'Peace' loving Indian leaders

Gangadhar S Patil

Few politicians often seen bawling in media, have for 135 times consistently maintained their silence in the place where they are expected to speak out – Lok Sabha.

Groomed as future prime minister by the Congress, Rahul Gandhi from Amethi, UP has the dubious distinction of being counted among the 22 leaders whose presence was barely felt in the Lok Sabha as they are yet to open their mouth in the 15^th Lok Sabha.

Besides him, the list includes well-known ‘leaders’ like former Congress MP Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, Kadapa constituency, AP,  Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief K Chandrasekhar, Mahabubnagar, AP and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief Shibu Soren representing Dumka constituency, Jharkhand who have preferred not to participate in for 135 parliament sittings. This implies that their participation in the parliament session is zero, while the average of the current Lok Sabha is 115 comments per member.

Bhajan Lal from Haryana Haryana Janhit Congress and Tollywood actress M Vijayashanthi, Medak constituency, AP are some other interesting names, who are yet to break their silence in 15^th Lok Sabha sessions. Not only was she silent in the whole proceedings of the house, even her presence was hardly noticeable as she had the distinction of being present in only 10 per cent of the house proceedings while the tally was four per cent for K Chandrasekhar. 

These leaders were numb to the national proceedings attended by 547 representatives from 28 states and seven union territories, according to the data compiled by PRS Legislative, a Delhi based independent research organisation. MPs of respective constituencies are expected to raise the concerns of people by participating in debates, private bills and raising questions.

Opportunity to talk on the floor not only depends on the political party’s decision but also on the luck of the MP, as the question to be raised on the floor for discussion is picked by lottery system. However experts say that it’s the initiative of the MPs in taking part which finally counts. “If an MP is not interested and absents himself from the sittings, he would not be given an opportunity to talk,” said M R Madhavan, head of research section, PRS Legislative.

Moreover, these days all the major political parties give equal opportunities to its members to speak and represent their constituencies, as could be seen with left party MPs who talk on rotation basis, he added.

The current 15th Lok Sabha commenced its sessions in June 2009 and till December 2010 it held six sessions (budget, monsoon and winter).

While 15th lok Sabha witnessed silence of many MPs, there were some who never missed an opportunity of raising their voice. Like - Ananda Rao Adsul of Shiva Sena, Maharashtra – 516 times, followed by Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, BJP MP from Maharashtra - 513, and Asaduddin Owaisis of AIMM, Andhra – 473.

The study also analyzed attendance of the MPs. In the 15th Lok Sabha, till the last session, only three members have secured 100% attendance, (Ministers and Leader of opposition are exempted from the attendance), noted the study.

The figures reflect how the members take interest in presenting the problems of their respective constituency country in the Lok Sabha. 

Highest                                                                Lowest

Name and Constituency	Attendance	Name and Constituency	Attendance
P J Thomas - Congress, Kerala Idukki	100 %	Baliram Kashyap –  BJP Chattisgarh, Bastar	1 %
K P Dhanapalan - Congress, Kerala	100 %	Chandrasekhar Rao – TRS Mahabubnagar, Andhra Pradesh	4 %
Aruna Kumar Vundavalli - Congress, Andhra Pradesh - Rajahmundry	100 %	Vijaya Shanthi – TRS, Medak, Andhra Pradesh	10 %

'Peace’ loving Tamil Nadu leaders

Gangadhar S Patil

 

Tamil Nadu’s voice was also feeble in the 15^th Lok Sabha as the several MPs preferred to maintain silence despite state facing issues on several fronts like heavy rainfall, post-Sri Lankan conflict and others.

The MP whose presence was rarely felt was Thol Thirumavalan, the leader of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, one of the dalit parties, O. S. Manian of AIADMK representing, Danapal Venugopal of DMK and many others.

Thirumavalan spoke only for 16 times during the 135 sittings of the Lower House and his attendance was also the lowest in the state highlighting the lack of representation of people of Chidambaram. While O. S. Manian, representing Mayiladuthurai constituency, opened his mouth for 14 times, the tally for Venugopal from Tiruvannamalai was 15 times.

It is not only merely the call of the political party and speaker to allow MPs to speak on the floor, but also the interest shown by the MPs to take part in the proceedings. Ramasubbu talking to Express said that “though it is the decision of the party to allot time to its MP to speak on the floor, much depends on the initiative and interest shown by the MPs to participate in the proceedings.” Every MP gets equal opportunity to participate, he added.

There are several opportunities to represent, however members’ can use the opportunity if only they attend the proceedings regularly and show their interest in understanding issues and raising concerns of people of respective constituency, said Ramasubbu.

Contrary to the absent and silent leader, S S Ramasubbu of Congress representing Tirunelveli constituency spoke for 466 times to become the top performer from Tamil Nadu. He is followed by E.G. Sugavanam of DMK from Krisnagiri with 332 and P. Viswanathan, congress leader from Kancheepuram who spoke for 258 times.

