BIHAR VIGILANCE; ACTIVE BUT SUBJECTIVE; BIG FISHES ENJOY BUT SMALL ARE FRIED

iGovernment » Issues Bihar Vigilance Department active but subjective

Vigilance sleuths in the state are trapping corrupt government officials with renewed vigour but 'big fishes' are still far away from its grip

Published on 10/21/2008 2:44:10 PM

By Sarita Yadav

Patna: In a fresh drive against corruption the state vigilance sleuths arrested six government employees from different offices across the state.

A sub inspector of police posted at Doriganj police station in Saran district was nabbed while taking Rs 1,000 from a retired army personnel for giving a passport verification report.

In another trap, the vigilance team arrested two assistants and a peon of district treasury office in Saran.

In Begusari district, one head clerk of revenue block was arrested when he was accepting Rs 30,000 as bribe for a mutation. With these arrests, while the total number of arrests by the state vigilance department has gone up to 66 this year, the total number of traps and arrests has swelled to 233.

The vigilance wing laid 108 traps in 2007 and arrested 126 officials.Raid was conducted at the residence of former Bihar Director General of Police Narayan Mishra, but he was not arrested.

It speaks volumes about the subjective mode of working of the department. In fact, the bureau has failed to nab any police official above the rank of sub-inspector of police till date.

Reports suggested that maximum number of complaints lodged in Janata Darbar of the Chief Minister were of corruption in the Police Department. However, the working of the vigilance department has also come in for some sharp criticism from different sectors including the judiciary.

While giving a clean chit to the then Madhepura District Magistrate HC Jha, the court had reprimanded the bureau for the manner and the circumstances in which the officer was arrested.

Jha was arrested while he was carrying Rs one lakh in his official vehicle on way to attend an official meeting at Patna.

The anti-corruption crackdown was carried out by two wings of the vigilance department—State Vigilance Bureau (SVB) and Special Vigilance Unit (SVU).

The SVC was constituted on the lines of the Central Vigilance Commission last year and the SVU comprised retired officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Out of five cases so far registered against senior officers including IAS and IPS officers, two of them have been retired unscathed. The SVU failed to arrest the officer and no charge sheet could be prepared and filed against them.

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Post Comments Total Comments: 3 

Posted By Rohit Ranjan on 10/21/2008 3:53:25 PM 

It is interesting to learn that not even a police officer above sub inspector has been nabbed by the bureau so far. Is is possible that no officer above sub-inspector are corrupt? IAS and IPS officers are amassing huge wealth here, but none of them have been booked. Nitsh should think over it. Taking bribe is crime. While people have been arrested with one hundred rupees, those who have been found with crore have not even been arrested. It is shocking. 

Posted By Murari Pd. Singh on 10/30/2008 2:26:19 PM 

Vigilance bureau is doing eye wash rather than any thing else. No police officer above the rank of sub inspector has yet been arrested. They are targeting small fishes. IPS and IAS in Bihar have been minting money, every one know but no action has been taken so far. Police deptt has been most corrupt but no senior officer has been arrested. They are befooling CM Nitish Kr and patting own back on trivial matters. Arresting peons, clerks, BDO engg etc are not going to remove corruption, IAS IPS has to be booked. 

Posted By M Gopal on 11/2/2008 2:35:37 PM 

Vigilance sleuths are be fooling Nitish Kr. Peons, clerk and lower functionaries are not the main culprits. Why are IAS, IPS, Ministers and Judges not being caught?

SINGUR SYNDROME; LESSONS TO LEARN

Tatas' failed efforts for acquiring land at Singur in West Bengal for its car project is a lesson for policy makers of the country

Published on 10/7/2008 7:06:40 PM

By Sarita Yadav

The dictum that there is a little bit of politics in every economics has once again been vividly projected in Tatas' efforts for acquiring land at Singur in West Bengal.

Who is the loser and who the gainer in the exercise is another chapter for discussion but it has triggered a fresh debate on land acquisition processes and rehabilitation issues across the country.

Tatas are one of those corporate houses in the country who have a reputation for returning more to the society than taking from it. Then, what went wrong in Singur with this business group? 

Many believe that it is the beginning of second deindustrialisation of Bengal; the first happened in the colonial period. Nonetheless, it is too simple a proposition to believe that it is only Mamata or Budhadeb or for that matter Ratan Tata, who is responsible to this sad and unceremonious exit of India's one of the biggest industrial houses from the state.

The story began when this dream project of Ratan Tata of manufacturing a 'lakhtakia car' choose Singur, a small block town in Hooghly district, situated about 50 km North-West of Kolkata on the National Highways-2, as the suitable site for this venture.

It required about one thousand acres of land, which the West Bengal government readily agreed to make available. The land acquisition process began in 2006 and required area of land was acquired.

We all know that the lands in our country are acquired through a law named Land Acquisition Act, 1894, last amended in 1984. This is a colonial law and speaks about acquisition of land for 'public purpose' even without the consent of the tillers or land owners. In fact Section 4 of the Act categorically mentions about the manner in which the lands would be acquired.

About 997.11 acres of land for this project was acquired, which involved about 8,890 farmers. Tata began the construction in January, 2007, when the problem started. Initially, it was confined to the locals who were opposing this acquisition under one 'Bhumi Uchhed Committee' banner. 

The inept handling of the situation by the Government and subsequent intermingling of communist cadre further deteriorated the situation. Gradually, this movement started gaining momentum and turned violent leaving many people dead and several injured. 

Some eye witnesses are of the opinion that this was the worst kind of violence the communist state has ever witnessed. Ultimately, the movement caught political overtones.

The entry of Mamata Banerjee into the movement metamorphosed it into a full-fledged political agitation. The issue by now had turned to be an issue of two political person's individual rivalry, therefore; in spite of Governor's personal intervention, the matter could not be settled. 

Mamata made the demand of restoring 400 acres of land to the farmers as it was kept for ancillary industries and there was no construction proposed over this land for the plant. This was the demand, Tata was unable to accept and thus the road was paved for the final exit of Tata from Singur.

The questions remained unanswered are: who is responsible for this fiasco and could it have been averted? Why are such problems occurring so frequently? 

Such protests leading to change in decision of industrial houses have taken place in Jharkhand, Orissa, Karnataka, Nandigram (WB) and many such places.

Farmers have violently protested in Noida and Karnataka also, which resulted in police firing leaving some farmers dead.

Is it not oversimplification and extreme generalisation of the fact that these movements are politically motivated? Is it not administratively wrong to squarely and blame Mamata for this fiasco?

It appears that one has to peep into the entire gamut of issue and find the real and root cause of the problem, otherwise the dream of industrialisation would face rough weather not only in West Bengal but also in other states.

The Reason Theories

Some people are of the opinion that the Communist Cadres have had been in possession of many lands illegally. They did not have legal documents and therefore were not likely to get compensation for the acquired lands, because compensation, according to the law, would be paid to those who posses legal and valid documents. Is it is therefore they, who started the problem?

Another group of experts are of the opinion that the rate of compensation and 'solacium' money being paid here are perhaps the lowest in the country and that is why the farmers were unwilling to give their lands to the Government.

According to information available, the amount of compensation being paid to those displaced in Singur was Rs 8.40 lakh per acre for single crop land and Rs 12 lakh per acre for double crop land.

As Singur is located on the National High way and that too, only 40 km from the state capital, the amount fixed for compensation was definitely less than the actual market price.

Actually, the price of compensation is fixed as per 'market value' which is calculated according to price of the land registration. But the problem is that the value shown in such registration is always very less as compared to the real price. 

