We wrote last fortnight about Amar Singh’s plans to raise little pockets of revolution all across Uttar Pradesh to add fuel to the separate-statehood demands. His plan of hurting his one-time mentor, Mulayam Singh, is something akin to cutting your nose to spite your face: he wants to carve up UP into four to six smaller states and reduce Mulayam to being just a leader of one of them. This is exactly the plan of Mayawati also, so we were wondering how Amar’s plans tied in so neatly with Mayawati’s. That’s now clear. Amar is looking for various places to go; and though Mayawati’s BSP is unlikely to be the place he will land up in, there is no doubt now, after Amar’s open expression of sympathies for Mayawati, that the latter is only too happy to help Amar in whatever he can do to hurt Mulayam. Amar Singh’s nuisance value is high. That is why he will find a party to go to sooner or later.
Freeloader Chief Ministers
In these days of the retail boom, buy-one-get-three-free is a common offer. But Meghalaya has extended this bargain offer even to the high office of the chief minister. The Congress Party here has a new mantra for insuring its government in this politically unstable state: elect one chief minister, get three free! Yes, politicians have often made a mockery of the Constitution earlier but none worse than what has happened here. This tiny state has four chief ministers—one chief minister who is the chief minister and three others who love to play ‘office-office’ at the expense of the taxpayers. The Constitution has place for only one chief minister but Meghalaya needs more room at the top. So, DD Lapang, the constitutionally elected chief minister, has elevated three others to the ‘rank’ of chief minister, just to massage their ego and prevent them from pulling the rug from under his feet. The three chief ministers who are not actually chief ministers but cost the taxpayer equally (they get the same security and perks as the real one) are Meghalaya Congress chief Friday Lyngdoh, State Planning Board chairman, Donkupar Roy, and Economic Development Council chairman, JD Rymbai. This came to light when Mr Lyngdoh was elevated to the post recently. Sonia Gandhi’s Congress, which makes a great show of austerity by flying cattle class, apparently has different rules for Meghalaya. When the news broke in Delhi on 1st February, the Party’s normally aggressive spokesman, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, was sheepish.
“I agree this is relatively unusual. But it is a small state and has political instability. We hope their shoulders (those who have taken the decision) are broad enough to bear the political cost, if any.” But he explained that there was, indeed, only one chief minister (Mr Lapang); the others were just dummies with the same perks but not the powers of the chief minister. “They (others given the rank of CM) do not have the jurisdiction to take decisions of a chief minister. The decision-making is with the CM,” he said. So, what do they do through the day, Mr Singhvi? Play ping-pong with people’s money? Freeloaders!
Supreme Dodge
The Chief Justice of India (CJI) KG Balakrishnan might have run out of ideas on how to keep the office of the CJI and the Supreme Court out of the purview of the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The Delhi High Court has twice turned down the apex court’s plea to keep the menace called RTI out the door and the CJI is on record saying that he will not go in appeal. That does not necessarily mean daylight is shining on the Supreme Court and everything will now be transparent. Savour this example: LK Batra, a resident of Noida, read the CJI’s comments on 11 December 2009 that the pendency of cases in India would cause the litigant to revolt and the system to crumble. Upon this, he moved an application in the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court seeking to know the number of cases year-wise since 2007 where arguments have been concluded but judgements reserved. The High Court promptly replied. It said there were 6, 4 and 367 such cases awaiting judgement since 2007, 2008 and 2009, respectively. Not used to being questioned, the Supreme Court Registry just bounced the query saying it does not keep such records! If it is true that the Supreme Court does not keep such records, it is a shame. If it is not true and the Court is just dodging answers, it is a greater shame. Either way, it is high time the Supreme Court Registry realised that the era of opacity is over. Let the light in, Justices; let the light in.
Just What the Babus Love…
Many ministers are upset with prime minister Manmohan Singh’s grading system for measuring the performance of departments under their charge. Ministers heading about 60 ministries and departments were summoned with their secretaries to the PMO in early December 2009 to agree on certain goals and parameters to measure their performance. Every secretary signed something like a ‘memorandum of understanding’ and every minister countersigned it. The document is called Result Framework Document (RFD), prepared by the Performance Management Division set up in the Cabinet Secretariat. The RFD is based on the recommendations of the Second Administrative Reforms Commission that laid stress on performance and accountability. This, the PM feels, will make the ministries commit to the government’s agenda both administratively and politically and make them shift focus from process-orientation to result-orientation. The ministries have to list their programmes and deadlines on their respective website by April 15 every year to allow people to judge their performance at the end of the year. How the prime minister uses people’s verdict on the targets displayed on the ministries’ websites is not clear, but the bureaucrats’ committee will be giving marks by measuring progress in implementation of targets. The marking system is: Excellent–100%, Very good–90%, Good–80%, Fair–70% and Poor–60%. For performance below 60%, the ministry will get a big zero. All that’s fine, but why are ministers upset with this exercise that might end up as one of the many well-meaning ones to tone up the administration? Because, the ministers think that the final decision on rankings is left to the bureaucrats. Some ministers have already started saying that the RFD will just be duplicating the work of the Delivery Monitoring Unit set up in the PMO to oversee implementation of ‘flagship programmes, new initiatives and iconic projects’. The babus are, of course, delighted. Duplicate, triplicate… just what they do every day!
MPs Need a Variety of Food for Thought
For decades, our honourable members of Parliament have feasted on the idli-dosa-sambar from the canteen in the Central Hall of Parliament building. Politicians, bureaucrats and senior journalists can’t stop talking about how good the food there is. The canteen has been run by the catering wing of the railway ministry all these years but, with Parliament getting younger (there are more young MPs in this Parliament than at any time before), the demand for a multi-cuisine menu has been growing. The babalog (as the young ’uns are called) will soon have it their way. From the session coming up shortly, the old kitchen is being spruced up and even a public-private-partnership (PPP) is being considered to end the railway ministry’s monopoly. Big brands from Delhi will most likely get to serve the honourable members. The General Purposes Committee of the Lok Sabha is likely to take up this issue in its March 2010 meeting. Even MPs need good food for good thought. Happy munching!
BV Rao has wide experience across print, TV and digital media. He was group editor at ZEE News and senior editor with DNA and Indian Express.
