http://www.allbankingsolutions.com/Appeal-to-CJ-HC-Karnataka-Joint-Secretary-MOF.htm

Article by Sri P. Sainath published in The Hindu on 8^th Of July 2011

As we close in on 20 years of Manmohanomics, it's worth remembering one chant the chattering classes uttered, first with pride, later to console themselves. “Whatever you say, we have the most honest man in Dr. Manmohan Singh. And no one can speak a word against him.” It's less heard now — those affections having been transferred to other punters in the honesty sweepstakes. But growing numbers do say this daily: the honest Prime Minister presides over indisputably the most corrupt government in our history. And therein lie many lessons.

Dr. Singh's decision to meet weekly with editors tells us which lesson he has drawn from the mess. That his government's problem with corruption is a public relations one. This even though the media, while barking at politicians in the 2G scam, have steered clear of the corporate core of all such rackets. Dr. Singh sees the media acting too often as “accuser, prosecutor and judge.” (He may have got that one right). Yet, he wants a weekly meeting with them. So is this a PR exercise? Or does he believe India's editors possess a wisdom unknown to others that will end corruption in all sectors (bar their own)? I hope the former.

Totting up his government's scams is like a Census operation. A large and complex count. There are scams done and buried, there are those alive and breathing. More are exhumed by the day. There are others in the pipeline, about to be pulled off. Still others where the media remain helpfully silent. And yet more in planning and process. We have a Union Cabinet that is possibly richer (at over Rs.500 crore) than most earlier Cabinets put together. And in spirit, reminiscent of the bungling mob in Jimmy Breslin's 1969 book The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight. Only this mob rakes it in where Breslin's collapsed swiftly. And this crowd runs a large country, not a few blocks in New York.

There are of course many causes of corruption and everyone has his or her favourite story. But there are three sources which, if ignored, render analysis worthless. One: the structural inequalities of Indian society, including huge concentrations of wealth and power, class and caste, gender and other embedded discrimination. Two: the whole edifice of economic policy that has (more rapidly in the past 20 years) deepened, driven and legitimised those inequalities. That has, for instance, made corporations far more important than citizens, mocking the Constitution. And three: the culture of impunity and arbitrariness — with very little accountability. That allows the powerful to get away with almost anything. Where a judge in one State bans all protest rallies on weekdays because his car got stuck in a rally on the way to work. Where sundry godmen can break every tax law — so long as they don't challenge the ruling regime.

Tackling corruption without addressing its sources is like trying to mop the floor dry — with all taps open and running. The sources are old. Their (man-made) scope, size and damage are pretty new.

The past 20 years have seen unprecedented concentrations of wealth, often by awful means, mostly enabled by economic policy. The state stands reduced to a tool of corporate enrichment. It is there to facilitate private investment. Each budget is written for (and partly by) the corporate world. The last six budgets have gifted the corporates Rs.21 lakh crore in concessions on just direct corporate income tax, customs and excise duties. In the same period, food subsidies and agriculture have suffered cuts.

The neo-liberal economic framework assigns the state the role of wet nursing the corporate sector at public cost. This is why we live in the age of privatisation of just about everything. It is the state's mission to hand over scarce national resources of all kinds, land, water, spectrum, anything, to further bloat corporate profits. It is this process of peddling a nation's resources to private agents on preferential terms that is the main source of corruption in our time. The scams are the symptoms; a state that serves corporations, not citizens, is the disease.

Those who rightly worry about election spending also need to make other connections. There is a class of people which has much more to spend — and illicit funds to spend from. At levels unheard of since 1947. In many States, you cannot hope to contest an election without being a crorepati.

Take the case of 825 MLAs elected this May to the legislatures of four States, one Union Territory (and the bypoll in Kadapa.) Look at their declared assets. Thanks to the alert National Election Watch (NEW), a coalition of over 1200 NGOs spearheaded by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), we have data that are fun to analyse.

The ADR data tell us that the total self-declared value of these 825 MLAs is around Rs.2,128 crore. As many as 231 of these MLAs are into their second term. They increased their assets by 169 per cent on average, between 2006 and 2011. That is, they may well have collared more wealth in their first five-year terms than they had acquired in the rest of their lives.

