Doomed by Babudom

|http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/voices/doomed-by-babudom

27 November 2010
THE FRONT ROW

Anupama Chopra is consulting editor, film, NDTV 24/7
EMAIL AUTHOR
Doomed by Babudom
India’s international film festival is a joke compared to Cannes or Toronto. After all, babus are in charge.
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TAGGED UNDER | Festival de Cannes | Toronto Film Festival | Iffi

Now that’s what we call a film fest: Salma Hayek at the Cannes film festival 2010
The Cannes International Film Festival is a superbly orchestrated cocktail of cinema, glamour and business. But just how precise the French are became apparent to me when I served on the Un Certain Regard jury in 2008. As we jury members walked down the famed red carpet at the Palais des Festivals, an attendant walked just behind us, discreetly telling us which direction to look in, when to move ahead and just how long to stay still so the tuxedoed photographers on either side of the carpet could get the right pictures. This ensured smooth movement on the carpet and enabled famous faces in gorgeous gowns to make headlines globally. God, of course, was in the details.

While the French are masters of ceremony, the Canadians have perfected the sprawling, raucous, audience-driven Toronto International Film Festival (Tiff). Founded in 1976, Tiff started as a ‘festival of festivals.’ That is, they showed a collection of the best films from festivals around the world. But in 35 years, Tiff has evolved into North America’s premier festival and the unofficial launch pad for the Oscars—winners to come out of Tiff include American Beauty, Crash and Slumdog Millionaire. This year, the festival inaugurated its imposing permanent building, the Bell Lightbox, which includes five cinemas, a library and a restaurant.

Meanwhile, our International Film Festival of India (Iffi), taking place in Goa from 22 November to 2 December, continues to be an amateurish, badly organised comedy of errors with the usual complaints, controversies and largely mediocre selection of films. Which might be forgivable if the festival was new, but this is the 41st edition. A cursory internet search throws up news articles that reveal a painful consistency of bungling over the decades: fights over who will be the chief guest; criticism of films included and excluded; bureaucratic myopia; charges of corruption; and the absolute lack of character and vision. How can we continue to get it wrong for 40 years?

I asked Cameron Bailey, co-director of Tiff, what makes a successful festival. His reply: “Any successful festival begins with smart, informed, passionate programming. A festival is always defined first by the taste and daring of its programmers. After that, a festival has to cultivate an audience that is every bit as smart, informed and passionate as its programmers are.” Directors such as Bailey, Thierry Frémaux at Cannes and Marco Müller at the Venice Film Festival lead, shape and define their respective festivals. Instead of professional programmers, Iffi is run by rotating bureaucrats. The festival has no personal vision steering it. One bureaucrat explained how films are selected. “So a festival official will run into an Egyptian filmmaker and ask him if he wants to visit India. If he says yes, he’s in. Nobody has the cinematic taste or training to actually select good films. The entire exercise is totally Rambharose.”

Last year, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting set up an expert committee, headed by Pritish Nandy, to explore ways to revamp the festival. The committee recommendations, which include several structural reforms and the building of a new auditorium, have been submitted to the Ministry. But the question is: will these recommendations be implemented? Will there be a follow up? The bureaucrat isn’t so sure: “This isn’t rocket science,” he said. “A film festival is a service industry and the bottom line is quality. But they just don’t get it.” In 2004, when the festival permanently moved venue to Goa, there were ambitious proclamations of making it a second Cannes. My expectations are somewhat lower. If they can just provide a functional website, I’ll be happy.

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Anupama Chopra is Consulting Editor, Film, NDTV 24x7

HALL OF SHAME

The Sunday Times Of India
Nov 21,2010

http://lite.epaper.timesofindia.com/getpage.aspx?pageid=10&pagesize=&edid=&edlabel=CAP&mydateHid=21-11-2010&pubname=&edname=&publabel=TOI


Ministers have been forced to resign and military officials are facing a court of inquiry but the bureaucrats involved in two of the biggest scams of recent times are sitting pretty.

