Vox Populi Issue 270

 

                                                           VOX POPULI

                                                                        by

                                                                  S Kamat 

                                                                        as

                                                                Aam Admi

                                           Issue: 270                      Date: 25.02.2019

                    Visit: skamat.blogspot.com or aamadmivoices.blogspot.com

 

Contents:       

1. Heads Must Roll For The Pulwama Attack

2. West Indies Cricket Is Back In Rip Roaring Fashion

3. Shaktikanta Das' Actions In Line With His Master's Voice

                                       Heads Must Roll For The Pulwama Attack

 Heads must roll for the Pulwama terror attack. The head of the CRPF transit camp from which the buses started, the CRPF commander of the area and the DG, CRPF should be sacked. In addition the Army commanders of the area need be transferred out and sent to the most sensitive forward area or to Kargil as a punishment posting. Similar action should be taken against the police and security agency officials who were directly responsible for forwarding the terror advisories of the likelihood of an attack on the paramilitary on which they sat upon without sending it across to the concerned units. Accountability should be enforced and clear responsibility established otherwise time and time again we will continue to have these attacks taking advantage of the inefficiency and lacklustre approach of our agencies towards safety of its own people and that of the public at large. If Narendra Modi has claimed to be shocked by the Pulwama attack and stated that his blood is boiling then he should on moral grounds submit his resignation and also initiate action to ask for resignations from the political chain of command like that of the Home Minister, Rajnath Singh and that of the J&K Governor, Satya Pal Malik since the State is under President's rule. As for the retaliation against the perpetrators of the Pulwama attack, instead of sabre rattling and playing up the revenge scenarios in the media, what we need to do is to go quietly about our way in asking our army to launch counter attacks against the terrorist training camps. This should have been done after the 1st surgical strike which turned out to be political football with the BJP hot on bravado and the Opposition seeking to puncture that image. Nothing of all that was necessary since strikes against the enemy border should be standard drill so that we eliminate the threat to our forces and the people living in the border areas before t actually happens. Unfortunately the army also tended to take sides during the surgical strike football match while they should have with their lips sealed continued the counter-insurgency operations. We need to learn from the Israeli example who strike at the Palestinian targets within Palestine and the Hezbollah targets deep inside Syria and Lebanon whenever anything is likely to be targeted against Israel and its people. Israel does not wait like us for the bomb to be overhead before we shoot it down where in any case we would be hit but takes it out before it is launched. That is because they have clear and actionable intelligence while we are pussyfooting around with our maybe's on who, what and where the enemy is. It is important that the intelligence gathering capabilities of the country are boosted also so that we are better prepared to face the enemy. At least Pulwama to that extent should have opened our eyes wide open. 

                         West Indies Cricket Is Back In Rip Roaring Fashion

The revival of West Indies cricket augured after beating England 2-1 in the Test series and then having a humdinger of an ODI in the first match with Chris Gayle back in the side promises great times for international cricket. For long West Indies cricket has been in the wilderness after their halcyon days in the past. This has been because of the paucity of good players, young players lacking experience at the international level and more importantly politics within the cricket bodies that manage West Indies cricket. These bodies seemed to have a penchant for getting into scrapes with established players who were desperately needed to put up a decent show for West Indies cricket. This was done even when the scraped up teams were doing well in the ODI & T20 formats and even bringing back trophies home. Good sense seems to have prevailed now with Chris Gayle back in the side for the ODI series against England. The prodigal Gayle celebrated his return with style as only he knows of a rip roaring century in the first match. Like this the other reputed players should find their way back into the West Indies team which will then become a mix of experience and young blood. This will do good for the revival of West Indies cricket. However West Indies cricket continues to get a raw deal from the ICC particularly with regard to the actions of match referees and the rules framed for penalties. Like in the recent series against England, Holder, the West Indies captain, was suspended for the last Test ostensibly for a slow over rate in the earlier 2 tests. There could be some other penalty like a fine rather than having a player sit out from a sport that he excels in. Holder had wrapped up the series by then with West Indies being 2-0 up in the 3 match Test series. Similarly Gabriel, the stand-in captain was fined in the last Test for his fracas with Root. And finally because England lost the series, the pitches played in the West Indies were claimed to be not at par except for the one where the last Test was played which England won! The ICC administration bias towards countries like West Indies, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and India are very apparent and it is time that a level playing field is implemented. Postscript: By the time I am writing this West Indies have won the 2nd ODI to level the series after losing the 1st though they had scored a massive 360 which England chased down with competent centuries by Roy & Root (almost sounds like a lawyer's firm). 

