Shame on the Parliamentarians of India

India is plagued with corruption. We have 782 Members of Parliament who are supposed to represent the people of India. But the majority of these 782 MPs are crocodiles shedding crocodile tears unconcerned of the genuine demands of the people. The people who have voted them, today, feel angered and dejected. One selfless crusader against corruption questions the issue of corruption, begs of a Jan Lokpal Bill, fasts for the rights of the people and wakes up the people of India to fight against it. People all around India come out in large numbers & the globe in support of Anna and his Jan Lokpal Bill. The politicians superficially show that they are concerned of the corruption. They show that they are concerned about Anna's health. But as a common man I feel that none of these so called representatives really care a hoot. For them getting elected means thay are the masters and the people their slaves. It is arrogance of the highest order. Anna the people's man, the sacrificer for the sake of the common man is arrested and humiliated by the government. It's the British raj once again minus the colour of the 782.

"Sonia Gandhi is closely watching from her bed in US". "The PM is very concerned and written a letter to Anna". "Rahul Gandhi is deeply concerned". "Yashwant Sinha is very angry with his party". "BJP lambasts the Govt." These are the headlines of the hour. But these are just words to fool the people of this country. Every minute, Every hour is costly. Anna's health is fading. God forbid if anything happens to Anna, there will be mayhem. I am afraid the anger of the people will engulf this country to a situation like Libya. Thank God Anna has restrained the people of this country from following the violent path. But the anger & passions are very high. Every common Indian man has understood the genetic construction of the politicians. They see through the real intentions of these politicians. I hope the Government and the opposition foresees the danger beyond and gets out of their cocoons. For if anything happens to Anna, I am afraid every politician will be dragged out and God knows what will happen.

Politicians of India wake up and understand the pulse of the people!!!!

Dr. Manmohan Singh and “Manmohanomics” or “CPIMonomics” or “UPAonomics”

It took me totally by surprise to hear our great PM, Dr. Mr. Manmohan Singh, who is an economist, educated from Universities no less than Oxford and Cambridge, when he called for trimming the salaries of top executives, while addressing the CII Annual General Meeting. How can an economist talk like a lay man to Economics? He must be putting the Universities; he was educated from, to shame. As a citizen of a country which is poised to touch the peak in global economic performance, I feel ashamed because these words come from the mouth of a renowned and responsible economist.

As an Indian, when Dr. Manmohan Singh took over the Prime Minister-ship, I was proud. I was proud because I had a feeling that the wayward Indian politico was moving towards refinement. A feeling, that the Indian politico was recognising the need for a qualified personality at the helm. But I never realised that an economist of such a stature would lose his basics to the wind, in the company of Lalus, Karats and Yechuris. Since Independence, there has been an unconscious performance competition between the Private Sector and the Government Sector. While, in the early years post independence, the Public sector was better off vis-à-vis the Private Sector, now the Private sector has catapulted to dizzy heights and the Public Sector to dizzy lows. Compare the salaries, Compare their employee to work-output ratio and compare the motivation. It’s a low-low in your house Dr. Manmohan Singh. After you and your kinsmen have strangulated the Government sector and now realise that you can not improve it, you now want to strangulate the Private sector too. India is poised, not because you have performed, it is because the private industry was not tinkered by you or your predecessors. Your call to the private sector to restrain salaries of CEOs & executives reflects like a defeated General begging his counterpart in Pakistan to procure 303 rifles instead of modern automatic machine guns. If you can not perform and can not set your house right, do not burn other’s houses. Dr. Manmohan Singh, can you tell Mr. Bush or Bill Gates to restrain salaries of Americans. I am sure you know that the American business fraternity controls the movements of salaries all around the world.

Yes, we know that there is poverty in India. We know that we are thick in corruption. And we, including Dr. Singh and his co-netas, know who is to blame. Its plain and clear, the governance has been very poor. In fact it is not governance but “govern-nonsense” that has been going on post Independence after the Netas took over the mantle. We know that the Sixth Pay Commission is due, Dr. Singh, and that is why probably Manmohanomics goes into a wobbly and asks the Industry to restrain the salaries.

Dr. Manmohan Singh Sir, We know that you are a simple man. We know that you are clean and honest. We know that your heart goes out for our country. You too have a desire to make this country great. But we also know that Manmohanomics can not clean the rotten system. Manmohanomics cannot clean the dirt in the Indian politico. Manmohanomics cannot prevent entries of goondas and goondaraj into the Politics. Manmohanomics can not improve the working culture of the Government sector. Manmohanomics is being pulled and mauled by the compulsions of CPIMonomics and UPAonomics.

We all know, Dear Sir including you that restraining the salaries of top executives of the private sector,who are breaking their backs in nurturing our business is not the solution. The solution is very Clear but tough.

-Hold the Government employees accountable. Get them to perform with the same zeal as the private sector.
-Pay better salaries to your employees.
-Think long term rather than setting five year goals.
-Have qualified politicians to hold Ministerial positions.
-Break the politico-police-goonda nexus
-Do not protect the guilty
-Do not give tickets to goondas and murderers
-Weed out corruption and its perpetrators.
-Get 100% free education in our country.
-Have more colleges and schools.
-Devise concrete tools to uplift the lives of poor
-Encourage and aid the farming and make it a lucrative industry

And finally
-Do not mess about in the affairs of the Private Sector. Act as a catalyst in improving it.
-Do not make a “Khichadi” of Manmohanomics with CPIMonomics and UPAonomics

Can you Dr. Manmohan Singh?

