Who is Anna Hazare?

1. Who is Anna Hazare ?
An ex-army man. Fought 1965 Indo-Pak War.
2. What's so special about him?
He built a village Ralegaon Siddhi in Ahamad Nagar district, Maharashtra.
3. So what?
This village is a self-sustained model village. Energy is produced in the village itself from solar power, biofuel and wind mills. In 1975, it used to be a poverty clad village. Now it is one of the richest villages in India. It has become a model for self-sustained, eco-friendly & harmonic village.
4. Ok...?
This guy, Anna Hazare was awarded Padma Bhushan and is a known figure for his social activities.
5. Really, what is he fighting for?
He is supporting a cause, the amendment of a law to curb corruption in India.
6. How can that be possible?
He is advocating for a Bill, The Lok Pal Bill (The Citizen Ombudsman Bill), that will form an autonomous authority who will make politicians (ministers), bureaucrats (IAS/IPS) accountable for their deeds.
7. It's an entirely new thing right...?
In 1972, the bill was proposed by then Law minister Mr. Shanti Bhushan. Since then it has been neglected by the politicians and some are trying to change the bill to suit their theft (corruption).
8. Oh.. He is going on hunger strike for the whole thing of passing a bill..! How can that be possible in such a short span of time?
The first thing he is asking for is: the government should come forward and announce that the bill is going to be passed. Next, they make a joint committee to DRAFT the LOK PAL BILL. 50% government participation and 50% public participation. Because you cant trust the government entirely for making such a bill which does not suit them.
9. Fine, what will happen when this bill is passed?
A Lok Pal will be appointed at the centre. He will have an autonomous charge, say like the Election Commission of India. In each and every state, Lokayukta will be appointed. The job is to bring all alleged parties to trial in case of corruptions within 1 year. Within 2 years, the guilty will be punished. Not like, Bofors scam or Bhopal Gas Tragedy case, that has been going for last 25 years without any result.
10. Is he alone? Who else is there in the fight with Anna Hazare?
Ex. IPS Kiran Bedi, Social Activist Swami Agnivesh, RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal and many more. Prominent personalities like Aamir Khan is supporting his cause.
11. Ok, got it. What can I do ?
At least we can spread this message
12. How ?
Putting status message, links, video, changing profile pictures. At least we can support Anna Hazare and the cause for uprooting corruption from India. At least we can hope that his Hunger Strike does not go in vain. At least we can pray for his good health.

EX-SERVICEMEN RALLY HELD ON SUNDAY, AT FREEDOM PARK, BANGALORE, EXPRESSING SOLIDARITY AND SUPPORT TO MAHATMA ANNA HAZARE IN HIS CRUSADE AGAINST CORRUPTION
An Ex-servicemen rally was held on Sunday, 10 April 2011 at Freedom Park, Bangalore, expressing solidarity and support to Mahatma Anna Hazare in his crusade against corruption. The rally led by senior Veterans, viz. Lt Gen VJ Sundaram (senior scientist DRDO), Air Vice Marshal BK Murali (an Aeronautical Engineer) and Brig DS Sandhu (a dashing Cdr of an Armd Bde, while in service) was attended by a large gathering of Ex-Servicemen of the Army, Navy & Air Force and Defence Family Pensioners.
Veteran Gen VJ Sundaram stated that the corner stone of a Soldier’s life is Devotion, Dedication & Sacrifice; and so also, an Ex-Servicemen’s life is rooted in Thyaag, Balidaan & Kurbaani, as exemplified by Mahatma Anna Hazare, a Sepoy Driver of the Army Service Corps (ASC) during the 1965 War with Pakistan.
Veteran Air Vice Marshal BK Murali spoke about Mahatma Anna Hazare’s life as a shining example of patriotism & social service of the highest order; and, his single minded devotion to the cause of eradication of Corruption deserves total support by all citizens, across all walks of society.
Veteran Brig DS Sandhu, said that corruption was eating into the vitals of the Nation and it was the duty of all citizens to join hands to combat corruption on war footing.
Veterans Sub Maj Balachandran, Sgt Subhash Balekai, Naik Ramesh & Naik Reddy spoke of the need for probity in public life and said that drafting of a comprehensive Jan Lokpal Bill is the need of the hour.
Report by:
Veteran Colonel SS Rajan
Convenor, Karnataka Ex-Servicemen Movement
Bangalore, 10 April 2011

All Officers shortlisted for CVC tainted- Who heads dishonesty?

CVC drags Govt deeper
February 03, 2011 11:57:16 AM
Abraham Thomas | New Delhi
Reveals that all 9 officers shortlisted for CVC’s post were tainted

Raising a serious question mark over the procedures followed by the Centre in the empanelment of IAS officers from States, CVC PJ Thomas on Tuesday revealed that all the nine officers who were empanelled with the Centre in 2008 — including him — were chargesheeted or had complaints pending against them. Singling him out as a “unique case” was not proper, he pointed out.

The charge made by Thomas in an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court has put a question mark on the whole empanelment process which allows any officer to move from States to the Centre and occupy an important position in the Union Government.

The Government had claimed that while empanelling Thomas as Central Government officer in 2008, CVC clearance was obtained and this was held out to be a certificate of his “impeccable integrity”.

The disclosure comes ahead of the Thursday hearing in the Supreme Court when the court is to take a final call on the suitability of Thomas to continue as CVC in view of a pending charge-sheet against him in the palmolein import scam, which dates back to 1991-92 during his tenure as Food Secretary with the Kerala Government.

In his affidavit, Thomas said, “Virtually every single officer in the zone of consideration (for empanelment at Centre) had complaints or chargesheets pending.” Besides him, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) prepared note with regard to eight other officers, who had far more serious charges of corruption, misappropriation and embezzlement listed against them. Except one, all other officers got cleared.

