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Newsnotes Delhi: Strings Attached
Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Minister S. Jaipal Reddy kept his word by
granting autonomy to Doordarshan (DD) and All India Radio (AIR). And despite the fact that
a big question mark hangs over his future, the newly-appointed CEO of Prasar Bharati, S.S.
Gill, has been functioning with complete autonomy. But the message does not seem to have
gone through to the babus in the I&B Ministry. For instance, though they no longer
have a say in the way DD and air are run, the ministry's mandarins continue to issue
invitations to press conferences on the broadcaster's behalf. In the month since the
Prasar Bharati Board was instituted, there were three press conferences. Invitations for
each were issued by the I&B Ministry, giving the impression that Mandi House is still
clinging on to the ministry's apron strings. Gill must dispel this impression. The way to
do it is by using his own staff (at last count there were 45,000 employees) to issue
invitations to press conferences, especially as transparency demands that he meet the
media often.
Bangalore: Breakfast Breakdown
Former Karnataka chief minister S.R. Bommai was here recently on a peace mission: to
bring together old friends H.D. Deve Gowda and R.L. Jalappa, dissident JD leader and
textiles minister. Both Deve Gowda and Chief Minister J.H. Patel are wary of Jalappa's
hob-nobbing with bete noire and Lok Shakti chief R.K. Hegde. So while Bommai succeeded in
getting Jalappa and Patel to shake hands over breakfast, his attempts to get Deve Gowda to
the same table came to nought. Even as the trio feasted on hot idlis, the "humble
farmer" landed in Bangalore, hopped to Mysore and flew back to Delhi the next day. JD
leaders are now suggesting that Bommai try a ragi mudde (ragi balls, Deve Gowda's
favourite) breakfast in his next bid at building bridges for the "son of the
soil".
Mumbai: Five-star Campaign
Given his high-flying portfolio, it wasn't surprising that Union Civil Aviation
Minister C.M. Ibrahim called a press conference at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai. Like
most ministers, Ibrahim, who was putting up in the same hotel, arrived 40 minutes late.
Prefacing his sermon with a clever "this is my (read: as minister) first press
conference in Mumbai", he went on to announce the launch of the JD campaign in the
city the next day. Thereafter, he praised Gowdaji and I.K. Gujral, lambasted the BJP and
the duplicity of the Congress and pointed out how the JD "becomes stronger after
every split". During the hour-long interaction, he answered about 11 questions, nine
of which dealt with elections, one with Air India and one about the ATC strike.
Invitations to the press meet were faxed by the JD's Mumbai office, and besides Ibrahim,
local JD men Naseem Siddiqui and Kapil Patil were also present. There were no officials
from either the ministry or the airlines. The tab for the rooms and the banquet hall will
be picked up by the ministry though. Is the Election Commission listening?
Mumbai: Eyeing the Civic Pie
Mumbai: For 125 years, the commissioner called the shots in the Brihanmumbai Municipal
Corporation (BMC). But if the Shiv Sena has its way, the mayor, till now a titular head,
will assume all powers with a council of corporators for assistance. But the move requires
amendments to the Municipal Corporation Act. Having failed to put up the requisite bill in
the Assembly, Chief Minister Manohar Joshi wants the Governor to sign an ordinance,
despite opposition from the BJP and a section of his own Cabinet.
The last two BMC mayors have been from the Sena and the party loves the idea of a powerful
person controlling the annual budget of Rs 3,000 crore -- higher than some state budgets.
Bureaucrats rightfully fear it would reduce the BMC to a political playground. Joshi often
talks of how "powerless and restricted" he felt as mayor in 1979. This may be
his chance to set right the balance of power. Honourable intentions, but a good job is
often ruined by half-baked methods.
Lucknow: Project Reverse
With Chief Minister Kalyan Singh ordering inquiries into all Ambedkar projects in the
state -- to nail predecessor Mayawati -- it seems Ambedkar days in Uttar Pradesh are over.
In the changed scenario, almost all the Ambedkar projects, including the BSP's Ambedkar
Udyan "dream project", have come to a halt. Given Kalyan's mood, no state
official dare ask the Government for funds to complete the various Ambedkar parks,
gardens, villages and schools. And the Ambedkar statues, installed all over the city
during Behenji's tenure, wear an uncared-for look. Security and maintenance staff for the
statues have already been withdrawn. In fact, now there is no one to even switch on the
night bulbs, for which the Mayawati regime had spent lakhs of rupees.
