WHO IS AGAINST THE NATION?

The Chattisgarh Mukthi Morcha’s Shaheed Hospital is owned and operated by a community based NGO called RUPANTAR. Binayak Sen and his wife Ilina sen committed themselves to serve the tribal poor, by meeting their health care needs. In India, Doctors used to confine around urban area, promote their own profit oriented hospitals, run pharmacies and enjoy the sophistication the urban life provides. There are only few handful of Doctors who work with service mind and Binayak Sen was one among them. He could not remain satisfied with the medical service. He saw that tribal people got affected in the name of development, which forced their migration. The naxalites too had the same philosophy, but they resorted to violent means to recover tribal rights. In a interview given in 2009, Binayak Sen stated that he never supported Naxalites, doesn’t approve their violent methods and has spoken against them several times. But he was equally against Salwa Judam ( peace march), a movement that was functioning against Naxalite with the support of Government. Sen believed that Salwa Judam created a rift between tribal’s and split them. His concern for human rights made him to become National Vice-President of the People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) and General Secretary of its Chhattisgarh unit. The organization brought out many human right violations done by Salwa Judam in the name of anti-naxalite operations. PUCl claims that Salwa Judam is a Government driven initiative interestingly supported by all political parties and backed by corporate which had vested interest. The National Human Right’s Commission however maintains that Salwa Judam is a ‘spontaneous reaction by the tribals to defend themselves against the "reign of terror unleashed by the Naxalites." It also says that the allegations against Salwa Judam were either exaggeration or distortion of facts. We don’t know what the truth is. But the fact is both Salwa Judam and Naxalites resorted to violent means, one with the government support and other against the government. Trapped in this selfish war were the innocent civilians. In such wars, killing of innocent civilians, looting of properties and rape of women is common- a kind of war psychology. The persons forget the real intention and usually show their brute force and hidden hunger. It happened during the fight between Indian Peace Keeping force and LTTE, it happened during the operation to catch sandal hood smuggler Veerapan and there are many other international history’s to prove this. The fact that innocent people get affected cannot be ruled out and Binayak Sen was against this.

Since the government openly supported Salwa Judam and also employed Special Police Officer’s in tribal areas to curb the Naxalite activity, they had a advantage that they won’t be penalized for the activity. Probably that and the concern for preserving the tribal welfare would have made Binayak Sen, bend his mind towards Naxalite’s. Binayak Sen cannot fight the atrocities on his own. It does not mean that he took a violent route. He wished the tribal rights to be safe guarded and he would have even convinced the naxals to follow his path.

Binayak Sen was doing his duty on the path shown by  Bhagawad Gita.

The formation of Special Police force is condemned even by the Supreme court. The Government trained 4000 and odd tribal youth, paid them Rs1500/month as honorarium and also gave.303 rifles. Money and power in the hands of tribal youths to overcome Naxalites is lauded as a good strategy and even BJP went ahead stating that it will employ Chattisgarh model in other states to counter Naxalite. Even our defense minister in in favor of Special Police officers and praised their efforts and said that they will be employed wherever necessary as a counter- terrorism measure.

In April 2008, a Supreme Court bench directed the state Government to refrain from allegedly supporting and encouraging the Salwa Judum: "It is a question of law and order. You cannot give arms to somebody (a civilian) and allow him to kill. You will be an abettor of the offence under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code."; the state government had earlier denied, Salwa Judum being a state-sponsored movement, later it directed the state government to take up the remedial measures suggested in the NHRC earlier report. The Human Rights Commission alleged that Security forces collaborated with Salwa Judum in their fight against the Maoists.
In December 2008, replying to a petition filed in the Supreme Court, the state government acknowledged that Salwa Judum and security forces had burnt houses and looted property but the allegations against Salwa Judum of killings were not found to be true by National Human Rights Commission.
Even the Supreme court is against the formation of Special Police force which supported Salwa Judam. In fact it is government induced terrorism against terrorism.
Binayak Sen was arrested on 14^th May,2007 on charges that he acted as a communicator between Narayan Sanyal, 74 year old Naxal leader who in Jail and business man Piyush Guha, who have links with Naxals. Binayak Sen had met Narayan 33 times, only with the permission of the authorities.  A few letter, electronic evidences from Sen’s computer, few booklets and fabricated witnesses (83 of which 61 testified in the court) were enough for the Raipur court to give him life time sentence. On 20^th December,2010, the Raipur Session Court found Binayak Sen, Narayan Sanyal and Piyush Guha to be Guilty under Chattisgarh Special Public Security act, 2005 and Unlawful Activities Prevention act, 1967. All the three were sentenced to lifetime imprisonment.
Between 14^th May, 2007 and 20^th Dec,2010 Binayak Sen was in prison till 25^th May, 2009, during which he came out on bail granted by Supreme Court. His bail was revoked immediately after 20^th Dec, 2010 and he was confined again in jail. The sessions court in Raipur denied him bail twice on 15^th May, 2007 and on 25^th May, 2007. In Dec, 2007 the Supreme court also rejected his bail plea on grounds that he may tamper with evidence and witnesses. Apart from this there is no valid evidence to reject bail since Binayak Sen himself turned to police, when he got news that the police where on look out for him.  Binayak Sen is also a heart patient. On 25^th March,2009 he was diagnosed to have Coronory heart disease and referred him for angiogram followed by angioplasty or by-pass surgery in Vellore, CMC. (Binayak Sen studied his medical degree in Vellore,CMC . He was awareded with Paul Harrison award by CMC for his life time service to rural poor and Binayak Sen preferred to be treated there.)
Bail for Binayak Sen was rejected with vested interest. However criminals, politicians who loot peoples money and murderers escape from clutches of law very easily. On 29^th Dec,2010, the CBI let free the murderer of 14 year old Aarushi ( and her domestic help) for lack of evidence. Her father Rajesh Talwar, a dentist was accussed of honour killing her. On 30^th Dec,2010, there was a news that no FIR being filed against the BSP MLA  Purshothattam Narayan Trivedi, who was accused of raping a minor girl. Worse, when the hapless girl approached the police the girl was arrested on charges that she stole MLA’s licensed rifle and Rs.2.00 lakh. Above all there is the world famous king of scams who has amazed wealth to crores with the blessings of the cunning Karunanidhi.
Reported to be the world’s greatest scam, which apart from incurring a country to a huge loss of more than Rs1.70 lakh crores, brought a national shame. One foreign newspaper also ridiculed that Corruption is the biggest business in India and I have no doubt about that. What happened to this King A.Raja? He was sticking to the post of Minister for Telecommunications, undaunted by the allegations and proofs emerging one after another. He maintained that he never did wrong and tried to pull the prime minister into it. For a man to do such a big fraud what is needed? A heart which never cares for the nation, and a heart which cares only, for the self-growth and the growth of his kith and kin. And he is intelligent. He knows nothing can bring him to justice. The power the politics and corporate have is so great that, they will come for his rescue.
Lets compare the evidences that exists against Binayak Sen and Raja

Evidence against Binayak Sen	Evidence against Raja
A post card dated 3 June 2006 written to Binayak Sen by Narayan Sanyal (while lodged at the Raipur Central Jail), regarding his health as well as legal case, which is duly signed by the Jail authorities carrying the Seal of the Jail Authorities	Spectrum was rare national asset, should have been auctioned. Email ID of Swan Telecom shown as that of a Reliance ADA group official.  Spectrum allocated beyond contracted quantity to 9 firms including Bharti, Vodafone, Idea, BSNL, Reliance, Aircel
A Yellow coloured booklet "On The Unity Between CPI (Peoples' War) and Maoist Communist Centre" in Hindi	The CAG report which says allocation led to a loss of Rs1.76 lakh crores, as it was allocated taking into account 2001 price
A Letter written by Madanlal Banjare (a member of the CPI- Maoist) from Jail addressed to "Priya Comrade Binayak Sen".	Cut-off date for license letters advanced arbitrarily by a week
A photocopied article in English entitled: "Naxal Movement, Tribals and Women's Movement	2G spectrum allocated to new players at throwaway prices
A hand written photocopied note of 4 pages on "How to build an Anti-US Imperialist Front."	Nexus between Green house promotors, Equaas Estates and Kovai Shelters and their huge growth in real estate business in very short period
61 witnesses “produced” by the government	Niira Radia tapes which shows the nexus between Raja, Corporates and Politicians
	Rajas Overseas links and link with hawala dealers. Rajas Personal diary
	Nexus with DR.Shanmugasundaram a Malaysian business man and auditor who got TATAs land at a dead cheap price
	Donations given to Tamil maiyam by real estate agencies owned by Raja’s benami’s

