Can Corruption Cancer be abated in India?

No consensus on Lokpal Bill after all-party meet: 10 big facts: NDTV Report
New Delhi: Will India get the new anti-corruption law it has been waiting for? The Lokpal Bill - named for a national anti-graft agency that it creates - was passed by the Lok Sabha. But the Winter Session of the Rajya Sabha ended before the bill could be put to a vote. The Prime Minister called an all-party meeting today to build consensus before the bill is scheduled for discussion in the Rajya Sabha. The Left says the meeting ended without any consensus. Here are 10 facts on this big story:

1) What is the Lokpal? This is a national agency of nine members, who will be selected by a committee that includes the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition. The Lokpal will investigate complaints of corruption against all government servants. A state-level branch of the Lokpal is called a Lokayukta.

2) Why did the PM call an all-party meeting today? In December, opposition parties moved close to 200 amendments on the Bill in the Rajya Sabha. They want many changes to the Bill. The ruling coalition is in a minority in the Rajya Sabha. In December, the debate on the bill proved that the government would not be able to get the bill passed. Opposition parties say the government therefore orchestrated chaos and delays so that the bill could not be put to a vote which it would have lost. At today's meeting at the PM's house, it was decided that the Lokpal Bill will be taken up during the second half of this Budget Session of Parliament. On March 30, Parliament breaks for three weeks and the union budget has to be passed before this financial year ends.

3) Before bringing the bill to the Rajya Sabha, the government will work on re-wording contentious parts of the Bill. The BJP, Left and parties like Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress all agree on the need for a Lokpal but have serious objections to the bill in its current form.

4) What do opposition parties want? There are many points of difference among the main parties on the Lokpal Bill. The biggest is whether the bill, in its current form, violates the federal structure of India. The bill asks for Lokayuktas or ombudsman agencies to be set up in every state to tackle cases of corruption. Parties like the BJP say this violates the autonomy of state governments. They say that the centre should provide an enabling framework that provides the guidelines for how the ombudsman should be selected and what its powers should be. But it cannot force states to create a Lokayukta.

5) How do allies feel about this? The ruling coalition, led by the Congress, has two senior allies - the DMK from Tamil Nadu and Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress from Bengal. Both are needed for the government's survival. Because both parties are regional, they have joined the BJP in objecting to the references to Lokayuktas, even in the title of the bill. Mamata Banerjee wants this part of the bill deleted completely. If the BJP pushes for a vote on this issue, the Trinamool and DMK will vote against the government they belong to. That means not just embarrassment for the Congress; the government will have been defeated on landmark legislation, allowing the opposition to point out that it does not have the right to stay in office.

6) What powers will the Lokpal have? This is a major argument among different parties. Those like the Left say that the Lokpal should supervise the CBI which will be assigned to investigate the complaints received by the ombudsman. The government says the CBI cannot be made accountable to the Lokpal because this would amount to creating an executive structure outside Parliament. The bill currently allows the Lokpal to refer complaints to the CBI, which will keep it updated on those cases. The BJP says the government's control over the CBI should be reduced. The rationale is that as long as the government decides the CBI's budget, and the postings and transfers of its officers, the agency is vulnerable to governmental influence.

7) Does everyone agree on the need for the Lokpal? Parties like the BJP have said they want the Lokpal to be introduced as quickly as possible. "I think they should present an amended bill in Parliament; they have got the message loud and clear," BJP leader Arun Jaitley told NDTV today. They blame the government for delaying the legislation in the Rajya Sabha. But others like the Samajwadi Party and Lalu Prasad Yadav's RJD say a Lokpal as currently envisaged creates a new autocratic body. They want the Lokpal Bill to be studied and revised by a parliamentary committee.

8) The Anna Hazare factor: The fact that the Lokpal Bill was debated and passed in the Lower House or Lok Sabha was due almost entirely to the efforts of anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare. With activist-aides like Arvind Kejriwal, he turned India's attention to this legislation through a series of hunger strikes. It was his 16-day fast in August last year that brought thousands of people in support every day to his camp at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan. Anna, who is 74, ended his fast after Parliament assured him that it would consider the Lokpal Bill urgently. However, Anna says the bill in its current form is pointless. In particular, his group feels that the Lokpal has no real authority and has been reduced to a "post office" where it will distribute complaints of corruption filed by the public to different officials or departments over whom it has no real control.

