DO you remember the first time
you purchased a condom? Or, the first time you mustered courage to ask for the
first packet of sanitary napkin? Almost 99 per cent of the readers, or may be
all of them, would remember the feelings of embarrassment, mixed with shyness
and a bit of coyness. Cut to 2017. The Department of Personnel and Training
(DoPT) has opened three vending and three disposal machines for sanitary
napkins outside three women bathrooms at its main office in the North Block.
Each transaction will cost Rs 5 and the machines are equipped to accept coins
of different nominations. Soon, more machines will be installed at DoPT’s other
offices as part of the ongoing ‘Swachchata Hi Seva’ campaign. The six machines
were inaugurated with much fanfare by two women joint secretaries in the
department, K Kipgen and G Jayanthi, and attended by scores of other women
bureaucrats and we hope the idea takes off. In our still-conservative society,
the women are more likely to glance around, ensure that no one’s looking, and
then quickly head towards the machines. Only a few are likely to approach them
brazenly and confidently without a care in the world. The reason is simple:
periods are believed to be ‘unclean’ and women are apprehensive and nervous to
reveal it. We hope that the Swachchata Abhiyaan removes such unclean thoughts
from the minds of both the men and women. More power to the women!
October 17, 2017
By the way : Confused bureaucracy
IF there was one area where the
bureaucracy was quite efficient, it was in appointments to senior posts,
especially ministerial secretaries. Although there were intense, sometimes
bloody, tussles for the actual ministries, the names of the individuals were
decided much in advance. Most potential bureaucrats knew that they would become
a Secretary by a particular year, and so did the DoPT. This system was
disrupted a bit three years ago as another layer of control and
decision-making-the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO)-was added. As the South Block
decided to go through the appointments-related files, the process became more
complex and layered. It had both its positives and negatives-either the
secretaries were appointed much before the existing one retired or left, or
much after the due date. It is, therefore, not surprising that the three
central departments-administrative reforms and public grievances, corporate
affairs, and justice-don’t have full-time secretaries. Naveen Verma, Secretary,
development affairs, was given additional charges of administrative reforms and
public grievances, and pension and pensioners’ welfare. Subhas Chandra Garg,
Secretary, economic affairs, is also in-charge of corporate affairs. And, G
Narayana Raju, Secretary, legislative department, was given additional charge
of justice. The net effect: potential and deserving secretaries are confused.
They are unsure if and when will they get the coveted post, or ride the
ultimate bureaucratic horse.
By the way : Tussle for power
Who runs the Home Ministry of India? The answer would be
obvious, former UP Chief Minister and Home Minister Rajnath Singh administers
the pivotal ministry of India. But, if insiders are to be believed, the
situation states otherwise. Even the recommendations of top-ranking RSS office
bearers are turned down by the PMO. Sources informed that the most important
decisions, especially concerning Union Territories, are being taken by the PMO
directly. The recommendations sent by the Home Ministry are either kept in
abeyance, or sent with new recommendations. The paradox is that the Home
Minister also keeps the new recommendations in abeyance. Hence, there is
decision paralysis in the ministry. The selection of Delhi State Election Commissioner
is a glaring example of the altercation between the PMO and the Home Ministry.
The Home Ministry recommended three names to the PMO after consulting
top-ranking RSS leaders. The PMO kept the file in abeyance for some time. The
file was send back to the Home Ministry after one month with a new name to be
appointed as the State Election Commissioner. The Home Ministry officials were
astonished to find that their recommendation had been turned down. Now the file
is hanging and no further decision has been taken as the final authority to
issue the orders lies with the Home Ministry, that too with the signature of
the Home Minister. Rajnath Singh, a powerful politician of the BJP, is keeping
mum on the developments but RSS leaders are aghast. Wait and watch this space.
By the way : Secret PMO language
EVERY Kingdom had its own
language and style of working developed over centuries. Sometimes palace
courtiers spoke in sign language and the message was passed on. This was to
keep a check on intrigues. Our Prime Minister’s Office is following this
century old dictum. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not very well conversant
with English language. He is fluent in Hindi but he is more comfortable in
Gujarati. He first reads Gujarati newspapers in the morning. Insiders reveal
that whenever any important issue is discussed, which is not supposed to be
known to others in the PMO at that point of time, the top-ranking officials,
who hails from the Gujarat cadre, speak in Gujarati. Modi took extra precaution
when the decision of demonetisation was being taken. He and his close
officials, including one important secretary of the concerning ministry, opted
to talk in Gujarati. Sources disclosed that even otherwise the top-ranking
Gujarati cadre officials prefer to speak in Gujarati. So, in the PMO when the
officials started talking in Guajarati only, it is an indication that an
important issue is being discussed and a decision is being taken on it.
Bric a Brac : Wooing Rajnikanth
THE BJP is determined to make
inroads in Tamil Nadu after Kerala by all means. The biggest hurdle for them is
to find a credible leader. The ruling AIAMDK is on the verge of the collapse.
