The Hindu : Readers' Mail

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jan 26, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Readers' Mail

Foreign origin

Sir, -- Many nations have now accepted and honoured able leaders as their prime ministers and presidents irrespective of their origin of birth or parent country. There are innumerable examples of people of Indian origin, who have adorned, and still adorn, top positions in their adopted countries. We Indians have felt proud to see the photograph of the Prime Minister, A.B. Vajpayee, presenting the Pravasi Samman to the President of Guyana, Bharat Jagdeo, during the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, published in all newspapers.

Mr. Jagdeo, a distinguished person of Indian origin, has been accepted by the people of his adopted country as their president. We have seen Mahender Choudhary as the prime minister of Fiji. Likewise there are many such distinguished sons of Indian origin who are living as prominent leaders in countries like the US, Canada, Britain; who are all judged by the people of their adopted countries only on their abilities and leadership qualities, and not by their country of origin.

The case of Parvez Musharraf, who was born in Delhi, and L.K. Advani, who born in Sindh in Pakistan, can also be linked to this chain of events. Moreover the public is aware of the fact that no prime minister or president can function even for a single day without the support of his Cabinet and Parliament, who are there to guard the interests of the country.

How then can BJP leaders and their friends like George Fernandes, Chandrababu Naidu, P.A. Sangma or Mulayam Singh Yadav find fault with the origin of Sonia Gandhi, when their leader Mr. Vajpayee is congratulating a person of Indian origin, Mr.Jagdev who is now the president of a foreign country, Guyana?

Or do these NDA leaders advise our Pravasi brethern that they should not take active part in the politics of their adopted countries.

This clearly shows the double standards adopted by the NDA leaders not only on this subject but also in all walks of life. The public is well acquainted with their gimmicks and different masks they use for different occasions. The recent survey conducted by a reputed weekly, has clearly shown that the public no more considers the foreign origin of Ms. Gandhi as an issue. A nation of 100 crore people cannot be fooled for long by gimmicks, lies and manipulations through the media. Now after the Supreme Court verdict, the foreign origin issue has no validity at all. At the same time the fact is that the one who is capable of upholding the secular democratic nature of this nation will surely be counted.

M.O. Simon,

President, RWA,

Pocket A, Dilshad Garden,

Delhi -110 095.

* * *

Elusive `copy'

Sir, -- When a dispute in a cooperative society is referred to the Office of the Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Parliament Street, New Delhi, a summons is issued to both parties. The summons says: "Whereas a dispute u/s 60 of the Delhi Cooperative Societies Act, 1972, has been referred against you, a copy of which is enclosed...."

Invariably, however, the summons arrives without a copy of the complaint. The hapless defendant, at a loss what it is about, has to make several anxious trips to the office to find out what exactly is the matter.

Claiming to include something in a letter and not including it is not acceptable among common citizens. It is less so in a semi-judicial establishment. My protests to the office to improve matters have so far yielded no results.

The Registrar's office claims in its website that it is making efforts towards transparency. This is, perhaps, one aspect it could immediately look into.

Arthur Monteiro,

NII, Xavier Apartments,

Saraswati Vihar,

Delhi - 110 034.

* * *

In different league

Sir, -- this is in response to the letter, `No statesman' by M. Hashim Kidwai (dated January 11). I think Mr Kidwai will agree that politicians are judged by the surroundings in which they work. Keeping this in mind if we apply Mr Kidwai's parameters to qualify as a statesman on Mr. Vajpayee, he passes them with aplomb.

First, he is a man of broad vision and has the interests of the country over everything. This could be gauged from the fact that despite RSS' consistent efforts for a medium scale war with the Pakistan, Mr. Vajpayee has not only carried on with the peace initiative not only with Pakistan but China despite the Kargil and Parliament attack setbacks.

And if this, according to Mr Kidwai, amounts to being a US camp follower then the man has deftly handled Uncle Sam's arm-twisting measures and pressures from his own party to evolve a national consensus on not sending armed forces to Iraq.

India under Indira Gandhi, who comes under Mr Kidwai's definition of a follower of an independent foreign policy regime, was among the first to recognise the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. And we all know Nehru and Rajiv Gandhi's abject failure to read the pulse of Kashmiris, Chinese and Sri Lankan Tamils despite repeated warnings from experts and close friends.

