A GoG to keep watch on corrupt officials

 

Reluctant to leave it to officialdom, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh has begun putting in place a mechanism, to be christened Guardians of Governance (GoG), to oversee the implementation of government schemes and to gather feedback on the working of officials to ensure they did not indulge in corrupt practices. The Congress, in its poll manifesto, had promised to fight corruption. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)For the purpose, the Amarinder Singh government intends to recruit and  train ex-servicemen at the village and block level. Lt Gen TS Shergill (retd), Adviser to the CM, today held a meeting to prepare a blueprint for GoG appointments.It is not yet clear if the ex-servicemen recruited for the purpose would be given an honorarium or a fixed salary. Punjab has more than 12,000 villages. The number of ex-servicemen stands at two lakh. Sources said the ex-servicemen would be trained in information technology and a special portal created for them to upload information. Action would be taken on the report filed by them within a stipulated period. Besides overseeing implementation of schemes, they would report on delivery of services such as healthcare, education, drinking water and power.

In Kairon’s footsteps?

• Partap Singh Kairon, when CM, would get a report from PR officials on any corrupt practices by senior officers
• This practice continued till mid-Nineties; PR officials would also send a feedback on government schemes
• The Amarinder govt will have a more elaborate and extensive system for feedback

Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh  made it clear that he would personally monitor the new ‘Guardians of Governance’ (GoG) department 

“This will ensure stringent implementation of all welfare schemes at the grassroots,” said the former chief minister.

He said that the proposed department will reach out to distinguished ex-servicemen to work on the ground in the state, where they will ensure proper implementation of all government schemes and programmes.

“While providing gainful employment to ex-servicemen, the GoG scheme will ensure that the government relief actually reaches the needy and is not lost in the process of dissemination as a result of corruption and favouritism,” he said.

Captain Amarinder, himself an ex-serviceman, disclosed that a separate department under his supervision will function from the office of the Chief Minister, with key ex-servicemen trained and deputed to handle is operations.

Explaining the proposed GoG system, Capt Amarinder said that one ex-servicemen each will be appointed in each of the 12,700 villages of the state.

“Guardians of Governance will also work at Tehsil and District levels, including cities, and the Chief Minister’s office,” he said. He said that the GoGs would play an important role in bringing progress back on track in the state, which had been crippled as a result of the misgovernance of the Badal regime over the past 10 years.

Ex-soldiers as guardians of Punjab welfare schemes: Know details, and meet the General who will lead

Former chairman of the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC), a much-feted commandant of the Indian Military Academy, a decorated armoured corps officer, and a military historian, Lt Gen TS Shergill (retd) has worn a variety of hats.

Former soldiers will guard against leaks in social welfare schemes in Punjab by keeping a close vigil at the village level, in a first-of-its-kind scheme by any state government in India. Here’s who’s heading it. Former chairman of the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC), a much-feted commandant of the Indian Military Academy, a decorated armoured corps officer, and a military historian, Lt Gen TS Shergill (retd) has worn a variety of hats. Now he’s donned a new one, that of heading the ‘guardians of Punjab’. Read on for details of the scheme and excerpts from a conversation with Lt Gen Shergill.

Seed of the idea: “We thought it would be a great way to productively use ex-servicemen, many of whom retire after 15 years of service, when they are only 35. Alexander had said a soldier was at his best at this age.”

The purpose: The General says a study found that of every rupee earmarked for social welfare, only 15 paise reached the target group. “We will plug this leak.” Former soldiers will be appointed guardians in all the 12,710 villages of Punjab. They will educate the villagers about the various schemes, find out if they are reaching them, and then report their findings to a central control room. “It’s an information system to help the administration. It won’t replace, replicate or become a shadow of the administration,” says Shergill.

Appointing guardians: Every village will have one guardian. “He will have to volunteer for the job. The chief selection criterion will be the respect he commands in the village regardless of his rank,” says Shergill, pointing out that “respect” holds the key. He also underlines that it’s an apolitical scheme.

The structure: The CM will be the chairman of the scheme. The guardians will have four layers: one at the village level; second at the tehsil level with a three-member team comprising an officer, junior commissioned officer (JCO) and other rank (OR), headed by an SDM; and third at the district level with a team of two officers, JCOs, and ORs each headed by the deputy commissioner. The 24-hour control room will be set up at the CM’s office.

E-governance: Every guardian will be armed with a check list of schemes and a cellphone. He will file a fortnightly report, and will be free to red-flag any lapse in the interregnum. “The information received by the control room will flow to the administration. The objective is to ensure that rectification or assistance is carried out at the village level.”

Training: Maharaja Ranjit Singh Institute of Public Administration is producing a manual for the guardians who will be trained before they take charge.

Honorarium: A sum of Rs 11,000 is being proposed for the village guardians to cover their daily expenses. They will initially be given tenure of two years.

Job scheme: The government is also tying up the guardians with its scheme of Ghar Ghar Naukri (job for each household) under which unemployed educated youths in the age group of 18 to 35 will be given a stipend of Rs 2,500 a month. “The guardians will approach these youth to serve as their eyes and ears,” says Shergill, adding that over time they will also channel them into sports and skill development.

