HONESTY & INTEGRITY: A SET-BACK & THEN A REINFORCEMENT

A gruesome murder in November ’05 shook the consciousness of the entire nation- Manjunath Shanmugham was no more. He an official of the IOC, known for his infallible honesty and integrity fell trap to a notorious petrol mafia and was most disgustedly eliminated. It was another bolt on the face of moral uprightness and a definite set-back for those principled- who intends to change the face of our nation by their hard work, efficiency and honesty...

Given the extent of the poisonous tentacles of corruption prevailing in the system, the few uncompromising have to face day in and out a lot of heat. Instead of the much needed reinforcement they were in fact vicariously punished. The corrupt were found rejuvenated and the incorruptible subjugated. The set-back was so strong that every principled citizen began to introspect and reconsider the very usefulness of his/ her dearly held values of honesty and integrity. Very sadly virtues and principles (an integral part of our Indian culture) were found being sacrificed at the altar of greed and corruption...

In spite of this gloomy black cloud looming large on us, a 26^th March ’07 court order appeared as a silver lining. Pawan Kumar alias Manu Mittal the main perpetrator of the crime was sentenced to death and his seven accomplices to life imprisonment. The judiciary, and this time the lower judiciary, has effectively put up a crusade against corruption and corruption related crimes. The remarkable speedy trail (which took only nine months) coupled with the public uproar is definitely a shot in the arm for the principled and incorruptible. The dwindling faith the honest in their own strongly held values appear to have regained, they are rejuvenated, and they feel rewarded and reinforced. There appears a cheer in the faces of millions of youngsters willing to make a positive difference in their own walk of life. This judgment has surely once again bugled the victory of the good over the evil...

The bugle now needs to blow louder and we must all join the crusade to hold the flag of the good, the honest, and the incorruptible higher and higher. A strong public opinion is stronger than any mighty system or establishment and once every citizen of our nation realises this- there will surely be no murder of honesty and integrity, only then the true purpose of our democracy will be served. Hats off to the judiciary for the case in point- though there will be appeals before the higher judiciary- and until the final outcome we should not just sit idle but come together and generate such a strong public opinion that not only the perpetrators of crime against Manjunath are punished, but many other murderers of the likes of Manjunath are brought to the books and in the process we can surely witness the emergence of numerous other Manjunaths who can herald a new era marked by honesty and integrity...

THROUGH THE BACK DOOR: A LALU’S WAY TO SURPLUS!!

The rail budget ’07 by Lalu Prasad received kudos from all and sundry. It has been made out be a 'heroic fete' as opposed to Chidambaram’s 'cowardice/ villainous fete' (budget ‘07). But a few days back I happened to watch an IBN-7 story that made me think otherwise and question the very credibility of Lalu’s budget. A brief discussion below will certainly be an eye-opener...

The 20,000 crore surplus of the railways has taken the country by awe and a promise to increase it further is fascinating. But the question is where will the surplus come from? The front door management techniques are- using the excess capacity in freight loads, reducing wagon and bogie turn around time, mid term hikes through rationalisation of fares and efficient use of existing track capacity. Primarily on the passenger business side there has been no increase in fares- but Lalu has almost cunningly adopted a few back door techniques like upgrading of 283 trains as ‘super fast’ calling for an additional burden of Rs. 20 as surcharge from every passenger- and in view of the dismal time keeping by these trains the real intentions behind it is questionable. The meals served by the pantry car, in spite of their renowned poor quality, are going to cost more (veg- Rs. 30 & non-veg- Rs. 35) but we are already been forced to shell much more than that (albeit illegally) and any further increase is only going to burden the ‘Aam Admi’ heavily. A laudable initiative of providing lower berths on a priority basis to senior citizens and women above 45 yrs. is not without its own share of blames as in reality even for this humanitarian welfare measure the beneficiaries are being forced to spend extra...

I don’t intend to advocate that making profits is wrong or that user charges are always bad. But what we should protest against is the ‘dhokha’ that has been done to our country men and a sheer lack of transparency in the entire process. While the positive features were highlighted with much fan-fare the facts regarding the additional charges imposed were relatively concealed. It proves that the Lalu’s budget is nothing but populist in nature and can be very well termed as a ‘back door entry into surplus’...

It’s high time that the largest public mode of transport stands up tall as a model for others to emulate and dwell with issues of utmost urgency- such as the high rate of rail accidents, need for greater transparency, lack of effective accountability, and dismal condition of in-train services. All this and more can in real usher the Indian Railways into a truly ‘world class’ service and in the long run make every Indian proud, happy and satisfied...

BUDGET ’07-’08: A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY MISSED OR GAINED?

The silver-foil package presented by Mr. P. Chidambaram has started to unpack, lending us all a rightful peak into its real contents. Under the microscopic observation of the argumentative Indians, it has caused varied reactions and has been variously termed as “a disappointment”, “a betrayal of common man”, “timid” & of course in some quarters “a success”. Arguably the most important annual presentation made in India, holds the destiny of a billion plus population under its sway. Hence an enlightened & a serious discussion is called for…

A soaring inflation & maintaining the high growth rates are thee twin primary concerns of today’s Indian economy. Budget this year could have been the right opportunity to address both the issues well, but appears to have sadly failed on both the counts. Apart from a few tinny-winy steps it has largely failed to bring about any relief from the clutches of the soaring inflation. Even on the 2nd front it has failed to take along the Indian Inc. and has in the real sense delivered no goods for boosting up the performance of the economy. A few provisions like hiking the dividend tax (by 2.5%), bringing the IT sector under MAT (Minimum Alternative Tax), extending the clutches of FBT (Fringe Benefits Tax) & Service Tax and even the hike in Education Cess (on all taxes) are only steps in the opposite direction. Even the higher tax compliance, instead of being rightfully rewarded, has brought no tangible gains (in the form of some major tax concessions) for the complaints. Missing the golden opportunity the Fin. Min. has failed to focus on the rising unemployment & other major issues of concern. The outlay of women specific progs. stand at a pathetic low of just 0.01% of the total budget. The emphasis on reduction of import duty on the food of cats and dogs, when millions are starving, says it all…

The only light in the darkness appears to be the ‘better late than never’ focus on the farm sector and provision for wider credit net and a laudable insurance scheme (the ‘Aam Admi Bima Yojna’). The socialist in the fin. min. got ventilation in forms of highest priority to the social sector, extension of NREG to another 130 districts and a promise to provide 1,00,000 jobs for the physically challenged are laudable. A reduction in the peak rate of customs duty was also desired. Even a hike in spending in the health and education sector deserves applause. The scholarship schemes aimed at taming the high rate of school drop-outs and the above welcome measures however, sadly, appear to be a mere face saving exercise and are even being blamed to be populist in orientation…

The golden opportunity though seems to have been overall missed could have been gained. A few innovative and imaginative steps like use of a part of the huge idle forex reserves for infrastructure funding without monetary expansion (as reco. by Deepak Parekh committee) and even a long awaited reform by simplification of direct taxes structure could have helped. An incremental approach by the Fin. Min. seems to have largely failed to balance the social and economic priorities of the 21st c. India that could have added a few more steps towards our gr8 nation becoming a responsible ‘super power’ of tomorrow’s world…

**HISTORY BEHIND THE STORY:
Ø The term ‘budget’ was 1st used in the present sense for the first time in 1773, in a satire entitled ‘opening the budget’ directed against Walpole’s (England) financial plan of the year.
Ø The term ‘budget’ is derived 4m an old English word ‘Bougett’ which means a sack or a pouch.
Ø Railway and general budget in India was separated in 1921 on the reco. of Acworth Committee.