                         Shaktikanta Das' Actions In Line With His Master's Voice

Shaktikanta Das, the new RBI Governor is living up to paying his debts to his masters for the appointment by first reducing interest rates, though marginally, in the last review and then convening a meeting to push the banks to review their interest rates in the light of the RBI reduction. Not only that he has also cleared an interim dividend from the RBI to the government to make the ways and means position of the government easier. Though the dividend needs to be paid, it is being given way ahead of the completion of the current financial year of the RBI after which normally the dividend is declared and then disbursed. The advance receipt of the RBI dividend will help the government fund the goodies that were announced to the public in the last Budget earlier this month and any others that are likely before the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. These unplanned expenditures are likely to blow away the targeted budget deficit of the current financial year. Das' action is reminiscent of being faithful and loyal to His Master's Voice, the logo and graphic made famous by the erstwhile music label, HMV.

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Note: The date for the last issue of Vox Populi Issue 269 should read as 18.02.2019. The error is regretted.

Vox Populi Issue 269

 

                                                           VOX POPULI

                                                                        by

                                                                  S Kamat 

                                                                        as

                                                                Aam Admi

                                           Issue: 269                      Date: 18.01.2019

                    Visit: skamat.blogspot.com or aamadmivoices.blogspot.com

 

Contents:       

1. Pulwama Was A Major Security Lapse

2. Sri Lanka Pull Off A Fantastic Victory At The Kingsmead Test In Durban 

3. Narendra Modi Fighting Corruption?

                                Pulwama Was A Major Security Lapse

I hate writing this but the narrative has not changed about terrorism in India since the Mumbai blast cases. Every time we wake up only after a terrorist attack takes place and then we go through the same breast beating exercises, the blood boil dialogues, the threat scenarios against Pakistan, the photo-ops by the politicians with the victim's coffins but then no one asks the question did the 48 odd CRPF jawans deserve to die at Pulwama? Could our government, the authorities and the jawan's bosses not have done any better?  Why do we always allow the enemy get the upper hand? It is only in India that an Air Force base gets attacked. It is only in India that many military and para-military bases get attacked. The reason for that is simple. We are lax in our security measures and do not enforce it with 'no tolerance'. Why? Because our jawan's lives are cheap! Take Pulwama for instance. The J&K Governor has himself admitted that security warnings had come to the police and security forces about a terrorist attack on our para-military forces, but it was not passed on. Why was civilian traffic allowed on the road? Why was according to some reports private vehicles allowed to weave in and out of the  bus convoys? Why were the 2500 jawans moved on buses which were bunched together? The jawans were sitting ducks. If the jawans had to urgently return to their posts of duty, why could they not have been airlifted?  The bad weather not allowing traffic on the Jammu Srinagar road for a few days earlier is no excuse for organising such a convoy. The number of terror incidents in the Valley over the last few weeks had been on the increase. Why was the likelihood of a terror attack not anticipated?  The Jammu Srinagar road is claimed to be a sanitised road. Then how did 200 Kg.of explosives which was estimated to be in the SUV that hit the CRPF bus moved on the road?  A tragedy was waiting to happen and it happened. We are lucky that the lives lost  were only below 50. The loss could have been much, much more. After this we hope that our authorities starting from NSA Doval down the line to the last jawan are in a state of 24x7 preparedness particularly in disturbed area like Kashmir so that we do not unnecessarily lose the lives of Indian people. A celebrated American General, George C Patton during WWII famously said - You do not win wars by dying for your country but you win wars by making the enemy die for their country. So first let us take care of the lives of our people before we start wanting to kill the people of the enemy. 

           Sri Lanka Pull Off A Fantastic Victory At The Kingsmead Test In Durban 

That cricket is a game of glorious uncertainty was brought home again on the pitch at Kingsmead, Durban, South Africa where Sri Lanka pulled off a very unlikely but sensational win against South Africa on 16th Feb 2019 in the first Test of the 2 match series. One can say that at Kingsmead a miracle was made. Sri Lanka had just crossed 200 chasing a target of 304 to win but had lost 6 wickets. So for anyone watching the game Sri Lanka was a write-off since with the pace trio of Steyn, Rabada and Olivier backed up by the spin of Maharaj, 304 was not going to happen. Kusal Perera was at one end with a comfortable 70 under his belt and was watching his colleagues come and go at the other end unable to combat the bowling of the named foursome. It was then that Vishwa Fernando came to the crease as the last man in. Until then Perera was mixing caution with aggression and trying to reach his century as a consolation for himself and Sri Lanka from the match. But then he realised that nearing his century the 304 mark for victory was not too far off. Therefrom he intelligently started to farm the strike protecting Fernando from the bowlers who were throwing everything at the batsmen including short, rising balls to the body and getting his boundaries of at least one in an over preferably a 6. There was no issue of time since time was on Perera's side. Fernando for his part soldiered on bravely, ducking and dodging the balls coming at his lithe frame but more importantly keeping the ball away from his wickets or giving a catch to the cordon of fielders surrounding him like sharks. It was engrossing to watch the journey of the Perera-Fernando duo that was nail biting suspense and euphoria whenever Perera got a boundary that took them closer to the winning total. This way the pair reached 300 and then with Rabada bowling a ball wide of the off-stump, Perrera nudged it through the vacant slips for 4 and it was all over. Sri Lanka had won. This match will go down in cricket annals as one of the best winning run chases  in cricket history particularly that of Sri Lanka. With Sri Lanka not doing too well in international cricket these days with a fledgling young side, this victory will be a tremendous boost to their morale. Coming also at the start of the South African tour it will pep them up to do well in the rest of the matches which will be a good thing for cricket. Sri Lanka Well Done & Keep It Up. 