Rollout: The district-level launch will take place in July.

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Police personnel paying tributes to five of their colleagues killed in a militant attack in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Monday.— Tribune photo: Mohammad Amin War

Suhail A Shah

Kulgam, May 1

Five policemen and two employees of the Jammu and Kashmir Bank were killed on Monday when some gunmen from militant organisation Hizbul Mujahideen struck a bank van carrying money in a village in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district.

A group of heavily armed militants began firing at a bank van that was returning to Kulgam district headquarters from Damhal Hanji Pora on Monday afternoon, a policeman said.

While four policemen and the two bank employees — the bank’s security guard one of them — were killed instantly, the fifth policeman died at a hospital later, the policeman said.However, it remains unclear if the van was robbed.“We have received seven dead bodies so far, including 5 policemen and two bank employees,” a doctor at Kulgam district hospital said.

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Among the policemen killed is an Assistant Sub Inspector of Police.

The militants reportedly took four service rifles belonging to the policemen, but this is still unverified.

Hizbul Mujahideen later claimed the attack. A spokesperson from the militant group told a local news agency that its fighters had taken with four weapons from the scene of attack.Several bank robberies have been reported in the Valley since November last year — the last one a failed attempt at a bank in Anantnag two days ago, also at Jammu and Kashmir Bank — with police citing the central government’s measure to scrap old high-value banknotes and introducing new ones in November as the possible reason for the sudden spurt. (With PTI inputs)

The Pakistani national even holds a PAN card. ANI

Jhajjar, May 26

A Pakistani national has been detained for staying in a temple here under a fake identity.An Aadhaar card and a PAN card issued in his name, and a Pakistani passport have been seized from him.As per the passport, his name is Raja and he is a resident of Hindu Colony, Larkana, in Pakistan’s Sindh province, the police said.

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“Raja, a Hindu, came to India in 2013 and his visa expired last year. He had been living in Iskcon temple in Bahadurgarh for the past nine months,” Superintendent of Police B Satheesh Balan said.The date of birth on his passport is different from what is mentioned on Aadhaar and PAN cards, the police said.A team of the Intelligence Bureau and the police are questioning him. PTI

Defence Minister Arun Jaitley. PTI file

New Delhi, May 23

The government on Tuesday came out in support of the Army’s action against Pakistani posts along the LoC involved in aiding infiltration of terrorists into India, saying such measures are needed for peace in Jammu and Kashmir.

Defence Minister Arun Jaitley said the Army is taking such “preemptive” and “measured” actions to counter terrorism in the Kashmir Valley.

Also read:  Army targets Pakistani posts across LoC; releases video

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His response came after the Army today said it had launched “punitive fire assaults” on Pakistani positions across the Line of Control, inflicting “some damage”.

“Government supports the actions of Indian Army across LoC. Such actions are needed to ensure peace in J&K,” Jaitley tweeted.

“Indian Army is taking preemptive and measured actions to counter terrorism in valley and disengage Pak posts across LoC supporting infiltration,” he said on Twitter.

The Army also released a video of the military action which showed some structures in a forested area crumbling in a heap under the impact of repeated shelling.

The Indian Army did not give much operational details of the retributive assault across the Line of Control (LoC) against Pakistan Army positions in Naushera sector of Jammu and Kashmir, which were “aiding” infiltration.

However, sources in the force said the strike was carried out on May 9, nine days after two Indian security personnel were beheaded by Pakistan’s Border Action Team. —PTI

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 22

Major Leetul Gogoi, who was accused of tying a Kashmiri man on the bonnet of a jeep to ward off stone pelters in Kashmir, has been given a commendation certificate by the Army Chief for “sustained efforts in counter-insurgency operations”.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)The award is seen as a backing for the action of the officer, who belongs to the 53 Rashtriya Rifles, even as the Army maintained that a court of inquiry (CoI) into the incident was “”under finalisation.”The Army Chief’s “Commendation Card” is considered a prestigious award. It  is given for distinguished services and devotion to duty.Two days ago, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh had, in an opinion piece in a newspaper, said the Major deserved a distinguished services medal for using a human shield against stone-pelters in Kashmir.Major Gogoi was in the spotlight after a video, shot during the April 9 Srinagar Lok Sabha bypoll and posted on the social media, showed a man tied on the bonnet of an Army jeep at Budgam in Jammu and Kashmir. A probe by the Jammu and Kashmir Police, which lodged an FIR against the security forces in light of the incident, revealed that it was Major Gogoi who had tied the man to the jeep’s bonnet as a “human shield”. A court of inquiry was ordered subsequently. Defence Minister Arun Jaitley, referring to the incident on Friday, had backed the officer, saying it should not be forgotten that the officer had the responsibility to save the lives of those involved in the election process as well as the crowd that had gathered. “Let us not forget the Army is a responsible institution,” he had emphasised.