Relying on the data collected from the Department of Personnel and Training, Thomas said, “An impression has been created that my case is a unique one, and that I alone suffer some taint against my name. Clearly, it is routine for officers in the discharge of their duties to have cases slapped against them, many of which are trumped up or politically motivated.”

Defending others of his like who were chargesheeted, the affidavit added, “In an environment where a bureaucrat bears the brunt of protests against governmental action, it is necessary that an objective view be taken of how we officers function.”

But a look at the charges leveled against the officers defies all imagination of how these could be politically motivated. One of the cleared officers BR Kundal has been chargesheeted for misappropriation of sale proceeds of essential commodities. VS Dhumal, another officer whom CVC cleared, faces a complaint of immovable property acquired disproportionate to known sources of his income.

Tejinder Kaur is a unique case who got clearance despite Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) recommending action for transfer of 15 acres of Government land to a cricket association, a matter which is sub-judice. There is also one Ashok Kumar, who got cleared despite a complaint pending against him of misuse of office and corrupt practices. Also, one Brajebeharaj Mahapatra survived the CVC scrutiny in the face of a chargesheet regarding wrongly claiming reimbursements and penalty of reduction to lower scale of pay imposed. There is a separate complaint of corruption pending against him in which the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has recommended punishment.

Aware of the Centre’s stand in trying to distance itself from the controversy and the subsequent pressure on him to resign, Thomas stood his ground in the affidavit highlighting his merits --- being the senior-most among the serving cadre of Secretaries, and holding experience in administration, vigilance and policy making posts. Making out a case that the palmolein “taint” against him was political, Thomas said, “I have been held out to the public as a tainted officials. This is rather tragic as my record during 37 years of service has been without blemish.”

Tainted Thomas
•Singling him out as a ‘unique case’ not proper, says Thomas
•Allegations could be politically motivated, he submits in court
•Thomas lists his merits as ‘senior-most among the serving Secretaries, and holding experience in administration, vigilance and policy-making’
•Another empanelled member, Tejinder Kaur, got clearance despite CBI recommending action for transfer of 15-acre Govt land, he says
•Brajebeharaj, who had also been empanelled, survived CBI scrutiny despite being indicted by UPSC
•The disclosure comes ahead of the Thursday hearing in the Supreme Court when the court is to take a final call
CVC drags Govt deeper

Corruption disgraces India: PM
New Delhi: Corruption dents India's image, hampers good governance and needs to be tackled "boldly and quickly", Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Friday.
"Corruption strikes at the roots of good governance. It is an impediment to faster growth. It dilutes, if not negates, our efforts at social inclusion," Manmohan Singh said, two days after former communications minister A. Raja was arrested for his suspected role in the 2G spectrum scam, billed as the country's biggest to date.
"It dents our international image and it demeans us before our own people," the prime minister said, addressing the second annual conference of chief secretaries of states here.
He said the challenge of corruption needed to "be faced frontally, boldly and quickly".
Corruption dents India's image, tackle it boldly- Read more

SCPC: Status of Armed Forces Officers degraded and eroded at the behest of bureaucrats?

'I feel cheated' published 18 months ago... revisited

Lt Col A K Rai (Retd) 2008-12-19 12:49:47
My father Daroga Prasad Rai, who was Chief Minister of Bihar in 1970, motivated and encouraged me to join Sainik School Tilaiya with a view to make me join Armed Forces as an officer.

He always spoke of the Indian Armed Forces with the highest regard. At that time I was only about nine years old. At that impressionable age I became highly motivated. I do not deny that I was thrilled by the prospect of joining the most noble profession, where one gets a chance to make the supreme sacrifice for his country.

Accordingly I competed and joined Sainik School Tilaiya. But I did not want to leave any stone unturned in my ambition to become an Army Officer. When I came to know about Rashtriya Indian Military College, Dehradun (RIMC), which was considered to be the best, I competed and joined the RIMC in January 1973. Even though my initial enthusiasm had not waned, by the time I reached 11th standard, with whatever understanding I had, I started enquiring about a career in the Armed Forces.
Also Read: Unsung heroes: Part I Unsung heroes: Part II Unsung heroes: Part III

My seniors who were at the Indian Military Academy by then, fed me some comparisons. First, they showed me that all the Class-I Services officers (including IAS and IPS) started their career at a basic salary of Rs 700/- per month, whereas in the case of Armed Forces officers it was Rs 750/- per month. (I later came to know that this extra Rs 50/- was special disturbance allowance, which was merged with basic pay by the Third Pay Commission).

Second, they also showed me the orders where a Major was equated with an IAS Officer with not less than 12 years of service. The obvious conclusion, which will be drawn by any 16 or 17-year-old boy, would be that the Army as a career was almost equal to the IAS, and certainly better than the IPS or other Class-I central services.

Having convinced myself, I put in my best in the NDA exam, and ranked eighth in the final merit list. After successfully completing my training at NDA Khadakwasla and IMA, Dehradun, I was commissioned as Second Lieutenant in June 1981 in the 7th Battalion the Sikh Regiment, on my own choice i.e., after exactly 11 years of hard training and spartan living. But due to an injury, attributable to Military Service, I was placed in a permanent low medical category. Consequently, I was transferred to the Army Ordnance Corps in 1988 i.e., after seven years of regimental service in Infantry. On transfer I was posted to the Ordnance Depot, Shakurbasti, Delhi.
Also Read: The IAS cannot dictate pay scales

It was here I learnt that whatever I had been thinking about the career in the Indian Army was wrong. In the Ordnance Depot, I discovered that the JCOs who are Gazetted Officers (I have seen the Gazette Notification of JCOs) are equated with non-gazetted civilian employees and that too of Class-III i.e., Group-C. The point has only been made to emphasise the arbitrariness and irrationality of orders regarding the relativity of ranks. And as the de facto equation stands today, there cannot be any service with worse career prospects than the Army except some Group-B services. But is this the result of a “steep pyramidal hierarchy” as is often claimed? No.
Also read: Are our forces lower caste?

