Firoz.T.Totanawala The Bangalore Metro Reporter CASTE FOR GAINS! RANGARAM NAIK OF KRIDL CLIMBS THE LADDER THROUGH BOGUS ST CERTIFICATE!

By Firoz.T.Totanawala

The Bangalore Metro Reporter

CASTE FOR GAINS! 

RANGARAM NAIK OF KRIDL CLIMBS THE LADDER THROUGH BOGUS ST CERTIFICATE! 

 Rangaram Naik, the In charge Joint Director in Mysore Zone of the Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Limited (earlier Karnataka Land Army Corporation) stands as the shining example for the continued exploitation of the SC/STs. Rangaram, who belonged to the ‘Parivar’ caste, a backward tribe, got the job in KLAC in 1984. His service records show his entry as belonging to Backward Tribe, but later this was rounded off and an entry was made showing him as belonging to ST by stating that he belonged to Nayak Caste. The CRE Cell which probed the matter has reported that Rangaram had obtained bogus ST certificate. The Tahsildar cancelled the bogus ST certificate in 2009 and within six months; the same Tahsildar restored his bogus ST Certificate after holding a stage managed probe.... Rangaram Naik is a native of Haradanahalli in Chamarajnagar Taluk in Mysore District. Chamarajanagar is a district now. He belonged to Parivar Caste, which is classified as Backward Tribe. After completion of his engineering, Rangaram got appointed as TFC in KLAC (Karnataka Land Army Corporation) on daily wage basis in 1984. Interestingly, in 1987, his appointment on daily wages was regularised as TFC, but, was not made on the basis of reservation or roaster. After his daily wage appointment was regularised, Rangaram had submitted the ST certificate in 1984 stating that he belonged to Scheduled Tribe and that his caste was Nayaka. Interestingly his close relative R.Puttaswamy who also worked in KLAC as a watchman had given his caste as ‘Parivar’! 

 In 1987, most of the daily wagers were regularized, but, the corporation had not verified the caste certificate while regularising the daily wagers. Once regularised as TFC, Rangaram started making use of his bogus ST Certificate and staked the claim for promotion as Assistant Director under roaster system. In 1989, he was promoted as Asst Director and using the same bogus ST Certificate, he got another promotion as Deputy Director in 1992. Since 2006, he is functioning as the In Charge JD for Mysore Zone. 

 Even assuming that Rangaram indeed belong to Nayak Caste, one can not overlook the fact that the Nayak Caste was not classified as ST by 1984. It is a fact that the state government had recommended to the central government to treat Parivara Community in addition to others, as synonym of Nayak which was a ST. In 1986, the state government in its order with reference to the above clarified that the government of India’s decision is awaited. This implies that Rangaram was not eligible to obtain ST Certificate by proclaiming that he belonged to Nayak community in 1984. Then, how he could submit a ST Certificate in 1984 to effect that he belonged to Nayak Caste which is classified as ST? 

 Interestingly, the central government amended the constitution and brought ‘Nayak, Nayak Beda, Bedar, and Valmiki Communities under ST Tag. Remember that ‘Parivar’ caste was not included in the ST category and continued under Backward Tribes list. In the 1994 order also, the government continued Parivar in Backward Tribe List. Even the Nayak - Nayak etc. communities were brought under ST in 1991. As such Rangaram could not claim ST tag in 1984 and could not take benefit from the ST Certificate and the subsequent roaster to get promotion as AD and DD in a matter of three years. 

 Arguably, Rangaram’s bogus ST Certificate has not gone unchallenged and many petitions and complaints were made against his bogus ST. Many dalit organisations, legislators have complained to the KLAC. In 2004 itself, the KLAC Engineers Association had officially complained that by getting a bogus ST Certificate, Rangaram has cheated the genuine ST Officers in getting their due benefits. But allegedly, Rangaram has expertise in managing the top brass and they continued to ignore numerous complaints. 

 Finally, in 2005, the top brass were forced to refer the Rangaram case to the Civil Rights Enforcement Directorate. The CRE after probing the complaint concluded that Rangaram has procured bogus ST certificate. In its letter to the KLAC dated 13.10.2008, the Dy. SP of the CRE, Mysore stated that Rangaram does not belong to ST category and that he has obtained promotions through bogus ST certificate. The letter also states that he has obtained the ST certificate in 1984 and his community was brought under ST from 1991 only. The letter also makes it clear that as per the government notification in 2007, in the case of Rangaram’s case, neither the District Caste Verification Committee nor the Appellate Authority can take any final decision. 

 The CRE directed KLAC to get the bogus ST Certificate cancelled through competent authority and file a criminal case against him under Prevention of Atrocities against SC/ST and dismiss him from service. The then MD of KLAC allegedly kept the CRE letter under wraps for long and finally referred the matter to the concerned for cancellation of the bogus ST Certificate. 

 On 2.2.2009, the Tahsildar of Chamarajanagar Taluk issued an order cancelling Rangaram’s bogus ST Certificate. The Tahsildar also directed him to surrender the bogus certificate within seven days and also notified proceedings for having obtained benefits from government through bogus ST certificate. 

 But Rangaram fought back. He filed a Writ Petition in the High Court (WP No.5376/2009) against Tahsildar’s orders and proposed proceedings against him by the KLAC. The High Court on 25.3.2009 quashed the Tahsildar’s cancellation orders on the ground that sufficient opportunity was not given to Rangaram. In fact, the High Court remitted the matter back to the Chamarajanagar Tahsildar and directed him to conduct the probe after giving sufficient opportunity to Rangaram to plead his case. The HC also directed Rangaram to pay Rs.2500 to the HC legal Service Committee within two weeks and in default the HC Order will lease.

 Then, armed with the HC order in addition to alleged political and money power, Rangaram approached the Tahsildar. The Tahsildar taken away by his clout simply conducted a stage managed Mahazar and withdrew the cancellation orders of the previous Tahsildar. On 20.8.2009, the Chamarajnagar Tahsildar issued an order accepting Rangaram as belonging to Nayak which is ST! 

 One fails to understand the rationale behind Tahsildar’s ignoring the school records while coming to the conclusion. In fact, the Tahsildar has mentioned in his reports that Rangaram’s school records clearly show that he belongs to ‘Parivar’ caste. But he does not base his conclusion on these records. Rather he proceeds to conduct the Mahazar at Haradanahalli of a couple of villagers and concludes that he belongs to Nayak caste. 

 Surprisingly, the Tahsildar had also based his conclusion on the basis of ST Certificates of Rangaram’s brothers and sisters and concluded that as all others have obtained the ST Certificate, Rangaram naturally deserves the ST Tag. And most importantly, the Tahsildar has missed an important fact in all these ST Certificates of Rangaram’s relatives. The fact is that all these brothers and sisters of Rangaram have obtained the ST Certificates on a same day that is 20.9.2007, except for his wife who obtained the certificate on 30.11.2007. They have no records of getting the ST Certificates prior to 2007. 

 Further, the Tahsildar had also relied on sale deeds pertaining to the property purchased by Rangaram in his father’s name registered in 1997 and 98 vide Doc. Nos.2324/97-98, 2325/0798, 2326/97-98, 2327/97-98 and 694/98-99. In all these documents, it is shown Puttanna Naik (father of Rangaram) belonging to Nayak caste. The Tahsildar relied on these documents to conclude that Rangaram indeed belong to ST! Had the Tahsildar probed the earlier transactions of Rangaram’s family members prior to 1984, the cat would be out of the bag. 