                                         Narendra Modi Fighting Corruption?

Narendra Modi has this penchant of calling the Mahagathbandhan of Opposition parties formed to oust him as a collection of people out to protect their corruption and also called it a milawat. One needs to ask Modi that if his allegations are true than what was he doing since 2014 to bring these corrupt people to justice. The people of India gave him the massive mandate in part for his slogan - Na khaunga, Na khane dunga - so that corruption in the country was wiped out. But nothing was done on any of the major financial scandals that had rocked the country and only coming to the fag end of his term in a vindictive mode Modi and his government have gone against Akhilesh Yadav for illegal sand mining, Mamata Banerjee for the chit find scams, Rahul & Sonia Gandhi for the National Herald case,  Robert Vadra for his land deals and  P Chidambaram for the INX Maxis deal. It is abundantly clear that this is being done for electoral gains in the upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Thus there was no seriousness to catch and punish the corrupt by Narendra Modi who has turned out to be like any other politician. The verdict is still out on the Rafael deal which may still turn out to be the biggest corruption case in independent India in which Narendra Modi has had his hands dirtied. BJP claiming to be a party with a difference has also turned out to be a party with no difference. And Narendra Modi has lived up to the chaiwala epithet bumbling along with his narrow minded agenda to seek only credit for himself and his government and in that process rode roughshod over professional people and destroyed most of the autonomous institutions in this country in the short span of 5 years. 

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Vox Populi Issue 268

                                                           VOX POPULI

                                                                        by

                                                                  S Kamat 

                                                                        as

                                                                Aam Admi

                                           Issue: 268                      Date: 11.01.2019

                    Visit: skamat.blogspot.com or aamadmivoices.blogspot.com

 

Contents:       

1. Mamata Banerjee: Rani Lakshmi Bai or Demoness or Tigress
2. Narendra Modi's Next Mann Ki Baat On Family Values

3. Of Deals & Offsets

                         Mamata Banerjee: Rani Lakshmi Bai or Demoness or Tigress

That Mamata Banerjee is the fearless and feisty kind and is a master in brinkmanship must have been brought home to Narendra Modi and the top BJP leadership by now. The dharna she conducted at Kolkata against the CBI's interference in Bengal in support of the Kolkata Police Commissioner cloaking it under the plea of an attack on the Constitution and on the federal structure should be enough lesson for the BJP not to mess around with her. The CPM has been aware of this when almost a decade ago they were relegated to the opposition benches and continue to remain there even today.  The street fighter in Mamata Banerjee comes to the fore when she feels politically cornered and that is when she is in her element. She was part of the triumvirate of women, the other two being the now deceased Jayalalitha and Mayawati, who made the lifelong bachelor, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, dance to their tunes when they had got together in government for a brief while. Thus now Narendra Modi, an enforced bachelor will not know how to handle another bachelor or spinster in Mamata Banerjee and may meet his debacle in doing just that in Bengal.

                               Narendra Modi's Next Mann Ki Baat On Family Values

After Chandrababu Naidu's tirade against Narendra Modi for raising his family issue, it is understood that the PM has taken the feedback positively and the next Mann Ki Baat will be on his family values. One hopes it will follow the precept - Practise What You Preach. 

                                                     Of Deals & Offsets

Anil Ambani's Reliance Communications has filed for insolvency proceedings as reported in the newspapers. One wonders how the Rafael set-off partner deal will take off after this. Will Dassault regret having taken on-board the Anil Ambani group that is saddled with a corporate debt exceeding Rs. 45,000 crores? However, on second thoughts one thinks that Anil Ambani and Delhi will both sleep peacefully since an offset exceeding Rs. 30,000 crores has already been arranged to scale down this debt. 

