Better Custodial Care Needed for the Marginalized

                                      Dr. Saumitra Mohan

                Prison administration is an alienable part of our justice delivery system which, many feel, calls for urgent relook and attention. The prison administration in India has existed almost unchanged since its inception though a nomenclatural change has been effected in the meanwhile. Our prisons are  no longer called ‘jails’ and have been christened as correctional homes today in keeping with the changed ethos.

                Even though the prison infrastructures have improved drastically over the years, a recent report alleges that we still have a long way to go as far as our treatment of the inmates inside these correctional homes are concerned. Whatever has come out through a recent study titled, ‘the Death Penalty Research Project’ is definitely not very uplifting. The researchers at Delhi’s National Law University (NLU) in this first ever comprehensive study of the socio-economic profile of prisoners serving death sentence in our jails have found most of them to be from economically vulnerable sections, backward communities and religious minority groups.

                The said study found our prison administration plagued by fundamental flaws where the death penalty seemed to be an instrument in systemic marginalization of prisoners from vulnerable backgrounds. Almost 75 per cent of the prisoners interviewed were from ‘economically vulnerable’ and socially disadvantaged groups. Over half the death sentence awardees worked in unstable unorganised sector and worked as auto drivers, brick kiln labourers, street vendors, manual scavengers, domestic workers and construction workers. About 19 per cent of those on death row had attended only primary school. Many prisoners were disadvantaged on both counts; nine out of ten who had never attended a school were also economically vulnerable. This is important because a prisoner’s economic status and level of education directly affects his ability to effectively participate in the criminal justice system to secure a fair trial.

                Delineating their socio-economic background, the resultant report discovered that more than 80 per cent of the prisoners facing capital punishment never completed their schooling and nearly half of them began working before they became a major. Moreover, around 25 per cent of the convicts were juveniles between the age of 18 and 21 or above 60 years when the crime was committed. Among those facing death penalty, dalits and tribals constituted 24.5 percent while over 20 percent belonged to religious minorities. As it appears from the report, Indians belonging to the economically backward and vulnerable sections have found it difficult to bear the burdens imposed by our criminal justice system while handing out death sentences. As a result, it has been noticed that the death penalty often disproportionately affects those who have the least capabilities to negotiate our criminal justice system.

                The NLU report makes it clear that its findings do not necessarily suggest that the state authorities intentionally discriminate against poor or less educated prisoners. But the report does allege that the system is so loaded that there is a degree of indirect discrimination at work which worsens the chances of fair trial for prisoners from disadvantaged backgrounds. Yet issues pertaining to fair trial rights and treatment of prisoners on death row by the criminal justice system are almost never discussed with the required gravitas. Indirect discrimination happens against such prisoners when a seemingly impartial and innocuous practice impacts particular groups negatively, even if it is not purposely directed at the groups.

                But given the irreversible nature of the death penalty, it is particularly important that fair trial rights are scrupulously safeguarded in such cases. International human rights discourse agrees that every death sentence imposed following an unfair trial violates the right to life. Hence, the report suggests that the only way to end this perceived injustice is to impose an immediate moratorium on the use of the death penalty as a first step towards abolition of the same. The Law Commission of India, in a report last year, recommended the abolition of the death penalty in phases, beginning with ending it for all offences except those related to terrorism.

                Indian criminal justice is allegedly said to follow several practices which hurt the poor and the marginalised much more than others. What needs investigation is whether these practices are the outcomes of entrenched social and economic inequalities or whether they have become a form of institutionalised indirect discrimination? The Law Commission said in a report last year on the death penalty, “The vagaries of the system also operate disproportionately against the socially and economically marginalized who may lack the resources to effectively advocate their rights within an adversarial criminal justice system.”

                In the vaguely feel-good ambience, the Death Penalty India Report comes as a rude shock. Principles of custodial care remain theoretical for them, although it is obligatory for the police to take care of their well-being and health. One just hopes that the findings of the report would nudge the prison administrators and policy makers to sit up and take notice to make meaningful interventions to ensure the rights of the undertrials to have a well-oiled justice delivery system in the country.

*The views expressed here are personal and don’t reflect those of the Government.

Reforming the Indian Electoral System

                                                                                                *Saumitra Mohan

            While the many Cassandras and prophets of doom kept predicting the failure of Indian democracy because of her humongous size and mind-boggling diversities, India not only has continued to survive in one piece but has actually grown stronger than ever before. Notwithstanding certain institutional weaknesses and some structural problems, the country through carefully nurtured democratic infrastructures and superstructures built up one of the most vibrant liberal democracy. And one of the institutions which has never failed us and has always stood the test of time is the Election Commission of India (ECI).

            Elections in India bring out the real character and strength of the world’s largest democracy. Since the first general elections in 1952, Indian democracy has been marching from strength to strength adding more and more feathers to our body politic. And ECI has gradually been evolving and developing its own mechanisms, modalities, techniques, rules and norms to ensure an almost peaceful change of government at the national and provincial levels amidst an ambience of cynicism and despondency. Today, ECI is one of the most sought after Indian agencies for sharing its expertise and experience in the conduct of democratic elections across the world. However, the critics and observers have been pointing to many problem areas in our electoral system and have accordingly suggested certain electoral reforms to make our democracy further stronger.

            Be it noted that ECI has introduced several reforms from time to time in the conduct of elections in the country which inter alia include switch-over from ballot paper to electronic voting machine (EVM), proxy voting for NRI and service voters, introduction of partial right to rejection through NOTA (None of the Above) in keeping with section 49 of the Representation of People’s Act, 1951, induction of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) for reinforcing transparency in the voting, introduction of Elector’s Photo Identity Card (EPIC) to pre-empt impersonation and bogus voting, conduct of elections under the supervision of ECI Observers and Central Police Forces (CPF), use of information technology for bringing further efficiency and transparency in the conduct of elections, bar from contesting elections for the convicted criminals and introduction of a Model Code of Conduct (MCC) during the elections. However, there still remain certain areas crying for attention.

            First and foremost, one negative offshoot of EVM voting is the fact that the contesting candidates or the political parties get to know as to which polling stations have voted for them and which have not, something which was not possible in the ballot voting system as all the ballot papers of a particular constituency were duly bundled and mixed before they were actually counted. The latter made it well-nigh difficult to figure out the voting trends. However, one can easily find out from the EVM counting process, as it exists, as to which set of voters has favoured a candidate or a political party thereby making it possible to identify the rival voters and victimize them in various ways. It is learnt that ECI has already suggested to the Government of India the introduction of ‘Totalizer’ which would pre-empt any such negative eventuality of witch-hunting the hapless voters for their democratic choices as experienced in many regions of the country.