 What does this mean? The Tahsildar has deliberately avoided investigating the issue. And based on this ST Tag given by Tahsildar, Rangaram has now staked his claim to the regular JD and consequential benefits including seniority. In that event, Rangaram will become a General Manager. It is time; the CRE should conduct a probe not only into the Rangaram episode but also the role played by the Chamarajnagar Tahsildar.

Firoz.T.Totanawala The Bangalore Metro Reporter KILLING THE CRUSADERS! AFTER HEADLESS LOKAYUKTA, THE GOVERNMENT NOW TARGETS BMTF!

By Firoz.T.Totanawala

The Bangalore Metro Reporter

KILLING THE CRUSADERS! 

AFTER HEADLESS LOKAYUKTA, THE GOVERNMENT NOW TARGETS BMTF! 

 The state government has not bothered to appoint Lokayukta for the last one year. Another post of Upa Lokayukta too is lying vacant. Besides, the government has taken control of the Lokayukta police by posting handpicked officials. Now the government has turned its attention to the BMTF. It is all set to weaken the BMTF by downgrading and bringing it under the control of BBMP Commissioner. The reason - the BMTF has taken on the unscrupulous political elements and bureaucrats, head on. If the BMTF is allowed to continue its tirade, many VIP politicians and top officials will be in soup.... 

Last month, the BBMP engineers went on a strike demanding the removal of R.P.Sharma, the ADGP and head of the Bangalore Metropolitan Task Force. They also demanded bringing the BMTF under the BBMP control, withdrawal of cases filed against them and withdrawal of police station status accorded to BMTF. If one takes a close look into the entire episode, one can definitely find sinister design in the whole thing. 

 The BMTF grabbed the headlines last year when the then Commissioner Siddaiah referred the Rs. 1500 crores civil work scam in three Assembly Constituencies - Malleswaram, Gandhinagar and RR Nagar - to the BMTF for a probe. The BMTF took the probe seriously and arrested many engineers and filed criminal cases against them. As BMTF has Police Station status, it was easy for it to register the Complaint, investigate, arrest the culprits and prosecute them on its own. Further, BMTF is headed by ADGP and reports only to the government and therefore the BBMP Commissioner has no hold over its functioning. The arrest of such large number of engineers sent shockwaves among others who are notorious for Bogus works, bogus bills etc. 

 Three months back, R.P.Sharma went a step further and invited the public to air their grievances/complaints in BBMP through its website. The response was tremendous and BMTF received hundreds of complaints. After preliminary investigations, BMTF registered criminal cases against 135 engineers. This was the last straw. If the BMTF was allowed to continue with the probe, many politicians especially MLAs and Corporators would have felt the heat. Therefore, the engineers went on strike against BMTF and even instigated their workers and Pourakarmikas who also joined them. 

 Evidently, garbage contract is an Rs.500 crores business. For the last three years, the cartel of garbage contractors have prevented the tendering process and continued the contract with 10% increase every year. The BMTF which probed the issue estimated the contract at Rs. 150 crores! And the corporation is paying almost 500 crores that is more than three times the actual contract. The garbage contractors are worried about the BMTF action and therefore want it to be disbanded. Allegedly, there is a system of sharing the booty with those who matter in BBMP. 

 Whatsoever, Sharma was shunted out from BMTF and the strike was withdrawn. Even BBMP Commissioner Shankarlinge Gowda was replaced with Rajnish Goel. But still, the garbage problem continued. Before the accumulated garbage was to be dumped in the designated dumping yards, the people in the nearby villages started an agitation demanding that no more garbage be dumped in the yards. 

 Interestingly, the CAT stayed Sharma’s transfer and he was back in BMTF and continued his tirade against the violators. Since then the government is making every possible efforts to get the CAT ‘stay’ vacated to protect the vested interests. 

 BMTF is also probing the illegal allotment of 8 acres of land in Somanahalli, in Uttarahalli hobli to the present Mayor Venkatesha Murthy and his wife Prabha under Bagair hukum scheme, on the basis of false affidavits, in 2004. Sharma had issued a notice to the Mayor and his wife for presenting them and they were quick to get anticipatory bail fearing arrest. Interestingly, Sharma served a notice to the Dy.CM and Home Minister R.Ashoka also to appear before him to depose the matter as R.Ashoka was the Chairman of Bagair hukum Committee and Venkatesha Murthy had publicly stated that it was R.Ashoka who granted them the lands! 

 Apparently, R.Ashoka was in dire difficulty. If he deposes in the case as a witness, the BMTF may treat him as a witness in the prosecution or may make him an accused along with Venkatesh Murthy and his wife. R.Ashoka, therefore has not appeared before the BMTF as of now. The Mayor and his wife have temporarily got a relief from the High Court which has temporarily stayed the BMTF case against them for a week. Interestingly, few former Mayors even accused Sharma of building his house by violating the building byelaws, but, Sharma gave them a fitting reply. 

 The BMTF now has cases of land encroachment, building plan violations etc. by about 45 Corporators and few MLAs too. If BMTF files FIRs against these people, all hell will break loose and there will be a parade of people’s representation to Parappana Agrahara. No government can afford to face such a situation and as long as Sharma headed the BMTF, it remained a distinct possibility. 

 And now, to ward off any threat, present or future, the government is making attempts to weaken the BMTF, if not disbanding it. The present Commissioner Rajnish Goel in process may recommend downgrading the BMTF Chief’s post to the IGP Cadre. Presently, the BMTF works under Urban Development Department and the BBMP Commissioner will try and bring it under BBMP, so that the Commissioner can over ride the BMTF decisions. 

 There is also a process to withdraw police station power of BMTF. Then, BMTF will become another section in BBMP which can easily be manipulated by the politicians in power. Precisely, the BMTF will become just like revenue, engineering, etc. sections of BBMP. If all goes well, there will be a sort of vigilance cell in BBMP headed by a SP level police officer in place of BMTF. So, the fight against corruption in BBMP, the epicenter of corruption, will die a natural death. 

Arguably, the BJP government famous for its corruption in state has shied away from appointing the Lokayukta for the last one year. Even though the High Court has time and again directed the government to appoint Lokayukta, the government is refusing to appoint the Lokayukta. In fact it has not even filled another vacant post of Upa Lokayukta. The government is damn afraid of the Lokayukta lest it may damage its vested interests and more importantly, as this is the election year! 

 Whatsoever, the state government to sustain its corruption ridden government, is systematically destroying the anti-graft institutions. First it was Lokayukta, now the BMTF. 

That is all.

Firoz.T.Totanawala The Bangalore Metro Reporter POLLING TIME? WILL THERE BE STATE ELECTIONS IN DECEMBER?

By Firoz.T.Totanawala

The Bangalore Metro Reporter

POLLING TIME?    

WILL THERE BE STATE ELECTIONS IN DECEMBER?

