Faizan Mustafa, the Vice-Chancellor of NALSAR University of Law in Hyderabad, in a lecture at IIT-Madras, talked about the legal implications of the abrogation of Article 370 and said it was not merely a question of integration. The problems of Kashmir cannot be resolved by imposing restrictions like this, he added.

Courtesy: News Click

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The podcast takes a panoramic view on the early years of laws and discussions on censorship of theater and contains delightful (ominous?) small nuggets that paint a picture not unlike the times we are living in. Like the deliberations on the Dramatic Performances Bill 1876 where theater was deemed detrimental to the prestige and character of the British rule in India (does this rings a bell ?). Or how the traveling theaters of 1875  achieved enough popularity for the British Government to take note and depute policemen to watch the plays and report back (a bell is surely ringing somewhere!) and how dramatic performances accompanied public Ganpati celebrations and the fervor they caused with young people memorizing lines, enough to cause consternation in official circles. 
 

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मनमोहन सिंह की यूपीए सरकार के लिए आफत बना सीएजी (भारत के नियंत्रक और महालेखा परीक्षक) ने एक और धमाका किया है। इस बार निशाने पर मोदी सरकार है। लेकिन क्या इस मोदी सरकार के इन मंत्रालयों को जिम्मेदार ठहराया जाएगा और उनसे जवाब मांगा जाएगा।

सीएजी की जांच में दो केंद्रीय मंत्रालय- बिजली और स्वास्थ्य व परिवार कल्याण मंत्रालय दोषी पाए गए हैं। इन दोनों मंत्रालयों ने पिछले तीन साल में 26000 करोड़ रुपये के अनुदान जारी किए लेकिन जांच से पता चला कि इस अनुदान के लाभार्थियों का कोई रिकार्ड नहीं है।

पीयूष गोयल बिजली मंत्री हैं और डॉ. हर्षवर्धन स्वास्थ्य और परिवार कल्याण मंत्री। लिहाजा इस कथित गड़बड़ी के लिए दोनों ही जिम्मेदार ठहराए जाने चाहिए। लेकिन यह दुर्भाग्यपूर्ण है कि संसद का शीतकालीन सत्र शुरू भी हुआ और खत्म भी हो गया। लेकिन इस पर कोई चर्चा नहीं हो सकी।

दो अहम सवाल
इस पूरे मामले से दो सवाल पैदा होते हैं।

​​​​​​​क्या मंत्रालयों के फंड को किसी दूसरे उद्देश्य के लिए डायवर्ट किया जा रहा है।
 
अगर ऐसा है तो सीएजी की ओर से दूसरे मंत्रालयों की समीक्षा करने पर कितनी बड़ी अनियमितताएं सामने आ सकती हैं।

क्या पीएम के साथ यात्रा करने वाले दिग्गजों की ओर से चलाए जा रहे देश के कॉमर्शियल चैनलों में हिम्मत है कि वे इस खबर को प्राइम टाइम के न्यूज आवर शो में चलाएं। कॉमनवेल्थ स्कैम से लेकर 2जी स्कैम जैसे घोटालों को उजागर कर यूपीए-2 सरकार को गिराने में बढ़-चढ़ कर भूमिका निभाने वाला मीडिया इस स्कैम पर चुप है। सिर्फ न्यू इंडियन एक्सप्रेस ने मोदी सरकार के मंत्रालय के इस ‘घोटाले की स्टोरी’ छापी है।
 
मंत्रालयों की ओर से जारी किए गए अनुदानों के मामलों में किसी समझौते पत्र पर हस्ताक्षर नहीं हुए। मंत्रालयों की ओर से जिन कायदे-कानूनों का पालन किया जाना था उनका उल्लंघन हुआ। कुछ अनुदान पूंजीगत परिसंपत्तियों के निर्माण के लिए दिए गए हैं। केंद्र सरकार के वित्तीय और अकाउंट मामलों पर सीएजी ने अपनी ताजा रिपोर्ट में सवाल किया है कि क्या इन अनुदानों को मकसद पूरा हुआ भी है? सीएजी ने धांधली और फंड के दुरुपयोग की आशंका से इनकार नहीं किया है।
 
