No Free Lunch, but…

No Free Lunch, but…
By Narendra Luther

Thee is a modern American saying that ‘there is nothing like a free lunch.’ But what about water? So far restaurants have not started charging for water unless it is the mineral variety. In fact in India even before taking your order, the bearer plonks a glass of water in front of you, particularly in the South. No body asks you to pay for it in case you change your mind and having slated your thirst, decide not to eat there and walk out.

It used to be a common practice to set up stalls on roadside offering water to general public on festivals and auspicious days, like the birthdays of some Sikh Gurus, and the Muharram procession. That is supposed to earn you spiritual ‘merit’. Thanks to the shortage of water, this tradition is fading now.

For our domestic water supply we pay as a matter of course. The charges keep on increasing every now and then and we submit to it with a murmur. It is called ‘safe’ water supply though most of us either boil water before drinking it or use water purification equipments like ‘Acquaguard’. My wife uses both of them to make sure we don’t suffer from any water-borne disease.

Free Water

But in the countryside water is still free though its safety is not talked about. One can draw water from a river, a lake a well or a pond. Or at least that is what we thought. A screening of a recent film by K.P. Sasi ‘ ‘The Source of Life for Sale’ was an eye-opener. Water is an indisputable source of life. Seven–tenth of earth and two–third (women0 to three-fourth (men) of human body are composed of water. Animals and humans die more of thirst than of hunger. Dehydration is a great cause of death particularly amongst infants who can’t spell out their demand for water. Lack of water causes drought and that results in famine. That in turn leads to suicide by farmers and death for the poor. Thus, water is more important to our life than we imagine.

Sasi’s documentary takes us from Kerala to the North via Chhatisgarh and showcases how water which has been traditionally available free to people is being denied to them.

Rivers in Periyar, Malampuzha. Attapadi, Sheonath and Kelo, and parts of the Ganga Canal have been sold to private firms to make coca cola to be sold in the market. Small, scattered communities including tribals who depended on the water for their crops and for their domestic needs were shown forcefully protesting against it. NGO’s marched in procession raising slogans venting their anger. An old unlettered tribal woman showed a rare degree of eloquence in her denunciation of the deal made by the government. An old man voiced his betrayal by the MLA of the area for his ‘collusion’ with the private party. The firm had thrown a bund across the river to pump out water for its plant. That meant the lower part of the river became dry and the lower riparian habitations went without water. There were accusations of corruption against authorities in deals involving such sales.

The problem of water shortage is compounded by the over- exploitation of ground water as revealed by a recent survey. It has been said that the future wars will be not for oil, but for water. It seems that we already witnessing trailers in the interstate disputes about water in our country.


The Garland Canal Project

The film showed with telling effects what it means to be deprived of water. The sale was described as a part of privatization and globalization. Multinationals come and grab resources that belong to the community, for their private profit. Once we swore by Socialism. Today the pendulum has swung to the other side, to Privatization.

The film also made out a case against the project of the interlinking of rivers – the ‘Garland canal’ system. The eminent engineer, the late Dr. K.L. Rao conceived it long before there was any debate about socialism versus privatization. He believed it would rid the country of the spectacle of simultaneous drought in some areas and flooding in others. The NDA Government approved the massive project in principle and it is understood that preliminary technical studies have been initiated on that. It seems perfectly logical inasmuch as it will ‘even out’ the levels of water in all the rivers in the country. But, the opponents of the proposal argue that it ignores the ecological aspects of the various river systems. Interlinking will entail bunding of rivers and diversion of water at a number of places. That, in turn, will result in diminution, if not denial of water to downstream areas. Damming of rivers will also cause submersion of vast areas displacing communities in different parts of the country. It is against that that prospect that persons like Medha Patekar are agitating.


Wisdom of Tentativeness

I would concede that some of the proposals for new uses of have been made by experts in the genuine belief that they will promote the welfare of the people as they perceive it. That brings us to the crucial point of how much reliance we should place on expert advice. The best of experts sees only his side of the picture. In fact the more the specialization, the more the narrowing of the focus. There is a loss of width of vision in specialization. A specialist does not - indeed cannot – appreciate the opposing point of view. For policy - makers and final decision- takers, it is necessary to integrate the Hegelian thesis and anti-thesis into a synthesis. There is a greater need for debate on such issues than we have today in spite of our legislatures where the party line over rides the need for the examination of the merits of a proposal. The view of the party in power often is nothing but the command of the leader right or wrong. The policy of the Opposition, on the other hand, is based on its obligation to oppose. In how many cases have opposing line being taken on a given issue by the same party depending on whether it is in power or in opposition?

