People's yearning for clean and transparent governance is slowly but steadily making headway. Be it the BJP government in Chhattisgarh or the panchayats at the grass-root level in Congress-ruled Rajasthan, the winds of change are blowing. On Tuesday last, Chief Minister Raman Singh announced in the State Assembly that he has decided to make public details of the assets "owned by him, his ministers and party legislators every year". Additionally, government officials have been directed to put the details of their property on websites of their respective departments. The declaration followed when Raman Singh responded to the opposition Congress' question on how many IAS, IPS and IFS (Indian Forest Service) officials had furnished details about their property as required under the rules. Obviously, it was more than welcome. The Congress MLAs too decided to follow suit and announced they would also declare their assets "every Budget session." Recall that only last month, the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Shivraj Singh Chouhan and his BJP ministers had made public details of their property by tabling them in the Assembly.
Sarpanchs to fight corruption
Likewise, the desire to fight corruption has been taken up by 40 sarpanchs in Rajasthan, mostly first-timers. They have recently resolved "not to sign cheques blindly, succumb to pressure from government officials or accept bribes of any kind." And, their intent should not be questioned as for starters they have spent less than Rs 20,000 in the recently-concluded panchayat elections. Apparently, the resolve follows a tour of Vijaypura, a model panchayat unit under the NREGS in Rajasthan last month. One of the tips the sarpanchs took back was to maintain a complete record of all cash transactions to avoid corruption allegations. "The most important thing is not to sign all papers and cheques presented before you," was a clear message. And, another way to steer clear from corruption was to stay close to the people who voted for them. This way they could avoid advances from corrupt officials. As most of the sarpanchs won on the platform of transparency, they have resolved to keep that promise. .
No stopping MNS
There seems to be no stopping Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray and his supporters in Mumbai. Not even a warning by the Supreme Court, so it seems. On Tuesday last, the apex court cautioned Thackeray from making hate speeches against north Indians as cases against him would continue. It was hearing a plea for stay of trial in three more cases filed in Jharkhand, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh relating to his hate speech in Mumbai in 2008. The MNS chief was seeking transfer of these cases as he feared his safety. Last month the court had transferred seven similar complaints pending in Jharkhand and Bihar to Delhi. While the SC sent notices to the three State governments and stayed the trails, it didn't stop MNS supporters to go on a rampage in Mumbai twenty-four hours later. They vandalized two Airtel stores for not having Marathi as one of the languages in its pre-recorded messages for subscribers. While the MNS seeks to deny involvement of its members, Thackeray's speech earlier in the day warning Airtel of its "deadline being over" were enough indications of who was behind the vandalism.
Delhi "Best City"
Delhi's Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has reason to rejoice. Despite the entire city being dug up, it has got an excellent certificate -- of "offering the best quality of life" to its residents among all cities in the country. This comes in the form of a "Liveability Index" released by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Monday last, based on surveys conducted in 37 cities for over a decade. Delhi outscores metros such as Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and Kolkata; NCR towns Gurgaon, Noida and Faridabad; and even planned cities like Chandigarh. The National capital ranks first on parameters like population, density, safety, transport, education, job opportunities and accidents. The only place it falls behind is in health care, where it is ranked 17th much after Kozhikode, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kolkata. According to the survey, the next best cities to live in after Delhi are Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore. The bottom rankers are: Jamshedpur, the worst and preceded by Vishakapatnam, Patna, Lucknow and Ludhiana. About the survey's authenticity, CII says: "The study uses hard data collected from reliable sources to eliminate the possibility of personal bias or a sampling error obscuring the reality."
Insaf, INFA
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Sunday, August 01, 2010
