There is popular discontent on the issues
of farmers and their lot, land acquisition and proper utilisation of available
land. All political parties are anxious to appear as champions of the cause of
farmers. The paradox is that none has suggested a concrete solution. The
contribution of agriculture to the GDP is approximately 13 per cent, according
to data available for 2013, but more than 50 per cent of India’s population is
dependent on agriculture.
May 9, 2015
‘Sheelam Param Bhushanam,’ Modi tells civil servants
You
should be proud to tell your grandchildren what you did, affecting the lives of
common people by taking decisions in favour of the people, and not be telling
them about your material accomplishments,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said to
civil servants on Civil Services Day.
For next-gen governance
The
celebration of Civil Services Day also saw an exuberant churning of the mind.
The cream was churned vigorously and up came the butter after separating from
milk. The same was the case with the two-day panel discussions on as many as
five topics, including Social Sector, Housing, Employment, Agriculture and, to
cap it all, challenges before the civil services in which the crème de la crème
participated in the deliberations. Three main points came up during the
discussions. One was that skills are of paramount importance in any sector.
Pension jolt
After
being dubbed anti-farmer, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government faces the
prospect of being branded anti-labour as serious discontent is brewing in
central trade unions of the country over changes in labour laws, the proposal
to invest part of Employee Provident Fund’s (EPF) incremental corpus of Rs. 6
lakh crore in conventional equity and delay in extension of the Rs. 1,000
minimum monthly pension scheme in the financial year 2015-16.
Money has no colour
In
para 102 of the Budget Speech, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced a
new comprehensive law on black money to specifically deal with such money
stashed abroad. To this end, he introduced a Bill in Parliament titled Foreign
Income and Assets (Imposition of Tax) Bill, 2015 [referred to as Black Money
Bill in short).
Outwitting Mufti
Sarvanand is the pen name of an astute Kashmiri Pandit who has been a
close observer of the mind games being played out over the decades in Kashmir.
He was for long in the Intelligence Bureau and was involved in the manufacture
of half the tales spun by the mandarins of North Block. Long after he retired,
he once wrote a masterful analysis of why the Kashmir problem could never be
resolved. He proved beyond a shadow of doubt that all the parties to the
struggle, in India, Pakistan and the Valley, were vitally and personally
interested in an indefinite continuance of the struggle.
Waning sentiments?
When analysts start
talking of India as a good long-term story for five to 10 years, that itself is
indicative of what lies in store for the market in the short-medium term. May I
ask them if they can predict the political landscape of the country for such a
long period, never mind the economy and the financial markets? The market has
run up a lot purely on sentiment coupled with a fair bit of good luck—but both
elements are seen to be waning fast.
Essence of intellect
We live in times when the human intellect has been given a
role utterly disproportionate to its intended function. This is due to the
lopsided development of this aspect of the mind encouraged by modern education.
On the one hand, it must be remembered that the intellect is crucial for human
survival on this planet. You are able to discern a person from a tree only
because your intellect is functional. You know that you must walk through the
door, not through the wall, only because your intellect is functional. On more
complex and sophisticated levels, the intellect has contributed immeasurably to
human civilisation and culture.
Land woes
dda to take a call on land acquisition bill
THERE is a land
racket bomb in Delhi, allegedly owed to none other than Kamal Nath. On
September 5, 2013 (before the DDA’s notification 2687 E), it was decided by the
Ministry of Urban Development to allow the land pooling policy where a
landowner can surrender land holdings into the central pool and be a
stakeholder in the development proposed on the land. In a way, it was a move to
take away land jurisdiction from the Delhi Development Authority. Sources
disclosed that all powerful Congress ministers and leaders of the Delhi
Government aggregated agriculture wherever it was available. Due to the change
in the master plan in Delhi, land prices skyrocketed in Dwarka, Najafgarh,
Narela and Bawana. The planners were running against time as the 2014 general
election was approaching and mandatory approvals had to be in place. According
to the reports, the Lt. Governor of Delhi cleared the file this January and
sent it to the DDA Vice Chairman. Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah
Naidu is aware of the issue. Naidu has to decide whether Delhi has to make a
move on the land pooling policy or not. Whether it is sanctioned or not,
farmers who have taken the advance are happy as they are enjoying the luxuries
of life without losing their land. The so-called farmer-friendly top Congress
leadership is jittery as billions of rupees are at stake. g
Smriti here to stay
minister with the right contacts
MINISTER of Human Resource Development, Smriti Irani,
appears to be perpetually in a mess. She is forging ahead on her mission alone
but that is not the way of politics which is all about walking together. She
does not believe in bowing to diktats.
