A revolution that we do not need

Through school and college, we read and savoured English and Hindi literature that was value-based, inspirational and edifying. I remember memorizing John Kennedy's famous "ask what you can do for the country ---" speech for the Elocution class, and the lovely Casabianca. I can recall snatches of the hymns and prayers we sang. I have not forgotten Bhartendu Harishchandra and Ramdhari Singh Dinkar. I loved the short stories of O Henry. I grappled with Rabindranath Tagore's poetry. My son is fighting a different battle!!!

We have "globalisation" and "liberalisation" and "Westernisation" at work now ------ and that's reflected in the choice of literature that is being offered for studies in some of our elite schools . It is literature that reflects a reality that one has to come to terms with, sooner or later, but which is neither so refined nor so elevating as one would wish it to be for the sake of its young and impressionable readers in school. This is a revolution in the school curriculum that we do not need.

I reproduce, in part, my son's appeal to the school :

The English Literature syllabus for the new term  is a collection of Katherine Mansfield's short stories and poems.Previously, we had studied Sophocles and Ibsen and Mansfield is the first 'modernist' writer we're studying.So far, we have read and discussed two of her short stories; Bliss and The Wind Blows, the first one telling the tell of a sexually confused woman who is attracted to both her husband and a female friend of hers, and the second one of a teenager who is infatuated with her piano teacher.

I feel these themes are discussed enough on TV shows and movies and should definitely not be a part of the Literature syllabus.English lessons have transformed into long debates about homo-sexuality and loose morals, both of which seem to have been glorified in the semi-autobiographical works of Mansfield. 

I really don't understand how anyone can gain from reading stories casually written by a degenerate who uses elaborate imagery and symbolism to pass off tales of lust and immorality as literature.

Mansfield represents the side of modernism that, in my opinion, is responsible for the decline of our value systems.

The main distinction between modernism and romanticism is the manner in which modernist artists and musicians and even writers tirelessly attempt to incorporate science and mathematics in their respective fields, and their love for determinacy and structure. The movement was triggered mainly by the atrocities of the two world wars and the realisation of the importance scientific progress.

Mansfield's kind, the later beatniks, are responsible for the degradation of all art forms, and of ethics in general. The anti-establishment attitude of this group has no place in textbooks, specially for adolescent students who are influenced all too easily by something they can relate to. 

It is my strong belief that everyone is entitled to their own opinions but a teacher's job is to expose students to positive influences, tales of pride and honor. 

I truly enjoyed Antigone and A Doll's House, but am finding it increasingly difficult to contribute in classroom discussions centered on lesbianism and lustful adolescent urges. The essay questions we are to prepare for ask us to elaborate on the protagonist's contradictory sexual desires.

It is my earnest request that you look into this issue and order a change of syllabus, if necessary.

Review of Coal blocks allocation ----- CAG's mandate

In its report No. 7 of 2012-13, which is a Performance Audit of Allocation of Coal Blocks and Augmentation of Coal Production (Ministry of Coal), the Comptroller & Auditor General has concluded that " The process of bringing in objectivity and transparency in the allocation process of coal blocks, which commenced from 28 June, 2004, got delayed at various stages and the same is yet to materialise (February, 2012) even after a lapse of seven years. In the meantime, 194 net coal blocks with aggregate GR of 44,440 million tonne were allocated to different Government and private parties upto 31 March, 2011. The financial impact of the benefit to the private allottees has been estimated to the tune of Rs 1,85,591.34 crores as on 31 March, 2011  for Open Cast (OC) mines/OC reserves of Mixed mines. The Government could have tapped a part of this financial benefit by expediting decision on competitive bidding for allocation of coal blocks."

The report has been presented in Parliament, even while the Union Government has launched an offensive against the CAG, with the  Minister of State in the PMO V Narayanasamy stating that “CAG has no authority or right to comment on the policy of the government but unfortunately it has questioned its authority, which is totally unwarranted and against the mandate given to them”, and that “CAG has to work within a certain mandate given under the Constitution. Policy framing is the domain of Government of India, which is the elected government.”