Now think of 825 landless labour households. We cannot compare their ‘assets' with those of the MLAs since the landless households have none and are drowning in debt. How long would it take, working on the MGNREGS for instance, for them to earn money equalling the wealth of the 825 MLAs?

The most they can make in the 100 days of work the MGNREGS grants them is — on national average — around Rs. 12,600 a year. The 825 landless households would require over 2,000 years to touch that Rs. 2,128-crore mark. And they'd need to abandon frivolous habits like eating. But let's make that 10,000 labour households. They would need close to 170 years to hit the jackpot. Even a million households would take well over a year to get close. (Recall that over a fourth of those MLAs acquired most of their assets in 60 months.)

Of course, given the profound inequalities, the labourer households will never have any assets, leave alone Rs.2,128-crore worth. They will remain indebted. And the interest they will pay off on those debts will likely add to the assets of the MLAs — some of whom are moneylenders. Yet the wealth of those MLAs is paltry compared to the huge state-led enrichment of the corporate world. It would take a million labourer households around 275 years on the MGNREGS to earn the Rs.3.5 lakh crore the government has doled out on annual average in the past six years to the corporate sector.

And then there's the impunity. Dr. Singh can juggle his Cabinet, but will it change much? An Agriculture Minister who spent more time on cricket — and helped transform that national passion into a tawdry, commercial swamp of sleaze. (At the time of writing, another wicket, that of the Textiles Minister, has fallen in this regime's precarious second innings.) Another, the Minister of Heavy Industries, shamed by the Supreme Court for helping moneylenders — then promptly promoted to Rural Development Minister. Even if dumped, their replacements, however youthful, won't alter that. For it isn't about lax governance or poor rules only. It's about corrupt policies.

Want to fight corruption in our time? Move to dismantle structural inequality, the disease of neo-liberal economic policy and the culture of arbitrariness without accountability. Do we need a Lokpal? Yes. Should it be a supra-government? Above constitutional structures and answerable to no one? You're begging for trouble. Can it tame the Trimurti of inequality, economic policy and arbitrariness? No. It's not geared towards that. That's a larger battle for people as a whole and their institutions. As the old saw goes, your rights are only as secure as the process by which you defend them.

At this moment battles rage across the country over displacement, forced land acquisition, the rape of resources, over forest and other rights. These may be ‘local' battles but they challenge corruption on a large, even global, canvas. They are fighting inequality and discrimination. They resist impunity, greed and profit. They try to hold their rulers accountable. Some fight unjust laws (as in the case of Irom Sharmila). Others for the just application of laws (as with some forest rights struggles). Almost none, however, place themselves above the nation. Or declare that they will lay down laws which others must obey. Nor assert that they are answerable to no one. Yet, they fight for their rights and ours too and help make oppressive structures more accountable.

There's a little amnesia on this. A corrupt and effete government and the Congress party know that well. Barely 36 years ago, a man placed himself above all structures of the Constitution. A one-man supra-government. It's sad to recall how many PLUs, middle class people and even some intellectuals wound up cheering this man and his era. His name was Sanjay Gandhi and the period was called the Emergency. The rest is history

Second articles is an experience of victim of the system

APPEAL TO CHIEF JUSTICE OF HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AND JOINT SECRETARY OF MINISTRY OF FINANCE FOR DENIAL OF FRESH PENSION OPTION TO VOLUNTARILY RETIRED OFFICERS AND WRIT PETITIONS

by

A P Pai  [synd_man@hotmail.com]

Enclosed are letters written by me to the Banking division, Ministry of Finance, Govt of India and to the Chief Justice  respectively on the above subject. In my earlier communication, I had requested you to contact the known members of Parliament or the officials of  Govt/RBI personally so that they take up our issue in the course of question  hour or write to the concerned ministry for early redressal. I now request you to make use of news paper  media by an article to highlight the injustice done, if at all any one of you have good rapport with such agencies. In short, what is needed is not only option for pension but also public awareness as to the credibility of Indian Banks Association and incapacity of the officials of Public Sector Banks to understand independently what is right and what is wrong