This calculation is done as per the provisions of this Land Acquisition Act and therefore Collectors do not have discretion in enhancing this rate. Of course, there are ways for the government to do away with this discrepancy by way of framing policies.

R&R Policy

In Bihar for instance, one 'Bihar Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Policy, 2007' has been framed and the amount of compensation to be paid to the land owner has been considerably hiked.

The provisions have been made to add flat 50 per cent amount to the rate fixed by the collector. The existing rate of 30 per cent Solacium money has also been doubled. The policy also seeks to provide compensation for other losses like structures, trees and ponds which are there on the acquired land.

Thus, the amount of compensation has been increased many folds. This is the reason perhaps, why Bihar is facing no problem in land acquisition processes.

Jharkhand has also framed its Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Policy, 2008. But the amount of compensation and solacium money has not been hiked like those of Bihar.

No wonder then, the state is also facing similar problems in land acquisition process. 

So far as Singur is concerned, there were communication gaps also between the owners and tillers on the hand and Tata on the other. The company left the state government to deal exclusively with the land owners and kept itself away from the process.

It appears that the real problem lie here itself. In fact, as per the counter-affidavit filed by the Government in the Kolkata High court in one Public Interest Litigation (PIL) against this acquisition, these lands were being acquired for West Bengal Industrial development corporation (WBIDC) and later the WBIDC was supposed to lease out these lands to Tata.

Therefore; naturally the company did not like to play a pro-active role vis-a-vis the land acquisition and its transfer to it. This communication gap later boomeranged and snowballed into the large scale anti-land acquisition agitation.

Apart from land owners, there were two other groups namely sharecroppers and agricultural labours. They thought that well, the land owners would get compensation, but what would they get? In absence of a transparent dialogue, this apprehension could not be addressed properly and timely, which added fuel to fire.

Role of NGOs

One more reason which deserves attention is the role of the so called non–governmental organisations (NGOs). One should think over the situation that how and why suddenly so called NGOs appear in far flung areas. Is it not a matter of interest that how and who did sustain the months long agitation in Singur? Who financed the supply lines? 

Who are they that catered to every needs of agitation and thrive it for so long periods? In some quarters, there is a perception that perhaps business rivalry played a vital role in it. 

Well, no body, right now, have any evidence in favour of it. But the possibility of such nexus cannot be flatly ruled out. The Government must probe into it, because most of them are proving to be a major hurdle in the progress of the nation. 

Trust Vs Mistrust

In India, for instance the mistrust and suspicion on part of the farmers are not unfounded. Have we made them stakeholders in the development processes? Have not we created oasis in the deserts?

A quick round in some of the areas surrounding of Bokaro Steel factory, BCCL at Dhanbad in Jharkhand, and one can see that the farmers and land tillers, whose lands have been acquired four decades ago, are still displaced. 

Besides, the kind of experience that these farmers go through during the process of land acquisitions is also, most of times horrible. They have to run from pillar to post for the money to be paid in lieu of their own lands. These experiences and hardships have made the farmers and tillers alien, if not hostile, towards the entire process of land acquisition. 

But unfortunately, efforts that are being made are not farmer centric. Only cosmetic efforts are being made and jargons are used in government policy papers. 

The government is sitting over the Land Acquisition Bill, 2007 over more than a year. Let this Bill be circulated amongst the stakeholders and amend it suitably. The problem with such legislation is that, the language used therein, is so complicated and jargonised, that a common person fails to understand it and could not participate in it. 

In a nut shell, we can say that unless all the stakeholders and specially the farmers, tillers and sharecroppers are made coalition partners, such problems are likely to come up with more intense magnitude.

Taking into account all above mentioned issues, the government has to reorient its approach with regard to land acquisition process. One can take examples of other nations also. 

In Vietnam for instance, the process of land acquisition is not done without taking into confidence the land owners. The Doi Moi Policy which is based on a coalition of land owners-entrepreneur-government is the corner stone of Vietnam's success.

This policy has been working very successfully and smoothly for many years and has changed the socio-economic and industrial face of this war strife torn nation. 

The Land Acquisition Act of Thailand is another success story. The land pooling and land re-adjustment policy of this country has five basics viz community organisation, land sharing agreement, densification-re housing, reconstruction and capital investment.

This policy has changed the civic life of this country to such an extent that almost all the slums have been metamorphosed into well planned cities. They have set up millions of industries without causing much pain to the population. 

We can do it here also, but what we require is a strong political will and vision. 

China is another magnificent example of transformation. Den Xiao Peng had launched one Town and Village Enterprise (TVE) movement in 70s with the help of Land Administration Law. This movement changed not only the settlement pattern but also the industrial milieu. 

The Land Acquisition Act, 1966 of Singapore has the same type of philosophy in which thrust is on the wilful coalition of all the stakeholders.

Similarly, the Constitution(1988) of Brazil, Expropriation Law 1936 of Mexico, Expropriation Act 1975 of South Africa, Constitution of USA (5th Amendment) and Town and Country Development Act, 1990 of UK have similar provisions which are based on the coalition of all the three stakeholder viz State, Entrepreneurs and Land owners.

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Posted By Murari Pd. Singh on 10/7/2008 9:17:15 PM 

Excellent article and the writer has given some points which hitherto are untouched by all other writers. almost all writer has written on political angle but this article has for the first time touched upon the real and core issue, the issue of compensation. The simplest thing is that if good price and alternate livelihood are offered, there is no point why this type problem would occur. 

Posted By Mantu on 10/8/2008 5:45:16 PM 

This time again happiness of common people sacrificed at the alter of the politicians bigotry and obstinacy. Why such irresponsible lady is being tolerated by innocent people of Singur. This incident will push Mamata in corner of politics. She will have to pay a price for this. 

Posted By Gajendra Kr Singh on 10/8/2008 8:14:33 PM 

Singur symbolises failure of communist ideology and its being gradually obsolete. the time has come to re-orient the approach of not only govt but also of common people, because after all it the commoners who are to suffer. 

Posted By Maneesh Ranjan on 10/9/2008 6:12:15 PM 

The writer has rightly said that the big fire starts with a small sparks. Both Tata and Budhadeb failed to understnad it. The rate of compensation was the single most important reason. Later all politicians and NGOs added fuel to fire and whole dream of Bengal burnt to ashes. 

Posted By Danish Ansari on 10/10/2008 2:45:03 PM 

I guess that a great take on the "Burning Issue" that led to cacophony & multiple deprivation of lives/Good Health. The article raises a critical issue of Land Acquisition right that do need to be reformed. Lets not 

still live with the forlorn Collonial Laws. 

Its time We need a paradigm shift for the primordial law that Exist in 20th Century. 

3 Cheers..... to such a take on the Issue. 

Posted By Nitin Bhardwaj on 10/10/2008 4:48:33 PM 

Nice article !! Actually the main point highlighted in this article has gone unnoticed in Land Acquisition Act. The landowners should be definitely taken into confidence before acquiring their land even for public purpose. They should be compensated in accordance with prevailing market rates in advance so that this land transition should go off smoothly. Also the productive agricultural land should not be wasted and unproductive land should be given for setting up the factories etc. 

Posted By Shridhar Kumar on 10/11/2008 9:41:18 AM 

An excellent article and work out to address the bottom line problem of after Independence and after 50 years of independence we are unable to solve it : LAND REFORMS and LAND LAWS. 

This problem of SINGUR has exposed many faces and raised many questions. 

One point must be clear in every mind that whether we have “TATA in SINGUR” or not it will not change the economy of the state or the country over night. 

What we need ? 