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Vox Populi Issue 267

 

                                                           VOX POPULI

                                                                        by

                                                                  S Kamat 

                                                                        as

                                                                Aam Admi

                                           Issue: 267                      Date: 04.02.2019

                    Visit: skamat.blogspot.com or aamadmivoices.blogspot.com

 

Contents:       

1. Indian Democracy Is In Tatters

2. Another Wicket Has Fallen: That Of The Head Of The Indian Statistical 

     Commission

3. No Constitutional Framework Wherein The CVC Can Be Proceeded Against For 

     Corruption

                                               Indian Democracy Is In Tatters

Indian democracy is in tatters. Led by people who are accused of criminality and on the basis of court judgments have attempted to shore up their credibility and thus lay claim to hold legislative and executive positions in our government. Indian democracy over the years since Independence has been disfigured, desecrated, mutilated, quartered, killed and the only thing left is for it now to be cremated and its ashes to be immersed in all the rivers that still flow through this great land that is India. We have to be thankful that we still have some semblance of freedom of speech though even that is fast getting restricted. Vote banks, quota banks, caste banks, community banks, language banks, wealth banks, privilege banks have blown holes in the cloth of Indian democracy leaving it in tatters. Many of the banks listed above exist in other democracies but some are unique to India and these are the ones that bring us down dramatically. Like quotas in education and jobs in government for the backward classes and now the newly announced quotas for the economically weaker sections of our society. In theory this is great but in practice particularly after seven decades of Independence it sounds incongruous. These banks are also actively encouraged and nurtured by our politicians since in their continuity lies their future. See the Budget that was presented lately. Where it should be a serious document outlining the proposition of what the government would do with the economy, it has turned into a dole document distributing pennies to almost all sections of the population. The unfortunate part is that people are counting these pennies and seeng how much they have gained. With the impending election such budgets are common and have been even branded as populist budgets. That people may vote the incumbent government to power or that is the expectation is the more distressing part. Is this not then large scale corruption? Corruption of the mind, body and soul. The transient nature of the Budget is also highlighted, in the sense that most of its provisions may not be implemented or worse still the whole thing may be recast, if you go by the Opposition's statements. This the Opposition is laying claim in the hope of doing better at the hustings and displacing the incumbent government. The other thing is that over time and particularly over the last 5 years our democracy has tended to become more authoritarian. Even alternative opinion let alone dissent is not tolerated and the moment you express anything different the social media brigade of the establishment descends upon you or actual goons lay hold upon you to teach you a lesson. Otherwise the police or the IB or the CBI or the ED will arrive at your doorstep to threaten you and thus iron out the alternative opinion or dissent so that you have a uniformity of opinion and a smooth layering of our society. Conformity seems to be the order of the day. But if you use enforcement agencies to control democracy, is it then true democracy in letter and spirit. These are the questions that haunt you. But if you look at other democracies the same authoritarian tendencies have been appearing. Take Donald Trump for example in the US with his many gaffes and ripostes, confrontations with the media and then shutting down the government for a Mexican wall! Then Macron in France who has had the Yellow Vest movement bringing the country to its knees in protest of the many policies of his. So can we be different? Maybe the time has come that we need to tread the same path and look at a new democracy.

Another Wicket Has Fallen: That Of The Head Of The Indian Statistical Commission

Another wicket has fallen. That of the head of the Indian Statistical Commission. Both members of the commission submitted their resignations over the suppression of the jobs report by the NSSO that showed that unemployment was the highest in the last 4 decades. Earlier they claimed that they had not been consulted on the revisions of the base year for the GDP figures to make the present NDA dispensation look good in the handling of the economy. One would say that they did good by quitting since the government went further and showed that in the year of Demonetisation 2016-17 the economy instead of being crimped actually grew by 8.1%! With the common people these things really do not matter since they will look at the news item shrug and move on with their lives. Within the small world of  professional economists within India, it would draw a chuckle and depending on which side of the fence their sympathies lie they would obsess with it for a while and then carry on as usual. The problem is that these things are happening so frequently now that they have got inured to it or like they say,they live in a world of Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics and nothing surprises them anymore. But the bigger picture is that we are losing credibility internationally with the economic institutions of the world where with frequent changes made to the basis for announcement of economic indices of the country, it has come to a situation that no one believes any more the official figures being put out and there will come a day when our official economists may be questioned with comments like - Are you sure? Will things not be changed down the line? This is not a good thing for the country and its image. But one is not sure since maybe this is the new grand design and not have professionals speak on professional matters but leave the last word to the politicians. However, it is surprising to see Rajeev Kumar, Vice Chairman of the Niti Aayog who prior to his current appointment was a critic of Demonetisation but is now increasingly being seen as the government's point man to defend issues relating to economic matters. The chameleon has truly changed its colours! 

     No Constitutional Framework Wherein The CVC Can Be Proceeded Against For 

                                                   Corruption

It has been reported that there is no constitutional framework wherein the Central Vigilance Commissioner - CVC can himself be proceeded against for corruption. A PIL has been filed in the Supreme Court to set up a mechanism for this. There is more than a necessity for such a procedure  since the present incumbent in the CVC post , K V Chowdhary took charge of his appointment only after having been cleared of some cases of corruption that the CBI was investigating against him. Even now there are allegations against him for having closed some vigilance cases dubiously.

