Diwala.com » Corruption india

‘We were better under the British’

sachinthegreat — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 17:36:19 +0000

MUMBAI: More than six decades after Independence, freedom fighters who helped overthrow foreign rule are struggling against the bureaucracy of modern India.

“We were better under British rule,’’ wrote 82-year-old S J Chughani, president of the Mumbai Freedom Fighters Sabha, in recent letters to the state and central governments to express the sabha’s frustration at the slow pace at which applications for freedom fighter status, under the Centre’s Swatantra Sainik Samman Scheme, are approved.

Thousands across the nation still await ‘freedom fighter’ status and the pension and benefits that come with it. This includes at least 350 people from Mumbai and hundreds more across Maharashtra, which was a hotbed of the freedom movement.

Speaking of the Mumbai sabha’s experience, Chughani said, “I have exchanged innumerable letters with the President and written to various chief ministers of Maharashtra, but they do not even bother to reply.’’ The Mumbai sabha has around 380 members, but only 30 or so are recognised as patriots. The other 350 have been writing to officials for 20 years.

“I am sorry to say that in my last letter to the government I went to the extent of saying that we were better under British rule,’’ Chughani told TOI.

In fact, as recently as May 2010, the Bombay High Court had to tell the state government not to be unfair to Namdeo Gaikwad, whose plea for a pension had been pending before a state panel for several years. Gaikwad, in his 90s, fought for the liberation of Goa.

Pension has been granted to 1.71 lakh freedom fighters or their eligible dependents across the country under the Centre’s Swatantra Sainik Samman Scheme, the main one for this purpose in the country, since its inception in 1972 and till October 2009.

Till January 2010, 17,909 people from Maharashtra had received pension under the scheme, but many more await this recognition even as they and their dependents get along in years.

According to official sources, the Ministry of Home Affairs is in the final stages of clearing the names of 1,614 people who took part in the movements to liberate Goa and Hyderabad. Many of those who fought to liberate Goa are from Maharashtra.

If the recognition to those involved in the Goa Liberation Movement during 1954-55 (Phase II in the documents) comes this year, it would come 55 years after their sacrifice. Likewise, participants of the Hyderabad Liberation Movement during 1947-48 would be getting recognition 62 years after their efforts. Such recognition might be too late, because the freedom fighters and their kin would be well advanced in years or even deceased. Kin like unmarried daughters, widows or parents also get benefits.

One reason for such delays is that certain historical events were not considered part of the freedom struggle for several decades by the government. For instance, only in 2003 did the government allow participants of the Goa Liberation Movement and those of the Hyderabad Liberation Movement to be included on the list of freedom fighters. This also means they can be eligible for pension and benefits only from 2003 onwards.

Chughani recounted the pitched battles that freedom fighters in Mumbai fought with colonial police to challenge foreign rule. His office at Grant Road is now the nodal point for several freedom fighters to come together and share their problems. “I have met almost every minister and MP who matters. But nothing has been done. We just want our due, but what really hurts is that in many cases they do not even reply to our letters,’’ Chughani said.

Pension is granted according to guidelines in the Swatantra Sainik Samman Scheme. In 2009-10 alone, the central government spent Rs 578 crore on benefits such as free railway passes, medical facilities, accommodation and monthly pensions, which can be as high as Rs 7,000 depending on which movement the freedom fighter was involved in.
The largest number of beneficiaries of the scheme are from Bihar, followed by West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. A large contingent of freedom fighters who fought under the banner of the Subhas Chandra Bose-led Indian National Army have been recognised by the government.

There have even been fake claimants, with the authorities coming across 35 cases last year in which details had been fudged to portray oneself as a freedom fighter.

India Shining! Corruption in India shines even more!

sachinthegreat — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 03:28:52 +0000

Right. Like many, I too decided to cash in on the fall in real estate prices and bought myself an apartment. The registration is still due; so is the possession. When the developer said I could get my apartment registered, I was very happy.

I called up the builder’s office and asked how much that would cost and the lady from the builder’s office on the phone told me the stamp duty cost. Apart from the registration amount, I need to keep aside Rs.25000 towards the legal fees, she said.

