October 12,1998
|
|
|
|
Let the
People Know The Talbott-Singh talks could do with a dose of transparency
US officials, including Inderfurth, have now started talking about putting in place a "nuclear restraint regime". This sounds suspiciously like trying to obtain regional non-proliferation solutions for what India has always seen as a global issue. Secrecy was necessary for the Singh-Talbott talks to gain momentum. But after five rounds of discussions no one has a clear idea as to what they are all about. Are they dealing with the larger Indo-US relationship or merely the Pokhran fallout? Are India's nuclear and missile plans up for negotiation or only the issues of CTBT and economic and technology sanctions? Perhaps it is time for the Government to be more forthcoming about the talks. India should know what it is letting itself in for. Flaws and Laws
The example of the Companies Act, 1956, would be instructive. It was designed to govern business corporations within the overall framework of a socialist regime. Post-1991, it has become an antique. While an alternative legislation has been drafted, three Lok Sabhas have failed to sanction a new Companies Act. Not surprisingly, CRAL points out that India's economic laws need a drastic overhaul. At one extreme, fly-by-night financial firms exploit administrative lacunae and cheat investors at will. At the other, a maze of rules thwart a range of activities -- from foreign investment to urban development. Since the laws themselves are such a confused mess, the courts work at a lethargic pace. The upshot is the collapse of the Indian justice dispensing system. No wonder CRAL has urged the unburdening of courts by greater use of tribunals, arbiters and the like. In sum, CRAL has shown the way. Now the Government must show the will. |
|
|
Issue Contents | Write to us | Subscriptions | Syndication BUSINESS TODAY | INDIA TODAY PLUS | COMPUTERS TODAY © Living Media India Ltd |
 |
 |
The BJP-led Government's foreign policy stands at too important a crossroad
to allow it to be distracted by the understandable hype that surrounds any prime
ministerial visit abroad. In this context, Atal Bihari Vajpayee's clarification that India
and the United States as of now are only potential and not quite "natural
allies" is to be welcomed. The nuclear tests of May 11 and 13 were a defining moment
for Indian foreign policy and the Vajpayee Government seems to have understood that well.
It has been broadly successful in engaging the world's principal power, the US, in an
intense dialogue. After initial fumbles, it is now resuming direct talks with India's
major vicinal adversary, Pakistan. While it is too early to comment on how Delhi's
discussions with Islamabad will go, there is a natural curiosity about where the Jaswant
Singh-Strobe Talbott talks are headed. Judging by the prime minister's remarks in recent
days, India is still some distance from signing the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).
Almost simultaneously, the US position was baldly stated by Assistant Secretary of State
Karl Inderfurth: signing the CTBT is only one of several steps India would have to take
before the economic sanctions are lifted. 
India's reputation as a society which is over-regulated but undergoverned has
certainly soared after the recent report of the Commission on Review of Administrative
Laws (CRAL). That CRAL has deemed 1,200 of the 2,500-odd Union laws absolute junk and
worthy of immediate repeal would have astounded even congenital cynics. Sixty per cent of
these laws have not even been used since 1947. Many go back to the British Raj, some being
as old as 150 years. To call them outdated would be to insult the calendar. For instance,
the Indian Post Office Act, 1885, is violated each time a letter is sent via a private
courier agency. It is equally pathetic to have the century-old Indian Telegraph Act cope
with television broadcasts. Laughable as it may seem, the Indian legal system's fetish for
Jurassic Park is actually quite damaging. It has stagnated as technology and economics
have been transformed. 
