Sailing against the wind - 2

Previously: Sailing Against the Wind; Majority Wins

My name is Nadia Kumar Singh. I am a doctor and I work at the government hospital, Nala. Nala, which is a fairly large village is situated in Jamtara district of Jharkhand. This hospital at Nala was built three years ago to cater to all the surrounding villages in the block. Government spent sufficient money to build state of art facilities at the hospital. Nine doctors were posted to this newly built hospital. The village people were very happy who earlier had to travel two hours to Jamtara or Asansol. 

Everything was perfect to begin with but three months later, three doctors got themselves transferred to some urban location. The vacancies created were not filled. Some of us put in extra shifts to cater to the numbers. The situation deteriorated further when two more doctors stopped coming. Only four of us were left now. Our repeated pleas in the health department went unattended and situation stayed as it is. The free government medicine outlet in the hospital started running short on key medicines. The administrative guy in our hospital said helplessly - "The strings are pulled from above, I can not do anything. As far as possible please prescribe only those medicines that we have." The health department had become deaf by now. One of the educated residents in Nala tried to approach the local media but learnt that media got their share of the public pie from the top to keep quiet.

A few months later our salary stopped coming. On approaching the Registrar at the district we learnt that we need to give 5% of our salary as bribe to get the salary regularly and on time. This was the final nail in the coffin. Three others left and I am the only doctor at Nala hospital. Now, I work in the hospital for as long as I can apart from seeing the emergencies whenever called for. 

The doctors who left earlier were wise and those who did not bother to join government service and go abroad were wiser. I don't know what keeps me hooked to Nala. I don't know why I want to stay foolish.

Epilogue: Government spends billions on developing infrastructures like schools, roads, hospitals etc. but is least bothered in running and maintaining those properly. Why wouldn't an IIT or AIIMS graduate join a private firm or leave for greener pastures abroad?

The Unusual Suspects: FDI in multi-brand retail - a ploy to kill the Lokpal affair

Earlier: The Unusual Suspects: Paid news scandal - a lifeline for UPA

Recently the cabinet unilaterally decided to allow 51% FDI in multi-brand retail. There have been many in support for FDI in multi-brand retail and many have been against it. I personally support the decision to open up multi-brand retail to FDI but the manner and timing of the government’s decision raises several questions.

This major decision was taken without consulting the opposition or a debate in the parliament and the timing was right at the beginning of the winter session of Parliament. What use is the Parliament of when you take such a major decision without discussion let alone taking the Parliament into confidence. Add to this the timing – right at the beginning of the winter session. Now they can enjoy the winter in their blankets purchased from public money as the parliament would be disrupted. (btw: Under no circumstances do I support disruption of Parliament) The opposition stands united against the government and is applying all kinds of pressure tactics including disruption of the Parliament. Same thing happened over the JPC demand in the winter session last year. The Congress was clever enough to choose the timing of its decision.

Now the congress stalwarts will express their concern about Parliamentary democracy and its disruption and blame the opposition of killing precious time of the Parliament. The ‘Strong’ Lokpal bill is supposed to come in this very winter session. The Congress can have a strong and valid reason for not being able to bring the Lokpal Bill in this winter session and blame it on the opposition. 

Enough of privacy!

We have something called Right to Information Act (RTI Act). This law fosters transparency and accountability in public institutions and institutions receiving sufficient government funding. RTI has proved to be a game changer ever since it has come into being. 2G scam was unveiled by RTI and so have many other scams. The attack on various RTI activists across India has proved that it has been a menace for the corrupt. However this law doesn't cover private bodies or large companies that affect resources of the nation, society, economy and environment. Eg: A mining company in a tribal area has to take into account how the operations affect the tribals and the biodiversity. Even the small shareholders do not have access to most of the information in a private company which they should be entitled to – as they hold a ownership right. Putting it precisely – any stakeholder should have access to relevant information whether it be a private organization or a public organization.

