Tuesday, August 7, 2012


GTA: Ushering A New Model of Development

                                                                        Saumitra Mohan



            The much-awaited day for the people of Darjeeling has finally come. A movement of local people stemming from the discontent and dissatisfaction with the earlier state of affairs culminated eventually in the signing of a tripartite agreement by the representatives of the Government of India, Government of West Bengal and the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM) on 18 July 2011. The agreement inter alia envisaged for Darjeeling a smorgasbord of powers and functions within a well-delineated framework of functional autonomy. The resultant Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) expectedly meets many of the demands and aspirations of the local people.

            The process for the constitution of GTA through democratic elections of its members was started in right earnest to ensure that a normal development-oriented administration starts functioning sooner under a popularly elected body. The State Government’s eagerness to ensure peace and all-round development of the hills and its proud people is well underscored by the frequent visits by the Chief Minister herself to personally monitor and pursue various developmental activities in the region. The GTA is eventually all set to usher in a new era of positive developments and economic progress to Darjeeling. However, there is a need to tread prudently and methodically to chart a customized course of development for the region.

            The first and foremost thing the new body should do is a SWOT analysis i.e. finding out the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to set out its development priorities in crystal clear terms. Consequent upon such an analysis, the new body should design a development plan, which should be in sync with the local ecology and should be sustainable. Judicious allocation of resources among different prioritized sectors would also be crucial to ensure a bigger bang for the buck.

            GTA with the dissolution of Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) shall inherit its huge army of around 6500 employees and reportedly a good number of them get their remuneration without their services being adequately utilized. So even while new need-based recruitments are made, it ought to be first ensured that all these people are suitably and rationally redeployed to harness their services in the cause of development. And it is a cinch that all these people would be more than delighted to render their services. DGHC also bequeathed a number of one-time assets, which have all become white elephants. The new body, after having inventoried this bequest, should conceptualize a plan to make them gainful and productive assets. With some ingenuous and creative tinkering, these assets could also be easily harnessed towards generating good employment opportunities for local youth.

            Many observers suggest that it would be advisable for the new body to avoid the ‘Big Schemes-Big Projects’ focus of the erstwhile DGHC and should, instead, focus on such schemes and programmes as have wider outreach and directly impact the quality of life of the hoi polloi. Such schemes and programmes inter alia subsume those relating to agriculture, public health engineering, rural development, health, education and disaster management. There are huge number of cognate schemes and programmes being sponsored by the Union and state governments, which, if run properly, would benefit hundreds of thousands of local people resulting in improvement in the quality of life. This planning should have a judicious mix of long and short-term goals in conformity with perceived and felt needs. The big-ticket projects should be subject to availability of resources without compromising the interest of the priority sectors. And in all big projects, environment impact assessment (EIA) should be made mandatory.

            To start with, one feels that it would be very essential to get the basics rights. It would be advisable to first restore such infrastructure, which is now in shambles due to multiple negative factors and circumstances. With the right supervision and monitoring, Pareto-optimal outcomes could be more easily ensured than has been the case so far. Many of the sectors don’t require as much financial allocation as they require keen monitoring and supervision including those relating to health, education, women and child welfare. A participatory model of development administration, which ensures stakeholders’ association at different stages, would suit the region more than anything else. Enlightened and interested people in various walks of life should and could be associated with the development administration.

            Another problem, as noticed by many observers during the functioning of the erstwhile DGHC, was a lack of apposite synergy between the autonomous bodies of DGHC and the district administration. Observers feel that there was a lack of desirable coordination between the two thereby defeating the interests of development. So, the new GTA ought to ensure that there is an integrated approach to development with due involvement and coordination with all the wings of development administration. GTA is an instrumentality to realize the end of development and is not an end in itself. So while guarding its hard-won autonomy, it should also ensure this is not at the expense of the larger developmental interests of the society it serves. Wholesome synergy and coordination would have to be worked out in due course.

            Coming to four major priority areas requiring attention, one would list them as connectivity, traffic, solid waste management and disaster management. Darjeeling being one of the most favoured tourist destinations in the country, it is very necessary that connectivity to the hills is improved significantly. Apart from using various Government grants and own resources for improvement, there would also be a need to conceive public private partnerships (PPP) for creating new infrastructure and for its better upkeep. Many of the key roads could be turned into toll roads for generating resources to maintain them  better. Railways, ropeways and helicopter services need to be conceptualized for addressing the problem of connectivity in a better way.

            Solid waste management is another key area, which warrants urgent attention. While these days many urban local bodies undertake the conservancy work themselves, the smarter ones have already either outsourced it or have started levying user charges for better service delivery. A beginning has already been made in this direction in the form of ‘Home-to-Home’ garbage collection by the Darjeeling municipality in almost half of its wards, which shall soon be extended to the rest. The other municipal bodies should follow suit sooner than later.

Traffic has been a problem area in all hill stations and Darjeeling is no exception. But with some planning and thought, the traffic situation could improve drastically. However, better conservancy and better traffic management both require better regulation by municipal bodies for which they might need to take some unpopular decisions. In fact, all the four major towns within GTA’s bailiwick namely Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Kurseong and Mirik share the same problems. Hence, GTA shall need to work out a coordinated action plan in these sectors in consultation with the relevant stakeholders.

            Moreover, it would be a challenge to not only the newly elected GTA, but also for all urban local bodies to generate resources without hurting the common man. It would be quite a herculean task to the balance the two interests. Like a trapeze artist, GTA would require to walk a tightrope to think of ways and means to generate newer sources of revenue based on the experiences of similar bodies elsewhere.

            However, for all these developmental expeditions, an extended period of peace shall be required to facilitate Darjeeling’s ushering in a new dawn of rapid development. The last one year of peace in the hills saw record arrival of tourists, with multiplier effects for other sectors of the economy. This peace - since the signing of the tripartite agreement - has already worked as a springboard for development in the area with the active prodding of the Government of West Bengal. Many new schemes and projects, including restoration of key infrastructure, have already started in a big way. Tourism being the backbone of Darjeeling’s economy, the State Tourism Department is busy with the preparation of a ‘Master Plan’ for composite tourism development in the region.

            Today, GTA is generating positive vibes all over the country. Many regions where similar demands for autonomy are being raised are looking at the GTA experiment with interest for replication elsewhere. The Hills are really smiling, looking forward to their deserved place in the sun.


Friday, June 8, 2012


Unravelling the Skein of Mass Movements
                                    Saumitra Mohan