Can We Take a Few Lessons From The Koreans?

Forget about the “World Cup Debacle”! It was only a game of cricket played by 11 players. Let’s talk about the performance of our country. There is some good news for us Indians here. According to the latest survey by Transparency International (TI), India is no longer seen to be a “highly corrupt” country. India ranks 70 out of 163 nations this year against 88 out of 159 nations last year (The lower down the list, the more the country is seen as being corrupt). India scored 3.3 out of 10, with 10 being the least corrupt. Last year our score was 2.8/10. Countries with 3 and less than 3 are considered to be “Highly Corrupt”. We have climbed 0.5 points away from corruption. That’s the good news. Though many of us are subjectively aware that there is extensive corruption in our country, I am sure that many of us will be disappointed with the revelation of such a low numerical score. I was myself very disappointed. But the good thing what one sees, is that the score is moving towards the better scale, and this is a positive pointer. We have to accelerate from here to bring it closer to 10 as fast as possible.Corruption is not only a worm in our country but in every country. The Koreans have in the last few years addressed this issue with full zeal and might. It will surprise everyone that their efforts are paying and setting benchmarks for other countries to follow including India. It is estimated that they have saved a whopping $4.5 billion from going into the bellies of bribe seekers in the last one year. That’s a huge-huge amount.

How have they achieved this?

KOREAN INDEPENDENT COMMISSION AGAINST CORRUPTION (KICAC)

It was a beginning in 1999, an Act on Preventing Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions was enacted. That was the first small step. Later in 2001 another small step was taken when the Anti-Corruption Act and the Money Laundering Prevention Act were enacted. A bigger step was taken in 2002, when the Korea Independent Commission Against Corruption (KICAC) was established. This body consists of nine commissioners including the minister-level Chairman, three of whom are recommended by the National Assembly, three by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and three by the President. Each member serves a three-year term and can be reappointed for an additional term. It must be borne in mind that the Commissioners cannot be dismissed or removed, which assures that KICAC members have the independence to perform their duties appropriately. KICAC is a comprehensive anti-corruption body which systematically connects activities such as handling corruption reports, improving institutions, formulating and assessing policies, and carrying out education and promotion. Now this was the Government’s sheer will to eradicate corruption. Parallely, there was a movement by the citizens of Korea that gelled well with the Government’s policies. In fact the citizens movement started much earlier in the early 90s and it is this movement by the citizens that the policies for eradication of corruption were formulated by the Government.

KOREAN ONLINE E-PROCUREMENT SYSTEM (KONEPS).

October 2003 saw the introduction of KONEPS or the Korean Online E-Procurement System in Korea. KONEPS is a cyber market where public organizations and supplying companies conduct transactions. It serves as a single procurement window for private enterprises to conduct transactions with public organizations. All bidding information can be accessed at KONEPS. All procurement procedures including bidding, contract, delivery inspection, payment of proceeds and others are processed electronically via KONEPS, and related documents are exchanged online. The best thing is that and you only have to register once through that portal to participate in all biddings of any organisation. Truly a one stop counter for complete business in Korea.

KONEPS has delivered. It has brought transparency, public confidence, and efficiency in procurement and administration. All paper based forms, frequent visits of business people to government offices, sealing/ stamping of contracts, and repeated registration are the things of the past.

KONEPS has become the world's largest cyber market reaching an annual trade volume of $43 billion in 2005. Due to innovations such as the real time information provision and expanded discloser of contract details, procurement administration has become transparent. In addition, not only our closest neighbors such as Malaysia, Japan and China but also foreign countries including the US and Canada have benchmarked the electronic procurement innovation.

CAN INDIA EMULATE THE KOREAN PROCESS?

According to the Times of India, the Indian Government is seeking help from Korea on formulating our strategy to fight corruption in India. My view is that it requires a full throttle will by the Government of India. Does our Government have the will????

Media and its Responsibilities

The media in general has been a great mover in exposing corruption and hooliganism in our system. However it has also been an encouraging factor for the men treading the darker path. We have seen life stories of the dons being displayed on news channels and interviews being given by them. We are making them heroes. Yes, the TRP ratings is the issue. But the media must realise that they are doing a dis-service to their country by airing such content. You are making them idols. How do you otherwise explain that goons are elected as representatives. It is very important for the media to be responsible and aim their coverage in the best interest of the society and the country.

Tehelka had started with the sting operations in India. I salute Mr. Tarun Tejpal and his team
for the guts they showed through out the expose and the turbulent period later. This sting operation has been carried forward by certain channels. Contribution of the media in the conviction of the accused in the Jessica Lal case is examplary. There are many more instances where the contribution of the media has led to action by the Government and the authorities. However the media could have done much better. We need to have many more people like Tarun Tejpal, Barkha Dutt, Shankar Sharma, Ms Sagarika Ghouse...; We need to stop glorifying the Dons; We need to stop having long drawn programs on the movie stars; We need to talk about the real heroes who make this nation; We need more expose of corruption...Not only expose, but a media which sticks like a leach on the expose, till the culprits are convicted.

Dear friends, let us choose the best of journalists (Five) on this sixtieth year of our independence. I would request you all to comment on this article and suggest your nominations for the best journalist (Maximum 5) marking them out of 10. Please give reasons to substantiate the markings. On 15th July let us consolidate the names and publish the names. We will have another round of voting and then let us announce the winner of our polls on the Independence day. Your comments on the process of selection and nominations are also welcome.