Saturday, May 30, 2015
Thursday, May 28, 2015
Top Defence Management
The
present system of Defence Management is centered round the Defence
Secretary, who is entrusted with the responsibility for the defence
of India, as per the Government's Rules of Business. In the case of
Defence Secretary, the Responsibility and Accountability do not seem
to be linked together.
No
Defence Secretary has ever been held accountable: 1962 war with
China, Kargil
Episode, Disparity in defence preparedness between China and India or
Lack of suitable & adequate Field Armour, Aging Fighter
Squadrons and Naval Fleet.
Post
of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS)
The
Naresh Chandra Task Force had recommended creating an equivalent of
the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) in 2012 and the then Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh endorsed it. But the file remains buried in the South
Block.
The
Civil Service (Bureaucracy), which is the biggest impediment for
Defence Reforms, may not permit any reform to go through smoothly, as
it may diminish its status and importance in the Civil- Military
Calculus.
One
Rank One Pension (OROP)
OROP
for ex servicemen, was acceded to by the UPA government, echoed by
the NDA, and announced again by the new regime after its ascension to
power. Prime Minister Modi declared emotionally on his visit to the
troops in Siachen that "One Rank One Pension has been
fulfilled". Even one year after NDA Govt. OROP remains a
pipe-dream – Thanks to the strangle hold of Civil Bureaucracy over
(non) implementation of policy decisions.
As
far back as 2003, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence
recommended One Rank One Pension, calling it "a debt" the
Nation
had to pay. It is a debt, the NDA Government must honour without any
Ifs & Buts. Not to do so forthwith
is an act of dishonour.
Disparities
between Civil Bureaucrats Vs Service Officers
A
Joint Secretary, with nineteen years of professional experience, is
deemed the equivalent of a Major-General, who not only has many more
years of service but has commanded men and materiel, made
life-and-death decisions and protected our nation. Only less than 1%
of Army officers ever attain Major General Rank, while almost all IAS
Officers are likely to become Joint Secretaries by time scale. Lot
more pensions are paid to Joint Secretaries than Major-Generals, yet
there there is quibbling about the cost of
Defence
Pensions.
Supremacy
of Democratic Civilian Govt OK, but Not ----
The
supremacy of Democratic Civilian Government over Defence Services is
a Must, but the Arrogance and Tyranny of Civil Bureaucracy cannot be
tolerated and not desirable in the name of Govt.
_______________________________________
Sunday, May 17, 2015
Stop Criminal Act of Draining out Hussain Sagar Waters
Hussein
Sagar, a picturesque water body in Twin Cities of Hyderabad &
Secunderabad, was originally constructed in a natural depression at
about 513 m above MSL, in the year 1561. It was a fresh water lake
and used as drinking water source for Hyderabad from 1860s to 1930s.
As
the City of Hyderabad developed and the population got multiplied
putting
heavy pressure on urban land, the water spread area has
shrunk drastically
making way for various so called development
activities around it. In the
process of urbanization and heavy industrialization, the lake also got heavily
polluted by untreated /
under-treated Domestic Sewage and Industrial
Effluents discharged in
the catchment of the inlet channels. But it has
continued to be an
Ecological and Heritage Asset of the City.
But
unfortunately, with or without the connivance of the concerned Govt
Agencies the masquerading of real estate business, in and around
Hussein
Sagar, still goes on, in spite of the Court Orders, Master
Plan, Water, Land
and Trees Act, 2002 and many other Regulations. The
reason is simple.
Urban Land has become a profitable Commodity. The
prime land right in the
heart of the city has become an Attractive,
Low Risk and High Profit Real
Estate Business with quick money, and
Hussein Sagar is no body’s baby.
.
The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) and other
concerned
agencies had undertaken to discharge highly Polluted Waters
of Hussain
Sagar down stream into Musi River, by fully opening the
Sluices and breaking
Surplus Weirs from mid April, in the name of
carrying out their repairs. This is
nothing but clever camouflage of
clandestine implementation of the
publicly
announced intention of Chief Minister of Telangana for
de-watering and
de-silting of Hussain Sagar in the name of cleansing
it.
NGT
SZ, in its order 1 st May, having
some
reasonable doubt about the
conduct of the Respondents, as to whether
they have conducted any detailed
scientific study about the scheme of
De-watering, prevented them from further
de-watering of Hussain Sagar
& transferring to any other water bodies
pending further orders
of the Tribunal.
But
the concerned State Agencies, continued to discharge polluted waters
from Hussain Sagar down stream into Musi River, in utter contempt to
NGT
Directive and in utter disregard to the provisions of Section 24
of Water Act,
1974. In addition they approached Hyderabad High Court
on 7 th May, in
violation of Section 22 of NGT Act 2010, and obtained
stay order against NGT
Directive, even before the Petitioner before
NGT was informed.
All
these are speaking facts of the malformed intentions behind the
Criminal
Act of the State Administration to De-water Hussain Sagar,
before onset of
monsoon, which harms Environment and Quality of Life
of People in Twin
Cities and down stream of Musi River, apart from
loosing the Ecological and
Heritage Asset.
_____________
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