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From the Editor
vol. 9, ISSUE 11 | FEBRUARY 2016

Anil Tyagi | editor
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EBRUARY is the month when even the common man discusses the overall
economic scenario and annual budgets impact on their pocket. Now, the
international economy also impacts India. The economies of the world
are in recessionary mode and it is the bitter truth that India will not be spared
from the impact. The IMF has cut the global growth forecast and now expects
the world economy to expand by 3.4% in 2016. This is 0.2% below its October
2015 forecast. In 2004-12, the Indian economy expanded at a fast clip with
a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of more than 8% per annum. It
was driven by four growth driverspublic investment, private investment,
private consumption and exports. Of these, the export markets and private
consumption are slowing. Investment, after reaching a high of 38% in 2008,
has declined precipitously.
Buffeted by global headwinds, the economy refuses to grow faster to generate the millions of jobs India needs to reap its demographic dividend. The only
saving grace so far has been the windfall due to falling crude prices. Former
Finance Minister P Chidambaram, writing in The Indian Express, states that, in
US dollars, the saving will be about $40 billion. In Indian rupees, applying the
prevailing exchange rates during the respective periods, the saving is estimated
at `233,000 crore in a year. Of course, the financial year is April 2015 to March
2016 and hence the estimated saving of `233,000 crore may not be accurate.
In my view, it would actually be more because crude oil prices have declined
further since November 2015. At the time of writing, the Brent crude oil rate
was $33.57 per barrel. Chidambaram asks, Where did the windfall go? I suspect the answers will be: We did not achieve the disinvestment target, we failed
to achieve the tax revenue targets, and lower nominal GDP growth resulted in
a higher fiscal deficit.
The fiscal picture for 2016, however, is going to be difficult given the additional burden likely to be imposed by the Seventh Pay Commission. The crux
of the matter is the vicious circleeconomic slowdown forcing infrastructure
projects to return lower than estimates, hence the difficulty in servicing debts,
and this in turn raising the NPA (non-performing assets) of banks (primarily
public sector) which are now getting shy of lendingperpetuating the downturn in the economy. India needs to spend more on creation of assets like roads,
rail, power plants and so on to raise economic growth, create more jobs and
eventually raise its financial position through tax enthusiasm. India adds one
million unemployed youth every year. How these youth will get jobs depends
on Prime Minister Narendra Modis vision. He envisages the youth as job-creators rather than job-seekers. Hence the Start-up India Action Plan (SIAP). gfiles
cover story analyses the likely impact of the scheme and whether it will in real
terms create jobs and entrepreneurship among the unemployed youth.
Modi has outlined an economic philosophy in which the government
empowers the people to use their native intelligence, creativity and entrepreneurship to create jobs and income, and pull themselves out of poverty and
into prosperity. I hope Modis vision takes shape as reality and Indians emerge
out of misery, poverty and perpetual hunger.
ANIL TYAGI
Download the gfiles app
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editor@gfilesindia.com
gfiles inside the government
vol. 9, issue 11 | February 2016
CONTENTS
LETTERS
editor@gfilesindia.com
6 Bric-a-Brac
shah prevails, celebrating makar

sankranti, getting ready for 2017, rajya
sabha reshuffle
2016), written by the Environment

Secretary himself. The salient features of
the Paris Agreement on climate change
have been explained well in simple terms
so that the common man can understand
its ramifications besides just reading it
as a piece of news.
Kavita Suri via mail
Governance
10 national security disregarded
State Scan
16 madhya pradesh: health sector
in disarray
Cover Story
22 encouraging enterprise
26 will the economy kick-start?
Polluted Delhi
32 First Stirrings
vivek agnihotri goes down memory lane
35 Book Review
a unique biography of a career in

the police
36 Book Extract
morarji desai: from prime ministers by

janardan thakur
42 Silly Point
power of the prophecy
46 Leisure
travel to sanchi
47 Perspective
taking the right approach
50 Stock Doctor
stay alert to global cues
57 By the Way
sebi top job, secretaries agenda,

punjab police and postings, to be or not
to be in i&b
Global war
In the cover story, World War III,
(gfiles, January 2016) it was unexpected
to read such terrifying but close to
reality analyses in the first issue of the
new year. We are all occupied in our
daily life and hardly think what is going
on in the rest of the world and what can
happen in the near future which can be
beyond our imagination. It is obvious
that if a Third World War happens, it will
be the most earth-shattering and
harmful thing that can happen.
Kamal via mail
gfiles has made every reader think

again and again about the consequences
of World War III. All the factors
mentioned in the articlean aggressive
attack on national currencies, capture of
a nations natural resources, military
strategies or religious war between
Christianity and Islamare correctly
observed and analysed by the writers.
These factors can be seen to be
happening before our eyes and can
indeed take a turn for the worse, and
lead to unimaginable disaster.
S Prateek via mail
Climate change
It was interesting to read the article,
Climate justice served (gfiles, January

This is with reference to the article,

Pollution Politics (gfiles, January 2016).
We all know about the cold war between
the LG and the Delhi Government, but it
is shocking that this is taking place at the
cost of Delhi and its residents. Pollution
in Delhi is a major concern and measures
need to be taken to resolve this problem.
Besides the odd and even formula, the
suggestions given are really practical and
can improve the situation, if
implemented properly.
Shikha Sinha via mail
Interesting tales
In the article, Roles and
Responsibilities (gfiles, January 2016),
Madhukar Gupta, a former civil servant,
comes across as a charming personality
who has in-depth understanding of
difficult situations in regard to
controlling riots, etc. It is a matter of
pride that we have such a hero who
saved thousands of lives and brought
peace under his jurisdiction.
Ashok Kumar Yog via blog
A man of power
This is with reference to the article,
Making of a mass leader (gfiles,
January 2016). Sharad Pawars book,
launched on his birthday, was well
reviewed by a senior journalist. After
reading this review, my curiosity is
doubled to know more about this legend.
In his own words: his life is full of
experiences from different eras, ups and
downs and a lot more.
Srikumar via mail
www.gfilesindia.com
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Bric-a-brac
control & roles
Shah at the helm

bjp president for 3 years
INALLY, Amit Shah has become the president of the ruling

Bharatiya Janata Party. It was not an easy walk for him,
im,
though. And his boss, Narendra Modi, did not take any
ny
chances and had many rounds of discussion with top RSS
leaders. Sources disclosed that Nitin Gadkari was the firstt choice
of the RSS, but he has emerged as a great loyalist of Modi.. Besides,
his family was not inclined to let him shift to the party, they
ey want
him to remain in the government. So Gadkari backed Modi
di
on the issue of electing Shah party president. Jagat
Prakash Nadda was also emerging as a consensus
candidate with a strong lobby silently supporting his
candidature. Modis experiment in Gujarat convinced him
m that
this time Shah was the only choice. So Naddas name did not even
crop up for discussion. Once this was clear, Modis job wass easier.
Shah has to induct new members to show that he has a solid
lid team to
run the party but it will be done after the Budget session as it is said
that many dynamic ministers will be assigned party work. So, for the
next three years, Shah is the unquestioned boss of the BJP.
P. Wait and
watch who moves out from the party and who is inducted into
the Cabinet.
Capital culture
celebrating Uttarayana
N January 14, Lutyens Delhi had a different colour to it. The

bungalows of some of the Ministers were decorated and lit
to celebrate Makar Sankranti. The celebrations seemed to
signal markedly that the BJP is ruling the nation. Makar Sankranti
marks the transition of the sun into the zodiacal sign of Makara
(Capricorn) on its celestial path. Its believed that the sun ends its
southward journey (Sanskrit: Dakshinayana) at the Tropic of
Capricorn, and starts moving northward (Sanskrit: Uttarayaana)
towards the Tropic of Cancer. Its considered very auspicious
among Hindus. Minister of Steel and Mines Narendra Singh Tomar
celebrated with fanfare. Bhajan singers were invited especially
from Gwalior. There was, admittedly, no VVIP or VIP culture
evident: Tomars admirers and supporters were coming and
meeting the minister. Secretary of Mines Balvinder Kumar,
Secretary of Steel Aruna Sundararajan and SAIL Chairman PK
Singh were present. There was seating for dining and typically
traditional vegetarian food was served. Tomar personally
supervised the arrangements. Walking distance away, at
Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Road, M Venkaiah Naidu was celebrating
Makar Sankranti in the august company of Narendra Modi with
half the Cabinet in attendance. Lutyens Delhi seems to be
witnessing a change of culture!

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INSIDE EYE
ILLUSTRATIONS: ARUNA
Electing a President
ident
the race begins
ULY 2017 will be another significant

gnificant and momentous
moment in the history of thee country as the elected
representatives of the peoplee will elect a new
Rashtrapati. Discussion and speculation
eculation have
v already
started. There is a long list of veteran
teran leaders
leade
d rs who are
being mentioned as
probables. In BJP circles, LK
Advani and Murli Manohar
Joshi are at the top of the list.
Advani and Pranab Mukherjee
are contemporaries in politics ass
both joined the Rajya Sabha
in 1969 with a difference of
six months. But if political
circumstances take on a new
dimension, the ball may fall in
anothers court. The decision will,
ll,
of course, all depend on the RSS
S
ief
and Narendra Modi. Punjab Chief
Minister Prakash Singh Badal is also
www.indianbuzz.com
a strong candidate.
candidate He has travelled a long way in
politics after outwitting
Surjit Singh Barnala,
o
Gurcharan Singh Tohra and Jagdev Singh
Talwandi. Sharad
Pawar, a tall leader from
S
Maharashtra,
who started his journey at the
Maharas
age of 38 as Chief Minister of the state, is
emer
emerging
as another strong candidate. He
is a master
networker and, after Charan
m
Singh, is the grassroots farmer leader.
Another
Anothe veteran who is also in the reckoning
is Dr Karan
Singh, a most competent
K
political
politica figure who also possesses knowledge
of the
th Vedas and Upanishads. Pranab
Mukherjee,
known as a master
M
strategist, may be a second-term
aspirant. But after Dr Rajendra
Prasad, no President has been given
the second term though an exception
can always be made. The mist will be
cleared
in the days to come.
cle
Bric-a-brac
control & roles
Upper House in the limelight

elight
political lobbying increases
ET ready for some political battles. The upcoming

coming months of April
A
and June will see 76 members
of the Rajya Sabha retiring. The Congress and
nd BJP both have to decide whether they want
grassroots, heavyweight political leaders or those who are good at managing Delhi only. The
first signal of the changing political scenario will be felt when nominated members Mani
Shankar Aiyar, Javed Akhtar, B Jayshree, Mrinal Miri and Balachandra
Mungekar retire in March. The ministers who willl retire this year from the
Upper House are YS Chowdhary of the TDP and Nirmala Sitharaman, M
Venkaiah Naidu, Piyush Goel, Suresh Prabhu, Chaudhary
audhary Birender
Singh and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, all from the BJP.
P. Naidu,
who is a member from Karnataka, would like to come
ome
back from Andhra Pradesh. The total dynamics off the
seat arrangement will change in Uttar Pradesh as there
are not many MLAs from the BSP and Congress; the
he SP
will get most of the seats. In Bihar, Nitish Kumar will
have to take some crucial decisions as his three comrades,
mrades,
Sharad Yadav, KC Tyagi and Pawan Varma, are retiring
tiring
this year. As per the state arithmetic, the JD (U) can
an get
only two seats so one wonders who will be
ejected. The Congress too will be in a spot as
its deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha, Anand
Sharma, is also retiring from Rajasthan this
year. Though Ram Jethmalani is also retiring
from Rajasthan, he does not have a chance in
the given political set-up. Anand Sharmas
case will be interesting as he is not a mass leader. He spends most of his time attending the Delhi durbar. He is a persona
non grata in his own state, Himachal Pradesh, as he is at loggerheads with Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. The Congress
has to decide his utility factor. Tough choices ahead.

www.gfilesindia.com
www.indianbuzz.com
GOVERNANCE
sse
security
eccu
uri
rittyy m
mg
g devasahayam
de
d
evva
assa
aha
hayya
am
A nation sans
security?
Individuals and vested

interests are having a free
run in pursuing their
agenda. Unless this
severe malady is
addressed with extreme
urgency, no amount of
security architecture will
be of any avail
10

AFFAIRE Pathankot air basea

mess-up by the Punjab Police,
Indian Air Force, National
Security Guard (NSG), Indian Army
and Defence Security Corps, all put
togetherevokes a sense of dj
vu. In December 2001, when the
Indian Parliament was attacked by
Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaishe-Mohammed
(JeM)
terrorists,
it was the untrained Delhi Police
that took them on. The Army was
hanging around with the then
UNI
Defence Minister, George Fernandes,

commandeering operations from
inside Parliament! In November
2008 (26/11), it was just LeT carrying
out a series of 12 coordinated shooting
and bombing attacks lasting four days
across Mumbai, killing 164 people
and wounding at least 308. The
way the NSG botched it up is still fresh
in memory.
We find the same confusion in
command and control, indifference
to warning of a terrorist attack,
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abysmal physical security measures,

leadership without responsibility,
incoherent public communication
and political one-upmanship. Added
to this is the same old media nautanki
and Pakbashing. Regime change in
2014 has not made any difference.
In fact, it is worse this time because
the assault was on a strategic military
base in a small town swarming with
highly-trained commandos of the
Indian Army.
Why did this happen? The answer
is not far to seek. Despite the cacophony on reforms, Make-in-India, FDI,
and whatnot, Indias basic governance and administration are at a nadir
and national security forms part of
this basic. In the event, India does not
even have a national security architecture. This is intriguing because
it was an ancient
Indian, Kautilya, who
laid down the basic
premises for designing such
architecture: There can be
four dangers to a state; that
which is of external origin and of
internal abetment; that which is of
internal origin and of external abetment; that which is of external origin and of external abetment; and,
that which is of internal origin and of
internal abetment.
The Indian Army sensed the dangers and evolved an Army Doctrine
LQGHQLQJLWVUROHLQQDWLRQDO
security. The primary role is to preserve national interest and safeguard
the sovereignty, territorial integrity
and unity of India against any external threats by deterrence or by
waging war. The secondary role is to
assist government agencies to cope

with proxy war and other internal
threats and provide aid to civil authority when requisitioned for the
purpose. To perform this role, the
$UP\ KDV D ZHOOGHQHG FRPPDQG
and control structure. As in all democracies, the Indian Army is controlled
by the elected political leadership of
the nation (Government of India) sequentially through the Union Cabinet
and the Defence Minister. The command leadership is that of the Chief of
Army Staff. The Ministry of Defence
handles matters related to personnel,
QDQFLDODQGUHVRXUFHPDQDJHPHQW
At the national level there is no
such structure. We have Ministries
of Home (MHA) and External Affairs
(MEA) responsible for internal security and foreign affairs, respectively.
But we have no geopolitical-based
India does not even have a

national security
architecture. This is
intriguing because it was
an ancient Indian, Kautilya,
who laid down the basic
premises for designing
such architecture
foreign policy or national security

system. From independence till the
late 1990s, some hardnosed intelligence sleuths have functioned as
principal security advisers to the
Prime Ministers. In November 1998,
Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the then Prime
Minister, set up the National Security
Council with his Principal Secretary
Brajesh Mishra of the Indian Foreign
Service as the first National Security
Adviser (NSA). This was done by an
executive order and thus has no legislative backing, unlike the National
Security Council of the US on which
presumably it has been modelled.
N Dixit of the IFS followed Mishra

as NSA for a brief period. He
breathed his last and was succeeded by MK Narayanan of the
Indian Police Service. He brought in
Shivshankar Menon of the IFS to take
his place. Now we have Ajit Doval
of the IPS as NSA running the PMO
where all powers are concentrated
with MHA and MEA playing second
GGOH'HFLVLRQVWDNHQDUHad hoc, depending on personal whims and fancies. Over these years, our diplomacy
has stumbled and India has alienated
all its neighbours and antagonised
some like Nepal, Myanmar and Sri
www.indianbuzz.com
UNI
Security personnel stand guard beside a

road near the Indian Air Force (IAF) base at
Pathankot in Punjab, which was attacked
by terrorists. The attack again reinforced
the fact that India does not have a
national security architecture.
11
GOVERNANCE
security mg devasahayam
Lanka. With the Armed Forces being

meddled with and marginalised, our
national security is in disarray.
The rationale offered for the
position of NSA was that (a) a nuclear
power needed a professional adviser
who would synthesise intelligence
inputs and advise the PM, and (b),
the proliferating intelligence agencies
needed a coordinating head who
would provide inputs to the PM on a
continuous basis. Since NSAs have a
critical position and enjoy complete
FRQGHQFH RI WKH 3ULPH 0LQLVWHU
they tend to acquire a great deal of
informal authority. This is at the cost
of institutional heads, particularly the
Foreign, Defence and Home Ministers
and Cabinet Secretary.
+( 16$ RIFH KDV QHLWKHU

institutional
sanction
nor
parliamentary accountability.
So, a lot of power is being exercised by
WKLVRIFHZLWKRXWDQ\UHVSRQVLELOLW\
There is no formal forum in which the
NSA can express his/her opinion which
can be challenged by the civil service
institutions. Thus, the NSAs views
GR QRW DSSHDU LQ DQ\ OH ZKLFK FDQ
be subject to Parliamentary scrutiny.
It is only the Ministers (House)
and Secretaries (Committees) who
remain responsible and answerable to
Parliament. Because of this structural
defect and the concomitant decline
of formal arrangements like the
Crisis Management Group (CMG),
the system can never deliver results
and will always create unforeseen
problems. This is precisely what
happened in Pathankot.
If our CMG system had been in
place and functioning, it should
have convened within minutes of the
Pathankot crisis and continued to be
in session, day and night, until the crisis was over. Headed by the Cabinet
Secretary, it has three Service Chiefs,
12

RAW and IB, Home and Foreign

Secretaries and others co-opted as per
need. The CMG would have coordinated and directed the functions of all
the agencies involved in any operation
and procured them the resources they
needed. There would be a constant
hotline with all agencies and any political call required would be obtained
by the Cabinet Secretary approaching
the PM and/or Cabinet Committee
on Security directly. This would have
led to informed decisions and effective implementation. But, this was
not to be.
Instead, the NSA took complete
control, discarded nearby Army
commandos and opted for the underequipped NSG located in distant
Manesar. Strange revelations are now
coming out. On the fourth day of the
operation, when a journalist rang up
Army headquarters to ascertain the
ground situation in the IAF base, he
The NSA office has neither

institutional sanction nor
parliamentary
accountability. There is no
formal forum in which the
NSA can express his/her
opinion which can be
challenged by the civil
service institutions
National Security Adviser Ajit Doval
was told that he should ring up the

