SIMPLICITY IN GOVERNANCE IS THE USP OF KERALA

Amitabh Shukla | Thiruvanandapuram/ Kochi 

Simplicity in governance and accessibility of those in power to the people — that in short is Kerala for you. The contrast is all the more apparent if you come from the northern States.

A visit to the State Secretariat in the Capital Thiruvananthauram or Trivandrum was an eye-opener.  There was no obtrusive and visible security, people could directly approach the officials, bureaucrats and the Ministers for work and all you could see was accountability and answerability writ large.

Walking down the corridors of the Secretariat, we could see the name-plates of senior IAS officials—all in a row. You could simply knock at the door and enter their office with your complaint or grievance. There was no intermediary — a security officer or a PA or an orderly who would obstruct you and ask questions. Simplicity was the keyword here. All that Principal Secretaries get here is a PA and no more staff. Tea is ordered from the common canteen and the vendor serves it as there is no orderly attached even with the senior officers, heading their departments and in the IAS for 30 years. The building itself is over a century old and was originally constructed for the Travancore kingdom. It goes to the credit of successive State Governments that despite the absence of modern frills and the comforts, they have resisted any attempt to shift the Secretariat to a swanky building with all the related paraphernalia as several State Governments have done over the years.

None of this is visible in the northern States of Haryana, Punjab or other States where power or position means a battery of employees, hangers on and security personnel in tow. Those who want to meet officials will have to go through a drill of appointments, Personal Assistants and others whose main task is obviously to create obstacles and reinforce the colonial concept that there is a ruler and there are the commoners who are ruled.

After interacting with several senior officials and having numerous cups of tea, coffee and snacks, we moved on to meet Chief Minister Oommen Chandy. The septuagenarian leader who leads an alliance Government headed by the Congress is forthright. “People here are simple and so is governance. There is transparency and people are used to it,” he says, pointing to a CCTV camera in his office.

The CCTV camera in Chandy’s office telecasts whatever is happening in his office to anyone who logs on to the website of the Chief Minister’s office anywhere in the world. “Sometime back, a person was sitting on my chair in my absence. A person from Kerala, working in Dubai saw the live webcast and informed my office. He was sitting there only for fun,” the Chief Minister said, pointing to the transparency and the only CM office of the country where a live camera isn installed.

Even as we were talking to Chandy, several officials trooped in to have a meeting with the Chief Minister. Then, people with grievances and even MLAs walked in. It was like an open Durbar where anyone could walk in and talk to the Chief Minister. If someone needed to talk in privacy and not in front of everyone, Chandy merely stood up, went in a corner and listened to the person concerned before instructing officials to address the issue brought to his notice.

Chief Secretary Jiji Thomson shares, “we do not need to take appointments with the Chief Minister. We just see through the door glass whether he is available or not and walk in”. Thomson, who was on central deputation in New Delhi for 8 years before taking over as the Chief Secretary, said for the IAS officials working in northern States is an entirely different experience. “Here every move is scrutinised, the media is very active to the extent of being intrusive, there is no scope for any discretion as transparency and accountability is all pervasive,” he shares. His Executive Assistant Dr K Vasuki, a young IAS officer, also the Executive Director, Suchitwa Mission, says the work culture in Kerala is entirely different from other States and it was not only a challenge here but also professionally very satisfying. She was earlier in the Madhya Pradesh cadre and was posted in 3 districts as Sub Divisional officer there before shifting to Kerala after a change in cadre due to marriage.

Rural Development Minister K. C Joseph, who also has the charge of Planning, Cultural Affairs and Information and Public Relations, says that ever since he has seen it, extravagance of any nature is shunned and people do not like it. Surrounded by officers of his department, people troop in with their applications and it gets disposed then and there unless there is a scrutiny to be done.

Perhaps a trip of officials and Ministers of northern States to God’s own country is needed to assimilate the approach to governance for greater transparency, accountability and also people interface. (December 16, 2015)

(Amitabh Shukla, Senior Editor, was in Kerala at the invitation of the Press Information Bureau)

http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/chandigarh/simplicity-in-governance-is-the-usp-of-kerala.html

BIHAR VERDICT A LOCAL VICTORY OF NO NATIONAL IMPORT

VIEWPOINT

AMITABH SHUKLA

Whatever the psephologists, exit polls and the media which parachuted in the State predicted, wrote or analysed, the victory of the Grand Alliance (Mahagathbandhan) in Bihar elections was a foregone conclusion.

The reason was quite simple. The alliance started with a big mathematical advantage of 30 percent in the caste-ridden society (Muslims, Yadav and Kurmi voters) and the people of the State voted along traditional lines — the way they have done since Mandal politics came into being and shaped their thought process since 1989 onwards.

It would be wrong to assume that people of Bihar rejected the so called communal politics of the BJP-RSS and adopted the so called secular politics of the Grand alliance as some would like to believe. These issues were not the core of the election campaign though it surfaced time and again during the long five-phase election for the 243 member Bihar Assembly.

There were micro issues everywhere — every constituency had its own caste arithmetic and dynamics, different issue and the campaign shaped differently in each of these segments. Communalism or secularism hardly affected the voters in the rural areas and of course the State is largely a conglomeration of villages and except the district headquarters, there is little urban expanse. Communal polarisation was at best limited to a few urban pockets and the contours of the results remained unaffected by it. On the contrary, caste polarisation largely determined the outcome. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s comments on reservations helped RJD create caste frenzy amongst the OBCs, a strategy Lalu Prasad has used deftly over the years.