A Honest Start and Initiative. 

We must accept that as a state WB and as a Nation all fail to deliver after the 50 Years of Independence. 

What Nation Like China, Japan, Brazil, Thailand, Vietnam had done Two or Three decades back WE are NOT ready to learn. 

Exposed : 

1. Our land reforms and Land acquisition laws 

2. Political will and Interest 

3. Land laws status in a State after the two decades rules of Communist party 

4. Role of common man 

5. Role and Understanding of Intelligentsia (not only in WB all over the country) 

6. Nationalist and Political Parties on the issue of Development. 

7. Understanding the common man’s problems by Social Worker, Intelligentsia and Administration and Method of Handling these problems 

Question : 

1. Are we ready to Learn from SINGUR ?

2. Who will analyze the problem of SINGUR ? 

3. What will be the Parameters ? 

4. Will we able to Identify the responsible behind this failure ? 

5. Are National Interest of Different Political Parties are different ? 

6. Why we are unable to frame a Uniform Law for Land Reforms ? 

7. Are existing Law working ? Are these Law’s only paper lion ? 

8. Why this problem not found in GURGAON (HARYANA) ? How Farmers are happy and ready to accept the changes ? 

9. Did we ever try to make the farmers a Share Holder in the Profit of Future? 

Posted By Sanjay Kumar on 10/11/2008 10:38:42 AM 

Land acquisition process is boomeranging everywhere but govt is sitting over the bill. The problem is the the law framers do not have the first hand experience of problems. IAS sits in AC rooms and frame laws so they fail. 

Posted By Raj Sinha on 10/13/2008 3:03:59 PM 

Worth Reading!!! 

I would say its a lesson for both policy makers and corporate houses. The land owners should be taken into confidence before acquiring their land. 

Posted By Rahul Gupta on 10/13/2008 3:58:08 PM 

Its very interesting and informative, especially the R&R Policy. 

Good work!!

INQUIRY COMMISSIONS ARE BLACK HOLES IN INDIA

iGovernment » Governance Inquiry Commissions in India are black holes

Nanawti Commission report on the Godhara incident has once again opened the Pandora's Box over logic of setting up Inquiry Commissions in India

Published on 10/3/2008 7:10:07 PM

By Sarita Yadav

Part one of the Nanawti Commission report, probing into the Godhara incident in Gujarat, released last month has once again opened the Pandora's Box over logic of setting up Inquiry Commissions in the country.

The report while giving clean chit to the Narendra Modi Government has supported the theory of conspiracy, leading to a widespread criticism across the country.

Many call it 'eye wash' and other call it 'sponsored report'. Communists have termed it a 'piecemeal' and fabricated report, whereas; National Democratic Alliance (NDA) calls it 'triumph of truth'.

Justice Nanawati report in fact contradicts the UC Banerjee report which also probed the Godhara incident. How a single incident draws two extreme conclusions?

The two reports have raised a very debatable issue. What do judicial commissions, appointed by the various governments to examine issues ranging from riots, scandals and assassinations to inter-state disputes actually achieve?

Critics of commissions say that their recent history has been extremely spotty. Apart from taking inordinately long to deliver reports, they seldom achieve anything.

Keeping apart from such allegations and counter allegations, the issue that has again come to fore is whether an inquiry commission can substitute criminal prosecution?

Do these Commissions serve any purpose? Is it not an eye wash? Are these Commissions able to bring culprits to book? Are not Commissions of inquiry a waste of time and money?

To understand the entire issue, one has to discuss the Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952 itself. Before this Act came into being, the governments used to order an inquiry by executive notifications under Public Service Inquiry Act, 1850. Sometimes, they used to enact adhoc and temporary legislations too.

To meet the public demand for impartial and judicial inquiries, the Government of India came out with a comprehensive legislation, which resulted into passage of this Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952.

Since its enactment, the constitution of Inquiry Commissions has become a tool for the various governments to subside the public anger.

Since Independence, more than a hundred Inquiry Commissions have been set up, but a very few have served the purpose. And the reasons are obvious. First, the provisions enshrined in this Act are not of deterrent in nature and secondly, most of the time the Commissions are set up under retired Judges for obvious reasons.

Section 4 the Act provides for powers and it is clear that the Commission has no power to compel a person to adduce before it and give evidence. It cannot pass verdicts or judgments which could be enforceable.

The helplessness is such that even if an offence has been committed in view of or in presence of Commission, the Commission needs to forward the case to the Magistrate for trial as provided in Criminal Procedure code.

The appointment of retired Judges, as head of the Commission is very much suitable for the government. It is not merely a chance that one Judge has headed more than one Commission. The public perception is such that these Inquiry Commissions are becoming post retirement placement schemes for the favourite retired Judges.

We have a long list of such Commissions, which have made inordinate delay in submitting their reports. Many of them have taken decades in so called "conducting inquiries" and even then the report which was submitted were so voluminous that we required another committee to find out ways to implement the recommendations.

For example, as many as ten Commissions or committees have so far been set up with regard to the anti-Sikh riots in Delhi after the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

First of all it was the Marvah Commission headed by Additional Commissioner of Police Ved Marvah, that was set up in November, 1984.

The Commission was about to finish the assigned task when it was abruptly wounded up in May 1985 and a new Commission headed by Justice Rangnath Misra was constituted. The new Commission was asked to carry out further inquiry hitherto done by the Marvah Commission.

The Justice Ranganath Mishra Commission which was appointed under Section 3 of The Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952, was asked to inquire into "allegations" of violence and not to inquire into the "nature" of violence, a departure from the terms of reference of over a dozen other commissions on communal disturbances since Independence.

It is needless to mention that what has happened to reports and how much amount have been spent on these exercises. Has any prominent leader been punished so far? Many persons, against whom leveled charges were being inquired into, have died. Such are the frustrating results of these Commissions and Committees.

As far as time and money aspect of these Commissions are concerned, its enough to look into the expenses of just couple of Commissions to understand the quantum of impact—both in terms of the amount and time spent.

The one that tops the chart is the Liberhan Commission. Set up under retired Justice M S Liberhan on 16 December, 1992 to probe into Babri mosque demolition, the Commission has so far been given more than 41 extensions. Overall the government has already spent Rs 90 million on this single man inquiry Commission, which is yet to come out with its report.

Similarly, Justice B N Kripal Commission of inquiry was set up on 13 July, 1985 to probe into the bombing of the Air India Flight 182 on 23 June, 1985 which led to the crash of this plane into the Atlantic Ocean leaving 329 passengers including crew dead.

The Commission submitted its report after extensive tours of countries like Canada and USA but when the prosecution began, nothing could be proved and none could be punished. The entire 'investigation and inquiry' went in vain. It is needless again, to calculate the amount which was spent on such inquiries.

Phukan Commission was set up to probe the Tehelka expose into fictitious defence deals. Everyone saw the tape on television and the then Government just to avoid immediate legal course, set up this Commission.

In May 2005 the Newsweek reported that Justice Phukan along with his wife and eight officials used IAF plane and went to Pune, Mumbai and Shirdi. The Ministry later said that the Judge was not entitled to use the military plane and it was made available to him by the then government in order to influence the Judge.

Such allegations and incidents definitely erode public faith in such Commissions. The situation is such that every Government in power uses this provision to oblige the retired judges.

In Bihar for example, Justice Amir Das Commission was set up to probe into the alleged connections of political leaders with a banned outfit called Ranveer Sena in 1997.

The Commission was finally wounded up in 2006 as it could hardly do anything except for some tours and recording the statements some leaders in over eight years of its existence.