अपनी वार्षिक कवायद के तहत सीएजी ने अनुदान जारी करने और इसकी मॉनिटरिंग मैकेनिज्म की समीक्षा की। इसके अलावा दोनों मंत्रालय, यानी बिजली और स्वास्थ्य और परिवार कल्याण मंत्रालय में हुए खर्च के प्रभाव और गुणवत्ता की भी समीक्षा की गई।
 
सीएजी की समीक्षा में कहा गया है कि वित्त वर्ष 2014 और वित्त वर्ष 2016 में अलग-अलग करोड़ों के अनुदान जारी किए लेकिन इनका कोई केंद्रीकृत रिकार्ड नहीं है। न तो अनुदान पाने वाले का कोई नाम दर्ज है और न ही उनका विवरण। न ही तैयार परिसंपत्ति का कोई ब्योरा दिया गया है। जिस अनुदान का इस्तेमाल हुआ है उसकी राशि का विवरण नहीं है। परिसंपत्ति के मालिकाना हक का ब्योरा नहीं है और इसका कोई रिकार्ड दर्ज नहीं है।
 
अनुदान और सहायता के मद में भुगतान सरकार की ओर से विभिन्न एजेंसियों, निकायों संस्थानों या किसी व्यक्ति को परिचालन खर्चों, पूंजीगत परिसंपत्ति के निर्माण और सेवाओं की डिलीवरी के लिए किया जाता है। सामान्य वित्तीय नियम 2005 के मुताबिक पांच करोड़ से ऊपर के अनुदान के मामले में समझौते पर दस्तख्त होने चाहिए। इसमें परिणाम लक्ष्य, कार्यक्रम के विवरण और संबंधित इनपुट का ब्योरा होना चाहिए।
 
लेकिन न सिर्फ स्वास्थ्य मंत्रालय ने इन नियमों का खुल्लमखुल्ला उल्लंघन किया बल्कि बिजली मंत्रालय ने तो सीएजी के जांच के लिए कोई केंद्रीकृत रिकार्ड ही मुहैया नहीं कराया।
 
नियमों को इस खुल्लमखुल्ला उल्लंघन के लिए कौन जिम्मेदार है?

The post मोदी सरकार के दो मंत्रालय कटघरे में सीएजी ने अनुदान देने में गड़बड़ी का दोषी पाया appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Beneficiaries of  Rs 26,000 cr grants in Modi's Power & Health & Family Welfare Ministries Unknown: CAG

The  Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), a bane to the previous Manmohan Singh-led UPA II government , has dropped another bombshell. This time it’s showtime of a different kind, for the Modi Sarkar. But will it be held accountable and answer?

Two of the Union Ministries, Power and Health & Family Welfare have been found Guilty: they have released grants of over Rs 26,000 crore in three years, but the auditor found no record of the beneficiaries. Piyush Goyal and Dr Harsh Vardhan are the Ministers of cabinet rank who head the ministry and who should, be held squarely responsible for the reported lapses. Unfortunately, the last session of Parliament began and finished without any discussion on this finding by CAG.

Two Crucial issues arise:
Are funds being diverted for purposes other than intended?

If so, what would be the magnitude of this irregularity if the CAG reviewed the other ministries?

Will India’s commercial television channels, run by tycoons who travel the globe with the prime minister, blare this news on the prime time News hour shows?  Since 2010, with the scams around the Commonwealth Games and later the 2-G Scam, the UPA II government was brought down by an ever-vigilant media that, night after night, ran the scam stories. So far only New Indian Express has run this ‘Scam Story.’

In a majority of cases, no MoUs were signed, violating a practice all departments must comply with. While some grants were meant to create capital assets, the CAG, in its latest report on Union Government Finance Accounts, wondered if they met the purpose at all, while in some others, it didn’t rule out the possibility of fraud or misappropriation.