 Newspapers state that Raja was given enough time to tamper with evidence. But the truth stands nakedly in front of us. What that is so far reported and found is sufficient. And if the Court of law       

And we can compare the academic credentials of Binayak Sen and Raja

Binayak Sens achievements	A.Raja’s achievement
A Doctor by profession who served for the welfare of  tribal poor	A lawyer by profession. A Dalit by Caste
Human right activist	Attracted to Dravidian philosophy of Periyar and later to the political party
Paul Harrison award for lifetime work towards rural poor by CMC, Vellore
R.R. Keithan Gold Medal by The Indian Academy of Social Sciences (ISSA) on 31 December 2007	Minister for Environment and Forests
Sen was selected for the Jonathan Mann Award for Global Health and Human Rights in 2008	Telecom Minister
Never amassed wealth	Owner of many binami real estate companys and other businesses

Mr.Raja was not arrested when I started writing this blog.  The arrest was made finally, as said rightly by Mrs.Jayalalitha to hoodwink the public. Raja alone was not the sole brain behind this. The news that the amount went to Kalaigar TV, owned by the family of Mr.Karunanidhi  is not a surprise. The money trail to the culprits were very well disguised and it will be difficult for the CBI to prove in court.
In India Politicians lives a life, of luxury even when they come out of politics. Even if some of them gets caught in scams, they soon escape and lead their after life with money that will last for generations.
In Politics there is only one rule. Kill your own fellowmen/state/country or at least your constituency for your personal benefits. Cunningness and treachery are the most wanted skills to become a politician. One who out beats others in this art, comes to power.

Greatest Indian Scams

Some Good Samaritan has taken the trouble listing the major scams that have rocked India since her Independence and computed their cost in monetary terms and where it could have been profitably spent to ameliorate the conditions of poor Indians. 

I just blogged it so that many can realize what’s happening in our Country

Republic Of Scams

Total Scam Money (approx) Since 1992: Rs. 73000000000000 Cr.
(73 Lakh Crore)

Hard to digest ?
Just check the below given details

1992 -Harshad Mehta securities scam Rs 5,000 cr

1994 -Sugar import scam Rs 650 cr

1995 -Preferential allotment scam Rs 5,000 cr
Yugoslav Dinar scam Rs 400 cr
Meghalaya Forest scam Rs 300 cr

1996: -Fertiliser import scam Rs 1,300 cr
Urea scam Rs 133 cr
Bihar fodder scam Rs 950 cr

1997 -Sukh Ram telecom scam Rs 1,500 cr
SNC Lavalin power project scam Rs 374 cr
Bihar land scandal Rs 400 cr
C.R. Bhansali stock scam Rs 1,200 cr

1998 -Teak plantation swindle Rs 8,000 cr

2001 -UTI scam Rs 4,800 cr
Dinesh Dalmia stock scam Rs 595 cr
Ketan Parekh securities scam Rs 1,250 cr

2002 -Sanjay Agarwal Home Trade scam Rs 600 cr

2003 -Telgi stamp paper scam Rs 172 cr

2005 -IPO-Demat scam Rs 146 cr
Bihar flood relief scam Rs 17 cr
Scorpene submarine scam Rs 18,978 cr

2006 -Punjab's City Centre project scam Rs 1,500 cr,
Taj Corridor scam Rs 175 cr

2008 -Pune billionaire Hassan Ali Khan tax default Rs 50,000 cr
The Satyam scam Rs 10,000 cr
Army ration pilferage scam Rs 5,000 cr
The 2-G spectrum swindle Rs 60,000 cr
State Bank of Saurashtra scam Rs 95 cr
Illegal monies in Swiss banks, as estimated in 2008 Rs 71,00,000 cr

2009: -The Jharkhand medical equipment scam Rs 130 cr
Rice export scam Rs 2,500 cr
Orissa mine scam Rs 7,000 cr
Madhu Koda mining scam Rs 4,000 cr"

India's biggest scams 1, Ramalinga Raju, Rs. 50.4 billion
India's biggest scams 2, Harshad Mehta, Rs. 40 billion
India's biggest scams 3, Ketan Parekh, Rs. 10 billion
India's biggest scams 4, C R Bhansali, Rs. 12 billion
India's biggest scams 5, Cobbler scam
India's biggest scams 6, IPO Scam
India's biggest scams 7, Dinesh Dalmia, Rs. 5.95 billion
India's biggest scams 8, Abdul Karim Telgi, Rs. 1.71 billion
India's biggest scams 9, Virendra Rastogi, Rs. 430 million
India's biggest scams 10, The UTI Scam, Rs. 320 million
India's biggest scams 11, Uday Goyal, Rs. 2.1 billion
India's biggest scams 12, Sanjay Agarwal, Rs. 6 billion
India's biggest scams 13, Dinesh Singhania, Rs. 1.2 billion

1, Jeep Purchase (1948) :- Free India's corruption graph begins. V. K. Krishna Menon, then the Indian high commissioner to Britain, bypassed protocol to sign a deal worth Rs 80 lakh with a foreign firm for the purchase of army jeeps. The case was closed in 1955 and soon after Menon joined the Nehru cabinet.

2, Cycle Imports (1951) :- S.A. Venkataraman, then the secretary, ministry of commerce and industry, was jailed for accepting a bribe in lieu of granting a cycle import quota to a company.

3, BHU Funds (1956) :- In one of the first instances of corruption in
educational institutions, Benaras Hindu University officials were accused of misappropriation of funds worth Rs 50 lakh.

4, MUNDHRA SCANDAL (1957):- It was the media that first hinted there might be a scam involving the sale of shares to LIC, Feroz Gandhi sources the confidential correspondence between the then Finance Minister T.T. Krishnamachari and his principal finance secretary, and raised a question in Parliament on the sale of 'fraudulent' shares to LIC by a Calcutta-based Marwari businessman named Haridas
Mundhra. The then Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, set up a one-man commission headed by Justice M.C.Chagla to investigate the matter when it becomes evident that there was a prima facie case. Chagla concluded that Mundhra had sold fictitious shares to LIC, thereby defrauding the insurance behemoth to the tune of Rs. 1.25 crore. Mundhra was sentenced to 22 years in prison. The scam also
forced the resignation of T.T.Krishnamachari.

6, Teja Loans (1960):- Shipping magnate Jayant Dharma Teja took loans worth Rs 22 crore to establish the Jayanti Shipping Company. In 1960, the authorities discovered that he was actually siphoning off money to his own account, after which Teja fled the country.

7, Kairon Scam (1963):- Pratap Singh Kairon became the first Indian chief minister to be accused of abusing his power for his own benefit and that of his sons and relatives. He quit a year later.

8, Patnaik's Own Goal (1965) :- Orissa Chief Minister Biju Patnaik was forced to resign after it was discovered that he had favoured his privately-held company Kalinga Tubes in awarding a government contract.

9, Maruti Scandal (1974) :- Well before the company was set up, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's name came up in the first Maruti scandal, where her son Sanjay Gandhi was favoured with a license to make passenger cars.

10, Solanki Exposure (1992) :- At the World Economic Forum, Madhavsinh Solanki, then the external affairs minister, slipped a letter to his Swiss counterpart asking their government to stop the probe into the Bofors kickbacks. Solanki resigned when India Today broke the story.

11, Kuo Oil Deal (1976):- The Indian Oil Corporation signed an Rs 2.2-crore oil contract with a non-existent firm in Hong Kong and a kickback was given. The petroleum and chemicals minister was directed to make the purchase.

12, Antulay Trust (1981) :- With the exposure of this scandal concerning A.R. Antulay, then the chief minister of Maharashtra, The Indian Express was reborn. Antulay had garnered Rs 30 crore from businesses dependent on state resources like cement and kept the money in a private trust.