The results showed that BJP held on to its urban support base to some extent but failed miserably in penetrating the rural hinterland and break the unwritten caste code of the last quarter of a century. The social coalition which the BJP tried to build by an alliance with Ram Vilas Paswan (Lok Janshakti Party), Jeetan Ram Manjhi (Hindustani Awam Morcha) and Upendra Kushwaha (Rashtriya Lok Samta Party) simply did not have the kind of arithmetical base which the Grand Alliance had in terms of caste.

Though Lok Sabha polls, almost a year and half back, saw the triumph of BJP’s social alliance with Kushwaha and Paswan without Manjhi, it was an aberration as the micro issues did not dominate the poll agenda then. At that time, it was the performance of the UPA Government under scrutiny, Narendra Modi versus Manmohan Singh as an issue and other macro issues which dominated the agenda of the entire country, including Bihar. Voters have shown an increasing tendency in recent years to differentiate between Lok Sabha polls, Assembly polls; Panchayat and Municipal polls and parties too adopt different campaigning methods and issues for each of them.

After the Lok Sabha elections, when the first experiment with Grand Alliance was made, by-elections for 10 Assembly seats were held in Bihar. That showed that despite rapid advances and aspirations of the youth, mathematical consolidation of caste still was the most important factor. The alliance won six of the 10 seats, setting the trend for the Assembly polls and in a way indicating how well this caste combination of Lalu Prasad Yadav and Nitish Kumar was working in the ground in conjunction with Congress which hardly has any support base in any caste at this point of time.

It would also be wrong to assume that the Bihar results would have national implications as some are pointing out. Neither Lalu Prasad’s RJD has any preseince outside Bihar nor Nitish Kumar’s JDU. Of course, Congress made substantial gains but that was only because it benefitted from the caste alliance of the two parties and not because it has got strengthened in the State. In fact, the unity of the three parties was not on issues (except perhaps secularism) but their positioning in which they are natural rivals of the BJP either in State or national politics. Samajwadi Party of Mulayam Singh Yadav walked out of this alliance on the eve of Bihar polls indicating how fragile such unity is and how difficult it is to form an alliance of diverse regional parties at the national level with conflicting claims and ambitions of each leader.

Also, the assumption that Nitish Kumar would emerge as a leader of the “secular alliance” for the next Lok Sabha polls is far-fetched. Now he has become a junior partner to Lalu Prasad in Bihar as he got fewer seats and first he will have to grapple with the demands of RJD in the State to remain in power and manage the contradictions. His entire energy would be concentrated in managing the diversities of this alliance rather than on any national objective. He will soon find that RJD is a tough customer to deal with as compared to the BJP with whom he had an alliance in governance for over 8 years in Bihar. There will be no single regional party leader in the country who would ever accept the leadership of Nitish. Also, can Congress with pan India footprint, ever agree to play second fiddle to Nitish at a time when its Vice President Rahul Gandhi is raring to go and sensing an anti-incumbency against BJP.

Not long ago, those perpetually in search of a national alternative to Modi, zeroed in on Arvind Kejriwal after his spectacular victory in Delhi. Now, can they come out and still assert the Delhi Chief Minister could be an alternative. Let Nitish Kumar concentrate on the unfinished agenda of Bihar, on development, creation of infrastructure, prevention of migration and sprucing up the health and education sectors. People would be keenly watching if he can come out of the stranglehold of Lalu Prasad, whose 15-year tenure in the State was synonymous with what BJP called as Jungle Raj and where the word development was looked with suspicion and ridicule.  

For BJP, the lessons would be many and I am sure they will take a stock of the situation. The party which prided itself for collective decision making sometime back would be wondering if Congress style concentration of power in one leader, however, charismatic he may be, is bearing fruits. After Delhi elections, Bihar is clearly an electoral setback and no amount of verbal camouflaging is going to help. Will the collective leadership concept of BJP come back due to this defeat? Will there be a change of strategy? We have to wait and watch. (November 9, 2015) 

http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/chandigarh/bihar-verdict-a-local-victory-of-no-national-import.html 

SGPC VS PANJ PYARAS: A TALE OF PARDON & POLL

Amitabh Shukla | Chandigarh

Reminiscent of the dark days of terrorism, confusing signals are emanating from the Sikh religious establishments and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) after the Panj Pyaras (five beloved ones of the Guru) summoned the head priests of all the five Sikh Takhts (seats) on their decision to pardon Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in a case of blasphemy. 

The crisis triggered in early October this year when the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), through religious body SGPC, prevailed on the five high priests in getting pardon for the Dera chief on blasphemy in which he apparently wore an attire similar to that of Guru Gobind Singh way back in 2007. The SAD, which is eyeing for electoral gains in the crucial Malwa belt — a stronghold of the Dera — ahead of the Assembly elections in early 2017, it thought that getting a pardon for Dera chief would result in rich electoral dividend.

Following the pardon, there were clear signs of unrest in the Sikh community and the SGPC, controlled by SAD, with dissenting voices emerging from all over the State and numerous Sikh organisations-hardliners as well as the liberals. The reaction forced the five head priests to cancel the pardon given to the Dera Sacha Sauda chief. 