Non-financial accounting or social accounting is one such tool. Social accounting is the process of communicating the social and environmental effects of organizations' economic actions to particular interest groups within society and to society at large. A company does report its performance annually in the annual report but it does not cover the environmental and social costs. Even if it does in some cases it is just a lip service. Why does it need to account for social and environment costs? A mining company’s unfair practices vis-a vis the locals contributes to Naxalism. A manufacturing industry’s release of harmful gases and toxic material leads to climate change and subsequent implications like – temperature rise, rise of sea level, biodiversity loss etc. USA bailed out big banks during the sub-prime crises, a pit that the bankers dig for themselves. Why did the government bail out the banks if it was their fault? Because the failure of banks could have lead to numerous job losses – huge social impact. After the government bailed out the banks and they came back to their ways, they paid hefty bonuses to the CEOs. No learnings still !

From a shareholders point of view, what matters is only profit. Why should they worry about the non financial reporting? Because the information in non-financial reports contributes to building up a company's risk profile. And although it has still not been convincingly demonstrated that good environmental and social practices create value for shareholders, it is clear that bad ones can destroy it (-George Dallas, Standard & Poor’s). Exxon's attitude to the oil spillage from the Exxon Valdez drove customers away from its pumps. Satyam's image took a beating across the board.

Further from a shareholder’s point of view, especially the small shareholders and retail investors there needs to be a framework similar to RTI. Why? Because they hold ownership rights in the company (A share is a ownership right). The major decisions are taken by the board members which consists of majority shareholders. Suppose there are 10 gentlemen who form the board holding 75% shares, rest are retail investors. There may be a nexus among these 10 gentlemen and they may agree to unfair accounting practice whereby they inflate the cost to report lesser profit and in turn lesser taxes to the government and lesser dividends to the retail investors while filling up their pockets. Another implication would be the black money generated because of the cost inflation. A good example is the recent report of CAG on Reliance petroleum operations in the KG basin where it highlighted gold plating of costs.

There are certain safeguards like environmental impact assessment (EIA) and Companies Act but they have proved futile (numerous examples mentioned above). There needs to be a comprehensive mechanism through which the above mentioned issues are addressed. Enough of privacy!

Politics and the post of Governor

Constitution of India provides for a Governor in each state. Governor is the ceremonial head while Chief Minister is the effective head of the state government. The post of Governor was conceived as an independent and impartial Constitutional office and therefore was kept outside the purview of elections. Governor acts as a vital link between the center and the state governments. But this post of Governor has been misused badly by those at the center. Recent controversies in Karnataka, Gujarat and Bihar have flared up the issue once more. Here is a bit of analysis on the present scenario.

Indian State	Governor Name	Took Office	Background
Andhra Pradesh	E.S.L. Narasimhan	27 December 2009	Civil Servant
Arunachal Pradesh	General Joginder Jaswant Singh	24 January 2008	Chief of Army
Assam	Janaki Ballabh Patnaik	27 November 2009	Congress
Bihar	Devanand Konwar	24 July 2009	Congress
Chhattisgarh	Shekhar Dutt, SM	23 January 2010	Civil Servant
Goa	K. Sankaranarayanan	August 2011	Congress
Gujarat	Kamla Beniwal	27 November 2009	Congress
Haryana	Jagannath Pahadia	27 July 2009	Congress
Himachal Pradesh	Urmila Singh	25 January 2010	Congress
Jammu and Kashmir	Narinder Nath Vohra	25 June 2008	Civil Servant
Jharkhand	Dr. Syed Ahmed	26 august 2011	Congress
Karnataka	Hans Raj Bhardwaj	29 June 2009	Congress
Kerala	M. O. Hasan Farook Maricar	August 2011	Congress
Madhya Pradesh	Ram Naresh Yadav	26 august 2011	Congress
Maharashtra	K. Sankaranarayanan	22 January 2010	Congress
Manipur	Gurbachan Jagat	23 July 2008	Civil Servant
Meghalaya	Ranjit Shekhar Mooshahary	1 July 2008	Civil Servant
Mizoram	Shri Vakkom Purushothaman	26 august 2011	Congress
Nagaland	Nikhil Kumar	15 October 2009	Congress
Odisha	Murlidhar Chandrakant Bhandare	21 August 2007	Congress
Punjab	Shivraj Patil	22 January 2010	Congress
Rajasthan	Shivraj Patil (additional charge)	26 April 2010	Congress
Sikkim	Balmiki Prasad Singh	9 July 2008	Civil Servant
Tamil Nadu	Konijeti Rosaiah	26 august 2011	Congress
Tripura	Dnyandeo Yashwantrao Patil	27 November 2009	Congress
Uttarakhand	Margaret Alva	19 July 2009	Congress
Uttar Pradesh	Banwari Lal Joshi	28 July 2009	Civil Servant
West Bengal	M.K. Narayanan	24 January 2010	Civil Servant