Similar is the case of Justice Ali Ahmed Commission that was set up to look into excess withdrawal in 1996. In fact, very little is known about the outcome of the Commission, including the recommendations that it submited or the actions taken by it.

Commission under Justice R C P Sinha and Justice Samsul was set up on Bhagalpur communal riot in 1989. Reports were submitted in 1995. But when the new government came to power it set up N N Singh (retired Justice) Commission to investigate the matter again.

In 2008 a Commission under retired judge Sadanand Mukherjee was set up to probe into the Kahalgaon police firing. This commission is still a non starter vis-a-vis investigation of the incidence.

Not to miss the fact that when the recent breach in Kosi embankment that caused a major flood in Bihar led to lot of allegations and counter allegations, the state government was quick to constitute a Commission under Rajesh Walia, again a retired Judge to probe into it.

And while there is no bias against the judiciary or the retired judges, who are a national repository of knowledge as far as judicial matters are concerned, the question needs to be examined is whether a Commission can substitute the country's criminal investigation system.

How can a Judge be better equipped to do forensic test, do scientific investigations than a professionally trained police officer? Has the Commission power to make arrests to the persons likely to tamper evidences?

The answer to these and many such questions has been provided by a two Judge commission itself. Set up by in 1987 to investigate the Fairfax Deal, the Justice Thakkar and Natarajan Commission in its report have said that the Commission of Inquiry Act was "ineffective and toothless". They two, in fact, devoted one full chapter on the inadequacies of this Act.

It is important to note that India has a criminal justice system, which is based on the twin pillars of investigation and dispensation of justice. How can the Judiciary be asked to do the work of investigation, which is the work of the State as enshrined the law of the land?

The Criminal Procedure Code and for that matter entire Criminal Justice System is erected on this principle (Article 50 of Chapter IV on Directive Principles of State Policy) and perhaps it is due to this principle, that the judiciary and executive have been completely separated in 1973, when the Code of Criminal Procedure was amended.

Besides, most of these Commissions, after years of its investigation, usually submit reports that are so voluminous that it again requires some committees to suggest measures to implements the recommendations.

Not to talk about the fact that such reports are not obligatory and mandatory for the government to implement.

It is also worthwhile to mention here that the Judiciary in India is an independent system and that is precisely the reason why Article 220 restricts practise by retired Judges. The idea is that there should not be any scope, whatsoever, of favour or disfavour by the serving Judges.

By appointing the retired Judges in these Commissions or for that matter in any other body tends to clearly violate the spirit of the Constitution itself.

What is more shocking is that instead of modernising and equipping the investigating agencies to probe into such serious issues of national shame, the country has been a mere spectator to the cosmetic make ups.

In India, every one knows about the 'normal' pace of the court proceedings, and so all these commissions, needless to say have virtually become black holes.

—Views expressed in this article are of the author and not those of iGovernment

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Post Comments Total Comments: 9

Posted By Vimal Kr on 10/4/2008 8:58:49 AM

What about the Rajesh Walia commission. Even a man of common intellect understands that the breach was caused due to utter negligence of the govt. then why a commission? Is it not an eye wash? Why only retired Judge. Kahalgaon police firing commission was also set up to save a IAS officer and an IPS officer who are favourite of govt. The writer should mention about these commission also.

Posted By Gajendra Kr Singh on 10/4/2008 11:52:42 AM

What an excellent article on commission of inquiry. It is clearly an eye wash and nothing more than that. These commissions have become post retirement engagements and the govt awards the favorite judges by appointing them in such institutions. It should be stopped. After all institutions are bigger than the individuals.

Posted By Mantu on 10/4/2008 12:13:00 PM

Wonderfull article and an eye opener also. It is shocking that how the public money is being misutilised. It should be stopped or provisions should be made so that it is made mandatory to submit the report on time or else no payment would be made.

Posted By Abhimanyu on 10/4/2008 7:12:35 PM

I went through your article and it was excellent and informative. It is shocking to know that after an elapse of 16 years the liberhan commission has not submitted its report. What a wastage of public money?

Posted By S. Kumar on 10/7/2008 1:09:10 PM

These inquiry commissions are eating up the state's exchequer. It is said the Judge never retires. They have systematically constructed so many institutions for themselves so that they may get post retirement engagements. Press council, NHRC, NMC, tribunals, backward commissions, information commissions, SC ST commissions etc are nothing but post retirement placement bureau. Shut it down or make transparent system of appointment.

Posted By Mantu on 10/7/2008 2:07:01 PM

Is the commission fails to submit its report in time, the pays and perks should not be given. Once they are appointed, they go on getting extensions and continue to enjoy the facilities. It is high of hypocryacy. It should stop. the judges should refrain from doing such things other wise they will loose respect.

Posted By Suresh Kr Intara on 10/7/2008 3:17:06 PM

Very good article and an eye opener also. It is shocking that how the public money is being misutilised. It should be stopped or provisions should be made so that it is made mandatory to submit the report on time or else no payment would be made.

Posted By Sanket on 10/7/2008 7:23:03 PM

Excellent stuff and lots of facts are depicted. Bihar govt should look at these facts and bring them into action. System should be much more transparent to the public.

Posted By Maneesh Ranjan on 10/9/2008 6:16:14 PM

What a shame of our system. It is very shocking to know how the public money is being misutilised? Fix responsibility and say perform or perish. Why crores of cases are lying pending why judges are not disposing them. It easy preaching than done.

SACKING GOVERNMENT EASIER THAN REMOVING A JUDGE IN INIDIA

iGovernment » Governance Sacking govt easier than removing judges in India

Transparency International in its 2007 report said Judiciary in India was the third most corrupt institutions. Recent instances seem proving it

Published on 9/16/2008 3:33:35 PM

By Sarita Yadav

The letter written by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) to the Prime Minister seeking his intervention in initiating impeachment proceedings against a sitting judge of Calcutta High Court, has triggered a debate again regarding corruption in higher judiciary and its impunity.

We have seen removal of governments and Prime Ministers so many times, but removal of High Court and Supreme Court judges has not been so far heard after the Constitution of India came into force in 1950.

Independent India has, however, witnessed one impeachment, when Justice Shiv Prasad Sinha of Allahabad High Court was removed by the then Governor General of India, C Rajagopalachari in 1949 on the recommendation of the Federal Court.

The Chief Justice has given detailed information about Justice Sen's misconduct when he was appointed receiver by Justice AN Roy in Steel Authority of India versus Shipping Corporation of India case in 1993.

The three-Judge panel comprising Madras High Court Chief Justice AP Shah, MP High Court Chief Justice AK Patnaik and Rajasthan High Court Chief Justice RM Lodha inquired into the charges leveled against Justice Sen and found them true. 

The panel submitted its report in February, 2008. On March 16, the Collegiums of the apex court comprising of Chief Justice BN Agarwal and Justice Asok Bhan asked Justice Sen either to resign or to opt for voluntary retirement.

However, with Justice Sen deciding not to comply with either of the two options, the Chief Justice was forced to resort to this unprecedented move.

The move is unprecedented, because neither there is any provision in the constitution about such recommendation nor before this, any Chief Justice has taken such 'extreme step'. 

In fact Article 124(4) of Indian Constitution provides for removal of High Court and Supreme Court Judges. 

The Article says: “A judge of Supreme Court shall not be removed from his office except by an order of the President passed after an address by each House of Parliament supported by a majority of the total number of membership of that House and by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of that House present and voting has been presented to the President in the same session for such removal on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity.”