Even though the head priests — Gurbachan Singh (Akal Takht), Mal Singh (Kesgarh Sahib), Gurbaksh Singh (Damdama Sahib), Iqbal Singh (Patna Sahib) and Ram Singh (Hazoor Sahib) cancelled their decision to pardon the Dera chief, the Panj Pyaras rejected their U-turn. They claimed that the flip flop had hurt the sentiments of the Sikhs and the five head priests need to explain their conduct of pardoning Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in the first place — something which is unprecedented in Sikh history. 

The five head priests were summoned to Akal Takht, the supreme temporal seat of Sikhism.The Panj Pyaras owe their genesis to 1699 when Khlasa panth was established by Guru Gobind Singh and since then, they were mainly into conducting religious ceremony for baptism of the Sikhs and lead the Nagar keertan on important religious occasions. They were also authorised to mark religious punishment for the baptized Sikhs who do not follow the tenets of the religion. 

But for the first time in Sikh history, the Panj Pyaras - immaculately dressed with sword drawn and seen leading religious contingents - came out of their shell and said they were authorised to summon the head priests of the five Takhts. The moment the hitherto low profile Panj Pyaras decided to summon the head priests, the SGPC suspended them and transferred three to Sikh Mission Office in Hapur, UP, and two to Kurukshetra in Haryana saying they had exceeded their brief. SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar said the Panj Pyaras’ decision to summon Takhts’ heads is aimed at causing dissension and division in the community and is also against office rules of the gurdwara body. 

Technically, Panj Pyaras are appointed by the cash rich SGPC and report to this religious body. But Sikh scholars argued that when the Panj Pyaras take a decision, it has to be followed and suspension does not mean anything. They said that Akal Takht takes a call on the wayward behavior of Sikhs and determines a punishment but when the head priest himself takes a wrong decision, Panj Pyaras can summon the priest concerned. Sikh scholars cite the incident of 1699 when the tenth and last master, Guru Gobind Singh obeyed the directions of the Panj Pyaras to leave Anandpur Sahib after the Mughal army surrounded the town. 

But the five head priests refused the summons and did not appear before the Panj Pyaras --- Satnam Singh Khanda, Tirlok Singh, Mangal Singh, Satnam Singh and Major Singh on October 23. Taking a stand, the Panj Pyaras asked the SGPC to remove the Jathedars of five Takhts (seats of Sikh religion), alleging that they had “created furore and restlessness in the community”.

As the stalemate continued on Saturday, hectic parleys were made throughout the day and several SGPC members met Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to build a consensus on the contentious issue. All eyes are now on the crucial emergency meeting of the SGPC on October 26, to be held in Chandigarh which would discuss the act of the Panj Pyaras of removing the five jathedars.  (October 25, 2015)

http://www.dailypioneer.com/todays-newspaper/sgpc-vs-panj-pyaras-a-tale-of-pardon-and-poll.html

Rahul Gandhi Version 2.0.0

VIEWPOINT

AMITABH SHUKLA

On Sunday, Ramlila Ground in the heart of Delhi saw the “relaunch” of Rahul Gandhi. Those who had thought that the new version of the scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty would be better and faster than the previous one came out thoroughly disappointed after the rally. Sabbatical of almost two months and Buddhist style vipassana, tantra or whatever mysterious cult he practiced over the last few weeks, proved to be of no use as he used the same jaded language and took up the same issue on which the voters had rejected his party in the May 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

The anti economic reform rhetoric and leftist agenda which he spoke from the dais was exactly he had been speaking uninterruptedly for the last few years. What was new in this?  So the launch of Rahul Gandhi version 2.0.0 seemed entirely uneventful and bereft of anything new and different. We had been repeatedly told by a battery of Congress spokespersons and those who swear by the dynasty that the new version of Gandhi would be different from the earlier one as he was into some introspection about the party and its policies and come out with the proverbial magic wand for its revival.

Will they now come out and say that the sabbatical, holidays, sightseeing; pleasure trip… or whatever you call his absence has actually benefitted the party?

Why has Rahul Gandhi become the source of biggest embarrassment for the family-run-and-controlled party? The answer is not far to seek. He is simply not interested in politics, not ready for the top job forced on him, not fit to take political responsibilities which his mother and others want him to shoulder. It’s like a great cricketer forcing his son to become a cricketer even though he wants to be become a rockstar or a writer. It’s like a classical vocalist who wants his son to become like him but the son is hellbent on becoming a fashion designer. It’s like someone forcing a journalist like me in his early 40s to become a marathon runner. Sonia Gandhi may be a great political strategist as the arrangement with Manmohan Singh showed, the longest serving Congress President in its history but that does not mean that because he is her son, Rahul too would be as “successful”.

I don’t understand why the Congress, particularly Sonia Gandhi, doesn’t realise that Rahul is simply not cut out to be a politician. He could be anything — a great yoga master, a Formula One driver, a Buddhist master excelling in the finer techniques of meditation, someone who can have a great control on his breath and is excellent in pranayama, a fitness freak and instructor and may even start lessons in positive thinking or giving sermons on religion and spirituality on television. His career, priority and interests lie somewhere else. But Congress wants him to become the party president, an election winning poster boy of the party, someone who inspires youth and is voted to power. I am sorry but they are betting on the wrong person. Rahul has been and would always remain a reluctant politician.      