This is what puts Mr. Vajpayee in a different league. He is ready to accept that he does not have panacea for all the ills. He doesn't believe in centralisation of power and is ready to listen to sane advice before taking a final decision.

On the national front though being an RSS man all through his life he has dared to criticise both Narendra Modi and Judeo for their dirty politics before the elections. It is the failure of our immature electorate that has still voted them to power.

As far as honesty and integrity are concerned even the recorded statesman have been found guilty of moral inaptitude and it is credible that at a time when scams have been a way of life, Mr. Vajpayee has not been found involved or charged in any corruption cases.

As for the anti-minority propaganda agenda in post-Independence every regime has been accused of this while the reality is that minorities have failed to come forward as a unit. They keep on changing shoulders for crying over their grievances. A case in point is the Sikh massacre in 1984 when hardly any Muslim organisation came forward to support their minority brothers.

So instead of making sweeping remarks, one should support the honest efforts of a man who in an era when ideologies are changing like seasons is keeping hope flickering notwithstanding his frailties, physical or intellectual.

Chaitanya Pratap Singh,

Mata Rameshwari,

Sat Nagar,

Karol Bagh,

New Delhi

* * *

Voters' choice

Sir, -- Parliamentary elections are now knocking at your door. No doubt, democracy is the "Rule of Quantity" and stands accepted as the best form of governance. Yet, at the same time, democracy expects from voter `awareness', how to ensure `rule of quality' which is a must for the welfare State and final goal of a peaceful, prosperous society.

It is voter's solemn duty to screen thoroughly the prospective candidatures while exercising the franchise. Party affiliation should be secondary. The primary emphasis should be on the individual candidate's integrity.

J. M. Lyngdoh, the retiring Chief Election Commissioner, should be lauded for his `bold and explicit' statement, describing politicians as `cancer'. The dying declaration (on the verge of retirement) by a personality of his standing, who had an opportunity to interact with top brass of all parties as well as individuals, needs `serious thought'. To brand the entire politician community as infected with cancer is going too much and a wrong estimation. Many retiring MPs' deserve re-election because of their integrity and sincerity. Parliament will be richer by their contribution. But our body politics is packed with many black sheep with multiple tumours. It will not be out of place to cite here one example.

The Three Musketeers belonging to different parties in the most populous state accepted a self-styled king maker Cabinet Minister because of his extra sharpness at political manoeuvrability. This is a glaring example, which reveals either lack of judgment on the part of parties to opt for undesirable elements or their wilful attempt to secure the high chair at any cost. Whatever be the motive, the lapse is unpardonable. It is, therefore, a must for the voter not to trust blindly the politicians or their parties and ensure judicious performance at the ballot box according to his conviction, `Quality rule' is the crying need for our democracy and the alert voter can achieve it.

A DMA office bearer has put forward a valuable suggestion for poll reform which in worth citing: `Politicians should declare their health along with their wealth'.

Sick politicians should not be nominated or selected, being unfit to perform on health grounds.

M.M. Sethi,

A-777, Avantika,

Sector-2, Rohini,

Delhi - 110 085.

* * *

Adalat functioning

Sir, -- With reference to the news item, "CVC directed to appear in court," (dated January 21) we wish to place on record that similar to the case of CGHS dispensaries, we had informed Justice Usha Mehra, Executive Chairman, Lok Adalats, Delhi on November 12, 2003, with reminders on December 6 and November 25 and the Chief Vigilance Commissioner, P. Shankar on November 25, with a reminder on December 6, of the corrupt functioning of the Permanent Lok Adalat, DDA, and requested them to investigate the matter. But no action has been taken till date.

Mrs. R.R. Suri Bhasin,

President,

Suri Education Foundation,

C-196, Greater Kailash-I,

New Delhi 110 048.

* * *

The legend Saigal

Sir, -- I have read with great interest the letter captioned `Honouring Saigal' in your esteemed paper (, dated January 12).

I wholly agree with Mr Kaul that when we have honoured great musicians we should honour the late Saigal also with Bharat Ratna. He deserves this equally well, if not more than all the people who have been honoured.

Only the other day, I attended a musical evening on the death anniversary of Saigal and found the auditorium of India International Centre was full to the brim and people sitting on the isle and standing till the end for two hours. Saigal was really a legend and will continue to occupy a unique position in the world of poetry and music. He himself composed many songs and also gave music to them.