As can be seen from the data, 19 out of 28 Governors had political affiliations with the Congress in the past. No Governor had any political affiliation with any party other than the Congress. This data highlights the extent to which President (President appoints the Governor) is biased in favour of the Congress. The probable reason is - she herself was affiliated to the Congress in the past.

Sarkaria commission report on center state relations (1988) noted - "Frequent removals and transfers of Governors before the end of their tenure have lowered the prestige of this office. Criticism has been levelled that the Union governments utilises the Governors for its own political ends. Many Governors looking forward to further office under the Union or active role in politics after their tenure come to regard themselves as agents of the Union". This observation holds true even today.

Tackling Terrorism

A series of bomb blasts, x people dead, y injured, 24x7 news coverage, Ministry of Home Affairs huddle, REACTIVE police action, rhetoric, mud slinging, finger pointing, political opportunism, top IPS officers suspended, a debate topic for intellectuals, angry and helpless common man, talk about spirit of the city, sanction of funds for police modernization, blame game and using of colors saffron/green. And as always, tolerant Indian society moves on. Tolerance may be a virtue, it is high time we unsubscribe from this. Let me explore some relevant questions.

Who funds terror ?

We have heard of black money being siphoned off from India. How does this money travel abroad ? Not through a plane or a ship neither can it be transferred through bank accounts (as it would be white then). One way to transfer black money is 'hawala'. Suppose you need to send B-money to a Swiss bank (tax haven). At the same time there will be money from opium trade outside India willing to reach in terrorist hands inside India. The intermediary takes your money gives it to the terrorist within India and the opium trade money goes to your Swiss bank account.

You buy real estate or gold from the tax money you evaded. All money finally accrues up in the hands of big businesses which in turn use the hawala route. Though very small, there is a probability that your black money helped terrorists.

Why do the Indian police/intelligence agency fail to stop 0.1 % of the attacks ?

Our police is a system that still works on the 1861 Indian Police Act. Police is in the state list, i/e- state government has control over the police system. State can chose to improve it, make it worse or maintain status quo. To improve police system requires political will - this comes through coercion ( as has been proved in the past). Unless a civil society movement (of the RTI, RTE, Lokpal sorts) brings the government to its feet, political will won't come.

Democracy in India comes for a month during five years and then it vanishes into the ballot box. Government won't do anything. For our democracy to work we need a vigilant civil society and terrorism (read black money and police reforms) should be high on its agenda.

The Unusual Suspects: Paid news scandal - a lifeline for UPA

Prelude - Many important events and incidences take place in such a manner and it may seem just a coincidence or the reason may seem to be quite straight forward. But I do not believe in coincidences, I like freakonomics' way of exploring things & I believe in conspiracy theories. In the blog series - "The unusual suspects", I have tried to explore the hidden reality behind some of the recent events. I DO NOT have material evidences for what I would present but I would try to give valid arguments.