The tenure of the present assembly ends in early May next year implying that the BJP government can enjoy power till May. Jagadish Shettar has completed two months as the Chief Minister and is too timid to make his mark either on the party or the administration. He has failed to reallocate the portfolios of his cabinet ministers. The Yedurappa group which had monopolised heavy and fertile portfolios since 2008 are not prepared to lose their hen that lays golden eggs every day. Similarly, the other group led by former CM D.V.Sadananda Gowda and Anantha Kumar are not prepared for ‘light’ portfolios and are demanding equitable share of heavy and fertile portfolios. 

 Jagadish Shettar has repeatedly assured that portfolios will be reallocated, but, he unable to complete the task because of the infighting. Yedurappa also is not a contended man and wants the State BJP President post badly. He is also making covert and overt attempts at forming a regional party and wants to leave the BJP with the title of a ‘Martyr’. The dissident activities have been revived in the party. Then there is the Jarakiholi, who had earlier threatened to withdraw support to the government if Sadananda was removed from the CM post. The High Command had a harrowing time to persuade him to stay. Now, he has raised the banner of revolt and the other day, publicly demanded immediate re-allocation of portfolios. He had also demanded the Chairmanships of Boards to the MLAs by asking the present Chairmen who are in the post for many years to vacate. It is no secret that Jarakiholi faction has about 13 MLAs and is very crucial for the survival of the government. 

 Jarakiholi has already held a meeting with his group of MLAs and says that he or his faction does not need to fight the election from BJP ticket and he will see that all of them gets reelected. If one were to read his statement between the lines, one can be sure that Jarakiholi has already decided to leave the BJP. In the event of Jagadish Shettar showing the guts to re-allocate the portfolios, there will be more heart burns. Many of Yedurappa loyalists like Nirani, Shobha Karandlaje, Renukacharya, V.Somanna etc. are protesting the same strongly. There may even be resignations. There are also rumours that the Sadananda group may even submit their resignations to Jagadish Shettar, if he further delays reallocation of portfolios. It is just like giving Jagadish Shettar, his own medicine. It may be recalled that Yedurappa had made his loyal ministers to resign enmasse to force the high command to remove Sadananda. And now Sadananda is planning to repeat Yedurappa’s games. Whether one likes it or not, the fact remains that Jagadish Shettar government is standing between deep sea and the devil and counting days. 

The Congress position seems to be better and it has a clear advantage. The BJP has tainted its image beyond repair. The naked struggle for power and the unimaginable corruption is a god sent opportunity to the Congress. The way in which an honest Sadananda was removed from the CM under the blackmail of Yedurappa can be taken advantage by the Congress. The prospect of Yedurappa forming a new regional party will definitely pay rich dividends to the Congress. It is alleged that Congress has clinched a secret understanding with Yedurappa for post poll arrangement. If Yedurappa forms a regional party, he will divide the BJP votes. With the prospect of a majority of lingayaths backing Yedurappa, the Congress can have an added advantage to consolidate anti-lingayath votes in its favour. The Congress now, apparently united wants an early election so that it can come back to power. It is also alleged that to avoid struggle for CM post in the likelihood of getting majority, the Congress high command seems to have offered sharing of CM post between Parameswar and Siddaramaiah for two and half year each. 

There is another reason for Congress crying for early elections. It does not want the JD(S) to become strong. It is no secret that JD(S) of HD Deve Gowda is very strong in old Mysore area and is gradually spreading its clout in North Karnataka region also. The JD(S) State President and former CM H.D.Kumaraswamy are touring the state since six months organising the party. He is getting prominent leaders of other parties to the JD(S). In fact, Kumaraswamy is already in a election mood. The JD(S) has already held massive convention of Muslims, SCs, STs and is preparing to hold convention of other section of the Society. In the event of JD(S) getting a sizable chunk of votes, the Congress stands to lose. That is why the Congress does not want to provide enough time to JD(S) to organise and fight elections. 

 Interestingly, the BJP too does not want JD(S) to effectively fight the elections. A section of the BJP leaders too are pressing for early elections so that they can prevent JD(S) into encroaching its bases. Already the BJP is handicapped by the absence of Reddy Brothers. But, for them, the real threat is not Sriramulu, but, JD(S). In the event of any direct or indirect alliance of JD(S) with Sriramulu’s BSY Congress, the JD(S) will pose real threat to Congress and BJP. 

 Arguably, except the Ministers and other leaders enjoying the power and the resultant perks, most of the BJP leaders and total Congress and JD(S) are in favour of an early election. It is for the Election Committee to decide the same, whether to hold the elections in May next year or December this year. The EC has the power to hold the elections six months earlier to the expiry of the term of the Assembly. All indications are that the EC may opt for elections in December as there are scheduled elections in other states at that time. 

That is all.

Firoz.T.Totanawala The Bangalore Metro Reporter MULTI CRORE LOOT THROUGH CONSTRUCTION! ADVISORY BODY-KARNATAKA NIRMITHI KENDRA, STARTS CONTRUCTION! CRORES BLOWN AWAY!

By Firoz.T.Totanawala

The Bangalore Metro Reporter

MULTI CRORE LOOT THROUGH CONSTRUCTION!  

ADVISORY BODY-KARNATAKA NIRMITHI KENDRA, STARTS CONTRUCTION! CRORES BLOWN AWAY! 

Can anybody imagine an organisation registered under the Societies Act with barely a dozen staff execute civil works to the tune of hundreds of crores and that too getting entrusted by the government? If the answer is ‘No’, then it is wrong. The fact is Karnataka Nirmithi Kendra (Karnik) sponsored by government, which is only an advisory agency for providing cost effective technologies in construction, stands as a shining example for this phenomenon. In fact the Karnik has through its activities, proven that it is above the law of the land! Unnoticed by the prying eyes of the people and the CAG, the Nirmithi Kendra is excelling in scams after scams.... 

ALL ABOUT ME! 

 Karnataka Nirmithi Kendra (Karnik), a state government sponsored society registered under Societies Act, has over the years become the epicenter of unimaginable corruption. The society has a Board of Directors consisting of few IAS Officers and private persons with the main objectives of providing technology in environmental friendly building materials and pre cast technology in construction sector. The ‘Nirmithi Kendras’ can also provide the low cost building technology to the community and this is the gist and essence of the Karnik which has centers at every district head quarters. 

 However, the Karnataka Nirmithi Kendra has entered the field of construction. It was registered in 1991 and nobody has heard of this Karnik located at an obscure place in Cauvery Bhavan. In the last few years, it started its branches in most of the districts. Interestingly, the Deputy Commissioner of the district used to look after the Kendras which have only a nominal presence. Whenever a new technology emerges from the R&D, the DCs used to look for the Kendras. By all accounts, the Nirmithi Kendras seldom ventured into constructions activities as it has no infrastructure. 

 THE STRENGTH! 

 Lately, the Nirmithi Kendras are in the field of constructions in a big way. The government had directed the DCs to act as its chairman and the CEO of the Zilla Parishat as its Secretary. In a way, the Kendras have become the joint property of the DC and CEO of the ZP at the district level. Even now, the Nirmithi Kendra at Bangalore and also at district head quarters does not have much staff. At the district level, there is only a local engineer to manage the Kendras who is paid a meager salary and provided a small cabin or a table in the DC office. At the state level, as per the information provided by the Nirmithi Kendra, the state body has one Director, two Deputy Directors, one Assistant engineer, one Accounts Manager, one Senior Work Inspector, one Data Entry Operator, two Drivers cum office Assistant and two Office Assistants totaling eleven! 