Officer who tied man to jeep in Kashmir awarded for counter-insurgency ops

The Army is still to conclude an inquiry into the ‘human shield’ incident.

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 22

Army chief General Bipin Rawat has issued a ‘Commendation Card’ to Major Leetul Gogoi for sustained efforts in counter-insurgency operations.Major Gogoi was accused of tying up a Kashmiri youth in front of jeep to ward off stone pelters.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

The award for Major Gogoi is seen as a backing of the action of the officer belonging to the 53 Rashtriya Rifles even as the Army maintained that a court of inquiry (CoI) into the incident is “under finalisation”.

“Major Gogoi has been awarded Chief of Army Staff’s Commendation Card for sustained efforts in counter-insurgency operations,” Army spokesperson Col Aman Anand said.

Sources said Major Gogoi was given the award during Gen Rawat’s visit to Jammu and Kashmir last week.

They said the CoI into the incident is still under finalisation.The Army Chief’s ‘Commendation Card’ is considered a prestigious award and is given for distinguished services and devotion to duties.A video, showing the man tied to the army vehicle during polling in the Srinagar Lok Sabha by-election on April 9, had triggered a public outcry, prompting the Army to institute a probe.The CoI was tasked to look into the circumstance that prompted Major Gogoi to tie the Kashmiri youth to the jeep’s bonnet as a “human shield”. — With PTI inputs

Coming to grips with the Punjab reality, which, it turns out, is harsher than expected, the Congress government is yet to give the impression that it knows how to clear the mess.

The diversion or non-utilisation of Central funds by the previous Badal government has hurt urban renewal and city cleanup plans and delayed the development of Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar as smart cities.

That the BJP as a coalition partner kept silent over all this is a bit surprising. It did not care to guard its urban vote territory nor did it object to the unauthorised fund diversion for the benefit of Akali panchayats or for extra spending on development works in the constituencies of the extended Badal Parivar at the cost of the rest of Punjab.  One lesser known instance of Akali misrule that has surfaced now — which seems hard to believe — is that for 10 years water bills were not issued to domestic users as civic officials kept collecting bribes in return. After the elections in March the Local Bodies Department hurriedly dispatched water bills in the range of Rs 30,000 and Rs 60,000.

How and why the previous Local Bodies Minister allowed this to happen is hard to understand.  During the interim period the state was under the Election Commission, the power authorities took on the powerful free loaders and recovered some long-pending power dues. The freebie culture still persists but some change is visible. Institutions continue to pay for pre-poll sops. PSPCL suffered a Rs 2,000-crore loss in 2016-17. A sectoral overhaul is required. Instead, concessional power has been promised to industry, burdening the state’s already beleaguered treasury.  It is time for consolidation and common sense. Driven by a burning ambition to become the Punjab Chief Minister one last time before taking retirement, Capt Amarinder Singh promised whatever the voters had asked for.

It is a BJP-ruled Centre he deals with and his opponent in the Amritsar election is the Finance Minister. If he still expects a Central package, it is a case of self-delusion. Running the state affairs and restoring a semblance of governance to Punjab requires hard decisions. The Captain is yet to establish that he has the stamina and the stature to lead the state purposefully and passionately.

Centre to spend Rs 11,000 cr on roads in Naxal-affected districts
The maximum districts are in Chattisgarh, where 25 personnel of the CRPF were killed by Naxals last month. File photo
New Delhi, May 14
The Centre will soon begin work on a Rs 11,000-crore project to provide road connectivity to 44 Naxal-affected districts, including Sukma in Chhattisgarh, which had recently witnessed one of the deadliest Maoist attacks.

Five per cent of the total project cost, i.e, Rs 550 crore, will be kept aside for administrative expenses, including for deployment of security forces at strategic locations, officials said.

To improve rural road connectivity in the Left-wing extremism affected districts, the Cabinet had last year approved the centrally-sponsored “Road Connectivity Project for Left Wing Extremism (LWE) Affected Areas” scheme.

The project will be implemented under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) in the districts that are critical from a security and communication point of view.

Under the project, there will be construction or upgradation of 5,411 kms of roads and 126 bridges. Work will be taken up at an estimated cost of Rs 11,724.53 crore in the above districts.

The project is likely to be started in the next few weeks and all necessary arrangements have been made for its launch, a top government official said.

Out of these 44 districts, the maximum are in Chattisgarh, where 25 personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force were killed by Naxals last month.

Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra are the other states that will be covered under the scheme. — PTI

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 12  The Indian Army today said there was no communication from the Chinese side to indicate the meeting to plan for the annual hand-in-hand exercise between the two countries had been “put on freeze”.Reacting to a report in The Tribune published on May 12, Army spokesperson Col Aman Anand said: “There is nothing to suggest that the meeting to plan for military exercises between the two nations has been put on freeze.”Though the meeting called the initial planning conference was scheduled this month, sources said there was no communication from China either on the dates of the meeting or its conduct.The final planning conference is slated for July and the exercise is to be hosted by China in October-November.