What we saw at Ramlila Ground was paid Congress crowd, hardly interested in what Rahul or party chief Sonia Gandhi spoke from the stage. From Haryana and Punjab, busloads of people were brought in the national Capital, paid for missing their daily job, provided food, transport and entertainment allowance. It’s anybody’s guess how many of them were farmers.

Ironically the farmers of both Haryana and Punjab are ruing the loss of their wheat crop due to vagaries of nature and trying to somehow convince the procurement agencies that the poor quality of the crop be overlooked while being procured. That is their worry, not Land Acquisition Bill. In any case, farmers in Haryana and Punjab practically get market rate for their land acquired and most of them would rather want their land to be acquired for a quick buck as it saves them the social stigma of selling their land when returns from practicing agriculture is diminishing.  

So when Rahul spoke against the Land Acquisition Bill after his nearly two-month absence from the country, it seemed like a fly by night operator who was forced by the circumstances to say something in which he was neither interested nor convinced. It was like a professional golfer giving lessons on fish farming in a village, it was like a priest in a temple who has been forced to dance in a discotheque. The assembled crowd at Ramlila Ground endured the speeches for a while, had plenty of water and then preferred to go back to the safe confines of the buses and vehicles which had brought them to the venue from different places in Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan.

It’s not surprising that Congress is vertically divided on the name of Rahul Gandhi as the new Congress President. For the first time perhaps, Congress leaders are fighting amongst themselves and issuing contradicting statements on the name of Rahul. In Punjab, state Congress President Partap Singh Bajwa and former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh are abusing each other left right and centre in public almost every day. While Bajwa wants Rahul as party President, Capt Amarinder wants Sonia to continue.

In Haryana, State party chief Ashok Tanwar and CLP leader Kiran Chaudhry want Rahul, former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda swears by his mother.

This is practically the situation in almost all states where Congress has any semblance of presence. A comic situation has emerged where a faction is supporting Rahul for its survival and the other Sonia, forgetting that no one is going anywhere in the family run organisation. They are stabbing each other but raising the slogans of Rahul Zindabad or Sonia Zindabad, to camouflage their bitter factional fight. Capt Amarinder knows that Bajwa has the confidence of Rahul and would not be removed from the post which he badly wants. So, you see him saying that Rahul is not experienced enough for the top job. He knows for sure that if Rahul becomes the party chief, he would have to seek VRS and head for his summer palace in Chail, Himachal Pradesh.

Instead of looking for ways and means to rejuvenate itself and look forward for the challenges ahead, the badly battered and bruised Congress has reduced itself to a laughing stock. Of course, Rahul is one big reason for this.

He has become a butt of jokes on social media. In fact, on WhatsApp and Twitter, most of the jokes are at the cost of the Congress Vice President. How can the party not see the writing on the wall and keep forcing Rahul to accept a job in which he has little or no interest or at best only a part time interest as he has not yet found what interests him the most.  

Former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has already spoken about this and so has her son and former East Delhi MP Sandeep Dikshit. For the first time, Congressmen and women are speaking out against someone from the dynasty. This has never happened in the past. No one spoke against Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi or Sonia Gandhi being still a member of the party.

This is happening for the first time in the post independence history of the Congress. Is this political churning of a new kind, only time will reveal. But what is certain is that Congress is riding on two boats at the same time and that only leads to disaster. (April 20, 2015)

http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/chandigarh/2015-04-19-90447.html

http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/dehradun/rahul-gandhi-version-200.html

The peg that cheers; Raise a toast to the lovers of Bacchus

VIEWPOINT

AMITABH SHUKLA

It is that time of the year when the banners of ‘sale’ have been splashed all over Chandigarh in front of the liquor shops. The lovers of Bacchus are thronging the liquor shops in dozens and coming out with cartons on their heads and shoulders. They are stocking the supplies for the next few weeks and months.

The joint capital of Punjab and Haryana-Chandigarh must be one of the few places in the country where ‘sale’ on liquor takes place annually and this is eagerly awaited by all those who want to save the extra bucks for what they call an ‘essential commodity’.

This attracts people who love their drink from all over the States of Punjab and Haryana and violating the excise law, they carry whatever they fancy and their pockets permit. As the prices this time are 40 per cent to 50 per cent cheaper than “normal” days, the anxiety to hoard as much liquor as possible is writ large on the faces of all those who swear by their drink.

But this time, my focus is on Punjab, which is has now become the liquor capital of the country as its competitor Kerala is facing tough days due to Government policies.

Liquor is a part of life here, what some would term as elixir of life. Something without which an average Punjabi finds his evening bereft of colour and excitement. No wonder the State Government has realised this and the vends here practically supply booze round the clock.

You may not find any chemist shop or a kirana shop open at seven in the morning. You might find that the doctor in the nearby hospital is missing so early in the morning even if you go there for an emergency treatment. You may not find much activity and people on the road. But liquor shops religiously open early in the morning without a fail.

They realise the business potential of opening shops early as some hardcore veterans end their evening hangover by gulping a peg or two in the morning. Only then do they complete their morning chores. Though the official timings of the liquor shops here is 9 am to 11 pm, those who swear by their drink would vouch for the fact that they can get it round the clock without any hitch.