MHA which controlled the operation
through the NSG. The Defence
Minister confirmed this. Following
the operation, when a journalist asked
a senior NSG officer why the operation
took that long, he was tersely told,
The NSG does not operate at night.
Another NSG officer (who was part
of the force sent to Pathankot) said
that the group is meant for hostage
rescue situations, not for Pathankottype operations.
Even after weeks there has been
no clarity about the terror attack and
LQVLQXDWLRQVFRQWLQXHWR\WKLFNDQG
fast about how the entire operation
should have been handled. The decision to deploy the NSG, despite the
presence of crack infantry divisions
and para-commandos next door to
the Pathankot airbase, has come under severe criticism. General Dalbir
Singh Suhag, who was party to this
GHFLVLRQ KRZHYHU MXVWLHV LW ,Qstead of moving the NSG later, it was
wise to take preemptive action to send
the elite unit in advance. The NSG is
ideally trained to tackle hostage situations. The irony is that there was no
hostage situation in Pathankot!
Lt Gen Prakash Katoch, former
Special Force Commander, drove
home the point when he said: The
Army Special Forces would have been
a better option as they do regular
exercises inside bases. The decisionmakers did not know the type of Special Forces we have. This is an indictPHQWRIWKH$UP\&KLHIDEHQHFLDU\
of the Delhi durbars archaic line of
succession, who did not even know
the combat-worthiness and counterterror expertise of his own troops. The
question is, how effective will he be in
leading the Indian Army in the event
RIDPDMRUFRQLFWRUZDU
In the midst of such operational
chaos and disturbing questions came
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13
GOVERNANCE
PIB
security mg devasahayam
Chief of Army Staff, General Dalbir Singh Suhag, the successor of General VK Singh,
who was involved in a protracted battle with the government over the age issue
the sudden sound-byte from Congress

busybody Manish Tiwari, a former
Union Minister. He was testifying the
obnoxious The Indian Express news
story on April 4, 2012, alleging an
attempted coup by the Indian Army,
then headed by General VK Singh, now
a Union Minister in the Modi Cabinet.
Says Tiwari: At that time, I used to
serve in the Standing Committee of
Defence. And its unfortunate, but the
story was true. The story was correct.
Tiwaris objective seems to be to dent
the credibility of the Indian Army at
this critical time and undermine its
role in ensuring the nations security.
This is the game the Delhi durbar
has been playing for quite some time.
This cabal comprises vested interests
from across the political and business
spectrum enjoying great camaraderie and pursuing common agenda.
These interests meddle with Indias
national security and defence preparedness. Though Indias biggest threat
is from ISI-type asymmetric warfare,
waged across porous borders or gaps
in Indian frontier defences, these elements make sure that India does not
counter these effectively, but instead
keeps preparing for a full-fledged
conventional warwhich may never
happenthrough massive arms imports where there is big money.
Heres a brief recap. Within days of
KLVDVVXPLQJWKHRIFHRI$UP\&KLHI
in 2010, the durbar started hounding
14

General VK Singh, who was not part

of their preferred line of succession,
for disturbing their cosy relationship
with arms, drugs and other lobbies.
The cooked-up coup story was the
UVWPDMRUVDOYRWRGLVFUHGLWWKH$UP\
Chief and belittle the Indian Army as
an institution. By linking the Hissar
troop movement to the 1984 perceived mutiny of some Sikh units in
the wake of Operation Bluestar, then
Express editor-in-chief Shekhar Gupta was suggesting that General Singh
was doing the same because of his
grievance on the date-of-birth issue.
HEN there was an assault on

the Technical Service Division (TSD), which was a covert
agency to counter ISI-type operations
setup by General Singh, with activities directly related to the safety of
VROGLHUV JKWLQJ RQ WKH ERUGHUV UHWribution against the enemy and the
security of the citizens. By its very
nature, the TSD operation was top
secret. In that event, it is treacherous
to publicise even the existence of the
TSD. Yet this was what the mediaperVRQVDIOLDWHGWRWKH'HOKLGXUEDUGLG
with impunity only to hound General
Singh. This eventually led to the disbanding of the TSD, severely inhibiting Indias capacity to combat ISIs
asymmetric warfare.
Combining these and other concoctions, the Delhi durbar succeeded in
humiliating and hounding out General Singh well before his time and
installing their choice in his place as
Army Chief. The fallout of these sordid happenings on the Indian Army
was best summed up by defence analyst Maroof Raza: The system has
closed around the chief and this will
only embolden the bureaucracy. The
fallout will be that at least for two generations, no military commander will
raise his head. And the message for
military commanders is that it isnt
merit or accuracy of documents that
will get them promotions, but pandering to the politico-bureaucratic
elite. The last bastion of professional
meritocracy in India has crumbled.
The damage will be lasting. [www.
thehindu.com]
Pathankot is evidence of this
pandering and crumbling of the last
bastion of professional meritocracy
in the Indian Army. Integrity of institutions was severely compromised
during the UPA regime and the NDA
government, that calls itself nationalistic and patriotic, has done nothing to set it right. In fact, in the Army,
things have worsened with the OROP
muddle and now its sidelining in
the crucial anti-terror operation in a
military base. In the event, individuals and vested interests are having a
free run in pursuing their own agenGD6XFKSHUG\LVWKHZRUVWIRUPRI
threat to national security that has
caused countries and governments
to crumble and fall asunder. India
cannot be an exception.
Unless this severe malady is
addressed with extreme urgency and
the integrity of institutions restored
in full, any amount of security architecture, doctrine and strategy will be
of no avail and India will continue to
remain a nation sans security. g
The writer is a former Army and IAS
officer. Email: deva1940@gmail.com
www.gfilesindia.com
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FOLLOW US ON :
STATE SCAN
health madhya pradesh
Botched-up Barwani eye camp reveals apathy, corruption in health services
Turning a blind eye
The word Vyapam conjures up Madhya Pradeshs image as a state

full of fake doctors. After all, the organised racket of admitting bogus
candidates through rigged pre-medical tests had been going on for a
decade before it was busted in July 2013. These admission tests are
conducted by the Professional Examination Board or Vyapamthe Hindi
acronym of Vyavasayik Pariksha Mandal. While 1,100 bogus medicos
have been detected and their admissions have been cancelled, many more
Munnabhais have become practising doctors in the state. Add to this
frequent allegations of corruption in drug purchase, siphoning of National
Rural Health Mission funds, chronic absenteeism of doctors in rural areas,
poor infrastructure of medical colleges, acute shortage of doctors and the
unhygienic condition of operation theatres in district hospitals. These paint
a picture of a state where the health of the poor is hardly a concern. No
wonder Madhya Pradesh has been a dubious frontrunner in infant and
maternal mortality rates for years. The state also bears the egregious tag
as the worst state to be born in for a poor child because of its shocking track
record in malnutrition. Poor rural healthcare is, self-admittedly, Chief
Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhans sore point. He conceded during a press
conferenceheld to mark 10 years of his rule as Chief Ministerthat he
failed to ensure doctors presence in rural areas. Against this backdrop, the
botched-up eye operations in Barwani district in November last year that
caused blinding of 40 persons, were just a manifestation of the pathetic
health services in Madhya Pradesh. Rakesh Dixit reports
16
T has been confirmed now that

a contaminated operation theatre (OT) at the Barwani district
hospital in Madhya Pradesh caused
blinding of 40 persons in November
last year. Two reports, submitted on
January 9 and 10, 2016, have attributed the botched-up operations in
an eye camp to infections on the OT
table and surgical instruments during
marathon cataract surgeries. One test
was conducted by the microbiology
department of the All-India Institute
of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bhopal,
and the other by a two-member expert
panel in a Kolkata laboratory. The
panel was appointed by the Union
health ministry.
Principal Secretary, Health, Gauri
Singh, says the reports detected
that the swabs collected from the
OT had bacterial infection, which
later compounded due to poor post-
www.gfilesindia.com
operative care and became serious

viral infection.
The finding is in stark contrast to
the notion held till now that drugs
containing fungal infection may have
led to blinding, she says.
So far it was assumed that the eye
wash or the ringer lactate had fungal infection which caused the loss
of eyesight among the patients. As
a precaution, the state government
had banned the drug firm, along with
18 other drugs, in the wake of the
botched eye surgeries.
Around the time reports on
Barwani were received, a similar
botched-up operation was reported in
Sheopur district. Seventeen villagers
lodged complaints of blurred vision
more than a month after undergoing
cataract surgeries at an eye camp in
the district. The Sheopur eye camp
was held on November 27 last year
by the state health department and
70 people were treated for cataract.
However, subsequent tests by medical experts confirmed that only two
out of 17 patients had blurred vision.
In Sheopur too, contamination of
operation theatre is being suspected
as the cause of the infection.
Media reports of these cataract
operations came as a chilling reminder that the states health services need
urgent treatment.
Forty out of 86 patients, who
underwent cataract operations in
the Barwani district hospital, developed severe infection in the eye operated upon. The operations were carried out between November 16 and
November 24 in an eye camp held at
Barwani, 180 km west of Indore. The
victims were immediately referred to
two prominent hospitals in Indore
for treatment. Expert doctors of
Madhya Pradesh as well as of the AllIndia Institute of Medical Sciences
(AIIMS), New Delhi, rushed to exam-
www.indianbuzz.com
The victims of the botched-up eye camp at Barwani (left) being treated at MY Hospital
in nearby Indore (above & below)
ine the patients. The doctors were

unanimous that, barring 3-4 fortunate patients, all others might never
regain their eyesight.
HE tragedy triggered a statewide uproar. Local newspapers

went to town highlighting the
appalling condition of the states government hospitals. The governments
failure in learning the right lessons
from previous botched-up operations
was the main focus of these reports.
Three years ago, six patients had
developed infections after routine
eye operations in Seoni district. In
the same year, two patients lost their
sight at a camp in Khandwa district.
In 2014, four patients were blinded in
a camp in Chhindwara district.
Media reports of botchedup cataract operations in

Barwani district hospital
have come as a chilling
reminder that the states
health services need
urgent treatment
17
STATE SCAN
Under pressure due to relentless

media reports of pathetic conditions
in government hospitals, the Chief
Minister felt compelled to order suspension of surgical operations in all
government hospitals till their OTs
were satisfactorily upgraded. The
announcement was in response to
media reports that most of the OTs
were inoperable for want of proper
hygiene and equipment. Another
announcement was to ban 19 drugs of
13 pharmaceutical companies.
The most significant announce-
ment of the Chief Minister was to

set up a three-member high-powered committee to suggest remedial
measures for improving the healthcare system in the state. An Additional
Chief Secretary rank officer is heading
the panel.
HE state health departments

budget has more than doubled
over the past four yearsfrom
`2,165 crore in 2011-12 to `4,805
crore in 2014-15. The state provides
healthcare facilities to people through
a network of 51 district hospitals, 66

civil hospitals, 334 community health
centres, 1,171 primary health centres,
9,192 sub-health centres, 53 special
newborn care units, 228 newborn
stabilisation units, 1,296 newborn
care corners, 316 nutrition rehabilitation centres, 1,412 delivery units and
48,959 gram aarogya kendras.
Staffing, however, is woefully inadequate. Against 3,195 sanctioned
posts, the state employs only 1,215
medical specialists; only 2,996 medical officers are employed against the
Will Barwani open

Shivrajs eyes?
Even as health services in MP touch a nadir, the
Chief Minister is busy hosting investment summits
or going abroad
by A SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
ADHYA
Pradesh
Chief
Minister
Shivraj
Singh
Chouhan was never known to
be a thick-skinned politician. He was
known to be sensitive and caring for
the poor. But not any longer. Having
put in 10 years in the high office, the
once docile politician, sporting an
image of a simpleton from a small
town, Chouhan is today a changed
man. Make no mistake, he is now
as thick-skinned, shrewd and wily
a political master as many of his
predecessors in this state.
A massive, multi-layered medical
and engineering entrance scam
(Vyapam) did not have much adverse
impact on him. Over 100 freak deaths
18
in Petlawad in Jhabua district following the explosion of gelatine sticks

and weeks later the shocking Barwani
blindings seem to have left no scar on
him politically. Corruption has surpassed all limits. He is smiling all
through these shocking incidents!
If
we
term
Vyapam
a
scam investigated by the CBI and
the Petlawad killings an accident', the
blinding of 40 persons shockingly
exposes the pitiable condition of the
health department under Dr Narottam
Mishra, easily the most resourceful
minister and a close aide of the Chief
Minister. His rise under Chouhan has
been meteoric, to say the least!
In MP, a layman can tell you under
what deplorable conditions medical
professionals are forced to work in the
state. But Chouhan, like his boss

Narendra Modi, is always busy
hosting big investor summits or going
abroad. The state, rather than looking
into micro issues of health or
education, is always happy blowing its
trumpet of agriculture growth which
has earned the state the national
award for the fourth time for being
the top state in agriculture. True,
Chouhan worked very hard to turn
around the agriculture scenario, but
in most other areas corruption rules
www.gfilesindia.com
4,833 sanctioned posts. Of these,

the majority of officers is unwilling
to work in the rural health centres, a
problem the Chief Minister himself
has underlined at various times.
Unfortunately, not much improvement is visible on the ground even
after the government launched many
ambitious schemes with great fanfare. One of the reasons is the governments lopsided policy of nurturing hospitals in major cities at the
expense of rural health centres. The
state governments focus has been on
the roost and people, including BJP

workers, are feeling the pinch. But
there is no one to listen to them!
The health department is the worst
affected by such a state of affairs. The
track record of the department has
been such that health ministers and
the top bureaucracy in the department
has been accused of huge corruption.
Even the present incumbent, Mishra,
was subjected to IT raids and had lost
his job a few years ago. His
predecessor, Ajay Vishnoi, and Health
Director, Rajesh Rajora, were
removed from their respective posts
and suspended from the IAS. The
Principal Health Secretary, Priver
Krishna, IAS, left the state in a huff
and joined the Government of India.
Chouhan, on his part, played politics. To keep his bte noire, Kailash
Vijayvargiya, another very resourceful minister, at bay, he blessed Mishra
and made him powerful at the cost of
pushing the entire health department
into a coma! There are very colourful
stories of the minister and his hobbies
that often do the rounds in MP, where,
unfortunately, a ministers performance has never been the yardstick
for promotion or demotion. And thus
Mishra continues...
www.indianbuzz.com
modernising big town hospitals, such

as Bhopals Hamidia and Indores
Maharaja Yashwant Rao hospital.
District and lower category hospitals
continue to cry for basic facilities.
OR example, the Barwani district

hospital, which witnessed the
botched-up eye operations, is a
60-year-old dilapidated building. Its
head of ophthalmology department,
Dr Radhe Shyam Palod, says he had
been writing to the district administration for six years to get the building
Recently, in January, the cook

of the Health Minister was admitted
to a government hospital in Bhopal
and when the minister went to look
him up, the cook requested to be
shifted to a private hospital. The
Health Minister reportedly obliged.
Did one require any other testimony
about the health of MP hospitals?
What is unfortunate is that honest
None of the states

ministers and their relatives
has faith in government-run
hospitals. Everyone goes
to private hospitals,
including Chouhan and
his wife, Sadhana
doctors, who bring to the fore
corruption and malpractices or try to
improve conditions of dispensaries
and hospitals, are suspended under
Chouhans raj. People point out the
much-talked about case of Bhopals
Dr P Tripathi, who was put under
suspension for bringing to light a
scam of spurious medicines.
No wonder then that none of the
state's ministers and their relatives
has any faith in government-run
repaired. District collector Ajay Singh

Gangwar admits he was aware of the
poor condition of the building but he
had no funds for repairs.
The doctors continued operations
with
corroded
equipment
in
unhygienic conditions. The result
was blinding of 40 patients. Most
of them were in the age group of 60
to 80 years. Dr Palod, who is credited
with 30,000 eye operations, bore the
brunt of the government negligence.
He was suspended.
The state governments decision
hospitals. Everyone goes to private

hospitals, including Chouhan and his
wife, Sadhana. She underwent a
major surgery three years ago in
Mumbai. Chouhans personal doctors
are from private hospitals. How do
the people of MP then have faith in
government hospitals and its doctors?
Barwani is just one shocking example;
many more Barwanis are waiting to
happen in MP.
It is not that Chouhan does not
want medical facilities to improve. He
went out of his way to help Dr Ajay
Goenka set up the Chirayu Medical
College and super-speciality Hospital
near Bhopal. But the condition of
most of the district hospitals in MP is
pathetic. There is a telling gap between
private and government hospitals.
Rampant
corruption,
crass
nepotism and criminal neglect have
botched up the public health scenario,
but the CM is busy rolling out the red
carpet for global industrialists either
by going to Singapore or the US or
Japan. People in MP have already
started dubbing him Chhota Modi,
what with his penchant for publicity
and foreign jaunts at the cost of
solving peoples basic problems. Will
Barwani open his eyes? g
19
STATE SCAN
to open more medical colleges to

make up for an acute shortage of
doctors may actually prove counterproductive and result in a drastic fall
in education standards, some experts
have warned. The BJP government has
obtained the go-ahead from the Union
health ministry to open seven medical
colleges, including five in Shahdol,
Vidisha, Ratlam, Khandwa and
Datia towns.
T present, against 203 sanctioned posts of professors in the

state, 87 are vacant while 140
posts of associate professors, out of
358, are not filled. Seventy-two posts
of assistant professors are also vacant.
The existing medical colleges are
not in a position to fulfil the norms of
the Medical Council of India (MCI)
due to lack of faculty and other
facilities, says DK Verma, a former
superintendent of the Gandhi Medical
College Hospital, Bhopal.
Ajay Vishnoi
Dr Narottam Mishra
Unlike other courses, medical education is complicated with requirement of heavy investments and
need for quality human resources.
Investments for medical education
may not be a problem as there is no
dearth of investors or land for colleges
to build infrastructure. But, quality
human resource is a huge problem
because the ghost of the Vyapam
scam has been haunting medical education ever since the job-cum-admission racket surfaced in July 2013.
The scam, which triggered nationwide outrage, is being probed by the
Central Bureau of Investigation.
The Barwani health camp issue put the focus back on the appalling state of government hospitals in the state which lack hygiene and proper equipment for surgeries
20
As is widely known now, the scam

is mainly about bogus admissions
in the states six government
medical colleges through rigged premedical tests for almost a decade.
Munnabhais, as the candidates
who used fraudulent means to get
admission are called, have not only
ruined their career but have also put
a big question mark on the credibility
of medical education in Madhya
Pradesh. The medical colleges have
already cancelled admissions of over
1,100 students and many of them are
in jails. Hundreds of Munnabhais,
who could not be identified, are now
practising doctors.
The state governments

decision to open more
medical colleges to make
up for an acute shortage of
doctors may actually prove
counter-productive and
result in a drastic fall in
education standards, some
experts have warned
The six private medical colleges
smack of even bigger scandals. The
admission process to get into them
through the Dental and Medical
Admission Test (DMAT) has turned
out to be a big scam. Even the Supreme
Court has acknowledged that the
DMAT is a more opaque admission
process than the pre-medical test conducted by the tainted Madhya Pradesh
Professional Examination Board or
Vyapam, as it is known by its Hindi
acronym. It is no secret that in the
name of DMAT, private medical and
dental college owners charged donations ranging from `30 lakh to `1 crore
from each candidate for admission.
It is a no-brainer that such candidates, once they get a degree, will like
www.gfilesindia.com
The office of the tainted Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board or Vyapam, as it is known by its Hindi acronym
to practise in the cosy environs of city

hospitals. Most of them can afford not
to join government service as they
hail from the affluent class.
By opening seven more medical
colleges, the government runs the risk
of adding to the number of doctors
who will be as loathe to joining rural
health centres as the present crop of
medicos is.
HE Barwani botch-up has

also brought corruption in
drug purchase by the health
department into sharp focus. While
debating the tragedy in the State
Assembly, the opposition accused
the Health Minister, Dr Narottam
Mishra, of hobnobbing with drug
companies. The state government
earmarks a considerable amount
for drug purchase. For 2015-16, the
state government budget for drugs
and medicines is `185 crore. Besides,
it has got an additional `85 crore
for drugs under the National Rural
Health Mission (NRHM), which is a
big source of corruption.
Last year, the Madhya Pradesh
www.indianbuzz.com
Getting quality human

resource is a huge problem
because the ghost of the
Vyapam scam has been
haunting medical
education ever since the
job-cum-admission racket
surfaced in July 2013
Grade III Government Employees
Federation had demanded a CBI
probe into the medicine scam. The
federation alleged that substandard
drugs had been purchased by the
government from selected companies.
Madhya Pradesh has a dubious
history of three health directors
being booked for corruption in
drug purchases. Lokayukta special
establishment
police
conducted
raids at the premises of then Health
Director Amar Nath Mittal in
November 2012. The operation
yielded assets worth `50 crore.
During the raid, Mittals wife shouted
at the Lokayukta sleuths as to why
her husband was being singled out.
Why dont you nab the Health