There is no separate provision for removal of High Court judges and Article 217(1)(b) provides for this and says, “A judge may be removed from his office by the President in the manner provided in clause(4) of Article 124 for the removal of a judge of the Supreme Court.”

The processes of removal of High Court and Supreme Court judges are the same. The above Article of the Constitution provides for impeachment, whereas; Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968 determines the process of impeachment. 

According to this Act, the impeachment of a judge can be done only by Parliament and impeachment can be initiated after a motion addressed to the President of India is signed by at least 100 members of the Lok sabha or 50 members of Rajya Sabha.

Such is the process and such is the impunity. Such Judicial impunity has been conferred on Judiciary for the sake of its independence.

The above provision is similar to the rule prevailing in England, since the Act of Settlement, 1701, to the effect that though judges of the superior courts are appointed by the Crown, they do not hold office during his pleasure, but hold their office on good behaviour and the Crown may remove them based on a joint address from both the Houses of Parliament.

Any way the credit must be given to Chief Justice, who could take such extra-ordinary step, because after all, extra-ordinary situation demands extra-ordinary steps.

But unfortunately, the government was sitting over it as it was written two months ago and could only be known to public through media. 

Before any debate on this issue, it should be clearly borne in mind that above cumbersome procedure of impeachment and other judicial impunities have been enshrined in the Constitution for making Judiciary independent. 

Independence of Judiciary

The independence is guaranteed in our Constitution and the concept has been borrowed from the US Constitution. Article III of US Constitution guarantees Independence and Supremacy of Judiciary in the US. 

Independence of Judiciary is the tenet of democracy and therefore, even Russian Constitution of 1993 (Chapter-7 Section 120-122) also guarantees independence of Judiciary in the country.

In fact section 124 of the Russian Constitution says, “Judges shall posses immunity and criminal proceedings may not be brought against a Judge except as provided for by federal law.”

In India, this independence and limited Judicial Supremacy are enshrined in the Constitution and are expressed in the methods of appointment of judges; the process of impeachment; and the power of judicial review.

Now, if all these provisions of the Constitution are analysed, inference can easily be drawn that the problems lay here themselves and so do solutions.

The Appointment Rules

Articles 124 and 217 provide for appointment of Judges of Supreme Court and High Court respectively. They clearly stipulate that the appointments have to be made by the President in consultation with the Chief Justice.

The word 'consultation' has been always a matter of dissent and controversy. In fact, when AN Ray was appointed as Chief Justice after superseding three senior Judges namely Hegde, Grover and Shelat, there was uproar in Judicial community including the Bar council of the apex court.

They argued that judges have been superseded owing to their judgement in Keshavanand case (AIR 1973 Supreme Court) which went against the government. 

Gradually the direction of Executive in matters of appointment of judges started diminishing. In 1993, a land mark judgment came from Supreme Court in 'Advocates on record versus Union of India' case. 

The apex court ruled that the recommendations for appointment of Judges in High Court and Supreme Court will be made by collegiums of three Judges and shall be in a way binding on the government.

After a 'presidential reference', the number in the collegiums was increased from three to five. 

This judgment was a landmark because it took virtually all discretionary powers of the Executive in matters of appointment of judges in higher judiciary. Thus, the word 'consultation' became 'concurrence'. 

Some people in legal domain argue that it was a dangerous development and was against the principles of the Constitution itself. How can a person or a group of persons appoint themselves which goes against the ideas enshrined in Article 311? 

They opine that there must be a transparent and justifiable procedure for such appointments. There are instances where persons from one family are becoming Judges for two to three generations.

The judicial community of higher Judiciary is becoming an elite club of few 'privileged families'. Candidly, it is not what 'independence' meant for.

The Impeachment

The process of impeachment as discussed in the article above, clearly indicates that it is a cumbersome process. No wonder then, not a single judge could be removed in India since 1949. 

It may be recalled that in 1991, the impeachment proceedings for removal of Justice V Ramaswami fell flat on its face after members of the Congress party decided to abstain from voting. 

The process of impeachment is laid down in Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968 which says that even if the motion is accepted, the presiding officer of the House has to constitute a three judge committee to further inquire into the matter. 

The process suggests that the motion will be put to voting once again after the submission of the report by the Judges' Committee. However, unlike in the case of a no confidence motion against a government, which requires a simple majority to survive, the impeachment motion against a judge requires a two-third majority.

That is why, it is truly said that it is easier to decide the fate of 100 billion people by way of forming and toppling Governments in India than removing a Judge in the country.

It is also but strange that the country which has seen many a ministers and bureaucrats being convicted on charges of corruption does not have a single incidence of a judge being impeached.

The ‘Transparency International' in its report of 2007 has counted judiciary as the third most corrupt institutions in India, an inference totally in contrary to the common perception that instances of corruption in higher judiciary are not unheard of.

The former CJI Y K Sabarwal himself is in the eyes of storm for his judgement pronounced in the ‘Delhi Sealing Case', which allegedly benefited his son. When a report in this regard appeared in one Newspaper, a suo motto contempt proceeding was initiated and the concerned reporter was sought to be punished.

The Contempt of Court Act, 1971, which itself is not yet codified, is another tool which sometimes is used to gauge the voice of dissent.

In another infamous case, the vigilance department of UP Police exposed misappropriation of funds worth Rs 23 crore from the GPF account of Class III and IV employees of Ghaziabad Civil Court.

One of the accused arrested in this connection, made startling revelation that he has parted the money both in cash and kind, with one sitting Judge of SC, ten Judges of HC and 23 Judges of lower courts.

The investigation is not proceeding as Police cannot interrogate judges without the consent of SC, though such protections are not given in Judges (Inquiry) Act. The matter is still pending with the apex court and the CJI has to convince the nation, whether there is equality before the law or not.

Not to forget the matter of the two Haryana High Court Judges whose names have figured in a case in which a law officer from Haryana has alleged to have sent Rs 15 lakh to them. The Matter has been referred to CBI by the apex court.

The list is long and result is dismally naught. And while one may agree that it is easy preaching than done, the question being asked by common citizen is that who will judge the judges?

The Remedies

• The provisions of RTI should be made applicable to all components of functioning of Judiciary. Accordingly, suitable amendments in RTI Act, 2005 can be made.

• The procedure of selection of Judges should be made more transparent and justifiable. Panel of judges can be made well in advance before recommendation and be known to public by way of websites or media.

• Idea of setting up of a National Judicial Commission can also be made into reality, after all if you are required to go for a test for becoming a clerk, why does selection of judges not require any test. An all India test might also be conducted to select judges of higher judiciary.

• The Government is sitting over the Judges (inquiry) bill, 2006 for more than two years, therefore it should be passed, but before that necessary amendments are required, because the concept of ‘brother judges' doing inquiry has proved ineffective if not futile.

• The contempt of Court Act, 1971 should be suitably amended, because healthy criticism of any institution is generally beneficial for the system itself in the long run. The Judiciary should prepare itself for listening to its criticism and bring about change by itself, a change though painful but helpful.

—The opinion expressed in this article are of the writer and not those of iGovernment

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Post Comments Total Comments: 13 

Posted By SC Vashishth on 9/17/2008 11:25:52 AM 

It is very humane to be corrupt if there is no public eye and the authority enjoys such impunity! I thoroughly agree with the writer. The suggestions, if implemented, will go a long way in restoring people's faith in the judiciary. At the same time, we have to 

be careful that it is kept beyond the purview of the dirty party politics. 

Regards 

Posted By A.K. Sinha on 9/17/2008 12:46:35 PM 

An article of excellence. The writer has fearlessly expressed her opinion. The constitutional provisions are being misused by the Judges and therefore unnecessary immunities should be done away with.