I think we should all join in making this demand to the government to award Bharat Ratna to Saigal.

D.N. Malhotra,

30-Jor Bagh,

New Delhi - 110 003

* * *

Gratuity to teachers

Sir, -- In an important judgment, the Supreme Court has ruled that teachers are not entitled to payment of gratuity under the Gratuity Act because they have not been defined as employees under it. But the States have the prerogative to pass separate legislation for extending these benefits to them.

Since the Supreme Court gives the discretionary powers, the Delhi Government should pass legislation in support of gratuity provision to teachers. After retirement teachers do not have any income except gratuity. Through this column the teachers and authorities can express their views either agreeing or disagreeing.

Gopal Bhargava,

36-A, Ashok Vihar,

Pocket-C, Phase-III,

Delhi - 110 052.

* * *

Promotion criteria

Sir, -- The Departmental Promotion Committee plays a vital role in promoting Central Government officers. As per Civil Services Rules, after induction into Group `A' services or other offices of various services like Indian Economic Service, Indian Telecom Service, Indian Forest Service etc., Junior time scale is granted immediately after the officer joins the training.

After completion of four years of service, senior time scale is granted and after five years regular service in STS, Junior Administrative Grade is granted to the officers. And after completion of 13 years regular service, all JAG officers are granted non-functional selection grade. All such promotions are subject to vigilance clearance and recommendation of D.P.C.

But in BSNL and MTNL, no DPC is conducted, which gives the NFJAG or selection grade to the ITS officers. The officers are directly asked to write to their Accounts Section to grant them the selection grade (Rs.14,300-400-18,300).

Can an officer get the next grade or promotion to higher grade himself? The vigilance wing (CVC) and CAG Audit appear to be sleeping on this issue.

It is a fact that ITS officers really dominate in the Telecom Department. The Accounts and Finance officers have literally become subordinate officers in BSNL and MTNL. The Department of Personnel and Training should come forward to remove these irregularities.

Avdesh K. Tripathi,

Civil Lines,

Meerut.

* * *

Hegde's charisma

Sir, -- The write-up on Ramakrishna Hegde by A Jayaram (dated January 13) contains some inaccuracies regarding his educational degrees. It states that he took his MA (Economics) from BHU and degree in Law from Allahabad University where one of his teachers was Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma (who later became President).

Hegdeji did not study either at BHU or at Allahabad University. Dr. Sharma taught law at Lucknow University.

Hegdeji took his Shastri degree from Kashi Vidyapeeth, Varanasi in 1951. When Acharya Narednra Deva was vice-chancellor of Lucknow University (1948-51), the Shastri degree of Kashi Vidyapeeth was recognised as equivalent to BA degree of Lucknow University and subsequently of other Universities as well.

This led to a number of Shastri degree holders of Kashi Vidyapeeth joining Lucknow University which, at that time, provided a unique opportunity of obtaining two degrees in two years - a postgraduate (MA) degree and an LLB degree. One could pursue both the courses simultaneously and appear at the final examinations for both the degrees in the same year. This used to attract students from all corners of India to Lucknow University.

Hegdeji took his MA degree in Political Science and LLB degree from Lucknow University in 1953. He was a resident of Meston Hostel (later renamed Tilak Hall) and his roommate was Mr Mahabaleshwar Bhatt who was his classmate at Kashi Vidyapeeth too.

I also resided in the same hostel (1950-55) where both Hegdeji and Bhattji, always clad in Khadi, were respected by all hostellers as serious and cultured senior students.

I was elected President of Lucknow University Union (Students Union) during 1952-53 and was privileged to receive valuable support from Hegdeji and Bhattji as also from some friends who subsequently became eminent public figures, like K C Pant, Chandrajit Yadav and D D Thakur.

Hegdeji was a charismatic and versatile personality.

He would have proved a far better and successful Prime Minister than several others who followed Indira Gandhi. Having been born a Brahman was a disadvantage for him in a caste-infested Janata Dal.

However, the people of Karnataka and the nation will remember with gratitude his manifold contributions for a long time.

C.B Tripathi,

1225, Pocket-A, Sector-A,

Vasant Kunj,

New Delhi - 110 070.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

New Delhi