Minister who demands `1 crore from
my husband every month? she yelled
in full public view.
Mittals predecessors, Dr Ashok
Sharma and Dr Yogiraj Sharma, had
also been booked by the Lokayukta
after income tax raids at their premises yielded assets worth hundreds
of crores of rupees. They allegedly
amassed ill-gotten money mainly
through underhand dealings with
drug companies and embezzlement of
funds received from the Centre under
the NRHM.
Former Health Minister Ajay
Vishnoi was booked by the Lokyukta
on corruption charges in two cases of
drug purchase during his tenure.
An audit of government hospitals
conducted by the office of the
Accountant General in Gwalior last
year found excess payment to the
tune of `1.15 crore, higher than
the tender rate, in the purchase of
medicines and orthopaedic implants
in the Jayarogya group of hospitals,
affiliated to the government-owned
GR Medical College in Gwalior. g
21
COVER STORY
policy entrepreneurship
START-UP
a great idea?
Within the US, and in Europe and Asia, several states and
nations have tried to create another Silicon Valley. All
of them failed, to varying degrees. Clearly, the
obvious reasons cited for the technology-related
success in Americas Bay Areasuch as a huge
pool of educated people, access to venture
capital, and a high-risk entrepreneurial culture
arent enough. More important, Silicon Valley, as
was stated by an article in Scientific American,
has no monopoly on any of those features. Most
important, government intervention, as was the
case in China where Beijing spent billions of dollars,
cannot create an energetic and organic symbiosis
between industry and research.
Does this imply that Prime Minister Narendra Modis
grand and ambitious plan, Start-Up India, is bound to be a
failure? Do the past experiences across the globe prove that
it takes a generation, or several generations, to unleash
entrepreneurial lightning in a region or nation? In other words,
is there a need to rejig and change the Start-Up India Action Plan
(SIAP)? There is a raging debate on these questions.
MK Shukla is of the opinion that Start-Up India is a great idea and
one that can help turn around the economy. But, he stresses the
importance of focusing on core economic sectors like manufacturing
and agriculture. Alam Srinivas is doubtful about the success of SIAP,
pointing out that money alone will not produce the desired results.
22
www.gfilesindia.com
by MK SHUKLA
TAND up, India was the message when Prime Minister

Narendra Modi started the
Start-Up India campaign on January
16. The amount of `10,000 crore for
five years that he earmarked at the
rate of `2,500 crore a year may look
far short of the requirement to help
Indias youth400 million of them,
half of them school-going children
stand up in the global workplace
through Indian start-ups. But the
greatness of an idea has never been
measured in terms of the money allocated for it; its always measured in
terms of the quantum energy that it
releases, inspiring society to take up
the idea, nourish it and promote it.
In this case, if thousands of start-ups
bloom, they would fill the huge gap in
the employment chain and unleash
a huge wave of demand and services
from the bottom of society to fuel
exceptional growth in the real economy. Even if a few thousands of these
start-ups wilt and die, many more will
survive and flourish like orchards in
the heart of the economy. Even if most
of them die as forecast by doomsayers, the survival of hundreds of the
fittest among them would change the

economic landscape. Thats what the
gamble is all about and it may well
pay off, if one goes by things already
visible on the ground.
Read this story. The youngest
Indian CEO is 10 years old and the
CTO just 12! Brothers Abhijit Premji
(10) and Amarjit Premji (12) from
Kerala have already set out on their
entrepreneurial journey, making
toys. India imports much of these
from China and pays as much as $2
billion to keep the dragon amused
at the lack of Indian ingenuity. The
children were invited to Delhi to be
part of the Start-Up India event, their
father being one of the key personnel of the Digital India campaign.
Forget for a moment their father
Premjits station in life. Soon after
returning from the Start-Up summit,
After a not so good year,

Indian start-ups have
roared into 2016. The
first month of the new
year has drawn about
$300 million into new
and old start-ups
the two brothers laid the foundation

for Indian Homemade Toys (IHT).
Yes, you heard it right: they insisted
they wouldnt sell Chinese toys, that
they would only sell India-made toys.
According to CEO Abhijit, IHT will
not just be an online store but also a
source of creativity for kids, whereas
Amarjit says that his company is not
a start-up but a smart-up because
its mission is to encourage children to
be innovators.
Have patience before these stories
multiply and you will be confounded
by your own lack of understanding of
the creative side of young India.
After a not so good year, Indian
start-ups have roared into 2016. The
first month of the new year has drawn
about $300 million into new and old
start-ups. ShopClues hit headlines
some time ago as it breached the
revered unicorn club following fresh
funding; its now valued at $1.1 billion. While e-marketplaces seem to
hog the limelight, other categories,
such as online grocers, hotel booking, travel, transportation, and so
on, are also biting into their share.
Significantly, no single player seems
to be the master of all it surveys.
Despite the presence of dominant
PIB
www.indianbuzz.com
23
COVER STORY
players like Flipkart, Amazon and

Snapdeal, Paytm and ShopClues have
not just stayed competitive but have
also grown. Numbers speak the same
story in other sectors tootwo-and-ahalf-year-old hotel aggregator brand
OYO Rooms got its 1,000,000th
check-in last month, while six-yearold online travel aggregator Goibibo
this year crossed 1.6 million room
nights in Q3, at an annual growth rate
of 400 per cent. Automobile classifieds sector seems to be getting attention too: online platform CarTrade
raised `950 crore a few days ago.
With enough space to accommodate
multiple players, all sectorsfrom
groceries to luxuryare inviting
more start-ups.
ILL it help India regain its

old share in global GDP?
Renowned historian Angus
Maddison, in his two-volume treatise
on the world economy, has shown
how and why the national income
of India skidded from 27 per cent
of global income in 1700 to three
per cent in 1950. Between 1950 and
2003, Indias share of global GDP
staggered around the three per cent
level even as its population quadrupled. Nothing seemed to have worked
between 1950 and 1990. The planned
economy of the Fifties, Sixties and
Seventies unleashed two major food
crises in the first two decades after
Independence, forcing India to go
twice for IMF loans for structural
adjustment in the early Eighties and
early Nineties, spawned urban slums
and generated a sub-Saharan level of
national income.
Something was urgently required
to be done when New Delhi found
itself literally bankrupt in late 1990
and early 1991. And then began Indias
story of rediscovering the worth of the
individual as the most potent tool of
24
economic activity. The process of dismantling the instruments of shackling individual and family enterprises
through what was famously called the
licence-permit Raj, was kicked off
by a visionary and accidental Prime
Minister, PV Narasimha Rao, and
his economics professor, Manmohan
Singh. This rejuvenated the system
and kick-started a dormant economy.
Soon, what was dubbed the Hindu
growth rate by renowned economist
Prof Raj Krishna, was replaced by a
secular growth rate; the economy
accelerated from the average GDP rise
of three per cent a year to six per cent;
and since then it has remained in that
orbit with yearly fluctuations; sometimes providing it with the tailwind to
speed up to eight per cent. Not a bad
performance, but not good enough to
Start-ups may open up vast

marketing opportunities
for software professionals,
but they are not going to
resolve the problems
triggered by the slow
growth of real economy,
which is agriculture
and manufacturing
sort out the problem of mass poverty

and stave off a demographic catastrophe looming large over the country.
Lets face the facts. Despite a series
of policy initiatives since 1980, they
have proved less than adequate to
place the growth rate in a higher
sustainable trajectory. Over 10 governments, Indias GDP has refused
to grow in excess of an average of
6.2 per cent a year over the 35-year
period (Chart 1). The only time that
it grew above 8 per cent was during
UPA 1, when the BRIC story was hot
and money was flowing into Indian
IPOs and capital markets from
domestic and international sources.
Further analysis could throw up
extremely discomforting facts about
the growth spurt in 2004-9. That
unfortunate period in our recent history was marked by a strong resurgence in crony capitalism as coal,
iron ore, oil and gas, real estate and
spectrum were given away to illustriously notorious businessmen. What
was revealed subsequently in various
reports of the countrys accountant,
the Comptroller General of India,
stunned the whole nation and made
one recall the nasty prediction made
by eminent British politician Winston
Churchill at the time power was being
www.gfilesindia.com
transferred to Indians from British

hands. Power will go to the hands
of rascals, rogues, freebooters; all
Indian leaders will be of low calibre
and men of straw. They will have
sweet tongues and silly hearts. They
will fight amongst themselves for
power and India will be lost in political squabbles. A day would come
when even air and water would be
taxed in India. The GDP real growth
rate across 10 governments has been
6.2 per cent per annum over the past
35 years6.5 per cent is a good, longterm assumption.
Against this background there
rode to power Narendra Damodardas
Modi, promising to change everything and ensuring good days for
everyone. What he didnt realise was
that he had promised the moon, while
the country was still in the throes of
an extremely regressive political and
economic regime. In the past 20
months or so, the Prime Minister
has taken the country forward on
the road to reform. But, results are
eluding him because these reforms
are still far less than Yeh dil mange
more. In a very disingenuous and
cynical way, his administration has
changed the old system of GDP computation that seemed to inflate the
growth figure. This measure has now
attracted the criticism of the countrys
top money manager. An intellectually
honest man to boot, RBI Governor
Raghuram Rajan couldnt help commenting recently that ... we have to
be a little careful about how we count
GDP because some time we get growth
because people (are) moving into different areas. It is important that when
they move into different areas, they
are actually doing something which is
more value added. If mother A went
to look after the children of mother B
and mother B went to look after the
children of mother A, and they each
www.indianbuzz.com
paid each other an equal amount,

GDP would go up by the sum of the
two salaries. But would the economy
be better off? Presumably, kids want
their own mother rather than the
neighbouring mother. And the economy would be worse off.
IMILARLY, Modis new scheme

of UDAY (Ujwal Discom
Assurance Yojana) is also seen as
a gimmick. It is yet another name for
the old schemes of bailing out power
distribution companies through
taxpayers money; and, its the first
sign of crony capitalism creeping in
again. After losing the Bihar election
in which he sought to play Lalu-style
politics, he seems to be reverting to
Lalu economics. Instead of introducing the policy frameworks to force
distribution companies to address the
issue of imbalanced tariffs, he is doling out government charities. In this
game, he would not be able to beat the
Congress, much less Lalu Prasad.
To get 8-10 per cent growth, Modi
will either need to tread the tried and
tested path of the UPAs crony capitalism, or put true reforms in place.
So far, he has shown little appetite for
the latter. True reforms will involve
beginning from the bottomreforming agriculture and archaic colonial,

socialist and corrupt laws that pressure down its performance; freeing
food prices from clutches of government subsidies; disallowing capital
subsidies and tax breaks and replacing them with wage subsidies in case
it is required; huge investment in
two-three frontier areas of technology along with a quantum improvement in standards of higher education; stoppage of commodity exports
to best benefactor China; and stop
shirking from taking hard decisions
in foreign policy and military matters.
Its not a comprehensive list and one
is sure that the government has a large
pool of qualified people to advise it to
do what it would take before we effortlessly move into the higher growth
orbit of 8-10 per cent.
Quick fixes are quick fixes; they
arent a solution to long-term structural problems. For instance, the
Prime Ministers latest love, startups, however desirable they may be,
are not going to solve the fundamental problems of this country. They
may open up vast marketing opportunities for software professionals,
but they are not going to resolve
the problems triggered by the slow
growth of the real economy, which is
agriculture and manufacturing. The
start-ups could help create demand
by expanding e-commerce, create a
few lakh jobs in allied areas, and could
even add a few percentage points to
GDP, but they would not be effective
unless they are backed by an effective
and efficient manufacturing chain.
And, unfortunately, there has been
little private capital formation in the
last 20 months of his stewardship. Its
not the RBIs monetary policy that is
generally blamed; its the inability of
the government to set in motion true
structural reforms. g
25
COVER STORY
Start-Up India Action Plan
Bumpy road
ahead!
Do the pa
past experiences prove that it takes a
generation, or several generations, to
generatio
unleash the entrepreneurial lightning in a
region or nation?
reg
by ALAM SRINIVAS
RIME Minister Narendra Modi

has reiterated that his government doesnt want to run and
manage businesses, but act as a
facilitator. If this is the case then the
Start-Up India Action Plan (SIAP),
with its 19 broad points encompassing capital, labour, incubation, industry-academia partnership, financial
incentives, and handholding, is a
non-starter. The reason: one of its
lynchpin is the Fund of Funds, a
corpus of `10,000 crore to be set up
by the government, where the stateowned Life Insurance Corporation
of India (LIC) will be a co-investor,
which will decide the venture funds to
invest in, and whose representative(s)
will sit on the boards of these
venture funds.
26
As Devesh Kapur, in his paper

titled The Causes and Consequences
of Indias IT Boom, noted: Unlike
other sectors of the Indian economy,
state intervention (in IT) has been
markedly different. Indias IT minister, Pramod Mahajan, once quipped
that India is a leader in IT and
beauty contests, the two areas that
the government has stayed out of.
Undoubtedly, there is much merit in
this argument. The industry is driven
by private sector firms that compete
in global markets; while the states
regulatory role is relatively limited, its
role as direct producer is even more
sharply so. The non-material nature
of the sectors output constrains the
myriad state agencies grabbing hands
from octroi (a local tax) to customs
to unionised public sector ports.
However, Kapur mentioned that
the State can surely facilitate the
growth of a sector, as it did with the
IT sector, over a longer period, usually several decades. In the case of
IT, the government took several
steps that yielded huge benefits after
30-40-50 years. For example, in the
late 1950s, India settled the divisive
www.gfilesindia.com
issue about whether to make Hindi a

national language, and impose it on
the opposing southern states, with a
compromise. According to Kapur, it
was that while Hindi would remain
the national language, it would not
be imposed on non-Hindi speaking
states. Instead, English would henceforth enjoy the status of the official
language. The result: a large pool of
human capital that was versed in the
English language.
Two, Indias much maligned trade
and industrial policies played a positive role. When India kicked out IBM
in 1977, it indirectly protected the
countrys domestic hardware sector, which led to development of
software skills in a form of induced
innovation. Three, the Monopolies
and Restrictive Trade Practices Act,
which limited the entry of large business houses in new sectors, allowed
entrepreneurship to flourish in IT.
Finally, the States investments in
R&D labs and tertiary education were
also important in creating human
capital and infrastructural clusters.
Clearly, what Modi and his A-Team
need to do is to create a long-term
vision and blueprint.
Lopsided tax incentives
and exemptions
NE of the sops in SIAP is the
exemption from corporate tax
for three years. Most start-ups
across the globe, possibly 99.99 per
cent of them, dont earn profits in
the first three years of operations. A
blog by Benedict Evans on Amazon,
the largest e-retailer in the world,
said that there is the fact that almost
20 years after it was launched, it has
yet to report a meaningful profit.
He published a chart that captured
the contradictionmassive revenue
growth, no profits, or so it would
seem. Since its launch in 1995, its
profits were negligible and included

years of losses.
Microsoft, which was founded in
1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen,
showed little or no profits for the next
15 years. One of the rare exceptions
to this golden rule of no profits for
several years is Google. Three years
after it was launched in 1998, the
company earned a net profit of nearly
$7 million on annual revenues of over
$86 million in 2001. Subsequently,
Google scaled up frenetically with
annual revenues of over $45 billion
in 2014 and net profits of over $13
billion. Therefore, start-ups arent
excited about corporate tax incentives.
What is critical for start-ups is possibly a waiver of capital gains tax.
Most angel investors and venture
capitalists desire to exit a start-up
within 3-5 years, and the period for
private equity is three years. These
investors seek a huge jump in valuations so that they can earn returns on
their investments. Capital gains is the
name of the game for them and they
will be happy if they dont have to pay
taxes on them. However, SIAP doesnt

address this issue.
Instead, the Plan allows for capital
gains exemption for investors only
if they pump in their profits in the
Fund of Funds recognised by the
Government. Apart from restricting opportunities, this will dissuade
investors, who wish to put in the
money directly in start-ups so that
they have a say in the decision-making process. In addition, this clause
will give more financial powers to
the State, which will then decide discretionally on which venture funds
to finance. Similarly, the start-ups
themselves are exempt from capital gains, but only if they purchase
new assets with the capital gain
received. This too is a half-hearted
effort to help start-ups.
Discover, invent and then
Make in India
Modis Start-Up India is not
restricted to the technology sector,
Internet and e-commerce. He
hopes to extend it to several other
PHOTOS: PIB
www.indianbuzz.com
Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the launch of the Start up India, Stand up India
programme in New Delhi. The Union Minister for Finance, Corporate Affairs and
Information & Broadcasting, Arun Jaitley, and the Minister of State for Commerce &
Industry (Independent Charge), Nirmala Sitharaman, are also seen
27
COVER STORY
manufacturing sectors such as

health and agri-business. In this
respect, Start-Up India also extends
to manufacturing and connects with
Make in India. But as David J Gross,
a Nobel Prize winner in Physics, wrote
in The Indian Express: But in order
to Make in India and compete with
better or cheaper goods from abroad,
one must first Invent in India; and in
order to Invent in India one cannot
just rely on underlying science done
elsewhere, one must Discover in
India. I suggest the strategy: Discover,
invent and make in India.
HUS, huge investments in basic

sciences holds the key for India
to become a leading Start-Up
Nation. But, according to Gross,
money alone will not produce the
desired results. What is required is a
fundamental reform in the structure
of Indias higher education and
research institutions. He added that
any country that aspires to become
an economic superpower must first
become a science and technology
superpower. The need is to get rid of
scientific bureaucracy and the highlypoliticised system. Sadly, in India, the
debate today is about whether ancient
Indian civilisation knew how to clone
humans, make nuclear weapons, and
use robotics.
While SIAP does talk about incubation to foster start-ups, Atal
Innovation Mission, innovation centres and research parks, the government has to realise that these initiatives may yield results over the next
few decades. India will not become a
Start-Up Nation in 3, 5 or 7 years. It
may take 15-25-40 years to do so. It is,
therefore, imperative for the government to evolve a plan or strategy that
looks at the long-term implications of
their policies. Short-cuts dont work,
never have.
28
The matrix of Start-Up