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Vox Populi Issue 266

                                                           VOX POPULI

                                                                        by

                                                                  S Kamat 

                                                                        as

                                                                Aam Admi

                                           Issue: 266                      Date: 28.01.2019

                    Visit: skamat.blogspot.com or aamadmivoices.blogspot.com

 

Contents:       

 

1.  Officially The 'Silly Season' Of Elections Has Begun

2. The Declining Benchmarks Of The Padma Awards

3. On BCCI Functioning 

 

                                Officially The 'Silly Season' Of Elections Has Begun

 

The BJP loss in the elections in MP, Chattisgarh & Rajasthan triggered off an uproar in the party circles right up to the topmost echelons that resulted in all caution being thrown to the winds and got the party desperately trying to draw the voters back into its fold preparatory to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Thus the 10% EWS quota was announced, termed as a masterstroke, but it seems that its impact will be relatively less particularly with no government jobs for the taking. As an aside, all things that Narendra Modi does these days are termed masterstrokes! Then the GST tax rate slab rationalisation that was hanging fire ever since the measure was introduced, was done in a hurry. The earlier concern that revenue would drop if certain categories of products were  moved to the lower slab rates was thrown out of the window and even though the Dec 2018 GST revenue was much below the Rs.90,000 crores level, the rationalisation was carried through. Not only that the ceiling turnovers for businesses that would pay GST of just 5% was doubled from Rs. 20 Lakhs to Rs. 40 Lakhs and similarly the facility for composition was also raised to twice the earlier limit. These were all measures that the GST Council was asking time and again but it had all been getting postponed or shelved by the government. The loss in the elections in the 3 named States as above made the present dispensation wake up and rush to action. Then Shaktikanta Das, the arch-implementer of the illogical Demonetisation  measure, who has been brought into the RBI is drumbeatibg the banking system to increase the loans to the MSME sector hoping that industrial revival will happen again. Other rumoured policy measures that are in the pipeline are relief to farmers from the crippling loan burdens that they face or alternately giving them financial incentives to make their lives a little better and provide them the money that they need to sustain their activities in the farming sector. A Universal Basic Income - UBI  on the lines of a social security net is also being talked of to make the menu card complete.  How many of these measures will see the light of day or are only baits is what only Narendra Modi knows? But the coverage of the voter crossection is quite dramatic ranging from the EWS section to small businessmen concerned with the GST maze and facing paucity of funds to farmers and finally to address poverty and making India a socially sensitive country who cares for its poor. Added to the above Rahul Gandhi has also chimed in with his own promise of a form of UBI if the Congress comes to power. With the Lok Sabha elections around the corner, officially the 'silly season' has begun of making promises and then forgetting about them, after all it is election time - Election ke time me sab kuch hota hai.

 

 

                             The Declining Benchmarks Of The Padma Awards

 

The Padma awards this year particularly the principal ones seem to be partisan and agenda driven. Speaks of the narrow mindset and shallow thinking of those who decided on them. Gita Mehta was very correct in declining the award given to her. She is to be admired for her conviction and the ability to sift through the reasons making her an awardee.

 

                                               On BCCI Functioning 

 

The K L Rahul and Hardik Pandya episode of shooting of their mouths with sexist remarks is thankfully over with the former joining the India A team playing a home series in India and Hardik flying to far off Kiwi land to join the Indian cricket's first XI. These cricketers are young and do not know how to handle the media and show-anchors particularly like the more than savvy Karan Johar. Karan Johar's comment a few days ago saying he feels responsible for what happened is clearly too little, too late. He should have guided the young cricketers during the show or at least edited out the comments before broadcasting it. He did not do that but waited until he got his mileage, literally a pound of flesh, out of it and then he now comes out with this blasé apology. Freshers from any profession invited to the show need be wary from now on and watch what they do or say. The BCCI also needs to give some training to the cricketers who represent India on how to handle tricky questions akin to a 'doosra' in cricketing parlance while facing the media. The incident also reflects on the the way the BCCI functions these days. The way the Rahul/Pandya incident was handled was nothing but an over-reaction. More so by Diana Edulji who has been a player herself and should have known better. She was doing nothing but getting back at Vinod Rai her co-member in the CoA over the earlier Johri affair as part of her feminist agenda. Vinod Rai being a bureaucrat and an auditor to boot is at sea when it comes to dealing with player issues because his forte is procedures and processes. These matters have been further accentuated since the clear polarity has been established lately in the CoA and more often than not what you hear is just bickering. That is why it was recommended some time back that a 3rd member be inducted into the CoA which will lend balance to it and also help it to become decisive in the spirit of democratic functioning. Kapil Dev's name had been suggested which was a good thing since it suited the job description perfectly. However, these are just patchwork solutions and the Supreme Court mandated 'reforms' in the affairs of the BCCI is taking too long. It is best that the BCCI be handed back to its council which we need to recognise has brought Indian cricket to what it is today at the zenith of achievement. But long term in sport , it is best that the running of the bodies or associations be left to player dominated councils and mostly constituted as government bodies. Private bodies like the BCCI and the host of other sports associations carrying India colours is not appropriate which may have happened for historical reasons but the time has come to change it. 