It is very painful to find from the website that except one batch of  writ petitions filed by the retiree officers of Canara Bank, all other petitions are not admitted so far. Banks have not yet appointed advocates. No reply is filed. Even in the case of Canara Bank petition, none of the advocates appeared on two occasions. This status is contrary to the impression given to the petitioners that the final decision by the court is due by this month end. This kind of progress of the cases is not in our interest. It is not correct to say that  the petitions need not be got admitted by the court after issue of notice, vakalathnamas and counter objection statements need not be filed by the respondents or even without compliance of these mandatory requirements our cases automatically gets connected to the petition filed by Canara Bank retiress etc.  There is no use in blaming the court. Please do not dream for a second that Trade Union Leaders( present or past), lawyers ( our own or oppoiste) Banks( for whom we served throughout our younger days), officers still in service or pensioners of special VRS 2001,Govr and the cunning IBA will try to help us. We should not forget that we are living in a self centered society. No trade union will agitate or give a strike call on our behalf even if any such call is given, there will not be any response from the serving officers. Therefore it is upto us to keep vigilant and foil all attempts of banks, Govt and IBA who are only interested in prolonging disposal of writ petitions. It is required to being home every time to our lawyer that all the petitioners are senior citizens/restless. 

                                                    Place : Udupi       

                                               Date  : 28/06/2011

  Regd AD

To

The Chief Justice of

High Court of Karnataka

Bangalore.                                     

Honourable Sir,

Sub: Writ Petition filed by Senior Citizens.

In  the  following writ petitions pending before  High  court  of Karnataka  all the petitioners are senior citizens.  But some of  the   respondents   who   are   all   financialy   powerful   and  administratively strong not even filed Vakalath let alone  filing statement  of objections because cases are not listed  after  the  notices are served.  Whereas all the petitioners are  financially weak  and are in the last leg of their life and some of them  are  sickly  counting days of remaining span of life  who are  in  the range of 65 to 70 years of age.

Writ Petition Nos                                Filed on

I.   40431 to 40461 of 2010                13/12/2010

II.  122 to 135 of 2011                        01/01/2011

III. 32475 to 32602 of 2010                08/10/2010

IV.  5294 of 2011                                 27/01/2011

V.   7718 to 7746 of 2011                    18/02/2011

VI.  7898 to 7899 of 2011                   19/02/2011

Vii  40850to 40917 of 2010                 15/12/2010  

Notices  are  already served on all the respondents  i.e.  Public  Sector  Banks, Indian Banks Association and Government of  India.  The  common  dispute  involved  in all  the  above  petitions  is  arbitrary denial of pension to one section of retiree officers of  Public Sector Banks created by artificial classification without  any  nexus to the scheme of pension introduced by the banks  with retrospective  effect.  Thus most of the retirees are now  senior  citizens.

I do not know whether it is proper for any citizen to enter  into  correspondence with the Chief Justice on any matter.  I am one of the  petitioners in the above petitions.  I have already  knocked  the  doors  of  the concerned bank,   Indian  Banks Association,  Government  of  India  and Reserve Bank of  India  seeking  their  assistance  but without any result.  Having been thus  pushed  to the  walls, I have suddenly become bold to seek your help to  get  the above writ petitions disposed with least delay.   Information given to me by my friends is that you have already given  general  advice  to your companion judges and the Registrar to take  steps for   dispensing   justice   to  senior   citizens   in   general  expeditiously is another reason for writing this letter to you.

I  pray to you to issue specific instructions to  the  concerned  who  deal with the above cases to take steps for early  disposal. 

I  may  please be pardoned, if unknowingly, I have  offended  the  protocol of judicial system.  I have written this letter as I am not  keeping well and anxious to see the light of justice  before my last breath.

Thanking you, 

Yours faithfully,

(A Premananda Pai).

'ANJANA' Ist Cross, 5th Main Road

V P Nagar, Udupi - 576 102. (Karnataka).

Phone No. 0820 4293120

Mobile No. 94490 49041.

E

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