceedings have confirmed our worst fears. Parliamentary democracy is in deep disarray. Bags of money have become more than a shadowy presence in our politics. The truth of the charges that have been levelled by three BJP MPs will be sorted out in due course. But what has already been established, beyond doubt, is that the bags of money have become not just a metaphor for the character of our politics, they have become its means and its essence. It would be prudent not to prejudge the allegations. But it has to be said that either way this episode reflects abominable depths in our politics. If true, the charges are serious enough; if false and stage-managed, they represent a heinous attempt to subvert democracy. Either way, we have a politics without scruples, without principles, without common decency and without common prudence. 

Defenders of Indian democracy will hearken back to history. What is new about this? We survived the JMM. We shall survive this too. If only we had punished the powerful in the JMM, this would not have happened. But that is simply restating the problem. Look at the brighter side: at least the scoundrels are now trapping each other. Perhaps this will lead to a new dawn. But this polity has long deluded itself on this vain hope. In fact, quite the opposite is likely to happen. Democracy functions not simply by forms of adversarial contestation. It functions through conventions of social interchange and minimal networks of trust. As Orwell wrote in another context, "The sword is still in the scabbard, and while it stays there corruption cannot go beyond a certain point." But with this episode, the swords are out of the scabbard: corruption of one form or the other has crossed certain limits, and no relations of trust between parties, or between parties and the people, will be possible for some time to come. One way or the other MPs will now resort to any trick possible, and the politics of revenge and conspiracy will overshadow any credible political discourse. We too easily forget that we paid a heavy price for the last JMM episode. The moral vacuum created by that episode haunted Indian politics for a long time. But at that point you still had figures who could act, if not as exemplars of moral probity, at least as agents of a credible reconciliation. Now that moral vacuum will be matched by a leadership vacuum of unprecedented propositions. 

Big relief has been expressed in the fact that, in the final analysis, only a handful of MPs, under a variety of contingent circumstances, were actually susceptible to inducement. But behind this valid numerical point is a deeper malaise. We had a prime minister whose trump card was his integrity. But in order to retain political control rather than face elections, he lost his own moral identity. In dealing with Amar Singh something of the unsavoury side of Amar Singh was bound to rub off on the government. Independently of the cash charges, the Congress legitimised the idea that the end justifies the means; one can do business with anyone on any terms. 

Once legitimised, this principle corrodes everything. Is there a politician left who can now look the people straight in the eye and say with any degree of credibility, "I will restore integrity to the basic functioning of the state?" The Congress has temporarily won, but in doing so it has stooped; and that stooping will have long-term corrosive consequences. 

On the other hand, there is motley of tricksters, who have no principles at all, who create alignments out of thin air based on nothing other than short-term instrumentalism. Mayawati certainly has political momentum behind her. Her electoral advance is more likely to come at the expense of the Congress. But she also has elements of political ruthlessness; her own statements and those of her MPs give a sense that her party can say anything. It has no principles, only fighting words and that does not portend well for the future of Indian institutions. For it acquiring power will itself be such an emblem of social justice, that it will set aside all other reasonable considerations. 

It is a pity that the Congress let an unbridled political instrumentalism taint the substantive issues. Its parliamentary performance was substantive, it at least projected an aura of minimal competence, and the BJP managed to make Rahul Gandhi's unsure earnestness, political naivety and attempt to reach out at least look decent. Lalu was characteristically brilliant; a wonderful example of cutting down opponents while sneaking in the big picture issues. But it only reminded us of the wasted potential he still represents.

For all the bluster that this debate was about India's place in the world, the flavour and concerns were largely parochial. The Left's line of attack was on predictable lines, but it concentrated too much on its relations with the Congress than staking out an alternative ideological space. Advani's speech was itself disappointing. What should have been a moment for him to convince the nation that he is something of a statesman only served to confirm that he is none too clear about the direction in which the BJP should head. He talked about not being a junior partner of the United States, but left the impression that for him there is no foreign policy question apart from seeking recognition from the US. Given the current scandal, this question may now be moot.

We have a fragile interregnum, but the potential of an impossibly fractious polity still haunts us. The debate provided a snapshot of what each party was, what it has become and where it might be headed. But this picture portends a gathering storm; the ceremony cannot mask the sense of foreboding about the future of our politics. When a politics falls to such depths, there are two outcomes: either a self-conscious regeneration, or the unleashing of forces in no one's control. We can rehearse platitudes about what should be done now: an impartial investigation into allegations, the need to attend to inflation, etc. The fact also remains that we will be pursuing a major foreign policy initiative with a tenuous mandate. But with a morally self-deluded Congress, a ruthless BSP, a militant Left, an amoral SP, a divisive BJP, small blackmailers with unprecedented political power, an instrumental political culture, and tough economic times ahead, the stench of disintegration is in the air. 