13, HDW Commissions (1987) :- HDW, the German submarine maker, was blacklisted after allegations that commissions worth Rs 20 crore had been paid. In 2005, the case was finally closed, in HDW's favour.

14, Bofors Pay-Off (1987) :- A Swedish firm was accused of paying Rs 64 crore to Indian bigwigs, including Rajiv Gandhi, then the prime minister, to secure the purchase of the Bofors gun.

15, St Kitts Forgery (1989) :- An attempt was made to sully V.P. Singh's Mr Clean image by forging documents to allege that he was a beneficiary of his son Ajeya Singh's account in the First Trust Corp. at St Kitts, with a deposit of $21 million.

16, Airbus Scandal (1990) :- Indian Airlines's (IA) signing of the Rs
2,000-crore deal with Airbus instead of Boeing caused a furore following the crash of an A-320. New planes were grounded, causing IA a weekly loss of Rs 2.5 crore.

17, Securities Scam (1992) :- Harshad Mehta manipulated banks to siphon off money and invested the funds in the stock market, leading to a crash. The loss: Rs 5,000 crore.

18, Indian Bank Rip-off (1992) :- Aided by M. Gopalakrishnan, then the chairman of the Indian Bank, borrowers-mostly small corporates and exporters from the south-were lent a total of over Rs 1,300 crore, which they never paid back.

19, Sugar Import (1994) :- As food minister, Kalpnath Rai presided over the import of sugar at a price higher than that of the market, causing a loss of Rs 650 crore to the exchequer. He resigned following the allegations.

20, MS SHOES SCAM (1994) :- Anyone who war old enough in 1994 to read will remember the advertisements- tens of them intriguingly headlined: 'Who is Pawan Sachdeva?' For the record, it was the peak of the public issued-led advertising boom and the ads were created by the Delhi branch of Rediffusion. Sachdeva, the promoter of MS Shoes, allegedly used company funds to buy shares (of his own company) and rig prices, prior to a public issue. He is alleged to have colluded with officials in the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and SBI Caps, which lead-managed the issue, to dupe the public into investing in his Rs. 699-crore public-***-rights issue. Sachdeva was later acquitted

21, JMM Bribes (1995) :- Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader Shailendra Mahato testified that he and three party members received bribes of Rs 30 lakh to bail out the P.V. Narasimha Rao government in the 1993 no-confidence motion.

22, In a Pickle (1996) :- Pickle baron Lakhubhai Pathak raised a stink when he accused former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao and godman Chandraswami of accepting a bribe of Rs 10 lakh from him for securing a paper pulp contract.

23, Telecom Scam (1996) :- Former minister of state for communication Sukh Ram was accused of causing a loss of Rs 1.6 crore to the exchequer by favouring a Hyderabad- based private firm in the purchase of telecom equipment. He, along with two others, was convicted in 2002.

24, Fodder Scam (1996) :- The accountant general's concerns about the withdrawal of excess funds by Bihar's animal husbandry department unveiled a Rs 950-crore scam involving Lalu Prasad Yadav, then the state chief minister. He resigned a year later.

25, Urea Deal (1996) :- C.S. Ramakrishnan, MD, National Fertiliser, and a group of businessmen close to the P.V. Narasimha Rao regime fleeced the government and took Rs 133 crore from the import of two lakh tonne of urea, which was never delivered.

26, Hawala Diaries (1996) :- The scandal surfaced following CBI raids on hawala operators in Delhi in 1991. But it was S.K. Jain's diaries that had heads rolling.

27, CRB SCAM (1997) :- Another scam forged by greed and discovered through accident. Chain Roop Bhansali, a smart-talking entrepreneur, created a pyramid financial empire based on high-cost financing. At its peak, his Rs. 1,000-crore financial conglomerate had in its ranks a mutual fund, a financial services company into fixed deposits, and a merchant bank. That Bhansali knew how to work the system became evident when he also managed to secure a provisional banking
license. Then his luck ran out. An executive in the State Bank of India
Inadvertently discovered that some interest warrants issued by Bhansali were not backed by cash. The bubble finally burst in May 1997, but by that time investors had lost over Rs. 1,000 crore. This was among the first retail scams in India and it was played out, in smaller avatars, across the country-especially in the South where financial services companies promised returns in excess of 20 per cent and decamped with the principal. Bhansali was arrested for a few weeks and
released later on bail.

28, MEHTA'S SECOND COMING (1998) :- The Big Bull returned to the bourses. This time, he allegedly colluded with the promoters of BPL, Videocon International, and Sterile Industries to rig the share prices of these companies. The inevitable collapse happened sooner than planned, Harshad Mehta orchestrated a cover-up operation that included a high=jinks effort by officials of Bombay Stock Exchange to (illegally ) open the trading system in the middle of the night to set things right, but the damage had been done. SEBI finally passed its ruling on the scam in 2001, banning the three companies concerned from tapping the market-BPL, for two years. Mehta was debarred for life form dealing in securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) in October 2001

29, VANISHING COMPANIES SCAM (1998) :- A passing remark heard by then Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram resulted in a furore over what was badly-kept secret on Dalal street. Chidambaram was told that hundreds of companies had disappeared after raising moneys form the public. An informal scrutiny revealed that perhaps over 600 companies were missing. Chidambaram ordered a probe by SEBI. The SEBI probe conducted in May 1998 revealed that while many companies
are not traded on the bourses at least 80 companies that had rises Rs.330.78 crore were simply missing. Later that year, the Department of Company Affairs (DCA) was asked to probe and penalize these companies. DCA still investigating. Investigations continue to this day.

30, PLANTATION COMPANIES SCAM (1999) :- It was as innovative a swindle as any effected in the world. Savvy entrepreneurs convinced gullible investors that given the right irrigation and fertilizer inputs, teak, strawberries, and anything else that could be grown, would grow anywhere in the country. The promoters could afford to collect money from investors and not worry about retribution (or returns, for that matter). For, plantation companies fell under the purview of neither SEBI nor Reserve Bank of India. Indeed, they didn't even come under the scope of the Department decided to change things in 1999, enough
investors had been gulled: 653 companies, between them, had raised Rs. 2,563 crore from investors. To date, not many investors have got their principals back, just another affirmation of the old saying about money not growing on trees.

31, Match Fixing (2000) :- Mohammed Azharuddin, till then India's cricket captain, was accused of match-fixing. He and Ajay Sharma were banned from playing, while Ajay Jadeja and Manoj Prabhakar were suspended for five years.
32, KETAN PAREKH SCAM (2001) :- Ketan Parekh's modus operandi wasn't very different from Harshad Mehta's. If Mehta used banker's receipts, then Parekh used pay orders to ramp up the prices of his favourite scrips (the K-10). Apart from money form the banking system Parekh also rerouted money from corporated like HFCL (Rs. 425 crore), and Zee (Rs. 340 crore) to good effect. He was caught when pay-orders issued by Madhavpura Mercantile Cooperative Bank bounced. Although the total amount involved in the scam was just Rs. 137 crore, the impact was far greater.

Apparently, when a bear cartel sensed Parekh was in trouble, it stepped in and leveraged a dip in the NASDAQ to bear down stock prices. The resultant slump in the markets happened soon after Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha presented what he considered his best budget ever. Under pressure from the government, SEBI investigated the scam and heads began to roll. Among them: the entire management team of BSE, including its president Anand Rathi, CSFB, First Global, and, in an
indirect connection, P.S.Subramanyam, the Chairman of UTL Evidently, for the 18 months that PSS was Chairman of UTI, the Trust had mirrored the actions of the bull cartel. The result? When the market tanked, so did the NAV of its holy cow, the US-64.

33, Tehelka Sting (2001) :- Tehelka, an online news portal, used spycams to catch army officers and politicians accepting bribes, in their sting operation called Operation Westend. Investigative journalism turned another corner in the country.

34, Stockmarket Scam (2001) :- The mayhem that wiped off over Rs 1,15,000 crore in the markets in March 2001 was masterminded by the Pentafour bull Ketan Parekh. He was arrested in December 2002 and banned from acccessing the capital market for 14 years.