It is the result of a conscious effort by the bureaucracy to degrade the services ever since independence. To undo this, i.e., if the Government is sincere, the solution is to revert to the pre- A V Singh Committee implementation stage and reintroduce the rank of 2nd Lieutenant, and to offer one-rank one- pay scale in the standard pay scales as was applicable to all the Organised Central Group-A Civil Services (erstwhile allied services).

Till recently, the Warrant of Precedence stated that a Major is equal to an IAS Officer with not less than 12 years of service and a Superintendent of Police with not less than 15 years of service. The status of Army officers was further degraded as per the underlying thrust of the Sixth Pay Commission, at the behest of bureaucracy. Why are these facts not disseminated to the young aspirants to the Armed Forces? If bureaucrats and policemen are higher in rank and status, then why are Army officers debarred from taking the IAS and IPS exams? I do not think that anyone today, if he is aware of of these facts, would join the Army, except to earn hsi bread. As for myself, had I known this, forget the Sainik School or RIMC, I would have never joined the Army.

The relativity in rank and status is irrational and arbitrary, against the letter and spirit of the Constitution and violates my fundamental rights.

Lt Col A K Rai is alumnus of Sainik School Tilaiya, Rashtriya Indian Military College, Deharadun, NDA, Khadakwasla, the author was commissioned into the Sikh Regiment in Jun 1981. he was transferred to the AOC in 1988. He took premature retirement after serving the mandatory period, he now works as the Chief Administrative Officer of a 150-bed hospital in Patna.
I feel cheated: sify.com

What is the resultant outcome?
The Armed Forces career is not attractive precisely for the degraded honour (not for pay and salaries as projected by the media) inflicted on the Personnel subject to Army Act which literally silences them! End result acute shortage of Officers now averaging and hovering around 25% deficiency.

Supreme Court raps center for filing frivilous appeals against the lowly and gutless to take on the IAS/ IPS Officers

The SC ticked off Centre for frequently filing appeals challenging issues relating to class IV employees.
New Delhi: Kumar Posted: Thu Jun 03 2010, 20:01 hrs
The Supreme Court on Thursday ticked off the Centre for frequently filing appeals challenging issues relating to class IV employees but not having the “guts” to take on IAS/IPS officers over such issues.

“Why do you come to us frequently against labourers, kalasis and chaprasis. Do you have the guts to take on IAS/ IPS officers? You keeping filing petitions against class IV employees but not against IAS/IPS officers. That’s because you don’t have the guts,” a bench of Justices B S Chauhan and Swatanter Kumar remarked.

The apex court passed the observation while dismissing the Centre’s appeal challenging a Punjab and Haryana High Court direction to appoint Jarnail Singh as a labourer in the Ministry of Defence.

According to Wasim Ahmed Quadri, the Centre’s counsel, though Singh was selected after an interview, he could not be appointed to the post for want of sanction as it was “time barred.” The counsel submitted that Singh was considered to the post on March 10, 1990, by the ministry, though the last date for appointment as per the rules was May 25, 1989.

Quadri submitted that the final appointment was subject to the condition that it would get the requisite sanction from the government. As the sanction could not be accorded, as it was time barred, he was not appointed.

Singh challenged the decision before the Central Administrative Tribunal, which ruled in favour of the Centre, but the Punjab and Haryana High Court directed the government to appoint Singh to the post. The High Court noted that Singh was entitled for appointment as the selection process was conducted through the employment exchange. Aggrieved, the Centre appealed in the apex court. The apex court while upholding the high court’s direction said the “question of law” on the issue would, however, be kept open. In other words, the direction for appointment has been made on the facts of the present case but not as a general ruling.
You bring chaprasis to us, don’t have guts to take on babus: SC to Centre

Strategy to tame the Maoists: Do we need systemic changes?

The massacre at Dantewada is a wake-up call for the entire nation and not just for the police forces that are involved in conducting counter-Maoist operations in Chhattisgarh and other affected states. This is the time for soul-searching, introspection and coming up with a strategy that can effectively deal with this major challenge to the nation.

The various tactical aspects of the unfortunate incident and the motivations of the Maoists have been well debated. The focus unfortunately is on equipment upgrades, whereas the essential requirement is to change the ethos, training and leadership of the police forces and make them more capable. By focusing on high technology weaponry, we seem to forget the old adage – “it is the man behind the gun and not the gun that matters”. Current weaponry with some technical upgrades is adequate, as in such operation skills are more important than firepower.

There are six states that are in the grip of militancy. I am intentionally using the word militant (s), as opposed to insurgents or terrorists, for the Maoists are very much part of our polity and have resorted to taking up arms when other methods have not succeeded. They are not in the same category as insurgents and terrorists in J&K and hence need to be treated differently, especially in the case of quantum of force and the manner in which it is applied.

There has been some talk of deploying the Army to deal with the Maoist militants. This may seem an attractive option, but in actuality it is not. In principle, the Army should not be committed to tackling internal militancy. The Army is meant to fight external aggression, which includes tackling external insurgency. If at all it is to be employed to tackle internal militancy, it should be as the last resort when the police forces of all types have failed. It should also be withdrawn at the earliest opportunity.

In our country, the instrument of choice for tackling internal militancy and insurgency is the civil police, assisted by the CRPF, which is a component of the Central Police Organisations (CPOs). The police have enormous advantages over the military. They have legitimacy, close knowledge of local conditions, an extensive bank of local intelligence and means of acquiring fresh intelligence, close familiarity with the law and expertise in criminal investigations. Consequently, the use of the state police with the CRPF units superimposed, as at present, needs to continue.

Over a period of time the country has raised vast numbers of CPO units, but they have unfortunately not been trained well for their primary tasks and there is little bonding among the personnel (including officers) in sub-units and units. The senior hierarchy of the CPOs comprises solely of IPS officers, who have never commanded platoons, companies and battalions. Resultantly, they are unable to appreciate the ground situation and plan operations correctly. As opposed to this, all senior Army officers have risen in rank after serving extensively at the levels of platoons, companies and battalions.