Few months back we heard about a syndrome called "Paid News". Paid news or paid content are those articles in newspapers, magazines and the electronic media, which indicate favourable conditions for the institution that has paid for it.The news is much like an advertisement but without the ad tag. This kind of news has been considered a serious malpractice since it deceives the citizens, not letting them know that the news is, in fact, an advertisement. Secondly , the payment modes usually violate tax laws and election spending laws. More seriously, it has raised electoral concerns because the media has a direct influence on voters.

Two member committee was set up by Press council of India to examine the paid news scandal. The committee came up with a report but the release was then "deferred" and the report was referred to a larger group of Council members who were to decide within three months on how it should be presented because some council members argued that "'it would destroy the publishers' credibility and hurt their long term interest". Finally PCI came out with a much watered down version of the report without any of the specifics detailed in the original which explicitly named newspapers and channels — including some of the biggest groups in the country — seen as having indulged in the “paid news” practice. The original report was not made public.

A plethora of scams have come to the fore in the past one year, records have been broken and new heights have been set by the UPA-2. At the same time the country is reeling under inflation, food prices are at an all time high. The list can go on. A free media would sensationalize these and bring the government to its feet. But interestingly, most media houses are walking a fine line. They are more focused on the less important things.

Ramdev's agitation was in news for so long - what it did was killed time and shifted the focus away from the more important issues like Lokpal. The sensationalisation of UP crime scenario took precedence over CAG report on Reliance power/KG Basin/Oil ministry which is potentially another scam of epic proportions. I do not support crimes in UP, but are they something new ? Is it something specific to Mayawati ? If it is due to lacklusture security scenario, isn't UPA guilty too by delaying police reforms even after repeated Supreme Court orders.

Whenever there is an issue in the opposite camp, the head of UPA marketing team Rahul Gandhi and his puppet-chatter box Digvijay Singh reach the scene to extract political mileage out of it (and in actuality doing nothing). Most media houses show this 24x7 and give the front page space. Is farmer's suicide an issue of lesser importance? Is Lokpal of lesser importance? Is UPA policy failure and rise in food inflation of lesser importance?

This is nothing but a UPA-media(which ones? - Are hidden in the report) nexus. UPA won't take any action by letting out the names and in a return favour media will continue making a mockery of democracy.

(Note - I have nothing personal against UPA or a media house. Neither do I have an allegiance to any political group.)

The crisis of tolerance and the crisis of intolerance

India is probably going through the most tumultuous times since the mid 70s. On the socio-economic front - inequality is at an all time high though the burgeoning middle class is a positive sign. On the political front - leadership deficit is at an all time high. While there is a huge political vacuum in the country, no political front can claim moral responsibility over that space.

Let me demarcate the Indian society into three broad classes - The upper class, middle class and the lower class. Half of the upper class has a strong nexus with the government, the other half doesn't care. Middle class is very tolerant towards corruption and see it as a necessary evil, they go with the flow. Lower class fights tooth and nail to fill it's stomach daily, how can they find time. Moreover, in the absence of strong leadership - middle class and the lower class can do nothing.

Communal riots, casteism, honour killings etc show the extent up to which Indian society is intolerant. At the same time Indian society is strangely tolerant towards farmer suicides, child labour, exploitation of women(including dowry and other evils) and corruption at all fronts.

A fraction of the civil society - Anna Hazare, Arvind Kejriwal and co. (baba excluded) are trying hard to provide the much needed leadership but they can do nothing without the people of India. India is a democracy where government is the reflection of its people. The current political scenario is not due to the corrupt government but due to its people who are tolerant and intolerant towards the wrong things. It is the crisis of tolerance and the crisis of intolerance more than anything else.

As individuals, the least we can do is to instill in our hearts - "I will never give or take bribe" , "I will never give or take dowry" , "I will never employ child labour" . More can be added to this list.