Asok

Hyderabad 

Posted By gajendra kr singh on 9/18/2008 12:56:16 PM 

The writer has boldly expressed his opinion in a candid manner. The govt and apex court should come up to the expectation of the public. If such institutions are not changing itself with the changing pace of time it will decay. 

Posted By Sanjay Kumar on 9/19/2008 10:38:55 AM 

Before reading this article I was not able to understand this complex issue. The writer has very clearly described the entire process. That is why judges are so fastidious and insensible. Make them accountable and result oriented. Target should be fixed and holidays should be curtailed. The British style of functioning should not be allowed. 

Posted By Murari Pd. Singh on 9/21/2008 11:34:53 AM 

The writer has boldly presented her views on corruption in Judiciary. I am surprised to know the kind of impunity which is given to the judges. Constitutional amendment should be made to make Judiciary more accountable. 

murari 

Posted By Yash Kr Yadav on 9/21/2008 11:51:48 AM 

An eye opener for all those who fight against corruption and justice. Make the judiciary result oriented rather than gimmick oriented. The accountability of judges should be determined in transparent way. 

Yash, Danapur 

Posted By G.Kr on 9/21/2008 1:52:12 PM 

I had not been able to understand the technicality of the matter earlier. Let the common person know about the judicial procedure and impunity and make judges more known to citizen of India 

G. Kr 

Posted By Anindita Dey on 9/21/2008 2:19:27 PM 

There are black sheep in every sphere of life and judiciary may not be the exception. Moreover, the caution of ‘he who fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby become a monster’ may be very much pertinent to judiciary.

For this, a system of accountability with firm time lines for different categories of cases may be drawn by the Honourable Supreme Court. The rotten bud need to be nipped by judiciary itself to protect the unnecessary gaze of public and media on judiciary and uphold its supremacy. 

Posted By Sapan Roy on 9/23/2008 3:15:16 PM 

I fail to understand how and why one should believe that Judges are incorruptible. The lawers who generally use all means to win a case, when become a Judge suddenly become custodian of Law? Let the Judiciary be made accountable and transparent. File a petition on cricket match telecast and it will be herd next day but the poor men are fighting legal battles for decades and still not herd. Who prioritise the case after all. 

Posted By G. Kr on 10/1/2008 7:58:40 PM 

Let a judicial commission be set up to select and appoint judges. The non transparent method of selection should be discontinued. In Bihar selection is done on the basis of clan not on merit. 

Posted By Vivek on 10/2/2008 12:48:35 PM 

Why govt is scared in removing the judges who are tainted? Manmohan Singh should show courage in setting in the motion in the Lok Sabha against sen and those who are involved in Ghaziabad scam. 

Posted By Mantu on 10/3/2008 12:03:48 PM 

When such charges prima facie comes into light the officer concerned is put under suspension and cases are filed. Why such actions are not taken against them. Is there two law in India. 

Posted By Abhimanyu on 10/4/2008 7:22:58 PM 

Let a selection procedure be evolved for recruitment of Judges in India otherwise only selected persons will be able to be appointed as judge. Why do only people from some selected family become judge?

Act to bring transparancy in Urban Local Bodies

                            BIHAR, INSTITUTIONS ARE BEING RE-ESTABLISHED

Act soon to bring transparency in Bihar ULBs

Urban Local Bodies in Bihar will soon have a transparent umbrella through which their assets, liabilities and obligation can be viewed by common men

Published on 8/19/2008 4:53:22 PM

By Sarita Yadav

Patna: All the 122 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in Bihar will soon have a transparent umbrella through which their assets, liabilities and obligation could be vividly viewed by common men.

The first state in the country to enact the Model Municipal Act ensuring all-round development of municipal areas, Bihar has moved further towards people's empowerment by introducing Bihar Urban Local Bodies Disclosure Bill, 2008.

The Bill already passed by the state Legislature during the monsoon session is awaiting Governor's nod to become an Act.

"As a matter of fact, section 4 of the RTI Act, 2005 has made it obligatory on part of all the Public Authorities, to publish within 120 days from the date enactment of the RTI Act, all relevant details, assets, liabilities, obligations, duties and functions," an official said.

This Bill was in pursuance to this provision, he added.

The Act aims to bring about a transparency in the working of these ULBs. Even after passage of Bihar Municipal Act 2007, the local bodies failed to deliver the goods to the common men.

The state has yet to prepare a statement of its urban policy or strategy. Without such a unified policy document, urban sector works have been fragmentary and have been undertaken by different agencies without close alignment of resources, resulting in grossly inadequate and inefficient urban development.

Despite the breakthrough Bihar Municipal Act introduced by the state in 2007, fully empowering the ULBs to provide all urban services and recover costs, non-municipal agencies like Public Health and Engineering Department (PHED) and Bihar Rajya Jal Parshad (BRJP) retain control of typical municipal functions such as the creation of water supply and sewerage systems.

Besides, the ULBs have very low technical, financial and institutional and management capacity and need extensive strengthening, along with immediate financial reforms, to fulfil their mandate under the Municipal Act.

According to the 2001 census, Bihar had an urban population of only 86.8 lakh, or 10.46 per cent of the total population, versus the national average of 28 per cent.

About 60 per cent of this urban population is in the southern part of the state, with a significant concentration in Patna, and more than 50 per cent is in class I towns (towns with a population of more than one lakh; Bihar had 19 of these in the 2001 census), thus putting concentrated pressure on those towns.

Bihar's new land policy on anvil : iGovernment

Bihar's new land policy on anvil : iGovernment

Singur syndrome has many tales to tell : iGovernment

Singur syndrome has many tales to tell : iGovernment

Inquiry Commissions in India are black holes : iGovernment

Inquiry Commissions in India are black holes : iGovernment

Sacking govt easier than removing judges in India : iGovernment

Sacking govt easier than removing judges in India : iGovernment

Great Depression to hit all and sundry : iGovernment

Great Depression to hit all and sundry : iGovernment

Global financial order needs revamp : iGovernment

Global financial order needs revamp : iGovernment

Bihar's flood of fury: End of Kosi civilisation? : iGovernment

Bihar's flood of fury: End of Kosi civilisation? : iGovernment

IS GREAT DEPRESSION COMING?

                                    CITADEL OF SAND; HOW LONG WILL IT LAST?

Hello countrymen,

The economic slowdown is spreading like contageon in every parts of the globe. Is it the sign of great depression?

Here is my view in it.

IS GREAT DEPRESSION OF 1930s COMING?

Is great depression is coming? Everyone in the world including in India is asking this question, to which none of the financial pundits is able to answer correctly. ‘Market gurus’ are making wild guess that ‘worst is over, hurricane has passed and settling down process will start soon. But the worst ever crash in at least 15 years on Friday, (likely to continue further also) which was observed as ‘black Friday’ by hundreds of thousands of plundered and ruined investors, belied all such forecasting of economic experts. Dow Jones fell by more than 600 Points, Nikkei by 800 Points, etc. in fact Friday mayhem was caused largely due to crash in Asian Markets. For instance in India BSE and NSE fell by more than 800 and 834 Points respectively on this day. Similarly, almost all stock markets in Asia, like Nikkei, Hang sang, Singapore etc fell sharply. The fear psychosis is such that in spite of repeated assertions made by the concerned governments that the ‘fundamentals of the economy are strong’, the investors could not be instilled with sufficient amount of confidence. The rumour of Banks facing liquidity crunch and probably going bankrupt, was rife and investors as well as common customers thought that whether their money is safe with the Banks. This caused panic in the market and added fuel to fire. 