Sitting through the screening of Sasi’s documentary, I felt sorry at the poor attendance in the hall. More so because I saw no bureaucrats and politicians for whom the film would have appeared heretical against the current official dogma. I felt that such films should be screened in the secretariats and before experts and the intelligentsia so that different perspectives can be seen by those who are going to decide the fate of millions of the poor of the country. As Bertrand Russell put it, ‘Fools are cocksure; wise men are in doubt’. In other words, the need is for an open mind. That will enable us to take a holistic view before taking a final decision.

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A time for exit

A time for exit
By Narendra Luther

I don’t mean to exit from this world but a prelude to it. I mean the time to superannuate, to stop working regularly for a job, or as is commonly put, to retire.

Full man, half pay

Before retirement the wife gets half husband and his full salary. After retirement, she gets back the full husband and half his salary. The age of retirement is decided on the basis of a multiplicity of factors like expectancy of life and the state of health, and the availability of manpower in any society. It varies from country to country and time to time. The key consideration is the level of mental capacity in most jobs. In India it used to be 55 for the employees of government under the British and remained pegged at that for a number of years after independence. Then it was argued that our expectancy of life which was thirty-three at independence had risen to over sixty. Also 55 was too early for retirement. While the employee had still many family responsibilities to discharge, his income was suddenly reduced to half. On the other hand, the government lost the benefit of mature experience and advice. Basically, it was the serving employees who wanted to prolong their tenure. So the government extended the age of retirement to 58. After some years when the government’s financial position was tight, the employees gave an ingenious helpful suggestion. If the age of retirement were extended by another two years, the government would make huge savings by postponing the disbursement of terminal benefits to retiring employees. It would also maintain the same establishment costs instead of adding pension to the salaries of new employees. Also, India would automatically become closer to the western advanced countries where the age of retirement was well over 60. Of course the old arguments of a further increase in the expectancy of life, better health and maturity of experience of older employees were always there. So, the government again succumbed and extended the age of superannuation to 60.

In the U.S. the age of retirement is 65; in England 68. It is around that figure in most of the advanced countries of the West. With them one of the reasons is shortage of manpower. They make up this shortfall through selective immigration. They issue work permits and allow immigration in crucial sectors in which they need people. They can thus pick up the best readymade human capital from all over the world. In a way the under- developed and developing countries extend massive assistance to developed countries through the supply of trained manpower. Considering the overall cost of turning out a physician, an engineer, an architect or the like, it can be safely assumed that for every person going to the developed counties of the West, from India, we are giving them an invisible financial aid of at least 10 million rupees. But that is a digression from our theme. Let me return to it.

The main consideration for sending people home on retirement is their lowered physical and mental capacity. That is why in the civil list retired employees are listed unfeelingly under ‘wastage’. Experience of thirty years, which some old fogies boast about, is nothing but the experience of ten years multiplied three times. According to experts, there is a gradual loss in physical and mental faculties which sets in after 40. It becomes pronounced around sixties when one moves towards old age and senescence.

Never say die


While for normal job the age of superannuation is determined on the basis of old age, it is ironical that for more important jobs, the age of superannuation is either higher or nonexistent. For example, all our constitutional posts have a higher age limit. The judges of High Courts retire at the age of 62; of the Supreme Court at 65. Members of the State Public Service Commission retire at 62, of the Union at 65. So is the case of the Election Commission and the Central as well as the State Administrative Tribunals. Recently the Chief Commissioner under the Right to Information Act and the State Commissioners have been appointed. All of them are retired bureaucrats. Retired judges of high or Supreme Court are appointed to head various commissions of inquiries which are set up every now and then.

There is no age limit for governors, legislators, and ministers. All governors are either retired servicemen or politicians. Legislators and ministers take the most crucial decisions affecting various aspects of our life, well-being and liberty. So is it to be assumed that the normal rule of nature as to the diminutions of faculties does not operate in the case of these important high functionaries.

In the case of judges we are told that a higher age for retirement ensures their independence. Can two or five years more than other functionaries do that? The lure of commissions after that term should be enough to dilute that. The constitution of the U.S. has sought to ensure independence of the judges of the Supreme Court by giving them a term for life. That provision can certainly ensure independence. Apart from them in most countries Field Marshals of the armed force also don’t retire. But that is by way of honour. Both Judges of the Supreme Court and Field Marshals stop attending office whenever they feel like but continue to get their full salaries and perks.

