|
STATES:
RAJASTHAN
Not
Committed
The state
Government it, appears, is unconcerned about the fate and effectiveness
of the myriad commissions it has set up
By
Rohit Parihar
When
Kanta Bhatnagar, chairperson of the Rajasthan Human Rights Commission,
resigned last month, her move was without parallel. A former chief justice
of the Tamil Nadu High Court, 69-year-old Bhatnagar had quit in protest
against the state Government's non-cooperation. Though she had taken over
in March 2000, the commission was not provided with even a room to work
out of until August. "We did not get a penny out of the Rs 50 lakh
grant we were supposed to get,'' she says.
While her
gutsy action is indeed unique, Bhatnagar's plight is not. Chairpersons
of half a dozen commissions find themselves in the piquant situation of
being subordinate to the system whose ills they are supposed to reform.
Says one such chairman: "I feel like taking a delegation of commission
heads to ask the chief minister why our panels were created."
Whether
that will help is doubtful considering the short shrift the Lok Ayukta
has got. The body intended to help people get their complaints heard has
long failed to get a hearing from the Government. Since 1974, it has not
had a deputy. Under the rules its reports must be placed before and debated
in the state Assembly, not a single one has been through legislature scrutiny
in the past four years. Worse, in more than 90 per cent of the cases,
the Government has officially closed the files.
The Lok
Ayukta was relatively lucky-at least it had an office and its grants were
always released. Others weren't so privileged. The Mahila Commission,
set up in May 1999, was working out of one room until recently. Last year
it got Rs 22 lakh instead of the proposed Rs 70 lakh. The money has not
come for the current year, nor have three-fourths of the sanctioned 78-member
staff. Says commission member Sunita Satyarthi: "We are unable to
meet our objectives and end up working with a police mindset.'' Perhaps
that's the reason why the commission finds 31 per cent of the complaints
made to it to be false-higher than police statistics on such complaints.
No Holy
Cows: Minorities Commission Chairman Mohammad Nizam has a similar
tale. All he has been doing is merely make recommendations for the welfare
of Muslims or forwarding complaints to the Government. "Each of my
recommendations is gathering dust in the Home Department,'' he cribs.
S.C. Mathur, former chief minister and chairman of the Administrative
Reforms Commission, concurs. "The Government is neither straightforward
nor quick in acting on my recommendations," he complains.
To be sure,
there are no holy cows among commissions. After the Cow Commission's first
chairman retired in January, Guljari Lal Soni, a failed politician, took
over in May. None of the commission's 15 members has been appointed. Though
Soni has ambitious plans as far as cow welfare is concerned, he finds
the Rs 20 lakh grant insufficient and seeks Rs 5 crore.
Hira Lal
Devpura-a former chief minister heading the State Finance Commission-was
to make recommendations for five years by December 1999. But three secretaries
have already been shunted in and out, and it has taken the Government
two months to replace a member who resigned. Devpura will be lucky to
submit an interim report for just one year by September. When the Finance
Commission is in the doldrums, lesser commissions don't stand a chance.
Top
|
In
India, youth is marked by impetuosity and prevented from getting ahead.
Elsewhere, of course, the young rule the world, says INDIA TODAY Deputy
Editor Swapan Dasgupta in 
