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Round The States
New
Delhi, 31 July 2015
Punjab Attack
ALARM
BELLS IN DELHI
By Insaf
Punjab has sent alarm bells ringing
in New Delhi.
The terrorist attack in Gurdaspur on Monday, first in over two decades should
send warning signals that militants based in Pakistan
have set their eyes on border towns outside Jammu and Kashmir. What should be more
worrisome is that the Home Ministry has reports suggesting that Sikh
extremists, who have remained dormant for years were finding support in Pakistan too,
among other countries. There can be no room for complacency. At the same time,
inspection of data from the GPS recovered from the three slain terrorists
reveals that they may have got support from the drug cartel operating the State
which is playing havoc with young people’s lives. What is further shocking that
the Dinanagar police station, which was targeted was not only under staffed
with a few home guards but the weapons they had make a mockery of the Centre
saying its well-armed to fight the war against terrorism. The Centre has
assured Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal all assistance and that both the BSF
and the Army have been put on high alert along the border. On the diplomatic
side, the Punjab attack is being seen as a major offensive by rogue elements in
Pakistan
to derail any breakthrough in getting talks back on track between the two
nations. Indeed, the Punjab attack will provide an insight how New
Delhi proposes to deal with Islamabad.
Will there be an engagement?
* * * *
Karnataka’s
Shame
The office of Karnataka’s Lokayukta
couldn’t have provided a more ironical illustration of its fight against
corruption. The son of none other than the Lokayukta Justice Bhaskar Rao
himself is under arrest and remanded to 10-days custody under SIT for his
involvement in an extortion scandal
worth over Rs 200 crore. As per the FIR, Ashwin Rao along with Lokayukta PRO,
RTI activists and even some journalists demanded big money from corrupt
government officials or else would face raids by the ombudsman’s office! What
is worse and scandalous is that when an honest IPS officer drew Bhaskar Rao’s
attention to the extortion racket after one of the targeted officers brought to
hi notice that Rs 1 corer was demanded from him, the Lokayukta not only chose to
look the other way but tried to scuttle the probe. The office, which was once a
role model for the country has now its own can of worms, being a den of
corruption itself. The Opposition and civil society are rightly clamouring for
Bhaskar Rao’s resignation. Will he or won’t he, needs be under watch.
* * * *
1st
Arunachal CM In Dock
Arunachal Pradesh too has its share
of shame. Its first Chief Minister, PK Thungon, who later became Union
Minister, was on Monday last sentenced to four-and-a-half years in jail in a
17-year-old case corruption case. Thungon has been convicted for his actions as
Minister of State in the Urban Development Ministry, along with three others.
They conspired and misappropriated funds of Rs 2 crore sanctioned by the Planning
Commission for renovation and upgradation of minor irrigation projects for
Nagaland in 1994. While in today’s age the amount is undoubtedly a pittance,
the order of the Delhi
court is worth quoting. It stated: “This case brings out in the limelight the
known fact how the Central grants allocated to public welfare of the States are
misappropriated by highest public functionaries, including ministers at the
Centre, States and top bureaucrats—that too with full impunity.... The saddest
part is that its knowledge was apparent to both at the Centre and the State
level, but no action was taken...” Was it because Thungon had helped in the
State’s integration? Unlikely, as the system itself has turned rotten. It will
be no wonder if such cases pursued thoroughly across States would open a
Pandora’s box.
* * * *
Bihar, Delhi Advt Scandal
Bihar and Delhi governments find themselves sailing in
the same boat. Selling their ‘achievements’ through an advertising blitzkrieg
may cost both dearly. Not only aren’t the two accused of squandering ‘public
money’ but also violating the Supreme Court directive of May 13 which had restrained
ruling parties from publishing photos of political leaders or prominent persons
in Government-funded advertisements. While the Bihar High Court has stayed
Nitish Kumar’s mega campaign drive ‘Badh
Chala Bihar’ (Bihar progresses)
including a much publicised report card on his governance, the Delhi
High Court has asked Kejriwal Government to give details of the expenses on its
advertisement campaign in print and electronic media. It must clarify whether
the money spent was of the party or public exchequer. Both the cases hit the
headlines following filing of PILs against them. Other than Opposition parties,
tax payers would equally be eager to hear how the two governments wriggle out
of this mess. Either ways, it isn’t going to be easy.
* * * *
States
Err In Caste Census
The Centre has urged States to help
it complete the Socio-Economic and Caste Census. The process which began in May
2011 has hit a stumbling block. It has emerged that 46,73,034 distinct caste
names have been returned in Census. These include Caste/sub-Caste names,
synonyms, surnames, clan/gothra names, phonetic variations, sections,
sub-groups etc, which need to be now classified by experts having domain
knowledge on these issues. Errors were found in 8,19,58,314 Caste data and the
same has been communicated to the States/UTs for rectification. While so far
the States are said to have rectified 6,73,81,119 errors, 1,45,77,195 still
remain. These include Maharashtra (69.1 lakhs), Madhya Pradesh (13.9 lakhs),
West Bengal (11.6 lakhs), Rajasthan (7.2 lakhs), Uttar Pradesh (5.4 lakhs),
Karnataka (2.9 lakhs), Bihar (1.7 lakhs),
Tamil Nadu (1.4 lakhs) among the others. The exercise, which has both financial
and technical support from the Government of India is indeed colossal. How soon
will the expert group under NITI Aayog be able to complete its tasks is
anybody’s guess. The bigger worry however will be will it eventually get
accurate answers?
* * * *
Homage
to Kalam
Ordinary folk across States were in mourning
early this week. ‘Their’ former President Abdul Kalam and the country’s
“missile man” had joined the stars. However, from the skies above the ever-smiling
Kalam may have had a frown as the last thing he ever wanted was that a holiday
be declared on his death. While the Central government honoured his wish,
Parliament sought to pay ‘homage’ by adjourning for two days! The one-year-old
State Telangana surprised many and forgot or chose to ignore what Kalam had
once stated: “Don’t declare a holiday on my death. Instead work an extra day,
if you love me.” It declared a government holiday. In contrast, Andhra Pradesh
asked its departments to work an extra hour. One of Kerala’s ministers wanted
Sunday be declared a working day, but the Government wouldn’t endorse the
suggestion. In Delhi,
the arrangements at his residence Rajaji Marg would not have found his approval.
Ordinary people and school children had to wait for hours to pay homage, only
after the VVIPs had paid theirs! However, the fact that over one lakh people
from all walks of life went to Rameswaram for Kalam’s burial gives the
confidence that the ‘People’s President’ at the end got an appropriate send
off.---INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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