9) How the Lokpal will be selected is also contentious: The opposition says that the five-member selection committee for the ombudsman gives the government too much representation. That, they argue, will ensure the Lokpal goes soft on any investigation that the government does not favour.

10) The Prime Minister is covered by the Lokpal - he can be investigated while in office if approved by two-thirds of the Lokpal's nine members.
Read more at: Will India get a new anti- Corruption Bill

Indian Black Money and Swiss Terror

Black money: Swiss Embassy contradicts CBI chief, calls his statement 'uncorroborated'
Press Trust of India, Updated: February 16, 2012 17:53 IST
New Delhi: Three days after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said that Indians are the largest depositors in Swiss banks, Switzerland today contradicted that stand, calling it "uncorroborated".
CBI Director Ambar Pratap Singh had, on Monday, said that Indians had stashed away an estimated 500 billion dollars in black money in foreign banks. The maximum outflow of illegal funds was to tax havens such as Mauritius, Switzerland, Lichtenstein and British Virgin Islands, he had said.
But the Swiss Embassy today, in an unusual step, issued a statement saying, "It wishes to make a clarification in view of unsubstantiated media reports that have been recently published about Switzerland and Swiss Banks."
But, the release, which did not mention the CBI chief's statement, said that Switzerland is not a tax haven.
"There have been several speculations about the amount of wealth held by Indians in Swiss Banks... Such estimates and statistics lack of evidence and are uncorroborated," the statement said.
While there have been various estimates of Indian black money stashed abroad, the statement by the CBI Director was significant in that, for the first time someone in authority in the country had come out with an estimate.
original NDTV News

Poor Governance and Corruption gives birth to Naxals and Maoists

The Maoist threat – And what it Tells us about our Governance
Posted on September 15, 2010 by Gopalkarunakaran
This was written by me about three years ago after an opportunity to be part of group debating internal security threats to India. The group comprised of very eminent people, Mr Arun Shourie, Mr Ved Marwah, General Ved Malik, Commodore Uday Bhasker, Mr Ajay Sahni, General Patanker, Mr Rammoham of the BSF , Mr Ajit Duval of the IB. We were trying to put together a paper for the government to act soon. What was startling, but not surprising, was that the threat was well known – but till it reached the drawing rooms of the upper class, through attacks on Rajdhani trains and the stories began in the Media – it was unattended by the State of India. Do give me your views!
by Col. Gopal Karunakaran (retd)

There is so much noise in the media now on the Maoist – so many extreme views – on the one side the Home Ministry who see it as a law and order problem and on the other, left wing intellectuals who see the State being oppressive and unfair to the forgotten masses of India.

What about the larger debate on what the Maoists are fighting for? Who are they? What are their demands? What do they want?

Have our recent economic polices triggered social unrest in India, unknown to the small urban English speaking opinion makers and decision makers of India? It has now risen from a slow simmer, to a raging boiling point, creeping up into our drawing rooms, and finally drawing the attention of our ruling class...
Read more
The Maoist threat – And what it Tells us about our Governance
India is safe, PC tells Naxal-wary investors
Naxals out to capture power through the use of gun: Pranab Mukherjee

Maoists attack CRPF men to snatch weapons

NEW DELHI: Three months after it lost 76 men in an ambush by Maoists, the CRPF suffered another massive loss in Bastar: 26 of its men were killed when the Maoists attacked a road opening party in Narayanpur district.

CRPF special DG Vijay Raman told the Times of India that 26 CRPF men have been confirmed dead and 5 injured. The casualties may be higher. "These are not final figures," Raman said.

The attack took place just three kilometres from a CRPF camp in Dhaudhai on a road leading to the densely forested Maoist-controlled Abhujhmad area.

The party of "about company strength with 70 personnel" was on its way back from clearing the road when the Maoists opened fire from a hilltop.

"We are in the process of evacuating our men. Some have been brought back. Others are being brought back to safety," said R K Dua, IG CRPF. He added that while two seriously injured men had been evacuated by helicopter, the air sortees had to be suspended as evening fell.

Brigadier B K Ponwar, who heads the Jungle Warfare College in Kanker said, "You have to be doubly secure when making the return journey along the same route. You need to secure all areas from where you can be fired upon."
26 CRPF personnel killed in Maoists attack in Chhattisgarh by Supriya Sharma, TNN, Jun 29, 2010, 09.03pm IST

Chronology of Naxal attacks

June 29, 2008: Maoists attack a boat on Balimela reservoir in Orissa carrying four anti -- Naxalite police officials and 60 Greyhound commandos, killing 38 troops.