A
Must be a Private Limited Company/LLP/Partnership firm
B
C
Age should not

be more than
5 years
Yes
Turnover should
not exceed
`25 crore
Should develop
an innovative
product which
should add to the
value of
customers and
should be
commercial
Yes
E
Get an approval from DIPP that your company is innovative
F
Recommendation letter by
incubator in
post-graduate
Indian college
F1
incubator
funded by
the
Government
of India
F2
incubator
recognised
by the
Government
of India
F3
Is funded by
an Incubation
Fund/ Angel
Fund/Private
Equity Fund/
Accelerator/
Angel
Network
F4
Has patent
granted by
Indian
Patent and
Trademark
Office
related to
business
If you meet conditions A, B, C, D, E and any one of the F series then you are a start-up
What is also required is a change in

entrepreneurial mindset. A 2012 study
by the Bay Area Council Economic
Institute and Booz & Co found
that there was a special trait that
distinguishes Silicon Valleys firms
from ordinary companies: the ability
to integrate their innovation strategies
with their business strategies. That
one trait can make the difference
between success and mediocrity
or worse. Our survey reported that
Silicon Valley firms are about four
times as likely as the average US
company to have a tight alignment
of their overall corporate strategy

with their innovation strategy. Not
surprisingly, the corporate culture
of a Silicon Valley firm is also twoand-a-half times more likely to
be attuned to the companys
innovation strategy.
Add to this the fact that Silicon
Valley is dominated by what we
call the need seekers, companies
that focus on discerning their users
actual needs. According to our
research, the need-seekers consistently outgrow companies with varying strategic business models over
www.gfilesindia.com
Modi interacting with start-ups, VCs and

angel investors in New Delhi
a five-year span, both in gross profits

and in company value. The reason:
need-seekers tend to formulate their
innovative strategy decisions at the
companys highest levels. The Survey
found that 46 per cent of Silicon Valley
companies follow this model, compared with 28 per cent of the firms in
the Global Innovation 1000 list.
While providing a hassle-free legal
environment and financial sops may
help a few select start-ups in the short
run, they are unlikely to create a startup ecosystem, which is Modis real
aim. As SIAP says, Start-Up India
is a flagship initiative intended
to build a strong eco-system for
nurturing innovation and Start-Ups
in the country that will drive
sustainable economic growth and
generate large scale employment
opportunities. For this to be
translated into reality requires a long
journey. Silicon Valleys trip possibly
began in 1938, when Stanford
University graduates William Hewlett
and David Packard began to work
together in a garage in Palo Alto with
$500 in cash and a used drill press
worth $38. It gained fame only in the
1980s and 1990s.
SIAP & the art of manipulation
Several critics fear that SIAP may
turn into a crony-capitalist mechanism to favour those businessmen
who are the governments favourites. It gives immense discretionary
powers to the government in various
forms. First, the state will select the
members of the Fund of Funds, which
will be managed by a Board with private professionals drawn from industry bodies, academia, and successful
start-ups. The Fund of Funds will
decide which venture capitalists will
www.indianbuzz.com
Most angel investors and

VCs seek a huge jump in
valuations so that they can
earn returns on their
investments. Capital gains
is the name of the game for
them and theyll be happy if
they dont have to pay taxes
on them. However, SIAP
doesnt address this issue
benefit from it. It is the state that will
decide the winners of the proposed
Innovation Awards and private partners for the sector-specific incubators under the PPP (Public-Private
Partnership) mode.
Smart, but dishonest, businessmen
will find ways to manipulate SIAP.
They will find innovative ways to
convert their black money into capital gains, and convert it into tax-free
white money through investments
in the Fund of Funds. The startups that they launch will show huge
profits in the first three years and
claim tax exemptions, yet another
mechanism to transform black into
tax-free white. The credit guarantee
fund for start-ups will be misused, as
is the case with loans by public sector

banks saddled with huge NPAs. False
invoices will show purchase of new
assets to claim a capital gains windfall. It will not be the market, but the
businessmen, hand-in-glove with the
government, who will decide the fate
of their start-ups.
HE ease with which crooks can

launch start-ups will enable
them to set up new entities only
on paper, and use them for dishonest
purposes. A start-up entrepreneur
recently wrote that it doesnt matter
whether a firm can be set up in a
day, week or a month. What really
matters is the stability and simplicity
of laws and policies, and the
confidence that they wont be changed
unexpectedly. Although Finance
Minister Arun Jaitley has promised
this, the entrepreneurs want to see
action, and not just hear promises by
policymakers.
In conclusion, Modi needs to turn
SIAP on its head. He needs to get the
big picture right, think in terms of
decades, and then offer short-term
sops, if required. In addition, it is
not just the policy vision that matters,
but also the ability to transform India
and Indians. g
29
COVER STORY
30
www.gfilesindia.com
www.indianbuzz.com
31
FIRST
FIRS
ST SSTIRRINGS
TIRRING
GS
v ve
vi
vivek
vekk kumar
kuma
marr agnihotr
agni
ag
agnihotri
niho
hotrri
PHOTOS: RAJEEV TYAGI
Life of many hues

Vivek Kumar Agnihotri served in all three organs of the Indian
democracyexecutive, legislature and judiciary
IVEK Agnihotri was only 11

years old (born on August
25, 1945) when he completed
middle school in 1956. His father,
Narain Prasad, a civil engineer in the
private sector in Kanpur, wanted him
to sit for the civil services examination
and took him for an IQ test to a private
institute to find out his propensity
whether for science, commerce or
arts. In those days, a student was
supposed to opt for a stream right
after Class VIII.
It was partly due to his performance
in the IQ test and partly on advice
from his youngest maternal uncle,
Shriinder Tripathi, that Agnihotri
opted for Sanskrit, geography and
32

economics. He left geography and

economics after high school and
chose logic (it was a subject then),
mathematics and Sanskrit because
the three were considered good
scoring subjects. He topped the Uttar
Pradesh Intermediate Examination
in 1960.
He subsequently enrolled for BA in
DAV College, Kanpur. Here, his uncle
persuaded him to opt for philosophy,
apart from Sanskrit and English. He
stood first in Agra University. Since
the civil services examination was
conducted only in English, he chose
English literature for his masters
from Allahabad University.
The political science course in
Allahabad University was considered

tailor-made for the civil services.
Therefore, Agnihotri also did a
masters in political science. He was
teaching English literature in the
university as an ad hoc teacher when
he cleared the examination for the
elite administrative service, becoming
the first civil servant in his family (like
his father, his two brothers, Vinay
and Vikas, are engineers who passed
out from IIT). Agnihotri also got a
doctorate in public policy analysis
from IIT Delhi later. The 1968-batch
IAS officer was allotted the Andhra
Pradesh cadre.
I credit my father for my getting
into the IAS. He started working on
www.gfilesindia.com
it from a very young age. My mama

(Tripathi) decided the subjects for
me, Agnihotri remembers.
His first posting was as Assistant
Collector in Hyderabad East. On
paper, the city posting was considered
very comfortable but in reality it turned
out to be a lesson on being grounded.
After staying in a state guest house
for several months, he rented a
one-bedroom accommodation in a
multi-storeyed apartment close to his
office. Subsequently, he was provided
accommodation in a section officers
quarter which was a few notches
below his entitlement. He distinctly
remembers a couple of humorous
incidents from his first posting.
Once, his old, rickety car stopped
on Tank Bund in Hyderabad and
a cop issued him a challan for
stopping in a no-parking zone.
After a couple of months, I got
a summons from the court, he
recollects. The matter was sorted out
after intervention by the Hyderabad
Police Commissioner.
Another
interesting
situation
arose when he was informed by the
general administration department
of the state that the President of India
(then VV Giri) would stop at a station
called Ghatkesar for an hour during
the course of his train journey from
New Delhi to Madras (now Chennai).
Since the place was under his
jurisdiction, he was asked to make
necessary arrangements.
Agnihotri, along with the tehsildar
of his area, decided to serve morning
tea and biscuits to the President
and his staff. The train halted at
the platform at 6 am sharp. But the
President did not come out of his
coach. Later, the duo learned that
the train made the halt because
Giri found it inconvenient to do his
ablutions in a moving train. Agnihotri
shared his tea with the station master
www.indianbuzz.com
and other railway staff.

When Agnihotri was posted as Joint
Collector/District Revenue Officer
in Hyderabad in the early 1970s,
he became a whistleblower against
his own District Collector (DC),
Superintendent of Police (SP) and
other senior officials. It so happened
When Agnihotri was posted

as Joint Collector/District
Revenue Officer in
Hyderabad in the early
1970s, he became a
whistleblower against his
own District Collector,
Superintendent of Police
and other senior officials
that the District Bar Association

approached him for the release of a
quintal of levy sugar to host a dinner
in honour of the Chief Justice of the
Andhra Pradesh High Court. Since
one quintal meant the number of
guests was going to be more than
the permissible limit, he rejected
the Bar Associations application,
did not attend the dinner and sent
his tehsildar to the party to find
out whether there was a violation of
the law. Consecutively, he forwarded
the tehsildars report to the Director
of Civil Supplies, seeking his advice
on whether a case should be filed
in an appropriate court in a
neighbouring state to seek prosecution
of the violators.
WO months later, he got a

reply from the Director of Civil
Supplies. We have been advised
that we will not be able to sustain
the prosecution as technically there
has been no violation of the Andhra
Pradesh Guest Control Order, 1972,
even though the spirit of the Order
has been violated.
The Director of Civil Supplies
further informed him that the matter
had been brought to the notice of the
Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh for
appropriate action and the displeasure
of the government had been conveyed
to the District Collector and, through
him, to the SP. The reply had a note of
appreciation for him. Luckily for him,
the DC and the SP were transferred
from the district soon afterwards.
During his about two-decade-long
career in Andhra Pradesh, Agnihotri
served in different capacities in the
state and his language skills (Telugu)
and surname led to several funny
incidents. People often asked him to
stick to Urdu in rural pockets.
His surname, Agnihotri, in fact,
caused an embarrassing situation for
33
FIRST STIRRINGS
vivek kumar agnihotri
him when he reported for training

at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National
Academy of Administration (LBSNAA)
in Mussoorie. The moment I entered
the room, my roommate started
talking to me animatedly in a language
that I understood only vaguely. His
name, as I had noted from the name
slip inserted into a panel on the
door of our room, was Abhyankar,
he reminisces. Abhyankar told him
that Abhyankars and Agnihotris
were the top two Brahmin clans of
Maharashtra. In Andhra Pradesh,
most of invitations extended to him
addressed him as Agnihotrudu.
HINGS changed for the better

after the huge success of the Hindi
film Ek Duje Ke Liye, in the early
1980shis surname became a little
more popular as the movies heroine,
Rati Agnihotri, became a rage in India
and outside. During a visit to Russia,
he and his bureaucrat colleague,
whose first name was Rati, were
introduced to a group of Russian girls,
who immediately started chanting
Rati Agnihotri. Around this time,
he met Kamalhaasan at a film
awards function. The superstar, he
recalls, whispered to him conspiratorially, I hope you are not related to
Rati Agnihotri.
He says the high point of his
career was his 11-month stint in
Visakhapatnam as District Collector.
It was the most important district
after Hyderabad with a lot of defence
establishments and a thriving private
sector. I must have done something
extraordinary to get there, he says.
In between, Agnihotri was Joint
Secretary (Panchayati Raj) and had the
onerous task of conducting panchayat
elections in Andhra Pradesh. The
then state government had to issue
nine ordinances to pave the way for
local elections and I became known
34

The pinnacle of his fourdecade-long career was his

post-retirement
appointment as Secretary
General, Rajya Sabha, in
2007. He served in the
post for five years
as Ordinance Agnihotri, he recalls.
From 1992 to 1998, he was posted
as Joint Director in the LBSNAA.
During his stint as Development
Commissioner
(Handlooms)
at
the Centre, he looked after the setting up of the National Institute
of Fashion Technology (NIFT) in
collaboration with the Fashion
Institute of Technology (FIT),
New York. From 1999 to 2002,
Agnihotri was Additional Secretary
in the Department of Administrative
Reforms and Public Grievance under
Arun Shourie as minister.
He served as Secretary to the
Government of India in the Ministry
of Parliamentary Affairs for about
two years before retiring on August
2, 2005.
The pinnacle of his four-decadelong career, however, was his
post-retirement appointment as
Secretary General, Rajya Sabha, in
2007. He served in the post for five
years. Earlier, he was also appointed
Member, Central Administrative
Tribunal (CAT), for two years, from
2006 to 2007.
Agnihotri served in all three organs
of the Indian democracyexecutive, legislature and judiciary. He
comments that MPs are quite different from their raucous selves while
dealing with government staff in
Parliament. They are very cooperative and behave nicely. The world,
according to William Shakespeare,
is after all a stage where scenes get
enacted, he says.
The septuagenarian is on the
boards of several private organisations and institutions and has written
around half-a-dozen books on public
administration, parliamentary practices and management. He lives with
his teacher wife, Vijay Agnihotri, in
the National Capital Region (NCR),
while his two sons, Colonel (Retd)
Abhishek Agnihotri and Amitesh
Agnihotri, engineers in the private
sector, live in South Delhi and the
US, respectively. g
As told to Narendra Kaushik
www.gfilesindia.com
BOOK REVIEW
biography non-fiction
by NARENDRA KAUSHIK
Indian values,
English sensibilities
AUGHT by the Police, a biography of Anandswarup Gupta, a

1939-batch Indian police officer
who served as the Founder-Director
of the Bureau of Police Research and
Development (BPR&D) in 1970, has
many firsts to its credit.
This, arguably, is the first biography penned by six personsthe late
Anandswarup Gupta himself, his four
civil servant sons, Ranjit Gupta, Harsh
Gupta, Madhukar Gupta, Deepak
Gupta, and only daughter, Meera Yog,
a retired English professor.
This is the first biography written
in third person but which frequently
quotes the subject to buttress its
claims. And this is probably the first
biography which publishes English
and Urdu poems by the subject as part
of its latter half.
Divided into two parts, the book
tells the story of an extraordinary life
lived in ordinary places. The first
part, comprising nine chapters, are
partly based on what Anandswarup
had written in his incomplete
autobiography, as well as notes,
letters and diaries (discovered from
steel boxes which stored documents
collected from the Guptas bungalow
in Lucknow which they disposed
of in 1981) and what the siblings
could remember and share about
their father.
The first eight chapters borrow
heavily from what Anandswarup wrote
about the trajectory of his life and
career, first in the Royal Air Force in
Britain and later in the Indian Police.
It talks about how Anandswarup flirted with the Royal Air Force for a year
www.indianbuzz.com
Title: Caught by the Police

Authors: Anandswarup Gupta, Ranjit
Gupta, Harsh Gupta, Meera Yog,
Madhukar Gupta and Deepak Gupta
Publisher: Showcase: a Roli Books
imprint for sponsored titles
Pages: 320
Price: `449
(1934-35) before the British medically invalided him, how he passed

BSc after his return from England
from a hospital bed laid out in the
examination hall and could not sit for
the civil services exam for one reason
or another and instead appeared for
the Imperial Police examination.
The story traverses all the major
cities of Uttar PradeshMeerut,
Moradabad, Lucknow, Allahabad
and SitapurShimla and Delhi, the
places where Anandswarup served
during about three decades of his
chequered service. In Chapter Nine,
the siblings take turns to narrate
what they remember of their father.
It is their journey of rediscovering
our father and reliving our lives with
our parents.
Besides narrating the contemporary history of Uttar Pradesh and
India in the pre-independence and

post-independence years, Caught by
the Police tells how the British discriminated against Indians, denied
them equal opportunities, how
Indians adopted English food habits
and manners, how the country grappled with communal tension and how
politicians over the years have treated
the bureaucracy by saying do what I
say, or you are not my man and you
go. It also chronicles the history of
the Gupta clan, its overriding interest in the civil services and the morals
it has observed unscrupulously over
the years (one of the earlier Guptas
returned gold mohars sent to him by
a contractor as a Christmas gift).
The biography claims Anandswarup
suffered greatly during the reign of
Chaudhary Charan Singh as Chief
Minister of Uttar Pradesh because
the latter believed he was not his man.
It lauds the immense contribution of Anandswarup to the BPR&D
despite his heart not being in the
police force. Gupta was also the
first Director of the Institute of
Criminology and Forensic Science,
New Delhi.
The book is a tribute of lasting value
to Anandswarup Guptas memory. Its
only drawback is that it moves backward and forward too frequently leaving the reader confused about whether the writers are referring to their
father, grandfather or great grandfather, and the subject is primarily seen
from his childrens perspective.
It also lacks personal details
which elevate an autobiography or
biography to an art form. g
35
BOOK EXTRACT
prime ministers morarji desai
Janardan Thakur started

his career in journalism
with the nationalist
Patna
daily,
The
Searchlight, in December
1959. In his long and
distinguished career
spanning the reign of
each Prime Minister
since Independence,
Thakur reported from
the thick of some of the
most
momentous
contemporary events at home and afarJPs
total revolution, the Emergency, the bristling
emergence of Sanjay Gandhi, the fall and rise of
Indira Gandhi and then the rise and fall of Rajiv,
the Kremlin of Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev, the Soviet
invasion of Afghanistan and Khomeinis revolution
in Iran, Ronald Reagans re-election in an America
swinging Right, VP Singhs ascent as a messiah
with tainted magic and the rasping run to power
of the BJP. Thakurs journalism, from the very
start, broke traditional moulds of reportage and
writing, going beyond the story that meets the
eye and into processes and personalities that
made them happen. His stories on the Bihar
famine of the mid-1960s and the manmade floods
that ravaged the State were a sensation. He was
perhaps alone in predicting defeat for Indira
Gandhi in 1977 and again singular in exposing the
corroded innards of the Janata Government that
followed. A Jefferson Fellow at the East-West
Center, Hawaii, in 1971, Thakur moved to New
Delhi as a Special Correspondent for the Ananda
Bazar Patrika group of publications in 1976. He
went freelance in 1980 and turned syndicated
columnist. In 1989-91, he was Editor of the
fortnightly Onlooker, and The Free Press Journal.
Thakur authored All The Prime Ministers Men,
probably the most successful of the crop of books
that followed the Emergency. His All the Janata
Men, the story of the men who destroyed the first
non-Congress government in New Delhi, was
equally successful.
He passed away on July 12, 1999.
36