In the case of our legislature that is our MLA’s and M.P s, and the political executive, the argument is that they are elected by the people and it is for them to decide whether a particular person is too old to discharge his functions properly. So, we will continue to have presidents, prime ministers, chief ministers and ministers who may suffer from multiple disabilities but who directly or indirectly manage to secure the necessary endorsement.

Fact and Myths

So we have one fact and three fictions operating in our system. The fact is that beyond a certain age the physical and mental faculties of individuals decline preventing them from giving their best. The first fiction is that this law of diminishing faculties does not operate in the case of higher jobs. The jobs inject appropriate aphrodisiacs into the system of ageing persons. The second fiction is that the pull of power and pelf declines two to five years after the normal age of superannuation. The third fiction is that the masses know whether a person can continue to perform long after the normal old age.

The moral from our prevalent practice is that you require fit persons with limited wear and tear for lower level of jobs. For higher jobs impaired faculties are prime qualifications.

It may appear to be a bundle of ironies and contradictions. But that is life - a fiction based on further fictions. So, stop grousing and accept the facts and fictions of life - so says saint Kabir.

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Bush shirt and Buffet

Bush shirt and Buffet
By Narendra Luther

Americans gave the world the bush shirt and the buffet after World War II. These improvisations were to meet new exigencies. Now they are part of accepted norms in dress and entertainment. Their search for the novel and the innovative is continuous and unending.
In the last few weeks during my tour of the United States, I have had ample opportunities to study various aspects of life in America. I am impressed by the fact that they have managed their affairs so well. Their genius for improvisation is something to be admired. For every conceivable physical, social and psychological situation they have devised coping mechanisms. Their range of inventions and innovations for dealing with domestic chores is vast. Supermarkets offer a fascinating range of home tools for every conceivable situation. Their town planning is meticulous and there is no question of any one getting away with the smallest violation. Their concern for the aged – whom they call ‘seniors’ – is touching. I visited some residential complexes for seniors. If there is a heaven, it must be quite close to the conditions prevalent there. The care with which they deal with the disabled is also remarkable. They are provided for separately in every public place and utility. Even the meanest establishment has public conveniences – what they call ‘Rest Rooms’. Their traffic regulations are stringent and any violation is strictly dealt with.
Innovative approach
Their craze for experimentation is reflected in the number of titles of books published every year on every conceivable topic. Some of the books I read included ‘Dying Well’, ‘Why We Die’, ‘Meetings at the Edge’, ‘The Professor and the Madman’, and ‘The Art of Imperfection’. They gave insights on life, disease and death. The quaint titles of books in stores and libraries suggest the range of research going on in various fields. Hard to believe but according to Andrew Gabrois of R.R. Bowker Co., 185,000 titles were published in the US in 2004. No subject is taboo for them. People experiment and share their experiences freely. The new knowledge and analyses generated are available in bookstores and public libraries where, incidentally, the use of Internet is free. An average city library is better equipped than most of our university and official libraries. The quality of service and the courtesy of the staff are incredibly superior to any thing one gets in India. The World Economic Forum in its report for 2003-04 lists technological advance as one of the three determinants of the Growth Competitiveness Index (GCI). U.S. is one of what it calls the ‘core innovators’. It is not so in technology only, but in its parent -- Attitude. You see that attitude documented in the museums spread all across the country.
Dignity of Labour
No body feels embarrassed by the way they dress. I never had an occasion to wear any dress except the most casual. The consideration that guides the choice of dress is functionality and convenience.
The other thing that strikes one is the dignity of labour. No body is ashamed of doing any thing to earn a living. Students working as waiters are quite common. I met two female university professors. One was living with a carpenter and the other with a truck driver.
Our Advantage
I talked to many persons of Indian origin about some of these features of life in America. They all agreed that it was indeed a distinguishing mark of the American society. Their explanations varied. One refrain was that it is because of the small population that all that is possible. It is both a cause and an effect of prosperity.
In India all our progress is negated by the growth in numbers. The fall in law and order is also largely due to that. It is true no doubt, but is rather a simplistic explanation. Also a deeper analysis of the demographic profile encourages some hope for us in India despite the growing numbers. Today, thanks to advances made in public health and social security, the population in the advanced countries is ageing fast. In Europe in 1950, the population over 60 years of age accounted for 12%. In 2050, it will be 32%. On the other hand, the population under 14 will decrease from 27% to 16%. Today 66% of the expenditure in European countries is on education, health and pensions. With the ageing of the population, this will only increase and they will be caught in the Wagnerian bind. This will result in an increase in the public debt. A similar phenomenon is taking place in the United States. According to the March 2005 issue of the Harper Magazine, for every two workers in General Motors there are five pensioners. As against that, in India by 2030 the ratio of working population will double while the increase in the dependent population will be marginal. That will give an edge to India against the developed west.
Our Productivity
But before we proceed to celebrate the prospect, let us pause to consider the balancing factors. First, our per capita productivity is about one tenth that of the U.S. One example will suffice. According to the Institute of Management Development, Lausanne, during the past decade, steel production in the US has jumped from 75 to 102 million tons while the number of workers has fallen from 289,000 to 74,000.