Tamil Nadu MP’s performance:

Name	Constituency	Party	Participation	Attendance
Thirumaa Valavan Thol	Chidambaram	Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi	16	38%
O. S. Manian	Mayiladuthurai	All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam	14	56%
Danapal Venugopal	Tiruvannamalai	Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam	15	70%
P. Venugopal	Tiruvallur	All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam	16	80%
M. Krishnaswamy	Arani	Indian National Congress	32	86%
T.K.S. Elangovan	Chennai North	Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam	36	99%
Sivakumar @ J.K. Ritheesh. K	Ramanthapuram	Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam	56	40%

TN Govt suppresses info on over 3,000 farmer suicide

CHENNAI: In what has come as a shocking revelation, the Tamil Nadu government has suppressed the suicides of over 3,000 farmers in the State over the last five years.  

While National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) statistics reveal that 3,737 farmers committed suicides in Tamil Nadu over the last five years, the TN government’s agriculture department claims that only three farmers committed suicide during that period.

Also, the number of farmer suicides in 2009 given by the NCRB doesn’t match the government’s claim. Against 1,060 farmer suicides as per NCRB records, the government’s tally is zero.

State agriculture minister Veerapandi S Arumugam categorically denied NCRB’s statistics. Going a step further, the minister claimed the central agency’s figures were incorrect.

This information was obtained through a Right to Information petition from the agriculture department. The suicide figures given by the central and state agency include both personal and occupational.

“Since DMK came to power, the government has been giving loans at subsidised rates and also compensating farmers for any crop loss,” the minister said. He further said the agriculture department was monitoring farmer suicides by collecting data from the Director General of Police’s office every six months.

The NCRB’s report is compiled and collated based on data obtained from the State government police. K Nagaraj of the Madras Institute of Development Studies, who has done extensive studies on farmer suicides in the country and has studied farmer suicides between 1997 and 2005 based on NCRB data, said the figures given by NCRB were reliable and authentic, as the data was collected from the local police, who maintain records of suicides.

Farmer suicides: Damned lies and statistics

CHENNAI: While the State government and the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) have come out with contradictory figures on farmers’ suicide, experts in the field stand by the NCRB figures, alleging that the government was manipulating the data.

K Nagaraj of the Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS) said, “I have worked at the grass-root level. There is more number of suicide cases in Tamil Nadu than the number reported by the government. Government statistics is completely off the mark. It is disputable that only three farmers have committed suicide in the past five years.” The government should put a system in place to track suicide cases and provide compensation to the victims’ families accordingly, he added.

It is alarming to note that the number of farmers who committed suicide in the State had doubled, when compared to the figure of 512 in 2008. This was the highest jump recorded in the country.

A Right to Information (RTI) query further revealed that no compensation had been accorded the victims since the reason for all the three suicides had reportedly been purely personal.

It further stated that ‘farmer-friendly schemes like the National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS) and free electricity to pump sets had helped in preventing suicide by farmers due to agriculture reasons.”

Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS) professor S Janakarajan was of the view that ‘indebtedness’ was the major reason for farmers’ suicides in the State.

“Farmers who borrow from local moneylenders at high interest rate will not be able to repay when there is a situation of crop failure,” he added.

P Sainath comments:

Dear Gangadhar.,

I have seen your story and it is factually quite correct. A lot of people react with that disbelief. That is how it was for me, too.

Your point should simply be

a) These are the figures of the National Crime Records Bureau, the only competent authority on suicide numbers of anybody, farmers, students, etc.

b) The NCRB data originate from every police station in the country so these are not your numbers or data - let the critics fight the NCRB.

Secondly, governments simply try to either ignore the NCRB data or dispute it by saying only a handful of these suicides were due to distress, the rest were for other reasons.

That is not your ground to get into and we can all endlessly debate this. The point is that they have doubled. Let the critics explain why 512 in 2008 became 1260 in 2009.

After all, the NCRB data are official. NCRB is a wing of the union home ministry.

Regards

Sainath

Who will blow the whistle

Twenty years ago when the Aruna Roy organized the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan to fight for poor peasants and rural labourers in a remote village of Rajsamand district in Rajasthan, demanding the right to know often came at a heavy price. Sadly not much has changed.

The recent death of 43-years-old RTI activist, Ramdas Bapuji Ubale-Ghadegaonkar in mysterious condition at Nanded district of Maharastra evokes horrific memories of the murders of Satyendra Dubey, an engineer of National Highway Authority of India and Manjunath Shanmugam, an Indian Oil Corporation executive, both killed for exposing criminals.

The very logic of the RTI would suggest that the time has come to legally protect “whistleblowers” or those who seek to expose wrongdoing. The Law Commission, the National Human Rights Commission and the Administrative Reforms Commission have all recommended such a law.