            The critics feel that ECI’s all effort to cleanse the electoral system of the negative influence of money power goes down the drain once it expects the candidates to spend their own money on election campaigns. Many political parties argue that if the ECI expects a candidate to spend the permissible, within-ceiling amount (Rs. 70 lakh for a Parliamentary constituency and Rs. 28 lakh for an Assembly constituency on an average), then how does it expect them to marshal that money for the campaign. The political parties or the candidates are forced to indulge in corruption and corrupt practices because of the huge financial requirements of an Indian election. That is why, many have suggested that ECI should not only increase these expenditure ceilings which are absurd given the size of the constituency, but they should also be customized to the nature and character of the constituency.

            After all, the expenditure requirements of a rural or urban constituency or a big or small state can’t be the same. Again, while expenditure ceiling for an Assembly constituency is 28 lakhs, it’s a measly 70 lakhs for Parliamentary constituency even though the latter has seven Assembly constituencies comprising it. Hence, these expenditure ceilings need to be staggered and customized after factoring the real expenditure requirements of the different constituencies. A big legal discrepancy here is the fact that even if a contesting candidate exceeds ECI stipulated expenditure ceiling, he/she can’t be disqualified to be a legislator. So, in effect, the expenditure ceiling remains a paper tiger in the ultimate analysis.

            Another long-time but very important proposal has been the state-funding of election expenses of the contesting candidates. While the proposal involves humongous expenditure for a poor, developing country like India but a beginning can definitely be made with respect to election expenses of, at least, recognised national and state parties polling above a certain percentage of votes and meeting such other conditions as may be specified by ECI. Funding of political parties by corporate houses or businesspersons is also quite opaque. This needs to be streamlined and made further transparent for weeding out the influence of ill-gotten money on our elections and for bringing about a level playing field in our electoral system.

            Another incongruity pointed out by the critics is the existence of undemocratic political parties in a democratic country. While all our political parties vouch for democracy and democratic ethos, they themselves run some of the most undemocratic organisations in the country. Most of these parties seldom conduct their organisational elections to elect various functionaries. Organisational positions and posts are handed out as a favour from the party bosses. Entry into a political party’s managerial positions is very opaque. Being dynastic, party functionaries are mostly selected than elected.

            States like Haryana have shown ways by stipulating minimum educational and other qualifications including owning a sanitary toilet for being eligible to contest elections to the local bodies. It has long been argued that similar minimum qualifications, educational or economic, are introduced for our legislators as well. The usual refrain being that if there could be minimum qualification for a peon or a clerk, then why not for our lawmakers who also hold such significant positions like Ministers, Chief Minister or Prime Minister. Even though such a stipulation could bar a huge percentage of our population from participating in electoral politics, a time has definitely come to start debating the advisability of such a qualification.

            The MCC stipulations and norms which ECI so religiously and steadfastly enforces during elections often seem to have gone overboard. Now that elections are stretched over two to three months, the developmental works almost come to a screeching halt. Even though emergent and critical works are allowed but the approval procedures are so rigorous that more often than not many welfare and developmental interests of the common people stand compromised. Hence, it is suggested that all such schemes and programmes which have been announced and budgeted prior to the announcement of elections should be allowed to be executed without any conditions though announcement of new schemes by interim government may continue to be banned. Time has come to trust the wisdom of voters to see through the machinations of the political class to actually tell the chaff from the grain.

            Post-poll violence has come out as another area of concern in recent times. It has often been noticed that voters and workers of opposition or rival factions/parties are victimized once the elections are over. Ergo, it is suggested that not only CPF should continue for, at least, a month after the results are announced, but ECI should also take initiative to evolve an MCC for non-election times so that cadres and workers of political parties coexist peacefully and operate without fear or favour after the elections. Such an MCC should also stipulate against any incendiary or vandalistic politics including holding of strike or bandh, lockout or sit-in (dharna) or destruction of public properties in furtherance of their political interests or demands. It should also be made mandatory for the contesting candidates to ensure the removal of defacement from the private properties which is never done once the elections are over. The Apex Court has already given specific rulings in this regard. The same should be strictly enforced and the onus to compensate against such destructions should be on the organisers of such vandalistic politics.

            Even though paid news are religiously monitored and guarded against as one of the important tenets of MCC, still ECI has found it very difficult to actually identify paid news by a section of the media. Paid or not paid, different media houses often appear to be hugely tied to the coattails of one or the other political party. Some of these media houses have often turned out to be interested players taking clear side of one or the other party. The same could be easily noticed in the way they present or project their stories or news. The wide variations in the projections of an exit or opinion polls or an electoral survey also give a tell-tale hint of their alignment with one or the other political party. Again, ECI’s paid news norms are silent on the party mouthpieces, something which need to be clarified. So, ECI should definitely come out more clearly and strongly against the direct or indirect identification of some media houses with one or the other political party.

            It has been usually noticed that ECI effects a huge number of transfer of officials at various levels in the run-up to the elections. While all these transfers are sought and justified by the opposition parties, the ruling party has often been found to be aggrieved. Often, these transfers have been done just a day or two before the election which, many believe, do not serve the purpose as they come off as mere cosmetic changes. As most of these transfers are made on the basis of unverified complaints, assumptions or presumptions, usually no disciplinary proceedings are initiated against any of these officers. As these officers are never given an opportunity of being heard or explaining themselves, the transfers not only harm their reputation but also violate the tenets of natural justice. The officers transferred are forever tarnished for being aligned or prejudiced and their services are never taken for any future ECI elections because of the chip on their shoulder.

            Another problem noticed during the recent West Bengal elections was regarding proclamation under section 144 Cr.PC during the 48 hours before elections, something which is done in every election. But the way the 144 proclamation was made and enforced during the recent West Bengal Assembly elections, many felt the same was overdone as it almost amounted to curfew on the day of election, much to the detriment of the political interests of many candidates. Those doing 144 announcements were not trained and often gave the impression of a curfew being imposed on the day of poll thereby dissuading many voters from coming out to vote. Coming in the wake of heavy deployment and route marches by CPF, such a move further backfired. ECI definitely needs to think through and evolve a protocol for doing the same more discreetly in future to ward against any such eventuality.