Immigrants’ paradise
A further sobering remark was made by a young Indian analyst in America. The emerging adverse demographic profile of the States will be countered by the immigration policy of the U.S. It can tap the productive segment of the population of any country to meet its needs. It can select, it can pick and choose and so meet its critical requirements in the economy. America is an immigrants’ paradise. For those who have visited the Ellis Island and seen the historical statistics displayed in the Museum so attractively, understand the America was built by the best of immigrants from all over the world. The process has not stopped yet. Because of the factors mentioned in the beginning of this essay, the US still remains the magnet for every ambitious person in the world. Young people all over the world are ready to serve America by providing it the most critical resource – human capital. America does not have to spend on skilled manpower; it has just to open the gate and hordes of young, highly skilled, hard working, ambitious persons from all over the globe will rush to meet its needs and more. America is great because the rest of the world is continuously engaged in contributing to its growth. We may criticize it, abuse it, revile it, but we are always at its beck and call and our best talents are only awaiting an opportunity to be let in to the land of opportunity.
High growth is both its cause and effect. There is some food for thought in that.

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A Pilgrimage to Childhood

A Pilgrimage to Childhood
By Narendra Luther

Last month we made an unusual pilgrimage -- in search of our roots. Both my wife and I belong to the part of India that is now called Pakistan. I was raised in Lahore while she came from a landed family from further west, Bhalwal and Malakwal. Smaller places, but a richer family – at least that’s why I had been told by a woman who wasn’t rich by any standards when I married her. She had often talked about the vast lands and the cotton ginning factories, which her families owned before the partition of the country.

The flight from Delhi to Lahore takes only 45 minutes and since the Pakistan Standard Time is set half-an-hour behind India’s, we were there in fifteen minutes.

Loitering in Lahore

I had distinct memories of every place of my childhood in Lahore. I looked for my grandfather’s house on Infantry Road in the cantonment area. It should have been easy. There used to be just two largish houses facing empty fields. Now there was a congested area with houses all around and no trace of fields. We asked a number of old people but no body could help. When we were about to give up, a young man asked me if it was a light yellow painted house. I said yes. He said his uncle had bought a house and was demolishing it to build a complex there. Then he took us across the road and I saw a quarter of the house still in tact. He said if I had come a week earlier, I could have seen the whole house. Then I went to the canal where I learnt swimming. After that I saw my old school, the college where I would have gone in due course, the road which we took to the Mall, the Lawrence Garden, now renamed ‘Jinnah Garden, and Anarkali, the which used to be the best bazaar.

We saw the famed Lahore Fort built by the Mughal emperor Jahangir and the Badshahi Mosque built by his son Aurangzeb. At the foot of the mosque lies the mausoleum of the poet Iqbal who is considered the spiritual father of Pakistan. He also composed what is now India’s informal national anthem – ‘Sare Jahan se acchha...’’. The Fort later became the seat of power of the Sikh ruler Ranjit Singh. His mausoleum lies just outside the fort and by its side is a Sikh Gurudwara dedicated to the fifth Guru of the Sikhs who was executed by the Mughal emperor, Jahangir. He composed the Adi Granth, the holy book of the Sikhs which incidentally has a number of compositions of Muslim saints. It was heartening to see a Sikh temple in the shadow of a mosque.

Jahangir & Noor Jahan

The Mughal emperor Jahangir is also buried across the river in a grand mausoleum. Not far from him is his queen, Noor Jahan’s mausoleum. It presents a stark contrast to her husband’s grand mausoleum who, according to his memoirs, had bartered away his empire to his beloved queen in exchange for a daily heavy drink from her hand.

The Government has preserved the garden city character of Lahore. The people give credit for that to the former Prime Minster, Nawaz Sharif and his younger brother, Shahbaz Sharif who was the Chief Minister of the Punjab. Some beautiful new colonies have come up with spacious single-storey mansions. We did not see many high-rise buildings. Lahore used to be called the Paris of the East. I am inclined to call it Venice with the canal running through most of the city. They also have not changed the old Hindu names of buildings and colonies. ‘Dharam Pura’ where my father had a house was unrecognizable but retains its name. I can’t resist the temptation of dwelling longer upon the city, but I must leave some space to my wife.