 CONSTANT PROGRESS! 

 Whatsoever, the Nirmithi Kendra over the years, is being entrusted with civil works worth hundreds of crores through Social Welfare, Muzrai, Rural Development, Housing and other government departments. Last year, shockingly, the works volume of Nirmithi Kendras has touched 1000 crore mark! How could an organisation which was established only to provide technology in building construction, execute civil works to the tune of hundreds of crores? To crown it all, the Nirmithi Kendras have no technical expertise or technical personnel, even to supervise the quality of works! 

 Arguably, the Nirmithi kendras have become money spinner to politicians in power, especially MLAs and bureaucrats like DCs and CEOs of the districts. One cannot even imagine the ‘loot’ in Nirmithi Kendra entrusted works. In 2005-2006, the Kendras had executed civil works worth around 90 crores. Last year it had touched a thousand crores! This year, it may get another extra 300 crores worth works! 

 TRANSPARENT BLUNDER! 

 Interestingly, the government has given exemption to Karnik from the Transparency Act up to Rs. 50 lakh in 2009 itself. This implies that the government departments can entrust their works upto 50 lakhs (now it is one crore) to the Karnik without calling for tender. It is this exemption that is the root cause for all the scams. 

 NO CRITERION! 

 When a government or a private construction company, wants to bag a big contract, or get empanelled in various government agencies, it should have proper infrastructure - both in manpower and materials like machineries etc. It should be able to design and estimate the work. In some tender process, the companies have to qualify for bidding through pre qualification criterion. For example, if a contractor wants to participate in the ‘Garbage clearing’ tender, he must have sufficient number of Lorries as criterion. Similarly, the company should have a good record of works done and a minimum quantum of work experience in the last couple of years as a stipulation. The company should submit all these details before qualifying for the tender. In addition, the company should have technical personnel in sufficient numbers and there are many more such conditions. 

 But in the case of Nirmithi Kendra, the less said the better. As it is only an advisory body on low cost - environment friendly and pre cast technologies, it has no manpower, plants or machineries and does not need to have technical persons - men, materials, and machines. Further, the company also does not have a research wing. The new technologies in low cost construction are being developed in the central government agencies and the same is provided to the Karnik which in turn provide to the users department and also community as a whole. 

 Despite all these ground realities, how can the Nirmithi Kendras get contracts from the government departments for building works? 

 MODUS OPERANDI! 

 The modus operandi allegedly is very simple. The DC and the CEO of ZP in the districts entrust the building works to the Kendras and also pay the ‘advance’ money to start the work. The Project Manager after receiving the advance money returns about 30 to 40 percent of the same to the DCs. And the rest is understandable. Nobody bothers about the execution of the work and its quality. The District Project Manager of the Kendra will do the work by giving it to contractors. Finally, without anybody’s notice, the full settlement will be made to the Kendras. There is no standard yardstick to the DCs - CEOs in allotting the contract to the Kendra. As the Kendras have been exempted from the Transparency Act, the DCs - CEOs will straightaway entrust the works to the Kendras. 

 ESTIMATE TRICK! 

 Interestingly, the Kendras at both District and state level, is incapable to prepare estimates or designs. But the DCs (also read CEOs) have a readymade solution to this problem. They first ask the KRIDL (formerly KLAC, a state sponsored agency to execute rural works) to prepare the design and estimate for the proposed work by promising entrustment. Naturally, the KRIDL submits the designs and estimates to the DCs and it contains a separate service charges plus VAT plus labour cess. The DCs then give a copy of this estimate to the Kendra Manager to submit his estimate without mentioning the service charge, labour cess and VAT. And the DCs simply entrust the work to the Kendra. 

 Of course, entrustment of works to the Nirmithi Kendras has become the biggest scam. How could an organisation with not even two technocrats on its rolls, undertake works worth crores? A local engineer, who is designated as the Project Manager is always at the mercy of the DCs. The local engineers who can hardly prepare an estimate for a small house, simply follows the orders of the DCs who entrusts them with big projects without any whimper. They in turn entrust the works to the contractors who compromise with quality and quantity of the works. 

 Allegedly, there is share for local body members, ZP members and sometimes even MLAs who pressurise the government to entrust the works to the Nirmithi Kendras only. Many of the government departments like Social Welfare, Rural Development etc. spend hundreds of crores towards hostel buildings, rehabilitation works, etc. The responsibility of control and suspension of the schemes of these department lies with the DCs and CEOs of the districts. As such they have become the decision makers. It is they who have to inspect the works, test its quality and pay the bill. For name sake, the Nirmithi Kendras have two private firms as third party inspection agencies. One does not understand why the engineering colleges or reputed research centres are not given this task! 

 True, the DCs have reasons to prefer Nirmithi Kendras. If they entrust the works to the KRIDL, allegedly the ‘returns’ will be less as the KRIDL officials have to look after the peoples representatives and their own superiors like ADs, DDs, JDs and up to Chairman. That is why their contribution to DC-CEOs is very less compared to Nirmithi Kendras. 

Any comments???

Firoz.T.Totanawala The Bangalore Metro Reporter HOW MUCH BLACK MONEY IS IN INDIA?

By Firoz.T.Totanawala

The Bangalore Metro Reporter

HOW MUCH BLACK MONEY IS IN INDIA?

Baba Ramdev is demanding bringing back black money stashed in foreign countries. He estimates the black money abroad at Rs. Twenty Lakh crores! It is true that there are a lot of black money in foreign banks belonging to top politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen, but, this group constitutes not even 0.5 percentage of the country’s population. 

 Bringing black money stashed abroad is fine, but what about the black money that is very much in India? Except those who could afford to go abroad and deposit their ill gotten wealth in foreign countries, nobody can even imagine stashing their ill-gotten money abroad. And the hard fact is that most of the ill gotten money is very much in India only. 

 Ill gotten money has many dimensions. The first category consists of politicians and bureaucrats who make crores through corruption. The second category consists of businessmen and corporate houses who devise ways and means to amass wealth and cheating the government of its legitimate tax. The third category consists of people who avoid paying income and other taxes. 

 The politicians and bureaucrats have made lakhs of crores through corruption. Politics has become a highly lucrative commercial venture to make a fortune that can last for generations. Of late, the thin line separating politicians and bureaucrats has also vanished. It is a well known fact that people who were hard put to meet both ends, have become millionaires after getting elected as MLAs, MPs etc. In our own state, there are myriads of such examples. 

 Bureaucracy also is neck deep involved in corruption. Few months back, the CBI had unearthed ill gotten wealth of more than 250 crores from an IAS couple in North! In our state too, there are enough examples of KAS officers amassing wealth in hundred of crores illegally. 

Some of these corrupt officials have even taken to politics. 

 If one were to take a rough calculation of the loot by the politicians and bureaucrats, the figure will shock everybody. It is in the range of lakhs of crores, many times over the national wealth. It is another matter that a small percentage of the loot might have gone to foreign countries. But, the rest remains here. The money has not gone anywhere, but, is very much in India. The lakhs of crores of rupees, are invested in real estate, gold, shares etc. As such it is easy for the government to devise proper approach to detect and confiscate these investments. If the government can detect and confiscate even 10% of such investments, there will be no need for fresh taxes in the budget for the next years! 