The major drawbacks of both the state police and the CRPF include the typical police culture of delayed and lethargic responses, lack of adequate training for executing the assigned tasks, lack of competent leadership, lack of some items of technical equipment and not the least their thinking that the Army is always there to take over, as it has done in the past! This attitude needs to be disabused, as it is fraught with a very large number of negatives. The Maoist militancy has not suddenly appeared; it has been a festering concern for decades and yet we have not been able to make these CPO units fit to tackle internal militancy and insurgency. The Central government must take early and active measures to enhance the capabilities of the CPOs while the state governments must do the same for their respective police forces, especially their armed police units.

For decades now, the Army has repeatedly suggested that both the CPOs and the Army will benefit by lateral induction of trained Army personnel to the CPO units and their headquarters. This has also featured as a strong recommendation by the Sixth Pay Commission. All such recommendations have, however, been summarily rejected by the Home Ministry mainly on account of preserving their turf. Short Service Commissioned Officers, who cannot be retained in the Army after their mandatory service of five years, extendable to 10 in selected cases, are ideal material to be inducted into the CPOs. They are excellent officers, highly competent and well versed in conducting counter-militancy operations.

Such lateral shifts will give the CPOs ready and well-trained young officers, who with their Army ethos, excellent leadership qualities and professional outlook would change the CPO units from complacent to competent and would make them capable of fighting not just the Maoists but even other insurgents in future.

There is urgent need to do away with the current compartmentalised existence and take much broader views. Otherwise, we will continue to wallow in the usual copious reports of committees, demands for raising more units, import of sophisticated weapons that are really not needed, the continuing blame-game and so on, but nothing will be done to remove the systemic deficiencies and weaknesses!

There is also a political aspect that needs to change. The Centre cites the Constitution and says that security is a state subject, thus throwing the ball directly in the state’s court. The states deftly parry with the logic of lack of resources! In some states, the Maoists are even looked at as assets for elections and their violence gets subtly condoned! In addition, when militancy is active in six states, how can each state fight it on its own? Unless there is a joint and concerted attempt simultaneously in all the affected states, nothing is likely to be achieved. The time has come for setting aside the political baggage and getting together for the common cause. Let political expediency be kept aside while the full weight of the nation is used to confront the Maoists.

The need of the hour is to quickly set up two sets of structures, one for addressing the genuine concerns of the Maoists and the other for the conduct of police operations. The former is the concern of each state government and to varying extent it is already being done, but the latter needs a well-thought-out centralised structure under an overall force headquarters, headed by a DGP-level officer. This headquarters, while maintaining liaison and coordination with each state government, must have autonomy to plan and conduct all counter-militant operations in the entire Maoist-affected areas. The staff must report only to the Force Commander and not to their parent organisations, as is the current practice.

All counter-militancy operations are of a long duration, but if the structures are correct and adequate attention is paid to removing systemic deficiencies, it would be possible to address both the amelioration of the concerns of the Maoists and the violence unleashed by them.
The writer is a former Vice-Chief of the Army Staff.
Strategy to tame the Maoists: Need for systemic changes by Lt-Gen Vijay Oberoi (retd)

Strengthening Civil Military Relations

Civil control of the military is managed and maintained through the sharing of responsibility for control between civilian leaders and military officers. Specifically, civil authorities are responsible and accountable for some aspects of control and military leaders are responsible and accountable for others. Although some responsibilities for control may merge, they are not fused. The relationship and arrangement of responsibilities are conditioned by a nationally evolved regime of principles, norms, rules, and expectations concerning civil-military relations. Although a Government may be stable for long periods, it can change as basic causal factors such as values, issues, interests, personalities, and threats change. Alterations of rules and decision-making procedures account for the dynamic nature of civil-military relations, while alterations of norms and principles account for conflict in civil-military relations. Differences between states in the sub continent account for the particular national character of civil-military relations, much as like-minded Governments account for cross-cultural similarities in civil-military relations.

The first is that the military must reach out to the civilian world. Given the essentially universal agreement that civilians must control the military, the duty falls upon the military to find ways to talk to civilians, not the other way around. The second is that civilians must articulate a clear vision of what they expect in terms of the military mission. And the final suggestion is that the most practical and effective means of bringing about dialogue and understanding is to be bilateral education, in which both military and civilian elites would jointly attend specialized schools. Such schooling would emphasize military-strategic thinking, Indian history and political philosophy, military ethics, and the proper relationship between civil and military authority.

The increase in diversity among military personnel (all regions, multi lingual, all religions) has essentially strengthened ties between society and the military, especially those ties weakened by caste, language and religion in civil society. The results of wars China War of 1962, Indo Pak wars and JK & NE terrorism which had weakened our Civil Military Relationships now has further deteriorated with the advent of Naxal and Mao terror. This is obvious from news reports and analysis which led to massacre of CRPF Jawans.

Presently the advisers on military affairs to GoI are the IPS and IAS and randomly a few selected Military Strategists. The Military needs to do more to a healthy, sustainable and endurable CMR. The Military should be more Vocal especially now that we have an upgraded "Officer Cadre" after implementation of AVSC recommendations.