After a week of nostalgic trips which included two receptions by the writers of Lahore, we left for my wife’s ancestral places about 150 kms away

Wife’s Home

The journey began with a surprise. The car soon got out of the city and started on a motorway. It is a magnificent eight-lane highway just like the motorways in the United States. The car ran at 120 kmph without our feeling the speed. All the drivers including ours observed the rules of highway driving, as I had seen in US.

We went off the motorway to reach the town where my wife’s family owned cotton-ginning factories next to the house of Sir Feroze Khan Noon who became the Prime Minister of Pakistan later. The old sleepy town had changed dramatically. The over 100 year-old red brick mansion where my wife was born stood there somewhat neglected. A board proclaimed it was now ‘Paragon Model School’. The comely headmistress took us around and the whole place was abuzz with excitement that the original owner of the house, an Indian had come to visit. While we were going round the building we got a message that some people wanted us to visit them. That was a family of the daughter of the maid who worked for my wife’s family. Her father-in-law was the labor contractor for the factories. The family had done well and she insisted that we stay there for the night. Not being able to do so we had tea with them. When we were leaving she put a bagful of ‘fruiters’ -- a new hybrid citrus fruit in our car. Her son told us that the area no longer grew cotton but an abundance of ‘fruiters’ and so was called the California of Pakistan.

As we approached the next town where my wife had spent her adolescent years, she eagerly looked for chimneys of the factories which they had owned. None was to be seen. From outside the town a steel shop owner offered to accompany us. On the basis of cues provided by my wife he took us to the house. It was not only in tact but was being lived in by a large joint family. The head of the family, an old man of 85 rattled off the names of my wife’s grandfather, father and uncles. My wife wiped her tears as she bowed down to touch his feet. I felt a lump in my throat as I witnessed the scene. What happened to so and so and so and so? All of them were dead!

The family took us round to each room -- and then to steel safe embedded in the floor of the bed room. It could not be removed because it weighed five quintals. Of course there was nothing in it to which my wife could lay a claim.

I could write a whole book on this journey – and our respective childhoods. We got so much affection from the people there that both they and us wondered why the country was partitioned?

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A Window on Pakistan

A Window on Pakistan
By Narendra Luther

Last month I wrote about our trip to Pakistan in personal and emotional terms.
Only those who have undergone a trauma of the type which entails forced relocation and loss of entire property can appreciate that sort of reminiscence. The only saving grace for persons of my generation was that we were children and we had lost something which we had not created. I can now imagine the acute distress that our parents must have undergone.

This time I intend to dwell upon the comparisons and contrasts between the two countries.

Military Regime

The first point that struck me was that the people there were invariably not in favour of the military regime. Many had experienced similar spells of military dictatorship earlier and they did not relish any of them. They envied us our democratic system. Some asked me how we could stay free of military rule and whether there was any danger of the military ever taking over in India. I said that we were lucky in our earlier leadership both in their deep commitment to democracy and their longevity. Jinnah died within a year of the birth of Pakistan. The second in command and stature, Liaqat Ali Khan was assassinated shortly thereafter in 1951. There was thus no outstanding leader left after that. It is a moot point whether military rule could have been avoided if their founding leaders had lived longer. Most people expressed their preference for political leaders like Benazir Bhutto or Nawaz Shareef even if they were corrupt. There is something in the knowledge that you can throw the rulers out in a peaceful manner through the ballot box. Only a politician can have his finger on the pulse of the people!

Low Industrialization

Many persons from across the wide spectrum observed that India was a century or two ahead of Pakistan in terms of general progress which included industrialization and the emergence of the service sector. It was after going to Pakistan that I realized the importance of the presence of the public sector in some areas, like public transport. It was privatized some years ago, probably by Nawaz Shareef. A ‘common man’ told us that some ministers and their families and friends now run minibuses and taxis. This, we saw, caused serious inconvenience to the common man.

We were surprised to note the absence of official or cooperative dairies producing milk and milk products. You get milk either from the old conventional milkman or from the grocery shop in imported powder bags. Price of both milk and sugar are rather high.

We noticed the absence of indigenous industries in Pakistan. You get every kind of consumer good there because they are imported. There are many large malls and supermarkets and all sots of goods are available there. They produce good fruits and vegetables but there is a lack of food processing industries.

Though the penetration of cell phones is high, I did not find any cyber - cafe in Lahore. While I was there, the Prime Minister declared that a Technology Park would be set up soon and would be ready in a year.

