Misplaced Confidence

The virus of CWG scam does not appear to heal the Government as it is erupting and affecting its members every day in new forms. The current controversy about P.Chidambaram has put the Government and Congress party on a flat mat and the opposition on offensive. Surprisingly, there is division among the different Ministers on the issue who have come out in the open. Apart from the current issue, the open wars of words between Jairam Ramesh, Manishankar Iyer and Ajay Maken was not a pleasant sight for the people watch. One can understand the grievances of coalition partners like DMK against the majority ruling party, the open fights of the same party's members throwing mud balls at each other cannot be justified.

2. In that context the statement of Prime Minister that "I will continue to defend my Ministers and that I will continue to enjoy the confidence of my Ministers" is far from realty and sounds hollow. He had reposed the same faith in A.Raja and Dayanidhi Maran and continued to defend them till Raja entered Tihar Jail and Maran is now facing CBI investigation. As regards enjoying the confidence of Ministers, it can be said that the Ministers are confident that whatever they do, right or wrong, Prime Minister will do nothing. Only Courts will act, if necessary.

Who is Poor?

Our Government is relentlessly laughing at the cost of Aam Aadmi by taking anti-people decisions and making provocative statements. They have come into power by making dreamlike promises and are now treating them with scorn. The country specially the common man is reeling under extreme pressures of inflation and sky rocketing prices of food and essential commodities and struggling to survive. In this scenario, the Affidavit of the Govt. In Supreme Court that a person who spends Rs.32/- per day is above poverty line is a biggest joke which can hardly be tolerated. In other words, if a man spends Rs.32/- per day on his food, clothing,rental, travel, medical treatment etc. Etc. Is above poverty line. It is an admission of the fact that there are a vast majority who are not able to spend even this much for their survival.

2. It is most disappointing to find this statement has been approved by the so called Economists of international repute who have ruined the economy of this country by their misdirected vision. No one need to work or propogate against this Govt. as they are themselves destroying their credibility by such unpopular actions.

Unfaithful & Scheming

"The intolerant Morarji Desai" by K.Natwar Singh (Mail Today dated 25 th September) is one of the most irreverent piece against a deceased Gandhian Prime Minister who was known for his strict discipline both in personal and public life. No doubt that he was very dogmatic in his beliefs and principles which were not popular amongst the flexible and luxurious bureaucracy but he was the least vindictive as projected by Natwar Singh in his article. Morarji Bhai was an icon of simplicity,devotion to duty and true nationalism who did not tolerate flattery and incompetency. Naturally, he was not popular with flatterers and schemers who wanted to gain favours through these means and not through merit or performance.

2. K.Natwar Singh who joined Foreign Service not through any competitive examination or merit but because of his royal connections and tried to improve his carrier through contacts and connections cannot be blamed as he was trained like this.All his articles that appear in your publication are full of self adulation and critical of his superiors in service which is against the ethics of any service discipline. Khushwant Singh and his other colleagues who had the opportunity to work with him can better describe him. In any case, he had no business to denigrate Morarji Desai, a pillar of freedom fight and free India. I would avoid mentioning about the circumstances leading to his ouster from the Union Government and congress party.

Prime Ministerial Candidates

The lok Sabha Elections are due in 2014 more than two years away and it is next to impossible to predict the mood of electorate at that point of time. But the pseudo speculators as well as Media have unilaterally decided to project Narender Modi and Rahul Gandhi as the Prime Ministerial Candidates. It is further more interesting that neither the BJP nor the Congress Party have made any official endorsements to this effect. These are mature reactions of the national political parties. The need of the hour is to tackle the serious problems of inflation, decline in industrial growth besides terrorism. Political parties have every right to project their agendas and expose the shortfalls in governance to keep the system vigilant but at the same time they should not ignore the national priorities. The projection of Prime Ministerial candidates should be shelved for the time being as people want immediate relief from the mounting inflation and prices of essential food items.

Do Not Divide the Nation on Communal basis

It is extremely embarrassing to find the manner in which UPA Government is functioning in a confused manner in all spheres of governance. An addition to their confused state of mind is the proposed Prevention of Communal Violence Bill which has drawn adverse reactions not only from the major Opposition party but more importantly its political allies like Trinamool Congress. It displays the disarray in the ruling party where its different sections are pulling in different directions. This process is in continuation of the proposed Lokpal Bill where the major political parties were ignored while discussing with the Citizen Group. Even now the major political parties and the State Governments who are mainly concerned with the law and order were side stepped. It was therefore natural to rebound. Moreover, this legislation which has been contrived in a shoddy manner with elections in mind is ill timed and unnecessary. As has been objected by many political groups and State Governments, it will create more communal divides than bridge it. By and large there is no communal divide in the country at present as with the passage of time people have learnt to live in peace with each other. The classic examples are the harmony in Gujarat, Muslims building temples and Hindus building Mosques, Muslims participating in Ganesh Pujas and Hindus celebrating Eid and Christmas etc. Do we need a divisive legislation now?

Practical way to tackle the corrupt

Nitish Kumar, Chief Minister of Bihar has set a practical and effective example to confiscate the property of an alleged corrupt I.A.S. Officer and converting the same to a School for poor children. The enactment of an Act and to implement the same in right earnest are two different things. Nitish Kumar has achieved both the targets for which he deserves gratitude of the nation. He has shown the way which should be followed by all States in the country as well as Centre. If this campaign is continued without interruptions, we will get rid of the scourge by more than 70 percent. With due respect to Civil Society's campaign against corruption, it may be stated that mere enactment of Lokpal Bill will not solve the problem as bureaucratic rules and procedures to dual with corrupt will only delay the process of conviction etc. The pattern of Bihar will be an effective deterrent tool and deserves support of general public and Government.