            Compulsory voting has also been recommended by many given the apathy of a substantive number of voters to come out to vote. Many of us are often found cursing the government of the day for doing or not doing a something but we ourselves have been found wanting in shouldering the responsibility bestowed on us by the Constitution of India i.e. exercise of our franchise at the hustings in favour or against a particular candidate which later decides the nature and character of the Government in power.

            Hence, it is argued that voting must be made mandatory and compulsory for the voters to have a more representative government unlike a government ruling on depleted voter support. It is further argued that a candidate should, at least, poll a minimum 51 percent of votes before being declared elected. It is also suggested that since our first past the post system does not reflect the real mandate of the people, hence proportional representation could be toyed with so as to give our parliament a more representative character. So a political parties polling 40 percent votes should have at least 40 percent seats in the legislature. However, critics have warned against such a system because of its complications and unsuitability to the complexities of our plural society.

            In these times of information technology and against a background when the government has the finger and iris prints of all the citizens in the country through Aadhaar Card, it is suggested that ECI should start exploring the possibility of online voting making it possible for more and more Indian nationals to participate in the electoral process from anywhere in the world. At least, the finger and iris prints should soon be implanted in the EPIC cards for removing any possibility of impersonation.

            As the fate of our democracy depends on the efficiency and effectiveness of the election machinery and the level playing field it ensures to the different stakeholders in the system, it is very much advisable that ECI does start discussing and debating some of these reforms in the extant electoral system for making our elections more free, fair and peaceful to the satisfaction of all. One is sure that ECI shall come true to the expectations and faith reposed in it to carry out the task as enshrined in Article 324 of the Indian Constitution.

*The views expressed here are personal and don’t reflect those of the Government.

           

           

            

West Bengal: The Sun Rises in the East

                                                Dr. Saumitra Mohan

                The just concluded elections to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly were unprecedented in more ways than one. While the popular mood of the electorate was more or less known to everyone as also corroborated by the various opinion and exit polls, but the same was overshadowed by the overpitched performances from all the stakeholders as the polls progressed. These elections saw the apex electoral body in a hyperactive avatar which at times appeared unwarranted to many observers. The elections also witnessed diminishing journalistic standards as a section of media compromised its professional ethics by allegedly becoming interested players in the ensuing political game. But one clear winner out of this churning has been our democracy. The loud electoral verdict vindicated Abraham Lincoln who once said, “you can fool some people all the time, all the people some of the time but not all the people all the time”.

          What was most surprising is the fact that the major discourse of the elections this time was dripping with negativity. So, while they kept debating certain negative developments and alleged scams, there was hardly any genuine attempt at dispassionate review of the performance of the reigning dispensation with respect to governance and development to vet and analyse the many developmental initiatives West Bengal saw during the last few years. So, notwithstanding a blinkered judgement about the governmental performance and the consequent electoral outcome by a section of media, the same turned out to be hugely at a variance with the ‘General Will’.

          Now with eggs all over their face, the same carping Cassandras have acknowledged the developmental coup d’état effected in West Bengal during the last five years. West Bengal experienced administrative initiatives such as creation of newer districts and police commissionerates, financial restructuring and rationalisation by way of decentralisation of DDO administration and introduction of Financial Advisor system , introduction of Right to Service Act and Administrative Calendar to ensure time-bound service delivery and an accountable administration, revisitation of rules and laws including introduction of ‘self-attestation and self-declaration’ to spare citizens’ running around for court affidavits or attestation by gazetted officers, improved revenue mobilisation and deepening citizen-government interface through creative e-Governance tools led to improved work culture. The same also became possible due to intensified supervision and monitoring at all levels.

          West Bengal witnessed, perhaps for the first time, a slew of welfare schemes sponsored and funded solely by the state government. Many of these initiatives, schemes and programmes turned out to be pioneering and path-breaking, earning kudos from national and international authorities. Be it agriculture, education, health, infrastructure, social welfare or any other sector, there was a customised scheme for any and every segment of the society thereby making West Bengal probably the lone state where the government benefits under reached almost 100 per cent of the populace.

          While the subsidised Rs. 2/kg rice through its ‘Rajya Khadya Suraksha Yojana’ helped it reach out to the socio-economically weaker sections, scholarship or financial support for the girl child through its ‘Kanyashree’ scheme ensured that we have less and less girls dropping out of the formal education system as reflected in their improved enrolment. Distribution of free cycles, free textbooks and free shoes for the students, 100 percent availability of girls’ toilet in every school (from 49 percent in 2011), 100 percent coverage of MDM (from 65% in 2011), an ITI or a polytechnic in almost every block, more and more primary, upper primary or high schools (six to ten times jump numerically from 2011) , establishment of newer colleges, universities, medical/ engineering colleges and hospitality institutes are some of the shining examples of the interventions made in the education sector.

          Health is another sector which saw massive interventions and infrastructural improvements through such programmes as special niche schemes for the children e.g. ‘Shishu Saathi’, establishment of fair price medicine shops (where costly medicines are made available at almost half their prices), establishment of Sick Newborn Care Units or Sick Newborn Stabilizing Units in almost every block, a number of super-speciality hospitals, Mother and Child Hubs, Intensive and Critical Care Units, Trauma Centres, free diagnostic and medical services for every segment of the society and overall improvement in all services also resulted in improvement of many health indicators including improved immunisation and institutional delivery (from 68% in 2011 to over 90% in 2016) as well as drastic decline in maternal and infant mortality rates.

          The state saw introduction of innovative practices leading to increased agricultural productivity and yield through a well-coordinated backward-forward linkage programme. So while specially-trained manpower provided real-time expert advice to the farmers through a scheme of ‘online expertise sharing’ via computer tablets, the government also came out with special schemes to encourage newer agricultural techniques and practices, resulting in an overall optimism among the farmers. The extension of ‘Kisan Credit Cards’ to more than 80 per cent of the farmers was another extraordinary feat achieved by the state which made agricultural credit easily available to the needy farmers. Establishment of a number of Krishak Bazars or Farmers’ Markets, water harvesting schemes like ‘Jal Dharo Jal Bharo’, new agricultural colleges or more and more farmers’ schools further helped the sector. Besides, the quick disbursal of crop compensation to the farmers who were distressed due to climatic vagaries also kept the agricultural sector buoyant. Similarly, the sector saw further expansion and extension of irrigation potential in the state.