ADARSH HOUSING SOCIETY

At least 10 IAS officers,and other officials from the Defence Estates department and the state government directly or indirectly have apartments in the Adarsh Housing Society complex.Not a single one of these officers has given up their apartment so far;no administrative action has been initiated against any of them.The officials include:

Jairaj Phatak |

He was municipal commissioner of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation till October 2009.He too was involved in several important decisions,which enabled the highrise to come up right next to military installations.He has an apartment in the name of his son.

Ramanand Tiwari |

Maharashtras Information Commissioner.He was with the Urban Development department between 2001 and 2008,when most of the approvals were given to the Adarsh society.He too has an apartment in the name of his son.

PV Deshmukh |

As deputy secretary in the urban development department of the Maharashtra government,Deshmukh cleared several important decisions that favoured Adarsh.He also misinterpreted a letter from the Union environment ministry and cleared construction work at the controversial site.

Pradeep Vyas |

He was collector of Mumbai when land was allotted to the controversial society in July 2004.One of the officials accused of misleading Parliament.He has an apartment in name of his wife.

2G SPECTRUM

The mega scam has already claimed the minister responsible for the telecom ministry but no action has been taken against former and current officials hand in glove with the tainted minister.Former TRAI chairman Pradip Baijal,former DoT secretary S Behuria,former PS to Raja RK Chandolia etc are among those who figure in various files of the controversial spectrum allocation.

AND OTHERS...



Rakesh Mohan |

A senior IAS officer,who was raided by the CBI in 2007,has been accused of taking Rs 3 crore to award a contract.Now back as education secretary in the Delhi government.

Randeep Sudan |

Some serious complaints have been filed against this IAS officer,including charges of sexual harassment.He still managed a coveted World Bank posting.

Arvind Joshi and his wife Tinu Joshi |

Suspension has been this senior Madhya Pradesh IAS couples only punishment so far even though the Income Tax department recovered crores from their home.

Subhash Sharma |

In 2003,the CBI conducted raids across Delhi to find out if the then DDA vice chairman took crores from DLF to favour the builder.Sharma spent sometime in jail and the CBI chargesheeted him,but he went on to retire at the rank of secretary.

Shadows Man

The Sunday Times Of India
Nov 21,2010


http://lite.epaper.timesofindia.com/getpage.aspx?pageid=10&pagesize=&edid=&edlabel=CAP&mydateHid=21-11-2010&pubname=&edname=&publabel=TOI

The neta loses his job.The officer loses his commission.But the babu manages to keep both the loot and his pension,reports Josy Joseph