I raised my eye brows because I thought Rs.25000 is way too expensive a legal fee. I am not buying a company for god’s sake! I am just buying a decent apartment.
I asked her to explain why it is so expensive and also wanted to know what it covers. She said it covers the lawyer’s fees in preparing my sale agreement and said it also covers the miscellaneous amount. I asked her for a break up on how much goes to the lawyer and how much goes towards the miscellaneous part.

She said Rs.10000 goes to the lawyer and the balance Rs.15000 is miscellaneous.
This cracked me up. I laughed out loudly – this was the first time in my life that I heard something as this where “miscellaneous is expensive than the actual part”.

I am sure she must have noticed exclamation marks all around my head even through the phone!. I collected my composure, sat down and asked why the miscellaneous part was higher than the actual part? She said, ‘’Sir, you know about it.’’ She obviously took me for granted.

I said, ‘’Madame, honestly I don’t know about it’’ and requested her to explain to me. She said, Sir… (pause)… Sir… (pause)…. Sir, miscellaneous is towards bribe for Sub-Registrar.

Now things started heating up and I said, No way I am paying this bribe. I got very furious on how the system is operating. She said, I could not avoid this if I wanted to get my apartment registered without any delay.

She also said, if I didn’t pay up, then they (builders) would have trouble in getting work done from the Sub-Registrar’s office for other clients. She requested that I pay this amount to ensure their relationship with the Sub-Registrar wass kept alive.

Firstly, why should I pay bribe to get my apartment registered which I have bought with my hard earned money? Secondly, going by what that poor lady said, why should I pay up to ensure they maintain good relationship with the Sub-Registrar? What do I get out of it?

Why is a layman targeted like this? The development where I have bought the apartment has close to 600 apartments. A simple math throws light on how much this Sub-Registrar makes illegally from bribes. Where does this bribe go? Who all get to share this? These are the questions that are bothering me as I have stopped worrying about how I will escape paying this bribe.

The structure appears to have a bureaucratic core. The bureaucracy which was set up to control economic life has created the incentives for individual and institutionalized corruption. It’s a classic case of fence eating the crop.

The time has come to dismantle the bureaucracy as that would be the first step to fix the problem of corruption in India. This would lead to transparency and abolish the bribes that political parties could extract through the bureaucratic machinery. It will have a productive effect – that of getting bribe-seeking thugs out of political system in India.
Isn’t India’s development critically dependent on reducing corruption?
As I ponder, all I can say is “God Bless My Country”!

Found proof of Koda’s Rs 400 cr hawala transactions: I-T dept

citizenofindia — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:55:44 +0000

Income tax department claimed that it has found evidence of Rs 400 crore hawala transactions linked to former Jharkhand CM

Madhu Koda, TV reports say. ( Watch Video )

The department had claimed on Saturday that its had found evidence of Koda’s hawala transaction and investments after searches were conducted at Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Lucknow, Nasik, Ranchi, Chaibasa and Jamshedpur.

IT authorities added the department will also initiate the unlocking of seized lockers at various places of the former Chief Minister and his associates.

“Some documents showed about Rs 100 crore in foreign exchange being sent by hawala transactions to Dubai, Thailand and Malayasia,” tax officials said after the searches on Saturday.

The searches were held after the Enforcement Directorate registered a case against Koda and his associates Sanjay Choudhary and Vinod Kumar Sinha on October 9 on charges of making huge illegal investments abroad.

The ED had filed an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR), which is equivalent to an FIR, before the Prevention of Money Laundering Act court in Ranchi against Koda and eight others.

The countrywide raids by Income Tax teams on the houses of Madhu Koda and his associates continued for the second day on Sunday and he is expected to be summoned soon for “detailed questioning”.

The IT department will issue notices to Koda and others for “detailed questioning” after the completion of scrutiny of the seized material, official sources said in New Delhi.

Koda was chief minister between September 2006 and August 2008. Currently an Independent member of the Lok Sabha, Koda had held the mines portfolio twice in two governments, led by Arjun Munda between 2003 and 2006.