As part of its annual routine, the CAG reviewed the sanctioning and monitoring mechanism of grants, quality and effectiveness of the expenditure incurred in two ministries — the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Ministry of Power.

The analysis brought to light that during FY14 and FY16, both the ministries separately released grants running into crores, but no centralised records, including names of the grantees, details and nature of assets created, amount of grants utilised, ownership of assets, were maintained.

Grants-in-aid are payments made by the government to government, bodies, institutions or individuals for operating expenses, capital asset creation, and delivery of services. As per the General Financial Rules, 2005, for grants of above Rs 5 crore per annum, MoUs should be signed indicating output targets, programme details, and commensurate input requirements.

Not only did the Ministry of Health blatantly violate this norm, but the Ministry of Power provided no centralised records for verification to CAG.

Who will be held responsible for this brazen unaccountability?

Related Articles:

1. What is Secret About the PM's Public Expenses?
2. How Modi's De-Monetization Could Mean a 6,000 Rs Bonanza for Scamsters
 

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The whys and wherefores behind the recent media gag by the state in Kashmir

Note from the author: The ban is off from July 21 but I can safely say that the article remains relevant, looking at the larger picture.

“By the skillful and sustained use of propaganda, one can make a people see even heaven as hell or an extremely wretched life as paradise”
– Adolf Hitler

Hitler’s Nazi regime ruled the German public with two main weapons – propaganda and censorship – ensuring that they had the public in their grip as they bombarded them on a daily basis with the glorification of Hitler, convincing them about the better prospects of their lives but ensured complete and blanket silence over the gory stories of holocaust and concentration camps. The stories eventually did come out – in the form of narratives, fiction, diaries and reports.

There is no way one can keep a lid on facts forever. Narratives tucked away and hidden, will resurrect to be told, re-told and heard.

If that be so, then what is it that the Jammu and Kashmir government was trying to achieve by banning newspapers — and doing so in a brazen and rash manner of clamping down on newspaper offices by conducting raids and arresting staffers in the dead of the night–amidst one of the worst and violent crisis that Kashmir is presently facing?  Was it trying to stop them newspapers from reporting and journalists from commenting? Was it trying to block all channels of information so that people remained ignorant? Few days down after the clampdown, so far, the PDP led coalition government comes across as unsure on the issue.

After newspaper printing presses and offices were visited on July 15 by unwanted midnight guests in uniform who packed the visit with intimidation, abuse, handcuffs even as they walked off with newspapers, printing material and personnel (technical staffers) of at least two of the newspapers (including my own), media persons in Srinagar staged a protest march. Journalists also met the Divisional Commissioner who, while being evasive on the raid and ban, said that he was in no position to provide the media with any curfew relaxation passes to allow them to discharge their duties, nor could he assure journalists any protection.

Two days later, PDP minister Nayeem Akhtar went to the extent of telling a television news channel that the move to stop publication of newspapers was necessitated sensing ‘trouble’. A day after he took charge of the midnight-declared state of Emergency, chief minister Mehbooba Mufti’s political adviser, Amitabh Mattoo maintained that there was no ban and that the chief minister had no idea about it. The government transferred a superintendent of police, blaming him for recklessly cracking down on the press.

Which of these versions is true? The newspapers hit the stands again after six days on Thursday, July 21, following an assurance from chief minister Mehbooba Mufti. This should, however not be treated as the end of the story.

Important questions need to be asked. A week long ban on newspapers, a belated response of the government necessitated probably by the unusual solidarity from sections of Indian journalists and intellectuals, was not without design. It was nothing but ill advised. Who was the brainchild behind the move which may eventually become a footnote, but is no less significant. The move and the motive need elaboration. First things first, why was this done? Who instructed the now out of favour Superintendant of Police?