July 16, 2008: 21 policemen killed when a police van is blown up in a landmine blast in Malkangiri district of Orissa.

April 13, 2009: 10 paramilitary troops killed in eastern Orissa when Maoists attack a bauxite mine in Koraput district.

April 22, 2009: Maoists hijack a train with at least 300 people on board in Jharkhand and force it to Latehar district before fleeing.

May 22, 2009: Maoists kill 16 policemen in the jungles of Gadchiroli district in Maharashtra.

June 10, 2009: Nine policemen, including CRPF troops and officers, ambushed by Maoists during a routine patrol in Saranda jungles in Jharkhand.

June 13, 2009: Naxals launch two landmine and bomb attacks in a small town close to Bokaro, killing 10 policemen and injuring several others.

June 16, 2009: Maoists kill 11 police officers in a landmine attack followed by armed assault. In a separate attack, four policemen were killed and two others seriously injured when Maoists ambush them at Beherakhand in Palamau district.

June 23, 2009: A group of motorcycle-borne armed Naxal rebels open fire on Lakhisarai district court premises in Bihar and free four of their comrades including the self-style Zonal Commander of Ranchi.

July 18, 2009: Naxalites kill a villager in Bastar and in a separate incident torch a vehicle engaged in road construction work in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh.

July 27, 2009: Six persons killed when Naxals trigger a landmine blast at Dantewada district in Chhattisgarh.

July 31, 2009: A special police officer and another person killed by Naxals in Bijapur district.

Sep 4, 2009: Naxals kill four villagers in a forest in Aaded village in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district.

Sep 26, 2009: Naxals kill BJP MP from Balaghat Baliram Kashyap's sons at Pairaguda village in Jagdalpur (Chhattisgarh).

Sep 30, 2009: Naxalites set ablaze Gram Panchayat offices at Korchi and Belgaon in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra.

Oct 8, 2009: 17 policemen killed when Maoists ambushed them at Laheri police station in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra.

Feb 15, 2010: 24 personnel of the Eastern Frontier Rifles (EFR) killed as Maoists attack their camp in Silda in West Midnapore district of West Bengal.

April 4, 2010: Maoists trigger a landmine blast killing 11 security personnel of the elite anti-naxal force Special Operations Group (SOG) in Koraput district of Orrisa.

April 6, 2010: 75 CRPF personnel and a Chhattisgarh police official killed in a naxal attack in Dantewada district.

May 8, 2010: Eight CRPF jawans were killed when Naxals blow up a bullet-proof vehicle in Bijapur district of Chhhattisgarh.

June 29, 2010: At least 26 CRPF personnel killed in a Naxal ambush in Narayanpur district of Chhattisgarh. Source: PTI
They want weapons. During the course of my inquiry into the (April 6) Dantewada ambush...
Maoists attack CRPF men to snatch weapons

Former Supreme Court Judge gives up his anti corruption crusade

Karnataka's top crusader quits
NDTV Correspondent, Updated: June 23, 2010 21:15 IST

Bangalore: Karnataka's top anti-corruption authority has resigned, more than a year before his term ends. Former Supreme Court judge Santosh Hegde took on the job of Lokayukta in August 2006.

He took on corrupt officers, conducted raids and booked even a ruling party BJP MLA Sampangi for taking bribes. But those, his team raided, were often reinstated in the same post from which they were suspended without consulting him and they were sometimes even rewarded.

"There are many reasons for my resignation, the government has shown deliberate indifference to the functioning of this institution," said Santosh Hegde, Karnataka Lokayukta.

Justice Santosh Hegde took on the powerful Bellary mining lobby, stating in his report last year, that crores of rupees were siphoned away from the state's exchequer through illegal mining.

Justice Hegde is a household name in Karnataka having taken a tough stance against the corrupt with his raids and reports; but those, he and his team, caught red-handed continue to walk free. His resignation citing helplessness is however bound to damage the image of Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa, whose BJP government is all set to celebrate its two years in office.

"Today is the blackest day in the history of Karnataka. Justice Santosh Hegde is one of the most honest and committed people we have," said Deve Gowda, JD-S president.

In the battle against corruption, the high office of the Lokayukta has for now lost a crusading soldier.
Story first published: June 23, 2010 19:58 IST
Karnataka's top crusader quits: Former Supreme Court judge Santosh Hegde took on the job of Lokayukta

Naxal extortion economy: Rs 2,000 crore a year!