The television actor must have derived her skills by
stealing the show in hit teleserials. No wonder she is a loner. She has been
seen exiting the Lok Sabha to stand in the gallery, expecting journos or MP
colleagues to greet her. One day, she stood in the corridor of Parliament for
half an hour, fiddling with her phone. Surprisingly, nobody disturbed her.
According to party sources, Irani is not on cordial terms with either BJP Chief
Amit Shah or his confidants. According to the grapevine, there was a plan to
remove her from the ministry. Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha was
poised to take charge of the Human Resource Ministry but the plan was scuttled
from the top at the last minute. Clearly, Irani has mentors in the right places
despite being a newcomer in the party. g
New in the Congress
changes highlight shift in thought
THOUGH the Congress has been marginalised in the political
system of the country, a fierce war among the top political leadership
continues. The top leadership is aware that it will take time for Rahul Gandhi
to make an impact, and till then it is important to retain key positions in the
party hierarchy. This became evident at the Kisan Rally organised in April by
the Congress at Ramlila Maidan. The permanent stage manager, Janardan Dwivedi,
was conspicuously absent from the podium.
Digvijay Singh emerged as the leader of the show. Ashok
Tanwar of the Youth Congress, Ajay Maken, Pratap Singh Bajwa of Punjab, Jairam
Ramesh and Gulam Nabi Azad are some of the prominent faces that have emerged as
the new team of Rahul. Capt. Amarinder Singh did not speak at the rally.
Despite Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s efforts to bring whatever crowd he could
muster, he was not given much prominence.
Manmohan Singh and AK Anthony know much about the party and
as well as 10, Janpath, so they were given due respect. The veterans within the
party are noticing a perceptible change and sensing an intense wrestle even in
these days of oblivion. g
Whose Haryana?
brewing discord between cm and cabinet
MANOHAR Lal Khattar
has been a simple social worker who enjoyed his life working with the RSS for
40 years. He had never dreamt of becoming chief minister of a state as volatile
as Haryana. Politics has its own intrigues and it does not spare anybody.
Sources say the central BJP leadership is introspecting on whether the party
has committed a gaffe by appointing Khattar as chief minister. There is no
clarity on how and by whom the government is being run. The BJP leadership of
Haryana does not know what to do. Haryana has a great advantage as a central
office for any political party but Khattar is far from being able to handle
issues. BJP President Amit Shah and Khattar appear to be at loggerheads. Shah
desires fast-paced delivery of the political agenda in the state which is not
happening. Khattar has to deal with cabinet colleagues who openly defy him.
Anil Vij, Health Minister and close confidant of Shah, never hides his
animosity towards Khattar. Ram Bilas Sharma, Minister for Transport and a BJP
veteran, has his own traits and ambitions. The shrewdest of all is
industrialist and Finance Minister, Capt. Abhimanyu Singh, who is also close to
Shah. Singh is a politician to watch out for in Haryana. He has recently announced
an excise policy that has resulted in whisky and beer in Haryana being more
expensive than in Delhi. There is a lot of discussion over the reason for the
increased price. Who is patronising Singh? There’s much to look out for in
pot-boiling Haryana. g
No family time
Prime Minister
Narendra Modi has advised bureaucrats to spend quality time with family as the
government needs humans in offices and not robots but state governments seem to
be disregarding his advice. A number of newly married civil servant couples
have been unable to get cadre transfer, and are living in separate states.
Afsana Perveen, 2014 batch, J&K cadre, requested an inter-cadre transfer to
the Kerala cadre on grounds of her marriage to Jafar Malik, 2013 batch. A
letter intimating the present status of the case along with copies of the
letters sent to the state government have been issued to Perveen. Dinesh Kumar,
IAS, 2013 batch, Manipur-Tripura cadre, applied for inter-cadre transfer to the
Andhra Pradesh cadre on the grounds of his marriage to his batchmate, Vijaya K.