 There is another category of people, who as a rule, avoid payment of taxes to the government be it Income Tax or Sales Tax or even Customs duty in their transactions. It is an open secret that majority of the real estate transactions are undervalued to avoid payment of proper stamp duties. People always tend to register the deed at government’s guidelines value which is at least 50% less than the market value. In fact, the government has not brought in a scientific approach to determine the market value of properties. Even to this day, not a single case of proven cheating of proper stamp duty has resulted in conviction. Every day, thousands of crores of rupees change hands through real estate and what is accounted is a negligible amount proportionately. From this only, one can imagine the quantity of black money generated. 

 This phenomenon of accumulation of black money in real estate can be illustrated with a simple example. In Bangalore, the registration department collects about 3,000 crores as stamp duty and registration fee through registration of deeds in a year. The stamp duty is 5% and the Registration fee is one percent. This means that transactions in white are around 50,000 crores. But the real transaction will be in manifolds to this amount implying lakhs of crores of black money from real estate itself. Further, if this be the case in Bangalore, then what about the generation of black money in Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata and other cities of India? It is better to leave the volume to the calculative skills of the readers. One can bet for at least Rs. 15 to 20 lakh crores of black money generated in real estate itself in the country every year! 

 With regard to the evasion of sales tax and Excise/Custom duty, it is a well known fact that major chunk of retail business is done without paying tax. It is beneficial to both trader and the consumer. With the sales tax, that is VAT as high as 14.5%, consumers will benefit if they purchase without bill and the trader can escape the payment of tax to the government. 

 Whatsoever, the black money generated in India continues to be in India through investments in real estate, bullion trading, stock market etc. It is in this area the government should set a machinery to detect the black money and collect the taxes. In fact, the black money in the market is many times the annual budget of the central government and total budget of all the states. 

 It is this area that the likes of Baba Ramdev need to introspect and fight for. 

That is all.

Firoz.T.Totanawala The Bangalore Metro Reporter THE GARBAGE MONEY! MULTI CRORE GARBAGE SCAM TURNS BENGALURU INTO GARBAGE CITY!

By Firoz.T.Totanawala

The Bangalore Metro Reporter

THE GARBAGE MONEY! 

MULTI CRORE GARBAGE SCAM TURNS BENGALURU INTO GARBAGE CITY!

Bengaluru City is stinking with hundreds of tonnes of Garbage spawn all over city roads emitting rotten smell all around. The BBMP Mayor, Commissioner, Corporators and even the state government are in a pathetic position on the issue. One cannot even comprehend this rotten atmosphere just because the garbage was not cleared for three days, due to a protest by engineers. Even though there was no connection with Garbage and the engineers strike, the Pourakarmikas and the garbage contractors joined the protest. If one takes a close look at the entire issue, one will detect a pre planned operation by the vested interests.... 

The entire administrative machinery in BBMP seems to have come under the spell of banana republic. There is no asker and no teller. From the Garden City, Bengaluru literally became the Garbage city for the last few days with garbage piling up all over the city roads. Nobody in the government or BBMP is taking responsibility for garbage clearance which has become a health hazard to the millions of Bengalurians. 

 It all started when the BMTF filed FIRs against 150 BBMP engineers for allowing building violations, land encroachments bogus works etc. Earlier, the BMTF which is probing the Rs. 1500 crore bogus works scam had arrested about 20 engineers. The engineers contend that they were forced to allow violations etc. by the Corporators, MLAs and even ministers and that they should not be booked. But the BMTF Chief R.P.Sharma, an ADGP, who directly reported to the government, refused to drop the cases and stood his ground. The corporators and other leaders united in demanding the withdrawal of cases against the engineers. 

 When everything failed, hundreds of engineers went on strike demanding withdrawal of FIRs against the engineers and shunting out Sharma. Clearly, the issue is between BMTF and the engineers, but all of a sudden, the Poura Karmikas joined the strike supporting the engineers and refused to clear the garbage. Further, the garbage contractors too brought in their work force to back the strike. This resulted in garbage piling affecting the millions of Bengalurians directly. 

 The Bengaluru District In charge Minister and Dy. CM R.Ashoka held discussions with the engineers. As a result, the government shunted out Sharma from the BMTF and the strike was withdrawn after three days. By then, the garbage had piled up on the streets but contractors had their own designs. For public consumption, they removed garbage very slowly alleging that clearing the three days accumulated garbage takes some time. Even after another three days, they had not cleared the piled up garbage. 

 Arguably, there is a big lobby of garbage contractors in BBMP who successfully extend their contract without calling for tender. They also get higher rate by every year and as on now, the tender issue is before the High Court. Apparently, the garbage contract is a multi-crore business. For the last two years, the BBMP is levying extra garbage cess of Rs.300 from every property and the collection is substantial. In addition, the labourers employed by the garbage contractors collect about Rs.20 from every house per month as their ‘Tips’ which is a voluntary cum compulsory collections. If people do not pay this tip, the garbage would accumulate in the street. Needless to say that the contractors also have their share in these tips. 

 Whatsoever, when everything seemed settled and people expected the garbage clearance soon, the dumping yard issue came to the fore. The BBMP has already identified many lands around Bengaluru where the contractors have to dump the garbage and also ensure that the people living around these areas are not affected in any way. The BBMP has stipulated scientific dumping of garbage there, but, the contractors have cared two hoots. They just transport the garbage and dump it in the filling places at the dumping yards. Consequently, a rotten smell emits all around and there are severe health hazards to the people living in nearby villages. 

 As if on cue, the villagers living around the dumping yards are now protesting the garbage dumping in their villages. They are blocking the garbage Lorries and the protests are becoming fierce by every day especially after a protestor died of heart attack during the protest. Further, the dumping yard at Mavalipuram has been declared harmful by the Pollution Board and banned for garbage dumping. It is estimated that about 5 lakh tonnes of garbage is dumped in the Mavalipuram yard over the years. The garbage contractor has not cared to follow stipulated rules on treatment of the garbage. 

 Shockingly, the BBMP is spending almost Rs. 500 crores towards garbage clearance. One can thus imagine the lucrative business of garbage clearance. In fact, the BBMP pays around Rs. 1500 per lorry load of garbage to the contractors. The contractors are bound to surrender 500 tonnes of manure produced from garbage free of cost to BBMP to be used towards maintenance of plants and trees in parks. However, allegedly, the contractors have not supplied even a tonne of the manure. 

 In fact the reason behind the garbage contractors joining the engineers’ strike is nothing but their own vested interests. They have a grouse over the BMTF which has investigated the garbage contracts and assessed the actual cost of garbage clearance at around Rs. 200 crores, while the BBMP pays around 500 crores! This glaring difference between the actual cost and the payment made is bound to become another big scam in BBMP. Thus, along with the BBMP engineers, the garbage contractors also have a grouse against the BMTF. 

 Interestingly, after the government shunted out Sharma from the BMTF, the strike was withdrawn. Three days later, KAT stayed Sharma’s transfer and he is back in BMTF. And the garbage contractors are at their tricks again with their intentionally slow removal of the piled up garbage, adding to the people woes. The dumping yard issue too has come in handy to the garbage contractor to allow more garbage on the streets. They want to portray with their tactics that the contractors are inevitable for garbage clearing and the BBMP must act as per their whims and fancies. Needless to say that many politicians in power and officials in BBMP are beneficiaries of the contractors in the 500 crore garbage deal. That is why nobody is prepared to control the wayward contractors who are holding the Bengalurians to ransom.