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Vox Populi Issue 265

                                                            VOX POPULI

                                                                        by

                                                                  S Kamat 

                                                                        as

                                                                Aam Admi

                                           Issue: 265                      Date: 21.01.2019

                    Visit: skamat.blogspot.com or aamadmivoices.blogspot.com

                 THERE WAS NO ISSUE OF THE VOX POPULI DATED 14.01.2019. 

Contents:       

1. The BJP Government's Shoddy Governance 

2. The Corruption Cycle : CBI - CVC - CBI

3. The Ploy Of The 10% Upper Class Quota Is Just An Election Gimmick 

                               The BJP Government's Shoddy Governance  

On issues related to governance this government led by Narendra Modi stumbles often and more often than not badly.  Consider the impact of the Citizenship Bill in the North East region. The dust had not yet settled on the National Citizen's Register Issue with multiple extensions to the deadline and the many serious controversies linked with it when the Citizenship Bill was brought in, which in fact somewhat negates the former. Not only that with the public outcry mostly by the politicians and the intelligentsia the government has gone and filed sedition cases against three persons. This will only add fuel to the fire. After all this we have Ram Madhav, one of the office bearers of the BJP, trying to trivialise the matter as if to suggest that the custodian of all wisdom on all matters now is the BJP. On matters of sedition the government seems to be having a penchant for it. What with Kanhaiya & Co. of the JNU slapped with it which apparently seems to be foisted on them deliberately. The government through the police was also pulled up by the judge for not seeking the due permissions before filing the sedition case by asking them whether they have a legal department or not. This shows up the rawness of the government in cases related to sedition lending credence to the belief that they plucked the case out of thin air. Moving on to more mundane matters, there has been controversy unnecessarily created in the Indian Council of Child Welfare - ICCW children bravery awards which they have been giving away for 60 years or more which included the children participating in the Republic Day parade seated on the back of an elephant. These are memorable events for the children which this government has put into uncertainty with children selected for this year's awards by the ICCW already in Delhi but unsure whether they will be able to participate in the parade or not. The reason for this is that the ICCW has been pulled up for some financial irregularities and is on the government's black-list. Not only this the government has gone ahead and announced its own bravery awards for children. One does not know whether the children on this year's government list of these awards are the same as that of the ICCW or it is a different bunch. Only the Republic Day parade on 26th January can clarify that. Why the government could not ask the ICCW to drop their awards this year if it was announcing their own is something that is beyond comprehension and particularly not to bring the children for the Republic Day parade. Thus this government generally gives the image of being a bull in a china shop when it comes to implementing anything irrespective of it impacting small children and even up to elders, riding roughshod and trampling upon the sentiments of all the people.

                               The Corruption Cycle : CBI - CVC - CBI

The summary dismissal of CBI Director once he was re-instated by the Supreme Court smacks of injustice but giving credence to the charges brought against him by the CVC, for which we really have no choice, one would tend to believe that it is better to have officers like this, away from influential positions. Connivance and misuse of official position seem to be apparent in the charges brought against Verma and giving the opportunity of natural justice to such people will be doing a disservice to the system which enjoins fairness and propriety in our administrative procedures to deserving people. The case also reflects how rotten our system has become where the premier enforcement agency of the country, the CBI, is run by persons like this. Compounding these problems are the incumbent government's tendencies to majorly interfere with the prominent institutions of the country. Like in the CBI, by bringing in a parallel power centre and a likely promised heir-in-the-making in Asthana. This led to the CBI going further downhill with in-fighting that was splashed in the media for months at a time. The rot does not stop here. Like it is said that the woods are dark and deep so also are these corrupted worm infested agencies that comprise our government. In this same CBI case, the CVC K V Chowdhary  who sat on judgment on Verma's matter was himself accused of corruption and visited the house of Ranjit Sinha, ex-Director, CBI of the 'caged parrot' fame multiple times as recorded in the register kept there. Once he was cleared thereafter by the CBI was he able to take up his posting as CVC, in which position he then sits on judgment on Director, CBI Verma and charges him with misdemeanour and corruption! Can we say that the wheel has turned a full circle where people charged of corruption themselves call others corrupt? Also an apt fit for the idiom - Pot Calling The Kettle Black! With this we cannot but come to the conclusion that in contemporary India everything is purchasable.