The need for social reform

‘Democracy’ and ‘Socialism’ are two important words in the preamble to the constitution of India. This in effect provides for a welfare state in which the popularly elected government is responsible for basic services that can be grouped under physical and social infrastructure.

India lags behind in both – physical and social infrastructure. There are various reasons for this and almost all of those are attributable to the failure of service delivery mechanisms. Even government of the day accepts that less than 17 paisa out of 100 reaches the intended target. RTI, UID project, and Lokpal Bill are noteworthy steps in the direction to improve service delivery mechanisms and ensure accountability.

It seems that we are on the right track but a critical piece is still missing in the Indian jigsaw. Abraham Lincoln said – “Democracy is the government of the people, by the people, for the people”. We elect the government, we make the government and we hold the government accountable. The failure of our government is our failure but we do not accept it. It is our tendency to find faults elsewhere. The notion that ‘System works this way only’ is ingrained in us partly because we do not want to take the pain to find the right way and partly because we are status-quoist. No Lokpal, UID or any other legislation can give us freedom of thought.

Are we aware? Even if we are aware, are we fearless enough to pursue affirmative action? We have to take the path less traveled, we need a social reform and we need a mental revolution. 

Power crisis in Bihar

Let me present some data before I begin.

Population (million)
India                = 1210
Bihar               = 0103
Patna              = 0006
Rest of Bihar   = 0097

Total Installed capacity of Power generation (MW)
India                                                    = 172000
Bihar's share                                        = 001695
Actual supply                                       = 000677
Emergency services and Patna's share   = 000600
Rest of Bihar                                        = 000077

Per capita terms (MW/million)
India                       = 142.1
Bihar's share           = 016.5
Actual supply          = 006.5
Patna                      = 100.0
Rest of Bihar           = 000.8

India/ Rest of Bihar = 178

Right then, take a deep breath, drink some water or may be blur out the 'f' word. If you still can't digest it, see a doctor. Rest of Bihar (8% of India) is 178 times more deprived than an average Indian and you say we are backward.

Electrification is one thing but providing electricity a completely different one. Electricity is one of the most basic infrastructures required to start any business/industrial establishment and so no jobs, no growth, no development. I won't go on on this topic, we all are aware.

I will tell you an incident of Bhagalpur (3rd largest district in Bihar).

Some 8-10 years back, the power scenario was less than 1 hour per day for around 1 month or so. A group of people staged non-violent protest infront of the electricity department. The protesters were shut up in a warehouse and beaten up badly. The incident was widely reported and out of nowhere there was electricity for more than 12 hours the next day.

This March, same scenario, no electricity, no water. Without any prior announcement of bandh, an organised protest started all over the city at around 10 am. The two buildings of the electricity departments, 2 jeeps and 8 motor cycles were set ablaze by the violent mob. The aam aadmi supported the bandh. Administration was caught unprepared and could do nothing but watch. The incident was widely reported and out of nowhere there was electricity for more than 12 hours the next day.

Questions?

1. Where did the electricity suddenly come from ?
2. What precedent does "the sense of victory through undemocratic means" set forth ?
3. Why was the administration unable to sniff such widespread organised action coming up ?
4. Why the hell is 8 % of Indian population 178 times deprived ?

This answers one grave question though - "Why do the Biharis migrate to other states ?"

Growth is painful

Ask the teenager about growing wisdom tooth. Ask a chubby guy about growing belly. Ask the middle class family about growing budget. Ask the poor parents of a growing daughter. Ask the parents of growing disabled child. Ask the poor man about growing prices. Ask the slum of a growing city. Ask the rivers and forests about propulation growth. Ask the nature about industrialiasation. Ask the humanity about growing intolerance. Growth is invariably accompanied by unavoidable evils that leads to pain. Why do we want growth then ?