          Distribution of land to hundreds of thousands of landless through its ‘Nijo Griho, Nijo Bhumi’ scheme, welfare schemes for minorities and underprivileged communities including unskilled and semi-skilled labourers, scholarship programmes such as ‘Yuvashree’ and ‘Shikshashree’, a number of pension schemes for various segements, monthly honoraria for folk artists through its ‘Lok Prasar Prakalp’ and many such schemes improved social security of the downtrodden. The state witnessed six times jump in the budgetary allocation for the infrastructural works thereby resulting in huge improvement in connectivity and power scenario of the state. Be it tourism, urban and rural development, animal husbandry, public health engineering, sports or industry, the state has done remarkably better than ever. Humongous amount of hard work has yielded rich dividends by way of greatly improved sanitation status, creation of skilled and unskilled employment for the people and manifold increase in the number of state beneficiaries in the social sector have all got reflected at the hustings.

          But the most striking performance has definitely been in state’s success in changing the face of ‘junglemahal’ or hills where militancy of the naxals or the statehood movement has been almost eliminated. Both the regions are not only peaceful but have also witnessed unprecedented developmental works and improvement in all development indicators. The success of the government on these scores has been acknowledged and lauded by all and sundry. Kolkata, because of the good work done in last few years, not only escaped the ignominy of inclusion in the negative list of dirtiest cities of India, but has also come to be recognised as a much better and more beautiful metropolis than it ever was.

          As a result of improved revenue collection and financial discipline, the state’s capital and agri-rural development expenditure jumped six fold, the plan, physical and social infrastructure expenditure more than trebled thereby making West Bengal clock an economic growth rate of almost 11 percent, 3.5 percent more than the national average. It is really surprising to note that financial support to the industrialists and entrepreneurs is termed ‘incentive’, but expenditure made on social welfare programmes is called ‘populism’ or ‘dole’. Notwithstanding the negativism of the critics, one is sure that West Bengal shall continue to march on the path to development to reclaim its cherished place in the sun.

*The views expressed here are personal and don’t reflect those of the Government.

          

Indo-Bangladesh Relations: Forging Better Ties

                                                                             *Saumitra Mohan

            After the Indo-Bangladesh Land Boundary Agreement (LBA), 1974 finally coming into force on 1^st August, 2015 for the formal exchange of 162 enclaves between them, it was only advisable to further consolidate upon the historical ties by building cascading functional cooperation in other issue areas of mutual interest. The observers feel that the bilateral economic ties between the two continue to be hobbled. There are lingering barriers encouraging illegal trade in many commodities across international borders, resulting in huge revenue loss. The smuggling in cattle and many other items is one glaring example of this.

            Even though there has been substantive infrastructural improvement along borders, there is still a lot to be done. The construction and improvement of Land Customs Station (LCS), setting up of Immigration Centres and further development of Land Port across international borders are emergently required along with procedural simplification for bettering the ease of doing business for the traders of two countries. Direct trade in mutually competitive commodities can eliminate the need to trade the same through a third country.

            The maritime connectivity between the two countries has long been a problem area, with traders having to operate through the ports of Colombo and Singapore. The consensus reached recently on the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for operating smaller river-sea vessels between them is a path-breaking development. It is sure to give a major thrust to the bilateral trade by way of reduced transportation costs and increased trade volume. Contextualised with the recent beginning of the Kolkata-Dhaka-Agartala bus service, this Agreement will further consolidate the gains made thus far.

            Large vessels from the two countries have so far skirted trade through Singapore and Colombo because of marginal profit accruals. Being fairly long routes, the transportation charges and the cost of goods have only increased over the years. The economic ties between the two suffered all these years owing to adverse economies of scale. The movement of cargo across the extant maritime expanse straddling India and Bangladesh was impeded due to unviable sea route. Hence, the need for such an SOP. It is now hoped that the smaller ships will directly connect India’s eastern ports with the Bangladesh ports including Chittagong.

            It is believed that the ensuing competitive freight rates will boost bilateral trade in addition to providing direct trading linkages rather than negotiating the same through a third country. Nevertheless, it is felt that the list of permissible commodities should be expanded to further liberate the trading potential between the two neighbours. The instant agreement opens new vistas in bilateral cooperation by committing both countries to accord same treatment to the other vessels as done to national ones.

            The other highlight of the SOP is that both countries have agreed to use what they call River Sea Vessels (RSV) for coastal shipping. With one trade barrier crossed, it becomes still more imperative to implement the MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) on the use of Mongla and Chittagong ports (Both in Bangladesh) and the dredging of intervening rivers. It is axiomatic that trade cannot flourish if the draft in the upper reaches of rivers is low. A positive beginning has been made but the future growth of bilateral trade will depend on the follow through which is no less critical.

            A cognate subject warranting attention is the border management of common rivers and sharing of their waters including Teesta. But Teesta water sharing, of all issues, has eluded a solution due to domestic political constraints. Foreign policy observers feel that unless the two governments secure the interests of West Bengal farmers, it would be a herculean task to reach a consensus on the issue.

            The menacing pace at which terrorist groups including ISIS, Al Qaida and Taliban have been spreading their tentacles, it won’t be long before they reach our shores. And Bangladesh is no less affected with terrorism. Hence, it is very much advisable for the two governments to start coordinating their acts for wide-ranging bilateral cooperation.

            Drug trafficking in the border areas has lately emerged as a major concern as it is this activity which finances many terror groups across the world. Such Narco-terrorism not only targets our youths, but also weakens the societal bonding by spreading disaffection. India has greatly succeeded in extirpating the menace of poppy cultivation, a major source of drug money, in its border areas but poppy cultivation in Bangladesh remains a worry. Given the regular movement of militants across their international borders, a reinforced Extradition Policy for the exchange of prisoners languishing in each others’ jails will suit the security interests of both. The recent extradition of Anup Chetia from Bangladesh is a positive development in this direction.

            A list of prisoners was exchanged during a recent high level meeting between the two countries. The Bangladeshi authorities handed over a list of Indians in Bangladesh jails and received a list of Bangladeshi nationals in Indian correctional homes. The two countries need to coordinate their acts to forge a common strategy including coordinated sharing of intelligence to deal with these problems.

            During an Indo-Bangladesh conclave at Siliguri in January 2015, problems including poppy cultivation, cattle smuggling and management of common rivers were discussed. Survey, construction, repair of missing border pillars and continuation of periodic BGB-BSF flag meetings on a regular basis was also discussed during the talks. The newly introduced quarterly meetings are also to be convened at the DM and DC levels.