 It is high time, the BBMP realises its duty towards Bengaluru and Bengalurians vis-a-vis garbage clearance. Till now, they have completely let down the people. One hopes against hope that wiser counsel prevails over the people’s representatives and the officials of the BBMP. 

That is all.

Firoz.T.Totanawala The Bangalore Metro Reporter THE RUMOUR ATTACK! RUMOURS- WORSE THAN TERRORISM, RESULTS IN EXODUS OF NE PEOPLE

By Firoz.T.Totanawala

The Bangalore Metro Reporter

THE RUMOUR ATTACK! 

 RUMOURS- WORSE THAN TERRORISM, RESULTS IN EXODUS OF NE PEOPLE 

All of a sudden, thousands of people from North Eastern states fled from Bangalore fearing for life. Nobody knows the reasons for their sudden home going, except that they have been threatened by vested interests to leave the city in the wake of the Assam and the Mumbai protest violence. Most of the threats were through SMS and MMS which are based on hearsays and rumours. Despite the assurance by the state about their safety, these migrant people from NE fled. Hundreds of students of NE also followed suit spoiling their academic career. It is another matter the state tried everything possible, but the rumour mills did not allow the people to have faith in the state. This is worse than a terrorist attack. The Chief Minister, Home Minister and the government machinery in addition to social groups implored the NE people not to fear and guaranteed their protection. More than anything else, the state has Pachau, hailing from NE as the DG of police. What more confidence measures can one take other than these? But the irony is that the NE people did not give in to the state’s assurances. 

 Arguably, Bangalore is the safest place in India. The Law and Order situation, the job opportunities and the peace loving nature of the state is better than the best of the states in India. In Bangalore alone, there is an estimated population of more than 3 lakh NE people. From IT-BT to hospitality to construction, these people are eking out their livelihood in Bangalore. In Addition, there are hundreds of students from NE who are pursuing their education in the state. More than anything, these people are known to be least troublesome among other migrants from North India. 

 But still, the NE people were targeted so much so that they were forced to go back home. There are absolutely no organisation or terrorist outfits which have created the terror. Rather it is the high tech gadgets that spread the fear. Truly, the SMS, MMS and other hi-tech communication gadgets spread fear psychosis among the people. 

 Of course, the genesis of the trouble can be attributed to the Assam where the local Assamese population is at loggerheads with Bangladesh migrants who outnumber the locals. The Bodos and other tribals are protesting against the Bangladesh Muslims migrants who dominate the politics and also the economy. In the last few days, Assam has witnessed large scale violence where hundreds of tribals and Muslims migrants have lost their lives and properties. 

 The second major reason was the Mumbai protest against the violence on Bangladesh migrant Muslims. The protest meet issued a dire warning to the NE people that they will become targets of Muslims all over the country if they do not withdraw the agitation. The protest turned violent and a couple of lives were lost. And the third is the failure of the Assam state government to contain the violence and the destructions. 

 Normally, all such things have little impact on the people in Bangalore. At the maximum, some migrants may stage a protest rally in league with some organisation of self styled intellectuals and there ends the matter. People in Bangalore, as a rule, do not oppose any Dharnas or rallies held by people, for whatever reasons. They will be forgotten the moment it ends. 

 But, that is not the case in the present situation. The NE people were flooded with SMS messages from unknown sources warning them to leave Bangalore before the 20th. Some attribute it to few fundamentalist forces who claim monopoly over their religion. Naturally, the NE migrants who are always submissive and peace loving and eke out their living working, were threatened through messages and there were a couple of incidents where few people personally threatened them to leave the city. 

 But that cannot be reason for the mass hysteria that engulfed the NE migrants. In fact, many Muslim organisations came forward openly to protect these people and in some mosques, even prayers were held for the safety of the NE people. One should not doubt the motives behind these moves except treating it as an assurance to those people. Peace meetings too were held in areas where these people are concentrated to assure them of the safety. 

 Of course, even the Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogai asked the people not to leave Bangalore as it is a peaceful city and the safety was being assured by the state government. The Prime Minister also had discussed the matter with the CM Jagadish Shettar. It is to be recalled that Law Minister Suresh Kumar, Home Minister and Dy. CM R.Ashoka met the NE people at the railway station to assure them of protection. Arguably, the whole of Bangalore backed these people. 

 No government or citizens can do more than this and the people who fled Bangalore should understand this. Did they think that the volcanic situation in Assam is safer than Bangalore? It is because of the insecurity and lack of opportunity in NE states that these people migrated to southern states especially Karnataka. And now they feared for their lives merely over rumours. They did not listen to the CM, Home Minister, DGP, Muslims, and people of the Bangalore as a whole for their protection and safety. They also did not listen to their own CM Tarun Gogai. There was no answer from them except that they are going home for the time being. 

 Apparently, their fear is ill founded. Just because they received threatening messages, does not mean that they had to flee Bangalore. They have become the victims of rumours. The rumours were so strong that they sidelined the assurances of the governments, Muslims and even Bangaloreans. This makes one wonder whether the rumours are powerful than the state and its machinery? In a way, the rumours have become the nascent form of terrorism. 

That is all.

Firoz.T.Totanawala The Bangalore Metro Reporter IN THE NAME OF DRAUGHT! DISGUISED AS DRAUGHT YATRA, BJP STARTS ITS ELECTION CAMPAIGN!

By Firoz.T.Totanawala

The Bangalore Metro Reporter

IN THE NAME OF DRAUGHT! 

DISGUISED AS DRAUGHT YATRA, BJP STARTS ITS ELECTION CAMPAIGN!

The drought like situation in the state was since the beginning of the year. By April end, 173 taluks were officially stated under severe drought. The late rains provided some relief but still, some districts are severely suffering. In fact, a detailed and threadbare discussion had taken place in the Assembly and council during the budget session. 

 But, the state government cannot take the stand that there is drought so much so that it has now sent three teams headed by former CMs Yedurappa and D.V.Sadananda Gowda and BJP National Secretary Anantha Kumar to tour the state, study the drought situation and supervise the drought relief measures! On the contrary, there are Disaster Management Committees in every district headed by the Deputy Commissioners to take up relief measures. There is a system to monitor the drought situation by taking up relief measures to prevent the situation going out of control. But, the administration has completely collapsed so much so that the Disaster Management Committee has not met since last six months. 

 The draught situation in state worsened during May-June when the expected monsoon failed to materialise. It was then that the state government should have initiated drought relief on war footing to prevent the severe impact of drought. But there was hardly any government worth its salt. 

 On the contrary, the central government sent an official team to study the situation and recommend central assistance. But shockingly, none of the Ministers, let alone the CM, bothered to meet the official delegation to impress upon them the seriousness and severity of the drought situation and ask for higher central assistance and grant. The official delegation went by the official version of the local administration and as such the severity of the drought was lost on the central delegation. The inevitable happened as the central government released some extra grants and there ended its responsibilities. 