I found the media rather insipid. Newspapers lack ads. Their contents are mild though here and there you find some strident ant-establishment columns. TV shows a number of India channels and our actors and singes are very popular there. Aishwarya Rai, Sushmita Sen and some other Indian beauties are modelled in Pakistani textile shops. Local video and audiocassettes are of poor quality.

No Burqas

We did not see any purdah or burqas in the new part of Lahore, or in Islamabad. Even in the old parts of the cities, it wasn’t there to the extent that we expected. In colleges and universities, it is extremely rare. I delivered a lecture in the Lahore University of Management Sciences. Boys and girls moved around as freely together in the campus as they would anywhere in India. We saw some going about hand-in-hand and sitting in lawns or benches unselfconsciously. One sees more of burqas in some parts of some cities in India than we saw in Pakistan. The new upmarket colonies like Gulberg in Lahore have very elegant houses each with its own armed private security men.

All markets have banners put up by the traders’ associations warning terrorists that a camera is watching them. Similar banners are also are strung across in streets near police stations condemning terrorism as an unpatriotic and a dangerous activity. One sees all sorts of cars and bigger vehicles – all imported. The bodywork on trucks is generally redone to make a formidable front elevation. They are painted in garish colours. In Rawalpindi, Suzuki vans have their bodies removed before they are turned into brightly- coloured taxis which are invariably overloaded.

Pakistanis are very fond of good food. The older part of Anarkali in Lahore is virtually a food bazar. A neighbouring street is full of food courts. Some restaurants specialize in fish. We went to one such joint where a large queue waited for their turn for take-homes or to eat there.

Town Planning

Lahore is a city of gardens and that character has been maintained in spite of large-scale construction in recent years. No land has been taken away from some of the old sprawling institutions like the Aitchison College which covers 200 acres in the heart of the city. On both sides of the Upper Bari canal rows of trees have been planted and roads built which make the city look beautiful. In Nawaz Shareef’s time the Race Course was shifted outside the city. But the vacated land was turned into a park. The old Lawrence Garden, rechristened Bagh-e- Jinnah has not been touched and occupies a large tract opposite the Government House. They also haven’t changed the old Hindu names of localities like Dharampura, Kishen Nagar or Sunder Dass Road. Ram Gali, however, was referred by some as Rahim Gali by some people.


The Motorway

The biggest and most pleasant surprise for us was the motorway from Lahore to Islamabad. This stretch of 400 km road is an 8-lane highway with speed limit of 120 per hour for cars and 100 kms for heavy transport. It is as good as the freeways in the U.S. and similar discipline is enforced on drivers. Cars cover the distance in four hours while buses run by Daewoo Company of Korea which are like planes on ground take half hour longer. It is something which we should emulate.

Islamabad is a very beautiful city. Planned by Doxiadis, a Greek firm of architects on a large scale, it is not only beautiful, but is very meticulously maintained. It has wide-open stretches of open land between roads and the houses are very well laid out. They say that Islamabad is sanitized sealed city. There are no slums there and traffic rules are enforced strictly. No city in India is as well maintained.


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Two – or Three Will Do

Two – or Three Will Do
By Narendra Luther

We have three wings of State –legislature, executive and judiciary. The legislature represents the people direct and legislates on their behalf. The second, the executive implements the policies flowing from legislation and lays down rules and regulations to ensure that. The third, the judiciary interprets the legislation and its intent. It judges whether a particular law enacted by the legislature is in accordance with the spirit of the Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land. It also sorts out the disputes amongst the citizens, between the citizens and the State, and amongst different states. While the executive reports to the legislature, the judiciary is independent. Also while the Centre and the States have their own separate legislature and executive, a common judicial hierarchy runs form the states to the Centre.

Separation of Powers

This separation of powers is a distinctive feature of democracies all over the world. In practice however they are not separated in watertight compartments, particularly in the parliamentary form of governments. Under that system the executive is a part of the legislature. All ministers (executive) have to be members of the legislature.

Similarly, while adjudicating, the judiciary sometimes ends up in virtually legislating. Any act of the executive or legislature and any omission of the executive can be challenged in a High Court or the Supreme Court. Every decision of the Supreme Court has the force of law. The High Courts or the Supreme Courts can be moved through a number of writs or through PIL (Public Interest Litigation). Some times they take action suo moto. Thus the higher judiciary also sometimes ‘legislates’. On occasions even a piece of legislation passed by the legislature is declared ultra vires the Constitution. It therefore becomes invalid and has either to be scrapped or amended suitably.