The writer is president, Centre for Policy Research, Delhi 

express@expressindia.com

http://www.indianexpress.com/printerFrie...39087.html

08-03-2008, 10:09 PM

MPs for Sale

QUOTEIf there is a hung Parliament next time and a coalition government whose survival hangs by a thread, do not be surprised if New Delhi becomes a bigger bazaar of horses than it was when Dr Manmohan Singh won the vote of confidence on July 22. The price of the horses will be far higher than the unbelievable benchmark set by the managers of the UPAâs victory last week.


QUOTEIn other words, Indian Parliament will be on sale from now onwards. 

QUOTEI assisted the three BJP MPs in their whistle-blowing operation. I was a witness to most of what they have stated in their petition to the Speaker and vouch for its authenticity. I was with the CNN-IBN team almost from the beginning to the end of its sting operation and have witnessed its recording of the operation. I have no hesitation in affirming that the channel has double-crossed the whistle-blowers by flouting its own solemn assurance to telecast the tape before the trust vote was taken on July 22. I am willing to depose before the inquiry committee and ready to face any punishment if found guilty.
QUOTEDifficult days are ahead for Indian democracy. Therefore, the time to act for you, me and all democracy-loving people, is NOW.

08-20-2008, 04:18 AM

QUOTERAW official attempts suicide at PMO over sexual harassment by Joint Secy 
Pioneer.com
Karn Pratap Singh | New Delhi
A 46-year-old Class I lady officer of Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) attempted suicide by consuming rat poison at the reception of the highly secured Prime Minister's Office (PMO) on Tuesday. According to the victim, she took this step to draw attention of the Prime Minister regarding alleged sexual harassment on her by her Joint Secretary.

Police officials said that the victim, identified as Nisha Priya Bhatia, a Cabinet Secretariat Director, consumed poison at the reception of the PMO around 1.15 pm. The victim started vomiting on which the authorities of the PMO office informed the police. A PCR van took her to RML Hospital, where doctors treated her for hours, brought out poison and finally declared her out of danger. The doctors at the hospital said that the woman was brought in an uconscious condition around 1.45 pm.

"The woman was brought around 1.45 pm by a PCR van alleging that she had consumed poison. We examined her and took out the poison from her stomach. Luckily, she was brought on time that's why we managed to save her. Now she is conscious and out of danger," said Dr SK Sharma, Casualty In-charge of RML.

In the meantime, several media people gathered outside the emergency ward of RML Hospital. The security guards present on the entrance gate were not allowing the media to meet the victim. The senior police officials were also not disclosing anything about the matter. "We are investigating into the matter. We are not in a position to comment on this at this moment," said DCP, New Delhi range Anand Mohan.

The victim said that she was extremely disturbed by the fact that the work environment in her office had deteriorated so much for lady officers that her Joint Secretary could openly invite her to prostitution. She said that sexual harassment within the department seemed to have crossed all limits when the Joint Secretary allegedly offered her money to spend a night with him at a hotel. She also had placed her resignation letter to the concerned authorities last year but was not accepted.

On the other hand, the Cabinet Secretariat provided a fact sheet stating that Nisha Priya Bhatia was in a 'disturbed state of mind'. According to the fact sheet, the lady officer had lodged a complaint last year alleging sexual harassment by her Joint Secretary. On the basis of this complaint, the Complaint Committee enquired the matter. The lady officer, however, withdrew her complaint. She was given several opportunities to present her case, but she refused to cooperate with the committee.

The fact sheet also revealed that a number of complaints have been received from different officers of the organisation against Nisha Bhatia regarding misbehaviour, use of abusive words and sending objectionable and offensive SMS. A medical officer of the AIIMS advised her to go for medical counselling as she was behaving like an abnormal patient. However, the actual fact could be revealed after the investigation of the matter. Police have assured to investigate the matter properly

Ofcourse, one babu will do excellent coverup for other babu.

Why they had not named Joint Sectary name?

Capt M Kumar · 08-20-2008, 09:02 AM

<!--emo&

--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif' /> The gold medallistâs family is understood to have wondered whether leaders of political parties should also be on Bindra's calling list. As it is, the reasons for calling on the Speaker were not entirely clear, even though the air rifle champ did so despite there seeming to be no protocol requirement.

Gill was understood to be keen on Bindra calling on Sonia but when it was felt that it would be appropriate to also visit Advani, the minister was not very pleased. It is believed that Bindra's family felt that it would only be proper to call on the Leader of Opposition if India's first individual gold medallist was to go to 10, Janpath.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Opinion...how/3372082.cms

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