            India has literally been through a churning process in recent times, with so many incidents testing systemic capacities for survival. We have seen the rise of an increasingly assertive and demanding civil society in recent times, which reflects the ‘revolution of rising aspirations’. The same seems to be quite in sync with the trends world over, what with the ‘Occupy Wall Street Movement’ in the US, the Spring and Jasmine Revolution in the Middle East and similar uprisings elsewhere. The ‘demonstration effect’, unleashed by Alvin Toffler’s Third Wave as represented by the means of mass communication including print and electronic media and, of course, the World Wide Web, has been spurring the hoi polloi to rise against the perceived ills of their society everywhere. People, led by the self-appointed do-gooder guardians, have taken up the cudgel to cleanse the system wherever and whenever they have got an opportunity.
            Our countrymen were up in arms lately when a movement led by Anna Hazare gave them an opportunity to ventilate their ire against the quotidian venality faced by them. The media had a field day covering and demonizing the usual suspects. The Lok Pal Bill was championed, inter alia, by the ilks of Anna Hazare, Baba Ramdev, Swami Agnivesh, Kiran Bedi and Arvind Kejriwal as a panacea for all the ills afflicting our society. But is a Lok Pal Bill really the answer to all our woes? Observers are suspect as to whether another institution will work where so many others have seemingly not delivered as per our expectations or whether another legislation will come good when plethora of rules and laws has come to naught.
            One does get a hunch that the insistence and confidence placed on the effectiveness and fungibility of the proposed Ombudsman called Lok Pal has been overdone. And it has been done without properly grasping and appreciating the real problems of the system. The Lok Pal, as proposed by Team Anna, is an over-simplification of the perceived ills, to say the least. In fact, many found the thrashing of a Team Anna member by an anti-social to be quite a poetic justice because it was the same Anna Hazare, who once supported slapping a politician for his/her misdeeds. Baba Ramdev similarly had ink bespattered on his face by some ruffians. It was a deserved comeuppance for someone who advocated Kangaroo courts, many felt. After all, you can’t say that my violence is better than yours or my cause is better and nobler than yours. Team Anna was paid back in its own coin and very soon, many felt. Advocating unjust means even for just causes is never advisable. It is like nurturing a Frankenstein who shall sooner than later devour its mentor for sure.
            Just think of another remedy by Monsieur Anna Hazare where he advocates flogging a drunkard to make him/her mend his/her ways, a system reportedly followed in his village Ralegaon Siddhi in Maharashtra. If we were to follow his recommendations, we shall end up beating up almost one-third of our countrymen. And God only knows where shall that eventuate. The Kangaroo justice he champions has no place in any civilized society, more so in a democracy. So, when Anna Hazare argued that people are above parliament, he was conveniently talking only about the demonstrating masses, supporting his movement initially.
            Over 1.2 billion people who voted our lawmakers to that august institution called parliament are definitely much above than a few thousand people pressing for a cause, howsoever justified. What was reprehensible was the arrogance of Team Anna in dictating a particular type of the Lok Pal Bill against the collective wisdom of the parliament. The government and the parliament have both appreciated the need for such an institution but chutzpah of the Team Anna to not accept anything less than what it has been proposing is nothing short of heaping contempt on the institution of parliament and thereby on our democratic traditions.
            If Team Anna is really convinced about the popular support to its cause, it should either contest elections or should convince the parliament through dialogue and not by intimidation and bullying. They should remember that when you resort to a hunger strike or build a movement to blackmail or browbeat the parliament thereby holding the entire system to ransom, you are actually subverting the system. Just think of the implications thereof. Today, we had a crusade against corruption. Tomorrow, anyone with some following anywhere shall resort to similar tactics to press for his/her demands across the country and there shall literally be created a shambolic situation of chaos and commotion. Subversion of democratic institutions is an open invitation to anarchy and anomie. So, if Anna Hazare champions slapping a politician or any wrong-doer, he ought not to complain if one of his team members is attacked and beaten up, observers feel. One does feel that that the goals that these gentlemen are pursuing are definitely noble, but their means are deeply flawed.
            Today, many members of the civil society who have been agitating are the same people who would never come forward to contest elections to test their real acceptability by the people and shoulder the responsibility themselves. Many of these people would not flinch from violating a traffic rule, breaking a queue or bribing to get his/her work expedited. After all, you get what you deserve. Remember, the values and ethics of a society are always reflected by our behaviour. The parliament, the bureaucracy or any other institution does not come out of the thin air. Their members are from the same civil society and as such, they are reflective of our society and its values.
            Please remember, corruption is not only about misusing or abusing your position for personal benefits. Corruption is also when you take or give dowry, when you advocate discrimination based on caste, religion or any other criterion, when you indulge in female foeticide, when you break a queue, when you discriminate with people because of their colour or place of origin or when you do anything which is against the norms of a civilized society.
            And there are examples galore to prove that we as a society have a long way to go to build a wider consensus on positive societal values. Notwithstanding this, Indian society has sundry shining examples to give us hope for the future. We have all the potential to be a great society and such mass movements are reflective of its desire to come to terms with its realities. However, the methods and modalities of such movements have to be more positive and constructive than they have been so far. The media and the civil society should come together in a constructive partnership to take on the coalition of vested and entrenched interests to build an India, which is really shining, really incredible.
            Those who have been ill-mouthing our system conveniently forget that it is because of the opportunity afforded by the same system that they have been freely speaking and doing what they have been speaking or doing. An authoritarian or fascistic system would have crushed such protests right away. Just remember what happened in China way back in 1989 at the Tiananmen Square. Had the Indian system not been resilient and inherently strong, it would have given way long back. But Indian democracy, belying all the prophets of doom, has been marching from strength to strength.  
            After all, for all its weaknesses, our country has never seen a violent and bloody change of the government. All such changes have been through the ballot and as per the mandate of the mighty electorate of our great country. Government, here, has fallen even by a single vote, which further underlines the strength of our democracy. So, all those naysayers and cynics have got their basics wrong as they seem not to have tried to fathom the basic nuances and workings of our parliamentary democracy before pouring scorns on the same.
            That is why, one feels that resolution of any such problem should always be done through a societal consensus and without subverting our institutions. And in a democracy, no institution reflects this consensus better than the parliament. The diamond jubilee celebrations of Indian parliamentary democracy is yet another milestone in our march to maturity as the largest democracy of this planet. Notwithstanding the fact that our parliamentary democracy has been panned by some prominent members of the civil society for its myriad flaws and foibles, the fact remains that we continue to remain one of the most shining examples of a functioning democracy.


Saturday, April 7, 2012


Anachronistic Naxalism- Need for Reinvention
                                                                      *Saumitra Mohan

            The recent spate of Naxal activities including the abduction of the Collector of Malkangiri, an MLA or two Italian tourists in Orissa, the continued mindless killings of security personnel as seen in the Garhchiroli district of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh or Jharkhand clearly shows that Naxals have far from given up their anachronistic fight against the Indian state. This is notwithstanding the reverses suffered by them including death of hundreds of their cadres in encounters with the security personnel including that of Koteshwar Rao alias Kishenji.
            The Naxals just refuse to see the writings on the wall. They refuse to accept the antediluvianism of their horse and buggy methods that they have embraced since the heady days of sanguinary 1960s when thousands of Indians lost their lives in the prime of their youth in pursuance of a chimera. These youths were imbued with the ideals of a Marxist discourse and were ready to go to any extent to realize the same including resort to violence as is synonymous with Naxalism today. 
            However, as Gandhi would have said, the means to achieve a goal is much more important than the goal. If the means are erroneous and immoral, then the insidious influence thereof starts corrupting the goal itself, howsoever lofty it might be. This is what has happened with Naxalism in this country.
            Many of the critics at the dawn of our independence felt that India was too huge a democracy and too colossal an entity in terms of pluralities and diversities to survive the vicissitudes of time. India, to these prophets of doom, was like a Leviathan infested with the mind-boggling contradictions of castes, creeds, religions, languages, inegalitarian social hierarchies and ethnicities, which was sure to crumble. But even the strongest critics of the Indian state including the likes of Selig Harrison, who once, like Cassandra, predicted our downfall and balkanization, would agree that the Indian state has managed its contradictions much better than any other state of comparable size. The alleged frailties of the Indian polity as experienced in the immediate aftermath of its independence were actually the frailties of a nascent nation, trying hard to discover itself in its nation-building exercise. The ‘so-called’ frailties of the Indian state, in hindsight, would appear to be ‘a toddler’s baby steps’ before stabilizing and learning to walk properly. Our founding fathers were discreet and visionary enough to leave us a Constitutional framework, which has seen us through the ups and downs of trying and testing times.
            But we, as a nation, have proved to the world time and again our maturity as a nation and the inherent strength of our society. Through consociational policies and interventions, the Indian state has ingenuously charted a sui generis course of development for its citizens which have seen the successful cooption of many of the anti-state forces to the satisfaction of all, be it the fissiparous or separatist movements in Tamil Nadu, in Punjab or in the North-East. Coupled with constructive political engagements, the customized policy interventions to cater to the specific needs of each community and each region, the Indian state has successfully managed these intractable contradictions. The seeming stray and sporadic failures, as noticed from time to time, are nothing but some rough edges, which would be smoothened sooner than later.
            Be it securing the interests of the huge pageantry, ratcheting up the development of the socio-economically backward communities or regions, or catering to the revolutions of rising aspirations of our increasingly demanding middle classes through multiple development schemes, particularly those in the field of health, education, nutrition and employment to ensure a dignified quality life for our citizens, the Indian state has more or less come out with the flying colours. Those who rue our performance and criticize the working of our system just need to look around the working of the states in our immediate neighbourhood or elsewhere, be it Myanmar, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, countries of the middle east including Iraq, Libya, Syria, countries of the Africa and East Asia to not only derive solace but to also be proud of our sterling achievements.  
            Those who criticize and attack Indian state fail to see through the difficulties involved in managing the operation of a hugely complex society like India. The Indian political system, as obtaining now, has survived and proved its efficacy by tiding over sundry trials and tribulations of time. Any other political system would have been a sure recipe for disaster. That is why, the Naxals who are still imbued with the Marxist notions of a violent overthrow of the Indian state had better realize the follies and flaws in their (mis)conceptions. They need to revise and remodel their vision for the complex Indian society and put forward the same to the Indian public for appreciation. After all, the society and the people for which they have been fighting a bloody war know nothing of their ideas, ideology or vision they have for this country.
            And before they do so, they should not forget that extremism of any ideology is bad as has been amply proved by history. The collapse of communism in the 1990s did that loud and clear though one refuses to accept that it was an ‘End of History’ as Francis Fukuyama famously declaimed. After all, the reigning laissez faire model led by liberal capitalism can not be said to have succeeded given the raging recession across the globe and near collapse of many countries including Ireland, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece. The call for rolling back the state has itself been rolled back now. The socialist, welfare state, as aptly envisaged in our Constitution, is the way forward. And it is this model, which has come to stay if we see through the functioning of all political systems across the world including the Western democracies or Eastern autocracies/aristocracies.
            The famed Social Contract through which the state is said to have come into existence dictate that the state do take care of its citizens otherwise the citizens could easily overthrow the state as seen in the rise and assertion of the civil society in Egypt, Libya, Syria and elsewhere during the recent Jasmine or Spring revolutions. The winds of positive change have started blowing even in our neighbouring Myanmar. It is for no reason that communists or Marxists all over the world have transformed themselves to suit the times as was also seen in the iconic Union of Soviet Socialist Republics or in our neighbouring Nepal.
            The lone surviving China has also changed beyond recognition. Only the veneer of Marxism-Leninism survive in that Occidental country with intense debate raging for bringing their political system in sync with the economic model they have been following since the 1980s. The extremist Marxists masquerading as Naxal ideologues and activists in our society should also understand the realities and realpolitik well enough to jettison a moth-eaten ideology to creatively and constructively bring the same in sync with the times and needs of our society. Naxals, however, can be said to have succeeded to an extent to which they have forced the Indian state in reorienting its policies to make them more meaningful and effective.
            It would be well within the interest of the thousands of youth engaged in a war against the Indian state through a violent Naxal movement to reject violence and come forward to participate in the parliamentary democratic system which give them ample opportunity to influence the Indian state in a more meaningful way than they have done so far. If they don’t, then they would only be showing contempt to the people for which they have said to be taken cudgels.  
            Almost all the state governments today have a rehabilitation policy for such extremists. Complimented for its development initiatives in Naxal-infested areas by national and international bodies, West Bengal has shown the way in this regard, with many Naxal leaders and activists laying arms to be part of a saner politics. In fact, it would be advisable if all these policies are synchronized and made into a more comprehensive and holistic package as part of a national policy. The Naxals would be well advised to take advantage of the same and join the national mainstream in the interests of the country and in their own interests to be better able to contribute to the development of our beloved country. If they don’t have a relook at their ideology and methodologies, they would continue to be dubbed as nothing but ‘a mere bunch of extortionists’.
           