N. Vittal, then Chief Vigilance Commissioner, initiated the whistleblower bill in 1999. “The Public Interest Disclosure and Protection for Persons Making Disclosure Bill 2010” received assent from the cabinet last month.”

In its present form the act defines public interest disclosure as any information that shows misuse of public money or authority. Any person who provides information will be treated as Whistleblower. The bill gives powers to the CVC to protect Whistleblower from any disciplinary action for exposing corruption in government.

Besides, the CVC is required to protect the identity of the informer, in case of failure the family of the whistleblower will be able to initiate action the officials who reveal the identity. However, several activists across India are apprehensive about the bill in its present form.

According to Arvind Kejriwal, founder of Parivartan, a Delhi based Nongovernmental Organisation (NGO) Whistleblower bill 2010 is just “eyewash.” “We cannot trust CVC, as in the past it could neither check corruption nor give protection to anyone who exposed corruption.”  Kejriwal was instrumental in enactment of RTI act in India.

Asked whether his suggestion were asked while drafting the bill, he said “Not at all,” In fact he came to only about the bill after the cabinet approved it, he added. Considering the deteriorating situation and incessant attack on the activist no such bill will help to protect whistleblower, said Kejriwal. He says that the country has to have a strong criminal justice system where no murderer should be able to get away.

“Government has drafted the bill without inviting any suggestions from the people who have faced the wrath of goons for exposing corruption and in such case the bill cannot meet the expectations of people who are going to be affected,” complains M N Vijay Kumar, 1981 batch IAS officer of Karnataka Cadre. He is one of the three whistleblower of India according to Transparency International; a Germany based international NGO fighting against corruption. The other two were Satyendra Dubey and Manjunath Shanmugam.

He says the draft of Whistleblower's Bill was denied even when asked under RTI Act. According to him a large number of honest officials are under the wrong impression that whistle blowing is a serious misconduct. Without protecting whistleblowers it is almost impossible to expose high-level corruption, he added.

Krishnaraj Rao, a journalist by profession and an RTI campaigner in Mumbai feels that the bill is deadly for whistle-blowers since section 3(6) makes disclosure of complainant’s identity compulsory.

Further, Sec 4(6) says if the CVC is “of the opinion” that there are no “sufficient grounds” for proceeding with the enquiry it shall close the matter. Thus, the Act will allow CVC to methodically force whistle-blowers to expose them, and then desert them in a dangerous situation with no protection, said Rao.

“The bill will not serve any purpose, unless and until the executing authority is made independent of government,” said Neeraj kumar, he has been working in the field of RTI since 2002, when the Delhi Right to Information Act was enacted. Adding to it he said that the body should be empowered to make its own decision without the influence and interference of politicians.

RTI shows the way to act

At 27, M C Chandan has completed his masters in social work but he isn’t really looking for a job. This native of Kodagu in Karnataka, is more interested in building a non-corrupt system — which has also become a career option thanks to the Right to Information (RTI) Act. Indeed, people like Chandan all over the country are hard at work developing the right to information into a powerful tool for transparency. 

Chandan comes from a rural background, so he knows first-hand the problems of graft. He has long dreamed of a just society, and the RTI Act gave his aspirations just the boost they needed. For the last four years he has filed nearly 4,500 applications on various subjects. He seems to have found his metier, and developed a distinct vision about corruption and ways to stem it. In the process, he has turned his vocation into a career.

Chandan is one of the early RTI entrepreneurs as he has designed a four-month course on corruption for community leaders and citizens. The course promises to equip the participants with the knowledge of how to use the RTI to fight corruption.His weapon? It is called the Association for Social Transparency, Rights and Action or ASTRA (meaning weapon in Sanskrit) a non-governmental organisation based in Karnataka.

ASTRA provides training and technical assistance to government officials, and is proving to be a major money spinner. With an annual turnover of about Rs 30 lakh, he believes he is on to a good thing. “It will bring me respect and a new meaning to life.” Chandan is a founding member and one of ASTRA’s five trustees.


Besides, 10 staff, it has 45 active members across the state. “With RTI gaining popularity and people discovering its power, I believe the course will have many takers,” he says. ASTRA’s income is used for its other programmes, such as social audits, the filing of RTIs and fact-finding reports.  He makes it clear that not everyone is charged. “We conduct seminars and conferences for people (ordinary citizens) free of cost.” His work has brought Chandan instant recognition among thousands of villagers in about 13 districts, where ASTRA operates.

His interest in exposing maladministration has accelerated, and officials are suddenly discovering they are accountable. Chandan doesn’t work alone. He has involved many youths across the state, forming a network for ethical governance whose members are taught to use RTI in their respective panchayats. This is empowerment from the grassroots, and if it takes off, will become an unstoppable force for transparency.It is also an empowerment with political dividends as well. Some of these youths won in the recent panchayat election in Karnataka, Chandan says.