The BJP does not want the reins of the state to slip into the hands of the DMK.
There are two film superstars–Rajnikanth and Kamal Hassan–who can create a
political road map for the BJP. According to sources, Hassan is not enthused
about having any links with the BJP. So Rajnikanth is the only hope left for
the BJP. Sources disclosed that Rajnikanth has agreed to campaign for the BJP
provided the Rs. 180-crore loan taken from Indian Bank by his wife to start her
real estate business is taken care of. With the real estate sector in slowdown,
she has suffered heavy losses. The BJP’s top leadership desires Rajnikanth to
join the BJP first but the shrewd superstar cited deteriorating health concerns
and excused himself. Rather than join the party, Rajnikanth is ready to
campaign for the BJP if the loan issue is resolved amicably. Well, at one
level, Rs. 180 crore is peanuts if the BJP flag is unfurled in Tamil
Nadu.
Bric a Brac : Rudy takes a shine
Former minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy and Faggan Singh Kulaste are
among some of the MPs who are furious with the style of the functioning of the
PMO since they have been ejected as the Minister for Skill Development and
Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, respectively. After the
tantrum by Uma Bharati, both Rudy and Kulaste were quite agitated when they
were asked to resign from the ministership. Both have the grudge that they have
never been given an opportunity to explain their achievements before the Prime
Minister. Sources close to Rudy informed that he has been seeking an
appointment to meet the Prime Minister for past eight months, but the PMO did
not give him any time. Even during the appraisal of his ministry, the PMO used
to call the secretary of the ministry. Sources, however, informed that
inefficiency was not the only reason for Rudy’s ouster. His honesty and
integrity as a minister was allegedly in doubt. It is learnt that in the
corridors of the ministry, it was known that people who have work with the
ministry had to go to a jeweller’s shop in South Delhi before meeting the
minister. This was brought to the notice of RSS stalwarts and Rudy was shown
the door. Kulaste, however, became a victim of fellow state politicians who are
more settled and aggressive in Delhi.
Bric a Brac : Sam Pitroda’s Diaspora
IF the tide of politics turns the
table, will Gujarat and Gujaratis be again instrumental in choosing the new
Prime Minister of India. It may not be far fetched to say that the political
survival of Amit Shah and Narendra Modi depends on the outcome of the Gujarat assembly
elections. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi too has realised this fact. As per
sources, Rahul has adopted a two-fold strategy. He has activated himself in
Gujarat and is also working on another front of Non-Resident Indians, a core
constituency of Mr Modi. The Indian diaspora has all along been clamouring for
attention and Modi gave a voice to them even without visiting with a vast
network of Gujaratis. But all Gujaratis or members of the Indian diaspora are
not Modi supporters. Rahul has realised this and recently visited the US to
cultivate the attention-seeking diaspora. Gujaratis across the world are very
active in business and they dominate in most of the areas of economy in their
respective abodes. Gujaratis also dominate and dictate the politics sitting
across the border. Most of the social media supporters of Modi are the members
of Indian diaspora. As per the plan, Rahul will tour across the world and
mobilise the Indian diaspora and expose Modi and his policies. Surprisingly,
the Chanakya of the plan is none other than the Gujarati Sam Pitroda who is a
mentor of Rahul Gandhi. Sam has bigger plans for Rahul in the days to come.
Wait and watch.
Bric a Brac : Fixers barge BJP
TO grow in size sounds good but size too can create problems.
The BJP has started to feel the pinch of becoming a big size party. It has 8.8
crore members across India and is the biggest political party India has ever
had. If one visits the BJP headquarters in New Delhi, one can see the workers
desperately in search of leaders and ministers. The party has six morchas and
around 40 committees. These morchas and committees comprise approximately 200
top ranking leaders of the BJP. Apart from that, morchas are spread across
India. It has been observed that most of the rich and influential have managed
to grab the morcha posts by greasing the palm of the national morcha
leadership. After grabbing the posts, these novices are touring the nation
claiming to be national leaders of the BJP. This is not happening in isolation.
Apparently, some senior RSS leaders are reported to have facilitated the entry
of persona non grata into the party system and in the process are tasting the
fruits of being powerful members of the ruling elite. Top ranking RSS leaders
are aware of these black sheep but are not able to take any action. Is RSS
guruji Mohan Bhagwat listening?
A new slogan on Kashmir
IT was with a sense of déjà vu that one heard
the new slogan coined by Narendra Modi to delineate the future policy on
Kashmir. One could have dismissed the slogan as an obiter dictum freshly minted
on the spur of the moment. But the significance of a statement made from the
ramparts of the Red Fort cannot be taken lightly. Modi said that we should
treat the Kashmiri separatists in accordance with the rhyme: “Na gaali se, na
goli se, balki gale se lagake (neither with abuse, nor with the bullet, rather
embrace them in your arms).”