            There is yet another issue meriting attention of the two regimes namely the protection of Sunderbans. As a natural heritage site shared by India and Bangladesh, Sunderbans has long been awaiting a coordinated endeavour to avoid the ecological disaster in the offing. The rising sea level precipitated by global warming has been gobbling large chunks of lush and verdant mangroves of Sunderbans. Experts fear that a day may soon come when both India and Bangladesh will have to redraw their maps as they lose their lands to the sea. Consequently, the world will lose one of the largest biosphere reserves functioning as air purifier.

            Apart from the looming territorial loss, thousands of people would lose their homes and hearths and the Royal Bengal Tiger will face extinction. The littoral cities like Calcutta and Khulna are likely to be ravaged by frequent natural disasters including cyclones, unseasonal rains or prolonged dry spells if these mangroves continue to vanish. A premonition of this was given by the cyclone Aila, which caused large-scale devastation in West Bengal and Bangladesh in 2009..

            Against this background, it is heartening to know that both India and Bangladesh have started coordinating their efforts for saving Sunderbans. Reportedly, both countries have already submitted their proposals at the Climate Change Summit in Paris recently for tackling the impending crisis. Experts, who have long been voicing their concerns over Sunderbans, have welcomed the development. However, any effort to protect the heritage mangroves must begin with the local people. An inclusive and holistic approach, which addresses the ecological imperatives of the region while simultaneously cushioning the inhabitants, has to be visualised.

            The exchange of enclaves was only one the many border issues resolved, but  the yet undemarcated borders in many sectors along their borders is another issue requiring attention. The survey, construction and repair of missing border pillars including exchange of cadastral survey (CS) records between their bordering districts are some of the tasks which need to be taken up with despatch. Be it noted that some CS records of Bangladeshi Dinajpur district are in Indian South Dinajpur and some CS records of Indian South Dinajpur district are in Bangladeshi Dinajpur. It is heartening to note that the two countries have been coordinating their acts for some time now over many outstanding issues to develop a dynamic bilateral cooperation in many issue areas of mutual interest.

*The views expressed here are personal and don’t reflect those of the Government.          

Reviewing The Enclave Exchange

                                                                                                                *Dr. Saumitra Mohan

            Boundaries between nation states are reflections of the interplay of the forces of history, politics and wars but oftentimes they could be simply a manifestation of a shoddy and hasty job as transpired in the wake of recommendations of the Boundary Commission led by Sir Cyril Radcliffe. The malformed borders between India and Pakistan became a curse for the people living in the enclaves between India and Pakistan or Bangladesh since 1971. Even though the enclave residents did not leave their homes and hearths, they, however, lost their countries. They lived in territories legally belonging to India, but never qualified as Indian citizens. The same happened to the people who lived on Pakistani and subsequently, Bangladeshi territory but would have none of the citizenship rights.

            They were not stateless people in terms of international law of territorial sovereignty, but that was merely a cold comfort for them. They had no access to the laws or services of the land to which they technically belonged. The piquant situation created an ontological crisis for these people sans the benefits of citizenship and sans the protection of the state. With the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) of 1974 between India and Bangladesh finally coming into force on 1^st August this year, the historical hardship for the people living in 51 Bangladeshi and 111 Indian enclaves eventually came to an end.

            The enclaves were exchanged on the midnight of 31^st July this year. The Indian flags were hoisted at midnight to mark the historic moment.  A total of 111 Indian enclaves with an area of 17158 acres inside Bangladesh became Bangladeshi mainland and 51 Bangladeshi enclaves with an area of 7110 acres within Indian Cochbehar district of West Bengal became official Indian Territory. In practical terms, it simply meant that the boundaries around these little pockets of foreign land disappeared as they merged with the host countries.

            Against expectations of around 13,000 people in 111 Indian enclaves moving into India, only 979 or .02 per cent of the 37,000 dwellers in these enclaves inside Bangladesh plumped for the Indian citizenship during the joint survey conducted by the two countries. This was surprising given the attraction for Indian citizenship among Bangladeshi citizens. Many of these residents in Indian enclaves in Bangladesh who wanted to become Indian citizens were disappointed as they were allegedly threatened and intimidated against opting for the Indian citizenship by the Jamaat-e-Islami in Bangladesh. In stark contrast, all the 14,854 people staying on Indian soil in Bangladeshi enclaves have sought Indian citizenship.

            Indian political leaders belonging to several parties have made strong allegation regarding several thousand residents in Indian enclaves in Bangladesh being unable to exercise their option freely owing to intimidation by extremist organisations. They have also pointed to a methodological hitch during the joint survey resulting in flawed results. A list of over 5,500 people, who were left out of the purview of the survey, has been submitted to the state government recently. Already, over 2000 of these left out Bangladeshi enclave dwellers who always wanted to opt for the Indian nationality but could not do so during the joint survey in Indian enclaves due to assorted reasons including extremist threats, recently submitted their applications to the Indian authorities praying for Indian citizenship.

            “But nobody knows what will be the fate of those people, who want to quit Indian enclaves and settle in India but failed to enrol their names during the recent census,” said an Indian official. Though the matter was discussed among the officials associated with the Joint Working Group (JWG) in the meeting held in Dhaka on 23^rd July this year, nothing has yet been finalised as to how this section of people will be able to register their names. A group belonging to the United Council for Indian Enclave (UCIE) helped in the collection of applications from those sufferers who want to settle in the Indian part but whose names don’t figure in the joint survey list.

            Members of the India Bangladesh Joint Working Group examined the complaints lodged by Indian politicians against the procedural problems as were faced during the joint survey in Indian enclaves. The survey conducted through 6-16 July, 2015 was part of the Land Boundary Agreement-1974 to exchange the enclaves. Officials of both the countries held a meeting in Dhaka on 23^rd July, 2015 to review and finalize the report as collected during the said joint survey in 162 enclaves. The crucial meeting discussed the modalities for exchanging information including the land records and the respective list of families opting for the two countries.

            Even as S K Chakraborty, the Assistant Registrar General of India and a member of the India-Bangladesh Joint Working Group, claimed that people in the Indian enclaves had no grievances despite reports that they were allegedly deprived of their right to choose their nationality, a human rights organisation has said that it has collected many examples of such deprivation and that it has intimated the matter through letters to the Prime Ministers of both India and Bangladesh. Copies of the same have also been forwarded to the Chiefs of the National Human Rights Commission of both the countries and other Indian officials.