           The Ploy Of The 10% Upper Class Quota Is Just An Election Gimmick 

The 10% quota announced by the government last week for the economically weaker category among the upper classes and across all communities is a retrograde step. When Charan Singh as Prime Minister had proposed to rejuvenate the bullock cart as one of the points of his economic plan, it was said that he was trying to push back the country by a decade. By the same yardstick, this new quota is going to take the country back by 50 years, half a century, that is. 

We as a society have been against the caste system and concerted steps have been taken to rid our society of this slur. However, our political class has been trying to keep the caste system alive in different ways. Our politicians are stratifying our society by the creation of vote banks, instituting quotas etc. The quota for the upper classes has been a long standing demand by the people in this category but had been refused a number times because it would not be maintainable particularly in courts, if challenged. This very same fate awaits the present quota announcement. Quotas have already reached 50% and more in the SC, ST & OBC categories, which is the limit set by the Supreme Court, in one of its judgments. But States like Maharashtra have gone ahead and announced more quotas in excess of this limit for categories like Marathas. This if you add this 10% to the existing quota in force you will come to close to some 70-80%. If so there is no meaning in the quota since it becomes then a question of allotment of the vacancies be it in jobs or in seats of educational institutions. 

The practical difficulties that are encountered with the quota system and reservation are very acute. With sometimes no qualified candidates among the quota category, the jobs or vacancies go unfilled and are prone to repetitive procedure for filling up, delaying the completion of the exercise. Even as has been seen in IIT & other educational institutions or even in jobs, the quality of the candidates or selected persons is not good enough leading to difficulties in maintaining course curriculum or administration. 

Not only that even within the 50% limit, it has been found that almost with every State there are certain communities who want to get into the SC, ST & OBC categories or some who want their categories moved from one category to another. Thus where the basic 50% quota categories are under pressure and in a practical sense found unworkable then what is the reason to introduce yet another upper class category. 

There is also a conceptual misuse of the quota system particularly when it comes to college admissions or while seeking jobs where affluent OBC's avail of the quota allotted to them at the cost of the General category who having more merit or secured more marks are deprived of seats or jobs. 

Thus the best thing would have been to eliminate all quotas and allowed meritocracy to rule. There are enough grounds to present this argument since we have tried close to seven decades with the present quota system and if it has not worked, then there is very little chance of it working at all. If we allow merit to be the basis for our society then the pace of development of our country could possibly improve and we would be able to get out of the stranglehold of poverty and deprivation faster. There is already an example in favour of the argument since most Indians who leave the country to work abroad, do much better for themselves and also in comparison to other migratory nationalities in their country of domicile. That is the reason why we see Indians at the top of many Fortune 100 corporations in the US. The medical fraternity in many of the Western countries are also dominated by Indian professionals. 

But the unfortunate part is that the control of quotas and reservation is in the hands of our politicians who will not relinquish this Brahmastra that gets them elected, from their hands. And these are the same vested interests which will resist the introduction of meritocracy in our country. 

If you look at this whole issue in another way, there is no meaning in announcing the new upper class quota. It is just a gimmick to sway the minds of the upper class people preparatory to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The quota has also no relevance since no new government jobs exist or are likely to be created with the present economic scenario. This BJP government came riding in on the plank of a lean government and a government that works. But that promise was long forgotten when Narendra Modi himself announced some time last year recruitment for some 1 Lakh jobs. This again when Modi & the BJP have also distanced themselves from the promise made in 2014 of creating 2 crore jobs per year in the Indian economy. Therefore we should not fall for this trap of the upper class quota which is nothing but a bribe to get your vote but start a movement to eliminate all quotas and reservation from every sphere of activity in this country.

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Vox Populi Issue 264

VOX POPULI                                                                         by                                                                   S Kamat                                                                          as                                                                 Aam Admi                                            Issue: 264                      Date: 07.01.2018                     Visit: skamatblog.blogspot.com or aamadmivoices.blogspot.com   Contents: 1. Judicial Overreach     2. Ambanis As MFF - Most Favoured Family 3. The Tragedy Of Being An Indian