‘Sins’ of the Executive

Of all the three wings of the State, the executive is most sprawling. It has an army of people both under the Union and the States and every new legilation gives birth to more member of the executive. For example recently the Union government has created a Disaster Management Board to deal with national calamities on a systematic basis. This, in turn, will necessitate the creation of many jobs to anticipate disasters, to determine the quantum and the type of aid and succour to the victims, and to monitor the progress of relief and rehabilitation. Similarly the promulgation of the Right to Information Act has already resulted in the appointment of Information Commissioners at the Centre and in every state. More subordinate staff will be required to ensure the implementation of the provision of the Act.

As a polity, India is said to suffer from over-legislation but under- implementation. There are scores of enactments, which remain dead letter because no one cares to implement them. There are many cases of dereliction of duties enjoined upon the executive functionaries by the Constitution, or under various statutes.

The executive authorities, which function under the supervision and control of the elected authorities some times, do not take action because it might not be palatable to a section of the electorate. Sometimes offenders who need to be booked under law are not touched because of the influence which they wield. There are innumerable instances of members of Parliament and State legislatures who have criminal cases pending against them. But they roam about freely because the authorities are afraid of touching them. There are instances when the Police do not register a complaint because the accused is an important person. The common man in such cases has no alternative but to approach courts. There are cases in which the investigation taken up by the police is deliberately slipshod. The whole case which depends upon that therefore fails and the accused goes scot-free. There are two types of delinquencies committed by the executive – those of omission, and those of commission. Both can hurt the citizen equally.

Calls for CBI

Since the police investigation does not enjoy the confidence of the people, there are frequent demands from different section of the public – and even by the members of legislature for investigation to be entrusted to CBI. That organization has also been called upon to investigate actions of the police itself as in the case of the Mumbai police in the Telgi scam. The frequency with which CBI has been brought into cases makes one wonder how it can cope with such increasing load of work. However, it is one organization which still enjoys a large measure of public confidence though allegations against its partisan role or lukewarm action have been made sometime by the political leaders.

Similarly the courts have had to step in matters that should normally have been disposed of by the executive authorities. From such simple cases as admission to educational institutions, fees to be charged by private colleges, traffic management, and control of noise pollution – to mention only a fraction of cases – the courts had to step in to enforce rules and regulations and to ensure fair play. Recently the Supreme Court had to order the Executive authorities to evict ministers, ex MPs and others from their official accommodation to which they have lost their which they have lost their ex-officio entitlement They had to order the arrest of some of the legislators who had cases pending against them and against whom no action was being taken by the executive authorities. Again, recently the Supreme Court ordered the removal of the chief secretary of Uttar Pradesh whose appointment to that post was a disgusting case of impropriety and open favouritism. The courts have a potent weapon in their hands – the contempt of court. If their orders are not obeyed, they can hold the delinquent authorities for contempt and punish them with fine or imprisonment. In some cases they have done that. One wonders what would have been the situation if we did not have an independent judiciary resorting to what has been called ‘judicial activism’. Some of the instances in which the judiciary has exercised its authority to benefit itself have been criticized, but on the whole they have served to ensure justice and to provide relief to the common man. It has virtually come to supplant the executive.

The Minimum Three

The ready resort to CBI, and the courts makes one wonder whether we need any executive at all. CBI can replace the Police and the judiciary can do so with the executive. In other words, we could do with just two institutins –CBI and the judiciary.

But wait a minute. We still need some organization to defend us against external aggression. So two will do for our internal administration – and our soldiery will guard our frontiers. Also so many times the armed forces have had to come to help the civil authorities to cope with disasters both natural and man-made.
With these three institutions, we will be OK. That is, till we find that there is no ideal arrangement.

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Jawahar jacket and Gandhi cap

Jawahar jacket and Gandhi cap
By Narendra Luther

Culture is mimetic. We not only live but also survive by imitation. A child would not learn to speak – and hence hear -- if it did not have the company of people who spoke to it day in and day out. Keep a newborn child in an isolated closed room and he will grow into a dumb and deaf person. This imitation is both conscious and unconscious. The fashion advertisers exploit this human trait. We imagine ourselves to be looking like the models we see and copy -- if use the products they hawk.

Our Role Models

In the days of my youth we wore ‘Jawahar Jacket’ and ‘Gandhi Caps’. The jacket was the same old one that generations of our ancestors have worn. But when Nehru made it his trademark, it acquired a new name and became a craze. The cap that Gandhi made fashionable was worn by the coolies in South Africa on whose behalf he fought against the regime there.