Naxalites with bows and arrows
May 21, 2010 09:50 IST
Just how much does the CPI-Maoist take in through its nationwide extortion?
According to figures provided by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), it is Rs 1,400 crore (Rs 14 billion) annually.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh recently said that it is between Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion) and Rs 1,200 crore (Rs 12 billion) per year. The Director General of Police in Chhattisgarh, in November 2009, however, had said that the figure was as high as Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion).

The literature recovered and the confessions extracted from the arrested Naxal leaders quote different figures. The official figures, of both the MHA and state governments, are products of (often wild) guesswork.

Hence, such variations are expected. Nonetheless, it is undeniable that the amount the outfit manages to extract from the regions under its domination is substantial and sufficient to keep the fire of revolution burning.

Available information indicates that Jharkhand alone could be contributing Rs 300 crore (Rs 3 billion), followed by Chhattisgarh, with a share of roughly Rs 150 crore (Rs 1.50 billion).

Jharkhand, in recent years, has emerged the largest contributor to the Naxal kitty. The enormous legal and illegal mining industry in the state, coupled with the huge forest produce trade amounting to crores of rupees, now forms the backbone of the so-called Red Revolution.

Other affected states, such as Bihar and Orissa, also make sizeable contributions. In each of the states, the sources contributing to the war coffer of the CPI-Maoist remain more or less the same -- forest produce contractors, mining companies, road contractors, transporters and large- and small-scale industries.

Money forcibly collected from individuals is comparatively meagre. Intelligence agencies say that this enormous amount of money is allowing the Naxalites to procure arms and ammunition from illegal arms bazaars of Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Interestingly, data reveals a huge disconnect between the 'annual budget' of the CPI-Maoist and the money that the outfit manages to collect through its regime of large-scale extortion and intimidation

For example, Misir Besra, the CPI-Maoist politburo member who was arrested in September 2007 but was snatched away to freedom less than two years later by his colleagues from the Lakhisarai court premises in Bihar, had revealed to his interrogators that the outfit had a budget of Rs 60 crore (Rs 600 million) for 2007-09. Of this, Rs 42 crore (Rs 420 million) was earmarked for arms, ammunition and explosives; Rs 2 crore (Rs 20 million) for intelligence gathering; and the remaining Rs 16 crore (Rs 160 million) for transportation, computer training, propaganda and documentation.

Even Kobad Ghandy, the CPI-Maoist politburo member who was arrested in New Delhi in September 2009, said that the outfit operated on a budget of Rs 15-20 crore (Rs 150-200 million).

Intelligence and police officials in different Naxal-dominated areas narrate interesting stories about how a large part of the money, collected in the name of revolution, is being misused for personal aggrandisement by the Naxal top brass.

Tales can be heard about how children of Naxal leaders are pursuing careers in engineering and medicine in Indian metros while the Naxalites themselves are destroying schools of tribal children in remote areas. Such schools house security force personnel at times, but their real 'crime' appears in the Maoist mind to be that they constitute evidence that gives the lie to the Naxal narrative of state

In fact, the way a large and a complex outfit like the CPI-Maoist functions, it can be safely argued that there is little scope for personal aggrandisement by insurgent top leaders. The case, however, is certainly different where criminalised fringe outfits are concerned. These, wearing Naxal colours, have mushroomed in states such as Jharkhand.

If this much is well-known, what is only beginning to emerge is the extent to which the civil administration in states like Bihar and Jharkhand is also part of a web of corruption that feeds the conflict.

Questioned during a 2009 field visit, a senior Jharkhand police official observed that Block Development Officers often pay bribes to be posted to Naxal-affected districts. "There is ample money and no accountability," noted the senior official, his point being quite clear: Illegal mining activity in Jharkhand feeds the Naxalites, bureaucrats and politicians equally.

Little effort has been made to study this aspect of a burgeoning war economy. Instead, the debate is dominated by the government's emphasis on the regime of loot and extortion put in place by the Red Army.

Yet a symbiotic relationship is at hand. For instance, contractors laying roads in the remote areas are willing to conceal explosives under the road surface on behalf of the Naxalites, because explosions targeting culverts and small bridges permanently erase evidence of poor-quality work.

As a necessary first step in dealing with the challenge, the Seventh Report of the Second Administrative Reforms Commission recommended in February 2008 that a special anti-extortion and anti-money laundering cell be set up by state police/state governments.