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Raid on Illegal Brick Kilns: A Story from Jalpaiguri

Alipurduar is a picturesque place tucked away in the northern district of Jalpaiguri in the state of West Bengal. At 2500 sq. km, it is almost half the district of Jalpaiguri in term of area and has a population of over 14 lakh people. Peopled by different linguistic communities including a substantial tribal population, the mainstay of the local economy rests on the 66 tea gardens where a good number of local people including the emigrants from neighbouring Bihar and Jharkhand are employed. In fact, the tea gardens, even though a good number of them are sick, still continue to provide employment to a substantive number of people and thereby create demand for other sectors of the local economy.

It is surrounded on its north by Bhutan, on its east by Assam, on south by the district of Cochbehar and on its west by Sadar and Mal sub-divisions of Jalpaiguri. Very lush and beautiful place with very good scenic locales and forests, Alipurduar is one of the tourist delights in the state of West Bengal.

Even though the District Magistrate of Jalpaiguri is in overall control of this sub-division, the Sub-Divisional Magistrate is the actual guy who calls the shots locally as the 130 kilometres distance between Alipurduar and district headquarters makes SDM the de facto Collector in his jurisdiction for all practical purposes. Being one of the very important sub-divisions of the state, SDM is usually a direct IAS officer.

Ram Mohan joined as the new Sub-Divisional Officer at Alipurduar in the year 2004. Like every new regular recruit, he was full of energy, ideas and motivation to do something for the local society. As such, he was very pro-active and accessible to all. Soon, he endeared himself to the local people who responded very well to all his initiatives and activism. He would meet everyone and respond to all public complaints with alacrity and empathy. He would keep his weekends free for some enforcement activities which usually comprised matters relating motor vehicles, land revenue, excise, different illegal medical practices including drive against quackery, illegal pathological labs and any other public grievances.

It was against this background that it was brought to his notice that there are certain illegal brick kilns running for many years in the Ethelbari area of Birpara Block of his sub-division, which has a substantial population from North India. He gathered all the requisite information relating thereto and got to know that about 23 brick kilns have been operating illegally for years together on tribal land. He was informed that non-tribals were operating these brick kilns on tribal land which is an offence as tribal land can not be converted or transferred to non-tribals but for certain specific procedures and formalities. Not only this, they were also not paying any revenue to the government for the purpose which is quite obvious.

He also got to see an old Supreme Court judgement clearly ruling against these brick kilns on tribal land, giving direction to the local administration to immediately shut down these kilns and take appropriate measures against those involved. Having known all this, SDO was raring for some action against these illegal operators. Be it noted that the post of the Sub-Divisional Land Officer was being held by one of his Deputy Magistrates making his control over the local land department further strong. So, accompanied by his Second Officer (senior most Deputy Magistrate in his office) and a team of some officials from the land department together with the relevant case records of each brick kiln, SDO headed to the spot on a pre-determined day.

While SDO proceeded to the spot, he did not deem it fit to find out the reasons for inaction or no action against these illegal operators all these years. He just thought that may be his predecessors did not have enough guts for the same and he would prove that he definitely has it. So, they all proceeded to the spot. However, SDO did not take any police force with him as he was not used to taking police force with him on all occasions as he had led many of the enforcement drives successfully without any assistance from the police. He would also not do this because doing that would also mean spoiling the entire drive as police would invariably leak the information, defeating the very purpose of the enforcement. He just had a wisp of a man for his personal security officer (PSO) with him.

So, there they were all at the enforcement site in Ethelbari. Since it was a big expanse of land, secluded from the populated areas as well as very dusty, SDO’s PSO requested him to exempt him to accompany him any further as he could not tolerate dust because of his asthma problem. SDO granted his request. So, whatever trace of police support SDO had, was also gone.

Undeterred, SDO proceeded further with his team to the first brick kiln where more than hundred labourers including some children were busy working. He asked his Second Officer, Arshad Hasan Warshi, a very good and dynamic state civil service officer accompanying him, to call the owner. The owner was not readily available, so the Munshi Babu supervising the kiln activities came rushing to attend on him. The Munshi was brimming with humility and invited SDO and his entourage for some tea and snacks.

Without responding to Munshi’s mealy mouthed reception, SDO, matter-of-factly, asked the Munshi to produce the kiln license to which the latter replied that there was none to show. SDO asked for some land papers, any authorisation to run the kiln or any document proving that the requisite land revenue and other tariffs had been paid. When the Munshi again replied in the negative, SDO grabbed him by his collar, slapped and kicked him. Then, he directed his Second Officer to arrest him.

From there he proceeded to the next kiln and almost same sequence was repeated there as well. SDO thus kept entering deep into an uncharted land, replete with billowing brick kilns and working labourers, unaccompanied by any police force. He kept moving from one brick kiln to another, arresting either the owner or the Munshi. In all this, he was ensuring that he gave a good thrashing to the guy giving wrong answers to his queries before arresting him. At many occasions, it also happened that the person he beat up and arrested was almost double his size and taller than him, but he had the confidence of the power enshrined in his office and a courage stemming from the company of a retinue of officials.

It was when he had beat up and arrested about ten people that his Second Officer Warshi whispered in his ears that they had entered quite deep into the influence area of these illegal operators and it was advisable to get back and move out at the earliest. SDO sensing the situation, immediately decided to retrace his steps. As they were retracing that they saw a crowd of people approaching them. It was the local panchayat member Ms. Sabita Chhetri accompanied by the local party functionaries and followers.

On approaching SDO, she remonstrated with him saying that as a local public representative she should have been informed of the action. To this, SDO politely replied that he is not supposed to inform her of all his decisions and activities. He informed her as to how these people had been operating illegally for years together on tribal land and not giving any revenue to the government. Ms. Chhetri told him that had she been informed of it, she might have taken action against the same. Knowing very well that taking action in such cases was beyond the jurisdiction of a panchayat member, SDO told her that she should be happy that he had made her job easier. All this conversation was going on while SDO and his team were walking back with these people to the place where their vehicles were parked.

Talking and discussing with them, SDO and his team were soon near their vehicles. In the meanwhile, the crowd led by Ms Chhetri and another local leader called Rajesh Singh had got very agitated. They soon started shouting all sorts of slogans against SDO including ‘SDO ki gundargardi nahi chalegi’ and ‘SDO murdabaad’. SDO tried to pacify them and explained to them everything, but to no avail. They soon placed a demand to SDO that they would not allow the kiln owners to be arrested. Sensing the mood of the situation, SDO conceded the demand after a while and handed over the three owners to the crowd. Immediately, the crowd led by Ms Chhetri asked for all the Munshis to be let off too. SDO had no other option available but to discretely concede to the demand. His refusal may have led the crowd to be more agitated and violent resulting in stone pelting and what not.

