Round The States

New Delhi, 8 December 2011

Lokayukta Fervour

BIHAR & MP MAKE NEWS

By Insaf

The Lokayukta fervour is catching up. Bihar is the latest State to heed to Anna’s war cry against corruption, even as the nation anxiously awaits the Centre’s Lokpal Bill. On Wednesday last, the State Assembly passed the Bihar Lokayukta Bill, 2011, rejecting the amendments moved by the Opposition. The latter was upset over the “undue haste” but Kumar was firm as he stated: the Government “cannot tolerate corruption for a single day.” However, the reason may be otherwise. Kumar hopes the Centre would take a cue from it. Please incorporate its provisions in the Lokpal bill if it intends to cover the Lokayukta under the Central legislation, is his earnest advice. The Bill follows in the footsteps of Uttarakhand, which passed the Bill in early November, and shall cover a wide spectrum of people, from Chief Minister to the village head, and from Chief Secretary to Panchayat clerks. This apart, Bihar will be able to show case its Lokayukta as there shall be no doubt about the incumbent’s “integrity”. Eminent people and not the Executive shall be in the search and selection committees to identify candidates for its members and the coveted post is Kumar’s assurance.  

Bihar apparently may have got a cue from the rumblings in Madhya Pradesh. The Lokayukta in this State has got embroiled in a controversy. The opposition Congress has claimed that Lokayukta Justice P P Naolekar’s “appointment is disputed and is done illegally by the Government.” It is being alleged that Naolekar was made the Lokayukta by the outgoing Governor when a new Governor's appointment had already been announced. A petition challenging his appointment is pending in the Supreme Court, even as the Opposition is demanding his resignation on “moral grounds.”  While the issue hots up, there is good news as well. The Lokayukta police team in Ujjain have left people dumbstruck. In a raid conducted at a municipal employee’s bungalow, the police unearthed assets worth Rs 12 crore! This, when the employee, Narendra Deshnukh, had started as a peon on a salary of Rs 150 and was now drawing Rs 15,000. The Class IV employee is alleged to have two bungalows, apart from land in Jalgaon, three cars and four two-wheelers apart from cash and jewellery. While the law will take its own course in the State, hope the Centre takes a cue from too from this case. 

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Voters Pat For States

Ruling parties in some States can by and large pat themselves. The voters in recent by elections held in Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha have reposed their faith in the ruling establishment—the Janata Dal (U), Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and Biju Janata Dal respectively, for an Assembly seat each. In West Bengal too, the ruling Trinamool Congress retained the Kolkata South Lok Sabha seat, won six times earlier. However, the ruling Congress in Haryana had a mixed fortune. The Bhupinder Singh Hooda government was jubilant over breaking a 29-year jinx in Ratia by winning the seat from the Indian National Lok Dal. But, its spirits were dampened in Adampur, where the voters opted for Haryana Janhit Congress-BJP candidate, like they did in the Hisar Lok Sabha bypoll. Likewise, the ruling BJP in Himachal Pradesh was happy to win one of the two byelections, but had to bite the dust in Karnataka. Its former Minister B Sriramulu not only won the coveted Bellary seat as an Independent, but humiliated the BJP candidate by ensuring he lost deposit! Jubilation for some and introspection for others is on the cards. 

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Chhattisgarh’s Novel Plan

Chhattisgarh has embarked on a novel plan to fight the Naxals on its soil. Recently, its Bastar police has approached the anthropological museum in Jagdalpur to help train its men. Sounds illogical, but apparently it’s not. According to SP Ratan L Dangi, if the police follow tribal behaviour, it could predict the actions of Naxals. But first, it must study and understand the behaviour of the tribals. Thus, the request to the museum.  The course would entail helping them become aware of the tribals’ agricultural practices, trade, eating habits, and other customs. Additionally, the police stations have been asked to keep records of the local tribes, their customs and guidelines on how to behave with them, which then would be passed down to successive police station in-charges. Once the linguistic and cultural gap with the locals is bridged, the police are confident that half their battle with the Naxals would be won. And, if the experiment succeeds, others have reason to follow suit.

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West Bengal’s Unfair Demand

West Bengal’s demand for a bailout package appears to have sadly boomeranged. Worse, it has invited a hard knock from the Centre, much to the chagrin of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The latter has been seeking a bailout package of Rs 19,000-odd crore from the Centre on the ground that her Government had inherited a huge debt from the previous Left Front that ruled the State for three decades. Out of every rupee spent, she argued, 94 paisa went for statutory payment such as salaries, pension, debt repayment etc. However, what she didn’t add was her Government has been unable to spend funds already in its kitty. But, it couldn’t remain a secret. In a letter, Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has told her that the total available fund with the State is a whopping Rs 1,823 crore, including its share. Of this, Rs 900 crore is lying unutilised with various project implementation authorities in the State. He advised her make efforts for optimal utilisation of this unspent amount. Will Mamata continue to bite more than she can chew?   

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Notorious Delhi

Delhi, the nation’s capital is shockingly getting a notorious reputation. It has, according to the National Investigation Agency, emerged as a major hub for hawala operations of the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen. Apparently, the funds received from Pakistan are offered to the families of terror operatives, killed across the country and also to separatists in Jammu & Kashmir. However, the funds, about Rs 100 crore in the past few years, first reach Delhi and are then disbursed to J&K and other States through normal banking channels by conduits based in various parts of the city.  Additionally, Delhi is also one of the cities, other than Chennai, Bangalore and Pune, which reportedly has sleeper cells of the Indian Mujahideen. Recent interrogation of six IM operatives from across the country has set alarm bells ringing as four more modules of the IM are said to be preparing to strike. A worried Delhi police has tightened security measures.---INFA

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