Has the CAG commented on Government policy? It appears not. What the CAG has commented upon is the  delay in decision making (on allocation of coal blocks through competitive bidding) which has led to a loss to the public exchequer . The CAG has merely pointed out that the Government itself had initiated the process of 'bringing in objectivity and transparency" in coal block allocation, but did not take a decision thereon, resulting in substantial pecuniary benefit flowing to the allottees in the meantime.

Does the CAG exceed its mandate if it comments upon the Government's policies? 

To answer that question, lets look at Article 149 of the Constitution, which says  that the Comptroller and Auditor-General shall perform such duties and exercise such powers in relation to the accounts of the Union ----------  as may be prescribed by or under any law made by Parliament ----". 

The Parliament has prescribed these duties under  THE COMPTROLLER AND AUDITOR-GENERAL'S (DUTIES, POWERS AND CONDITIONS OF SERVICE) ACT, 1971 and Section 16 of the Act says

"It shall be the duty of the Comptroller and Auditor-General to audit all receipts which are payable into the Consolidated Fund of India and of each State and of each Union territory having a Legislative Assembly and to satisfy himself that the rules and procedures in that behalf are designed to secure an effective check on the assessment, collection and proper allocation of revenue and are being duly observed and to make for this purpose such examination of the accounts as he thinks fit and report thereon." 

Obviously, the CAG has BOTH the legal authority  to examine the design of the rules and procedure governing the receipts which are payable into CFI and whether such rules and procedures are being observed. Also implicit here is the authority to state the deficiencies in design that lead to inefficient collection of receipts or collection of receipts less than what another design would have yielded. What does this amount to if not examination/review of Government policies that have a bearing on receipts? The Parliament itself having entrusted the CAG with the duty/authority to review rules/procedures that govern receipts, how can  the CAG now be accused of exceeding its mandate? 

Moreover, such audit has not taken place for the first time in the history of the nation. Every time the CAG carries out a  Performance Audit, a review of the relevant Government policy and its due observance or lack thereof is an essential component of the audit exercise. In its recent Performance Audit Report on Civil Aviation in India, for example, the CAG has pointed to the "liberalised policy on bilateral entitlements for international air travel introduced by GOI" as one of the factors contributing to the 'current critical state" of Air India, and has recommended a freeze on bilateral entitlements to certain countries/airlines.It has even recommended rollback of "excess entitlements". 

So why the hue and cry about CAG allegedly exceeding its mandate vis a vis Performance Audit of allocation of coal blocks?

Sh Sukumar Mukhopadhyay, Member (rtd), CBEC , having concluded that "the Constitution does definitely provide a clear mandate to the CAG to delve into policy" , suggests that the Government "make a Presidential Reference to the Supreme Court under Article 143 of the Constitution for settling the issue once for all. It would be better than publicly debunking the Constitutional post of the CAG." ----- an eminently wise suggestion. 

http://saiindia.gov.in/english/home/Our_Products/Audit_Report/Government_Wise/union_audit/recent_reports/union_performance/2012_2013/Commercial/Report_No_7/chap_6.pdf

http://saiindia.gov.in/english/home/Our_Products/Audit_Report/Government_Wise/union_audit/recent_reports/union_performance/2011_2012/Civil_%20Performance_Audits/Report_18/exe-sum.pdf

A tale of two women

Annapurna is a weaver who hails from Gadag district in Karnataka. She is uneducated, yet she yearns to be self-sufficient and has been taking up various jobs to help support her family. I live in Gurgaon, Haryana, and my education has helped me secure a comfortable and satisfying job in the civil services. As a family, we are financially secure, and can fulfill all our dreams.

Annapurna and I live very different lives, thousands of kilometres removed from one another. Yet, our lives have touched, thanks to MILAAP (http://www.milaap.org/). Milaap is the first (and at present, the only) online platform that allows people around the world to lend to India's poor. It focuses on enterprise development, sustainable farming, education, energy, healthcare, sanitation and water. Its field partners identify the beneficiaries, one makes an online loan (the amount could be as small as Rs 500/-) which is disbursed via the field partner which also monitors its utilisation, re payment etc.

