A patiala peg of politics and crime
6 Nov 2012 11:19 PM GMT
Will Punjab be able to reclaim its lost glory? Not likely, at least in the foreseeable future. The state has been losing its sheen during the successive Congress and Akali-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government. What will disappoint Punjab’s well-wishers is the unabated deterioration in the state’s political and financial health and governance during the past few months. Â
The most worrying aspect has been the criminalisation of politics and politicisation of the bureaucracy and the police. As a result, Punjab, which used to be considered as the state with relatively low incidence of such unbecoming matters, is fast losing its claim.
There have been increasing reports in the media about registration of criminal cases against Akali and Congress leaders. The glaring example is the CBI court’s order a few months ago sentencing the senior Akali minister Bibi Jagir Kaur, former president of the Sikhs highest religious body Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee for five years for forcibly aborting her daughter. Even Akali Dal MP and deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh’s wife Harsimrat Kaur has termed Jagir Kaur’s complicity in forcibly aborting the foetus of her daughter as ‘unfortunate’. She was speaking on the theme of female foeticide at a function on 2 November.
In another case, agriculture minister Tota Singh had to resign after being handed a year’s imprisonment by the vigilance court for misuse of official machinery. Besides, another minister Gulzar Singh Ranike was also forced to resign for alleged embezzlement of government grants. Some other Akali Dal ministers are also facing charges of extensive funds bungling.
In this era of a politicised bureaucracy, there are not many bureaucrats who would refuse to act on the whims of politicians and would decline to serve their vested political interests. This was not the case in the early post-Independence years. Then many bureaucrats had the courage to resist pressures from their political bosses who wanted to promote their own personal or partisan interests at the cost of public interests. They would rather devise ways to see that the state’s interests were not sacrificed at alter of politicians interests.
But in the current era, most bureaucrats, especially in states, dance to the tunes of ruling politicians without caring about public interests. It is not surprising that in return of for their ‘services’, some of them get undue promotions and some are even given party tickets to contest the elections as has happened in Punjab.    Â
Over the period, Punjab’s bureaucracy and the police have become tools in the hands of ruling politicians to serve their vested interests. The vigilance department has also become an instrument of the rulers for use against their opponents.
Instead of curbing corruption in the administration, the bureau’s bosses serve the rulers political interests. The latest example was the involvement of the controversial Punjab DGP Sumedh Singh Saini in a war of words with the Punjab PCC chief Captain Amarinder Singh. Even chief minister Parkash Singh Badal publicly disapproved his conduct for joining the war of words with the state Congress chief.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has also condemned the functioning of the Punjab police. On 15 October it flayed it for its attempts to save highly influential people (read Akalis) held guilty by a Special Investigation Team of its own officers for mercilessly assaulting a tehsildar.
Like what had happened during the Indira Gandhi-led government, institutions serving the public interest are being destroyed in Punjab in order to serve the ruling party’s partisan interests. Sukhbir, who is also president of the Akali Dal, has appointed districts Akali leaders as halqa (area) in-charge, at whose call their respective areas police officers function. Even the government grants for local areas development are distributed through the halqa in-charges and not through local MLAs if they belong to Opposition. Â
Another ‘feat’ Sukhbir is performing is the engineering of defections in Congress and his rebel cousin Manpreet Singh Badal’s People Party of Punjab. No doubt, Sukhbir has organisational skills which handsomely contributed to the Akali-BJP electoral victories. But he needs to read the history of Haryana’s Aya Rams and Gaya Rams. Their frequent defections in 1966-1968 had destabilised those who had engineered defections leading to quick fall of governments. Whenever negative signs overtake the ruling alliance, today’s Aya Rams will be the first to turn Gaya Rams. The experienced and amiable Badal must be feeling uneasy at some of Sukhbir’s actions. The quality of governance depends on the financial health of a government. But Punjab’s financial health is virtually at terminal stage. The government will be lucky if it manages to achieve 50 per cent of its current year’s Rs 14,000 core Annual Plan target. In the first four months of 2012-2013 the revenue deficit has shot up to Rs 1,347 crore against Rs 1,111 rore in the corresponding period last year. The government is surviving on loans.
There are no funds for development. Loud five-star announcements are made even as the on-going projects are getting stalled due to paucity of funds. The worst suffers are the projects meant for the common man, particularly the poor. For instance, contractors have stopped work on flats being built for the urban poor under the National Urban Renewal Mission in Ludhiana after not having been paid for the last eight months.
The reason: Diversion of Rs 8.32 crore sent by the Centre for the project by the government for some other project. The less said the better about the state of social welfare, health and education sectors. Besides lack of basic infrastructure in hospitals, dispensaries and government schools, there is perennially acute shortage of doctors and teachers.
Some villages in Sangrur district closed their schools gates last week to protest against the teachers shortage. Gimmicks cannot sustain ruling parties governments for long.