Hot-line
to God
HEN Morarji Desai finally became Prime

Minister, at the age of eighty-one, most people
thought he was a changed man, he had shed his
angularities and rigidities; he was no longer the dogmatic
man that he had been. At first glance, he did look a little
mellowed, a little more accommodative than he had been
in the late 1960s. But you had only to scratch the surface
and the crotchety old Morarji popped out.
Prime Minister Desais very first Press conference on
March 24, 1977, revealed how much he had changed. Are
you moving into 1, Safdarjang Road? a journalist asked
him. That was where his predecessor, Indira Gandhi had
lived as Prime Minister. Why do I have to move there?
snapped Desai. Is there any hallow attached to it?(Just a
few months later, Morarji moved to the house amid much
fanfare.) There is talk that you are going to topple several
state governments. Will you approve of that?I am not
going to topple any state government, Morarji Desai said
with a stiff upper lip. But if they topple themselves what I
am to do?
Sir, Jayaprakash Narayan has suggested that there
should be a fresh poll for state assemblies where the
Congress has lost (in the Lok Sabha elections of March
1977). Desai: No, no. If the governments there are legal
governments, and they have the majority, how can we have
fresh polls? It has to be done in the right manner. It has to
be done in such a manner that we do not repeat what the
last government had done.A month later, Morarji Desai
threatened to order fresh Lok Sabha polls if the Acting
President, BD Jatti did not sign the governments
proclamation dissolving nine of the Congress-ruled states
in the country.
The Janata caravan had started rolling with the return
of Jayaprakash Narayan to Delhi on March 23, 1977,
exactly two months after he had presided over the formal
launch of the Janata party. On that day the leaders, most
of them just out of various jails in the country, had gathered
at 5 Dupleix Road close to the Raisina complex. They had
got together to announce a new party. The atmosphere was
electric with excitement, but not even in their wildest
dream could the motley crowd gathered there could have
imagined that a political transformation of such
www.gfilesindia.com
most confidential adviser of the Prime

proportions could even take place in just
Minister. But after he moved to the Centre,
about 60 days.
Nehrus attitude towards him changed. His
Some hours after Morarji Desai was sworn
analysis of Nehrus mind led him to the
in as the Prime Minister, Barun Sengupta of
conclusion that it was Jawaharlaljis practhe Ananda Bazar Patrika and I met him for
tice not to have anybody as an adviser for
an interview. He sat calm and serene on a
more than three years. Another time Morarji
takhat spinning on a portable charkha. On
was convinced of a conspiracy against him
the wall behind him hung a serene portrait of
was when Nehru used the Kamaraj Plan to
Ramakrishna Paramhansa. It was no longer
remove him from the cabinet. Desai had for
going to be difficult for news persons to get to
long regarded himself as Jawaharlals
the Prime Minister, he told us. No walls, no Morarji Desai
barriers. I want to meet everybody who comes Born: February 29, 1896 logical heir. Many others thought too. On
his first trip abroad in March 1958, a
to me. How else would I know what is Died: April 10, 1995
London newspaper had greeted him with
happening in the country? How would he
the headline: Nehrus heir comes West, and
treat Indira Gandhi, I had asked. Would he
in America he was often introduced as
forget and forgive? Most certainly, he said.
Indias next Prime Minister.
Inquiry commission against her? Certainly
When Nehru died, Desai was all set to step
not. One must be magnanimous, not merely
into his shoes. An observant political comjust. Somehow, for that moment, I had
mentator had noted: While Nehrus body
seemed to like the man, warts and all.
was lying in state at Teen Murti House to
Part of Desais queer mental make-up
enable people to pay their last respects to
must have come from his Anavil Brahmin
him, and the arrangements for crowd conancestors, known for their plain-speaking,
trol and cremation were discussed, Desai
somewhat hot tempers, and independence.
radiated the certitude and authority he
Part of it came from the deeply religious
habitually carried, and went round giving
atmosphere of his family, and his avid
instructions about various matters. But
reading of the Ramayana, the Mahabharata
even before Nehrus funeral pyre had got
and the Panchtantra My views about
morality were formed through these books, Desai wrote. cold, Desai was informed, through a special messenger,
The financial problems of his early life and the hard jolts that if he accepted Lal Bahadur Shastri as the Prime
he got when he was a mere boy must have contributed to Minister, he would be made the Deputy Prime Minister.
the making of his personality. When he was just 15, his
father had thrown himself into a well and died, leaving on
ESAI had replied curtly: I do not approve of making
him the burden of a large familyhis grandmother,
any such bargains. Ultimately, Morarji chose not to
mother, three younger brothers, two sisters, and the little
contest. If I was elected in such circumstances, he
girl he had been married to, just three days after his said later, it would have been very difficult for me to do
fathers death.
my work...all my energy would have been spent in meeting
To all this was added the gnawing sense of having been opponents. But such fears did not stop him from contestwronged again and again in his career. As a young Deputy ing against Indira Gandhi. Morarji claimed to be a man of
Collector in the late 1920s, he had felt wronged by his principles, and often described himself as the instrument
British Collector, whose adverse remarks on his character of Gods will. Even so, he had not escaped his share of
roll finally made him decide to quit the service. He had felt smear. His biggest black spot he owed to his son, Kantibhai
deeply hurt when Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi Desai, who was widely described as the Sanjay Gandhi of
decided in 1959 to split the bilingual Bombay state. After the Janata Government.
Pant died in 1961, the issue of deputy leader of the Congress
The political earthquake of March 1977 had also left the
Parliamentary Party came up, and Desai had no doubt Russian leadership gasping. Everybody was saying that
that Nehru had manoeuvred to keep him out of the post. the new Government headed by Morarji Desai was proUntil he was in Bombay, Desai had enjoyed the complete America and certainly the new ForeignMinister, Atal
trust of Jawaharlal and had come to believe that he was the Behari Vajpayee, could be nothing but anti-Russia. India
www.indianbuzz.com
37
BOOK EXTRACT
had been Russias most loyal, stable and powerful client

in the Third World, and it would not be politic to let it
slips into the American sphere of influence. Within two
days of the election results, the Soviet official organ,
Izvestia, published an article criticising Indira Gandhis
authoritarian behaviour during the Emergency. The visits
of Morarji Desai and Atal Behari Vajpayee to the Soviet
Union in October 1977 allayed Russian fears to some
extent, but they suspected that the gains made in India
would be offset by the Janata Governments tilt toward
America. New friends had to be found in the new ruling
party. Some old friends like Bahuguna and Nandini
Satpaty had already gone over to the Janata, but new
vehicles had to be spotted.
The first possible ally they made was the Socialist leader, Madhu Limaye, one of the ideologues of the Janata. He
had not joined the government, but he was important in
determining the policies and programmes of the party, not
only by virtue of his being one of the general secretaries of
the party (a highly rated position in the SU) but also
because he had established himself as one of Indias most
effective parliamentarians.
ADHU Limaye had studied deeply the politics

and personality of Morarji Desai. Some months
after Desai became the Prime Minister, Limaye
had analysed some events in Morarjis earlier days. In the
late 1930s (except during the war years), BG Kher was the
chief minister of Bombay. Between 1946-52, Desai had
started emerging as the strong man of the government,
and most people saw him as the heir-apparent, more so
because Kher felt exhausted in body and mind and did
not contest the first general elections. As Morarji wrote
in his autobiography, By the end of 1951 it was almost
certain that I would have to take the responsibility of forming a government in Bombay state. Any honest politician,
thought Limaye, who enjoyed the exercise of poweras
Morarji obviously didwould have truthfully admitted
that he relished the prospect. But Morarji is Morarji.
He considershimself a superman. He apprehended that
he would not be able to pursue the truth as chief minister, for he doubted whether his colleagues would be
as devoted to truth as himself. His heading the government would, therefore, hinder his search for truth, Desai
wrote. Limaye had found it hard to get over the conceit
and self-righteousness of Desai.
The heir-apparent had lost the 1952 elections, by just
19 votes. His defeat should have given Moraiji a valid
moral reason, felt Limaye, for not undertaking a
38

responsibility which would obstruct his search for truth.

But by some twisted reasoning Desai reached the opposite
conclusion. God had sent me this defeat, Morarji wrote,
to make me understand my mistake, the mistake being to
have entertained the thought of running away from the
responsibility of heading the government. How Limaye
had laughed reading those lines to me!
Morarjibhai, he said, had a hot-line between him and
God. He would invoke God on the slightest pretext.
Desai had claimed that he had accepted his defeat
cheerfully. In fact he did not. He had insisted on a
recounting of votes, which had not been accepted. Kher
advised him to stand for re-election. Morarji said he did
not appreciate the suggestion. If I could not win in the
general elections, he said, it only showed Gods wish that
I should not continue in the government. I should therefore get out of this kind of politics.
But then God must have told him that this would amount
to escaping from responsibilities. And so he had to find
some other way. He made it clear that he would yield
only under certain conditions: first, the Pradesh Congress
Committee must unanimously agree to Khers suggestion
that Desai should become the leader; and second,
Jawaharlal Nehru and the Central Parliamentary Board,
should also give their consent. In his constant search for
truth, Morarji at one point discovered that his arrogance
had been a factor in his defeat. So he resolved to shed
arrogance. He must have tried hard, but others had not felt
any change in Morarji, at least not Limaye.
Whole pages of his autobiography are devoted to
philosophical speculation on his electoral defeat and selfexamination, said Limaye, but the result of all this was
his decision to accept the suggestion of the Congress
leaders. There was one hurdle. The constitution of the
party laid down that only a member of the legislative
assembly could be elected. Even a member of the Bombay
legislative council could not be elected as leader. But a way
out suggested itself. Constitutions are framed for the
convenience of men and not vice versa! And if the man in
question was the Sarvochcha himself devoted to the search
for truth, why not amend the constitution?
Nehru was flooded with protests from those opposed
to the proposal. Nehru wrote to us (the Congress
legislature party) that since the outgoing party was going
to be replaced by the newly elected party, the former
should not amend the constitution in a hurry. Morarji
immediately replied to Nehru explaining the whole
position. Of course, Morarji could not think of having an
amendment made for his own sake! And so he requested
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that he should be relieved of the responsibility of leading

the government.
Jawaharlaji, Morarji wrote with a sense of glee,
was quick to appreciate the difficulty and gave his
permission and the amendment was duly made. So the
defeated Morarji was first elected to the council and in due
course, as chief minister, he contested an assembly
byelection and won it.
Dozens of politicians who have since followed that
deviousand dubiousroute to become Chief Ministers,
and even the countrys Prime Minister, must be grateful to
Morarji Desai for having caused that amendment in the
party constitution, which was to become the accepted
convention! Reacting to the criticism of some newspapers
that the amendment was against democratic principles,
Desai wrote in the second volume of his autobiography, in
1974: I have not been able to understand even now, the
propriety of such criticism. Desai must then have got a
direct communication from God to change his mind. In
1978, at a meeting of the Central Parliamentary Board of
the Janata Party, he proposed a rule that a non-member of
state legislature assembly should not be allowed to contest
election as leader of any state legislature party. After the
assembly elections in Maharashtra in 1978, there was a
move to make Bapu Kaldate leader of the Janata legislature
party. Desai opposed it. He said it was immoral for nonmembers of state assembly to become chief ministers. This
barred the way for Bapu Kaldate.
Soon after the Janata government was formed, Madhu
Limaye led a delegation of the Indo-Soviet Cultural Society
to Moscow. He made quite an impression on the Kremlin
leaders. On his return from Moscow, he began his battle
with the RSS. The objective was clear: to topple the Desai
government. Madhu started cultivating Charan Singh. In
just about 10 days in March 1978 nearly half a dozen angry
letters were exchanged between Singh and Desai. Charan
Singhs lead was Congress MP, NKP Salve who made a
series of allegations against Kantibhai Desai.
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Morarji Desais patience gave way. He told Charan

Singh to resign from the government. Singhs Sancho
Panza, Health Minister Raj Narain, was also asked to
quit for his behaviour in Shimla where he had violated
Section 144 and attacked the Janata chief minister of
Himachal Pradesh.
In a note submitted to the partys national executive,
George Fernandes had admitted that there had been a
gradual erosion of the party and the government. All of
us are guilty of thinking and acting as members of the
merging parties rather than as members of one political
party. Referring indirectly to the warring triumvirate at
the top, Fernandes had called upon Morarji Desai, Charan
Singh and Jagjivan Ram to exercise jointly their political
and moral authority to keep the party in shape...This we
owe to the country, to the party, and to posterity. If they
fail the consequences will be tragic for everyone...
very tall order for leaders who were chipping away

at their own credibility, without any concern for the
mounting disorder all around them. Harijans and
Muslims were under attack in different parts of the country. Higher education had virtually collapsed: 47 universities had been closed for various periods between April
1977 and January 1978. In the factories during the same
period, 1,363 strikes and 199 lockouts had resulted in a
loss of production to the tune of `83 crore. But the leaders
of the Janata Party were busy pulling one another down.
Desai was furious when he returned from abroad. Raj
Narain had gone to the airport with attar (perfume) but
when he wanted to apply it on Desais sherwani, he was
brushed aside and given a mouthful. You have been
spreading a foul smell while I was abroad, Morarji told
him. Desai had not failed to see that it was he who was the
real target. A day after submitting his resignation, Charan
Singh expressed his relief because in the government I
was surrounded by many corrupt persons. His expression
of relief was about as credible as Indira Gandhis
utter, utter relief on knowing that she had been defeated
in Rae Bareli.
These people cannot govern the country, Indira
Gandhi was now telling interviewers gleefully. Her son was
calling them jokers and monkeys. Also delighted was the
Russian lobby which felt encouraged by every discomfiture
of the Janata Government. Madhu Limaye worked hard to
build a bridge between Charan Singh and HN Bahuguna,
who had for long been political enemies in Uttar Pradesh
politics. Limaye convinced Charan Singh that with
Bahuguna on his side he could make inroads into Muslim
39
BOOK EXTRACT
votes. As Chief Minister of UP, the clever politician from

the Garhwal hills had gone out of his way to endear himself
to the Muslims, from the Nawabs and Begums down to the
poorest of them. He could speak Urdu fluently and recite
sher-o-shaeri. The deal was finally struck when Charan
Singh told Bahuguna, Look, I have a son, but you know he
is not interested in politics (Ajit Singh was then working in
a computer company in the US). After me, all my following
will be yours.
Thereafter, Bahuguna got down to a rapprochement
between Charan Singh and Morarji Desai. For its own
reasons, the Jan Sangh component of the Janata was also
anxious for a patch-up between the two. Though they had
initially plumped for Morarji Desai because they thought
he was a better bet to keep the government going, the Jan
Sangh leaders were now worried about the possibility of
Charan Singh quitting and thereby destabilising the
government. Eventually, the Nanaji-Chandra ShekharHegde combine succeeded in selling the idea of deputy
prime ministership to Charan Singh. Morarji agreed, but
decided he would promote Jagjivan Ram to deputy prime
ministership along with Charan Singh. It was an old game
which Jawaharlal Nehru had played on Morarji way back
in 1961. When Charan Singh heard of it, he was in utter
rage. The issue of my joining the government stands
closed and closed finally.
ND yet, within weeks, Charan Singh took oath as

Deputy Prime Minister, along with Jagjivan Ram.
Poor Raj Narain, who had done so much jumping
and shouting for his leader was left high and dry. Right
then he told his confidants that henceforth his sole objective would be to pull down the Desai Government. If needed, he would even surrender to Indira Gandhi, he said.
The first big salvo of the Raj Narain-Madhu Limaye
jehad was fired when the Jan Sangh men were thrown out
of the Uttar Pradesh government. What had worried
Morarji most was the volte face of Bahuguna. It was largely
as a reaction to this that they decided to topple the Bihar
government led by Karpoori Thakur, a strong supporter of
Charan Singh. The last act in Operation Morarji started
after the fall of Thakur and Devi Lal of Haryana. Raj Narain
now had two strong allies, both of whom had supported
Charan Singh in troubled times. Matters came to head on
June 12 when Raj Narain was removed from the national
executive of the Janata Party for one year as a punishment
for his personal attacks on his party colleagues and his
public criticism of the government policies.
The hawks in the Charan Singh camp were now
40

breathing down the leaders neck to quit the government

and the party and revive his old Bharatiya Lok Dal. Charan
Singh was in no mood to take risks, and his wife Gayatri
Devi was constantly telling him a bird in hand was better
than two in the bush... But politics moved fast, and by the
evening of July 8, rats had started leaving the sinking ship.
Five Lohiaite MPs quit the Janata Party and joined Raj
Narain. Devi Lal went into action and got another five MPs
to leave on the first day of Parliament session.
When the Lok Sabha met next morning, YB Chavan,
the then leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party,
introduced a censure motion against the government. He
got no support from Indira Gandhis MPs. She had decided
to vote against the government but her directive had not
yet reached the House. It was only some hours later that
her aide, CM Stephen announced support for Chavans
motion. But even then nobody was taking the motion
seriously. That evening, BP Maurya, a volatile Dalit leader
who had joined Indira Gandhis bandwagon, had gone to
12 Willingdon Crescent to see her. He had found her
almost in tears. Mauryaji, I dont know what will happen
now, she had said. Urs (the Karnataka chief minister,
who had been one of her main supporters) has left and
people tell me you are also about to go...Ill be convicted by
the end of October...Yes, you will be convicted, Maurya
had said bluntly, and had left her feeling worse.
The safety of Sanjay Gandhi had become her main
concern. Home Minister Charan Singh had devoted all his
energy to preparing a case against Indira and Sanjay so
that they could be put behind bars. When the Central
Bureau of Investigation submitted a charge-sheet against
the former Prime Minister, Charan Singh went to Morarji
Desai who passed it unhesitatingly. On October 3, Mrs
Gandhi was arrested on charges of indulging in corrupt
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practices while in office. The next morning, when she was

produced before the magistrate, he declared there was
virtually no case against her. She was out in triumph. It
had proved a godsend for her.
But while she and her son were busy engineering the fall
of the Desai government, Indiras fears of further
persecution remained. She had called Maurya again the
next morning and asked him to do something. Why
arent you supporting YB Chavans no-confidence motion?
Maurya asked her. No, no, thats no good. It may be just
good music, but nothing will come of it.I dont agree,
Madam, you should support it. The government will fall.
Mrs G was not willing to believe this, but Maurya had
convinced her. He said if she promised to support Charan
Singh the government would definitely fall. She was so
anxious to get rid of the Janata government that she
agreed. But youll have to promise one thing, Madam.
What? Youll have to promise that you will not be the
candidate for Prime Ministership. She was taken aback,
but said with great solemnity, Mauryaji, not only now,
throughout my life, I say on oath that I am not a candidate
for prime ministership. But I should not be humiliated.
Thats all I want.Not only you should not be humiliated,
Madam, you should be respected. But you must never
think of becoming the Prime Minister again. I say on
oath, Mauryaji, she repeated, that I am not a candidate
for prime ministership and will never be throughout my
life, but only see that this government is defeated.
Maurya then went and told Charan Singh that Mrs
Gandhi was willing, but Charan Singh would not believe
him. She will deceive me, he said. In any case, the wily
Jat could see that unless he acted many of his followers
would leave him.By July 10, the Janata Partys majority in
the Lok Sabha had shrunk to three, and Morarji was pressing Charan Singh to defend the government. In a heated
exchange over the telephone, CharanSingh told Desai: I
shall be guided by my followers and do whatever they want
me to do.
Jagjivan Ram was once again girding up his loins. On
July 11, he called the Janata MPs to his house for a tea
party. About 70 of them turned up, but the number given
out to the Press was 135. By that time the total strength of
the party in the Lok Sabha had already come down to 260.
The same evening the Congress for Democracy (CFD) met
and some of the members suggested that the group should
quit the Janata. But Jagjivan Ram had other ideas. It
would be a Machiavellian tactics to cross the floor at this
point, he said solemnly. He talked about political morality and said morality lay in going to the polls after resign-
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ing from the party. Bahuguna walked out of the meeting.