Having already made several loans via Milaap, and having experienced the satisfaction of re payments coming in ( the smallest re payment is Rs 40 per month!), I enthusiastically joined Milaap's "Adopt an Entrepreneur" campaign, launched ahead of India's 65th Independence Day. The idea was to "adopt" an entrpreneur and help raise the entire amount he/she needs to purchase raw materials/machinery etc. Empowering women is, I believe, crucial if this nation is to grow in an equitable, sustainable manner. So I decided to raise the Rs 35,000 that Annapurna needed, as part of a group that makes colourful weaves, for buying more machinery and raw material.

The journey proved to be surprisingly short and gratifying. 

I shared on Facebook the page  that Milaap created for me http://fundraiser.milaap.org/campaigns/priyaadoptsannapurna 

but more importantly, I specifically requested friends who I know have compassion and a highly developed social conscience to make a contribution. Within 48 hours, 4 or 5 large contributions (Rs 5000 to Rs 10,000) were made, apart from another 5 contributions of smaller amounts,and the loan was 100% financed! My hope now is that when all these generous lenders see the re payments coming in, they will choose to re lend the amount that gets re paid, and also share their experience with like minded people so that the circle grows wider. A big thank you to all of you!!!

Not only do I feel connected to Annapurna but I feel I am now a stakeholder in her progress -----thank you, Milaap, for bringing together two women from such vastly different backgrounds!

Form over substance

When one emphasizes form over substance , one provides information in such a manner as to remain true to the form of the underlying transaction, while withholding, if necessary, the complete information  which would have painted a truer picture of the reality. One gets to see this ascendancy of form over substance in the claim regarding rural electrification made  in the PM's Independence Day address to the nation.

I quote the Prime Minister : When the UPA Government came to power in 2004, we had promised that we would provide electricity to all villages. To fulfill this promise, we launched the Rajiv Gandhi Rural Electrification Scheme. More than 1 lakh new villages have been provided with electricity connections under this scheme and now almost all the villages in the country have been electrified. Our next target is to provide electricity to each and every household in our country in the next 5 years and to also improve the supply of electricity.

In the first place, the Rajiv Gandhi Rural Electrification Scheme  was "launched" in 2005 only in the limited sense that all existing schemes for rural electrification were merged and given a new name (which, incidentally, helps perpetuate a ruling dynasty).

The scheme had the objective of electrification of  all rural households by 2010. It did not happen, of course. The scheme was therefore carried forward for another 2 years, and because the target has not been reached even in 2012, it is likely to be given a further extension of 5 years.  In other words, the government has failed abysmally in achieving what it had set out to do ----- but that's not what we are being told, are we?

One lakh villages have been provided "electricity connections" , we are told.  Are all these electricity connections operational, say, a year after installation?  Is electricity being supplied to these connections? Are there villages that are still bereft of any electricity connections whatsoever? Have there been cost over runs, or has the scheme's implementation proceeded as per the initial budget?

If our leaders placed substance over form, these and such like would be the questions they would answer even before they were asked. What we are made to hear are platitudes and sermons, what we are provided is incomplete information, what we are expected to do is applaud progress that is taking place at too slow a pace and at too high a cost. Isn't it time we rebelled? Shouldn't we ask more questions, demand more answers? Even if we, the comfortably placed middle class, have no direct concern with such issues as rural electrification, should we not realise that the underlying malady will strike at the very heart and soul of the nation, leave it crippled? Is that the legacy we wish to leave our children?

Lets not sit back complacently. Lets not wait for someone else to ask questions. Lets spend some time instead acquainting ourselves with  issues of public interest; if possible, master one or two. Ask questions. Demand answers. Let the government not get away with half truths, incomplete information, misleading statements.

Lets do our duty as citizens.

When protest becomes endemic

The President of India has been generous in doling out advice to the people. Protest, he says, but do not let protest become endemic or you are flirting with chaos. Perhaps the rulers could have been advised too -----to heed the voices being raised in protest, or else deal with chaos.It is not as if the protesters are a lumpen element,  best ignored, strategically speaking. The most vociferous protests are being made by the very constituency that has gained the most from India's so called growth story -----the middle class. Something must be very wrong indeed for those to protest who have seen their incomes rise and shopping malls spring up and more fast food chains and travel abroad. Do the rulers not sense that? Or are they too busy plotting the next victory against the protesters to understand that?