It is learnt that Kumar’s vigilance clearance was denied because of default in
filing IPR for 2014. Similarly, U Swaroop, 2011 batch, West Bengal cadre,
sought an inter-cadre transfer to Tamil Nadu while Dr Kadambari Bhagat, 2010
batch, Nagaland cadre, applied for inter-cadre transfer to the Maharashtra
cadre on the grounds of marriage to Balkwade Shailesh Unmesh, a 2010-batch Maharashtra
cadre IPS officer. Sources disclose that the request has been rejected as the
officer sought transfer from the home state. Nidhi, 2013 batch, West Bengal
cadre, IAS, sought an inter-cadre transfer to the AGMUT cadre on the grounds of
marriage to Devesh Kumar, 2012 batch, AGMUT cadre, IPS. The comments of the
state governments concerned have not been received. Swati Srivastava, 2012
batch, IAS, Chhattisgarh cadre, applied for inter-cadre transfer to the
Uttarakhand cadre on grounds of marriage to Nitin Singh Bhadauria, 2011 batch,
IAS, of that cadre. No approval from the government of Chhattisgarh has come as
yet. Killu Siva Kumar Naidu, 2011 batch, Manipur-Tripura cadre, IAS, applied
for an inter-cadre transfer from the Manipur-Tripura cadre to the Telangana
cadre on the grounds of marriage to Chetana Mylabathula, 2013 batch, Telangana
cadre, IPS. The state government is silent till now. Riju Bafna, IAS, 2014
batch, Chhattisgarh cadre, applied for an inter-cadre transfer to the Madhya
Pradesh cadre on the grounds of marriage to her batchmate, Avi Prasad. The
government of Chhattisgarh did not issue a No Objection Certificate to the
officer on account of paucity of IAS officers. Surprisingly, the Chhattisgarh
government conveyed a “No Objection” to the inter-cadre transfer of her spouse,
Avi Prasad, to Chhattisgarh. g
Khattar’s dual support
When Manohar Lal
Khattar took over as Chief Minister of Haryana, he had virtually no experience
in governing. It was a peculiar situation as he had not even appointed a
Principal Secretary. It is an important post in a state government, working
like a bridge between the Chief Minister’s Office and the state. Sanjiv
Kaushal, a 1986-batch IAS officer of the Haryana cadre, has now been appointed
to the position. The BJP has come to power for the first time since the
inception of Haryana, so it was a new challenge all the way for everybody to
run the state. The polite, humble and suave Kaushal is managing the show well.
But it is really tricky to manage the state single-handedly and naturally there
were murmurs. So Khattar brought in another sharp, intelligent and hardworking
young IAS officer of the 1988 batch, Haryana cadre, as Additional Principal
Secretary – Rajesh Khullar. The latter was working as a Joint Secretary in the
Ministry of Finance. Now the state’s responsibilities are vertically divided
between the two efficient secretaries. Politicians and officers who were reluctant
to approach Kaushal are approaching Khullar. Khattar is also happy as there are
more inputs on the table from both sides. One definitely learns the art of
ruling as time passes! g
The new boss
Civil Services Day,
celebrated in April this year, was quite different from earlier celebrations.
There were new faces and a new thrust. The Secretary, Department of
Administrative Reforms, Alok Rawat, and Special Secretary Arun Jha were in full
command, managing the show with finesse. Being the seniormost among civil
servants, Cabinet Secretary AK Seth was present most of the time and was seen
observing and instructing wherever needed. Amitabh Kant, Secretary, DIPP, Navtej
Sarna, Secretary, External Affairs, Saurabh Chandra, Secretary, Petroleum,
Sanjay Kothari, Secretary, DoPT, and Madhav Lal, Secretary, MSME, were actively
participating and interacting with fellow colleagues. The real power centre
with the change of guard was PK Mishra, Additional Principal Secretary to the
Prime Minister. A retired 1972-batch IAS officer of the Gujarat cadre, Mishra
was sitting in the front row and closely observing the proceedings. Most of the
top bureaucrats were seen whispering to him. Some of them were seen waiting
quietly for their turn to just say hello or introduce themselves to the new
boss in the set-up. Mishra politely listened and met everybody patiently. He
kept a very calm, humble and low profile during the occasion. g
Legal loopholes
There is simmering
tension between the judiciary and executive due to the National Judicial
Appointments Commission (NJAC). There seems to be a deep-rooted disconnect
within the new dispensation in its plan for NJAC. Some facts: The UPA1 and UPA2
regimes had a very cordial relationship with the judiciary. It has been a merit
versus seniority debate for the appointment of judges. With the new Act in
force, a six-member committee will have a final say for the selection of the
judges. Political observers and analysts say this is possibly happening due to
the country’s top realty tycoon, DLF. Soon after the new dispensation took over
the reins of government, the Supreme Court on August 28, 2014, instructed DLF
to pay a `630 cr fine. On February 26 this year, DLF and its non-independent
directors—KP Singh, Rajiv Singh, Pia Singh, TC Goyal, Ramesh Sanka, GS Talwar
and Kameshwar Swarup—were fined `26 crore each by Securities and Exchange Board
of India (SEBI). The fine has been imposed for non-disclosure of material
information in the company’s offer documents during its Initial Public Offering
(IPO). This is the same IPO which was challenged by an NGO in 2007. The ruling
dispensation seems to be aware of the Machiavellian moves of DLF. g
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