Lucknow: A Spirited Party
When he took the support of the 22-member Loktantrik Congress (LC), Chief Minister
Kalyan Singh didn't realise he would end up a with a daily hangover. The ambitious LC
members -- all ministers in the jumbo Cabinet -- and their supporters have been getting
into "high spirits" after sundown inside the party office, located on Park Road,
the abode of several ministers, officials and legislators. Not only that, some of them
come knocking on Kalyan's doors in the dead of night to demand lucrative portfolios. One
night, Kalyan let in a few LC ministers thinking it was some emergency. But their
incoherent talk gave them away and Kalyan politely asked them to return when sober. That
is not all. Apparently, senior BJP leaders and ministers too have been receiving phone
calls at odd hours from hiccuping LC members seeking favours. In fact, ever since the
elections were announced, the ambitions of the two-month-old party have soared. LC
ministers, including Naresh Agrawal, who engineered the defections, and Transport Minister
Jagdambika Pal have been claiming that their party, in alliance with the BJP, would
contest at least 15 seats. Fed up with being taken for granted and under mounting pressure
from the Sangh Parivar, Kalyan has now decided to bring down his errant ministerial
colleagues by a peg or two.
Chandigarh: Arms Minefield
The ghost of terrorism in Punjab may never get a final burial. Last week when the state
police, on a vague tip-off from a gun-runner, began digging up a field in the once
terrorism-infested Batala district, it didn't expect to stumble upon one of the biggest
cache of arms and ammunition seized since 1991. It was a massive excavation operation,
spread over three acres where once sugarcane crop stood. The arms consignment, neatly
packed in plastic pipes, was recovered after digging four to five feet deep. The 10
weapons hidden there included a light machine gun, an AK-47 rifle, one self-loading rifle,
three bombs and over 250 cartridges. The consignment belonged to slain terrorist
Sukhvinder Singh Pappu. The gun-runner who spilled the beans was from Srinagar and had
delivered the consignment to Pappu in 1991. The recovery has given further credence to
what Punjab Police has suspected all along: the border state may be sitting on piles of
deadly weapons hidden by terrorists -- slain or fugitive.
Srinagar: Caught in Confusion
It's a different kind of a war in the Valley. The Government-controlled Muslim Auqaf
Trust (MAT) and the All-Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) have crossed swords over the
reconstruction of the Charar-e-Sharief, with each accusing the other of financial
irregularities. The result: construction work at the shrine has come to a halt. The MAT,
earlier controlled by the APHC, was given the task of rebuilding the 537-year-old shrine
after it was gutted during a siege by militants in May 1995. After his election, Chief
Minister Farooq Abdullah revamped the trust, packed it with pro-government members and
took over its chairmanship. MAT now contends that construction work has been hampered
because of a funds crunch. Says MAT Vice-Chairman Ghulam Nabi Kochak: "We have
already spent Rs 50 lakh and now we are short of funds." But Moulvi Yousuf Shah, the
Charar's head priest, calls it an eyewash. With assets worth hundreds of crores of rupees
and 63 shrines under it, MAT is not a poor organisation, he says. Squabbling apart,
differences over the shrine's architectural style have also delayed matters. Shah,
however, says, "It is nothing but a ploy to buy time." Which is perhaps why MAT
has turned to the Centre for help. "If the Centre bails us out, we should start work
in March," says Kochak. The rebuilding of the shrine, it seems, hinges on hope.
Calcutta: Coming Clean
Following an inquiry by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), the West Bengal
Government has ordered the closure of over 300 personal ledger accounts (PLAs) maintained
by all levels of its bureaucracy over the past eight years. The inquiry had indicated that
the PLAs may have been used for siphoning off development funds. From the next financial
year, the state promises more prudence and has introduced proper internal auditing in
every treasury. This marks a clear shift from its earlier self-righteous stand that it had
every right to maintain "flexibility" in fund management. There are reasons for
turning over a new leaf now. First, the full report on the scam is expected to be
submitted to the governor by mid-January. Secondly, with elections announced, the Left
Front needs to come clean before the electorate. But will that absolve the Marxists of
eight years of malpractice, which, according to newspaper reports, runs into hundreds of
crores of rupees? Probably not, but with a bit of luck it can postpone the day of
reckoning till after the polls. |