SDO along with his team members soon left the scene amidst the slogan shouting by the agitating crowd which had by now swelled to over five hundred people including labourers from the various nearby brick kilns. Directing the other team members to go back, SDO along with his Second Officer went straight to the local police station and met the local Circle Inspector and Officer-in-Charge. He spent time discussing various aspects and nuances of the incidents with them. Then, he directed Mr. Warshi to lodge an FIR against the people involved in the incidents for obstructing a public servant in the lawful discharge of his duty. It was seen to it that the FIR was lodged in such a way as to implicate them under more sections and for cognizable/non-bailable offences.

Soon, it was all big news all over the district. Very soon, many people were arrested by the local police. Since all the illegal brick kiln operators including those arrested were local influentials and also the important members and financiers of the locally dominant party, they were soon out of the custody at the instance of the local Minister. The District Minister, a member of the locally dominant Scheduled Tribe, was furious with the way SDO had handled the entire affair and prevailed upon the DM and SP to have his men out of the jail the same day.

The Minister is learnt to have pushed for SDO’s transfer, but nothing happened as DM wanted SDO’s continuance who had also been a probationer under him in the same district. The District Magistrate reportedly advised against the proposed transfer of SDO to the Personnel Secretary. The media were salivating having got a good story and since there were many admirers of the young SDO among them, the entire incident got reported in almost all the newspapers, with a positive bias in favour of SDO. But there ended the entire matter as the Minister ensured that FIR is not taken to its logical conclusion and no inquiry or action was taken after that. SDO got so many calls thereafter including those from some of his batchmates for not pursuing the matter too seriously (pointing to the connection these people have in high places), but SDO knew very well that pursuing the matter further or not was no longer in his hands. He, however, kept quiet. After all, if you can not help the situation, at least, an opportunity to oblige someone should not be lost, even if doing the obligation is by default of your helplessness.

The local people were, however, very happy with SDO’s action as very big wigs had been beaten up by a very young officer. SDO was disappointed with the way the entire matter was hushed up, but he felt satisfied with the fact that, at least, he penalised them through humiliation by way of public thrashing of the offenders, in front of their own employees. SDO did send a detailed report on the entire matter later along with his recommendations including the proposal to regularise these brick kilns for realisation of the government revenue. People still talk about the incidents, all the illegal brick kilns are still continuing there without any hindrance or obstruction from any quarters and thousands of local and outside labourers still work in unhygienic conditions for less than minimum wages and sans any work site amenities.
Raid on Illegal Brick Kilns: A Story from Jalpaiguri

Alipurduar is a picturesque place tucked away in the northern district of Jalpaiguri in the state of West Bengal. At 2500 sq. km, it is almost half the district of Jalpaiguri in term of area and has a population of over 14 lakh people. Peopled by different linguistic communities including a substantial tribal population, the mainstay of the local economy rests on the 66 tea gardens where a good number of local people including the emigrants from neighbouring Bihar and Jharkhand are employed. In fact, the tea gardens, even though a good number of them are sick, still continue to provide employment to a substantive number of people and thereby create demand for other sectors of the local economy.

It is surrounded on its north by Bhutan, on its east by Assam, on south by the district of Cochbehar and on its west by Sadar and Mal sub-divisions of Jalpaiguri. Very lush and beautiful place with very good scenic locales and forests, Alipurduar is one of the tourist delights in the state of West Bengal.

Even though the District Magistrate of Jalpaiguri is in overall control of this sub-division, the Sub-Divisional Magistrate is the actual guy who calls the shots locally as the 130 kilometres distance between Alipurduar and district headquarters makes SDM the de facto Collector in his jurisdiction for all practical purposes. Being one of the very important sub-divisions of the state, SDM is usually a direct IAS officer.

Ram Mohan joined as the new Sub-Divisional Officer at Alipurduar in the year 2004. Like every new regular recruit, he was full of energy, ideas and motivation to do something for the local society. As such, he was very pro-active and accessible to all. Soon, he endeared himself to the local people who responded very well to all his initiatives and activism. He would meet everyone and respond to all public complaints with alacrity and empathy. He would keep his weekends free for some enforcement activities which usually comprised matters relating motor vehicles, land revenue, excise, different illegal medical practices including drive against quackery, illegal pathological labs and any other public grievances.

It was against this background that it was brought to his notice that there are certain illegal brick kilns running for many years in the Ethelbari area of Birpara Block of his sub-division, which has a substantial population from North India. He gathered all the requisite information relating thereto and got to know that about 23 brick kilns have been operating illegally for years together on tribal land. He was informed that non-tribals were operating these brick kilns on tribal land which is an offence as tribal land can not be converted or transferred to non-tribals but for certain specific procedures and formalities. Not only this, they were also not paying any revenue to the government for the purpose which is quite obvious.

He also got to see an old Supreme Court judgement clearly ruling against these brick kilns on tribal land, giving direction to the local administration to immediately shut down these kilns and take appropriate measures against those involved. Having known all this, SDO was raring for some action against these illegal operators. Be it noted that the post of the Sub-Divisional Land Officer was being held by one of his Deputy Magistrates making his control over the local land department further strong. So, accompanied by his Second Officer (senior most Deputy Magistrate in his office) and a team of some officials from the land department together with the relevant case records of each brick kiln, SDO headed to the spot on a pre-determined day.

While SDO proceeded to the spot, he did not deem it fit to find out the reasons for inaction or no action against these illegal operators all these years. He just thought that may be his predecessors did not have enough guts for the same and he would prove that he definitely has it. So, they all proceeded to the spot. However, SDO did not take any police force with him as he was not used to taking police force with him on all occasions as he had led many of the enforcement drives successfully without any assistance from the police. He would also not do this because doing that would also mean spoiling the entire drive as police would invariably leak the information, defeating the very purpose of the enforcement. He just had a wisp of a man for his personal security officer (PSO) with him.

So, there they were all at the enforcement site in Ethelbari. Since it was a big expanse of land, secluded from the populated areas as well as very dusty, SDO’s PSO requested him to exempt him to accompany him any further as he could not tolerate dust because of his asthma problem. SDO granted his request. So, whatever trace of police support SDO had, was also gone.

Undeterred, SDO proceeded further with his team to the first brick kiln where more than hundred labourers including some children were busy working. He asked his Second Officer, Arshad Hasan Warshi, a very good and dynamic state civil service officer accompanying him, to call the owner. The owner was not readily available, so the Munshi Babu supervising the kiln activities came rushing to attend on him. The Munshi was brimming with humility and invited SDO and his entourage for some tea and snacks.

Without responding to Munshi’s mealy mouthed reception, SDO, matter-of-factly, asked the Munshi to produce the kiln license to which the latter replied that there was none to show. SDO asked for some land papers, any authorisation to run the kiln or any document proving that the requisite land revenue and other tariffs had been paid. When the Munshi again replied in the negative, SDO grabbed him by his collar, slapped and kicked him. Then, he directed his Second Officer to arrest him.

From there he proceeded to the next kiln and almost same sequence was repeated there as well. SDO thus kept entering deep into an uncharted land, replete with billowing brick kilns and working labourers, unaccompanied by any police force. He kept moving from one brick kiln to another, arresting either the owner or the Munshi. In all this, he was ensuring that he gave a good thrashing to the guy giving wrong answers to his queries before arresting him. At many occasions, it also happened that the person he beat up and arrested was almost double his size and taller than him, but he had the confidence of the power enshrined in his office and a courage stemming from the company of a retinue of officials.

It was when he had beat up and arrested about ten people that his Second Officer Warshi told him in his ears that they had entered quite deep into the influence area of these illegal operators and it was advisable to get back and move out at the earliest. SDO sensing the situation, immediately decided to retrace his steps. As they were retracing that they saw a crowd of people approaching them. It was the local panchayat member Ms. Sabita Chhetri accompanied by the local party functionaries and followers.

On approaching SDO, she remonstrated with him saying that as a local public representative she should have been informed of the action. To this, SDO politely replied that he is not supposed to inform her of all his decisions and activities. He informed her as to how these people had been operating illegally for years together on tribal land and not giving any revenue to the government. Ms. Chhetri told him that had she been informed of it, she might have taken action against the same. Knowing very well that taking action in such cases was beyond the jurisdiction of a panchayat member, SDO told her that she should be happy that he had made her job easier. All this conversation was going on while SDO and his team were walking back with these people to the place where their vehicles were parked.