You need to mine aluminium or build a dam so you decided to clear up some thousand hectares of forest land. Take the tribals out of forest, give them homes and work in a town and education for their kids. You call this development. Let us see who are happy ? The MNC which got the project, the bureaucrat that gave the clearances, government which can boast of growth. Who bears the pain - the atmosphere which would have more CO2 at its disposal, the biodiversity, the tribals whose community is completely broken and identity is lost. Right, this was a happy case scenario when the tribals get what they are promised. Reality- 10 % of the tribals die in the process of opposing such projects, political bodies use the opportunity to gain political mileage but do actually nothing. 30 % of them join the naxals. 60 % make up for the slums and work at construction sites.

Growth is accompanied by inflation. Growth is for the rich but inflation is for the marginal. The big corporates earn huge profits, where does the money go ? To the rich shareholders, hefty bonuses to the CEOs and nothing to the aam aadmi. The rise in prices of basic goods and services affects the aam aadmi and not the corporates.There is growth in prices of grains and vegetables but why is the farmer still poor ? Because the grain and vegetable has changed some 10 hands in between the farmer and the consumer and those 10 hands(business) made all the money.

India has been growing at more than 8 % (average) since the last 6-7 years. I can see urbanisation but not without slums and increased crime. I can see the stock market booming, the FIIs making money but only at the loss of the retail investor. I can see the rich guy travelling on subsidised petrol but 60 % agricultural lands are still unirrigated and monsoon dependent. I can see hill city Lavasa coming up but i cannot see more than 5 MBBS doctors in Dantewada (population of 70 Lakhs). I saw green revolution and India attain food sufficiency but i still see India as the most malnutritioned country. I see Ambani topping Forbes list but I still see India low on human development index.

It is the crisis of growth. Growth is painful !

Sailing against the wind

My name is Raman lal(49). I work as a police constable in Delhi. My salary is Rs 5500 per month. I also get certain articles of day to day use worth around Rs 1000 per month and certain other benifits.

Given the privileged policeman job I am in I had numerous opportunities to earn more but I have never taken a bribe in my entire career while my co-workers make Rs 200 on an average daily. Senior babus donot treat me well because of my integrity and usually i get a field posting. I thank God that i have been able to sustain field pressure and strain even at this age. It is also sad that people look towards any policemen with suspicion and so towards me. Although it hurts, i try to remain friendly and calm. Sometimes I have to do a continuous 12 hour shift, sometimes a night shift, and sometimes on festivals but i have handled all this well during my 20 years of service.

We are a family of 8, my parents, my wife Laxmi, my daughters Geeta(21), Gayatri(18), Gauri(15) and my son Ghanshyam(11). We had decided to educate our children and take care of all their needs even when my earnings were little. Laxmi has managed our minuscule budget in an efficient way. I remember 8 years back when i brought her a new saaree on Deepawali, she was in tears and told me to return it. She said - "When you have not had a new shirt since last 5 years how can i have a new saaree." We ensure that our children get new clothes every Deepawali.

Ghanshyam and Gauri go to the secondary school, Gayatri and Geeta go to the women's college. Geeta will complete her graduation this year and then we will get her married. Laxmi has been able to save Rs 1.5 lakh and I arranged Rs. 6 Lakh through premature withdrawal of my PF benifits - a total of Rs. 7.5 Lakh. We have been looking for a brahmin(of our caste) bridegroom for Geeta but have had little success. A graduate brahmin with a Rs 5000 per month job demands a dowry of Rs. 8 Lakh. I cannot spend all on Geeta's marriage, I have to think about Gayatri and Gauri too. Hopefully we will be able to find a fitting groom for Geeta.

My father has diabates and blood pressure, he is bed-ridden. I being a government employee my family has free access to all the government hospitals. Though the conditions are not well at the city hospital we can afford only this. My mother has been nursing for him patiently all these years even when she herself is quite old.

I have faith - everything will be fine. God has been graceful to us all these years, he will continue to shower his blessings on my family. My only prayer is that my integrity doesn't budge in our adversity.