            The Manabadhikar Surakhsha Manch (MASUM), a human rights organisation based in West Bengal, has alleged that the Joint Working Group had not functioned transparently during the survey. ‘They created a few procedural complications to exclude or include names whimsically,’ it alleged. ‘Procedural violations, omissions and commissions of duty have raised questions over the legalities and state’s accountability. It will again put thousands of enclave dwellers in a stateless situation’, they added. MASUM has also urged the authorities concerned to recall that India and Bangladesh both have taken a voluntary pledge before the UN Human Rights Commission to protect and promote human rights for all.

            Subsequent to the enclave exchange, many of these residents who opted for the Indian citizenship have been visiting India for an exposure visit on receipt of a multi-visa for their families from the Indian High Commission to make preparation for permanently settling in India as well as to interact with close friends and relatives here. As their citizenship related formality still remains to be completed, all of them are to pay over Rs. 500 taka against the travel pass issued to them at Changrabandha and Burimari immigration check posts in Cooch Behar as admissible for a foreigner. All these enclave dwellers who have opted for the Indian nationality are supposed to finally leave Bangladesh during November.

            Both India and Bangladesh have agreed to their exposure visit to India as part of their preparations for permanent settlement in India as has also been allowed for those who have opted for Bangladeshi citizenship. All these citizens are being issued travel passes to visit anywhere in India to finalize their settlement plan. As per the agreement, the Indian government will bear all the cost of transportation when they eventually arrive in November from different Indian enclaves, which have now been incorporated into Bangladesh.

            The local administration has been directed to provide with food and shelter for the new Indian nationals. The visits are also being facilitated by a non-governmental organisation called the United Council of Indian Enclave as it has maintained a liaison all along between the new nationals and the administrative officials. During their interactions with the Indian officials, these dwellers have pleaded for taking up the land sale matter with the Bangladeshi government for getting the right price for their lands.

            Having waited over six decades for the establishment of their citizenship rights, these enclave residents still have to grapple with many of the existential problems before finally settling down in India. The foremost among them is to find a reasonable price for their farm and homestead lands. Most of these problems arising out of enclave exchange between the two countries were discussed in detail during an interaction between the delegations of Bangladesh and India at Siliguri in January this year as well as during the Dhaka interactions as mentioned above. The Government of India is said to have earmarked Rs 3000 crores for the liabilities and responsibilities arising out of the exchange of enclaves. The fund shall be used not only for the rehabilitation of the people moving into India but also for carrying out various development works in these enclaves.

            These developmental works and activities will be almost like laying out a virgin country, for no government agency has ever existed in any of these enclaves. Schools, colleges, hospitals, police stations, roads – everything will have to be created for the welfare of the people in them. As per the Notification issued by the State Government, a land survey has been conducted in the erstwhile enclave areas to officially demarcate and delineate their geographical status vis-a-vis bordering Indian areas. In case of small patches of land accrued, these will be integrated into the existing mouzas, the smallest cartographical entity on India’s map. In case of big stretches, e.g. a big enclave, a new mouza will be created. This will be followed by their incorporation into the extant panchayat system.  The new areas will also need to be allocated police stations and post offices. In some cases new police stations or post offices will have to be formed.

            Another tricky area relates to the redistribution of land among the individual owners as per their entitlement as figured out during the joint survey done for the purpose. As they leave for their new country, they also seek corresponding return of their lands as owned in the erstwhile enclaves but have no supporting papers. Most of these residents have lived in enclaves with forged and false identity documents.  

            The basic principle of land allocation namely ‘possession backed by documents’ or ‘documents backed by possession’ may prove tricky, especially if one person’s claim is contested by another. Hence, a big challenge pertains to identity verification of the incoming Indian citizens. The residents in many cases don’t have any legal papers in support of their claims or to prove their identity.  The processing of identities will, therefore, be an onerous task which would require careful handling because the same has serious implication for the national security.

            The government will also need to keep some land aside for the sundry developmental activities including infrastructures, school buildings, anganwadis, health centres, roads, space for electricity lines and water supply. The same would also require the consent of the residents in these areas. The entire rehabilitation work is going to be a long-drawn complicated and humongous task, requiring intricate planning and execution. The Indian government shall also need to factor the concerns of the incoming young citizens whose educational interests would warrant safeguarding. The local administration would have to ensure continuation of their education in India as per their eligibility and requirements.

             The Indian law enforcing agencies including the Border Security Force (BSF) heaved a sigh of relief as the enclaves were finally exchanged between the two countries. According to sources, the Bangladeshi enclaves on the Indian side had become safe havens for the Indian criminals who would often take shelter therein after committing a crime in the Indian Territory. Technically being a foreign territory, the BSF and other Indian officials found it difficult to enter and take any action against these anti-social elements. The Indian law enforcing agencies including BSF and local police authorities are now relieved as they can crack down on the criminals in the enclaves now that these areas have legally come under total Indian control.

            Besides, there are many other issues which need serious attention of the two countries as discussed during the July conclave between the two countries.           The newly introduced quarterly meetings would now be convened on a regular basis at the levels of District Magistrate and Collector of the two countries bordering these enclaves. The flag meetings on a regular basis as per a mutually agreed calendar of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and BSF have also been institutionalized. The success in the enclaves issue has its lessons for leaders of both the countries. They need to realize that India Bangladesh relations should no longer be held hostage to their domestic politics.

            There are other issues that the two countries need to resolve. They inter alia include poppy cultivation in border areas, cattle smuggling, construction and improvement of land customs station and land port, movement of militants along the border, sharing intelligence to curb the menace of terrorism, women trafficking, illegal arms smuggling, exchange of prisoners languishing in each others’ jails, setting up immigration centres at the border, survey, construction and repair of missing border pillars, exchange of Cadastral Survey records (Some CS records of Bangladeshi Dinajpur district are in Indian South Dinajpur and some CS records of South Dinajpur of West Bengal are in Bangladeshi Dinajpur.), export-import issues, promotion of tourism, border management of common rivers and sharing of their waters including that of Teesta.  A new bus service between the two countries has already started.

            Both India and Bangladesh must continue to show more of the pragmatism that made the exchange of enclaves ultimately possible though it took the two countries 41 years to complete the job of enclave exchange has much to do with the changes in Indo-Bangladesh ties over the years. One hopes that the relationship between the two countries shall only grow stronger on the strength of the recent warmth as emerging in the wake of resolution of the enclave exchange issue. The flagging of a new bus service between the two countries is only one of the many positive breakthroughs waiting to be made as a result of the new-found bonhomie between them.

*The views expressed here are personal and don’t reflect that of the Government.

