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Sunday, October 28, 2012
Monday, October 15, 2012
Irrigation scam: Whistleblower suggests how government can save Rs 42,000 crore | NDTV.com
Irrigation scam: Whistleblower suggests how government can save Rs 42,000 crore | NDTV.com:
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Irrigation scam: Whistleblower suggests how government can save Rs. 42,000 crore
Reported by Syed Imtiaz Jaleel, Edited by Sabyasachi Dasgupta | Updated: October 08, 2012 22:17 IST
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Pune: Vijay Pandhare, the man who blew the lid off Maharashtra's 70,000 crore irrigation scam, has suggested the government to immediately cancel all projects which are yet to complete even 25 per cent of their work. Mr Pandhare claims the state will be able to save a whopping Rs. 42,000 crore by doing so.
The whistleblower, whose letter to the chief minister exposed the scam leading to the resignation of deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, said, "'That is the only way left now to bring a curb on wasteful expenditure."
Without taking name of any prominent leader, the chief engineer in charge of safety and research of the irrigation department said that his department was in the hands of selfish and corrupt ministers and they should be removed. He alleged that public money is being wasted under the garb of executing big projects which are nothing but sheer loot. Mr Pandhare has been provided with security cover after Mr Pawar's resignation.
Mr Pandhare was speaking at a seminar in Pune to review irrigation policies in Maharashtra. Social activists Medha Patkar, Vishwambhar Chaudhari and other prominent social activists were present.
Mr Pandhare had earlier written to Governor K Sankaranarayanan and Mr Chavan, drawing their attention to the "poor quality" of irrigation projects, inflated budget and irregularities in purchase of materials.
The whistleblower, whose letter to the chief minister exposed the scam leading to the resignation of deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, said, "'That is the only way left now to bring a curb on wasteful expenditure."
Without taking name of any prominent leader, the chief engineer in charge of safety and research of the irrigation department said that his department was in the hands of selfish and corrupt ministers and they should be removed. He alleged that public money is being wasted under the garb of executing big projects which are nothing but sheer loot. Mr Pandhare has been provided with security cover after Mr Pawar's resignation.
Speaking at a seminar in Pune, the chief engineer claimed that in the last 15 years the state government has spent over one lakh crore rupees over such projects, but has not been able to bring the desired land percentage under irrigation. He alleged it was only because of the corrupt and selfish attitude of the people heading the irrigation department.
Mr Pandhare was speaking at a seminar in Pune to review irrigation policies in Maharashtra. Social activists Medha Patkar, Vishwambhar Chaudhari and other prominent social activists were present.
Mr Pandhare had earlier written to Governor K Sankaranarayanan and Mr Chavan, drawing their attention to the "poor quality" of irrigation projects, inflated budget and irregularities in purchase of materials.
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Wednesday, October 10, 2012
L'affaire Vadra shows up the BJP as Congress's B team - Rediff.com India News
L'affaire Vadra shows up the BJP as Congress's B team - Rediff.com India News:
Sushant Sareen
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L'affaire Vadra shows up the BJP as Congress's B team
October 09, 2012 18:22 IST
With an opposition party so compromised and so complicit in the rampant loot and corruption that we have witnessed in recent years, isn't Robert Vadra quite on the mark when he calls India [ Images ] a 'banana republic', asks Sushant Sareen.
The irony is inescapable: even as the top-rung government ministers and party apparatchiks were coming out in droves to defend the alleged malfeasance of the first son-in-law, the man under the cloud of suspicion himself exposed his defenders and the rotten state of national affairs they are lording over by contemptuously calling India a 'banana republic'.
If not for financial honesty and propriety, then at least for political honesty, Robert Vadra needs to be complimented. After all, it is only in a banana republic that someone like Vadra can make so much money in so little time, not because he is some kind of financial genius but because he has the right connections because of which he has the right kind of friends.
Indeed India has been reduced to a banana republic by the people running this government who are selling valuable national resources for peanuts to oblige cronies masquerading as capitalists and industrialists and buy political allies. Thus it is that 2G, Commonwealth Games [ Images ], coal-gate, and a host of other scandals are all par for the course.
A new controversy has now erupted over the remarkable business acumen of Vadra, who in a matter of few years has multiplied his wealth from Rs 5 million to Rs 5 billion. Quite aside the fact that he has managed to do this through companies that apparently don't do any business activity, L'affaire Vadra has made us 'mango people' -- the cynical, if not derogatory, term used by the first son-in-law for the people in whose name his family's political party seeks votes in elections, ie, aam aadmi -- aware of the existence of the Indian version of the 'princeling' phenomenon, which we thought was prevalent only in Communist China.
The other great revelation of this phoenix-like rise of Indian 'princelings' is the unwritten but more or less scrupulously observed honour code between the two main political parties wherein all crimes of omission and commission of the 'princelings' become taboo subjects.
In this modern Indian version of 'honour among thieves', if you happen to be the progeny or married to a progeny of any top political party leader, then you have complete immunity from law. Come to think of it, even if you happen to be related to the second or third rung of politicians, chances are you can get away with murder (remember the Jessica Lal [ Images ] case?) if you can keep things under the wraps long enough.
Of course, Manu Sharma was unlucky because there was no conspiracy of silence in the media to play down his case. But when it comes to the first family of top political leaders (and here one is not just talking about the Congress party but also including all other parties), then you get to play monopoly (with the nation's property and resources) with a perpetual 'get out of jail free' card.