It is high time somebody had the courage to infuse a bit of morality into the soul of Indian bureaucracy the steel frame of governance in this country.If all the scandals of our times have a single unifying theme,it is the central role played by the civilian bureaucracy.Thats right from the powerful Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer to the lowly clerk.In Mumbai,a clever and manipulative Defence Estates Officer,with active support from many IAS officers and military men,was able to corner a prime plot of land meant for the defence services,pull in top generals and politicians and build the 31-floor Adarsh Housing Society.Its pretty much the same story in A Rajas 2G spectrum scam.A host of officials,from senior bureaucrats to Department of Telecom officials,aided and guided the minister at every step.
In both instances,the key political leaders involved have paid a price for alleged involvement in the scam.They have been forced to resign from their postsAshok Chavan as Maharashtra chief minister and A Raja as Union telecom minister.In the Adarsh scam,the army has already started its own court of inquiry and the Ministry of Defence has ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation to investigate military officials who conspired to get themselves apartments.Embarrassed former military chiefs and Chavans relatives have given up their apartments.But we are yet to witness any such act of repentance by any bureaucrat involved in these scandals.
The trend is clear.If political leaders are caught engaged in acts of commission or omission,they are mostly forced out of office and always have to face the ultimate test - public trust during the next elections.If you are in the defence services and accused of impropriety,you can be assured of swift and harsh punishment.But if you are a bureaucrat,there is not much of a problem at all punishment is the exception rather than the norm.The message that the system seems to convey is that babus are from a different planet;the rest belong to the wobbling democracy called India.
The steel frame of a rising power,men and women who decide the fate and fortunes of one billion people is increasingly looking like a soulless greedy herd,with very few good men and women.Worse,even as other institutions at least act to placate the angry,the civilian bureaucracy sits back and aloof as if the scams dont concern it at all.
As India takes a closer look at government corruption,there is growing anger against the visible immunity enjoyed by bureaucrats.In the last week or so,almost every gathering of young politicians and military officers is charged up and anger at the way the civilian bureaucracy appears to be,in their words,getting away with murder.
A recent gathering of young MPs,for instance,expressed loud and exasperated frustration at the apparent immunity enjoyed by bureaucrats involved in the Adarsh scam.One MP speculated that it seemed the babu had the best of all wordsit was practically impossible to dismiss them.Another argued that unlike politicians,babus never have to face the public test of their efficiency and honesty.All agreed that it was the wily babu who helps the politician manipulate processes and 6in order to and doctor files to rob the hungry and poor people.
As India liberalized over the last two decades,there was genuine hope that the iron-grip of bureaucracy would be replaced by a more efficient administration of technocrats and neutral regulators.A few years ago,BS Baswan,who was then head of the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie,predicted that the IAS may simply not exist a generation from now.Some 20 years ago,the Academy had predicted the evolution of technocrats.It said they would head regulatory bodies as the state withdrew from micromanaging governance.
Its predictions were completely and utterly wrong.As the state itself gets involved in welfare programmes such as NREGA and undertakes nationwide tasks such as infrastructure development,the babu has emerged as ever more powerful.The babus grip on the nations resources and exchequer has actually tightened.
The result of that ever-tighter grip is most visible most in departments that conduct critical public functions.In all of them,corruption has been institutionalized.In the national capital,a bribe is de rigueur if you want to register property.Were one to add the police force to Indias bureaucratic framework,the picture that emerges is disconcerting,ie for the average citizen,this is a cruel and corrupt police state.You have to pay a bribe to file an FIR and almost the same money can be used to hire a policeman to harass someone.The corruption-free government department is all but unknown in India.
A large number of officials serving in the so-called lucrative departments customs and income taxare multimillionaires.They have apartments and own property in almost every big Indian city.A senior IAS officer who recently visited an academy that trains young civil servants was shocked by the way they discussed the ill-gotten gains they could expect in the course of their careers.The systemic corruption that has seeped into Indias steel frame is so staggering that it is not unusual for whistleblowers to be harassed in many departments.And for silent but honest officials to hunted down if they refuse to take their share of the booty.
The Defence Estates department,which is under the scanner in the wake of Adarsh housing scam,is a classic example of what most government departments have become.Of the five officers of the Indian Defence Estates Service recently cleared for promotion to the rank of additional secretary,four face serious allegations of financial misdeeds.At least one was originally a member of the Adarsh society,another was raided by the CBI on one occasion and others have faced vigilance indictments in the past.
So,how do babus get away with it The loot And the pension The short answer is politics.The Indian political system,which us driven by a humungous amount of black money,is heavily dependent on its supremely clever bureaucracy to find ways and means to rob the republic.No major national party can operate using clean money alone.Together,the babu and the neta have created a system in which politics,elections and all related activity is driven by massive amounts of black money.
As a weak executive leadership,made up often enough of morally bankrupt politicians,looks the other way the civilian bureaucracy is having a free run.Often,when bureaucrats retire,they merely head right back into the service to head regulatory bodies such as,say,the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.The recently released report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India on the 2G spectrum scam is a ringing indictment of some of the most senior officers in the Department of Telecom and TRAI.
If the corrupt babu is sitting pretty its because he feels invincible.Despite aggressive efforts by the Central Vigilance Commission,it takes months for a government department to permit the corrupt to be prosecuted.All too often,permission is never given.
Interestingly,in this season of scams,the political and army class are under scrutiny,but the baby remains unscathed.No firm action has been taken by the Cabinet Secretary;nor has the civil service asked for any.
For India,an emerging power,this immoral babudom may be the poison that finally smothers its dreams.