IPS Officers need to lead from the front and not by flying flags from the rear

General Malik's arguments are entirely sustainable. In an earlier mail to you in reply to your mail, I have talked about an IPS which is a drag, not a service which can effectively police this nation. All the senior ranks of Indian paramilitary forces are manned by IPS officers, usually thoroughly politicised through their association with State politicians, always jockeying to equate themselves with their IAS colleagues in the States and at the Centre. Just look at the critical national security, intelligence, gubernatorial positions occupied by these gentlemen. They are imbued with all qualities except qualities of leadership in the field. Their cars fly flags and show stars which, to my knowledge, is not done by any other police force. These gentlemen wear badges of rank similar to army officers. Their Directors General are equated with Army Commanders in the field. Absolutely laughable if it were not so tragic in its all too evident consequences to nation's security. The IPS has been a thoroughly spoilt, inward looking, coccooned force, completely politicised, doing the bidding of their political masters in the States and at the Centre. How can such a service provide combat leadership in the field against well trained, combat hardened, well indoctrinated insurgents? General Malik has clearly visualised the prognosis. Bring in the already fully stretched army, with the dire consequences to the nation he anticipates. The Home Minister has spoken of deploying air power without thinking through the consequences of such precipitate action.

Time now to think calmly and clearly of what needs to be done to beef up our paramilitaries by training them for the very onerous task at hand, providing them with leadership in the field and at headquarters, leadership which understands its men, has their confidence and is ready to lead from the front. While this is being done which will take time, the existing PMF must hold the ring, at least contain the menace, not allowing it further successes of the kind it has registered of late. Can this be done? A good question the answer to which must depend on Central Competence.
Vice Admiral MP Awati (Retd)

Valuable Veteran inputs to combat increasing Naxal/ Maoist Terror

Dear Lt Gen Malik,
1. Your views put in a concise form as you must have done when you were Deputy Chief of Army Staff. I hope it reaches the Parliament tables of Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swraj and other Leaders like Arun Shourie, Mulayam Singh, AMMA, etc., who are sensitive to strategic and defence matters. The way forward gets lost in the competitive turfs. They are immune; if they do not like what comes, another Committee is formed and things remained buried. There is no point in persisting with trying to milk the cows.

2. At least once in 2/3 months, Man Mohanji should set up his PMO in remote areas to get the feel of realities at ground zero, first hand. Today there is no problem in being in continuous touch with South Bloc. And no heavens would fall during this period. In any case, he can be accessed in seconds. Further his Security Envelope follows him. That should be rural retreat though different from the Camp David Retreat which would give time to reflect and think and observe first hand things and problems of the poor away from hanger ons. Daily Yoga at home in A/C space is not sufficient and cannot substitute open remote areas.

3. Chidambaram has put more than 6 billion dollars in his chosen Secretary, Pillai, who has never stepped in the thick of things [Jungles] but keeps the dollars in his pockets, jingling in Seminar after Seminar seeking latest toys for Internal Security. Pillai's last job was WTO and other Economic trade works as Commerce Secretary. Toys take a decade to take roots. A false sense of security gets embedded meanwhile but that does not deter the Risers. What is the problem for Chidambaram camping in thick jungles. Let him take his security with him. Now only the Yuvraj goes to remote rurals to collect votes for them. Even a day spent there would give him enough mosquito bites and food off the Jungles but he would get cleansed internally and gain immensely. Let these Police Fat Cats consult him at his camping sites. He is more fitter than them. That would force the IPS Officers to lead from front. Gadkari has told his Party Office Bearers to spend 8 days in a month with the grass root players. Moguls and British did go to camps before them. They even took their Ladies to the camp sites. Cooks and other personal staff went with them. Now of course suitable packed survival food kits are available. I recall Vice Admiral MP Awati then Captain Awati, Petyas Squadron Commander in 1970/71, took teams from all his 5 ships under their 2nd in Command for 3 days camp and military training to the East Coast Hills. He could assess the morale of his men and ability of his 2nd in command of the Ships. Awati from top to bottom is a born Leader and transparency made him famous with his beard as Leadership mark. Our Political Leaders and Bureaucrats vociferously hold on to Raj privileges and trappings sans their good practices.

4. In my view, the Raj ended not because of DHARNAS/SALT MARCH/ DISOBEDIENCE MOVEMENT but because they simply could not divide & rule and hold on to an awakened people[s] any more in a vast country. Historically, time had come to withdraw from the rivers of milk and honey. Even if there were different set of Leaders this would have happened. Unfortunately the Congress Leaders kept their grudge of Armed Forces for taking part in WW2 despite their contrary advice and keep till date! So all the advice from Armed Forces comes through one ear and goes out from the other. That is the sad part. Even the Lankan President had to give free hand to his Armed Forces to wipe out LTTE with Chinese aid but typically post victory the President is hounding out his former Army Commander.

5. It is not to say Chidambaram is not the right person to hold the Office of Home Ministry. But he needs to:
Shed his Legal mindset. Get out of his previous frame of mind. Instead adopt Bhagwat Gita, precisely what Lord Krishna advised Arjuna. Do what is your duty and not worry how a few people judge you for. Act, Not worry about NHRC, few Media personalities, etc. He should be true to himself and lean on his spiritual powers.

Meet ordinary people, sandwiched between two forces, who are suffering. The Bureaucrats, the Judiciary, the Educationist, Health Care Providers, and others would follow him like the Pied Piper to the forests. Both writ of the Law and Development would happen slowly but surely.

6. All Political Parties should restrain their spokespersons, particularly appearing on the TV Debates to totally avoid mutual recriminations. Give no exposure to Leaders like Mani Shankar, Natarajan. The TV Media should call only those who have the credentials even if they do not belong to any political party. But above all there is nothing worse than the Anchor/ the Host hoisting his own pre-determined agenda mandated by their owners. One may recall that the UNS War were given precise 7 minutes to each Speaker-the Foreign Minister- to submit his Country's views. One can see the partisan participants intervening when some other is invited to speak on the TV. The worst offender is the Host himself!
With best regards,
Cdr Prem P Batra Retired.

Dear Prem,
As you are aware I receive and read your mails without fail. And am amazed at the level of stamina and perseverance you display. I have never found it necessary to respond because so many others do so with much articulation.