In fact, the beginning of this ‘humungous crisis’ has had started well in 2004-2005 itself in many parts of the world. The artificial boom, the ‘housing bubble’ created by Bankers and property dealers led to over assessment of value of the real estates. The lending by Banks on the over assessed value of properties continued for some time. But when the Bank rates were increased, the borrowers found it difficult to pay the EMIs to the Banks. When, in order to recover the money, the Bankers tried to sell the mortgaged property; they encountered the real problem, because no one was ready to purchase them on the ‘highly inflated’ price. Thus the NPA started accumulating as the ‘non-payment syndrome’ spread like a wild fire. Since many of the Banks had sold many of their shares to other financial institutions, the non payment led to fall in the prices of these shares also. Thus the ‘housing bubble’ has bust. 

Banks started getting dry of liquidity due to ‘withdrawal spree’ because news started ‘leaking’ that Bank would not be able to ‘honour cheques’. The Lehman brothers followed by Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley had collapsed by now. 

It is however, a wrong proposition that had Lehman brothers been saved, the market would have not collapsed. The problem by now had entrenched into the essentials of the stock market itself. The ‘over greed’, becoming billionaire overnight has dried up the ‘spring of business ethics’ almost totally. The desert left is capable of supplying sand and only sand, this contagion has spread globally and even India, the land of ‘Chanakya’ and ‘Megasthanes’ has turned into land of schamsters like Harshad Mehta and a host of such bookies. The ‘blind race’ of minting money resulted into overstretched competition among financial institutions which were unnecessarily exposed to ‘unhygienic business environment’ causing this disease to spread. 

Street Wall, the citadel of US economy, had collapsed. Walls were burgled and plunders were in. During Napoleon days it was said that ‘when France catches cold, the whole world sneezes.’ Now it should be said that when thorn pricks the US economy, the emanating pain reaches to whole of the markets including Bombay stock exchange. Therefore; the whole world including European Union, Russia, Japan, Middle-East and India is reeling under acute financial turmoil following the crash in Wall Street.

The situation is somewhat similar to what it was during the ‘great depression of 1930’. The results are similar, so are the reasons.

The great depression of 1930s was caused by a combination of factors like unequal distribution of wealth, high tariff and war debts, over production in industry and agriculture, stock market crash and financial panic. The effects were devastating, like wide spread huger and unemployment (25%), worldwide economic crisis, world market recession and collapse of concept of total free market economy etc.

The political result was defeat of republicans and victory of Franklin. D. Roosevelt (democrat). The history seems being repeated again. This depression is also caused when Bush (republican) is in power. Will it pave way Obama to come to ‘White House’?

President Hoover had said just before the crisis ‘economy is fundamentally sound’ and similarly Mc Cain said ‘the fundamental of US economy is strong’, just before the crash of Lehman Brothers. The American’s ‘war on terror’ has increased the debt by about 79% and is putting enormous economic pressure on economies of many European coalition partners including UK and France. Nobel laureate Joseph Stieglitz say ‘the war on terror’ in an attempt to ‘export American type of democracy’ to the rest of world has cost 3 trillion dollar, three times the GDP of a country like India.

Churchill had said ‘if socialism suffers from vice of and equal sharing of misery, then capitalism is afflicted with the vice of an unequal sharing of affluence’. The continued inequalities in affluence worldwide cannot allow the ‘glass house’ to remain unbroken for longer period. 

The hard earned money of citizens of these countries has been thrown and pumped into the unending wars and thus it was bound to have repercussions like those which we see today. The US type of economy and US type of democracy have been exposed once again. How long the citadel of sand will withstand the onslaught of realities. The stock market economy is basically based on the jargons of figures appearing on the computer screens. The bookies and brokers play with the figures and sometimes with the sentiments of investors also. The unethical business tricks are praised as ‘Business mantras’. The wooden pot cannot be kept for long on fire. 

Signs of crisis have started making their presence felt everywhere including USA and India. According to the data released by the Labour Bureau of US, about 7, 60,000 jobs have been cut by now, 1, 59,000 in September itself. Results are devastating, American psyche has shaken, so did the essentials of the economy. The US administration hurriedly came out with a rescue package of 700 billion dollars. The troubled asset rescue plan (TARP) is introduced to save the economy. Other European as well as Asian countries have also come out with similar rescue or what they called ‘Bailout package’ plan to save the market and especially financial institutions. But there was no concerted and well-coordinated financial effort by the European Union as such. 

In fact, G-7 leader began a meeting in Washington late Friday, to find common solution and propose concerted and coordinated steps in order to fight the menace jointly on global level. But despite several rounds of talks, no consensus could be arrived at. The concept therefore; of a ‘politically and economically unified Europe’ collapsed like ‘wall of sand’ and ‘myth of liberal democracy and export of American democracy’ seems ceased to exist. 

Every individual European country was taking steps on its own and for its own. If total bailout packages are summed together, it comes nearly about 3 trillion dollar. See the chart-

Country Bailout package

USA 700 billion USD in one go, total 990 billion USD 

RUSSIA 86 billion USD

UK 32.5 billion USD, revised 876 billion USD

GERMANY 50 billion USD

BELGIUM 16 billion USD

IRELAND 752 billion USD

IRELAND 864 billion USD ten times its total GDP

FRANCE 237 billion pound 

INDIA More than 60,000 Crores in form of CRR cut by R.B.I.

But even after this heavy dose of financial injection into the ailing economy, after initial hiccups, these efforts to stem financial markets and specially Banks dipped in the quagmire of crisis. There is stampede everywhere and panic has gripped the entire globe. According to figures made available, the total amount involved in the rescue package in Europe and America only, is about 1.8 trillion dollars, which is almost equal to double the GDP of India, which is about 46, 93,602 crores. Magnitude of crisis is such that Iceland is in foreign debt ten times its GDP. Just imagine the madness on part of the governments, sheer madness. The mad rush for conspicuous consumption and show off tendencies destroys not only individuals but Nations also.

Well tide would pass after some time, but leave the scares of devastation in the psyche of millions of people across the Nations. Questions that should be asked now, that whose money is being ejected into the economy? Did the governments take mandate for this package? After all why the tax payer’s money would be pumped into the financial markets to save it from, what they call financial tsunami, a problem or a crime which someone else have created. Is it a bailout package for Nation of or bailing out some economic offenders? Does it not sound unjustifiable that, why innocent citizen pay for the offence he or she has not committed? Will it not set in a new but dangerous trend in the economy of the world? 

IMPACT ON INDIA- Man Mohan Singh said in Marseilles that Indian economy is not immune to world economic meltdown, but ours is strong fundamentals. Chidambaram also is in resonance with the PM. But the fear is visible. Market broke a news, though not confirmed by the authorities that ICICI Bank is facing acute ‘liquidity crunch’ and suddenly share showed the signs by being plunged. The Bank authorities were quick to comment, ‘we are having enough of liquid with us’. In India, we believe in reading in between the lines, when govt say they have the majority, we believe that there is serious problem with the govt, or else why should it shout like this. This is what seems to have had happened with this Bank, because last Friday its share fell and fell sharply. 

REASONS WHY INDIA WOULD GET AFFECTED-

1. With the globalised economy, the ripples in one part of the world are bound to create hiccups in other parts. The world is a global village and therefore; the Indian economy cannot remain immune to what it is happening in the other parts of the world.