The liquor shops could ‘officially’ closed by 11 pm but from under the shutter of several shops you can purchase your favourite brand any time after that. The liquor vend employees work in multiple shifts and the night shift operator gets in action after the official timings are over.

Even the dry days here are observed by celebrating the occasion with a drink. On dry days, the shops open in the evening and the lovers of Bacchus converge in large numbers to raise a toast to the occasion be it Independence Day, Republic Day or the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

Munnabhai in Rajkumar Hirani’s Lage Raho Munnabhai could not find liquor shops on Gandhi Jayanti in Mumbai, but perhaps the director was not aware that at sharp 5 pm, the shops opened on October 2 in Punjab and all brands were available. The friendly neighbourhood bootlegger, who does a brisk business on dry days across the length and breadth of the country, has been pushed out of business in Punjab. The poor chap in the land of five rivers has found some other business.

Prices of liquor in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh too are very competitive, aimed to attract more people, get new converts and also to retain the loyal customers. There could be great swing in the prices of vegetables and other essential commodities but price of liquor has practically remained constant for a long time. A bottle which could cost say, Rs500 in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand or Delhi, could be 30 per cent cheaper in State capital Chandigarh on normal days. Of course during “sale”, this price becomes all the more attractive.

Though there are no official figures nor has any attempt been made to do an empirical study comparing the consumption of water vis-à-vis liquor in Punjab and which of the two is consumed more, but some die-hard fans of alcohol say that the true devout, drinks water only when it is mixed in the drink and not “neat”.

Even the booze shopkeepers and their neighboring shops have become innovative, something rarely seen in other places. For the first time, I found a shop, specialising in selling “drinking accessories”. This was located next to a busy shop selling all sorts of whisky, beer, wine, vodka, rum, brandy and what not. Curiosity got better of me and I examined the shop selling “drinking accessories”. The shop had a list of all the “accessories” used for drinking — soda, ice cube, plastic glasses, peanuts, mixtures, cold drinks of all variety, bottled water, even cigarette for those who smoke while drinking.

The shop next to it was selling another drinking accessory, widely used in this part of the country — tandoori kukkad (chicken) and all its variants like Afghani chicken and the tikkas if one was careful of the bones while gulping liquor. So the list of “drinking accessories” was complete. Booze lovers, some of them fresh from their office or shop going to have their first drink of the evening and others in different levels of intoxication, were coming and purchasing the drink and the “accessories”.

There was a business for everyone associated with the drinks and selling the actual stuff and the accessories. The guy selling readymade clothes and the one selling stationary, were only watching with envy the business generated by their neighbour.

The excitement around liquor shops and the accompanying ‘taverns’ is something which cannot be found anywhere in the country, except perhaps Goa. These drinking dens have become the hotbed of political decision and Governments are made at the moment and dethroned by the intense discussions which take place.

A taxi driver who has obviously seen much more Punjab than I have, sermoned, “If you want to gauge the political temperature of the State ahead of the polls, make it a point to sit here and listen to the conversations”.

I don’t know whether political journalism here seriously means baptism at a liquor outlet. As liquor and popular culture go together in this part of the country, I was reminded of the senior Bachchan’s (Harivanshrai) immortal Madhushala.

Ek barsh me ek baar hi jagti holi ki jwala, ek baar hi lagti baaji jalti deepo ki maala, duniyawalo kintu kisi din aa madiralaya me dekho, di ko holi raat Diwali roz manati Madhushala. Roughly translated, “Holi comes only once in a year and so does Diwali; But come to the drinking den (Madhushala), which celebrates Holi during the day and Diwali during the night, everyday. I may or may not agree. It does not matter. (April 13, 2015)

http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/chandigarh/2015-04-12-89596.html

http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/dehradun/the-peg-that-cheers-raise-a-toast-to-the-lovers-of-bacchus.html

Ashok Khemka should follow the bureaucratic Dharma

VIEWPOINT

AMITABH SHUKLA

The transfer of senior IAS officer Ashok Khemka by the Manohar Lal Khattar Government in Haryana has triggered a row and invited the wrath of the professional TV panelists who feign shock at the “treatment and humiliation” meted out to the officer. There are other usual suspects who have joined the cacophony without understanding the finer nuances of governance in a democratic set-up. At no point am I questioning the personal integrity of Khemka. By all accounts he has an impeccable track record on this front and even his critics concede that. But bureaucratic efficiency, getting attuned to the demands of the profession and use of common sense is one aspect and personal integrity another. An officer having impeccable personal integrity is no guarantee for bureaucratic efficiency, the way former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh could not guarantee a taint-free UPA regime despite being hailed for personal integrity.

So Khemka’a personal integrity is one part and bureaucratic efficiency as perceived by the Government he serves is another. Ideally, an officer should have impeccable integrity and also a track record of delivery of services. It is the latter which is perhaps lacking in Khemka’s case over the years if you keep aside his role as a whistle blower in the infamous Robert Vadra-DLF deal. Haryana Government or for that matter any Government is well within its right to transfer any official it deems fit. Khemka is no different even if he had blown the lid off the dubious Robert Vadra-DLF land deal which made him famous and a nationally known bureaucrat in the first instance. The land deals of Vadra may have given the BJP an effective stick to beat the Congress during elections but no way does it give permanent immunity to Khemka if he does not follow the directions set by his immediate departmental boss, the Minister concerned. If the State Government perceives that its goals, targets and programmes are not being met and an officer is the obstacle, one cannot question its right to transfer the officer concerned.