 But, what about the state government? There was absolutely no administration since Yedurappa started his ‘ousts Sadananda’ campaign in March. The Ministers were busy grouping themselves with either Yedurappa or Sadananda group and there was complete administration breakdown. Even after Sadananda’s removal and Jagadish Shettar’s re-instatement, there is no improvement. Everybody is busy for slices of power. Naturally, the drought issue was forgotten except for the CM’s announcement that agriculture loans up to Rs. 25 thousands is waived! Besides the late rains that provided relief to few drought areas, the situation has remained the same. 

 And, all of a sudden, Yedurappa announced that he will tour the state to study the drought situation and help the affected people. With the recent High Court order relaxing his movement conditions, Yedurappa has made every preparation to embark on a state wide tour and even a luxury Bus, redesigned for his tour was ready. Allegedly, everybody knew that Yedurappa’s tour was only a ruse for his eventual formation of a regional party. The ‘drought’ is only an excuse. 

 But, the BJP leadership was nervous. With Assembly elections just nine months away and chances of it getting pre-poned to December, BJP cannot afford allowing Yedurappa to tour the state as its only leader. Even earlier, the BJP high command had scuttled Yedurappa’s state wide tour, at least on 3-4 occasions. Yedurappa has repeatedly threatened the high command of pulling down the government and therefore it cannot risk allowing Yedurappa to tour the state under BJP banner and forming a regional party before the elections. 

 Moreover, the BJP, whose image is tainted with scams and parade of many of its ministers including Yedurappa to the Jail, wants to refurbish its damaged image so that it can reach a respectable figure in the elections. Then, if Yedurappa was allowed the state tour, his scams, scandals, caste politics, etc. precedes his visits everywhere. Therefore, allegedly, the high command with a view to cut Yedurappa’s wings decided to form three teams under the leadership of three leaders to study the drought. The three teams headed by Yedurappa, Sadananda and Anantha Kumar will tour three different regions and they have to give extra stress towards party organisations. This will also prevent Yedurappa taking credit for all the so called developments and playing his caste card. The ‘drought’ is only for public consumption. 

 Whatsoever, what purpose will the drought tour by three teams serve to provide relief to the victims? The team will tour their given areas, talk to few people, hold party meetings and try to boost the morale of the party cadres. Allegedly, the team’s main duty is to prepare the party’s cadres and leaders to the election. With the task of interacting with the people of drought areas, they will be having public contact. 

 Of course, the tour is a simple ‘study tour’ as per BJP stand. More than touring and talking to the people, the teams have no powers or authority to provide official relief from the government to the victims. At the maximum, they can recommend such measures to the government. This can very well be done by the respective Deputy Commissioners who could get the first hand and factual report of the severity of the drought from the local revenue authorities, village panchayaths, Taluk Panchayaths etc. In fact, this will be more authentic than the possible report by the three teams. 

 Furthermore, the party’s rank and file has become disillusioned with the unimaginable corruption of their leaders. For consolidation, the BJP has pressed into service three teams under senior leaders to undertake the campaign tours in the name of drought study. There is nothing to study about the drought which is affecting a part of the state since March this year. The draught tour reason is very simple. The three teams will tour the state for election campaign. If this real motive is disclosed, the BJP will get ridiculed as a party doing dirty politics in times of drought. That is why the party has dubbed it as drought study tours. 

That is all!

Firoz.T.Totanawala The Bangalore Metro Reporter THE CORRUPT PROTEST! DEFENDING THE CORRUPT ENGINEERS! IS BMTF PROCEEDINGS AGAINST VIOLATION, AN OFFENSE?

By Firoz.T.Totanawala

The Bangalore Metro Reporter

THE CORRUPT PROTEST!                

DEFENDING THE CORRUPT ENGINEERS!  IS BMTF PROCEEDINGS AGAINST VIOLATION, AN OFFENSE?

For three days, the BBMP engineers held Bangaloreans to ransom protesting against the BMTF action in filing criminal complaints against 150 engineers for allowing illegal buildings, encroachment and other omissions including bogus and sub standard works. The situation became worse with the Poura Karmikas joining the protest. Consequently, the Garden City became Garbage City with thousands of tonnes of garbage on the roads. The engineers want the BMTF disbanded and withdrawal of all FIRs filed against them. It implies that the engineers do not want their illegal actions to be probed, let alone, punished.... 

The Bangalore Metropolitan Task Force headed by a senior police official was formed to prevent unauthorised constructions, encroachment of lands, probing complaints against officials for all their omissions and commissions in and around Bangalore. The BMTF is similar to the police wing of the Lokayukta. Many times, the BBMP Commissioner has referred few scams in BBMP for BMTF investigation. 

 Very recently, the BMTF probed some more scams which were on a massive scale where engineers were neck deep involved. It is an open secret that the corporators and MLAs are making the engineers to dance to their tunes. They force the engineers to look the other way when illegal constructions are taking place or to prepare the bill for works, not done physically. They also make engineers take action against their adversaries. The engineers prepare inflated bills, bogus bills or allow substandard works at the bidding of the MLAs/Corporators. 

 Allegedly, the engineers do get handsome returns for this job. It is they who collect the ‘money’ from violators and share it with Corporators. Anybody can do any damn violations or allow encroachments and go scot free by paying the ‘demanded’ money to the engineers who also collect money on behalf of the corporators. In turn, the MLAs/Corporators provide protection to the engineers in times of need. 

 It is an open secret that many of the engineers have come to BBMP on deputation from PWD and stay put in BBMP for a couple of years, make few crores and go out of BBMP to another post in another department. They do not get punished as the probes on works, do not indict them for the single reason that the probes were never impartial. Those engineers who are regular employees in BBMP have allegedly become highly powerful so much so that they dictate terms to the MLAs/Corporators. Some have even financed the elections of MLAs/Corporators. 

 But this time, the tables are turned against them with the BMTF taking up the investigations seriously, particularly after the fire incident at BBMP office. As expected the public also flooded the BMTF with complaints of large scale violations by the engineers. As the investigations progressed, the BMTF got foolproof evidences against the engineers and filed FIRs in the courts. It filed FIRs against more than 150 engineers. In fact, this is a sort of world record. In the earlier probe of Rs. 1500 crore works scams, the BMTF had filed FIRs against 30 engineers and some of them were also arrested. Interestingly, the BMTF need not have to go to the jurisdictional police stations to file complaints as the government has notified the BMTF as a police station for such purposes. 

 The FIRs against 150 engineers sent shock waves among the hundreds of engineers in BBMP. If the investigation is completed, one can be sure of another 100-150 engineers queuing up before the court to obtain bail. That is why the engineers have started the protest demanding withdrawal of FIRs. They met the BBMP Commissioner Shankaralinge Gowda and demanded restraining the BMTF from proceeding with the investigations. They wanted him to instruct the BMTF Chief Sharma to drop further investigations. Their defense, they might have done many omissions and commissions but they were done at the behest of the Corporators/MLAs. They want the BMTF to follow usual procedure adopted for taking action against the government servants like issue of show cause notice, getting their reply, appointing enquiry officer to conduct the enquiry as per the KCSR and take follow up action based on the findings of the enquiry. 

 One does not understand the rationale behind this demand. For omissions and commissions like misconduct, misappropriations etc. the departmental enquiry will be held. But in the present case, the BMTF has investigated the complaints and established prima facie case. As the offences are criminal in nature, the next logical step would be to file the FIR and proceed with prosecution. 