35, Home Trade Scam (2002) :- Under the pretext of gilt trading, Rs 600 crore was swindled from over 25 cooperative banks in Maharashtra and Gujarat by a Navi Mumbai-based brokerage firm Home Trade. Sanjay Agarwal, CEO of the firm, was arrested in May 2002.

36, Stamp Paper Scam (2003) :- The sheer magnitude of the racket was shocking-it caused a loss of Rs 30,000 crore to the exchequer. Disclosures of the mastermind behind it, Abdul Karim Telgi, implicated top police officers and bureaucrats.

37, Oil-for-Food Scandal (2005) :- K. Natwar Singh was nceremoniously dropped from the Cabinet when his name surfaced in the Volcker Report on the Iraq oil-for-food scam.

The greatest of all this is the 2G spectrum scam which incurred the country a loss of Rs1.73 lakh crore. A.Raja and his mentor Karunanidhi became world famous because of this scam  

Well few scams got excluded in the list like CWG scam. And there may be scams done without anyone’s knowledge or public knowledge. And besides these there are state level scams. The amount may even cross Rs100 lakh crores

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What India Could Do With Rs 73 Lakh Crore?

Build:2.4 crore primary healthcare centres. That’s at least 3 for every village,
at a cost of Rs 30 lakh each.

Build: 24.1 lakh Kendriya Vidyalayas at a cost of Rs 3.02 crore each, with two
sections from Class VI to XII.

Construct: 14.6 crore low-cost houses assuming a cost of Rs 5 lakh a unit.
Set up: 2,703 coal-based power plants of 600 MW each. Each costs Rs 2,700 crore.

Supply: 12 lakh CFL bulbs. That’s enough light for each of India’s 6 lakh
villages

Construct: 14.6 lakh km of two-lane highways. That’s a road around India’s
perimeter 97 times over.

Clean up: 50 major rivers for the next 121 years, at Rs 1,200 crore a river
every year.

Launch: 90 NREGA-style schemes, each worth roughly Rs 81,111 crore.
Announce: 121 more loan waiver schemes. All of them worth Rs 60,000 crore.

Give: Rs 56,000 to every Indian. Even better, give Rs 1.82 lakh to 40 crore
Indians living BPL.

Hand out: 60.8 crore Tata Nanos to 60.8 crore people. Or four times as many
laptops.

Grow the GDP: The scam money is 27% more than our GDP of Rs 53 lakh crore."

Greed, graft, politics, bribery, dirty money. Just another day in the life of a
nation still rated among the most corrupt in the world. Scan the scams that have
grabbed headlines, destroyed reputations and left many people poorer.

  

HYPO-CRITIC CULTURE

India is known for its culture. The westerners view that Indians give much importance to values and culture. We Indians, speak of moral, values, rules and regulations with respect to one’s personal and spiritual growth. We expect our society to remain a moral society. Society has framed its moral values, which I believe would have come from collective consciousness. And the point is does the individual reveals his true consciousness to the society? Definitely not.

            The reality of men is not in what he reveals to you

            But in what he cannot reveal to you

            So, in order to understand him

            Listen not to the words he speaks

            But to the word’s he doesn’t speak – Says Kahlil Gibran

It is very hard to find people who speak openly. The existence has become so difficult, that people increasingly become covert and immoral. Compared to others in my organization, I used to express my feelings openly, which I used to do in best of interest of the organization. But it was taken that I am speaking against the Organisation. Most people know what is right and what is good for the organization. The problem is they don’t want to lose their promotion opportunity taken by the organization.

Gandhi was one of the renowned politicians in the world. He was seen as a symbol of truth, non violence and the noblest person the world has ever seen since he resorted to a different path to get freedom for its country. Suppose what would have happened if Gandhi has taken the violent route. Would he have become so popular? Would he have first of all survived long enough to be shot dead by Godse? Gandhi knows what will happen to his life if he has taken the violent root. The enemy is so strong that he would have provided ample opportunity to him, to cut short his life. Gandhi wanted to live. Gandhi at the same time wished to have fame and power. He was wise enough to use the moral values that have been taught from generations as his tool.

W hat happened after Independence? India waged war against Pakistan and Bangladesh. We continue to use force to stop any communal riots, revolutionary movements and anything that will cause problem to INDIA’s secularity and unity. What will happen if we resort to non violence? What would have happened if we all Indians go on a hunger strike, instead of waging war when Pakistanis invaded Kargil? Violence is remaining as a hidden culture and will continue to remain so as long as we support non violence in open.

 I agree that violence is not a solution to all problems. Similarly non violence is not a solution to all problems and each need a different approach based on its nature. Sometimes the problem may evade in due course without any action at all.  Some problem may need a combination of these approaches. Ultimately it should give a good result and the act should allow only good to survive.

We have been preached of this moral values and we Indians boast that we are more cultured. But what happens in reality. We say that for Indian women ‘Virginity” is a sacred thing and one woman and one man is our culture. Seetha is the brand ambassador for virginity in our country. But what’s happening in reality. Since sex was treated as bad virtue, it remained as a hidden lust which is now out bursting. Increase in immoral (it may be illegal, but I have doubts whether it is immoral) relationship is growing. For Foreigners, kissing in public is a common sight in my native town Pondicherry. We Indians used to look at it and laugh secretively. Some even used to close their eyes saying “how dare they do this is public”.  Of course we stop with this and do not proceed further since we know that its part of their culture. But what if a tamil newly wed couples do this in open near Gandhi statue in Pondicherry beach? No doubt every body will curse them and speak for few days, about how our culture is changing, how it is getting ruined by western influence and so on.

And Indian woman are the most pitiable creatures. When actresses Kushboo expressed her views on virginity court cases were filed against her. No body cared to look deeper into the issue behind it. Its also a common scenario to gossip about a woman if she keeps talking with another man, other than her husband. True relation ships are never valued. So the woman prefers to keep it a secret.

Women are not equal to men, physiologically and psychologically (Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus). However should have equal rights to leave. Every living thing in this world has the right to live by the law of nature.(Man is probably the only creature, who changes his environment to suit his needs). In India the virtue of virginity is preached only for women. When a man and woman have a out of marriage relationship, it’s the woman who gets more affected. So women of India started devising their own ways to protect against this disparity.  When we do a psychological analysis it will not be the quest for sex, but for security, that has led many women in India to seek for another support. We by way of moral guidelines, make the women feel more insecure.

I wonder how everything in our world is spinning around false hood. The revelations by wikileaks show the covertness of the American’s. The revelations in the 2G spectrum scam, exposed the link between corporate sector and government. This just got exposed. The link is more than we believe and than it was exposed and it exists from the days of independence and even before independence. I see the history of Congress, the early members are the most affluent in the society. Not only Congress, all the party’s have good nexus with the politicians and the policys of the government definitely has the influence of corporate in the country. The multinational company’s of foreign origin got added to this list after our economic liberalization policy, which is again forced by lobbying at international level. When we look at Tamilnadu, we can see that how moral values, sense of attachment to tamil and casteism, religion etc. were carefully used by a family in the name of development. And we know who has developed.

There is no voice from a common man against the world’s greatest scam. And worse, even after solid proof “Raja” is claimed to be innocent. And Suresh Kalmadi maintains that he too is innocent. When we look back, there is no proof of any solid action being taken against such corrupt politicians. It will remain in the headlines until new news takes over. And our politicians were well aware of our memory capacity. What these people who grow up use. Just the moral believes we have and they wear a mask that they are the guardian’s of such moral values. We know, at times that, that they are wearing a mask. Yet we believe them or act as believing them owing to our own weaknesses. Basically we lack courage. A politician is no different from us, on moral grounds. Only that he has more opportunity. WE know that very well and hence we raise no voice or our voices are superfluous. The voices raised by opponent political parties of course have vested interest.

How could this world continue to run on false hood? Will any change come? Is a revolution possible? Who or what incidence will remain as a cause of such revolution? Can the world live on truth?  