The men who rule us: good, bad and the corrupt

The Sunday Times Of India
Srivatsa Krishna, Nov 21, 2010, 12.33am IST

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-toi/special-report/The-men-who-rule-us-good-bad-and-the-corrupt/articleshow/6962036.cms

Contemporary India is characterized by a 21st century economy, being run by a 14th century polity of the robber-baron variety, supported by a 19th century bureaucracy. The last few weeks have been characterized by scam after scam tumbling out of India's cupboards, which have shamed us globally. The CWG mess where India got "Kalmadi-ed", Adarsh where " Ashok Chavan and Mother-in-Law Pvt Ltd" cheated the nation in the name of Kargil war heroes, and the spectrum scam where Raja looted the exchequer by giving away a scarce national resource to companies who wouldn't know the difference between a telecom tower and Leaning Tower of Pisa. In each of these cases civil servants formed an integral part of the decision making. For example, it is fairly well known that Raja waited for an officer with integrity to retire before going in for the 'lootfest' with someone much more pliable; likewise Adarsh society has serving and retired officers including Idzus Kundan, Seema Vyas, Ramanand Tiwari, Shankaran, Jairaj Phatak or their immediate family who allocated flats to themselves at a deep discount. This is unprecedented and perhaps happened for the first time in the history of independent India that serving civil servants have violated All India Service (Conduct) Rules and yet no action appears to have been initiated against them. These officers and others from both the civil service and defence services who signed the files to procure faulty bulletproof vests for Mumbai Police, or to buy coffins for the Kargil jawans, those who did not stop Raja and Chavan from running amok, or those who routinely issue NOCs to hazardous buildings which collapse much later must be tried and punished under a fast track court system setup exclusively for this purpose.

There have been some fundamental changes in the governance superstructure of India over the last two decades, and these are: First, the Westminster model of governance where the politician is expected to debate and legislate policy, whereas the civil servant is supposed to execute policy has been turned on its head. The politician more often than not, cares a damn for policy, and has instead gone into execution for he sees the pot of gold there. The civil servant is left to pass off something as policy, whose value is questionable given that it has allowed crony capitalism to flourish on a large scale. Second, the culture of the civil service has become one where accountability to a process is paramount over accountability to a result. As such, especially in the secretariats of almost every government, time and money is wasted in following due process whereas eventual impact and results are often relegated to a distant third or fourth place after personal aggrandizement, political sucking-up to name a few. Thirdly, our democracy is rapidly degenerating into a kleptocracy where the entry barriers to fighting elections namely huge money, muscle power along with the right caste and family credentials make it impossible for the average citizen with sound common weal to even dream of contesting elections. As such the masses elect a few through an imperfect electoral process which has led to fractured mandates leading to the tail wagging the dog, leading to a further splitting of the spoils to recoup election expenditure and political blackmail as standard operating procedure to bully and coerce an already timid bureaucracy.

However, we must also not forget the other side, because there is another side too. The beacons of hope are also many from the civil service with whom lives India's hopes for a better tomorrow: We forget that it was an IAS officer namely S R Rao who was called upon to rescue Surat from collapsing during the plague who went to places where even the Army reportedly refused to go into in a boat and more recently he along with other IAS officers worked tirelessly to make the CWG a resounding success; Rentala Chandrashekhar and J Satyanarayana led India's e-governance revolution which is touching the lives of millions today when they interact with the government at the cutting edge level. Dr T V Somanathan, another exceptional officer, has quietly designed a world-class blueprint for the Chennai metro which is being rapidly executed on the ground, as is being brilliantly done by N Sivasailam in Bangalore. Dr I V Subba Rao designed the bar-coded entry to smoothen the pilgrim experience at Tirupati one of the busiest temples in the world.

Countless faceless IAS officers work selflessly every day in circumstances, which almost no private sector professional would be willing to work in on a day to day basis. I challenge a Ratan Tata or a Narayanamurthy to report to a Pappu Yadav or A Raja or a Kalmadi and yet produce market like performance and market like results —and that too while being watched over by a pro-active judiciary, indisciplined staff and a rapacious media! Also we often confuse publicity with achievement and as such, many who do good work in the civil service remain unknown —but that doesn't take away the good work they do every single day in very tough circumstances.

In the rarest of rare cases, the Supreme Court awards the death sentence to those who kill and rape. Perhaps the time has come to contemplate the death sentence for those who rape the public exchequer too, so that we set a public example of such cases to prevent others from doing the same. If not, we run the peril sadly accepting the uncomfortable truth that removing corruption from India is as impossible as it is to remove capitalism from America.