Talking and discussing with them, SDO and his team were soon near their vehicles. In the meanwhile, the crowd led by Ms Chhetri and another local leader called Rajesh Singh had got very agitated. They soon started shouting all sorts of slogans against SDO including ‘SDO ki gundargardi nahi chalegi’ and ‘SDO murdabaad’. SDO tried to pacify them and explained to them everything, but to no avail. They soon placed a demand to SDO that they would not allow the kiln owners to be arrested. Sensing the mood of the situation, SDO conceded the demand after a while and handed over the three owners to the crowd. Immediately, the crowd led by Ms Chhetri asked for all the Munshis to be let off too. SDO had no other option available but to discretely concede to the demand. His refusal may have led the crowd to be more agitated and violent resulting in stone pelting and what not.

SDO along with his team members soon left the scene amidst the slogan shouting by the agitating crowd which had by now swelled to over five hundred people including labourers from the various nearby brick kilns. Directing the other team members to go back, SDO along with his Second Officer went straight to the local police station and met the local Circle Inspector and Officer-in-Charge. He spent time discussing various aspects and nuances of the incidents with them. Then, he directed Mr. Warshi to lodge an FIR against the people involved in the incidents for obstructing a public servant in the lawful discharge of his duty. It was seen to it that the FIR was lodged in such a way as to implicate them under more sections and for cognizable/non-bailable offences.

Soon, it was all big news all over the district. Very soon, many people were arrested by the local police. Since all the illegal brick kiln operators including those arrested were local influentials and also the important members and financiers of the locally dominant party, they were soon out of the custody at the instance of the local Minister. The District Minister, a member of the locally dominant Scheduled Tribe, was furious with the way SDO had handled the entire affair and prevailed upon the DM and SP to have his men out of the jail the same day.

The Minister is learnt to have pushed for SDO’s transfer, but nothing happened as DM wanted SDO’s continuance who had also been a probationer under him in the same district. The District Magistrate reportedly advised against the proposed transfer of SDO to the Personnel Secretary. The media were salivating having got a good story and since there were many admirers of the young SDO among them, the entire incident got reported in almost all the newspapers, with a positive bias in favour of SDO. But there ended the entire matter as the Minister ensured that FIR is not taken to its logical conclusion and no inquiry or action was taken after that. SDO got so many calls thereafter including those from some of his batchmates for not pursuing the matter too seriously (pointing to the connection these people have in high places), but SDO knew very well that pursuing the matter further or not was no longer in his hands. He, however, kept quiet. After all, if you can not help the situation, at least, an opportunity to oblige someone should not be lost, even if doing the obligation is by default of your helplessness.

The local people were, however, very happy with SDO’s action as very big wigs had been beaten up by a very young officer. SDO was disappointed with the way the entire matter was hushed up, but he felt satisfied with the fact that, at least, he penalised them through humiliation by way of public thrashing of the offenders, in front of their own employees. SDO did send a detailed report on the entire matter later along with his recommendations including the proposal to regularise these brick kilns for realisation of the government revenue. People still talk about the incidents, all the illegal brick kilns are still continuing there without any hindrance or obstruction from any quarters and thousands of local and outside labourers still work in unhygienic conditions for less than minimum wages and sans any work site amenities.
By:- Saumitra Mohan from IAS 2002 Batch. The case study is based on my experience when I was SDO, Alipurduar between August 2004 to February 2006.
Action u/s 97 gone haywire

Alipurduar is a picturesque place tucked away in the northern district of Jalpaiguri in the state of West Bengal. At 2500 sq. km, it is almost half the district of Jalpaiguri in term of area and has a population of over 14 lakh people. Peopled by different linguistic communities including a substantial tribal population, the mainstay of the local economy rests on the 66 tea gardens where a good number of local people including the emigrants from neighbouring Bihar and Jharkhand are employed. In fact, the tea gardens, even though a good number of them are sick, still continue to provide employment to a substantive number of people and thereby create demand for other sectors of the local economy.

It is surrounded on its north by Bhutan, on its east by Assam, on south by the district of Cochbehar and on its west by Sadar and Mal sub-divisions of Jalpaiguri. Very lush and beautiful place with very good scenic locales and forests, Alipurduar is one of the tourist delights in the state of West Bengal.

Even though the District Magistrate of Jalpaiguri is in overall control of this sub-division, the Sub-Divisional Magistrate is the actual guy who calls the shots locally as the 130 kilometres distance between Alipurduar and district headquarters makes SDM the de facto Collector in his jurisdiction for all practical purposes. Being one of the very important sub-divisions of the state, SDM is usually a direct IAS officer.

Ram Mohan joined as the new Sub-Divisional Officer at Alipurduar in the year 2004. Like every new regular recruit, he was full of energy, ideas and motivation to do something for the local society. As such, he was very pro-active and accessible to all. Soon, he endeared himself to the local people who responded very well to all his initiatives and activism. He would meet everyone and respond to all public complaints with alacrity and empathy.

It was against this background that one woman came crying to SDO with a complaint relating to the alleged kidnapping of her minor daughter by someone. She said that the kidnappers were the local residents of the Jaigaon Gram Panchayat area of the Kalchini Block of Alipurduar sub-division. She also said that the said kidnappers had the support of the Officer-in-Charge of the local police station.

The way the complainant woman narrated the entire episode, SDO was convinced that there indeed was a need for emergent action otherwise the girl might be in danger. Since it was an alleged case of kidnapping, there was a danger of the kidnappers moving out with the girl. So with very less time on hand and with no opportunity for verifying the veracity of the complaint, the young SDO, moved by her complaint, decided in favour of a quick action.

Since SDO himself did not have very good opinion of the local OC, allegedly a traveller of the gravy-train with all his fingers in the till, he decided in favour of a quick action to ensure that the kidnapped girl was immediately freed out of their clutches. So, SDO issued a ‘Search Warrant’ under section 97 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to have the girl freed from the wrongful confinement of her alleged kidnappers.

In the said ‘Search Warrant’, he directed the BDO Kalchini, the local Executive Magistrate, to recover the girl with assistance from the local police. As the OC was allegedly in cahoots with the kidnappers, the SDO feared that the OC might sabotage the entire rescue operation by helping the kidnappers flee.

It was the same OC who had once protested against the enforcement actions by the SDO and made insulting remarks. OC’s remarks against the SDO should be read with his frantic defence of the brothel-owners of Jaigaon during a raid by the same SDO following directions from the Commissioner, Jalpaiguri Division on a public complaint in presence of three other Executive Magistrates.

The OC had even tried to convince them to lighten the case against these brothel-owners by booking them under preventive sections – under 107 Cr PC and advised them to desist from such raids, as the same were not practicable because Jaigaon being a tourist destination, such brothels actually helped local tourism and SDO’s actions may negatively affect the nascent hotel industry. He also remonstrated against their enforcement actions by saying that they should not be conducting such raids without informing them.

It was against the background of this uneasy relationship between the SDO and this OC that SDO telephonically directed the BDO to first rush to the spot where the girl was alleged to have been kept in confinement and then send for the police force with a copy of the ‘Search Warrant’.

The BDO accordingly rushed to the spot as per direction and sent for the police help by sending the copy of the ‘Search Warrant’ to OC, Jaigaon through his driver. When the BDO reported to the SDO that OC had refused to receive the said warrant, the SDO talked to the OC directly and directed him to send for some police force to the spot where BDO was already stationed. Later on, the OC did send some constables to the spot, but he sent only male constables. As it was a search warrant for the recovery of a girl, he should have sent, at least, one female constable as well which he did not.

However, when the BDO found that the police was taking a lot of time in coming and when he was convinced that the girl was inside the house, he did not think wise to wait for the police force any longer. Fearing possible harm to the kidnapped girl, he decided in favour of entering the house with his staff members to rescue the girl. He found the girl inside, ensured her identity and ordered his men to take the girl to the police station.

As his men tried to take the girl out, the people inside the house/the alleged kidnappers made a lot of hue and cry over this. It was a complete pandemonium out there. As all this was happening, a lot of crowd congregated out there. By now it was clear to the BDO that it was not a case of kidnapping as the girl herself was resisting her being taken out. It was a case of consensual love marriage and elopement. The crowd, mostly neighbours, strongly disapproved of the BDO’s action, but BDO had an order to carry out and he saw to it that he did so. However, it would have been more advisable for the BDO to wait for the police force, enter the house along them and asked them to do the needful which he did not do owing to a judgement which was completely his own.

By the time they were all there at the police station, a big crowd was already there shouting slogans against the BDO. They gheraoed him and were in no mood to allow him to move out. They also wanted the girl back. Since it was already late in the evening (about 10 p.m.), so there was no way the girl could be produced in the SDM court.

In all this, the wily OC played a very villainous role. He not only was not kind with his words for the BDO, he did everything possible to incite the crowd against the BDO. He told the crowd that he had nothing to do with the developments in the instant case as it were the BDO and SDO who were answerable. He refused having been served any search warrant notwithstanding the fact the BDO had sent the same through his driver which he had refused and notwithstanding the fact that he did send some constables to the spot later pursuant to the telephonic instructions by the SDO.

