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Dec 27, 1999
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FLIPSIDE
Convenience by CommitteeBy Dilip
Bobb
We Indians have found a convenient
method of making crucial decisions. Just hand it over to a committee which judges the case
on its merits and submits its findings and recommendations. Of course, all this takes
time. Some committees have been known to have started work just after Partition and are
still slaving away in some dingy basement, quite oblivious to the fact that 53 years have
gone by. There's no better way to judge this process than by the morning headlines in the
daily newspapers. Here's a sampling.
- The CBI today said it would form a committee to review all
cases bungled by the agency in the past few weeks. An agency spokesman said it was
possible that some murderers may have been judged innocent and vice versa. The committee,
headed by a high court judge, would submit its findings within a year or five, since the
agency has expressed its inability to track down key witnesses. An agency spokesman said
that tracking down these people was very difficult since they had to wait till the
witnesses were interviewed by newspapers and television channels.
- The aviation minister has announced that a committee would
be set up to examine the disastrous state of affairs at the Indira Gandhi International
Airport. The minister announced that safety instructions would now be issued at the
entrance instead of in the aircraft. The committee, headed by a high court judge, will
review the findings and recommendations of the previous committee. It has been given two
years to find its way around the airport.
- The Government has announced the setting up of a committee
to look into the reasons why multinational companies are pulling out midway through
crucial projects. The committee will be headed by a high court judge. Since it is a
fast-track project, it will be given a year to submit its recommendations to the reforms
committee which will then hand it over to a parliamentary committee. They, in turn, will
submit their recommendations to the cabinet committee which will look into reasons why
such proposals are delayed.
- The BCCI has ordered the setting up of a committee to look
into the Indian cricket team's current debacle and examine reasons why Sachin Tendulkar is
going down under. The committee, to be headed by a high court judge, will look at the
possibilities of match-fixing and examine key witnesses like J. Lele who had predicted
India would lose 0-3.
- The Congress Working Committee has set up a committee to
review the post-mortem report submitted by the A.K. Antony Committee. The committee, which
will not be headed by a high court judge, will examine key witnesses like Manmohan Singh
to find reasons for its recent electoral debacle and look for ways to reform the party.
- The high court today said it was going on strike to protest
against the acute shortage of judges, owing to the fact that so many of them had been
requisitioned to head government committees.
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