Their longevity in power gets shortened if they do not perform. The Akali-BJP government will have to introspect and take remedial measures for the ailments their government suffers from. [IPA]
The most worrying aspect has been the criminalisation of politics and politicisation of the bureaucracy and the police. As a result, Punjab, which used to be considered as the state with relatively low incidence of such unbecoming matters, is fast losing its claim.
There have been increasing reports in the media about registration of criminal cases against Akali and Congress leaders. The glaring example is the CBI court’s order a few months ago sentencing the senior Akali minister Bibi Jagir Kaur, former president of the Sikhs highest religious body Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee for five years for forcibly aborting her daughter. Even Akali Dal MP and deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh’s wife Harsimrat Kaur has termed Jagir Kaur’s complicity in forcibly aborting the foetus of her daughter as ‘unfortunate’. She was speaking on the theme of female foeticide at a function on 2 November.
In another case, agriculture minister Tota Singh had to resign after being handed a year’s imprisonment by the vigilance court for misuse of official machinery. Besides, another minister Gulzar Singh Ranike was also forced to resign for alleged embezzlement of government grants. Some other Akali Dal ministers are also facing charges of extensive funds bungling.
In this era of a politicised bureaucracy, there are not many bureaucrats who would refuse to act on the whims of politicians and would decline to serve their vested political interests. This was not the case in the early post-Independence years. Then many bureaucrats had the courage to resist pressures from their political bosses who wanted to promote their own personal or partisan interests at the cost of public interests. They would rather devise ways to see that the state’s interests were not sacrificed at alter of politicians interests.
But in the current era, most bureaucrats, especially in states, dance to the tunes of ruling politicians without caring about public interests. It is not surprising that in return of for their ‘services’, some of them get undue promotions and some are even given party tickets to contest the elections as has happened in Punjab.    Â
Over the period, Punjab’s bureaucracy and the police have become tools in the hands of ruling politicians to serve their vested interests. The vigilance department has also become an instrument of the rulers for use against their opponents.
Instead of curbing corruption in the administration, the bureau’s bosses serve the rulers political interests. The latest example was the involvement of the controversial Punjab DGP Sumedh Singh Saini in a war of words with the Punjab PCC chief Captain Amarinder Singh. Even chief minister Parkash Singh Badal publicly disapproved his conduct for joining the war of words with the state Congress chief.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has also condemned the functioning of the Punjab police. On 15 October it flayed it for its attempts to save highly influential people (read Akalis) held guilty by a Special Investigation Team of its own officers for mercilessly assaulting a tehsildar.
Like what had happened during the Indira Gandhi-led government, institutions serving the public interest are being destroyed in Punjab in order to serve the ruling party’s partisan interests. Sukhbir, who is also president of the Akali Dal, has appointed districts Akali leaders as halqa (area) in-charge, at whose call their respective areas police officers function. Even the government grants for local areas development are distributed through the halqa in-charges and not through local MLAs if they belong to Opposition. Â
Another ‘feat’ Sukhbir is performing is the engineering of defections in Congress and his rebel cousin Manpreet Singh Badal’s People Party of Punjab. No doubt, Sukhbir has organisational skills which handsomely contributed to the Akali-BJP electoral victories. But he needs to read the history of Haryana’s Aya Rams and Gaya Rams. Their frequent defections in 1966-1968 had destabilised those who had engineered defections leading to quick fall of governments. Whenever negative signs overtake the ruling alliance, today’s Aya Rams will be the first to turn Gaya Rams. The experienced and amiable Badal must be feeling uneasy at some of Sukhbir’s actions. The quality of governance depends on the financial health of a government. But Punjab’s financial health is virtually at terminal stage. The government will be lucky if it manages to achieve 50 per cent of its current year’s Rs 14,000 core Annual Plan target. In the first four months of 2012-2013 the revenue deficit has shot up to Rs 1,347 crore against Rs 1,111 rore in the corresponding period last year. The government is surviving on loans.
There are no funds for development. Loud five-star announcements are made even as the on-going projects are getting stalled due to paucity of funds. The worst suffers are the projects meant for the common man, particularly the poor. For instance, contractors have stopped work on flats being built for the urban poor under the National Urban Renewal Mission in Ludhiana after not having been paid for the last eight months.
The reason: Diversion of Rs 8.32 crore sent by the Centre for the project by the government for some other project. The less said the better about the state of social welfare, health and education sectors. Besides lack of basic infrastructure in hospitals, dispensaries and government schools, there is perennially acute shortage of doctors and teachers.
Some villages in Sangrur district closed their schools gates last week to protest against the teachers shortage. Gimmicks cannot sustain ruling parties governments for long.
Their longevity in power gets shortened if they do not perform. The Akali-BJP government will have to introspect and take remedial measures for the ailments their government suffers from. [IPA]
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