2. IT-BPO sector of Indian Industry has emerged like world giants. Infosys, Wipro, TCS, HCL etc have made a room for themselves in the world market. Hyderabad, Gurgaon, Bangalore, Pune and a host of such cities have gradually metamorphosed into cyber cities. These cities are fast becoming out sourcing centres. According to one estimate, about 15% of the IT professionals in USA come from India. The cutting of jobs in this sector in Europe and America would have disastrous consequences in India also. IT and BPO are likely to be hit hard. ‘Guys on the bench’ are getting ‘pink slip’ by many MNCs in cities like Delhi, NOIDA, Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad etc. India is becoming an attractive market of ‘soft ware outsourcing’ for many foreign companies. They get cheaper but decisively better ‘software guys’ to word quickly for them. IT-BPO revolution began in India somewhere in early 2000 and gradually changed the Indian face abroad. Over a period of time, the export of this sector increased by 33.5% amounting to 8.4 b USD in 2007-07, it is expected to reach 10-11 b USD by the end of 2007-08. According to National Association of Software and services Companies (NASSCOM), the number of employees working in BPO-IT sector in India is under-

Year Number of employees(IT-BPO)

2003-04 2,16,000

2004-05 3,16,000

2005-06 4,15,000

2006-07 5,53,000

The current figure is certainly much more and is increasing day by day. They were getting salaries worth 1 b USD during the year before last year and naturally it has increase substantially in 2008-09. According to one estimate, about 82% of US software companies prefer Indian software professionals for obvious reasons. The humungous fall in Wall Street leading to unprecedented panic and catastrophic consequences in American industries would certainly affect this boom. The exact figures would come only when this financial tsunami is over. Nonetheless, it would certainly mean job cuts and increase in unemployment rate.

3. Trade and commerce- USA is the largest trading partner of India. Share of USA in India’s export is 17%, and its monetary value is more than 100 billion USD. This economic meltdown would certainly adversely affect India’s export in general and export to USA in particular. According to Federation of Exporters Association (FOE), the exports from India are already showing signs of decline due to this slowdown syndrome. Figures suggest that it is experiencing a decline of more than 15%. According to one estimate, the NRIs remittances in India during 2004-05 had been about 22 b USD, out of which 60% comes from Europe and North America and rest 40% from Middle East. These remittances are definitely going to decelerate, if not stopped; contributing to depletion of FOREX which had reached all time high in recent years. The remittances coming into a country is a healthy sign and no country however strong it may be, would like it to grow substantially. If we look at this figure of inflow of foreign exchange flow into countries during three to four years ago, we can imagine that why and how our FOREX has swelled to nearly 

200 Billion USD. 

Countries FOREX( from IT-BPO)

India 21.7 billion USD

China 21.3 billion USD

Mexico 18.1 billion USD

France 12 billion USD

Philippines 12 billion USD

Pakistan 3.9 billion USD

Bangladesh 3.4 billion USD

4. This economic slowdown is not going to affect much more immediately to our overall economy but the consequential effect would manifest in deceleration of pace of economic after sometime. The Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission, Montek Singh has also apprehended that the growth rate would slow down to 7.5 and 8%. The industry and other sectors are also witnessing the same down ward trend. In fact Industrial growth slumps to 1.3%. There are some more perturbing figures in economic arena, but these after effects are not going to create situation like what it is in Europe or America.

5. The crash in stock market is very much perceptible. The BSE and NSE Sensex have fallen from more than 21000 in January to less than 11000 in September, 2008, registering a fall of more than 50%. As mentioned in earlier paragraphs, this fall has led to panic in financial markets. India stands at different platform vis-a-vis other economies following American type policy of lasez fairre in the sense that ours not a totally unregulated economy, even after we have eschewed the Nehruvian socialist economy in early 90s. As a matter fact, the total free and unbridled type of economy has resulted into this ‘financial catastrophe’. 

6. Stock markets constitute 15% of the total capital in India, therefore; this tsunami in the financial market worldwide is not going to be a contagion for all financial institutions including Banks. But if the situation is not handled with ‘utmost care’ it would infect ours also with greater degree of damage. 

WHY INDIA STANDS AT DIFFERENT FOOTING AS COMPARED WITH EUROPE AND AMERICA- 

When financial turmoil hit American followed by European economy, the anxiety in India was natural. The government acted swiftly as it should have acted. First thing which is very important under such situation is restoration of confidence and prevention of rumour mongering. Both PM and FM made calculated and balanced statements which was first right step in right direction. But unfortunately the rumour mongering has not yet stopped. Ours is not an unbridled and unregulated financial stock market. Moreover, the percentage of financial markets in the economy is 10-15% which is meager as compared to other sectors of the economy. Here are some constituents which make our economy different from many of others. Well, it would be a wrong and utopian proposition, therefore; only an etourdi can say India shall remain totally immune from this financial meltdown, but certainly the impact will never be of that magnitude as they are in the economies of laisez fairre. Reasons are obvious-

1- Indian economy is still agricultural based and the contribution of agriculture to GDP in India is decisively higher than any other countries in the world.

Countries % in GDP

INDIA 20-24

CHINA 13-14

BRAZIL 8-9

SPAIN 4-4.5

AUSTRALIA 3.8

MEXICO 4

S.KOREA 3.3

CANADA 2.2

FRANCE 1.0

ITALY 2.1

JAPAN 1.1

USA 1.0

GERMANY 0.9

UK 0.5

HONKONG 0.1

Thus it is clear that agriculture still contributes quarter of the GDP, rest 50% and 25% are contributed by services sector and industry sector respectively. This is perhaps one reason why PM, FM and RBI say that the fundamentals of our economy are strong. The upheavals in the financial markets have very little to do with rural economy.

2- Indian financial market especially Banks have always been under RBI scanner, even during normal times.

Banks % share

Public sector Banks 75%

Private Banks 18.2%

Foreign Banks 6.5%

Thus it is clear the role of private Banks as well as foreign Banks vis-à-vis Indian economy is very limited. Even the lending by these Banks has been dismal. In fact CD ratio of such Banks speaks that they are interested in deposits and not in lending. The 196 different Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) play a vital role in rural economy of India would remain by and large unaffected owing to this depression. We have a chain of banking system based still on concept of welfareism rather than profitism. The Urban (52) and State cooperative Banks (16) have been playing significant roles in making ‘fundamental our economy’ strong. We have had developed ‘a scientific fiscal mechanism of consistent monitoring’ system for our banking system which would keep our economy safe in extenso, when the world’s economy is in extremis.

3- Post offices are poor man’s Bank in India, started in 1850s still plays the role of ‘unsung heroes’ in capillaries of economy. The chain of more than 1, 50,000 post offices in India contributed to about 49.37% in overall revenues in 2004-05. What a significant role they are playing. Common men, pensioners and small domestic savings still prefer post offices for one simple reason, the high rates of interest rates in comparison with any other financial institutions. The government and RBI therefore; must nota bene on post offices and should not be swayed by media hypes on this issue. After all the 60,000 crore money that has been injected into the market, is the hard earned money of millions of tax payers, and why and how would they pay for economic offence, they never committed?

4- We have had developed an ‘iron jacket of social security system’ for the people sitting at fence, a step which Roosevelt took after ‘the great depression of 1930s’ in form of ‘ new deal’ and which many developed nation are taking as an emergency measures. Welfarism for us is a mission, for them it is fiction. Ours is a ‘democracy with humane face’ and not an ‘export brand democracy’, thus, it is a sermon also for those who want government to ‘throttle the accelerator of liberalization’ with much more intensity. It would cause, what economists say ‘overheating of economy’, bravo! We would certainly win the race. Don’t let loose the heart and patience.