PM’s authority has taken a hit Gen Harwant Singh ************************************************ From: harwant singh [mailto:gen_harwant@hotmail] Sent: 08 October 2013 13:30 To: DELETED Subject: Article Article sent earlier concerning our PM appeared in HT ( Chd edition ) this morning (08 Oct 13). Harwant. From: harwant singh [mailto:gen_harwant@hotmail] Sent: 08 October 2013 10:01 To: DELETED Subject: Article Dear all, hope this article is readable. Regards. Harwant. PM’s authority has taken a hit Gen Harwant Singh When Dr Manmohan Singh first appeared on the Indian political scene in early nineties and took charge of a faltering economy, he displayed a vision, grit and skill rarely seen in India. He gave the economy a new thrust and direction. Inspector raj, which had stifled growth and led to corruption at lower levels, was shown the door. Singh became King. However the exit of inspector raj resulted in the onset of secretary-minister raj. While crony capitalism and secretary-minister class flourished, alongside expanded the middle class and the poverty line moved down a bit. Momentum of that growth was frequently stymied, partly due to gyrations in the world economy and more frequently due to procedural hassles of government’s own making. POLICY PARALYSIS During the UPA 2 regime inertia and policy paralysis set-in, resulting in economic down turn. While the GDP growth hovered around 5 percent, corruption in government gained a new high. Alongside this, the centre of power and policy formulation shifted more and more into the hands of ‘higher command.’ Cabinet ministers looked increasingly towards ‘higher command’ for direction, undermining the position of the PM. Policy formulations emanated from National Advisory Council rather than from the cabinet. In the case of ‘coal-gate,’ allotment of blocks were made by the ministry based on chits emanating from certain power centers, often without the knowledge of the coal minister (in this case, the PM ) Gradually PM’s authority diminished and he became a cartoonist’s delight. REPEATED RETREATS Undeniably he is not even a lightweight politician, but once in that august chair he cannot possibly cede even an inch of authority inherent in that post. Unfortunately, he has repeatedly retreated and never came to a point where he could say, ‘enough is enough.’ He had been against giving extension to bureaucrats, but the latter instead of seeking extension have been creating permanent establishments and then, on retirement, get into these newly created jobs, where tenures often extend from five to ten years. IN ALL THIS LOOT OF THE TREASURY AND RAMPANT CORRUPTION WHICH HAS ENGULFED THE NATIONAL SCENE, PRIME MINISTER MANMOHAN SINGH HAS BEEN A MUTE SPECTATOR A weekly magazine has called it,‘ The Revenge of the Babus.’ The magazine goes on to list innumerable permanent regulatory authorities, which have been created to rehabilitate most of the retiring babus. Even in the Central Pay Commission, babus gave themselves, most scandalously, what is called, Non Functional Up-gradation. Which in simple terms translates into every one, at the very minimum, ending up in additional secretary’s pay bracket, even when there may be no equivalent post (s.) There are over fifty, class A services whose officers fall in this category. So you might find that the officer in your next door post office, draws the same pay as a three star general or the forest officer, who may have been left with no forests, draws the pay and consequently pension of an additional secretary to the government of India. In all this loot of the treasury and the rampant corruption, which has engulfed the national scene, the PM has been a mute spectator. It was left to the vice president of the congress party to pull the rug from under the PM’s feet, just as he was to confabulate with the President of the United States of America and strike a friendly note with the PM of Pakistan. The ordinance, overturning the decision of the highest court of the country, was drawn after careful considerations and reflected the collective wisdom of the party, cabinet committee and the PM. Could this august body not sense the mood of the nation while drafting the ordinance! How did this young man after a long slumber, suddenly surface during a press briefing being held by a spokesperson of the party, extolling the virtues of this very ordinance, decide to rubbish it. His choice of words apart, one may want to know as to how and when did he discern the sense of the national mood and this sense dawn on him! After all it is the very same nation, which has repeatedly sent criminals to the parliament and state assemblies. Could he not have displayed some maturity and put forward his point of view, in a dignified manner to the PM, once he was back in the country. There could possibly be no, more crude and disparaging way to undermine the position of the cabinet but more so that of the PM. Once it became apparent that the President was not going to sign this ordinance, the situation had to be retrieved, but the method could have been less clumsy. No matter how one may view these past developments and the sordid drama, the point is that, Singh is no King.
Posted on: Wed, 09 Oct 2013 09:31:02 +0000
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