 In fact, the enquiry by the BMTF is a police enquiry and it is a common sense that like in any police cases, FIR has to be lodged. And after a thorough investigation, the BMTF can file charge sheet or B report depending on the outcome of the probe. As the BMTF is designated as a police Station, it cannot adopt any different method. At the maximum, the engineers can demand the BMTF to probe the cases without arresting them. Here too, it is the courts to decide the matter. It is a must for the accused engineers to get bail from the court. There is no other way. 

 The engineers have also demand that the BMTF should work under the control of the Commissioner. This is just a wishful thinking. The BMTF is an independent body with additional DGP as its head. The engineers want the post to be downgraded to IGP level so that the Commissioner can control the BMTF. Earlier also, there was a controversy over the control over the BMTF. The BMTF Chief is under the HUD and not under BBMP. 

 True, one cannot say that there are no merits in the demands of the engineers. They too have genuine grievances like dictation by the MLAs and Corporators. They have to work under the pressure of various lobbies like Tar lobby, contractor lobby, builder lobby etc. who are very powerful and have links with the highest order. The engineers in the absence of proper protection are always at the mercy of the politicians and lobbies. It is because of these compulsions, no honest engineer can work in BBMP. He will not be allowed to work honestly. At the same time, it is true that scores of engineers in connivance with political bosses and contractors have minted millions. Unless an atmosphere is created where an engineer can work honestly and without fear, nothing can improve the affairs in BBMP. 

 Whatsoever, the protests by engineers cannot be justified. Let them face the enquiry and court and come out with the truth which may help in cleansing the BBMP of looters. It will also become a warning to the prospective looters also. If they think that taking action against violations is an offence, they are mistaken as the law of the land is entirely different and they cannot have their own law or rules for game. And the engineers should realise this, the sooner, the better for them. That is all.

Firoz.T.Totanawala The Bangalore Metro Reporter POLITICALLY CORRECT! L.K.ADVANI’S RECENT POLITICAL ASSESSMENT SOUNDS RIGHT!

By Firoz.T.Totanawala

The Bangalore Metro Reporter

POLITICALLY CORRECT!      

L.K.ADVANI’S RECENT POLITICAL ASSESSMENT SOUNDS RIGHT!

The recent assessment of L.K.Advani about the possibility of a non Congress and non BJP leader becoming the PM after 2014 polls has received mixed responses. But the fact remains that Advani is right on dot with his political assessment. The Congress naturally ridiculed him for conceding BJP defeat even before preparing for electoral battle. The BJP on its part has not taken any official line over his remarks. 

 Both, Congress leading the UPA and BJP leading the NDA is sure of victory in 2014 elections. It is natural as nobody goes to polls to lose. These parties have also tied up with regional parties who have no reservations and may join any ally depending on the need and equations in the states. 

 Advani recently remarked that there is a possibility of a non-Congress and non-BJP leader becoming the PM after 2014 polls. With his remark, he apparently meant that the BJP has utterly failed to capitalise on the failures of UPA-2 to mould the public opinion against the UPA. 

 The UPA government has not satisfied the common man by bringing down the prices to a reasonable level. Rather, it is spending lakhs of crores towards cheap and populist scheme gimmicks like Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme subsidy to the BPL etc. which has become money spinners to unscrupulous politicians and corrupt babus. On the contrary, if these lakhs of crores are utilised to fund self employment in rural areas by encouraging handicrafts, micro industries etc. and providing a fair market to the products, people would have immensely benefitted. 

 Whatsoever, if the elections are held in the near future, there is bound to be a political crisis as both the leading parties along with their alliances are facing crisis individually and collectively both at state and central level. 

 The Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has already requested Sonia Gandhi to relieve him from the PM post and he may retire from politics before 2014, if not earlier. The Congress is now looking at Rahul Gandhi, but his track record is not encouraging. The Congress may also pump in the services of Sonia Gandhi’s daughter Priyanka Vadra, but only time will tell whether she can successfully pull the threads for Congress. 

 The Congress allies in UPA are also playing truant. The TMC of Mamata Bannerji has almost severed its ties. The same is the case with NCP of Sharad Pawar which, the other day, had almost withdrawn out of the government and retraced the decision at the last minute. The DMK of M.Karunanidhi may continue but it will not benefit either of the parties. By all accounts, the Congress is going to the election battle with crippled legs. It will be a miracle if it retains its present strength. 

 And what about the BJP led NDA? The BJP, a holding political outfit of RSS, does not have inspiring leadership as their tall leader L.K.Advani has been totally sidelined. The BJP’s national President Nitin Gadkari has not shown any leadership qualities and yet, he is nominated a President for the second term by the RSS going to the extent of amending the constitution of the party. Gadkari has failed to contain indiscipline, revolt by party leaders both at state and central level. Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley etc. are mere orators and not leaders and cannot win seats for the BJP. In many of the BJP strong hold state, there is severe infighting. In Gujarat, Keshubhai Patel has resigned and floated his own party. Former CM Vasundharaje Scindia too does not care for the High Command. In Karnataka, the BJP has changed three CMs in a matter of one year. It had kneeled before former CM Yeddyurappa and at his instance, removed Sadananda Gowda who was doing a good job as CM. This alone speaks volumes about the quality of BJP leadership. 

 What about the NDA allies? The BJD of Naveen Patnaik in Orissa has already severed its alliance two years back. The JD(U) of Nitish Kumar which is ruling in Bihar with BJP, is also moving away from BJP. In the Presidential elections, it voted for Congress candidate Pranab Mukherji. In fact, Nitish Kumar has threatened to severe the links if BJP projects Gujarat CM Narendra Modi as the PM candidate in the 2014 elections. The Shiva Sena is feeling uncomfortable in the BJP’s company in recent times. The BJP may eye Jayalalitha’s AIADMK in TN, but here too, nobody can read Jayalalitha’s mind. Jayalalitha was an ally of NDA and she withdrew the support on flimsy ground and saw the toppling of Vajpayee government. 

 The biggest challenge facing the BJP led NDA is the PM candidate. L.K.Advani may not lead the campaign as the PM candidate and there is limited choice for BJP to go to polls without PM candidate or project Narendra Modi as the PM candidate. If Narendra Modi is projected as the PM candidate, Nitish Kumar will surely pull out from NDA. In fact, the JD(U) is demanding Nitish Kumar as the PM candidate. By all accounts, the NDA will be lucky if it can manage its present strength. 

 So, neither Congress nor BJP leading UPA and NDA respectively is in a position to get a majority in the 2014 elections. It is this hard reality that Advani has brought to focus in his assessment of the political situation. 

 What about the Third Front which may be formed by regional parties which are not in UPA or NDA? The left front may take the lead with SP, BSP, TDP, JDS and other parties forming the Third Front. Even AIADMK may join them. In the event of UPA-NDA not getting majority, they have to look to the Third Front support for formation of the government. And the Third Front may even demand the PM post with either UPA or NDA giving outside support or participatory support.

 It is this scenario that Advani had tried to put before the nation. Arguably, nobody can predict the political developments in the next one and half years, but Advani’s assessment was based on practical and ground reality. His assessment cannot be faulted. 

And that is all.