In this case I am taking the liberty because I had occasion to send the following mail a short while back to a media-person who had approached me for comments:

....Though it is too late to meet your deadline, it may be relevant to point out that what needs to be done about the Maoist challenge has been discussed at length at so many fora and any number of papers have been written on it. To be dealt with at two levels: first- address the genuine grievances of the tribals through effective governance; and second, tackle the armed Maoist cadres through well-planned and well-led operations.

And that leads me to your first query about what went wrong. Poor leadership and inadequate training. The answer is and always was: "lateral induction of Armed Forces personnel, including at the officer level, into the CRPF and other para-military forces, after they have done colour service of about seven or eight years in the Armed Forces in the case of the rank and file and in the case of short service commissioned officers, after they have done five or ten years. And since the problem is likely to remain with us for some time to come, I also reiterate my earlier suggestion that we resort to selective 'national service' to the extent that every individual who seeks to join the civil or police services at central or state government level, does compulsory service of a duration that can be determined in the Armed Forces, either at officer level or in the rank and file. I think our political leadership and civilian bureaucracy have ignored this essential component of our response to the internal turbulence long enough."
Warmest regards and keep the Brotherhood flag flying,
Satish Nambiar
Lt Gen Satish Nambiar (Retd)

Gymkhana Club Chembur honours Mafia Dons and associate Police Officers

The Chembur Gymkhana is a Leading Sports institution in the North east suburb of Mumbai - Chembur. Now under the able leadership of Shri Surinder Sharma who succeeded the eminent Shri Shadilal Chopra, it has blossomed into a multi-faceted sporting and social facility to serve the residents of Chembur. Spread over an area of 4 acres this club boasts of a semi olympic swimming pool, three billiards tables, a card room, squash court, two flood lit tennis courts, indoor badminton courts, two restaurants and bars, and 16 rooms for outstation guests to stay.

Five Mumbai cops caught on tape at mafia party at Gymkhana Club Chembur
Mumbai, Jan 2 : A day after eight Indian Police Service (IPS) officers were served with notices, Mumbai police faced another embarrassment Saturday after five officers, including one from the IPS, were caught on tape attending a Christmas-eve party thrown by the underworld.

A police enquiry into the incident has recommended suspension of Deputy Commissioner of Police Vishwas Salve, Assistant Commissioner of Police Prakash Wani, head of Chembur police station, Senior Police Inspector R.S. Khakale, Crime Branch Inspector Praful Phadke and Crime Branch Assistant Sub-Inspector T. Salunkhe for attending the bash.

The party was thrown in a private club in Chembur, a northeast Mumbai suburb, in which the cops were seen eating, drinking and dancing with the underworld men.

The party was ostensibly to celebrate the release of D.K. Rao, a mafia don belonging to the Chhota Rajan gang, from 31 serious cases earlier last year.

Video-clips of the party, telecast by a Mumbai TV channel Friday evening, showed the policmen celebrating in gay abandon with the criminals even as a huge contingent of cops maintained law and order all over the city on the night of Dec 24-25 Dec 2009.

"Police have gathered sufficient evidence in the matter to recommend suspension of these policemen," a crime branch officer said on condition of anonymity.

Taking serious umbrage at the unprecedented incident, Home Minister R.R. Patil had last week ordered Mumbai Police Commissioner D. Shivanandhan to enquire into the matter. --IANS
Five Mumbai cops caught on tape at mafia party
5 cops caught partying with mafia dons suspended

Caution to all Gymkhana Club Members
There is recent trend of Rich Criminals becoming members of prestigious Gymkhana Clubs which are chiefly controlled by Civilian Bureaucrats and Industrialists who cleverly undermine the governing body based on paying heavy bribes and colossal membership fees. Gentlemen Members are cautioned against nefarious activities in the club premises like the above mentioned incident. It is pertinent to note that ex- DGP SPS Rathore of Haryana was a Gymkhana club member whose membership has been cancelled recently in view of his molestation case of a teenage girl leading to her suicide.

The corroded frame: Bureaucrats must be more accountable

Officers belonging to the All India Services like the IAS and the IPS have always been powerful, privileged and pampered. But increasingly many among them seem to be becoming a law unto themselves. What is even more disturbing is that reports of officers grabbing prime land, getting arrested while accepting bribes or defying rules while withdrawing public money have ceased to shock the common man, who is resigned to their inevitability.

There has indeed been an alarming increase in the number of officers found misusing their authority and allowing greed to dictate their action. While the decline of the All India Services has been a matter of concern for some time, recent reports have once again drawn attention to the urgency of making the officers more accountable.

A seemingly helpless Additional Director General of Police is reported to have informed the Punjab and Haryana High Court that 42 IAS officers and 10 IPS officers have been refusing to submit details of their property. An IAS officer was arrested in Himachal Pradesh last week while accepting a bribe.
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India has pulled up the Director General of Police in Jharkhand for withdrawing a whopping Rs. 6 crore on a single day from the ‘secret fund’ without following financial rules. It is a paradox that some of the best and the brightest of the land, carefully chosen to serve the nation, should end up as virtual parasites. It is time the black sheep in the elite services are dealt with severely.

They have subverted the system and slowed down the government’s ability to deliver but successive governments have been far too lenient, reinstating most of them after a period of suspension. Service conditions need to be changed, if necessary, and rules made more stringent so that public money can be recovered and officers compulsorily retired or dismissed from service.
The corroded frame: Bureaucrats must be more accountable

I feel cheated: Military Rank and Status Irrational and Arbitrary

Friday, 19 December , 2008, 12:49
My father Daroga Prasad Rai, who was Chief Minister of Bihar in 1970, motivated and encouraged me to join Sainik School Tilaiya with a view to make me join Armed Forces as an officer.

He always spoke of the Indian Armed Forces with the highest regard. At that time I was only about nine years old. At that impressionable age I became highly motivated.

I do not deny that I was thrilled by the prospect of joining the most noble profession, where one gets a chance to make the supreme sacrifice for his country.