At the Janata Parliamentary Board meeting the next
day, George Fernandes was to put forth the proposal that
the Prime Minister should step down. Ram and Vajpayee,
it had been decided earlier, would support the move. But
Chandra Shekhar had once again refused to be a party to
this, saying that he was in politics for human dignity and
if anybody came up with such a move he would throw him
out of the party. George Fernandes did make the proposal,
and Jagjivan Ram nodded his head in assent. Chandra
Shekhar remained quiet. Morarji Desai stuck to his guns.
Only 47 had so far left the party and the government could
survive even up to 70 defections. That day Bahuguna left
the party.
N the night of July 14, Jagjivan Ram sent off his long
letter to Desai, a virtual indictment of the government. Bahuguna had managed to wean away the
Marxists, thereby tilting the balance against Desai. Ram
told Bahuguna that he had sent his letter to Morarji. But
the word resignation is not there, Bahuguna said curtly.
That will be done tomorrow, Ram said.
Ram had gone to Desai and assured him that the issues
raised in the letter would be thrashed out only after the
censure motion was defeated. It was amazing in how many
voices these politicians could talk at the same time. One
explanation of Rams double-talk was that he was under
the impression that as a last resort Desai would step down
by himself and give the Kursi to him. Even so, the same
day, after a visit to the Rashtrapati Bhawan, Jagjivan Ram
told Chandra Shekhar that he was going to leave the party
and the government. By then he got feelers from the
Congress. But Ram got cold feet when he realised that
while Indira Gandhis men had welcomed him to join the
party, they had refused to make any commitments about
making him the Prime Minister.
By the afternoon of July 15, Desai knew his ship was
sinking. Even George Fernandes who waxed eloquent
defending the government on Thursday had defected
on Saturday. It was the last straw on the camels back. As
Chandra Shekhar said later, Had he (George) not resigned
on that date, the government would not have fallen. I had
a talk with George a day earlier and I did not get a hint that
he was going to resign the next day...he was very firm that
he would not resign from the government and the party.
Morarji Desai drove to Rashtrapati Bhawan and
submitted his resignation. g
Excerpted from Prime Ministers: Nehru to Vajpayee by
Janardan Thakur, Eeshwar Prakashan, New Delhi
41
Silly Point
humour mk kaw
The cat is
out of the bag
ARUNA
T last, the cat is out of the bag.

What was driving diplomats
around the world crazy is now
making sense.
Look at the unanswered questions
first. What did Barack Obama and
Narendra Modi discuss in the 'Chai pe
charcha' on the lawns of the White
House and again on the lawns of
Hyderabad House, New Delhi? Why
did Modi suddenly stop on his way
from the washroom to his seat in a
42

conference and hold the Pakistan

Prime Minister in a diplomatically
unbecoming half-embrace and mumble sweet nothings into his ear for as
long as 120 seconds? Why did several
heads of state decide to attend the
global summit on global warming?
Why did the ISIS target Paris? Why
did India invite the French President
as its guest of honour this Republic
Day? Why has the US decided to forget the fact that Osama Bin Laden, the
perpetrator of the Twin Tower

Tragedy, was found in Abbotabad,
holed up in a military township under
the obvious protection of the Pakistan
Army? Why did the other Latif rush to
Washington on an urgent summons
from the US establishment? Why did
Modi descend from the skies in
Lahore in an unprecedented show of
courtesy, in which an Indian PM
made an unscheduled halt in a Pak
istani city just to say Happy Birthday
www.gfilesindia.com
to his counterpart? Why has India

inked a deal to buy Rafale aircraft
from France, when the price has still
not been negotiated? Why did Modi
induct his two chief head hunters
from the little-known Vivekananda
Foundation? Why has Modi tried to
convert the Westminster model of
parliamentary democracy hitherto
practised in India into a presidential
form when he knows perfectly well
that he will not be able to amend the
Indian Constitution?
Many perspicacious observers of
the scene have started guessing at
the truth but the explanations they
come up with are so bizarre that no
serious strategic analyst would like to
stake his lifelong reputation on
advancing such a theory. As I have no
similar credentials to protect, I am
sharing a set of propositions that
might provide some measure of
explanation of these facts.
When Ajit Doval was inducted by
Modi as the National Security Adviser,
it was widely interpreted as a signal
towards markedly hawkish tendencies in Indias Pakistan policy. He
started well with the cancellation of
bilateral talks at the level of the foreign secretaries and enunciation of a
novel set of red lines to guide future
forays into the dialogue process. The
next step people expected was an
escalation of casualties on the Pak
istani side and use of superior firepower by the Indian side. Thus, a bullet would be answered with a bomb, a
bomb with a missile and a missile
with an ICBM. The Indian Air Force
was expected to bomb the terrorist
training camps located on the
Pakistan side of the international border out of existence. India's Research
& Analysis Wing (RAW) would be
refashioned on the model of Pakistan's
Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and
have a string of non-State agencies
www.indianbuzz.com
like Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-iToiba and so on, to wreak havoc on

the civilian population of Pakistan.
The separatist lobby in Kashmir
would be either jailed for life on
grounds of sedition, or be neutralised
in fake encounters. There would be
no question of involving them in
tripartite talks.
The experience of the last few
months does not reveal the Dovalian
touch. Rather, there seems to be a seesaw battle between the hawks and the
doves in the Indian security establishment. The question being asked is:
"Why is Modi blowing hot and cold in
his Pakistan policy?
When Ajit Doval was

inducted by Modi as the
NSA, it was interpreted as
a signal towards markedly
hawkish tendencies in
Indias Pakistan policy.
Rather, there seems to be a
see-saw battle between the
hawks and the doves
Looking at another aspect of the
jigsaw puzzle, what has befuddled
commentators is Modis overwhelming emphasis on building an
international reputation for himself.
He travels from one country to another as if he is surveying the lay of the
land with his eye firmly on the future.
His foreign forays follow a predictable
trend, as if he is on a public relations
exercise. It is said that there is a team
of 200 experts who are deputed to the
country of his next sojourn two
months in advance in order to prepare the ground for his various interactions with different interest groups
in that country. The grand final is
generally a vast concourse of Modi
admirers, primarily consisting of the
Indian diaspora. There is a definite

visible group inside the audience
which chants Modi, Modi whenever
interest seems to flag. It appears as if
Modi is targetting a future audience of
possible voters. Otherwise, the
expenditure of vast sums of money
and putting in of so much effort and
energy does not make sense.
The third conundrum people find
difficult to resolve is Modis attempt
to convert the Indian polity into the
presidential form of government.
This tendency is exhibited in a myriad
ways. He has reduced the cabinet to a
bunch of yesmen. They have no say in
the selection of officers for their ministries. He has told the secretaries to
take orders from him directly if they
differ with their own ministers. All
power is concentrated in the Prime
Ministers Office. Even a telephone
call from a minion of the PMO is treated as His Master's Voice. No one dare
go back to the PM for verification.
HIS situation is replicated

manifold at election time. The
BJP won the Lok Sabha poll on
Modis image, and not so much on
the party agenda. This gave rise to the
opinion that Modis name sells. When
the BJP fought the state elections
in Delhi, at first it did not field any
chief ministerial candidate. In the
middle of the campaign, it dawned
on the organisers that people were
asking inconvenient questions. The
choice the voter was being offered
was between Arvind Kejriwal and
Narendra Modi. Modi was not going
to be the chief minister. The voters
wanted to know who would rule them
in case they voted the BJP to power.
At the last moment, the redoubtable
Kiran Bedi, a rank outsider, was foisted
on the electorate. The invincible Modi
thought that his imprimatur was
enough. Anyone could win.
43
Silly Point
humour mk kaw
When Bihar happened, the BJPs

strategy was still the same despite the
drubbing it got in Delhi. All the posters showed huge pictures of Modi and
Amit Shah. There was no mention of
Sushil Modi, who was probably
the chosen one. Again, the electoral
battle reduced itself to Modi versus
Nitish Kumar.
So, why is Modi slow in learning the
right lesson from his negative experiments with taking India towards a
presidential form of government? Is
he preparing himself for a larger role?
Now, let us look briefly at the
international
scenario.
Samuel
Huntington, in his seminal book, The
Clash of Civilizations, has concluded
that the Third World War will be
between Islam and the Rest. He bases
his conclusion on the fact that all the
major areas of conflict around the
world are between Islam on one side
and some other ideology like
Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism,
Hinduism, communism on the other.
Since the time of Huntington, two
major events have exacerbated the
situation: one, the twin tower tragedy
which was the equivalent of the
Japanese invasion of Pearl Harbour,
and, second, the rise of ISIS. This has
placed the Western world, which is
mainly Christian, in direct opposition
to Islam.
HE other major factor affecting

international peace is the rise of
China, which is the last bastion
of communist ideology. Although
China has implemented its own
version of perestroika and become
the manufacturing hub of the world, it
still holds fast to its variety of glasnost.
China has always been expansionist
and is concentrating on building
its military prowess. So, China poses
the second major challenge to the
free world.
44

More and more countries are now

looking at India to provide a counterweight to both Islam and China. India
has demonstrated its ideological resilience with reference to the repeated
invasions by Islamic marauders. We
had Islamic rulers also for several
centuries and they tried their best to
convert India to Islam. But whether it
was the sheer size and complexity of
the Indian subcontinent or the super
logical fanaticism of the Brahmins,
their attempts were thwarted.
Even the US, which patronised
Pakistan during the heydays of the
Cold War, has changed its stance
Why is Modi slow in

learning the right lesson
from his negative
experiments with taking
India towards a presidential
form of government? Is he
preparing himself for a
larger role?
towards India. Pakistans mesmeric
influence on American policymakers
was broken when bin Laden was
discovered in the military township of
Abbotabad. The US realised the
critical role India could play in
countering Chinas growing influence
in Asia and the world. The chai pe
charcha sessions in Washington and
New Delhi helped the two leaders
discover their humble origins and
cement a personal relationship that
cleared the decks for declaring June
21 World Yoga Day and strengthened
Indias case for a seat in the UN
Security Council.
Obama attended the Global Climate
Summit not because of his concern
for the environment but primarily,
to bring Modi and Sharif together. It
was a pep talk by Obama that
galvanised Modi into going and sitting

by Sharifs side in a jhapiyan and
papiyan session and later making an
unscheduled halt at Lahore. Obama
was trying to bring the leadership of
India and Pakistan on the same page
in order to be a bulwark against the
rising wave of Chinese hegemony.
Now the clincher!
Francoise Gautier, the eminent
French journalist, has reproduced in
his blog the prediction made by
Nostradamus, the celebrated astrologer of the 16th century, that the BJP
would come to power at the beginning
of the 21st century. It would be led by
the Iron Man, Narinderus Damodarus
Modi, who would bring in a Hindu
resurgence and accelerate Indias economic progress manifold. India under
his leadership would become a super
power. Modi himself would be catapulted to the presidentship of a world
confederation and would shift his
headquarters to Paris.
Now, if you believe in astrology and
take the above prophecy literally, you
would do what Modi is doing. You
would familiarise yourself with as
many countries as possible. You
would try to create a pro-Modi
constituency in every capital of the
world. You would build special
relations with France by inviting
its President as your chief guest for
Republic Day. You would invite the
French soldiers to march in the parade
on Rajpath. You would finalise the
Rafale deal without even negotiating
the price.
Dont tell me you dont think that
people act on astrological predictions.
Why did ISIS bomb civilians in Paris?
Were they not targetting the future
seat of power in the world? g
MK Kaw is a former Secretary, Government
of India. (The views expressed are those of
the columnist.)
www.gfilesindia.com
www.indianbuzz.com
45
LEISURE
travel madhya pradesh
Serenity in Sanchi
HE Great Stupa at Sanchi is

the oldest stone structure in
India and was originally commissioned by the emperor Ashoka the
Great in the 3rd century BCE. Today,
it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Its nucleus was a simple hemispherical brick structure built over the relics
of the Buddha. It was crowned by the
chatra, a parasol-like structure symbolising high rank, which was intended to honour and shelter the relics. It
has four profusely carved ornamental
gateways and a balustrade encircling
the whole structure.
A
Chunar
sandstone
pillar
fragment, shining with the proverbial
Mauryan polish, lies near Stupa
I and carries the famous edict of
Ashoka warning against schism in
the Buddhist community. Stupa 1
was found empty, while relics of the
two disciples of Buddha enshrined
in the adjacent Stupa 3 were carried
away to England. The nearby modern
temple has a reliquary containing the
remains of a Buddhist teacher from
another Stupa outside Sanchi.
The Sanchi hill goes up in shelves
with Stupa 2 situated on a lower shelf,
Stupa 1, Stupa 3, the 5th century Gupta
Temple No.17 and the 7th century
temple No. 18 are on the intermediate
shelf and a later monastery is on
the crowning shelf. The balustrade
surrounding Stupa 2, carved with
aniconic representations of the
Buddha, was added in the late 2nd
century BC under the Satavahanas.
The adjacent Gupta temple no.17
was hailed by Sir John Marshall as
one of the most rationally organized
structures in Indian architecture.
Though small, it was a herald of all
the principles which went into the
46
engineering of an Indian temple in the

early medieval period. The Buddhas
in the perambulatory surrounding
Stupa 1 are not contemporary with
the Stupa but belong to the Gupta
period in the mid-5th century AD.
GETTING HERE
Nearest airport is at Bhopal (46 km via
Diwanganj and 78 km via Raisen) which
is connected with Delhi, Mumbai,
Jabalpur, Gwalior and Indore.
Good, motorable roads connect Sanchi
with Bhopal, Indore Sagar, Gwalior,
Vidisha and Raisen, besides other
places.
Sanchi lies on the Jhansi-Itarsi section of
the Central railways. However, the most
convenient railheads are Vidisha (10
km) & Bhopal (46 km).
STAY
Gateway Retreat
Tel: (07482) 266723
Email: grsanchi@mptourism.com
The monastery and the temple with

the tall pillars adjacent to Stupa 1 and
the temple near the monastery on the
crowning shelf illustrate the evolution
of the architectural form after the 5th
century Gupta temple.
The Eastern Gateway depicts the
young prince, Gautama leaving his
fathers palace on his journey towards
enlightenment and the dream his
mother had before his birth. The
western Gateway depicts the seven
incarnations of the Buddha. The
Northern Gateway crowned by a
wheel-of-law, depicts the miracles
associated with the Buddha as told in
the Jatakas. The birth of Gautama is
revealed in a series of dramatically rich
carvings on the Southern Gateway.
The Archaeological Survey of
India maintains a site museum at
Sanchi. Noteworthy antiquities on
display include the lion capital of
the Ashokan pillar and metal objects
used by the monks, discovered during
excavations at Sanchi. g
www.gfilesindia.com
PERSPECTIVE
spirituality sadhguru
HERE is a great curiosity in

certain circles about mystical
experiences. Many claim to
have had extraordinary paranormal
experiences that they cite as proof of
their spiritual evolution.
A common word in peoples spiritual lexicon nowadays is samadhi,
often seen as a certificate of mystical
attainment. What exactly is samadhi?
It is a certain state of equanimity in
which the intellect goes beyond its
normal function of discrimination.
This, in turn, loosens one from the
physical such that there is a space
between oneself and ones body.
Eight types of samadhi have been
identified, classifiable under two
broad categories: savikalpa (samadhi with attributes/ qualities, that are
very blissful and ecstatic); and nirvikalpa (samadhi without attributes/
qualities). In the latter case, there is
only a single-point contact with the
body. The rest of the energy is loose
and uninvolved with the physical.
These states are often maintained
for certain periods to help practitioners establish the distinction between
themselves and the physical.
However, while it is a significant
step on the spiritual path, samadhi is
still not the ultimate. It is crucial in
establishing that no external sources
are required for human well-being.
But it does not mean release from
the cycles of existence. Some people
may go into a certain level of samadhi
and stay there for years because it is
enjoyable. In this condition, there is
no space or time and no bodily problems because the physical and psychological barriers have been broken
to some extent. But this is temporary.
The moment they come out of this
state, all the bodily needs and mental
habits return.
Generally, compared to the sober,
someone who is slightly inebriated
www.indianbuzz.com
Making the leap

has a different level of experience and
exuberance. But everyone still has to
come down at some point. Samadhi
is a way of getting high without any
external chemicals. A new dimension
does open up, but it does not leave you
permanently transformed. Your level
of experience is heightened, but you
are not free in the ultimate sense. This
is why most enlightened beings never
remained in samadhi state. Gautama
Buddha practised and experienced all
the eight kinds of samadhi before his
enlightenment, and discarded them.
He knew these were not going to take
him to ultimate freedom.
If self-realisation is the top priority in your life, anything that does not
take you one step closer towards your
freedom is meaningless. If you are
climbing Mount Everest, you wont
take one step sideways because every
iota of energy is needed to reach the
peak. Similarly, to reach the peak of
your consciousness, you need every
iota of energy you can muster. And
still it is not enough! So, you wouldnt
do anything that would distract you
from the main purpose.
On any live spiritual path, the disease of wanting to become special is

discouraged. You are encouraged to
be very ordinary extra-ordinary, in
fact. Hence the tremendous emphasis on the guru in the Indian spiritual tradition: to ensure you dont get
sidetracked by paranormal sideshows
and stay focused enough to take the
ultimate leap.
What is this ultimate leap? Suppose
someone asked you to plunge into a
bottomless abyss, youd have to be
utterly crazy, extraordinarily courageous, or absolutely trusting to do it.
Almost no one has the madness or
courage. For most, it takes trust. And
yet, the abyss is not a terrifying pit.
It is, instead, an entirely new dimension, free of all possibility of hurt and
suffering, flawlessly non-repetitive,
beyond comparison and context,
stillness beyond bliss. This means the
leap is worth it. The leap is everything.
With the leap, the bottomless abyss
becomes boundless freedom. g
Sadhguru, a yogi, is a visionary,
humanitarian and a prominent spiritual
leader (www.ishafoundation.org)
47
SPOTLIGHT
The Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate
Change (Independent Charge), Prakash Javadekar, witnessing
the signing of a loan agreement between the Government of
India and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
for Abatement of Pollution of Punes Mula-Mutha river, in
New Delhi.
The Secretary (Coal), Anil Swarup, laying the foundation

stone of the IB Valley Coal Washery in Lakhanpur Area of
Mahanadi Coalfields Limited ( MCL), in Odisha.
The Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises

(MSME), Kalraj Mishra, releasing a bilingual monthly Laghu
Udyog Samachar on MSME, at the 12th Meeting of the
National Board for Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, in
New Delhi. The Minister of State for MSME, Giriraj Singh, and
Secretary, MSME, Dr Anup K Pujari, are also seen.
Haryana Governor Prof. Kaptan Singh Solanki releasing a

book of poems entitled as Mann Mukur, written by Mrs.
Dheera Khandelwal, Additional Chief Secretary, Technical
Education and Women and Child Development. Haryana Chief
Secretary Mr D.S. Dhesi is also seen in this picture.
The Minister of State for Culture (Independent Charge),

Tourism (Independent Charge) and Civil Aviation, Dr Mahesh
Sharma, at the launching ceremony of China-India Tourism
Year 2016 and Chinese Classical Opera of Goddess Marriage,
in New Delhi. The Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Vinod
Zutshi, and other dignitaries are also seen.
The JS (Distribution), Ministry of Power, Dr AK Verma,
Jharkhand Principal Secretary (Energy), SKG Rahate, and
MD, JBVNL, Ameet Kumar, at the signing of the first MoU
on Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana for operational and
financial turnaround of discoms, in the presence of
Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das, in New Delhi.
Secretary, Ministry of Power, PK Pujari, Secretary, Ministry
of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Upendra Tripathy,
Secretary (Coal), Anil Swarup and Jharkhand Chief
Secretary Rajiv Gauba are also seen.
48

www.gfilesindia.com
PHOTOS: PIB
The Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Sunil Arora, at

the inauguration of the Indian Panorama Film Festival (Public Screening
of Indian Panorama-2015 Films), in New Delhi.
The Union Minister for Urban Development, Housing

and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Parliamentary
Affairs, M Venkaiah Naidu, announcing the winners
of the first round of Smart City Challenge
Competition, at a press conference, in New Delhi.
The Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development,
Madhusudhan Prasad, the D-G (M&C), PIB, AP Frank
Noronha, and other dignitaries are also seen.
The Union Minister for Civil Aviation, Ashok Gajapathi Raju
Pusapati, being presented a dividend cheque by the CMD,
Pawan Hans Ltd, Dr BP Sharma, in New Delhi. The
Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, RN Choubey, is
also seen.
The Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment,

Thaawar Chand Gehlot, unveiling the booklet, Breaking down
the Barriers, at the National Conference on Special Abilities,
in New Delhi. The Secretary, Department of Empowerment of
Persons with Disabilities, Lov Verma, is also seen.
The Minister of State for Culture (Independent Charge),

Tourism (Independent Charge) and Civil Aviation, Dr
Mahesh Sharma, releasing a commemorative coin of `150
and circulation coin of `10 at a function in New Delhi. The
Secretary, Ministry of Culture, Narendra Kumar Sinha, is
also seen.
The Union Minister for Mines and Steel, Narendra Singh

Tomar, visiting the Bokaro Steel Plant in Jharkhand.
The Secretary, Ministry of Steel, Aruna Sundrarajan,
and other dignitaries are also seen.
Compiled by Kanika Srivastava
www.indianbuzz.com
49
STOCK DOCTOR
dr gs sood
Global pressures build up
HE steep correction witnessed

by the market has shattered
the myth that the Indian market will largely remain unaffected by
what happens to the global markets.
Despite economic macro-fundamentals remaining solid and, in fact, benefitting from softening commodity
prices, no market can remain decoupled from what happens in the world.
The other theory many analysts have
been putting forward is that the steep
correction has mainly been caused
by global factors such as the Fed rate
hike, the massive slowdown in China
coupled with devaluation of the yuan
and struggling commodity exporting
economies, but the fact remains that
local factors are equal culprits. The
market has run up way ahead of fundamentals and, at 18 times its trailing
12 months earnings post-correction,
is still pricier than most of its emerging market (EM) peers as also many of
the developed markets. However, with
no discernible change at ground level
due to slowing down of the reforms
process and the Modi charisma fast
losing sheen, corporate earnings too
are nothing to write home about and
are unlikely to pick up soon.
Consumption has not been picking
up and, in fact, has been adversely
affected by reduction of subsidies
coupled with two consecutive monsoon failures denting rural demand.
Government spending too has failed
to pick up and with the ongoing fiscal
consolidation in the banking system,
capex in investment will remain muted
for another couple of quarters. Exports
have witnessed a slowdown for more
than a year month-on-month. The
latest numbers of gross value added
at current prices show a steep fall in

nominal GDP growth. That is likely to
impact the sales growth of firms and
earnings too.
If BRICs growth persists at the current weak level, the rest of EMs could
slow down significantly. Also, since
China contributes about 16 per cent
to world GDP, a sharp slowdown of
its economy will not only affect global
growth but will be particularly harsh
for its close trading partners, especially commodity exporters. As per
the World Bank, a 1 per cent growth
decline in China would lower growth
in the rest of Asia by 0.51.4 per cent
after two years. China is also staring at
the problem of servicing its extremely
high debt in view of slowing growth.
FIIs have sold equities exceeding `7,100 crore in January alone
and the trend is unlikely to reverse
soon. Early indicators suggest that
even domestic inflows are also slowing. AMFI data suggest that equity
funds saw inflows of `3,644 crore in

Decemberthat was about half the
average monthly inflows seen during the Jan-Nov period. The lower
demand for oil and commodities is
adversely affecting the entire West
Asian region besides economies like
Russia and Brazil. Countries such as
Japan and Germany that have large
exports to China will also be hit hard.
This will adversely impact remittances from such countries to India. The
aggregate investment by sovereign
funds from oil-exporting countries
in Indian equities amount to US$26
billion and they are yet to see any outflows. This may change if oil prices
continue to stay depressed.
Investors are advised to keep a
long-term perspective and churn
their portfolio in favour of large caps
since India will be a major beneficiary
of the ongoing crisis and a 2-3 years
time horizon for investors could yield
decent returns. g
Stock Shop
BY
RAKESH BHARDWAJ
Bata India
(CMP `450)
HE stock has remained lacklustre and

has been slowly declining for the last
three months post the lower than expected second quarter results. However, at
near its 52-week low, the current valuation is attractive and offers an opportunity
to buy. The company is structurally on the
right track and will be a significant beneficiary of a revival in discretionary demand
especially post implementation of the
Seventh Pay Commission. The companys
investments in new sales channels

franchisee model in tier 2 and 3 cities and
launch of e-commerce model are steps
in the right direction. With a massive
restructuring exercise, Bata has evolved
from being a low-growth, loss-making
company to one that can boast on all key
parametersgrowth, profitability and
cash generation. The current PE multiple
of less than 26 compared to the 30 plus PE
of the industry makes it a value buy that
leaves very little scope for any downside
risk and promises decent returns over a
period of 2-3 years due to its strong consumer franchise and growth potential.
The author has no exposure in the stock recommended in this column. gfiles does not accept responsibility for investment decisions by
readers of this column. Investment-related queries may be sent to editor@gfilesindia.com with Bhardwajs name in the subject line.
50

www.gfilesindia.com
STOCK DOCTOR
dr gs sood
The author has no exposure in the stock recommended in this column. gfiles does not accept responsibility for investment decisions by
readers of this column. Investment-related queries may be sent to editor@gfilesindia.com with Bhardwajs name in the subject line.
www.indianbuzz.com
51
birthdays
IAS officers birthdays Feb 16, 2016 March 15, 2016
IAS officers birthdays
Feb 16, 2016 March 15, 2016
Renu G Pillay
Ajay Mittal
Sunjoy Joshi
Kalpana Awasthi
CADRE: CHHATTISGARH
CADRE: HIMACHAL PRADESH
CADRE: MADHYA PRADESH
CADRE: UTTAR PRADESH
pillayrg@ias.nic.in
mittala@ias.nic.in
joshis@ias.nic.in
awasthik@ias.nic.in
Aditya Prasad Padhi
MB Gaikawad
Narinder Chauhan
Roli Singh
CADRE: ODISHA
CADRE: MAHARASHTRA
CADRE: RAJASTHAN
padhiap@ias.nic.in
mbgaikawad@ias.nic.in
narinder@ias.nic.in
singhr17@ias.nic.in
Dinesh Kumar
Nikhilesh Jha
Ajoy Kumar Singh
Priyatu Mandal
CADRE: RAJASTHAN
CADRE: MANIPUR-TRIPURA
CADRE: JHARKHAND
kdinesh@ias.nic.in
jhan@ias.nic.in
singhak2@ias.nic.in
priyatumandal.ias@ias.nic.in
Vinay Sheel Oberoi
Shaktikanta Das
Sandhya Bhullar
Indra Chandra Prasad Kersari
CADRE: ASSAM-MEGHALAYA
CADRE: TAMIL NADU
CADRE: GUJARAT
oberoivs@ias.nic.in
dass3@ias.nic.in
sbhullar@ias.nic.in
kersarii@ias.nic.in
Vikas Gothalwal
Ashok B
V Hekali Zhimomi
Anurag Agarwal
CADRE: KERALA
CADRE: PUNJAB
vgothalwal@ias.nic.in
bashok@ias.nic.in
zhimomiv@ias.nic.in
agarwala@ias.nic.in
Lav Aggarwal
Anil Sant
Shahmeena Husain
Bhaskar Mushahary
CADRE: ANDHRA PRADESH
CADRE: GUJARAT
CADRE: ASSAM-MEGHALAYA
alav@ias.nic.in
santanil@ias.nic.in
husains@ias.nic.in
bhaskarm@ias.nic.in
Vishwas Mehta
Saurabh Vijay
Radha S Raturi
Narendra Bhooshan
CADRE: KERALA
CADRE: MAHARASHTRA
CADRE: UTTARAKHAND
mehtav@ias.nic.in
vijays98@ias.nic.in
raturirs@ias.nic.in
bhooshan@ias.nic.in
Bipin Bihari Mallick
Vinod Zutshi
Reena Ray
K Ratnaprabha
CADRE: MAHARASHTRA
CADRE: RAJASTHAN
CADRE: AGMUT
CADRE: KARNATAKA
bbmallik@ias.nic.in
zutshiv@ias.nic.in
rayr@ias.nic.in
ratnapk@ias.nic.in
Letkhogin Haokip
Amitabh Kant
Ramesh Kumar Sudhanshu
Pooja Kulkarni
CADRE: KERALA
CADRE: UTTARAKHAND
CADRE: TAMIL NADU
haokipl@ias.nic.in
kanta@ias.nic.in
sudhansh@ias.nic.in
pkulkarni03@ias.nic.in
Vivek Kumar Porwal
Anu Garg
Aboobacker Siddique P
Madan Lal Meena
CADRE: ODISHA
CADRE: JHARKHAND
CADRE: WEST BENGAL
porwalvk@ias.nic.in
garga3@ias.nic.in
aboobacker@ias.nic.in
mmadan@ias.nic.in
Ashish Chatterjee
Chanchal Kumar Tewari
Sameer Shukla
SM Vijayanand
CADRE: TAMIL NADU
CADRE: UTTARAKHAND
CADRE: KARNATAKA
CADRE: KERALA
cashish@ias.nic.in
tewarick@ias.nic.in
sameer.s@ias.nic.in
vanandsm@ias.nic.in
Shambhu Nath Shukla
Laima Chozah
Nidhi Pandey
Sibin C
CADRE: WEST BENGAL

chozahl@ias.nic.in
CADRE: MAHARASHTRA
CADRE: PUNJAB
pandeyn1@ias.nic.in
sibin.c@ias.nic.in
Siddharth Jain
Salim PB
CADRE: WEST BENGAL
jains6@ias.nic.in
bsp@ias.nic.in
16-02-1968
17-02-1960
17-02-1972
18-02-1957
18-02-1978
19-02-1972
19-02-1961
20-02-1960
20-02-1963
21-02-1971
21-02-1973
22-02-1959
sshambhu@ias.nic.in
Mukesh Khullar
23-02-1959
CADRE: MAHARASHTRA
khullarm@ias.nic.in
24-02-1958
25-02-1957
26-02-1958
26-02-1957
27-02-1973
27-02-1959
28-02-1975
28-02-1957
01-03-1956
01-03-1969
01-03-1959
01-03-1959
K Jaya Kumar
02-03-1962
CADRE: SIKKIM
jaykay87@ias.nic.in
03-03-1959
04-03-1958
04-03-1970
05-03-1978
05-03-1971
06-03-1972
06-03-1964
06-03-1961
07-03-1970
08-03-1974
08-03-1979
08-03-1975
09-03-1976
09-03-1964
10-03-1969
11-03-1980
11-03-1962
11-03-1966
12-03-1956
12-03-1969
13-03-1958
14-03-1978
14-03-1957
15-03-1957
15-03-1977
15-03-1973
For the complete list, see www.gfilesindia.com
52
www.gfilesindia.com
IPS officers birthdays
Feb 16, 2016 March 15, 2016
IPS officers birthdays
Feb 16, 2016 March 15, 2016
A Sema Rajan
AP Maheshwari
Upendra S Baghel
Sidharth Chattopadhaya
CADRE: BIHAR
CADRE: KARNATAKA
CADRE: PUNJAB
asrajan@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
apmaheswari@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
usbaghel@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
sidharth@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
Gangeswar Singh
Adarsh Katiyar
Brajesh Kumar Jha
YB Khurania
CADRE: WEST BENGAL
CADRE: GUJARAT
CADRE: ODISHA
g_singh@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
adarshkatiyar@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
bkjha@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
ybkhurania@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
Manvinder Singh Bhatia
Rajendra Pal Singh
Virendra Kumar
Amar Kanti Sarkar
CADRE: JHARKHAND
CADRE: WEST BENGAL
manvinder@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
rpalsingh@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
bk_singh@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
akantisarkar@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
Krishna Kumar VK
Pravin B Gondia
Sanjay Kumar Pandey
Sudhakar Jauhari
CADRE: UTTARAKHAND
CADRE: GUJARAT
CADRE: MAHARASHTRA
CADRE: RAJASTHAN
kkvkips@gmail.com
pbgondia@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
s_kumar@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
jauhari@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
Immanuel K Muivah
K Durga Prasad
S Nallasivam
Saiyed Mohd Afzal
CADRE: TAMIL NADU
muivah@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
durgaprasad@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
nallasivam@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
smafzal@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
Debasish Roy
R Samuthirapandi
Jaswant Sampatram
Sachi Ghildyal
CADRE: WEST BENGAL
CADRE: TAMIL NADU
CADRE: RAJASTHAN
droy@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
samuthirapandi@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
jsampatram@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
shachi@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
Yoginder Kaul
Vijay Katariya
Ganesh Kumar
Susmit Biswas
CADRE: JAMMU & KASHMIR
CADRE: BIHAR
CADRE: RAJASTHAN
yoginder@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
vijaykatariya@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
kganesh@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
susmitbiswas@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
JR Mothaliya
Sanjiv Kumar Kalra
Ajay Kashyap
Bhavana Saxena
CADRE: GUJARAT
CADRE: PUNJAB
CADRE: AGMUT
sp-pan@gujarat.gov.in
sanjivkalra@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
ajaykashyap@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
bhavanas@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
Bhim Sain Bassi
Ramesh Chandra Singh
Aloka Prabhakar
Mohd Faiyaz Farooqui
CADRE: AGMUT
CADRE: PUNJAB
CADRE: PUNJAB
bsbassi@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
rcsingh@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
prabhakar@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
faiyaz@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
Arun Kumar Oraon
K Vaiphei
KN Tiwari
Vivek Kishore
CADRE: PUNJAB
CADRE: AGMUT
akoraon@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
vaiphei@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
kntiwari@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
vivekkishore@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
Rekha Lohani
Zorammawia
Abhash Kumar
Rupin Sharma
CADRE: ODISHA
CADRE: AGMUT
CADRE: TAMIL NADU
CADRE: NAGALAND
rekhalohani@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
zorammawia@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
abhash@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
rupinsharma@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
Amit Lodha
Umesh Kumar
Shikha Goel
Ram Kumar
CADRE: BIHAR
CADRE: KARNATAKA
amitlodha@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
ukumar@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
shikhagoel@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
ramkumar@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
Amit Chandra
Sunil Kumar
Nihil Jayaprakash Gupta
Rajesh Kumar
CADRE: TAMIL NADU
CADRE: MAHARASHTRA
CADRE: ODISHA
amitchandra@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
sunil_kumar@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
njgupta@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
rajeshkumar@mail.svpnpa.gov.in
16-02-1963
16-02-1962
17-02-1969
17-02-1975
18-02-1970
19-02-1966
19-02-1957
20-02-1965
20-02-1956
21-02-1962
22-02-1973
22-02-1974
23-02-1968
24-02-1961
24-02-1968
25-02-1963
25-02-1960
26-02-1957
26-02-1961
27-02-1965
28-02-1966
01-03-1963
01-03-1963
01-03-1958
01-03-1968
02-03-1961
02-03-1965
03-03-1973
04-03-1960
04-03-1963
04-03-1956
05-03-1957
05-03-1977
06-03-1960
06-03-1960
07-03-1960
07-03-1965
07-03-1969
08-03-1971
09-03-1962
09-03-1966
10-03-1956
10-03-1957
11-03-1964
12-03-1977
13-03-1969
13-03-1972
14-03-1967
14-03-1969
15-03-1967
15-03-1969
15-03-1971
www.indianbuzz.com
53
birthdays
Lok Sabha Members Feb 16, 2016 March 15, 2016
Lok Sabha Members Feb 16, 2016 March 15, 2016
Shrirang Appa Barne
Ramen Deka
KH Muniyappa
Rajesh Kumar Diwakar
SS (Maharashtra)
BJP (Assam)
INC (Karnataka)
BJP (Uttar Pradesh)
appabarne@gmail.com
ramenguwahati@yahoo.co.in
khmuni@sansad.nic.in
rajeshhathras@yahoo.com
Liladharbhai Khodaji Vaghela Yashwant Singh