While he should have taken action against the people who were obstructing the BDO in the discharge of his lawful duty, who was also his senior officer and the local Executive Magistrate, the OC made the situation worse and incited the crowd by making disparaging remarks against the BDO and SDO.

However, somehow things could be brought under control and everyone was home with the girl again going back to her in-laws with a promise from them to present the girl in the SDM court the next day. SDO was informed of the entire episode by the BDO after the incident got over peacefully. However, the next day the entire incident was splashed all across the newspapers and electronic channels with negative bias against the BDO.

The SDO was miffed with the way the press had reported the matter. They had found fault with the BDO, added untruths and made it a very sensational story. Going by the media reports, it appeared that that a demonical BDO pulled a pregnant girl by her hair and took her ruthlessly out of the house of her husband with whom she was legally married. They also quoted the OC about the latter not being informed about it all, that there should have been female constable before for carrying the girl to the police station and that there should be no enforcement after 6 p.m. where a woman is involved.

The media had quoted the OC pointing out these technical lacunae in the entire operation by the BDO. So, the SDO was furious with the conduct of the OC as well. SDO felt that whatever be the lacunae in the entire exercise, which the OC found, the OC had no business talking to the press against the BDO who was his senior officer. It was his duty as the local police officer and as a government servant to help his senior officer rather than inciting the crowd against the BDO and thereby further aggravating the situation. OC has shown himself to be very irresponsible by doing what he did.

The girl was produced in the SDM court the next day. During the hearing, the SDO got to know that it was a case of love marriage and that the girl had been staying there out of her own will. Even though SDO allowed the girl to stay with her in-laws, he fixed another hearing to settle the matter finally as there was no proof of marriage and there was also a dispute regarding the age of the girl. Though the girls’ mother did produce a school certificate whereby the girl appeared to be a minor, but the authenticity of the same was disputed by her in-laws. Hence, the need for another hearing was felt.

The girl, however, did admit to the SDO that she was no pregnant that she was not dragged by her hair by the BDO as claimed in the media. The young SDO did learnt a lesson that one should not be moved by any of the complainants’ tears the way he had been in the instant case deciding to take a quick action. But, the situation got murkier because of mishandling at many levels. It could have been a case of actual kidnapping and then SDO’s decision might have been seen in different perspective.

The SDO called a press conference the same day and let his displeasure know to the members of the media. He asked them as to whether they verified their facts before reporting that the girl was pregnant, that she pulled by her hair by the BDO, that the girl was a major, that she was a married girl, that the OC was not served the ‘Search Warrant’ and that it was OC who erred by not sending the female constables. He asked them that as to why did they not question OC’s role in all this, about his refusal to receive the ‘Search Warrant’, about his failure to send lady constables or his express attempt to incite the crowd against the BDO in the lawful discharge of his duty.

He asked them as to what should have been done by the SDO in case it would have been a true case of kidnapping as the SDO initially feared. In case it was all true as alleged, and had the SDO not taken prompt action, the girl might have been harmed. He told them that if the media continued with the reporting the untruths as they did, he would not feel encouraged to share/provide any news as they expected him to do. Such an approach also has a dampening impact on the administration going for prompt action in such cases, he told the press. The press acknowledged its mistake and many of them carried a corrective story the next day but for one which said that the SDO actually threatened the press in case they dared to carry more such stories in future.

The SDO sent a detailed report later to the District Magistrate including a report against the OC, Jaigaon recommending action against him. In his report, the SDO supported the action by the BDO, who was facing a very bad press and a negative campaign against him, even though the SDO did feel that somewhere the BDO mishandled the entire operation by way of his decision to enter the house to rescue the girl without waiting for the police.

The SDO brought the entire sequence of incidents to the notice of the DM and discussed the matter personally with him. He pressed for the transfer of OC, Jaigaon. The WBCS Association (West Bengal Civil Service Association) also met the DM and Commissioner about it all and similarly pressed for OC’s transfer. DM was also convinced and he took IG, North Bengal also into confidence, but finally nothing got going. It is learnt that OC, Jaigaon met the Commissioner, Jalpaiguri Division later and could convince the latter of his innocence. The Commissioner, therefore, is said to have directed the DM not to move against the OC any longer. In all this, the Commissioner did not deem it wise to consult and talk to the BDO and SDO who were the aggrieved parties against a junior police officer.

The DM later called the SDO and told him that matter has been sorted out. As per the compromise formula worked out between the DM and the SP, the OC would meet both SDO and BDO and apologize to them for his conduct. SDO had no way to remonstrate with him beyond a point. The OC did meet the SDO to apologize, but he met him in plain clothes as if to say that the uniformed officer was not guilty, though as a person he was willing to apologize. During his conversation with SDO, he appeared remorseless of his action on the D-Day.

The OC, however, never met the BDO for apologizing to him. IG, North Bengal who was still very keen on taking an action against the OC, later sounded the SDO as to whether he was still firm with his stand vis-à-vis the OC to which the latter replied in the affirmative. But, still nothing happened as there were many senior officers to oblige the said OC who is said to have been recommended for a bravery medal for his encounter escapades against the KLO (Kamtapur Liberation Organisation, a separatist organization active in North Bengal) militants and whose monthly income, from the unknown sources, was said to be upwards of Rs. 30 lakhs per month.

By:- Saumitra Mohan from IAS 2002 Batch. The case study is based on my experience when I was SDO, Alipurduar between August 2004 to February 2006.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012


The Self-Help System: Need for a New Global Architecture

                                                                        By Saumitra Mohan



            It’s trying times for the world economy with recession demon refusing to be tamed, notwithstanding a slew of staccato efforts made by different involved players. The domino-like fall of many countries of Europe and Americas including Ireland, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece has been a cause of real concern given the insidious implications of the same for the world finance system. The laissez-faire economic model’s avowed promise to promote and sustain a ‘level playing field’ by rolling back the dirigistic state has all but failed.

At the end of the day, the extant model has only promoted the Darwinian natural selection by unleashing the ‘Survival of the Fittest’ model as once propounded by Herbert Spencer. Hence, the SOS calls for incremental but inclusive growth for all within the framework of a welfare economy. But all these calls seem to have fallen on deaf ears. What is surprising is the way all the nations have been trying to handle the situation in the fashion of a ‘zero-sum’ or ‘negative sum’ game. Such a skewed approach only encourages alienation and animosity by promoting vested interests of a few at the top of the international pecking order at the expense of all down below.

            We need to appreciate that with the globalization juggernaut stalking the world stage since the end of the Cold War, we already live in a world of ‘complex interdependence’. Hence, the innate penchant of the nation-states to keep hitting each other like billiard balls in an anarchical global system needs to be restrained. The exclusivist pursuance of protectionist policies by some countries a la the United States of America or United Kingdom by regulating the quantity and quality of immigrants into their country, by creating non-tariff barriers or by restraining their industries from outsourcing their multifarious operations across the globe shall nothing but hasten the process of collective downfall.

The sooner we appreciate the reality of globalization and the attendant complex interdependence, the better it shall be for the emergent multi-polar global economic system. The nations also need to appreciate the international division of labour and coordinate their policies and actions accordingly. But the same just does not seem to be happening. While each nation should be coordinating their policies and action with the other country, the reality is diametrically opposite though a charade of multilateral engagements does go on all the while.

The fact remains that the nation states are still groping in the dark for wangling suitable responses to their individual problems. The information and trust deficit among the members of the Comity of Nations forces them to act in the same fashion as happens in the ‘Prisoners Dilemma situation’ where a prisoner defects in the face of a temptation against the other prisoner not knowing what the other is thinking and doing. It is very much like the four blind men trying to feel and describe the elephant in their own way without actually being successful in their effort. Those with ophthalmic benefaction of the Almighty know that the real elephant shall only emerge with the combined perception of all the four.

            But the ‘self-help’ international system forces nations to act in sublime isolation from each other. While each nation believes that it is acting rationally in the betterment of its holistic national interest, the fact remains that each of them is actually acting irrationally. This happens simply because none of them attempts a rational comprehension of the hermeneutics of their disparate acts within the straitjacket of the extant global financial system. One does feel that the global leadership, suitably advised by the epistemic community on international economics, should be playing a more proactive role than they have so far.

            So, any nation having any misconception about being successful in resolving their problems on its own and continue to be an island of prosperity untouched by the winds of change elsewhere should immediately disabuse such notions. In a globalized world of complex interdependence, all the problems have become global in nature whose individualized solutions would never work.

