Round The States

New Delhi, 13 May 2010

Sacking of Governors

NOT ON CENTRE’S WHIMS & FANCIES

By Insaf

The Centre can no longer play ducks and drakes with the Governors in the States as it has done time and again over the years. As a constitutional authority, he cannot be removed with a “change in power” in a State as have been witnessed on certain occasions in the past. The much-needed protection has come by way of a landmark judgment by the Supreme Court on Friday last. A five-member constitutional bench ruled: “A Governor cannot be removed on grounds that he is out of sync with the policies and ideologies of the Union Government or the Party at the Centre. Nor can he be removed on the ground that the Government had lost confidence in him.” In simple terms, it means that a change of Government at the Centre will no longer be a valid ground for the removal of governors holding office “to make ways for others favoured by the new Government.” The power to remove a Governor, the bench insists, will have to be exercised only by the President in “rare and exceptional circumstances for valid compelling reasons.”

The bench was hearing a PIL filed in 2004 by senior BJP leader B P Singhal, challenging the unceremonious removal of the Governors of Uttar Pradesh (Vishnu Kant Shastri), Haryana (Babu Parmanand), Gujarat (Kailashpati Mishra) and Goa (Kidarnath Sahni) by the UPA-I  Government soon after it came to power. The Centre had argued that if a party came to power with a particular social and economic agenda and found that a Governor was out of sync with its policies, then it should be able to pack him off. But the court was firm: the Governor “is not the agent or the employee of the Centre” and nor can he “be politically active.” Once the Governors were appointed “they owed allegiance and loyalty to the Constitution and not to any political party.” Importantly, it also held that if the reasons for a Governor’s removal were “irrelevant, malafide or whimsical”, the court would interfere.

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States Misuse Funds

Funds have literally flowed like water from the Centre to the States for its pet irrigation project only to find there has been little gain. In the past 15 years, the Government has spent over Rs 26,000 crore for the Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP), aimed at improving the country’s agricultural output by extending irrigation facilities to areas where none exist. However, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has found that in many projects “no irrigation facilities were created” as the money was spent on existing ones. In its report tabled in the recently-concluded session of Parliament, the CAG noted that against the targeted potential of 9.65 million hectares, only 4.90 million hectares was created, i.e only half the area envisaged. Importantly, six States—Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh, were given preferential treatment. They received 75 to 85 per cent of the grants without showing corresponding performance, in the project launched in 1996-97.

Other anomalies cited are: Gujarat spent Rs 675 crore on existing or under-construction canals instead of building new ones for drought-prone areas; Karnataka diverted Rs 8.08 crore for expenditure on non-AIBP schemes; Rajasthan committed irregularities worth Rs 182 crore, whereas Uttar Pradesh spent the money on setting up a computer centre and to fund the expenses of the office of an engineer-in-chief! Worse, of the 28 major irrigation projects sanctioned in 2003-08 by the Planning Commission, 11 were done without proper investigation or survey. Reports of 17 projects were found to be without data on annual rainfall, soil survey or incomplete meteorological data. The audit scrutiny revealed that 14 States gave undue benefit of Rs 186 crores to contractors. While 100 of the 253 projects sanctioned were shown to be  completed, 12 were incomplete or not even sanctioned. In all this, the CAG has found the Union Water Resource Ministry equally guilty. It has not taken action against any erring State.

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Hope In Assam

Insurgency in the North East has received a severe blow, giving the Centre hope for taking its peace dialogue forward. The recent handing over of the most-dreaded militant leader of Assam, Ranjan Daimary, chief of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) by Bangladesh to the Indian authorities, has sent a strong signal to the insurgents: they can no longer look for safe sanctuary from the eastern neighbour. Alleged to have masterminded the October 2008 serial bomb blasts in the State that killed over 80 people, Daimary is the fifth militant that has been handed over by the Sheikh Hasina regime. A few months ago, ULFA leader Arbinda Rajkhowai, his deputy Raju Barua and two others had the same fate. Daimary is the big catch as he led the anti-talks faction in the NDFB and had close links with the ULFA. His arrest is likely to isolate ULFA’s commander-in-chief, Parmesh Barua. It is time the Centre set in motion a well-thought out peace process with those who want to talk --- and talk sincerely.

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Maharashtra Seeks Package-II

The Ashok Chavan Government in Maharashtra is keeping its fingers crossed to get the Centre to accede to its request vis a vis Vidarbha. It has sought a second Prime Minister’s Relief Package for six-suicide prone districts of Vidarbha. While the State has raised a demand for Rs 7,200 crore, the Centre has asked it to get the implementation of the Rs 3,750 crore first Package reviewed by an independent body. The demand was raised with the Planning Commission on the State’s plan for 2011 last week, which is learnt to have “picked some holes in the implementation of the previous package.” Recall, the PM had announced the first package in June 2006 to be implemented over three years in the six districts of Akola, Amravati, Washim, Wardha, Buldhans and Yevatmal. This also included a waiver of interest on loans taken by the farmers and rescheduling of debts. The big question is: will it be a fair evaluation against the backdrop of the fact that the count on suicides by farmers has not stopped.       

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J&K, Haryana Celebrate

Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana have reason to celebrate. The results of the all-India Civil Services exams has brought great news. Dr Shah Faesal, who hails from the remote Sangram village of Lolab valley in Kupwara district, has made the State proud. The 27-year-old is the first person from the Valley to top the exams. And that, too, in the very first attempt. Faesal’s feat, said J&K Governor, NN Vohra on Friday last, has shown that the Kashmiri youth have very high potential. Faesal’s success is more creditable given the challenges and crises he faced. His father was killed by the militants in 2002 and the family criminally hounded. Likewise, in ‘Jatland’ Haryana, the results have given hope to aspiring women of the State, where Khap panchayats and low female sex ratio has been hitting the headlines. Two daughters-in-law Poonam Malik and Monika Dahiya, both hailing from small town Sonepat,  have made it to the civil services merit list. Winds of change may just be beginning to blow. 

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)