17-02-1935
01-03-1962
Sadhu Singh
Kavitha Kalvakuntla
BJP (Gujarat)
BJP (Uttar Pradesh)
AAP (Punjab)
TRS (Telangana)
vaghela.liladharbhai@gmail.com
yashwant.singh19@sansad.nic.in
prof.sadhu.singh@gmail.com
kalvakuntla.kavitha@sansad.nic.in
Gopalakrishnan Chinnaraj
Kirti Vardhan Singh
Shashi Tharoor
Feroze Varun Gandhi
AIADMK (Tamil Nadu)
BJP (Uttar Pradesh)
INC (Kerala)
BJP (Uttar Pradesh)
cgopal777@gmail.com
kirtivardhan.singh@sansad.nic.in
shashi.tharoor@nic.in
14ashokaroad@gmail.com
Vinod Kumar Sonkar
Parbhubhai Nagarbhai Vasava
Captain Amarinder Singh
M Vasanthi
BJP (Uttar Pradesh)
BJP (Gujarat)
INC (Punjab)
AIADMK (Tamil Nadu)
bjpvinodsonkar@gmail.com
mpprabhuvasava@gmail.com
amarinder.singh@sansad.nic.in
vasanthi.m@sansad.nic.in
Sirajuddin Ajmal
Biren Singh Engti
MB Rajesh
Vinayak Bhaurao Raut
AIUDF (Assam)
INC (Assam)
CPI-M (Kerala)
SS (Maharashtra)
msirajuddinajmal@gmail.com
shisude@yahoo.com
mbrajesh05@yahoo.com
vinayakbraut@gmail.com
Vishnu Deo Sai
Nagendra Singh
BJP (Chhattisgarh)
BJP (Madhya Pradesh)
vishnudeo.sai@gov.in
nsinghnagod@gmail.com
Krishna Raj
Birendra Kumar Chaudhary
Praful Patel
Ghulam Nabi Azad
BJP (Uttar Pradesh)
BJP (Bihar)
NCP (Maharashtra)
INC (Jammu & Kashmir)
krishna.raj19@sansad.nic.in
bkumar.chaudhary@sansad.nic.in
praful@sansad.nic.in
azadg@sansad.nic.in
Udayanraje P Bhonsle
Prakash Babanna Hukkeri
Abhishek Manu Singhvi
Joy Abraham
NCP (Maharashtra)
INC (Karnataka)
INC (Rajasthan)
KCM (Kerala)
udayanrajebhonsle@gmail.com
mpchikkodi3290@gmail.com
a.singhvi@sansad.nic.in
joyabraham.mp@sansad.nic.in
Sanjay Shamrao Dhotre
Renuka Sinha
N Gokulakrishnan
Lal Sinh Vadodia
BJP (Maharashtra)
AITC (West Bengal)
AIADMK (Puducherry)
BJP (Gujarat)
sanjaysdhotre@gmail.com
bangabhawan@gmail.com
Ngk.pdy@sansad.nic.in
vadodia.ls@sansad.nic.in
Konda Vishweshwar Reddy
Dharambir Singh
Bhalchandra Mungekar
Ranvijay Singh Judev
TRS (Telangana)
BJP (Haryana)
INC (Nominated)
BJP (Chhattisgarh)
kvishweshwar.reddy@sansad.nic.in
office.dharambir@gmail.com
mungekar.b@sansad.nic.in
rs.judev@sansad.nic.in
BS Yeddyurappa
Kapil Moreshwar Patil
Tarun Vijay
Karan Singh
BJP (Karnataka)
BJP (Maharashtra)
BJP (Uttarakhand)
INC (NCR)
bsy@yeddyurappa.in
kapil.patilmp@gmail.com
tarun.vijay@sansad.nic.in
karansi@sansad.nic.in
Virendra Kumar
Abhishek Singh
Ram Nath Thakur
Derek O Brien
BJP (Madhya Pradesh)
BJP Chhattisgarh)
JDU (Bihar)
AITC (West Bengal)
vkumar@sansad.nic.in
cg.abhishek.singh@gmail.com
ramnath.thakur@sansad.nic.in
derek.ob@sansad.nic.in
CR Chaudhary
Vinod Chavda
Ram Kumar Kashyap
Rangasayee Ramakrishna
BJP (Rajasthan)
BJP (Gujarat)
INLD (Haryana)
BJP (Karnataka)
crchaudhary.nagaur@gmail.com
vinod5467@gmail.com
rk.kashyap@sansad.nic.in
Ramakrish.r@sansad.nic.in
16-02-1964
17-02-1962
18-02-1970
21-02-1958
21-02-1964
22-02-1967
24-02-1966
26-02-1959
26-02-1960
27-02-1943
27-02-1954
01-03-1948
01-03-1954
01-03-1966
01-03-1970
02-03-1945
07-03-1948
09-03-1941
09-03-1956
11-03-1942
12-03-1971
12-03-1971
13-03-1978
13-03-1980
14-03-1962
15-03-1954
03-03-1943
04-03-1953
05-03-1947
05-03-1949
05-03-1955
05-03-1961
05-03-1981
06-03-1979
Rajya Sabha Members Feb 16, 2016 March 15, 2016

17-02-1957
24-02-1959
25-02-1954
02-03-1946
02-03-1956
03-03-1950
06-03-1951
07-03-1949
07-03-1951
07-03-1956
07-03-1969
09-03-1931
13-03-1961
15-03-1934
54
www.gfilesindia.com
Tracking
For a complete list of appointments & retirements, see www.gfilesindia.com
PIB
Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaking during the first meeting of the Group of Secretaries in New Delhi on January 12, 2016
RAKESH GARG
VINOD AGRAWAL
AVINASH K SRIVASTAVA
The 1980-batch IAS officer of the Uttar

Pradesh cadre, Secretary Telecom, has
been appointed Secretary, Minority
Affairs, in the Government of India.
The 1980-batch IAS officer of the Jharkhand

cadre has been appointed Secretary
Department of Disabilities in the Ministry of
Social Justice.
The 1982-batch IAS officer of the Uttar

Pradesh cadre, Special Secretary,
Agriculture, has been appointed Secretary,
Food Processing Industries, in the GoI.
AMITABH KANT
ARUN JHA
KK JALAN
The 1980-batch IAS officer of the Kerala

cadre has been appointed CEO, NITI
Aayog, after his superannuation on
The 1981-batch IAS officer of the Bihar

cadre, Secretary, Tribal Affairs, has been
appointed Secretary, National Commission
for Scheduled Castes.
The 1982-batch IAS officer of the

Haryana cadre has been appointed
Secretary, MSME.
February 29. SHYAM AGRAWAL

Rajasthan cadre has been appointed
Secretary, Tribal Affairs, in the
Government of India.
JS DEEPAK
ARUNA SHARMA
The 1982-batch IAS officer of the Madhya

The 1982-batch IAS officer of the UP
Pradesh cadre has been appointed
cadre, Secretary, Electronics and IT, has been Secretary, Electronics in Information
appointed Secretary, Telecommunications.
Technology, in the Government of India.
Moving On: IAS officers retiring in February 2016

ASSAM-MEGHALAYA
Penuel BO Warjri (1978)
ANDHRA PRADESH
RP Watal (1978)
BIHAR
Laxmi Prasad Chauhan (2000)
CHHATTISGARH
SL Ratre (2000)
GUJARAT
SK Pandya (2002)
HARYANA
Neelam Pradeep Kasni (1996)
KERALA
Amitabh Kant (1980)

Jiji Thomson (1980)
KARNATAKA
PB Ramamurthy (1984)
MADHYA PRADESH
Rajan S Katoch (1979)

Raj Kumar Mathur (1995)
MANIPUR-TRIPURA
Norbert Disinang (1994)
NAGALAND
T Kiheto Sema
ODISHA
Dukhishyam Satapathy (2000)

Ramnarayan Dash (2000)
Balakrushna Behera (2001)
Sudarsan Das (2001)
RAJASTHAN
Govind Sharma (1984)

AK Sanwaria
TAMIL NADU
M Rajaram (1992)
UTTAR PRADESH
Rama Shankar (2000)
WEST BENGAL
Atanu Purkayastha (1983)
Jugal Kishore Mohapatra (1979)
www.indianbuzz.com
55
SHOBHANA K PATTANAYAK
KRISHNA KUNAL
DD PADSALGIKAR

Karnataka cadre has been appointed
Secretary, Agriculture and Cooperation, in
the Government of India.
The 2003-batch IAS officer of the Rajasthan

cadre has been assigned additional charge
as Divisional Commissioner, Jaipur.
The 1982-batch IPS officer of the

Maharashtra cadre, Additional Director,
Intelligence Bureau (IB) is now Police
Commissioner of Mumbai.
DK SIKRI
The 2007-batch IAS officer has been

appointed Joint Secretary, Commercial
Taxes, in Bihar.
The 1975-batch former IAS officer of the

Gujarat cadre has been appointed the new
Chairman of the Competition Commission
of India (CCI).
GS PATNAIK
The 1980-batch IAS officer of the Union
Territory cadre has been appointed Adviser
to the Arunachal Pradesh Governor.
BHARATHI S SIHAG
The 1983-batch IAS officer of the Himachal
Pradesh cadre, Additional Secretary in
the Ministry of Steel, has been assigned
additional charge as Chairman-cumManaging Director, NMDC Limited.
SAILESH
Assam-Meghalaya cadre has been
appointed Registrar General and Census
Commissioner of India in the rank of
Additional Secretary.
RAVI MANUBHAI PARMAR

The 1992-batch IAS officer of the Bihar
cadre has been appointed Chairman of the
Kandla Port Trust (KPT).
H RAJESH PRASAD
The 1995-batch IAS officer of the Union
Territory cadre has been appointed
Member Secretary, Delhi Dialogue
Commission, in the Delhi Government.
PUSHPENDRA RAJPUT
Himachal Pradesh cadre has been
appointed Excise & Taxation
Commissioner, in Himachal Pradesh.
SANJAY KUMAR SAXENA

The 2001-batch IAS officer of the AGMUT
cadre has been appointed Director,
Women and Child Development, in the
Government of Delhi.
ASHOK KUMAR SHARMA

The 2004-batch IAS officer of the Madhya
Pradesh cadre has been appointed
Additional Excise Commissioner, Gwalior.
56

ARUN KUMAR MISHRA
AMAR SINHA
The 1982-batch IFS officer has been
appointed Secretary, Economic Relations, in
the Ministry of External Affairs.
PAVAN KAPOOR
The 1990-batch lFS officer, at present
High Commissioner of lndia in Maputo, has
been appointed the next Ambassador of
lndia to lsrael.
SANJIV RANJAN
appointed the next Ambassador of India to
the Republic of Argentina.
RAJIV RAI BHATNAGAR

The 1983-batch IPS officer of the Uttar
Pradesh cadre has been appointed DG of
the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).
S JAVEED AHMED
Pradesh cadre has been appointed the
new Director General of Police (DGP) in
Uttar Pradesh.
LM KHAUTE
The 1985-batch IPS officer of the Manipur
cadre has been appointed the new Director
General of Police (DGP) of Manipur.
VS PATHANIA
B VANLALVAWNA
The Inspector General has taken over

as the fifth regional commander of the
Coast Guard, North-West region, with
headquarters in Gandhinagar.
The IFS officer has been posted to Sydney

as Consul General.
SHASHI KUMAR
YS DADWAL
Pradesh cadre, former DG, SSB and former
Delhi Police Commissioner, has been
appointed Adviser to the Governor of
Arunachal Pradesh.
THE FOLLOWING JUDGES HAVE BEEN

APPOINTED ADDITIONAL JUDGES OF
THE BOMBAY HIGH COURT
VINAY MANOHAR DESHPANDE, AJEY
SHRIKANT GADKARI, NITIN WASUDEO
SAMBRE, GIRISH SHARADCHANDRA
KULKARNI and BURGESS PESI
COLABAWALLA.
THE FOLLOWING JUDGES HAVE BEEN
APPOINTED ADDITIONAL JUDGES OF
THE CALCUTTA HIGH COURT:
INDRAJIT CHATTERJEE, SHIB SADHAN
SADHU, SUDIP AHLUWALIA, TAPASH
MOOKHERJEE, RANJIT KUMAR BAG,
ISHAN CHANDRA DAS, SAMAPATI
CHATTERJEE, SAHIDULLAH MUNSHI,
SUBRATA TALUKDAR, TAPABRATA
CHAKRABORTY, ARINDAM SINHA, ARIJIT
BANERJEE and DEBANGSU BASAK.
The 1980-batch IFS officer of the AGMUT

cadre has been appointed Director, Indira
Gandhi National Forest Academy.
SUNJAY SUDHIR
appointed Joint Secretary in the Ministry of
Petroleum & Natural Gas.
RUPAY DEY
The officer has been appointed the new
Chief Conservator Forests (Wild Life), in
Uttar Pradesh.
ATULESH JINDAL
The 1978-batch IRS-IT officer, Member,
CBDT has been appointed Chairman,
Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).
SALIL MISHRA
The IRS-IT officer has been appointed
Director (OT&WT) in the Central Board of
Direct Taxes.
SEEMA SHARMA
The 1994-batch IRTS officer has been
appointed Chief Vigilance Officer in the
National Cooperatives Consumer Federation
Limited (NCCFL).
www.gfilesindia.com
...by the way

Violating the rules
Sebi top post up for grabs
fierce battle is on to grab the post of Chairman of

the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).
Incumbent chairman UK Sinhas term comes to an end in
mid-February. According to sources, the selection panel
headed by Cabinet Secretary PK Sinha has shortlisted
candidates who include State Bank of India Chairman
Arundhati Bhattacharya, former capital markets Joint
Secretary Thomas Mathew (now an Additional Secretary
in the Presidents office), IDFC CEO Vikram Limaye,
former Chairman of the Forward Markets Commission
(FMC), Ramesh Abhishek, Competition Commission
of India member MS Sahoo and current Sebi wholetime member Rajeev Kumar Agarwal. Now, at the last
minute, the government has reconstituted a search-cumselection panel so as to include a representative from
the Prime Ministers Office. While the panel, headed
by the Cabinet Secretary, will continue to have the
Economic Affairs Secretary, the provision of the Finance
Minister nominating up to two persons as members
has been done away with. In the earlier set-ups, there
was no member from the PMO. It does seem as if Modi
is aware of the hobnobbing for the selection for the
coveted post. Among the selected candidates, one is
politically very influential and has connections with
the Congress party and is still working in an important
post. Another candidate was allegedly involved in the
NSEL scam. Its learnt that one influential lady in the
government is lobbying to install her proxy. Apart from
the bureaucratic and political lobbying, big business
houses are also working for their own candidates.
Its going to be tough to choose an independent and
competent individual. g
www.indianbuzz.com
unjab has faced two terror attacksDinanagar, in

July last year, and the more recent one on the Air
Force base in Pathankotin about six months. The
two incidents prompted an analysis of the working
of the Punjab Police. The Home Ministry is worried
about the way the Punjab government is handling
the state police. It is revealed the Home Ministry
has indicated caution is in order about a tendency
to appoint promotee police officers to head most
districts of Punjab on posts earmarked for Indian
Police Service (IPS) personnel. This is allegedly in
violation of rules. In all of Punjabs eight border
districts, including Pathankot and Gurdaspur,
no single direct recruited IPS officer has been
posted either as Senior Superintendent of Police or
Commissioner of Police (SSP or CP), according to
sources. Only three directly recruited IPS officers
are working in these positions in Hoshiarpur,
Bathinda and Muktasar. The state has 141 IPS
officers, including promotees, working in different
posts against the total strength of 172, according to
the Home Ministry. Punjab Deputy Chief Minister
Sukhbir Singh Badals stand is, Dont question the
appointments, let the DGP decide who is the best
person to post where. But everybody knows how
a DGP works in the state. The rule of the Home
Ministry states, the state government is supposed to
take permission from the Centre for posting of a nonbeyond
cadre officer in cadre posts
p
three months.
thre
But Punjab
has never
permission. g
sought such pe
57
...by the way

Dalit bashing in Prasar Bharati?
Agenda for the nation?
rime Minister Narendra Modi was busy in

January, interacting with all the Secretaries to
the Government of India. Most of the Secretaries
were hard at work preparing presentations and
were burning the midnight oil. The first round of
meetings was held on January 12. Home Minister
Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj as also Vice
Chairman of NITI Aayog Arvind Panagariya, besides
all Secretaries, were present. After the interaction,
the Prime Minister formed eight groups of Secretaries
to run India. The subjects on which the groups have
been set up include good governancechallenges and
opportunities, employment generation strategies,
farmer-centric initiatives in agriculture and allied
sectors, education and healthuniversal access
and quality, innovative budgeting and effective
implementation, accelerated growth with inclusion
and equity, Swachh Bharat and Ganga rejuvenation
and energy efficiency and conservation. It has
also been decided that one Secretary will act as a
rapporteur in each group and moderate the group
meetings. It is learnt that Modi was happy with the
various presentations and asked questions and made
suggestions. Now it has to be seen how the ideas and
presentations from the board room are injected into
the system so that India can be transformed. g
s Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar now targeting

the Director-General Doordarshan? Someone on
the verge of superannuation after a spectacular career
is reported for insubordination and incompetence
to the Secretary in Ministry of Information &
Broadcasting Sunil Arora. Lal Rosanga, D-G
Doordarshan, comes from the Mizoram and has risen
up the ranks. He is known for his professional acumen
but has been constantly derided by the CEO in open
fora. Many senior officers confide that the CEO has
often denigrated the dignified DG. Sources reveal that
he has even taunted him innumerable times for not
using good English. Sources say that the showdown
seems an after-effect of a lady adviser getting booted
out for intemperate language and unruly demeanour
that caused strike in Doordarshan last year. The DG
had refused to induct incompetent advisers, who
were not allowing competent professionals (read
government servants) to perform official duties. She
caballed with the CEO and got officers suspended,
resulting in strike. The protest
march even went to the
he
residence of Arun
Jaitley, Minister
for Information &
Broadcasting. But
the story does not
end here. The
CEO has more
than once made
casteist remarks
against the
DG. While a section
of staff is gearing up to
ned
approach the concerned
forum and seeking immediate
intervention of the Chairman, the letter alleging
insubordination is also being seen as serious intrusion
into the professional arena. There are reports that
the CEO is targeting the North-Eastern region to
embarrass the Central Government keeping in mind
the volatility in Arunachal Pradesh and coming
elections in Assam! Earlier too, he had attempted to
rope in another Dalit DG, a known Hindi litterateur,
and failed. g
ILLUSTRATIONS: ARUNA
58

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Regn.No.DL(C)-14/1161/2016-2018 Licence No. U(C)-03/2016-17,

Licence to post without prepayment Posted on 7th & 8th of every month at SPM SRT Nagar,
Post Office, New Delhi 110055 R.N.I. No: DELENG/2007/19719.
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