Khemka was transferred numerous times in his career-on 46 occasions to be precise. He has “suffered” during all regimes—be it when Om Prakash Chautala of Indian National Lok Dal was the Chief Minister or whether Bhupinder Singh Hooda was in command for a decade. When BJP won the Assembly polls and Khattar became the Chief Minister, perhaps Khemka thought that he would be rewarded with better posts and get important postings. He was posted in the crucial Transport Department as a Commissioner, not as an award for exposing the Vadra-DLF deal, but as a routine bureaucratic exercise reshuffle when a new Government takes over.

I do not think that all these transfers in all these years by various Governments—INLD, Congress and BJP—have been done solely with the motive of punishing an honest officer. All these Governments cannot obviously enter into a conspiracy to punish an officer. They have a lot in hand than to think about an officer. Whether the sympathisers of the officer agree or not, there must also be some fault at the doors of Khemka which they refuse to look at. Sympathisers of the officer say he refused to play ball with “corrupt” political dispensation of the day over the years and was punished again and again. They blame the “corrupt” political system for the “plight” of officers like Khemka saying it was high time such a system was changed to protect honest officers.

This is too vague a statement and I do not agree with this. If someone decides to join IAS, IPS or Government service, he or she will have to follow the laid down norms for civil servants. In fact, they have to even follow those norms which are not laid down but understood by every officer in service. When you are playing cricket, you do not follow the rules of football. When in bureaucracy, you are supposed to follow the laid down conventions.  Khemka made the mistake of questioning these conventions time and again. The conventions may be good or bad but as an officer you are supposed to follow them and not flout them. When you play cricket or football you do not question the rules of the game. There is an entirely different mechanism to change the rules.

He had been the Transport Commissioner of Haryana for the last over four months and that was a sufficient time for the Government to judge his performance and whether he fits in the goals set up by the Minister concerned of the Department and the Chief Minister as the head of the State Government. Obviously he didn’t fit into the scheme of things or was in conflict with the policies and goals of the State Government and was therefore shown the exit door and placed in a department which has little or no impact on public policies. As the BJP Government had begun on a clean slate, having won the State Assembly polls for the first time, I am sure it did not have any preconceived notions or bias against Khemka.

What is surprising is the reaction of Khemka on the transfer through his Twitter account. Being in the Government for so long, the 1991 batch IAS officer must be aware that expressing sentiments the way he did is not acceptable to any Government and also does not conform to the bureaucratic dharma. Perhaps this explains why successive Governments viewed him as a “trouble-maker” and not a problem solver. To make the matters worse, he met Haryana Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki to express his disappointment after being given the marching orders. Perhaps he forgot that a Governor has little discretion in these matters and cannot issue directions the State Government.

I am not saying that Indian political system treats its bureaucrats fairly all the time. I am also not saying that the political system is very fair and transparent. There are several ills plaguing the system which needs to be addressed urgently. But playing the martyr, like Khemka is doing, is also not the solution. This will not help the cause of bureaucracy. Of course, a wider debate is needed to insulate bureaucracy and police from the whims and fancy of the political dispensation of the day. Consensus has to be reached to bring legislation for this. Fixing the term of officials, particularly those at a particular level of seniority, should be on top priority and is the need of the hour. Also, there has to be a well settled principle on how an official can be removed before his fixed term expires.

Its here where all political parties have to chip in. But then, no party, particularly in the states, wants to voluntarily give up its control on the bureaucracy and the police easily. They want them firmly under their control as they think this is the way to rule. Officers like Khemka would continue to be considered as loose cannons by all Governments and a flesh in their thorn as they do not conform to their expectations and flout the conventions, however faulty they may be. There are around 175 IAS officers in Haryana cadre and if one does not conform to the stereotype, he finds himself in an odd situation. This is perhaps what is happening to Khemka. But as another officer put it, “neither will Khemka change, nor will the State Government, whoever it is”.

Many advocate a systemic change in the relationship of bureaucrats with their political masters. But it is easier said than done. Small baby steps are needed first like fixing tenure of officers and formulating a policy for their removal before the tenure ends. This will be the way of least resistance in the ruling parties. (April 6, 2015)

http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/chandigarh/2015-04-05-88766.html

http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/dehradun/ashok-khemka-should-follow-the-bureaucratic-dharma.html

AAP Infighting: Breach of trust with people's mandate

VIEWPOINT

AMITABH SHUKLA

The severe infighting in Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which led to the expulsion of Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan from the decision making bodies of the party, is clearly a classic case of breach of trust of people’s mandate in Delhi. It is also a grim reminder for the people in the entire country for future elections that whenever they experiment with a new party, they should be careful with their votes and not get swayed only by slogans, emotions and loud talk.