Probably truth won’t triumph. Our mind is lured by lies and not by truth. We get attracted to ideal that will never be realistic, as it was novel. A woman who spends hours in her make up room, adding the color and texture to her skin, smelling with artificial perfumes and clothed with expensive and revealing clothes is considered beautiful. On the other hand natural beauty is not recognized. Plastic flowers and plants which are costlier than natural ones finds it place in corporate offices. True work is not recognized while show-offs are wondered.  Similarly hard working people are not recognized, but people who has capacity to project their work are recognized. The wicked founds easy to obtain power and ministerial post than the honest and hence the whole political system gets corrupted. Free Televisions, free gas, one rupee rice etc. lures us and nobody realizes that its going to cost them more, since there is no free lunch. As Eraianbu I.A.S says truth never speaks louder. Only the falsehood keeps shouting. We know what truth is and what a lie is. Yet we pretend. We are comfortable with it since we are also hypocrites. What explanation other than this can substantiate our actions? 

MORAL HAZARD

In India importance is given to education of children and government has taken considerable efforts in this regards. Tamilnadu is one of the states where the standard of education in government schools is improving. The awareness among the people to educate their children also  has increased. Though incidences  of child labour, still exists its on declining trend. The future of India lies in the hands of youth. The children of today are youths of tomorrow. It is important that they get educated properly. Market demand based education has to be replaced by value based education. Education which does not inculcate morality is a waste. It is sad to note that our social structure is moving towards a bad culture. Consumption of alcohol, tobacco products and drugs are in increasing trend.

The educational standard in government schools have no doubt increased. But with respect to moral behaviour of children, the rules ands regulations laid by Private schools and stress given by them for moral discipline is ensuring that the children are good, at least during their school going years. But on the contrary, what is happening in rural schools is of big concern

Once I happened to have a chat with a woman who owns a petti shop in a village called Palamedu, Madurai district, Tamilnadu, India. She complained that lot of school children are coming to her petti shop demanding for Pan and Gutkha products (Gutka is a preparation of crushed areca nut (also called betel nut), tobacco, catechu, paraffin, lime and sweet or savory flavorings. It is manufactured in India and exported to a few other countries. A mild stimulant, it is sold across India in small, individual-sized packets that cost between 1 and 6 rupees apiece. It is consumed much like chewing tobacco, and like chewing tobacco it is considered responsible for oral cancer and other severe negative health effects.)

When I talked to few other persons, more shocking news came. As the cost of the Gutkha ( sold in different brands) is only few rupees and since it can be consumed (chewed) easily than cigarettes without other knowledge, school children are getting used to it. Even before going to school in the morning, they purchase Gutkha pockets and go to school. Since the children do not know much about the ill effects and since they are lured by the mild kick it provides, the consumption is on increasing trend.

In Tamiladu sale of such tobacco products is banned. But the ban just remains in paper. It is being sold openly in most of the shops. Yet another women in palamedu said she used to sell 100 boxes of Gutkha every day, most of them being purchase by school students. And this is not the case only with Palamedu. Consumption of gutkha is a common scenario almost among children of all schools in Tamilnadu.

I made a visit to few schools and got more startling revelations. Even girl students have started having the taste of gutkha. Worst the students have invented more innovative ways to get themselves intoxicated. The whitener used for corrections in typed papers and the solution used to fix punctures in cycle tubes are used by school children. The students used to apply whitener in their hand kerchief and inhale the smell, even while sitting in the class room. And with respect to the puncture fixing solution, students used to carry it in their pant pockets along with sachets of water (mineral water is sold in sachets for few rupees). The students after emptying the water pocket, used to put few drops of that puncture fixing solution in the water sachet and start inhaling it. And they used to do it in groups. Worse it happens within the premises of the school itself.   And this is spreading to many schools.

The government school teachers could not intervene to these matters beyond some extent. They need the support of the parents too.

1. Can such students make a better future generation?
2. Why our society is becoming so addicted to alcohol, tobacco and drugs?
3. Free flow of alcohol is in villages since government itself sells it. The children know very well that their father will drink and smoke (in some case even mother). How can we expect morality in such children?
4. Why Gutkha and other paan products are sold freely in all shops even if a ban exists?
5. Recently supreme court has ordered that Gutkha should not be packed in plastic sachets from March, 2011. Is this a real problem compared to consumption of gutkha itself. It will just increase the cost of consumption to the end user and that all.
6. Why the persons selling gutkha do not refuse to sell it to children?
7. Why the Tamilnadu education department has not initiated any action in this regard?
8. What is the responsibility of parents in this regard?
9. How many parents know that their children are used to gutkha? It can be easily identified from the oral smell.
10.  Why not the government rules give severe non- bail able punishment to those who sell gutkha despite ban?
11. Why government is not willing to put a total ban on production of gutkha itself?
12. What will be health expenditure in rural families in due course? Will they not be in increasing trend and pull the families to poverty?
13. What will be the productivity of future youth addicted to alcohol and tobacco products? Will it not decrease?
14. Will this not have a indirect impact on Indian economy?
15. How long Indian Youth will be seen as cheap labour by foreign investors? What will happen if they come to know about their decreasing productivity?
16. Are we heading towards development or towards a total moral collapse?
17. Will everything change? Can common people like us have the ability to put forth some positive change?

Lot of questions comes to my mind. My heart longs to initiate a fight.  It would have been initiated by know, if I am not transferred from field work to the present research work. My organization offers such a scope in the field and the women force can be used to bring at least a small change. Of course the mountain cannot be moved. But few rocks can be blasted. And everybody join hands the entire mountain can be brought to dust. 

ONE HUNDRED INDIAN RUPEES

One hundred Indian rupees is almost equivalent to two American dollars. And for the upper class Indian's it is no money. And for the politicians, who could make a loss of more than Rs1.70 lakh crore to the government through 2G spectrum scam, I wonder what it means to them. But it means a lot to poor people. To the rural poor in India, it is a hard earned money. They could even have good food for two days (and even more) with that money. As a part of my job, we used to encourage woman to save and organize them into self help groups (SHGs). The savings, is expected to meet their future needs. As a institutional process, we used to review the amount of savings done my members of SHG pertaining to a federation/federations. The number of members saved and total savings and non savers will be reviewed. They are reviewed merely as statistical figures. The amount of savings for e.g may range from Rs2.50 to Rs3.50 lakhs/month (each member saving on an average normally will be Rs100).

The woman members who started their savings from Rs10, now even save Rs200/month/member which is of course rare and most of them save Rs100/ in the present condition. Savings below this too exists based on the context.

To save Rs100 hundred, a woman member and her family has to earn sufficient income to meet the domestic needs of the family, repay the depts, she has borrowed from the SHG and from outsiders for emergency purposes and the additional demands that may rise from time to time. It is a common sight in the rural Tamilnadu that 80 % of men are addicted to alchohol. The majority of the income earned by the male member, goes to the wine shops run by the government. And the income is also not permanent. A really poor family has to struggle hard to save even Rs100/-. The effort of the woman in this respect has to be lauded. The money which they save has the smell of their poverty, hard work, pains and sufferings, commitment towards their children and husband and above all the passion to live.

The money which is saved, through hard means, is expected to give returns in future. I have  seen in my experience that, the money which is saved so, did not serve the purpose to some poor women. We can say the percentage of this is negligible. But considering from the view point of the member, it means lot to them. The money they save is rotated as credit in the SHG along with the credit borrowed from Banks/external agencies. If the credit goes bad due to unforeseen circumstances, importance is given to repay the bank loan to maintain the goodwill with the banks, so that they will continue to provide credit. Ultimately it may happen that one member/few members savings will be in the hands of few other members, who are not going to repay. The members who have excess loan, may either be in a position that they could not repay or they may default willfully. Whatever may be the case the honest member gets affected. It happened so in one SHG that a member had more than Rs10000/- as savings and she continued to save Rs100/month. She had no credit in her name. She was planning to get credit for her daughters marriage and so she continued to wait. But the repayment of the loan by other members very bad and the bank loan was in overdue for longer period. However, the SHG conducted meeting  every month and only 30 % of the members will attend and repay. The others wont repay even if visit was made to their individual houses. Then the day came when the member (a muslim woman) found a bride groom for her daughter and she requested for a loan of Rs30000/. The SHG was not in a position to give loan. She and her husband started pressurizing the federation for loan. We said it is impossible to give loan due to improper functioning of the group. Then they insisted that at least their savings to be returned back. The bank loan was already in default. Whatever the money collected in the SHG was sent to loan as per standard procedure. And even if this is relaxed, the money collected in the SHG was hardly Rs2000/month and so the member has to wait for five or more months to get her entire savings.