It’s a multi-polar world and the solutions shall have to be found in a multilateral forum. Any unilateral solution shall always backfire as could be visible from the failed attempts to fight recession. The present recession has returned despite the seeming success in warding it off during the ‘subprime lending-induced’ crisis in the United States about two years back. The dilettantism and adhocism with which the recession was dealt then without resolving the thorny issues relating to macro-economic financial architecture, the problem was bound to resurface. The temporary reprieve administered through artificial prime-pumping of the struggling economies has almost come to a naught. It appeared that the states were just trying to brush the issues inside the carpet and were just not ready to tackle the same in real earnest.

First of all, the countries of the North need to understand that they can not continue to be islands of prosperity, at the expense of those less-privileged lot toward South of the hemisphere. It is this policy of seeing one’s national interests through customized rose-tinted glasses that has brought situation to this sorry pass including giving rise to a sense of disaffection and distrust in a section of the global population. Hence, the rise of fissiparous and revisionist forces like Taliban.

The Gini-Coefficient of income equality as represented by the Lorenz Curve has been worsening for the poor what with over 80 per cent of the global asset owned by around 18 percent of the people of this Blue Planet whose own survival is endangered owing to the reckless consumerism in the North. The Climate Change threat is already looming humongously large on the horizon and the ‘Rip van Winkles’ of the world need to wake up from their prolonged slumber before it is too late.

Reading such signs very well in advance, Samuel Huntington had aptly propounded his celebrated, ‘Clash of Civilization’ thesis. What surprises one more is the cognitive and functional sclerosis of the global leaders to synergize their thought and action despite their being in the know of the nature of their problems and the relevant solutions. The blinkered vision informed by a parochial understanding of national interest has so far prevented them from doing what ought to be done.

Asia, led by the Chinese and Indian behemoths, which because of their huge domestic markets so far looked immune to the march of global recession, has slowly been catching the ‘recessive flu’. The Bretton-woods financial institutions needs to be more proactive than they have been so far in facilitating a global solution to the reigning global crisis through better coordination of policies and action between the countries of the North and the South.

Also, the West also needs to appreciate the fact that they can not continue steamrolling the South for long and they also can not sustain their prodigal lifestyle for long, something they successfully did for a long time on the strength of an exploitative capital accumulation during the heydays of colonial and neo-colonial international political system. They can continue doing so only at the collective peril of all.

In the globalized world of today, we need to do everything possible to break the dichotomy of developed and developing countries. And this we can do only through better coordination of policies and actions among the members of the Comity of Nations. We should think more in terms of early realization of the millennium development goals of the United Nations rather than sparring over a few pieces of silver and a few portions of land, what with the very weakening of the classical concept of sovereignty. Globalization shall never reach its logical culmination unless and until the North unshackles its vision in pursuing a crooked policy of free movement of capital but restricting the free movement of labour.

Today, the imagined community of a ‘Global Village’ a la Marshal McLuhan has already emerged what with the Jasmine and Spring Revolutions where information technology through social networking sites and mobile telephony had a great role to play. The Fourth Estate’s strength, as powered by a resurgent civil society, is increasingly more visible to all of us in acting as an agent of change as also seen recently in the Middle East.

In stead of splurging our energies and resources on armaments by engaging in competitive rat race of one-upmanship, we should engage in developing our human resources to ensure a better quality of life for them, something countries like India has always espoused. Lets grow together in a spirit of cooperative living or else we shall perish together before long.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Promoting Voters’ Education and Elector Participation: Initiatives at Birbhum

By Saumitra Mohan.

As the District Election Officer, the undersigned had a very satisfying stint at Birbhum. As far as management of West Bengal Assembly Election 2011 is concerned, it is said to have turned out one of the most peaceful and orderly elections in the electoral history of this district. The media reports, feedback from various political party functionaries and common people attest to this fact. The same was made possible due to many innovative steps taken by us at Birbhum. Everyone else associated with the management and conduct of election in the district chipped in to support and strengthen the entire exercise. As a student of Humanities from Jawaharlal Nehru University and as someone who has been associated with the conduct of the Parliamentary, Assembly, Municipal and Panchayat elections for quite some time, one always knew that Voters’ awareness and familiarity with the election process and his/her confidence in the fairness of the entire process is a key to the success of the entire exercise.

The need for the same was doubly felt given the surcharged atmosphere preceding the multi-phase Assembly elections in the state where stakes were quite high for all concerned. Hence, right from the beginning our focus was on Voters’ Education and Elector Participation (VEEP). To realize the same, we made a multi-pronged strategy and a foolproof plan for ensuring maximum elector participation predicated on sound voter education. The methodologies adopted by Birbhum were appreciated many times during the multiple meetings taken by the Election Commission of India and Chief Electoral Officer, West Bengal preceding the actual election, many of them followed and replicated in other districts as well.

To begin with, we took care to apportion the work among carefully drafted senior officials who were all entrusted with various tasks. We took care to ensure that a particular task was assigned as to the qualification, experience and interest of the officer and staff members concerned. This was important because we wanted to ensure that the basic preparations and groundwork were properly done to realize the objectives as mentioned above. We had preliminary meetings with all the officials concerned at all levels including Returning Officers, Assistant Returning Officers, Block Development Officers, Deputy Magistrates, Sub Divisional Officers, Additional District Magistrates, Designated Officers and Booth Level Officers, not to speak of an army of Group ‘C’ and D’ staff members whose roles were equally crucial in the entire exercise. These meetings provided excellent opportunity to explain specific role to each and every person involved during various stages preceding the actual election. This was followed by a carefully designed training module and calendar for training each and every person involved in the process.

Education, awareness and training of these officials were important as voter awareness and participation depended on an efficient and effective role played by these persons in various capacities. Multi-media tools including frequent video conferencing, power point presentation, demonstration of various processes by Master Trainers, hands-on training and customized reading materials were harnessed for the training purposes to the best effect as borne out by huge elector turnout at the hustings. One of the major ways to ensure wide electoral participation was a clean and inclusive electoral roll as borne out by the fact that in Birbhum, our EPIC percentage was over 99 per cent (which was around 94 per cent at the time of my joining the district), itself a positive sign of better electoral awareness which in turn was an outcome of a hard ground-work. Now the challenge before us was to ensure their actual coming forward to exercise their franchise. For this, all the senior Group A officers, as already mentioned above, along with their counterparts from police, as part of our confidence building measures, made more than 900 visits to different parts of the district, most of them sensitive and vulnerable pockets, to freely interact with the voters, answer to their various queries and instill a sense of confidence among them about freely exercising their franchise.

Be it kindly noted that these visits and interactions were over and above those made by hundreds of lower level officials including those by the Sector Officers, Assistant Sector Officers and Booth Level Officers, which were in thousands. Most of these interactions were also photographed and video-graphed. Based on their feedback, we made special security arrangements including improving our vulnerability mapping for the final deployment of the security forces, digital camera, video camera and web-casting. These interactions were the most effective in ensuring a historically peaceful and fair election in the district. Besides, frequent meetings and interactions with the political parties and having their feedback regarding their inputs in the overall vulnerability mapping and in ensuring improved voter participation also helped better electoral participation. The insights gained from these interactions were factored while finalizing the security arrangements, given the Naxalite extremism in our district.

The sense of confidence we could instill among the voters to elicit their better participation was predicated on a better law and order situation we could ensure by prosecuting and bounding down around 11,000 persons (against 1408 during 2006 Assembly and 1818 during 2009 parliamentary elections) who could have vitiated the electoral process, deposition of 2788 licensed arms against 52 in 2006 and 966 in 2009, execution of around 7,205 NBWs compared to 1594 during 2006 and 1641 during 2009 elections, seizure of 42,000 litres illicit liquor against 1022 in 2006 and 1420 during 2009 elections, seizure of massive arms and explosives, ensuring better law and order by personal involvement to tackle such trouble areas as Md. Bazar, Nanoor, Khoyrasol, Illambazar, Dubrajpur and other Naxal-affected areas, destruction of over 7000 acres of poppy cultivation to preempt drug-money from being channeled into elections and prompt action on political complaints relating to law and order.  The inter-state coordination meetings with the districts of neighbouring states also helped our effort.