The logic behind any bans stems from the necessity to hide. All Internet connections and mobile phones have already been partially snapped since July 9. In the worst affected areas, the landline phones have also been disconnected. Newspapers have not been allowed to be circulated freely due to the prevalent curfew restrictions. All this has made the information from the public to media and vice versa filtered and restricted, as it is.

Important questions need to be asked. A week long ban on newspapers, a belated response of the government necessitated probably by the unusual solidarity from sections of Indian journalists and intellectuals, was not without design. It was nothing but ill advised. Who was the brainchild behind the move which may eventually become a footnote, but is no less significant.

The state government’s worry is not that if these filtered bits and pieces of information find their way to print they would provoke more violence than there already exists. In this day and age of internet and gizmos, that job was being managed partially despite the ban on newspapers who continued to maintain and update their websites and circulate whatever they could through digital applications, even though this meant that news was reaching far fewer numbers of people.

The government’s anxiety is with the printed word becoming an authentic piece of documentation with a longer shelf life. The national television channels were switched on 24X7 and national print media was not subjected to any kind of similar ban. The ban, and the need for the ban from the state and government’s point of view, highlights the vast chasm between the perspectives reflected in the regional press and the national press, with respect to Kashmir.

While an ultra-nationalist narrative inspires the former, the latter give ample space to voices of the common Kashmiri and Jammu resident, suffering due a perpetual state of conflict. It is the local newspapers that fill in the gaps left by either the silence or jingoism of the ‘national’ press. In recent days, despite the hurdles of obtaining authentic information amidst curfew bound streets and crackdown on communication systems, it is the local newspapers that have managed to source and publish the narratives that tell the story of the atrocities on the people; chilling stories about how people got killed and about the injured recuperating in the hospitals, about the pellet guns playing havoc with people’s lives, impairing them physically for their life time; of the 130 blindings by pellet guns of mostly children and teenagers.

It is these stories that rarely make it to the pages of major ‘national’ mainstream newspapers, which are a major challenge for the State peddling its lies about what is happening in Kashmir.

This is not the first time that attempts have been made to muzzle the press. Earlier, in 2010 and 2013, the newspapers were unable to publish newspapers and circulate or distribute copies, because of excessive curfew restrictions and the denial of curfew passes to media persons that prevented journalists from stepping out. In striking contrast, while the Valley was forced to remain without newspapers, commercial television crews who flew in from Delhi were provided escorts to move across the Valley and offer a point of view that suited the government.

There is a definite pattern behind this –in how both the commercial media and government relations operate. Through this cynical game of muzzling the media, it is the Central Government that seeks to reap the rich harvest from this demonizing of a people’s resistance, dwarfing their victimization and creating the a hysteria around ultra-nationalism which is the new normal in much of ‘national’ media’s reportage on Kashmir.

That the present gag on the local, regional media, could have been inspired by Delhi cannot be ruled out, nor the fact that it was effected through orders to some of its cronies within the police and administration. The state government, ignorant or otherwise, cannot be condoned either for its ineffectiveness, or for acquiescing without any application of mind, especially on the consequences.

It is the local newspapers that fill in the gaps left by either the silence or jingoism of the ‘national’ press. In recent days, despite the hurdles of obtaining authentic information amidst curfew bound streets and crackdown on communication systems, it is the local newspapers that have managed to source and publish the narratives that tell the story of the atrocities on the people.

It is all about chaining and imprisoning a narrative, controlling it, stifling its telling and super-imposing on the real, local story, a manufactured narrative of ultra-nationalism, of ‘paid agents’, of ‘jihadi terror’, of ‘things under control’, of an enemy called Pakistan and of normalcy and happy pictures of tourism.

What bigger proof does one need of India’s moral defeat with regard to the Kashmir conflict than this reality of employing weaponry of lies and propaganda to hide the ugliness of bullets, blinded children, torture and brutality?

The narrative, as it is, has been controlled. In the history of 26 years of insurgency, the media has been tamed and silenced through the use of many devices. In the beginning of the nineties, caught between the gun of the militants and the security forces, intimidations, physical attacks, even murders and curfews, though newspapers continued to be published, writing more insightful and detailed stories almost amounted to committing suicide. Many newspapers even went without editorial content to play safe.