Luckily the group had Rs1.00 lakh subsidy which is not credited to the group, since the duration for availing subsidy was not yet met. Even when the subsidy is given, it will get adjusted against bank loan and however the group was in a position to get at least Rs20000/. Keeping this in mind, I gave a promise that Rs10000/ savings will be returned during next group meetings, to be held two weeks before their daughters marriage. I went to Bank, explained the situation of the group and asked the subsidy amount to be adjusted against the loan. After much persuasion, the concerned Branch Manager agreed. But  due to procedural delay the amount was not credited until next month. The day of the group meeting came and I was left in an embarrassing situation. However I made up my mind to give my personal money, knowing that I can get back the money for sure, but after sometime. In the group meeting, however I did not say that I will give my personal money. I said that I will try to arrange the money from Bank within a week. But I called the muslim woman and her husband seperatly and gave them the money. They got surprised. They invited me for their daughters marriage, for which I am not able to go due to some official work.  I never went to the SHG again. However the subsidy money came before the subsequent group meeting. The Muslim woman and her husband, came to my house and handed over the money in person without even asking.

What if subsidy facility is not available to the group? Would I have been so generous even then to give the money? I think that I would have done that. Of course I could not help all such members but, the trust the member had on the SHG and the cause for which money is asked moved me. Later I happened to go to their house. It was a small house and I was surprised to see many people in the house. And I learned that they lived as joint family. Occasionally I used to meet the members husband on my way to my office and he always stops to speak with me.

Again, there are many such women who have great trust in the concept and who is honest. The money they save is really hard earned one. Many of them are aged. I still do not know any answer for this question. Why the money which is hard earned by honest people, doesn’t stay with them or benefit them when they needed it most? At the same time, how could money stays with dishonest people, who did not toil but used his cunningness to earn such money?

I respect more the hundred rupees in the hand of honest people, than crores in the hands of dishonest. That, hundred rupee really is invaluable. 

DOG'S LIFE

I am living in a residential area in outskirts of the Madurai city, Tamilnadu, India. It’s in the Alanganallur road (rural road) and 10 kms from Periyar Bus stand. The residential area is named as Vishaal Nagar-2 and is near a village called Pasingapuram. When I occupied the house two years ago, mine was the only house in the street. Early morning the sun rise will be clearly visible from the eastern window. The entrance of my house is on the northern side and there is no obstracle for me to view the beauty of Small hillocks –Manjamalai and Sirumalai hills at the farthest distant. Now few houses have come, obstructing the view. I could no more see the sunrise from my house. However, I could still see the hills. A neighbor came before 15 months to occupy his new house, in the southern side of my house. He is Mr. Chandrasekar a wholesale vegetable merchant, living with his wife and a son aged around 25 years (youngest of his two sons). The youngest son was called Mani ( Manigandaprabu is his full name) His eldest son was working abroad and he got married recently. And another neighbor occupied a corner house in the southern entrance of the street(opposite house further down the street) . The owner of that house is working as railway ticket examiner. His wife is a school teacher and he has two college going girls. He is a Christian named Mr.Pious. He and his family are fond of pet animals. They have two dogs; have love birds, a parrot and three hens.

Actually Mr.Pious bought 5 chicks from a roadside vendor. Two died and three remains. He and his family takes at most care from feeding to veterinary services and the three has grown really well. And they were of pure white color. Seeing the quality of the birds no one can say that, it was bought from a road side vendor. The two dogs also were maintained with great love and care. They were never tied and used to wander freely inside his house. The dogs are very obedient too. Whenever I see them, they will be very clean. There is no disturbance to neighbors’ from the dogs since they seldom bark (only when they see strangers).

Mani, son of Mr.Chandrasekar who is living adjacent to my house is a college drop out. Occasionally he helps his father in his business. Sitting idle made him to think and he wished to rear Dogs for commercial purpose. The place he chose for housing them is his own house. One day he came home with a good puppy (he said it is a puppy which is just two months old, but its height was that of an aged local dog). He named it Sophie. He built a small kennel for sophie in the car parking area. The puppy had long legs and a wonderful soft skin. It was full brown in color, very active and playful. It was obedient to some extent. Suddenly he brought home another dog, a white Labrador. Soon many dogs got tied around is house and there were six dogs of varying sizes and breeds. Only Sophie enjoyed the facility of Kennel and the other Dogs used to look at it with Jealousy.  Initially Mr.Mani took care of them well. He used to take them for a walk, give them beef which he himself cook in the vacant land adjacent to my house and also give occasional medicines. Kids in the neighborhood used to visit this street to see the variety of dogs. Even a dog was of the size of a calf. Everything seems to go on well, but only for two months. Mani also had the idea of making the dogs participate in dog fair held in the city. Unfortunately it didn’t materialize for reasons known only to him. He used to boast about the dogs, how obedient they were, how they listened to his commands, how they are rare and maintained that nobody in the city had such a breed as Sophie. He used to speak as if he has more than a decade of experiance with dogs.

Soon the problem came. The entire family used to have frequent visitors. The vistors will come and stay for one or two days and leave. They also used to lock their house and leave for few days to their relative’s house. Mr.Mani will also go along with them, leaving the dogs behind. He alone will return on morning and evening to feed the dogs. The dogs will be kept tied around his house in open, without proper housing facility. The dogs, since they were not taken for a walk used to “Pee” in the place where they are tied. They will also bark in high decimals throughout the night.  One day Mrs.Chandrasekar bought a small goat and it was also tied in one corner of the house. She used to take the goat for grazing.   

One day, when the entire family was out as usual, one of the dogs untied itself and started roaming around the entire residential locality. There were six streets in our locality fenced by a barbed wire with one entrance near the first street. Ours was the sixth street. Two security persons will be available at the gate. The dog started chasing the local dogs that used to roam in the area. Worse, the dog after completing his visit came back and started biting the neck of the goat which was tied in the house.

My wife heard a strange sound, of course from the goat. She guessed something was wrong and went outside and saw that terrible scene. My wife never like dogs and was afraid of the dogs owned by my neighbor. She came to me and said what’s happening. I went out and took hold of the rope around the dog carefully and tied it in one of the poles. Then I examined the neck of the goat. It was bleeding profusely. My wife came along with my five year old kid to see the goat. She took pity for the goat and wished to offer some vegetables for the goat. My kid got very interested by the idea and came back with whatever vegetables she can get hold off from the fridge. However, the goat did not eat anything. Suddenly my kid started plucking the grass grown near by and gave it to the goat. The goat started eating it happily.

When the family returned from their short trip, my wife went and told Mrs.Chandrasekar what happened. She got annoyed and started scolding his son. Then they consulted a veterinarian and gave some antibiotic dose to the goat. Few days later they sold the goat.

The dogs due to poor maintenance continued to Pee in the area where they are tied. Soon the house got surrounded by dogs Pee. Then they also started Peeing in the entire road during their occasional morning walk.

Mr.Chandrasekar and his family got used to the stench of the pee, and lived with it. Occasionaly Mani used to clean it. Manual scavenging is considered as a bad social phenomenon. Mani became a manual scavenger, for the sake of his beloved Dogs. But he did not do this routinely, but only after a certain quantity is dumped by the dogs around his house.

Mani also had female Dogs. And when they were in heat, he used to bring Male dogs from outside for mating. And there will be a curious crowd of his friends to watch them mate. One day morning I came out of my home (busy hurrying for office and school) with my wife and kid. And the first sight we saw was the mating of dogs, watched by Mani and his friends. My wife got angry and kept murmuring about this, sitting in the pillion of by bike throughout our ride.

Another day morning I came out of the house and saw one of my sandals  gone missing. I immediately guessed what would have happened. Any one of the dogs would have taken it. I searched around my house and later went to terrace. From my terrace I looked at the terrace of Mr.Mani’s house. There at last I found my sandals lying. I collected it and lodged a complaint with Mrs.Chandrasekhar. On another day my kids slippers was found torn to pieces.  Yet another day my kid came laughing and said to me that “ Dad, a dog just came and spit on your shoes” and the incident seemed as a joke for her.

