Need for autonomy for executive branches of the government.

Need for autonomy for executive branches of the government.

"Had we not intervened, the I-T officials would have slept over it and the overseas probe would not have proceeded" was the anguished remarks of the Supreme Court judges on the 2G scam (DNA, May 17,2011). The additional solicitor general tried to justify the delay by saying, "big companies" are involved and they are "creating obstacles" which was not accepted by the Court. This is the crux of the problem. The administration does not take action or hesitates to proceed against the high and the mighty.

The executive branches of the government have to be empowered to take action when they find wrong doing irrespective of the station of the person. There should be functional autonomy not merely to the revenue department but many other branches of the government like police, intelligence and many others. All these departments are under various ministries and the ministers and the top officials do not always allow them to go after the wrong-doers for extraneous reasons.

If all these executive departments have functional autonomy and they report directly to a committee of the parliament consisting of the major parties, many illegal activities could be prevented or at least brought to book early. The head of the revenue department and the police commissioner or the chief of intelligence can then be held responsible if there is a loss of revenue or loss of life under their jurisdiction if they have functional autonomy. Power and responsibility should go together. Parliamentary oversight is necessary. The ministers should not be allowed to be dictators which happened in the case of 2G and the same is happening in the case of terrorist attacks as well.

CAG and even Lokpal/Lokayukta can only punish culprits after the event. We have to devise a mechanism to nip corruption in the bud and promote good governance. Functional autonomy should be able to address this issue. It is like a sprinkler system which gets activated as soon as it detects fire.

http://epaper.dnaindia.com/epapermain.aspx?queryed=9&eddate=5%2f17%2f2011

May 22,2011.

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Another face of corruption.

Another face of corruption.

The report, "Sugar barons exploit loopholes, default on govt. dues.." (Indian Express, 14/5/11) is another face of corruption in our country. It is very easy for politicians in Maharashtra to start a sugar factory. Get money from the Maharashtra State Co-operative Bank ( MSCB), get it underwritten by the Maharashtra State, default on payment, get it auctioned off at a low price and then launch your own factory. It is a neat way to make big money. Sharad Pawar says it is the fault of the Maharashtra government as it did not pay MSCB after underwriting the loan. We have to thank the Public Accounts Committee of the State for bringing it to the notice of the public. At long last RBI and the State government have taken action – taking over MSCB. We have to wait and watch what action the RBI and the State take against the defaulting sugar barons.

You had published a series of reports entitled, "The Great Indian Bank Robbery" in December, 2002 exposing how the corporate sector was looting the banks. The Banks had the mind-boggling amount of Rs.110,000 crore NPA – almost the amount involved in 2G scam. Now you have an opportunity to do similar study on co-operative banks and co-operative sugar factories in Maharashtra.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sugar-barons-exploit-loopholes-default-on-govt-dues-pac/790567

May 15, 2011.

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