When media gradually began to evolve, freeing itself from the clutches of ‘anti-movement’ and ‘Indian nationalistic’ discourse, the government cracked down with fresh arm twisting methods – squeezing the financial flow of the newspapers by stopping their government advertisements particularly the central government-controlled DAVP advertisements, the main source of revenue for newspapers in Jammu and Kashmir.

In 2010, the advertisements to several Kashmir based newspapers were stopped following a letter from the union home ministry, which gave no explanations for this withdrawal of financial support. The order was dutifully followed. In subsequent years, while advertisements of most newspapers have been restored (arbitrarily or otherwise), Kashmir Times (of which I am the Executive Editor), printed out of both Jammu and Srinagar has been singled out and kept starved of funds.

Shockingly, the interlocutors appointed by the Indian government after the 2010 killings to look into the grievances of the people in one of their recommendations suggested that there was a need to publish national papers out of Srinagar as the local newspapers were “unreliable”!

In 2010, the state government also banned the local cable television channels in Srinagar from screening news based programmes on the pretext that these channels were not duly registered. However, in Jammu, similarly un-registered channels continue to operate without any hindrance.

The media, thus, has been already in chains. In a near permanent curfew-imposed situation, the media is further imprisoned by the lack of information and the crackdown on communication systems. So what then makes even the present gag order unique? And what purpose was it meant to serve?

In a fashion, it is just another link in the sequence; in another, it reflects the growing and increasing penchant of the government for absolute control, exercised deliberately through power of the brute force of khakhi, in brazen violation of law, ethics and democratic principles itself.

Now, like then, when gory stories of boys dragged out of their homes and shot at point-blank range, tales of random arrests, crackdowns and molestations, of children blinded by pellet guns who have gone missing, abound, yet another unbridgeable chasm has opened, defying resolution of the churning that is Kashmir.

Successive governments, both in the state and at the Centre, have looked upon local media as deadly missiles that need to be kept under check and control, not as sources of information that the government itself can rely on for feedback about both the day to day needs of the people as well as their oppression, anger and political aspiration. The existence of a professional regional media, rooted in Jammu and Kashmir marginalizes rumour mongering, because –notwithstanding crtain biases — media houses are guided by certain professional ethics. A free media can provide a vital link between the public and the government, conveying what a people are feeling and doing, vital to a region mired in conflict. It is worthwhile now recalling Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2015 arrogant snub of then chief minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed who was urging for political dialogue with the Kashmiris. “We don’t need any advice from anybody on Kashmir”, Modi had famously said.   

It is this mindset that inspires men in power to not just crush a population brutally but also crush the voices speaking for them. Their aim is to make the narrative disappear.

But, as history reveals and as human minds are known to work, and remember, sooner or later the narratives will emerge – emerge to haunt, often with a dash of bitterness and sometimes peppered with rumours. Sometimes dangerously so.

In January 1990, during the infamous days of strict curfew and black-outs in the wake of Jagmohan taking over as Governor, the information flow remained very limited making the reportage of both the flight of Kashmiri Pandits and the slew of massacres starting from Gawkadal that Kashmir witnessed, both rather sketchy and flimsy.

In subsequent years, those stories have been told and re-told at individual and community levels with little possibility of authenticating the narrative: sometimes one does not know where to sift fact from fiction as the stories have emerged with such contradicting and contrasting perspectives that just do not match.

It is this huge chasm, the chasm of the missing truth telling of those dark days that continues to play a role in shaping the communal divide within Kashmir. Now, like then, when gory stories of boys dragged out of their homes and shot at point-blank range, tales of random arrests, crackdowns and molestations, of children blinded by pellet guns who have gone missing, abound, yet another unbridgeable chasm has opened, defying resolution of the churning that is Kashmir.

 (The author is Executive Editor, Kashmir Times)
 

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