I do not hold a brief for the ousted leaders of AAP but this is not what the party set out for when it was founded. The people of Delhi had not bargained for this and the reduction of an anti-corruption movement for Jan Lokpal in a party of petty fights, where power has gone into the head of a few and authoritarianism, dictatorship and coterie has replaced collective wisdom. The popularity graph of the party, which got landslide only weeks ago, has nosedived to such an extent that surveys say that there has been a complete erosion of the faith of the people within six weeks of the massive victory. Has this ever happened in any part of the world where democracy is practiced? Have the people lost their trust on a Government so soon after electing a Government?

After being elected in Delhi, all AAP Government did was to make power and water either free or reduce its tariff. There is still nothing to show beyond the symbolism. But the greater damage was the way it handled the crisis within and violated the trust imposed on it by the people through their massive mandate. In the process, Arvind Kejriwal, hailed as a great communicator not long ago, proved to be another Manmohan Singh when he refused to speak on the crisis, triggered by the dissent of Yadav, Bhushan and others. The Delhi Chief Minister seems to have learnt his lessons from the Congress where party chief Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi never speak on anything important either related to the party or issues facing the country.

When the campaign for Delhi was being run, people thought that AAP was different from both the Congress and the BJP. While in the Congress, it is Sonia Gandhi and Rahul from number one to number 10 positions, in the BJP it is the strict disciplinarian approach of the party which counts. This is what we thought—AAP would be entirely different, it is a transparent organisation where decisions are taken not at the whims or fancy of an individual or the collective might of a group of individuals but through consensus building. People thought this was the way for the future of Indian politics—common people who had no political background in the past were out to cleanse Indian politics of the ills plaguing it.

AAP has let not only its supporters down but, also all those who were veering to the idea which the party held. What is tragic is it let them down not like no other party has ever done in the past. In 1984 when Rajiv Gandhi won a landslide, it took a year-and-half when its sheen was lost. AAP lost it within 6 weeks. ItRss sad, extremely sad, the way they have blown away the trust of the people.

So, there is no scope for alternative politics now through AAP and no choice for the people beyond the Congress and the BJP at the national level. AAP has reduced itself to a poor cousin of the Congress in politicking, leaders calling each other names and internal party differences. Perhaps Kejriwal himself and his supporters believe that elections are won only through a charismatic leader and what he says and how he communicates with the people. ItRss only partly true. Elections are won when people genuinely believe that the alternative being offered is radically different from the one which they have. This is what happened with the BJP and Narendra Modi in May 2014 and with AAP and Kejriwal in February 2015. Elections are won when a large number of people work for a common cause and an entire team is involved whole heartedly and is committed. A committed and brilliant team was behind Modi and so was behind Kejriwal which included the likes of Yadav and Bhushan.

The symptoms and trend of dictatorship was there in AAP earlier also when sitting MLAs had questioned party leadership and joined other parties. But all was forgotten in the landslide where it won 67 of the 70 seats. Even if Yadav, Bhushan, Anand Kumar and others are removed as primary members of the party, I am sure another crop of leaders would soon rise against the style of functioning of Kejriwal and the way dictatorship is replacing consensus politics.

Moving beyond the reduction of AAP as merely another political party, what worries me is the ground situation in Punjab where the people trusted the new party and gave it a quarter of the votes in the Lok Sabha elections and four Members of Parliament. As AAP has practically decided to become a regional party confined to Delhi, there has been another breach of trust with 34 lakh people in Punjab who had voted for it in parliamentary polls. Those people voted for alternative politics, something which the ruling Akali Dal-BJP combine on one hand and the Congress on the other is not following. They wanted change. Now all that trust has gone with AAP sticking to Delhi and deciding that it would not contest Assembly polls in other States. In the by-elections for Dhuri Assembly segment, a part of Sangrur parliamentary constituency which was won by Bhagwant Mann of AAP in the Lok Sabha polls, the party has not fielded any candidate. This was a great opportunity for AAP making a debut in the Punjab Assembly and use it as a launching pad for State Assembly polls in February 2017.

When people of Punjab voted for AAP in large numbers in the parliamentary polls, they thought of moving beyond the predictable political paradigm of SAD-BJP and he Congress. Now when they see what is happening within the party, there is frustration and the hope is belied. Now, even if AAP tries, it will never be able to break the stranglehold of the SAD-BJP and the Congress given its track record of infighting in Delhi and abandoning the trust of the people of Punjab who gave the then fledgling party four seats in Punjab.

Not surprisingly, Dr Dharamvir Gandhi, the social worker and doctor who defeated Preneet Kaur from Patiala on AAP ticket in the polls, is also on his way out like Yadav and Bhushan. He was the lone Punjab MP from AAP who questioned the way the two were treated in New Delhi on Saturday in the internal meeting of the party. He was the face of change and alternative politics in Punjab and with his possible exit from the party, AAP seems to have lost whatever support it enjoyed in the State. (March 30, 2015)

http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/chandigarh/2015-03-29-87956.html

http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/dehradun/aap-infighting-breach-of-trust-with-peoples-mandate.html

Sonia gets aggressive; Congress remains on back-foot

VIEWPOINT

AMITABH SHUKLA

 

On Saturday, Congress president Sonia Gandhi visited different places in Haryana to get a firsthand account of the damage which unseasonal rain had caused to the farmers. Earlier, she was in another BJP-ruled State — Rajasthan — to assess a similar damage. Last week, she also led a protest of all the Opposition parties to Rashtrapati Bhawan against the Land Acquisition Bill of the NDA Government.