A couple of them are now contesting the ongoing zilla and taluk panchayat polls in the state. Even its most optimistic supporters probably wouldn’t have expected the RTI to open the door to the political arena.Take 32-year-old B Malangouda. He is one of the 10-member group which used the RTI to finger officials of Gorbal Panchayat in Raichur district for failing to implement government schemes. It’s helped his aspirations for a panchayat seat.Viswa (26), another member of the group, has formal training in RTI.

“Back in 2008, when we started with RTI, hardly anyone recognised us,” he recalls. Despite political pressure, they decided to go ahead with exposing the authorities. “Our image as likely leaders got enhanced”. Viswanath J has completed 12th standard and works on his farm. “We have filed 25 RTIs to expose corruption in central government funded SGRY and Jal Nirmal Scheme,” he says. Now, the group is all set to contest zilla and taluk panchayat elections in Karnataka. The story of P Dundappa is also instructive. His exposure of corruption in the public distribution system in his Kardiguddi village of Belgaum district made the 26-year-old a celebrity overnight,  confident enough to contest the panchayat election. He lost the last one, but hopes to win this.

The Right to Information Act is more than a new law, because it seems to have created a band of inspired youths across the country, who have become the voice of the voiceless.Krishnaraj Rao, a Mumbai-based freelance journalist, believes RTI has also given birth to what he calls non-electoral politics. It has  provided common citizens an opening into “the system”, enabling them to understand governance and administration. He believes people can now influence the actions of government without entering the electoral arena.In the era of coalition politics, he says the true meaning of “Opposition party” has been lost. Citizens using RTI are the only opposition now.

“This is what RTI has given millions of Indians, a power they never had before,” he concludes.Lawyer D Binu has another take on this phenomenon. Talking about his 15 years of experience in advocacy Binu (40), who practises in the Kerala High Court, says he has more cases than ever, which he attributes to RTI. “People are filing more cases on social issues. And the petitioners coming to me have substantial information obtained through RTI to back their cases.” On the side, he trains government officials on RTI, another source of income.  There seem to be more of these unexpected spinoffs than anyone foresaw. One is that several lawyers have taken up the cause of RTI full-time, one of them being A C Chandran of Chennai who quit the legal profession to work on RTI. So what’s the magic at work? Perhaps the fact that while all other Acts depend on administrative initiative, here it’s the citizens who do the work. Krishna Raj believes RTI has triggered a grassroots movement against corruption which is largely leaderless and therefore quite robust and difficult to disrupt.

According to V Madhav, an activist from Chennai, RTI has brought together of a variety of socially conscious individuals, from businessmen, salaried employees, doctors, lawyers, students, to retired government servants into the fight against corruption. It is rapidly becoming a social movement, an independent reform initiative if you will. “No other reform has kindled so much enthusiasm among ordinary people,” says Madhav. By making citizens responsible for enforcing transparency the Right to Information Act is being honed into a tool for social transformation.


A boost to activism:

It took eight years to expose the Telgi fake stamp paper scam, which cost the exchequer a staggering Rs 33,000 crores. Jayant Mukund Tinekar of Khanapur, north Karnataka, who started digging up the issue in 1994, succeeded only in 2003. Sharing his experience he said, “although I did not have RTI at that time, I was lucky to have some reliable and sincere government officials, who supplied the required documents to expose the scam.” With RTI it wold have been much faster. The Adarsh housing society scam was exposed in four months.JN Jayashree, a Bangalore based social activist, puts it this way. “Before the RTI Act we had to convince our elected representative to raise the issue in assembly or parliament. Today, a citizen can obtain the information without anyone’s assistance.”

A bit of tweaking:

The going might get difficult for RTI lovers as there is another attempt from the government to tame the Right to Information Act. While some believe that the time is not ripe for amending RTI, some argue the urgent need to regulate supply of information in the interest of government. The initial years of every law are seldom peaceful and orderly. It slowly takes shape as it moves, encountering various twists and turns facing judicial interpretation. l Application should relate to one subject; 2 Request should limit to 250 words; 3 Postage and other expense incurred for furnishing information would be collected from applicant.

Misusing the act: a reality check:

It’s not all roses, as many people say RTI is misused by officials to settle personal scores. C J Karira of  Hyderabad, who runs a RTI web portal, says that this is because the grievance redressal mechanism in the government is weak, biased and slow. One of the most interesting cases of misuse was reported in Maharastra, where a below-poverty-line citizen would seek information running into thousands of pages, since it is free for BPL family. It is alleged that he sold the information as waste paper for money. Some information officers complain about requests for unnecessary data, but Karira says this can be dealt with through the provision available in the Act.