Accordingly I competed and joined Sainik School Tilaiya. But I did not want to leave any stone unturned in my ambition to become an Army Officer. When I came to know about Rashtriya Indian Military College, Dehradun (RIMC), which was considered to be the best, I competed and joined the RIMC in January 1973.

Even though my initial enthusiasm had not waned, by the time I reached 11th standard, with whatever understanding I had, I started enquiring about a career in the Armed Forces.

My seniors who were at the Indian Military Academy by then, fed me some comparisons. First, they showed me that all the Class-I Services officers (including IAS and IPS) started their career at a basic salary of Rs 700/- per month, whereas in the case of Armed Forces officers it was Rs 750/- per month. (I later came to know that this extra Rs 50/- was special disturbance allowance, which was merged with basic pay by the Third Pay Commission).

Second, they also showed me the orders where a Major was equated with an IAS Officer with not less than 12 years of service. The obvious conclusion, which will be drawn by any 16 or 17-year-old boy, would be that the Army as a career was almost equal to the IAS, and certainly better than the IPS or other Class-I central services.

Having convinced myself, I put in my best in the NDA exam, and ranked eighth in the final merit list. After successfully completing my training at NDA Khadakwasla and IMA, Dehradun, I was commissioned as Second Lieutenant in June 1981 in the 7th Battalion the Sikh Regiment, on my own choice i.e., after exactly 11 years of hard training and spartan living. But due to an injury, attributable to Military Service, I was placed in a permanent low medical category. Consequently, I was transferred to the Army Ordnance Corps in 1988 i.e., after seven years of regimental service in Infantry. On transfer I was posted to the Ordnance Depot, Shakurbasti, Delhi. It was here I learnt that whatever I had been thinking about the career in the Indian Army was wrong.

In the Ordnance Depot, I discovered that the JCOs who are Gazetted Officers (I have seen the Gazette Notification of JCOs) are equated with non-gazetted civilian employees and that too of Class-III i.e., Group-C. The point has only been made to emphasise the arbitrariness and irrationality of orders regarding the relativity of ranks. And as the de facto equation stands today, there cannot be any service with worse career prospects than the Army except some Group-B services.

But is this the result of a “steep pyramidal hierarchy” as is often claimed? No. It is the result of a conscious effort by the bureaucracy to degrade the services ever since independence. To undo this, i.e., if the Government is sincere, the solution is to revert to the pre-A V Singh Committee implementation stage and reintroduce the rank of 2nd Lieutenant, and to offer one-rank one-pay scale in the standard pay scales as was applicable to all the Organised Central Group-A Civil Services ( erstwhile allied services).

Till recently, the Warrant of Precedence stated that a Major is equal to an IAS Officer with not less than 12 years of service and a Superintendent of Police with not less than 15 years of service.

The status of Army officers was further degraded as per the underlying thrust of the Sixth Pay Commission, at the behest of bureaucracy. Why are these facts not disseminated to the young aspirants to the Armed Forces? If bureaucrats and policemen are higher in rank and status, then why are Army officers debarred from taking the IAS and IPS exams? I do not think that anyone today, if he is aware of of these facts, would join the Army, except to earn hsi bread. As for myself, had I known this, forget the Sainik School or RIMC, I would have never joined the Army. The relativity in rank and status is irrational and arbitrary, against the letter and spirit of the Constitution and violates my fundamental rights.
By Lt Col A K Rai (Retd)
An alumnus of Sainik School Tilaiya, Rashtriya Indian Military College, Deharadun, NDA, Khadakwasla, the author was commissioned into the Sikh Regiment in Jun 1981. he was transferred to the AOC in 1988. He took premature retirement after serving the mandatory period, he now works as the Chief Administrative Officer of a 150-bed hospital in Patna.
Why Do I Feel Cheated?
Cheated yes: Answers with Proof of Relative Pay Tables?

IPS officers prepare for fresh fight for parity

16 Mar 2009, 0255 hrs IST, TNN
NEW DELHI: IPS officers are gearing up to fight another battle against alleged pro-IAS bias of the government which is planning to give an "edge" to babus of the administrative service over officers of similar ranks in the police service by creating a higher salary grade.

If the provocation for the last across-the-ranks mobilisation was the "pro-IAS tilt" in the drafting of the sixth pay commission, the trigger for the fresh flutter among cops is what they call a hush-hush effort to create a higher salary slab for the IAS -- a move which IPS officers think is aimed at giving IAS a tag of "superior service".

Sources in the government said the proposal to have a higher salary slab of Rs 85,000 per month (fixed) for chief secretaries in states and secretaries at the Centre was being readied for government clearance.
Read more:
IPS officers prepare for fresh fight for parity

Lt Cols- A Rank debased by Bureaucracy

Dear Friends,
Our friends in IAS think they are the last word in manipulation. When they did not like the hue and cry raised over downgradation of Lt Cols to PB3, they brought out the bogey of Lt Cols in operational and non operational role as also on deputation. This they did knowing full well that IAS and IPS indulge in this all the time. Did they not realise that they'll be exposed some day? Did they not know that those who live in glass houses...?

I have cut and pasted below the views of Maj Navpdeep from his blog. In reply to a young IPS man he comes out with certain views and facts. I think we should expand on this and get more similar facts out. They have been cheating the nation and pontificating to others in order to hide their misdeeds. Attack being the best form of defence? We should ask for all the info under RTI Act and confront them with these facts.

In a recent posting on his blog, Pragmatic says
"All India Services: Though it is our most persistent and glaring colonial hangover, it is accepted that the AIS is recruited to man only the highest levels of the civil services. The point not mentioned is that the highest level of the IPS (barring a few at the centre) was the lone head of police in the state (then equivalent to an Area Commander/ Maj Gen). Now every entrant to IPS reaches that pay grade in less than 20 years. For the armed forces it remains a miniscule fraction in over 30 years. The highest level of the IAS was a Secretary (incl Cabinet Secretary) equivalent to the Vice-Chiefs. A number of civil responsibilities since then have been taken over by elected/ political officials, but the Civil service personnel have moved higher in protocol. And it is not only the military that is upset; every professional service in the country has been downgraded to the benefit of the AIS. The tragedy is that only the military seems to be in a position to speak out. We even have career bureaucrats as Vice-Chancellors of universities. Instead of selecting the qualified person for any job, what we have through the AIS is an ‘institutionalized cronyism’."