This is the first time the country is discovering the aggressive street-fighter instinct of Sonia. After the death of her husband Rajiv Gandhi, she preferred to sit and introspect at 10 Janpath for a long time even as PV Narasimha Rao as Prime Minister consolidated his hold over the party and the Government.

In the Atal Bihari Vajpayee regime, though she was the Congress chief, she hardly thought of taking to the streets to lodge protest of any kind. During the Manmohan Singh regime of a decade, there was no question of opposing his policy as she was the one who was the architect of most of the policies — beneficial or disastrous.

What is all the more perplexing is that all this is happening when her son and heir apparent Rahul Gandhi has disappeared in thin air, allegedly doing introspection of some sorts. No one in the party or outside knows where is the 44-year-old who has been forced by the Congressmen to carry the burden of the party even though he is least interested in the job.

After a series of disasters, now the Congress leaders have started privately admitting that Rahul is more of a “burden” than a torchbearer of a legacy of the 130-year-old party. They are sort of stumped by the tantrums of the Gandhi scion, not knowing his mind, his political plan and now don’t even know his whereabouts. Some want his so called “Introspection” to last for 2-3 years so that the damage which he has already inflicted on the party is controlled.

Many now see a meaning in Sonia taking to the street in Rahul’s absence. This was primarily the job of a young Gandhi ready to take over the mantle of leadership from her mother in a party where dynasty and only dynasty gets you the top job. As Rahul abdicated his responsibility as the Congress vice-president, Sonia took over the role of an aggressive Opposition leader to keep the party in reckoning.

This was also to show Rahul by example that this is how the politics of Opposition is played in the country — by taking to the streets and not holidaying in a foreign country. At least the death of the Congress could be prolonged by this.

There is another motive behind this. Sonia would continue to be the party chief for more time as she has been warned by the old timers that disaster is writ large if Rahul is given complete control of the party in April. The old guard, most of them close of Sonia, wants the transition in a smooth gradual manner, the way it’s happening right now. Rahul was first made a Congress MP, then a general secretary and subsequently a vice-president.

They fear for the party the way the scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty functions. These leaders have made a strong case for postponing the crown for Rahul at least for another two years. “Till he becomes more patient, politically mature and does not run away to an undisclosed destination at his whims and fancy,” summed up a senior leader.

Ironically, the issues which Sonia Gandhi has raised to show her street-fighting abilities do not even resonate with those who are apparently going to be the sufferers. She led the Opposition march against Land Acquisition Bill and so far there is no spontaneous demand from the farmers against the Bill. In Haryana, considered an agricultural State, there has been no protest against the Bill nor has the main Opposition party Indian National Lok Dal come out against it. In the Congress regime itself, the State had come out with a sound policy on land acquisition.

In Punjab, considered the food bowel of the country along with Haryana, no one is bothered as the State has a robust Land acquisition policy of its own. Many farmers in the State prefer their land to be acquired by private parties or the Government because of the hefty compensation which saves them from the humdrum of getting engaged in agriculture where the returns are progressively coming down and those practicing it looking for other rewarding vocations.  

The Congress, it seems, has got stuck in a time machine and cannot look beyond farmers as a constituency. It has miserably failed to find issues to put the Narendra Modi Government in a tight spot. Not surprisingly, even as an Opposition, it has egg on its face.

It raised the issue of political espionage against Rahul Gandhi making a complete fool of it not only in Parliament but even outside it. The Congress has an old habit in suspecting espionage where none exists. Long ago, two constables of Haryana Police were found outside the residence of Rajiv Gandhi and the party reacted by withdrawing support to the then Chandrashekhar Government whom it was supporting from outside.

 Now a poor policeman went to Tughlaq Road residence of Rahul to get some antiquated form filled by his staff and running out of issues, the Congress tried to make an issue out of it and looking for conspiracy theories. The party faced a severe political embarrassment and if it continues to act like this, it will become a laughing stock.

Coming back to Sonia Gandhi’s march to Rashtrapati Bhawan, it was surely a sign of a leader who is not thinking of a retirement any soon. It was also to re-establish her supremacy as a leader amongst the non-Congress Opposition party. Already, the party is working on a strategy to face the BJP by joining hands in Bihar, the next big State where Assembly polls are due later this year.

But clearly, she will have to do much more to get her party back in reckoning. She will first have to clear the air on leadership issue in the party and tell the party cadres and leaders once and for all that she and not Rahul will be in command. Also, she will have to rope in Rahul to work in tandem with him and not pull in different directions as the current impression suggests.

Second, she will have to get a new set of advisers and preferably they should be the young Turks of the party. Gone are the days of arm chair leaders like Ahmed Patel, Ambika Soni, Janardan Dwivedi, Moti Lal Vora, Ghulam Nabi Azad and others who keep looking at the vacancies of Rajya Sabha and continue with the typical “coterie” politics, which has since long become irrelevant. 

Third, the issues which the Congress chooses to highlight should be broad based. A party cannot limit itself to issues of farmers or workers alone. The party has become a type cast like the formula films of the 1970s and has to get out of this to get new set of supporters and voters in the elections between now and 2019 Lok Sabha polls. (March 23, 2015)

http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/chandigarh/sonia-gets-aggressive-cong-remains-on-back-foot.html

http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/dehradun/2015-03-22-87046.html