                                                  Judicial Overreach

We have the overreach of the judiciary, more specifically the Supreme Court, leading to a distressing situation in the Sabarimalai temple case relating to the entry of women of menstruating age into the temple. The matter was to be dealt as a faith issue rather than that of a Constitutional right and the SC could have recused themselves from the case. That would have allowed the matter to die a natural death rather than as it is now of a political football that is being kicked about and the situation on the streets in Kerala fast deteriorating progressively into a severe law and order problem. This is not the first time that the SC is doing this but there are many instances of judicial overreach the notable among which of current origin are: the ban on fireworks to particular times during the last Diwali. This was taking the fun out of children's lives across the country and depriving livelihood for thousands in the household and the tiny sector who are involved in the manufacture of fireworks. The icing on the cake in the judgment was that  'green' fireworks should be used when none existed in India from local manufacture and whatever was available was of China make. So was the SC indirectly promoting the industry of China at the cost of Indian industry! As for the primary concerns of pollution that was the basis of the judgment, fireworks were not banned in entirety but it seems only for Diwali since for religious festivals that followed like the Chaat Puja and then the New Year and the random weddings that take place or during the election victories fireworks continued to be used. On a more global level, Diwali is celebrated only once a year in India like the 4th of July in the U.S. and there should have been no problem in allowing our children have their day of fun when the world's largest polluter can allow it for their own people. So the point is that if you want to ban fireworks for environmental and noise pollution then ban them entirely and not just for a specific festival like Diwali. Then we have the latest gaffe by the SC in the Rafael judgment that implied that the aircraft deal was referred to the CAG and the PAC and that a report on that was tabled in Parliament. The incumbent government is using this judgment it give itself a clean chit. The issue of stating a process and in contrast implying that the process was executed has been  carried in the media ad nauseum. But even then the Supreme Court has not taken cognisance of it  even on a suo moto basis which it does at other times. Thus the present government and its seniormost leaders one can say is surviving on the mercy of the courts and carrying that stamp on its shoulders. Concluding one can safely say that our judiciary should remain in its domain and refrain from interfering in all and sundry matters which will allow it to work towards reducing the pendency of cases that has been clogging up the court process and thus be able to deliver speedier justice to our people. 

                              Ambanis As MFF - Most Favoured Family

For all the talk about no corruption in this Narendra Modi led BJP government, the pointers towards crony capitalism are very apparent. Connections with big business of the Modi government had been talked about with the Ambanis and the Adanis, both industrial magnates hailing from Gujarat. But even between the two, the Ambani family seems to be holding the MFF - Most Favoured Family status. While the elder brother, Mukesh gets Institute of Eminence status for his educational institute for which no ground has been broken and the project just exists on paper. So also the younger brother, Anil has been done a similar favour by being selected as the set-off partner for Dassault, France in the Rafael jet fighter deal that ensures a bonanza of Rs.33,000 crore. Here again there is no manufacturing faculty or business operations on the ground and the selected partner has no experience in aircraft manufacture. It is time that both these windfalls bestowed on the Ambani family are withdrawn forthwith.

                                      The Tragedy Of Being An Indian

The national highway near Udupi in Karnataka was blocked yesterday, 6th Jan 2019 for 3 hours with protesting fishermen taking to the streets because 7 of their community have been missing at sea since 13th December 2018 and there is no concrete action that has been taken by both the State and Central governments to launch search and rescue operations to find them. This incident along with the the 12 coal miners who have been missing again from 13th December 2018 in the Meghalaya rathole mines highlights the callousness of our governments towards the people who strive hard to put body and soul together by taking up dangerous and hazardous work. The fishermen case is of a lesser order of danger since they are above ground albeit granted that they are on water but there is every chance of them drifting because of faulty engines and they can be spotted by the Coast Guard or passing ships. But for the miners who were trapped in a flooded mine serious recovery measures were initiated only after a week of the incident which is a shame since by that time they would have been dead from lack of food and air to breathe or would have drowned in the waters. Navy divers and high capacity pumps to evacuate the water arrived at the site just last week close to three weeks of the date the miners went missing. Is there any chance from this effort for bringing out the miners alive? At most they would be able to recover the bodies. While in the case of the young footballers who were trapped in a cave in Thailand, it grabbed the attention of our media and our people. But it is unfortunate that the same attention was not given to our own, the trapped miners in Meghalaya. The greatest tragedy is that the governments both at the State level and the Centre tended to be less seized of the distressed miners. This is not at all. In the Kolkata Metro recently one of the coaches caught fire because of overheating brakes leading to panic among commuters. The people had to be evacuated through the tracks and some broke windows and jumped out fracturing their limbs. Luckily there were no fatalities though a number of persons had to be admitted to hospitals. But it has come out that the Kolkata Metro have no smoke or fire alarm systems in their stations or tunnels through which the tracks run and which are all underground. They also have no fire drill procedures or disaster management measures in the event of accidents and mishaps like the above. And the Kolkata Metro has been running close to more than three decades now! Surely someone must be pulled up for this negligence. Thus you will see with these three widely spread out incidents in different situations the country has been found lacking in its ability to deal with major accidents and disasters when the scenario is a little different from the ordinary. The government attitude to these cases has been lackadaisical with no concern for the loss of human life. The only conclusion that one can draw from this is that in India human life is cheap and it does not matter if a few people die here or there because in any case we have so many.
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