One doesn't see farmers protesting -----they are simply and conveniently killing themselves. One doesn't see dispossessed tribals protesting ----they are being quelled with State power.One doesn't see the millions of BPL families protesting ---- perhaps they have been struck dumb by the Planning Commission's shenanigans. If all these silent millions were also to demand that they be heard, what advice would the President give them? Perhaps the Presidential address would then include another paragraph. As it now reads, the Presidential address appears to be aimed only at the middle class ----- nowhere does it talk the language that the under privileged would understand, unless one counts Jawaharlal Nehru,Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi as champions of the poor, and therefore, names that the under privileged would recognise.

Would they also be advised, as the middle class has, that they must not "destroy" institutions, and especially the Parliament, which we are told, lives by its "own calendar and rhythm " ? Would they also be rather pedantically informed that in a democracy, there is always judgement day, an "election"? 

Are our institutions, including the Parliament, under threat of being destroyed ? Yes. They are under threat because they have given up even the pretense of performing the functions that they were designed to, not because anguished citizens  are protesting against their inefficiency, indifference and corruption.  When institutions grow as dysfunctional as they have in India, their very existence becomes threatened. If now citizens are asking questions, demanding performance, pressing for accountability, there is still hope for the resurgence of our democratic institutions, provided citizens' voices are not muffled, as it appears would be the Establishment's wont.

The President draws attention to "tolerance of contrary views" as an essential component of the "democratic temper" but stops short of advising those in power to have greater respect for "contrary views". Perhaps  "judgement day" viz., election, is the only occasion when the rulers are expected to hear the citizens for whose welfare  they ostensibly occupy high offices and lofty mansions and travel the world. Between one election and the next, the ordinary Indian must keep his mouth shut, scrounge around for food when prices rocket,  look for employment that does not exist, applaud infrastructure that does not work, and turn to the opiates of Bollywood and cricket when corruption makes life unbearable.

निशाना

अन्ना और अरविन्द focused नहीं
जब देखो, goal post बदल जाता है
हमें देखें, निशाना चूकता ही नहीं
पैसा हर बार Swiss account में जाता है

A statesman as President

It appears likely that India's next President will be Pranab Mukherjee. The prospect does not enthuse me in the least. A nation of more than 1 billion people seems to be able to do no better than to have politicians and civil servants appointed/elected to every conceivable position of power and/or  prestige. 

We do lavish a lot of attention and affection on Bollywood stars and sports persons (cricketers, to be precise) and make sure that they dot the Parliament in adequate number to lend some glamour to the House. However, their presence in the Upper House is, in terms of contribution to law making, of no significance whatsoever. They know that as well, which perhaps explains their low attendance during the proceedings of the House. 

We overlook, however, men and women who have achieved eminence in the fields of arts, sciences, public service, industry and trade, education etc etc. The one exception that was made in the recent past was APJ Abdul Kalam, but the success of that experiment seems to have only ensured that it is not repeated ----- not surprising, perhaps, given the recent and rapid decline in ethical standards in public life. 

Yes, Pranab Mukherjee is an experienced, astute and competent politician. At 77, however, he should perhaps be thinking of retirement from active politics. In India, alas, politicians and civil servants do not retire. They simply make a smooth transition from active participation/service to such positions as President/Governor/Chairman/Member etc etc and ensure that their perquisites and privileges continue to be paid for during their lifetimes by the taxpayer.

I'd like to see as President someone who has a vision for the country, a philosophy underlying that vision, the energy, zeal and competence to rally people round that vision and translate it into reality,someone who places the nation and public good over self and party ------ in brief, a statesman.  It's not likely to happen ------ if not Pranab Mukherjee, who does not satisfy these job requirements,we are confronted with  the disturbing possibility of having a former Speaker or the current Prime Minister as the President. The  very fact that these names are today doing the rounds shows how very cynical and profit driven  the whole exercise of election of the President has become.