The state governments have been asked by New Delhi to prepare action plans to monitor and curb illegal mining. The use of satellite imagery and other intelligence inputs has been advised by the central government in the preparation and implementation of such action plans. Further, a Coordination-cum-Empowered Committee has been set up by the central government to ensure elimination of delays in grants of mineral concessions to reduce the scope for illegal mining.

These are necessary measures no doubt. But capacity of the states to dominate areas currently under Naxal domination is a critical prerequisite to end extortion by both the Naxalites as well as other elements. Given the current disjointed nature of the ongoing counter-Naxal operations, such a scenario looks improbable anytime soon.
Shanthie Mariet D'Souza is visiting research fellow, Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore and Bibhu Prasad Routray has been a deputy director at the National Security Council Secretariat, New Delhi.
Naxal extortion economy: Rs 2,000 crore a year! by Shanthie Mariet DSouza & Bibhu Prasad Routray

Sane Questions
Is wiping out Maoists and Naxalites easier than wiping out corruption? Who pays the Maoists is the mute question? It is the Political Crimimals who are operating in the Maoist and Naxal belts, as illegal miners and contractors looting the wealth of the nation who are also fuelling the menace!

Am I a Maoist? An incisive reality byte

Dear Readers,
1. I am ATTACHING Am I a Maoist?: Click here a very short, incisive article about a new kind of “-ism”, written by an adivasi published in a current affairs journal. Do please read it and comment if you wish. Y ou will be enlightened.
2. And do please pass it around also. You will know why there is Maoism in India and who is responsible for it.
Regards and best wishes,
Brigadier PT Gangadharan, Guards
Veteran

Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers were massacred by the Maoists

Naxal/ Maoist strike: soldiers rode into the death trap
Was Chhattisgarh attack intelligence failure, asks Congress



The wreckage of a paramilitary vehicle blown up by Maoists' during an attack in Tadmela, Chhattisgarh on Tuesday.

The bodies of 76 security personnel, 75 of them from the CRPF, were flown to their homes in different parts of the country. A glimpse at the last journey of Dantewada martyrs.

New Delhi, April 6 : Terming the killing of 75 security personnel in Chattisgarh by the Maoists as an act of terror, the Congress Tuesday said "there might have been an intelligence failure and the reason for this should be ascertained".

"This is very unfortunate that we have lost a number of precious lives of security personnel in a brutal attack. Those behind this terror attack should be firmly dealt with," Congress spokesman Shakeel Ahmed told IANS after 75 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers were massacred by the Maoists in the forests of Chhattisgarh. The Congress also asked the government to take measures to prevent such attacks.
--IANS
Was Chhattisgarh attack intelligence failure, asks Congress
Popular support leading to Maoist attacks on security forces?

E.N. Rammohan to Conduct Inquiry into Ambush of CRPF in Dantewada
It has been decided to conduct an Inquiry into the circumstances leading to the ambush of CRPF platoons on last Tuesday at Dantewada in Chhatisgarh. Shri E.N. Rammohan, IPS (retired), has been appointed to conduct the Inquiry and submit a report within 15 days. The Inquiry report shall:
a) establish the circumstances preceding and the sequence of events leading to the incident of April 6, 2010.
(b) reconstruct, as far as possible, the actual events that took place on that day from 0500 hrs to 1200 hrs. and until the first rescue party reached the place of incident.
c) examine the CDR of the mobile telephones used by the deceased/injured personnel of the CRPF during the encounter and gather evidence from family members and others that would throw light on the actual events that took place during the ambush.
d) analyze and establish the decision/command structure/ hierarchy and the specific levels which took relevant decisions concerning the AD(Ops) and leading to the incident.
e) examine the quality of the training imparted to the relevant Companies of CRPF and the details of SoPs issued to the Company.
f) examine the response of the State Police and the CRPF both during the ambush and the post-ambush relief and rescue operations.
g) suggest measures to mitigate the lapses, if any, which are documented by the Enquiry Officer so that such incidents do not reoccur.
h) consider any other matter that the Inquiry Officer may deem relevant to the scope and terms of the Inquiry.

All Paramilitary Forces and State Govt., Police and Home Departments have been directed to offer access to all relevant records, wireless, logs, etc. as may be sought by the Inquiry Officer. OK/KP/DB
E.N. Rammohan to Conduct Inquiry into Ambush of CRPF in Dantewada