- Dark clouds over the RTI
Aruna Roy and Nikhil Dey write in an article for The Hindu that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has struck another blow against transparency and accountability. Its already negative track record — that has been marked by an unwillingness to operationalise the Lok Pal, the Whistleblowers Act and the Grievance Redress law — has taken another step backwards if one is to go by a single line in item 14 in the legislative agenda of the monsoon session of Parliament (from July 18).
It is no secret that the intent of this government is questionable. Applications for information about amendments made under the RTI Act have been stonewalled and information denied. But more danger lies ahead. Bureaucratic jargon such as “consideration” is a euphemism for pushing the amendment through without due consideration of parliamentary processes.
Accountability to the people should have been institutionalised through a strong social accountability and Grievance Redress Act, as promised by the BJP. That promise has been forgotten. The Lokpal Act is now in cold storage. No Lokpal appointments have been made, despite repeated prodding by the Supreme Court.
Secret amendments to a law fashioned and used extensively are deeply suspect. This time round, it is far more critical that all of us rally together again for the people of India cannot afford to lose what has been gained through the RTI.
- House Under Siege
In his column for The Indian Express, D Raja writes that the present government seems keen on minimum Parliament: It has encouraged the disruption of the functioning of Parliament so that the Opposition cannot hold the government accountable.
Parliament represents the supreme will of the people and their sovereign authority. Any attempt to diminish its importance and derail its functioning is tantamount to undermining the people of India. The undermining of Parliament is an attempt to pave the way for authoritarian rule. If it happens, democracy will die.
The government’s conduct with regard to department-related parliamentary standing committees indicates the lack of dedication and desire to subject bills to close scrutiny and examination on a bipartisan basis. Such an approach impairs the law-making process.
- Standing by your man: No that is not the job women should be devoting themselves to 24×7
India is like that kid who has all the right qualities – democracy, secularism, spirituality – but who still manages to come last in class, writes Radhika Vaz in her column for The Times of India. It is one of the few countries where having a female leader made zero impact on the social, cultural or economic development of its women. We remain, second-class citizens, kept in place with outdated social mores and the near constant threat of violence.
And so as an Indian woman I find myself in a peculiar position – I am expected to love my country even though it is among the most dangerous places in the world for my gender. Of course, the moment any of us say anything about this we are called traitors.
Remember that old saying ‘behind every successful man is a woman’? This condescendingly sexist quote was designed to make us think of standing by our men, regardless of what they say or do, is our job. It is not. What that quote should have read was ‘behind every successful man is an entire group of women who were told they couldn’t go to school, could not have careers and equal pay, had no rights over their own bodies and that their short skirt was asking for it’.
- Modi Snubbed Vajpayee, But Wants to Claim His ‘Moderate’ Legacy
Tufail Ahmad wrote in his column for The Quint that currently, Indian politics has entered a phase where Modi the anti-Vajpayee is seeking to succeed the real Vajpayee by paying political visits to him at the hospital, which is not to say that he shouldn’t.
He also visits temples for election purposes. There is a video shared on Twitter in which PM Modi arrives at an event. Advani, too, is in the queue and raises folded hands to say namaste to him. Modi acknowledges everyone, doesn’t acknowledge Advani, moves past him, and, with an intent to insult, stops to talk to other leaders standing past Advani. Neither Nehru nor Vajpayee would do anything like this even to their worst critics. Only an anti-Vajpayee can.
Politicians who can read into a nation’s political vacuum win. Sometime around 2010, Modi sensed that he could be the prime minister. He also understood that a new generation of voters is ready who have Facebook and Twitter power but their knowledge of India’s civilization and public wisdom is nil due to their shortage. Helped by this young generation of young voters, Modi started nurturing a Vajpayee-like moderate image.
- Tall promises
Ashok V. Desai says in his opinion article for The Telegraph that the government has abolished University Grants Commission. The education ministry proposes to give grants to universities directly. But then the minister had doubts – on what basis would he hand out money?
Can he give out Rs 50 crore and Rs 100 crore to party favourites as the finance minister does in his budget? Should he not place some conditions on how universities should use the money? And universities are not generally friendly to the ruling party; should the universities that go out of favour be allowed to run out of money?
The ministerial missive has no title; in a corner, it bears the letters PN_HECI.pdf, which is what I shall call it. PN_HECI.pdf says the government has already launched a number of reforms, namely reform of the National Assessment and Accreditation Council, grant of graded autonomy to universities, grant of autonomous status to colleges, regulation for open and distance learning, regulation for online degrees and so on. These reforms are news to me; if I, who read newspapers, am largely unaware of them, so will be the general public.
PN_HECI.pdf embodies tall promises and tough threats. If they were to be carried out, the ministry would need academic knowledge and confidence. Nowhere in the world do ministries become centres of academic excellence; the running of a civil service is a day-to-day affair, whereas building up academic excellence takes years of specialist application. PN_HECI.pdf is a plan for disaster.