And then came the marriage for Mr.Chandrasekhar’s eldest son. He flew back from America for the marriage. The Bride was from Palani, a town where a famous Murugan temple is there. The marriage was planned to be held in Palani. The reception was planned after marriage in the residence of Mr.Chandrasekar. The family felt only then, that they should keep their home clean. The house was white washed. The surroundings were cleaned using sanitary liquids. Even Sophies kennel was cleaned (hope for the first time). The family also felt that the dogs may cause trouble to the relatives who come for marriage. So Mani was asked to dispose the Dogs at whatever rate they were demanded. It was a surprise to me and my wife when all the dogs got vanished suddenly. We asked Mrs.Chandrasekhar what happened to the dogs. She said all dogs except Sophie were either sold or gifted. She also added that his son made a huge loss in the business. Sophie was sent to a common dog care center and supposed to return, a week after marriage.

Me and my wife did not go for the Marriage and planned to attend the reception which is held in the house of Mr.Chandrasekar. The reception was planned in the evening by 7.00 pm. We purchased a gift and were ready to go to their house. Friends and relatives of Mr.Chandrasekar also started arriving. Suddenly the power went off and the entire area fell into darkness. It is a common scenario in Tamilnadu, India that electricity goes off suddenly without any warning. Also there is a announced power cut that exists for 2 hours daily. This is due to shortage of power, which has become a huge problem for every one recently. The family was careless enough that they are not prepared for such a sudden power shutdown. Mr.Mani was sent to hire a generator, but he took his own time. So the function commenced without light. The bride and bridegroom where inside the house. The friends and relatives could see only their shadowy figures due to darkness. Then someone gave the idea that chairs can be put outside the house and the bride and bridge groom can sit in them, so that every body who comes have somewhat better sight of the newly married couple. And it happened that, the Kennel of Sophie was removed suddenly and the chairs for the couple were laid there. I and my wife couldn’t control our laugh. The place which was once stenching with Sophies excreta’s, now was turned to a place where the reception ceremony was held. We however managed our laugh and converted it into a smile and gave the couple a present. I have to accept that the bride was very beautiful indeed. My wife who never used to speak about others beauty, also accepted that the bride was beautiful.

The eldest son left to America within a week of marriage along with his wife. I hoped Sophie will return but there was no sign of it. I asked Mani and he replied that Sophie died at the common care facility. He blamed them for Sophies death. And I Know pretty well who was responsible for Sophies death. It was Mani. When Sophie was there, I noticed that it grew at a rapid speed irrespective of the least care provided to it.  I also saw that it had a unusual lump in one of its leg and it found difficult to walk because of that. A good dog was let to die because of improper care.

We were peaceful for a fortnight without any barking sounds and the stench of dogs excreta’s. Suddenly Mr.Mani again came with another dog, this time a Pomeranian. Pomeranian is a dog which is a home lover and likes to roan freely. It is not a ferocious dog but a friendly dog. But this dog also was kept tied in the front of the house. Soon another Pomeranian also came for its company. And this time, their barking was so continuous that it disturbed our sleep. Again Mani came with an ugliest dog I have ever seen. The color and very sight of it was very awkward. I don’t know what breed it belonged too. Later he also bought home a Labrador, which was brownish white in color. Two weeks ago the Labrador gave birth to ten cute kids. Yesterday I saw Mr.Mani taking the Labrador and the ugliest dog. The Labrador was housed along with its puppies in a Kennel, which was again erected in the car shed. However I could not see any enthusiasm in Mani’s face. He became dull than before. This can be attributed not to birth of puppies, but to other external reasons like his unemployment, love failure (do any girls love him? Of course He has a good personality). The name “Mani” is a very common name in households of Tamilnadu. Male children were named Mani. It is also a common practice to name their dogs as ‘Mani”. One of out every 10 dogs is  named “Mani” in rural Tamilnadu.

Whenever I see the puppies, Sophies fate comes to my mind. Hope at least these puppies lead a good life.  I also feel pity for Mani. Hope that he should try his hands in some other business.

SHG Movement- Banking for Poor or Banking on Poor?

Muhamad Yunus has shown a new way to the world. Organizing poor into small groups and providing Micro credit to them. It is perceived to have a dual advantage

·  Poor had access to formal source of credit and thereby it can enable their overall development

·  The lending institutions on other had, found a new source for lending which increased their income

“Together they are Rich” is the quote of Muhamad Yunus regarding poor. And he and his Organization Grameen Bank, were awarded with Noble price for the concept of lending to poor by forming them as a group. No doubt the concept is unique and the system can ensure formal credit to so far unreached population- the rural and urban poor. But how far it is effective in reducing their poverty is a million dollar question. If the partys involved in promoting this concept act without any vested interest and soley in the interest of overall development of poor, then it will produce a miracle. What happens in practise actually? I hereby try to give a view, with my direct grassroot knowledge.

Moved by this concept, Developed countries encouraged Yunus with funding; the hidden agenda being is dumping more credit to developing countries. They also encouraged this concept to be followed in other developing countries.

In India NABARD piloted the SHG program and since then the SHG has gained momentum. Tremendous growth has been achieved in the past two decades with respect to SHGs. The question is whether the purpose has been met?

There are Many SHG organizations in India promoted by NGOs and the Government. The success has attracted considerable attention of development practitioners, funding agencies, policy makers, corporate bodies and politicians. And each of these parties has their own vested interests.

There are two ways by which micro credit is directed to the poor people- through MFIs and through SHGs. Both has gained momentum in India. While MFIs are registered as a Non Banking Financial Institutions, the federated body of the SHGs were registered under societies act or Indian Trust act. For both, women are the easy target.

MFI sources its fund from commercial banks and also uses its own fund for providing micro credit to people. The MFIs do direct lending to groups formed by them. SHGs on the other hands are linked directly with the banks by the promoting institution (NGO/Federated Body/Government)

Many stalwarts like Spandana, Share, Ujjivan, SKS,  L & T etc. are in the business of Microfinance through MFI model. Here their motive is clear. Though they take about inclusive finance, they use poor people to increase their income. The exorbitant rate of interest charged by MFIs, are a proof of it. The MFIs justify that the high rate of transactional cost and the risk involved necessitates such high interest to be charged by them. If so, then what is the difference between borrowing from local money lender or through a formal MFI?

With respect to SHGs, we can console ourselves that it inculcates savings habit among the women members. Also the bank is financing them directly and hence they get loans at a interest rate of around 12 %/annum. In some states, this was again subsidized by the government to 4 % i.e the government will return the extra interest charged by the banks to SHGs. This is a welcome sign. Ever thing seems to be green so far. But the truth is different. With respect to Tamilnadu, the concept is highly politicized. The SHGs were formed by Mahalir Thittam, which has a aim of federating them at Panchayat, Block, District and State level. In a rush to show growth the task was entrusted to NGOs- which again falls into two categories- Mathi NGOs and Non Mathi NGO. Due to internal competition,  NGOs used to lure few or most of members of one SHG formed by a different NGO. Hence a single woman may be a member or two or three SHGs. And there is no system on the part of Government to ensure it. The real problem will crop up, if these SHGs are made a part of Panchayat Level Federation. The number of SHGs, which the Government boasts that they have formed in the shortest period, will reduce drastically. The Ruling party also used the Revolving Fund subsidy concept to lure women to form SHGs. The NGOs which formed the SHGs will also talk only about the subsidy and not about the real benefits of SHG. The life span of such SHGs will definitely, l be short and this puts a question on sustainability of the SHG movement.

As I have worked in grass root, I present here how the SHGs operate in practical sense. The NGO which is entrusted to the task of promoting SHGs will approach the poor women and say that they are from such and such NGO, and if they form SHG, the NGO will mobilize revolving fund assistance from government. The loan amount is Rs60000 and the subsidy portion is Rs10000/. After forming SHG, the NGO will inform the SHG to come for the grading process facilitated by the Mahalir thittam officials. In a day (half a day actually) more than 100 SHGs will be graded by the Mahalir Thittam Officials. There will be no time for the officials to go through complete details. Also it is not necessary for them. Their role is to give revolving fund assistance to maximum groups to meet the target. There are cases were one woman exists as a member in two or more SHGs and  also in groups formed by MFIs. The total credit borrowed by such a member, will definitely beyond the repayment capacity of the member. Once the grading process is over, The RF subsidy will be forwarded to the bank and the bank will lend the SHG.