The left-wing extremism was always at the back of our mind while planning and making our security arrangements. That is why we were always very keen on having feedback from all the corners including those from the common man, the political parties, the media persons and the various experts on the subject. So, our CBM exercises, our interactions with the political parties, contesting candidates, our officers in the field, interactions with the officials from the neighbouring districts and the intelligence reports formed the corner-stone of our detailed security planning. Our efforts were further bolstered, strengthened and fine-tuned by the regular suggestions we received from ECI during specially convened meetings for the purpose.Given the fact that some of our regions including Dubrajpur, Khoyrasol, Rajnagar, Illambazar and a substantial portion of Rampurhat Sub-Division were seriously affected by Naxalism, we were deeply concerned regarding the ‘Fear Factor’ in these areas discouraging the voters against coming out in the open to vote as was experienced in some of the Naxal-infested states during past elections in those states including ours. So with the help of all the resources and inputs at hand, we not only concretized a detailed deployment plan for the central security forces and state police, but we also put in place an effective and over-arching monitoring mechanism which formed the key-stone of our overall election planning. Ours was a resilient mechanism, so we were always fine-tuning the same given the regular inputs received from various quarters including our intelligence agencies. The multiple meetings we had with the District Magistrates, Superintendents of Police, Officers-in-Charge of bordering police stations and other officials of Dumka, Pakur and Jamtara from the neighbouring Jharkhand proved very effective and useful. We not only coordinated our efforts with the relevant agencies of the bordering districts from neighbouring Jharkhand, we also shared intelligence with them almost on daily basis. Many arrests and seizure of arms/explosives followed. The ‘Naka’ or border Check-posts set up in coordination with the neighbouring district authorities helped us not only in checking the illegal movement of arms and ammunition, persons with criminal records, trouble-makers from the neighbouring districts and in effecting seizure of arms/explosives/cash and in preventive detention of many habitual offenders, but also helped us greatly in keeping the Naxal extremism at bay as the supply lines for the latter were effectively cut off. Even though the latter did some threat-carrying ‘postering’ in some areas, the same did not have the intended impact because of the massive ‘Home Work’ done at every level by the election machinery in our district.

Birbhum had been notorious for poppy cultivation and the area under poppy cultivation was always growing and expanding. We were sensitive to this fact, more so because of baneful potential of poppy cultivation in pumping illegal cash into election campaigning as had reportedly been done during the last elections. The involvement of the Naxals in this illegal poppy cultivation further heightened our anxieties, as the spectre of ‘Poppy Cash’ making its insidious incursions into our electoral process always loomed large. Having known this, we set up before us the objective of destroying not only this illegal poppy cultivation, but also making the cultivators and the hoi polloi aware with regards to the socio-political implications of the same. The West Bengal Legislative Assembly elections and the authority coupled with the independence, which flowed from it provided us with an excellent opportunity to eradicate this menace forever. We started some three months before the actual poppy cultivation started. We had meetings with the Central Bureau of Narcotics, the Narcotics Control Bureau, local police authorities, Magistrates, the excise authorizes, representatives of political parties, NGOs, prominent members of the public and elected representatives to sensitize them regarding the problem and also making them aware regarding the negative legal implications of poppy cultivation for the actual farmers.

We organized processions, wall-writing, distribution of specially-written leaflets and miking to inform and sensitize all concerned about the problem. This had significant snowballing impact in terms of reducing the scale of cultivation. The cultivation was also less because of the legal action taken against the cultivators last year including a number of arrests of the people found involved in the poppy cultivation. After this, we set about destruction of the actual poppy cultivation, which was still done notwithstanding all our efforts. We destroyed a massive over 7000 acres of poppy cultivation, something which is said to be a record in the world for a district like ours, if we are to believe the statement made by Sri P Shankar, IPS, the then Zonal Director of the Narcotics Control Bureau, Kolkata.

The undersigned in coordination with the Superintendent of Police personally monitored the destruction. Other senior officials including Additional District Magistrates, Sub-Divisional Officers, Superintendent of Excise, Block Development Officers and Officers-in-Charge of police stations formed part of the many teams formed for the purpose. Our operations spanned over a month and we stopped only when we were convinced that there was no poppy cultivation left to be destroyed. The satellite imageries supplied by the Narcotics agencies helped us in the exercise. Every day’s operation was followed by cases being registered against those found to have committed the offence of poppy cultivation. The total number of cases registered was 44 involving 260 persons of which 94 were arrested. These monumental efforts were greatly instrumental in choking the supply lines for the left-wing extremists which coupled with other measures to tighten noose around their neck helped us in creating an atmosphere which inspired enough confidence among voters to come out in hordes to exercise their franchise.

Our close involvement with the chronic law and order problem in Nanoor, Dubrajpur, Md. Bazar and Khoyrasol helped a great deal in creating an atmosphere, which was congenial for a peaceful and fair election. Our frequent visits to these areas, interactions with all stake-holders including the common voters and holding regular meetings to create confidence and trust among the voters went a long way in inspiring voters to come out and vote in favour of the candidate of their choice without any trace of fear as borne out by the massive turn-outs. There was a communal angle to the problem involving stone-mine quarries at the Md. Bazar Block, which was also effectively tackled with personalized meetings with all the groups including tribal communities involved.

It was indeed a herculean task that we set out to do by trying to ensure a peaceful atmosphere of trust and confidence by having a much better law and order situation than there ever was with cooperation and coordination of all concerned, not to speak of the constant guidance and mentoring received from ECI from time to time. Our effort never went in vain as vindicated by the high turn-out of voters at the hustings.

We made specially designed ‘easy-to-understand’ reading materials for the voters and the same were distributed from the various Voter Assistance Booths and EVM Demonstration Centres set up across the district. These materials were greatly appreciated by the Hon’ble Observers deployed in the district. Voters were also shown specially shot videos to educate them on various aspects relating to EVM and how to cast their vote using the same. There were special Voter Assistant Booths meant only for female voters. Be it kindly noted these voter assistance booths were apart from the booths set up on the day of actual poll to help the voters locate their names in the electoral rolls. Effective distribution of voter slips added another dimension to their increased turnout. The BLOs and other specially trained staff members ensured proper publicity through miking and meetings with the political parties before actually distributing these slips. The distribution of these slips was hundred percent and almost flawless as we had no complaints whatsoever with regards to their distribution. We, however, made it sure to inform the voters that non-possession of these slips was no disqualification for exercise of their franchise as long as their name figured in the electoral roll and as long as they had proper identification documents including EPIC as per ECI guidelines. This became necessary because of some mischief mongers spreading rumours that if voters did not have these slips, they shall not be allowed to vote in spite of them being in possession of statutory identification documents including EPIC.

We also harnessed traditional cultural medium like Baul communities and specially written songs for increased voter education and participation. Street plays (Nukkad Nataks) and street corner demonstration-cum-awareness camps were held for maximizing voter awareness. Besides, specially organized quiz programmes for the voters and elections officials also proved useful. The National Voters Day, as conceived by ECI, was organized effectively with a wide range of activities and had also helped us with our exercise in voter awareness.

We had mobile vans equipped with voter education materials and audio-visual materials for on-the-spot demonstration to the voters in the inaccessible areas. We also had a special Public Grievance Cell including a Help Line to handle various complaints from all corners including those from the voters. The undersigned personally wrote a Blog (www.deobirbhum.blogspot.com) for wider appreciation of various aspects relating to the conduct of election, which was greatly appreciated by all. The use of WEBGIS for electoral management was another effective tool in voter education as it provided various information relating to electoral process including those relating to electoral roll, past election data, information relating to better electoral management, easy report generation and telephone numbers of all the election-related officials up to the BLO level. It was greatly used by all concerned including voters and election officials. Its use by the common man was greatly facilitated by the special information kiosks set up across the district including block, sub-divisional and district headquarters where the voters could go and access such desired information. It was later replicated in other districts of West Bengal as well.

The pre-election shifting of a number of booths also ensured that voters travelled less than they did earlier thereby ensuring their better participation in the electoral process. We had regular interaction with the members of the press (apart from the statutory press conferences) to ensure that the right information reaches the voters in right fashion at right time.

We also saw to it that the voter assistance booths function efficiently and effectively on the poll day, the traffic in the town is smooth and voter related amenities at the polling premises including construction of sun/rain shed, public convenience, medical attention including provisioning of first aid kits and drinking water are provided for all those who come to vote. As we had publicized the same in advance, the voters came in hordes to cast their vote. It was because of the above measures taken by the Office of the District Election Officer, Birbhum that we finally had a voting percentage as high as 87 per cent (compared to 82.7 per cent during 2009 parliamentary election), one of the highest in the state. The voter turnout in many assembly constituencies was markedly high, particularly at Labhpur and Hansan where female voters outnumbered the male voters at the polling booths. This is clearly reflective of effective harnessing of all resources at hand in winning over the confidence of the voters from enrollment till the actual exercise of franchise.

Post-result peace was ensured by consensually deciding postponing the victory processions by winning candidates and political parties in consultation with the latter, something which was followed by other districts as well at the behest of Hon’ble ECI. We could not have achieved the same without the common man i.e. the voter appreciating our viewpoint in this regard and deciding not to come on the streets to celebrate the victory of their beloved candidates. One also feels that the high voter turnout was also an effect of better polling personnel performance whose overall satisfaction was very high because of introduction of online payment of polling remuneration, better training and better polling personnel amenities.