The Beef Battle: Nation-Building in Danger

                                                                                                *Saumitra Mohan

            I am a Hindu and I love to proclaim as much. My family taught me to relish Hindu non-vegetarian delicacies since my childhood and I continue doing so with lip-smacking panache. In my puerile iconoclastic bid to establish my credentials as an enlightened and liberal Hindu, I have tried my hand at consuming both the Indian political meat namely beef and pork. However, I failed miserably in my foolhardy gastronomic expeditions by throwing up every time I attempted. My own increasing disenchantment with non-vegetarian food notwithstanding, the fact remains that one’s affection for something as basic as food can’t be changed overnight. But as a sovereign citizen of a modern liberal democracy, it is me who has taken all my decisions regarding ways to please my palate.

            So, what has lately become fashionable in this country is not in order and definitely not legitimate. Article 48 of the Indian Constitution says, “...the State shall take steps for preserving and improving the breeds, and prohibiting the slaughter, of cows and calves and other milch and draught cattle.” So, the Constitution actually does not talk only about prohibiting slaughter of cows, but also of other milch and draught cattle whose meat is relished by the Hindus. So, those asking for banning beef because it is mentioned in the Constitution should demand equal prohibition for other milch and draught cattle including goat and buffaloes. A country whose citizens’ nutritional and employment status is already compromised just can’t afford to ban meat eating of one or the other kind.

            Pandit Thakur Dass Bhargava who suggested article 48 relating to cow slaughter in the Constituent Assembly had said, “I do not want that, due to its inclusion in the Fundamental Rights, non-Hindus should complain that they have been forced to accept a certain thing against their will.” As the founding fathers of our Constitution did not want to force a decision on citizens, the end result of the debate in the Constituent Assembly was Article 48 in its extant form as one of the Directive Principles of State Policy. The Supreme Court in several cases including Mohd. Hanif Qureshi v. State of Bihar (AIR 1959 SCR 629), Hashumatullah v. State of Madhya Pradesh, Abdul Hakim and others v. State of Bihar (AIR 1961 SC 448) and Mohd. Faruk v. State of Madhya Pradesh has ruled against a total ban on cattle slaughter on grounds of public interest. Though there is a lack of uniformity among provincial laws governing cattle slaughter, no state law explicitly bans the consumption of beef.

            Almost all the Committees and Commissions, formed from time to time, including Cattle Preservation and Development Committee (1947-48), Uttar Pradesh Committee (1948), Nanda Committee on the Prevention of Slaughter of Milch Cattle in India (1954-55), Gosamvardhan Committee (1960) and Special Committee on Preserving High-Yielding Cattle (1961-62) have recommended against the ban on cattle slaughter including beef on one or the other ground. The Nanda Committee felt that ‘measures like legislative ban on slaughter and cruelty or salvage of animals...will only be treating the symptoms and not curing the disease’ and recommended against a total ban on slaughter of cattle. It, inter alia, reasoned that, as India had little fodder and cattle feed, it could only maintain 40 percent of its cattle and, therefore, the remaining 60 percent should be culled.

            As a religion, Hinduism does not prohibit meat eating. Historians claim that ancient Hindus including Vedic Brahmins, Buddhists and even early Jains used to consume meat including beef. Old scriptures including Manusmriti and Arthashastra have been quoted to confirm this. Renowned historian D N Jha, in his book, ‘Myth of the Holy Cow’ has talked extensively about beef eating by ancient Hindus. Historians have suggested that the Hindus stopped eating beef as a cultural assertion and reaction to the presence of beef-eating rulers of the times than for any religious reason.

            Arguably, if beef eating is bad just because cow is treated holy by Hindus, then the same reason hold for many other animals treated as holy or non-eatable by other communities. If bruised sentiments of a section of Hindus could be the ground for banning beef, then eating meat of other animals including chicken, goat, buffaloes, lamb, pig et al should also be banned as they too hurt the sensibilities of the vegetarians. Stretching it further, we should also not eat garlic, onions or tuberous vegetables because the same is forbidden to be eaten by a section of the Hindus and Jains. And if the ground for ban is to stop killing a living being for food, we should actually not be eating any botanical products as they too have life if we were to believe Jagdishchandra Basu. So, if religion be the ground for banning one or the other food item, there would hardly be anything left for us to eat.

            One wonders whether these people approve of ‘animal eating animal’ or a ‘tiger killing a cow’ if we were to continue stretching the argument. After all, as per Hinduism every living being has God in it; so none is supposed to kill and eat anyone for food. Mind you we Hindus believe that nothing happens without God’s desire. So, the loony fringe has to understand that the nature’s food cycle has also been willed and designed by Him. Theologically speaking, if we were to believe that it is the Almighty God who has designed every detail in this universe, then it must be the God who made the human being a carnivore otherwise he would not have created the possibility of humans eating meat product.

            At a time, when we are talking about ‘minimum government, maximum governance’, venturing into prescribing food for the citizens would actually translate into ‘micro-governance’. Important political leaders and intellectuals including the Prime Minister have rightly denounced the intolerant behaviour of a section of Indians including the recent Dadri lynching. However, return of state awards by litterateurs and artistes is not the right approach; the intellectuals should rather speak up against such deviant behaviour by some Indians rather than indulging in tokenism and symbolism because the awards were actually given on behalf of the country that the government represents.

            The intemperate and revolting statements like, ‘beef eaters have no place in this country’ have the potential to balkanize this country because finding a country for more than 20 crore Indians (including many Hindus who eat beef) would be a herculean task. So we are left with no choice but to cut a piece from our body politic to create a new country. Maybe this is the unfinished agenda of partition that these people are referring to. Again, it is such intolerant statements and behaviour, as on display in recent times across the country, which create disaffection in a section of our citizenry and negatively compromise our doddering nation-building process. Thankfully, the ‘loony fringe’ remains what it is namely ‘loony’ and ‘fringe’; the predominant majority still remains embedded in the Constitutional ideals of liberal pluralism to cushion our ‘salad bowl’ culture.

            Amidst all this nonsensical controversies, if the self-proclaimed defender of the faith were to do something for our milch and draught cattle including cows, I would only request them to ensure that this country has more and more scientific slaughter house with hygienic conditions, something we sorely need. Battle of the beef, if at all it is to be waged, could be better fought scientifically and ideologically by proving the benefits of vegetarianism rather than dictating people what they ought to eat. For the moment, we definitely have much greater issues to be preoccupied with. The very fact that we are still mired in such mindless debates only shows that our nation-building project is still far from complete. India’s existence as a nation-state very much depends on the outcome of this ideological churning we are going through.