The point to note is that these IAS walas have subjugated all except the military, and we must turn the tide here. They are very fond of raising the bogey of a colonial military. This is plain and simple fear mongering to fool the incompetent politician and to grind their axe.

It is time the Services and Veterans put up a united strong front and put them in their place. Could someone please forward this mail to the three Chiefs, I do not have their email ids.
Kind regards
Cdr K K Punchhi

Oh oh Abhinav, wrong number !!
A young IPS Officer, Abhinav Kumar, wrote this for the Hindustan Times recently. While I let it pass in the first glance, on second thoughts I said what the heck ?!!. To begin with, I would be candid enough to admit that what he writes usually makes sense and as a fact I like what he writes. But I cannot say the same about these two fickle annotations in his write up :

“First of all, how fair and accurate is the comparison with the All-India Services ? The 5,400-strong IAS preside over roughly 15 million civil servants who work for the central and state governments, whereas the 3,800-strong IPS manages over 2.3 million central and state police personnel. Entry to the civil services is at four different levels. In contrast, our 1.4 million-strong armed forces have just two levels of entry with a combined sanctioned strength of 67,540 officers — with about 55,000 actually serving.”

“The military obsession with protocol and the exclusion of all other concerns is mystifying. Why should a Lieutenant Colonel, a rank that the army no longer allows to command its basic unit, a battalion, be superior in protocol to a district magistrate or a superintendent of police, officers entrusted with looking after the basic unit of our governance, the district ?.”

So Abhinav, it is only officers entrusted with districts who should be granted a superior protocol and not others eh ? So what do we do with those IAS and IPS officers who are not in districts ?, thrust on them a lower status and lower pay ? What about that SP who after his district tenure is posted as SP Computerisation or SP Litigation or SP Law & Order or SP xyz abc whatever. What about that DC who after finishing his tenure is posted as a Deputy Secretary of some non-descript department ?. Pay him or her less would you say ?. What about those multiple DsGP and Chief Secretary grade officers floating around in State Secretariats handling practically non-existent assignments ? Do we pay them on the basis of the number of people they have under their command ?. Things are not that simple. Your comment on the number of employees being ‘presided over’ or ‘managed’ is childish. Tomorrow you would say that a Professor of a University should be paid less than a Havaldar since he or she presides over or manages none whereas a Havaldar still has a Section serving under his Command. It’s laughable to say the least. A military officer from the very beginning is a judge, commander, manager, administrator all rolled into one. Being in charge of human life is the biggest responsibility, much more than managing thousands of acres. But this of course is not to belittle the IAS or the IPS who just like the military have their respective designated roles to play. Pay and status should be directly linked with rank, grade and length of service and not with any appointment that someone lucky may be holding on one particular day. The pitfalls of accepting your argument are many. For instance in the military context, a Major from the Corps of Engineers who is posted as a Garrison Engineer and who handles projects worth crores and enjoys a clout unmatchable in any other service cannot possibly claim better pay and status than that equivalent Major of the Infantry commanding a company somewhere in a godforsaken place just on the basis of the self-assumed so called 'importance' of appointment.

And Abhinav, by the way, a Lt Col does enjoy higher protocol than most DCs and SPs. And yes, by the way, it is Lt Cols (who are acting Cols) who command Battalions.
Oh oh Abhinav, wrong number!!
Posted by Navdeep / Maj Navdeep

Law enforcers become law breakers

When cops turn into killers. Suspended Inspector General of Police R.K. Sharma has earned the dubious distinction of becoming arguably the first IPS officer in India convicted of murder. He has been held guilty of hatching a conspiracy to murder Shivani, a newspaper correspondent, who had allegedly developed intimate relationship with him and was threatening to expose him.

How Georgia Tamed the Police
Mr Saakashvili's most eye-catching change has been to streamline the interior ministry. More than half the country's police officers have been fired and interior troops transferred to the defence ministry.

"Traffic police paid $2,000-$5,000 to get a job," says Irakli Okruashvili, the new interior minister. "Then they gave a percentage of the bribes they received to their bosses and used some to buy uniforms and cars. The system was self- financing. No one considered it corruption. It was a tradition."

The new anti-corruption measures aim to be self-financing, with the money saved from staff cuts used to increase salaries five-fold to $200 a month. Mr Okruashvili estimates this is more than the previous "take-home bribe" after "taxes" had been paid to superiors.

The new generation of traffic police is forbidden to carry more than $5 in cash. Plainclothes inspectors frisk them periodically to ensure they have not demanded money from innocent citizens. A dozen have been fired. Those left have received new uniforms and cars and now see the prospect of better career development. Public perception is changing, with a nightly television soap opera, called Patrol, launched to improve the image of the police.

It was one example of the corruption that permeated Georgia's police force and much of the rest of society, and that is being tackled by the youthful administration of President Mikheil Saakashvili, one year after the downfall of Eduard Shevardnadze, his predecessor. Within span of 3 years the level of corruption in Georgia has been reduced so much so it has a 10% GDP rate compared to almost nil five years back!

Pronounced Guilty, Tribune
Georgia Police Reforms

Comments: There is urgent need to overhaul the recruitment systems in the states. Bribes are paid for recruitment to Police which is supervised by IPS Officers. Corruption can be reduced if ESM (PBOR) are recruited who are already trained, physically more robust and disciplined. The Georgia Model is an eye opener. Maybe our GDP can grow at 20% if corruption is reduced/ controlled starting from the Police and moving upwards.