As corruption has become inevitable in India in every field, NGO will do direct negotiation with the SHG members i.e., A charge of Rs 1000 to Rs3000/ have to be given, which is divided into three shares – The NGO, the local BDO office and the Mahalir thittam. Sometimes Bank Managers too, fall in this line. As soon the loan is sanctioned, the amount Rs3000/ has to be given. But the truth is, the SHG can get the revolving fund subsidy of Rs10000/ only after it functions for three years. When it is a SGSY subsidy for a  mature group, naturally the bribe amount is higher ( Rs20000 for Rs100000 lakh subsidy)

And whenever, there is a Minister visit to a district to show gathering and also to boast of achievements, the passbook of Loan will be given to the SHG members by his hands. The greatest comedy is sometimes they may be dummy loan cards or loan cards of loans issued even before an year i.e., If 1000 SHGs are given loan in a function more than 50 % of them will be fake. The Mahlir Thittam officials and the BDOs will be pressed to bring SHG members, who in turn will force the NGOs. The to and fro charges and transport and food arrangements of course will be taken care off.


Luckily I work in a organization which concentrates in setting systems for a sustainable SHG federation. Even with vast experience in the sector, the organization finds difficult to control problems in some federations 

I furnish another incident, where the ward counselor had their share in the subsidy. This was routed through town panchayat. The counselor directly spoke with the SHG members that Rs1000 subsidy/member exists with the panchayat and he said the amount will be given to SHGs which are willing to part with 50 %. For e.g  If the SHG has 14 members, Rs14000/ subsidy was given and the SHG has to give Rs7000/ to the ward counselor. They also spoke about this to the Bank Manager. The amount got deposited in the S/B account of the SHG and in the same day it was withdrawn from the bank without any proper resolution at SHG. Worse it happened without the knowledge of promoting NGOs. If it is Rs7000/ for one group, then estimate the income a ward counselor would have got.

And assume that, there is no such problem and the credit is fully utilized by the SHGs.  Even then do they serve the purpose? Each and every organization boasts about its SHG program and its objectives using Jargons and words of a learned person. But when we look deep, all seem to work with the same purpose and objective or at least they so. Universal lie?

Empowerment of women economically, socially and politically and hence their family and locality is the broader objective of any SHG program. SHGs are seen as a vehicle to load all the developmental programs.  There are basic fundamental questions regarding this

·  To what extent the SHG members are aware of these developmental agenda/objectives?

·  Does the literacy level of poor women at large support this?

·  Even if they are aware, how many of them are broad minded for a social cause?

·  Is there appropriate system in place to ensure it?

·  The dilution of the program is happening due to the vested interest of all the partys involved. The dilution is getting increased day by day, since everybody sees with shortsightedness aiming for their short term benefits. Is there a solution for it?

·  How long a SHG will operate?

·  How long a member of SHG will be satisfied with the services of SHG or the SHG federation?

·  Is the governance and the management structure well established?

·  Do we have a clear assessment about their need?

·  Do all the promoters have baseline particulars regarding the developmental parameters, they boast to achieve in future?     

·  Only credit is focused by all the parties interested in practical sense. The developmental objective takes a back foot. How to project the developmental objectives in front?

·  What action can, the promoting agency, federation or bank can take if the credit given to a SHG becomes default?

·  Banks lend to SHGs at 12 % rate of interest or low? At what rate the money is given to the members? Is there any interest given for savings deposited by SHGs?

·  How the credit given to members is utilized? Whether it is used for productive purpose or at least to satisfy the developmental needs like toilet construction, getting a electricity connection etc? Whether there are systems to ensure it?

·  How the profit or loss of a SHG activity is monitored? Do the poor and illiterates can prepare profit and loss statement for the SHG?

·  In what perspective we have to view the credit given to SHGs? On financial parameters or through a development eye?

·  There are cases where the SHG members lost even their savings, since the credit got into the hands of wrong members. Do the promoting institutions have a system, at least to safeguard the savings of the poor who believed them?

·  Is the developmental need derived from the grass root? It is the million dollar question?

·  Ultimately Banks money is used for lending. What will happen if the program takes a U turn and the repayment rate goes down?

·  Livelihood enhancement of the rural poor is the objective of almost every SHG program. Any such program should capitalize on existing resources. Do the implementing agencies have enough experience in such interventions? Any wrong steps will, result is reducing the already earned income. So far nothing remarkable is achieved in this direction, except a few cases.

·  Above all the developmental agenda of country like India seems to be fixed by developed countries and by funding agencies like World Bank. Is our Indian economic and developmental policy is in right direction?

·  Can MFIs and SHG program co- exist? Will they not lead to dumping of credit to poor and hence reduce their standard of living?

·  Is the repayment rate of SHGs boasted by Government and the development practitioners are true?

Some NGOs who were pioneer in this SHG concept and who have promoted such SHG federations, finds it as a hectic task to make them sustainable. Actually SHG Federations are said to be democratic institutions. But the promoting agencies are exercising full control over such SHG federations. These SHG federations were used as a bait to lure funds from funding agencies. For sustainability of SHG federations, the federations have no other go except to raise funds from SHG itself by way of Service charge. Alternatively, the SHG federations can lend to SHGs like MFIs and again here there is the chance of operating cost of SHG federations to escalate.

Though the above questions are there, it cannot be denied that SHGs have helped at least 20 % women to improve their standard of living.

I will give a hypothetical example of a SHG operation in Tamilnadu. The members of the SHG (12 members) save Rs100/month continuously for 10 months. They get a first loan of Rs60000/ from bank. They lend it to members at 12 % interest. In few cased it was lend to 24 %, interest of which the SHG has to pay service charge to the federation and the remaining (after other incidental expenditures) will remain as the profit of the group. For what purpose the loan is given is being documented in the minutes of the SHG. But the purpose is not true in most of the cases. What again happens in the SHG is just lending. This is the scenario in 90 % of SHGs. Only the financial needs of the members get satisfied. They pay least importance to other needs or their mind is not committed to work for a common cause. Human mentality has become so selfish in recent years. There are incidences, where SHG members refuse to pay insurance under the subsidized group insurance scheme of LIC (Rs100/year is the premium for Rs30000 claim), since the premium will not get returned to them.  Even though they were trained to understand the concept of insurance, their heart does not allow to part with Rs100 for a common cause.

The SHG concept by itself is a wonderful one. But what to do with the concept when there are various implementation hurdles. A social revolution has to take place if this program has to become a success. Until then, the persons who are involved in this business have to satisfy themselves with the short term results and with the personal benefits they derive out of it.

While writing this blog I happened to stump upon another blog written by Mr.David Booman on Micro finance crisis in Andra Pradesh (When the Indian elephants dance). The Andra Pradesh Government has passed the Microfinance ordinance bill Yesterday, much against the wishes of the MFIs operating In A.P, as well as in India. As usual, this bill said to be passed with vested interest by the Andra Pradesh government since the Government owned program Society For Elimination of Rural Poverty (Velugu groups) sees MFIs as competition. While the statement of the Government and the Media that MFIs are functioning with profit motive only and that they charge exorbitant rate of interest cannot be ruled out, whether the Government has passed the ordinance only for the benefit or poor is a question. The war between the Velugu and MFIs has taken another dimension and that’s behind the every hiss and fuss created.

As David Booman says, the ordinance is unconstitutional in the sense that it interferes in the basic right of the people (the ordinance says that a SHG member should not borrow from other sources, say another SHG promoted by MFI, then it is a crime)

http://blogs.cgdev.org/open_book/2010/11/when-indian-elephants-fight.php

Go through this blog by David Booman for additonal information
It will be clear for the readers now that Micro-finance is not banking for poor, but it is just banking on Poor. There may success here and there. But will it make poor rich or make them poorer?

The confession of an economic hit man – a book by John Perkins, while give a insight about the hidden agenda behind international funding. With respect to Micro finance also, the same agenda seems to work.