*The views expressed here are personal and don’t reflect those of the Government.

How Civil is Our Civil Society?

*Dr. Saumitra Mohan

India has slowly and steadily been growing as a modern state. However, we are still far from being a country that our forefathers visualized, a vision aptly enshrined in the lofty ideals of our Constitution. The most sacred document of the Indian Republic envisaged India to be a sovereign, socialist, secular and democratic republic which would secure to its citizens justice, liberty, equality and fraternity. We have all these traits in the extant Indian state, but given the state of affairs today, cynics find each of them to have been hugely compromised.

            As citizens of the largest democracy, we desire them all but flinch from doing anything as are expected of its people. While government, politicians and bureaucrats are the favourite punching bags of almost everyone, we definitely lack the character to deserve the honour of living up to our Constitutional ideals by repeatedly engaging in conduct unbecoming of a ‘great nation’. Many observers hold poor value education to be the parent reason for a poor national character which focuses on self-aggrandizement at the expense of the community. A sense of duty is conspicuous by its absence in a predominant majority of our civil society. People are usually apathetic when it comes to their duties vis a vis the country.

            Today, venality and crimes as rampant in our society definitely don’t offend our sensibilities. This is very much reflected in the iterated returns of many lawmakers with criminal background as they are supposed to be treated as such till proved guilty. People see absolutely no problem with the same. In fact, such people are often admired and idolized. There is a general love for mediocrity or easy success which leads most of us to seek refuge in short-cuts through reservations or nepotistic politics as the movements of Jats, Gujjars or Patels demonstrate. While the Supreme Court, in a welcome judgement, recently quashed as unconstitutional section 8 (4) of the Representation of the People Act (RPA) that protected the membership of an MP or MLA if he or she files an appeal within three months of conviction, there still remain many grey areas which compromise the said landmark judgement.

            While the common citizens often excoriate the powers that be for their involvement with various public wrongs, there are innumerable instances where citizens themselves have been found to be engaging in dubious acts given an opportunity. One has come across several instances where citizens unduly pocket wages under the employment guarantee scheme without any work, where government grants for housing are not utilized for the original purpose or where people granted government funds for a particular purpose seldom used the same for the purpose allotted. We regale ourselves by indulging in vandalism of government properties or by enforcing a crippling strike or ‘bandh’ to finagle a demand.

            Today, a mob of ten to twenty persons are sufficient to sabotage a positive initiative. There are organised cartels of middlemen who flourish on these systemic weaknesses by masterminding encroachment of government properties. They also ensure sabotage of a well-conceived government initiative in collusion and connivance with the entrenched vested interests. The system being opaque and byzantine, the common citizen has to run from pillar to post before she gets her rightful due but definitely not before a few palms have been greased. A common citizen still finds it difficult to get her way through the complicated mumbo jumbo in a government office to obtain a particular service. However, the same citizen would not forgo an opportunity to tweak the system if she has an opportunity.

            We have internalized spitting, littering, open defecation and urination as our birthrights. Someone rightly said, tongue firmly in cheek, that an Indian can’t resist the sight of a wall though observers would also point towards the dearth of sufficient number of public conveniences across the length and breadth of this country. But even where there are, we resist using them to save a penny or two. As a nation, we don’t want to be subjected to any regulation to prevent us from indulging in these civic improprieties though we are usually at our behavioural best while abroad.

            We admire better hygiene and better traffic discipline abroad, but would breach the same back home at the first instance. We condemn our system for churning out unemployed youths, but don’t like working hard to acquire knowledge. There have rather been numerous instances where students have demanded their right to copy in an examination. It is the same discards who later become a burden as they fail to acquire a skill with employability. Rights are forcefully demanded, but duties are detested.

            As citizens of a functioning democracy, we love populist policies and government bounties. Free electricity, free Wifi, free water, free books, free housing, free transport, free health facilities, free education and et al are some of the things we always desire the state to be providing its citizens and we take them for granted. One does not mind as long as they are provided to the deserving sections of society, but problem starts when undeserving segments try to corner these benefits through devious means. Not only that, after we get these government-provided benefits, we care two hoots for using the same responsibly. So wasting water, electricity or prostituting any free service is our favourite pastime. It is this want of deference for public resources that come back to haunt us through poor infrastructures as symptomatic of a backward country.  

            We want the State to be prompt and efficient in its service delivery but conscientized citizens of the same State, we ourselves would not do our bit wherever applicable to ensure the same. They forget that it is the people who make the country and not the other way round. We resent nepotism and favouritism in government service delivery, but would not mind peddling influence to seek undue favours through communitarian favouritism or in other inappropriate ways as are usually experienced in an underdeveloped country. The proposed plans to develop smart cities would prove still-born if we don’t have smart citizens who would be willing to make expected sacrifices for a dignified living.

            We underreport our income and consequently underpay our taxes but we resent it when the government complains of resource crunch to provide for the basic amenities. Digging the road for a private purpose, piling building materials or shop stuffs on public roads, tapping of water sources or electricity is a common sight in this country but the same people would complain of congested roads, contaminated water or load-shedding without realizing that it is their selfish actions which are affecting the qualities of many of these services.

            Observers feel that notwithstanding a huge number of laws and rules, the corresponding enforcement continues to be problematic. While you pay a hefty 1000 dollar fine for littering in a developed country or for a traffic violation, you can get away without any penalty in India through various ‘desi jugad’ (influence-peddling). Sometimes, the systemic imperfections also hamstring the functioning of rule of law in this country as the law-abiding citizens have no ways to get their rightful dues. Today, hundreds of thousands of applications for a fire license or a building plan are allegedly pending in different government offices for aeons, unless you decide to pass on the speed money to those in the gravy train.

            Many services in the government today are rightly being outsources for the inability to deliver the same to the citizens in a timely, transparent and efficient manner. Similarly, many other critical services with substantive time and cost overruns including passing a building plan or issuance of a statutory license should also be outsourced with detailed oversight mechanism. Information technology need to be suitably harnessed for provisioning of most of these services as already being done for various types of government services. E-governance is definitely the way to the future.

Till the citizens understand and appreciate their responsibilities, as a country, we shall continue to grovel in the dust. One only hopes that we shall soon awaken as a nation by acting as responsible citizens of a great nation that we want to be otherwise the time may soon run out on us.

*The views expressed here are personal and don’t reflect those of the Government.