The defence of the son-in-law by the courtiers was only to be expected. But the real eye-opener has been the silence on the part of the main opposition. The grapevine for quite some time has been buzzing that the Bharatiya Janata Party [ Images ] is a 'friendly' opposition party. In recent weeks, the BJP had started acquiring the reputation of being a 'compliant' (even compromised) opposition party. But now it appears that it is actually the 'B' team of the ruling Congress and is as in thrall of the first family of the Congress as the Congress itself.
What was most hilarious was that while the Congress was trying to deflect the focus from Vadra's 'business wizardry' by accusing the BJP of firing a salvo against the Gandhi family using the shoulder of India Against Corruption, the BJP, instead of demanding an investigation into the dubious dealings of Vadra, was busy trying to convince the Congress that it had nothing to do with the entire episode.
Amazingly, none of the BJP stalwarts who are normally visible on the television screens were anywhere to be found. It was almost as though they were on trial, not Vadra. With an opposition party so compromised and so complicit in the rampant loot and corruption that we have witnessed in recent years, isn't Vadra quite on the mark when he calls India a 'banana republic'?
Of course, allowing the princelings the freedom to loot with impunity doesn't apply across the board and the party that generally violates this principle the most is the Congress. In fact, while the Congress expects that its princelings will not be touched, but fingering princelings from other parties is perfectly legitimate and acceptable.
Take for instance the case of Jaganmohan Reddy [ Images ]. While he was a Congress princeling, he was given a free hand to become a billionaire. Not a single eyebrow was raised over the method and manner in which he made his pile. But no sooner than he started challenging the party high command, his corruption suddenly became visible.
Despite dark stories about the scion of a top Delhi [ Images ] politician making tonnes of money on property deals, no one is interested in the case. But when it comes to a BS Yeddyrurappa's shenanigans to favour his kids, all hell breaks loose. Come to think of it, the Congress was quite blase about targeting Sukhbir Badal, the Chautalas and other such princelings, but suffers paroxysm of rage when it comes to its own princelings.
This is not to say that what the opposition parties' princelings do is kosher or should be excused. Certainly not, but why not have the same standards for all princelings?
Needless to say, for us 'mango men' to expect any sort of accountability of the princelings from the banana republic is nothing short of a pipe dream. Perhaps the time has come for a codification of this honour among thieves code so that we are at least spared the mortification of watching elaborate and often brazen cover-ups of corruption by the princelings.
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Thursday, August 9, 2012
Aruna Roy: People's movements will catalyse the political establishment - Times Of India
Aruna Roy: People's movements will catalyse the political establishment - Times Of India:
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Aruna Roy: People's movements will catalyse the political establishment
Aruna Roy , social activist and founder of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathana (MKSS), has been a powerful force behind agitations for NREGA and the Right to Information (RTI). Speaking withManoj Mitta, Roy discussed the Lokpal agitation, the disbanding of Team Anna - and how the anti-corruption movement can proceed:
Do you see Team Anna's disbandment as a vindication of the reservations you had over its approach to the Lokpal Bill?
Anna Hazare's team has decided to become a political party for bringing 'total revolution'. The switch from a campaign to a party will bring a different set of dynamics. A party cannot be uni-focussed - a campaign can. With this shift, the enactment of the Jan Lokpal Bill is dependent on their winning elections.
The Lokpal issue continues to be important for the National Campaign for Peoples' Right to Information (NCPRI) and others. We're convinced that fighting corruption needs multiple legal measures, years of committed work and a plurality of efforts from the village upwards.
Why do you think this anti-corruption movement lost its mass appeal so suddenly?
All sustained campaigns have to budget for years of hard work, continual engagement with the people and numerous battles with the establishment. This campaign lost hope much too soon and it didn't seem to take into account the whimsical nature of popularity.
Movements should be gauged by their capacity to sustain a campaign through multiple modes, a lesson the NCPRI-RTI campaign learnt through 11 years of struggle. Even after its enactment, the mass appeal of the RTI movement continues to grow through struggles against corruption and the arbitrary use of power - but without drawing large numbers of people to one location.
What is your view on the fast-unto-death as a means of protest?
Every campaign has a right to choose its mode of protest. The MKSS, after two hunger strikes in 1990 and 1991, came to an understanding that in the current climate, this is not a prudent tool. It puts great pressure on protesters with little impact on an insensitive and intractable adversary. We understood that we do not have the stature of Gandhiji. We also realised the democratic pro-cess of advocacy, based on truth and logic, is overtaken by concerns of an individual's health.
Is the collapse of Team Anna's campaign a setback to social movements in India?
Social movements are dyna-mic and India has a strong living tradition of social movements. For instance, the Ekta Parishad's been walking through thousands of villages on the land issue since October 2, 2011. An estimated one lakh villagers and tribals are expected to march to Delhi later this year. Many thousands of local efforts, the mainstay of social movements, continue to exist.
We need to recognise that social movements like the RTI have brought transparency and governance issues to the threshold of a new accountability regime, without taking recourse to electoral politics. People's movements will continue to catalyse the poli-tical establishment and bring accountability to the system - before, during and after elections.
With the Lokpal Bill pending before a select committee in Parliament, what is your strategy for the 'basket of measures' you espoused?
The NCPRI's campaign for these measures has made significant progress. The Grievance Redress Bill and the Whistleblower Bill should ideally be passed in the monsoon session. We must all hold the government to its assurance that the Lokpal Bill will be enacted as soon as possible.
We will intensify our campaign, dialogue with all political parties and continue to build popular pressure to demand effective accountability and anti-corruption legislations.
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