Courage of conviction
IT was a taunt and better
prospects of growth and emoluments that brought Kamal Krishna Sinha into Indian
Administrative Service (IAS). Otherwise Sinha, son of RKP Sinha, a provincial
civil servant (PCS) in Bihar Capital, and Phool Kumari Devi, a housewife, was
more than content teaching students of Regional Institute of Technology (RIT)
in Jamshedpur. He had got into teaching at the age of 18 after completing his
post-graduation in Chemistry from Patna University in 1958. To add gravitas to
his young outlook, he then kept a beard.
Redefining temples
PLACES of worship have special place in our
lives. How and why this came about is difficult to say. It may well be a
corollary of fear of natural phenomena, leading to appeasement practices by communities.
They developed in due course, but the basic psychology remained intact. Different
religions gave their places of worship different names like church, mosque or
synagogue, but temple seems to have been a generic name long in use. Not only
India and east Asian countries, there are references such as Greek temples,
Fire Temple of Zorastrians, King Solomon’s temple, Bahai temple, among others.
Wages of one-man show
SINCE June this year, good news seems to have stopped coming
for the Shivraj Singh government in Madhya Pradesh. Worse, frequency and
intensity of bad news have only gradually increased since then. The farmers’
stir in June that claimed six lives in Mandsaur police firing marked a sort of
start for unfolding of a series of crises for the beleaguered chief minister. While
his shoddy handling of the stir exposed the hollowness of the disingenuously
built citadel of “pro-farmer” regime, the Rs. 800-crore onion scam that
surfaced in the aftermath aggravated Chouhan’s crisis of credibility. His
troubles mounted further as the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha
Patkar’s fast for rehabilitation of 40,000 families in 200 villages
Who’s afraid of RTI Act?
IN the mid-sixties, there was a popular play
titled ‘Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf’?’ a parody of the song ‘Who’s Afraid of
Big Bad Wolf?’ from Walt Disney’s The Three Little Pigs. The story revolves
around two couples trying desperately to suppress certain truth which to their
consternation manages to come out leading to thunder and fury. In her writing,
Virginia Woolf attempts to expose the truth: all of the things that the couples
try to cover up. When the couples sing the song together, they make mockery of
their own fear of the truth and are attempting to project, a false image.
Economy set to bounce back
THE debate on Indian economy has become
feverish with top politicians sharing their diverse views. The Modi government
is facing allegations of mishandling Indian economy, not only from the
opposition but from their own senior leaders as well. Former Finance Minister
and senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha, in an aggressively headlined column in
The Indian Express on September 27, wrote: “Private investment has shrunk as
never before in two decades, industrial production has all but collapsed,
agriculture is in distress, construction industry, a big employer of the
workforce, is in the doldrums, the rest of the service sector is also in the
slow lane, exports have dwindled, sector after sector of the economy is in
distress, demonetisation has proved to be an unmitigated economic disaster..
Is CSR flawed?
PLACING responsibilities
statutorily on companies to undertake socially beneficial activities for the
masses out of their profits to the prescribed extent was hailed as a unique
feature of the Companies Act, 2013 (Act), not found in the companies’
legislation of any other country. This feature was achieved by the insertion of
Section 135 in the Act titled ‘Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)’, which
provides for spending of net profits to the extent specified in the section.
Why the boats don’t sail?
THE National Waterways Act, passed in both Houses of
Parliament in March 2016, increased the number of national waterways across the
country from the earlier 6 to 111, with plans of connecting the country with
Myanmar via Bangladesh through waterways. In an interview to PTI in May 2017,
the Union Transport and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari said, “The Cabinet has
approved Rs. 2,000 crore from CFR and we can easily get works done worth Rs.
12,000 crore from that by raising more funds. It is my endeavour to
operationalise 10 waterways before December 2018.
King Karti
Karti
Chidambaram has allegedly accumulated unprecedented and unaccounted wealth. His
is an unabashed saga of the failings of Indian polity and governance. His rise
and rise, and now may be a fall, and the lust to earn tainted money proves how
a father-son nexus, especially if the father (P Chidambaram) was thrice the
country’s Finance Minister, can plunder a nation. Imagine a nation, where leading
businessmen paid $15,000 each, or thereabouts, to the son to fix a meeting with
the latter’s father.
From the Editor
CONGRESS’ Rahul Gandhi criticised and justified ‘Dynasty
Politics’ in India. He rightly maintained, “Most (political) parties have that
problem.” He wrongly assumed, “So that’s how India runs.” The real, and the
most obliterating, truth about the country is the manner in which Dynasty Politics
transforms into Dynasty Inc., and corrodes the system from within. One can
understand a lawyer’s son becoming a lawyer, a doctor’s doctor, and a
politician’s obviously a politician. What decimates a nation is when the son of
a lawyer corrupts the judiciary, daughter of a journalist destroys the
credibility of the legislature, and a son-in-law of a politician becomes an
extra-constitutional authority to maul the executive.
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