It was not the external vestments they popularized. They stood for certain ideals, and people of that age – my parents’ generation -- and their children -- my contemporaries also imbibed those ideals in varying measures. Some seniors burnt their normal imported clothes and gave up their vocations. Youngsters too emulated them in their own way and learnt to live frugally and to sacrifice some of their wonted luxuries. We read the books and articles of our revered leaders and heard their speeches. We fasted when they asked us to do so. We joined processions and shouted slogans. The atmosphere was charged and we felt ennobled in a life of voluntary deprivation. There was a promise of Churchillian ‘blood, toil, tears and sweat’ -- and of the reward of freedom. Subhash Chandra Bose exhorted the Indian POWs handed over to him by the Japanese in Singapore: ‘Give me blood and I will give you freedom’. In response, a famished and under-equipped soldiery buckled up and launched on a long march to Delhi to unfurl the tricolour at the Red Fort. People in their thousands went merrily to jails and underwent torture without squealing. People die for ideas and ideals given to them by their idols.

By way of a quiz, I asked some youngsters if they knew what ‘Jawahar Jacket’ was. They hadn’t heard of it. I showed them one that I have and they laughed. ‘It is a normal jacket. What is so great about it?’ ‘Gandhi Topi’ – yes that is what some ministers – and some attenders in offices wear. They are unaware of the history and the emotions of two generation associated with these items of quotidian wear. Some of them had seen Nehru’s photograph with his jacket, but there are very few photographs of Mahatma Gandhi with the cap that he made famous.

These items made many give up their jobs under the British and give up flourishing practice of law. They exchanged them for years of privation and even prolonged spells of imprisonment. They inspired hundreds of youngsters to do so. Some died, others were hanged, some became disabled for life. Because of them we are free today.

Handicap of peacetime

The present breed of political leaders provides no such inspiration. They have had no drama in their lives. They did not give up anything. They joined politics as an alternative profession. There were rewards to be had there just as anywhere else. How many joined politics with the aim of improving the lot of the poor, for removing tears from some eyes?

They are not to be blamed. Normal peacetimes offer little scope for drama. Freedom struggles, revolutions, and wars – these provide situations and opportunities for heroism, for drama, for exhibiting capacity for sacrifice, for demonstrating qualities of leadership. To show leadership in peacetime, in normal, routine situations is hard. One must have issues to fight for.

But in peacetime, conventional politics, must one indulge in favouritism, jobbery, and corruption? These unfortunately are the traits that can be seen aplenty in our political leadership. They do not inspire except in the wrong direction.

Match fixing

It is not as if there is a void. There are role models still aplenty. But they are a different breed. We have film actors, cricket players and now tennis players who become national heroes and thus role models for the youngsters. Film actors have made drug taking and philandering popular, to say nothing of other minor lapse of character, which they glorify. They make conspicuous consumption a virtue, which youngsters will do anything to acquire. Cricket is no longer a gentleman’s game. Match fixing has made it into a big international industry in which scamsters, smugglers and dons are actively involved. It is another matter that cricket by its very nature of being a most lucrative sport has killed all other sports in India. A victory in an international match is celebrated as a national triumph and the highest dignitaries congratulate the wining players. Recently during the course of the selection of a new captain of the Indian cricket team, an office bearer of the Board of Control of Cricket declared proudly that it was more important than the constitution of the Union cabinet! That reflects the current values of our society. Even for government campaigns for vaccinations or for timely payment of taxes, it is these heroes who are brought into the media. Not unoften it is the selfsame people against whom cases of evasion or nonpayment of taxes are pending. Power, whatever its nature, corrupts. And the power of our new idols is no exception

Thanks to the wide spread and reach of the media, particularly the electronic, there are more exposes now than ever before. We find wolves in sheep’s clothing everywhere. We find crooks and debauches in places which were held to be beyond reproach. We find them amongst godmen, religious leaders, teachers, high officials, and political leaders – in every conceivable place. We find gods with feet of clay. We find double standards practised as a matter of course. We encounter daily instances of moral turpitude and we have ceases to be shocked by them.

Uses of calamities

What is missing today is integrity. That faculty which makes you distinguish between right and wrong, fair and unfair, black and white. That quality marks a man of character from one who lacks it. We imbibe that quality from our early life at home, from our schools, from its demonstration in our leaders in various walks of life, from our heroes. We emulate our role models. But that brings us back to the conundrum. Where are the role models?

It is ironic that human exploitation, aggression, wars, riots – and natural disasters bring out the best in human beings. They shake us out of our ordinary life and bring out some of the best human qualities in us. They also throw up role models for us to emulate. Strange, isn’t it?
nluther@hotmail.com

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