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Federalism That's Not Cooperative: Watching The Watchdog
Federalism That's Not Cooperative: Watching The Watchdog
me/TheHindu_Zone_official
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THE HINDU
MONDAY, JUNE 4, 2018
NOIDA/DELHI
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OPED 9
Indian public fi nance needs to be restructured to focus on local governance Watching the watchdog
policymaking and in formulating
If news media has to salvage its credibility, it must create
strategies to ensure regional equity an exclusive media beat
and for evaluating the revenue po
tential and fi scal capacity does not doch’s News Corp, engaged in illegal phone
seem to have occurred to the deci hacking to obtain information. It had a huge
sionmakers of the country. This impact and led to the constitution of the Le
omission is tantamount to tearing veson Inquiry. Mr. Davies also provided a de
M.A. OOMMEN the web of a ‘holding together’ feder tailed background into the how and why of
ation which seeks “inclusiveness” as his investigation in his book Hack Attack:
A reliable system of intergovernmen a national goal. The Terms of Refe A.S. Panneerselvan How the Truth Caught Up With Rupert Mur-
tal fi scal transfers is the key to a via rence debate and the memorandum doch. His earlier work, Flat Earth News, doc
ble and stable federal polity. In India, of the State Finance Ministers are si Some readers questioned the arguments in umented some of the major failures in the
the design of a sound intergovern lent on this vital issue. While we have my last column, “Lying to get the truth” (May workings of the fourth estate in the U.K.
mental transfer system that will ba a credible budgeting and fi nancial re 28). Given the paucity of space, I paraphrase
lance the mismatches in resources porting system at the Union and and distil their counterarguments into two Reporting on the media
and expenditure responsibilities of State levels, it is inexplicable why the questions: If The Hindu is wary of deception One of the ways in which major legacy media
the various levels of government has fi nancial accounting and accounta in newsgathering methods, how did it carry houses hold errant media houses accounta
SATWIK GADE
been statutorily left to the Union Fi bility mechanisms at the local go stories relating to the Radia tapes, Cam ble is by reporting on them on a regular ba
nance Commission (UFC). After the vernment level are left to fend for bridge Analytica’s role in elections, and the sis. Roy Greenslade’s articles in The Guar-
abolition in 2014 of the Planning themselves. Al Jazeera investigation into matchfi xing in dian on politics, news and the media are an
Commission, which played a critical cricket? Are there journalistic ways of deal example of the media being a watchdog of
role in the Indian transfer system, sidiarity (what can be done best at a following the 73rd and 74th Constitu The real issues ing with ethical defi cits in the media without not just politics but of itself. Margaret Sulli
the UFC has emerged as the principal particular level should be done at tional Amendments, Article 280(3) In the Terms of Reference debate, resorting to deception? van of The Washington Post, who was earlier
agency to handle this delicate task. that level and not at a higher level) or was amended to incorporate the population was the overarching con the Public Editor of The New York Times, dis
Article 280(3) and its fi rst three claus other criteria in functional and reve clauses relating to panchayats and cern. But the real issues are: (i) that Three controversies sects all the ills that plague the media on a
es clearly spell out the core duties of nue assignments. Given this histori municipalities underscores the or there was a unilateral abrogation of A look at the timeline of each of these con regular basis. The New Yorker’s Ken Auletta
the UFC: tax devolution, grantsin cal reality, the Terms of Reference of ganic link in Indian federal public fi an unwritten covenant or guarantee troversies stands testimony to the governing has been unsparing in pointing out the de
aid, and augmenting the resources of a UFC should have been a joint exer nance. It is instructive to recall that given to the States in June 1977 in Par policy of this newspaper. Two magazines — fects, deceits and pitfalls of the media.
panchayats and municipalities. Over cise rather than a Union diktat. Item No.6 of the Terms of Reference liament (and endorsed by the Nation Outlook and Open — published the record Through reports, profi les, analyses of busi
the years, the openended subclause, In preparing the Terms of Refe of the 11th FC wanted that commis al Development Council in 1979) that ings of Niira Radia’s conversation with jour ness models, and a close scrutiny of mergers
280(3)(d), that provides for “any oth rence for a quasijudicial body like sion to take into account constitu the 1971 Census population data will nalists and politicians in midNovember, and acquisitions, he turns the spotlight on
er matter... in the interests of sound the UFC, it is important not to use it tional mandates such as creation of be used in computing devolution 2010. Most of the journalists the underbelly of media
fi nance”, has been exemplifi ed in the as a platform to impose the Union go institutions of selfgovernment, plan shares to the States; and (ii) in man who featured in the tapes ac businesses.
Terms of References of recent UFCs. vernment’s agenda on the States. ning for economic development and dating the 2011 population, no alter cepted that the voices in the re There are a number of dis
The Terms of Reference of the 15th The Union governments up to the social justice, and so on. Later on, nate compensatory device has been cordings were theirs. Once the concerting issues about the In
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to support this view include the In some branches, agreements had been reached and work
Supreme Court coming under will resume. In others, negotiations were stalled or were near
scrutiny, lack of transparency in break down. In a few important sectors, such as the big strike
the funding of political parties, bound motor car plants around Paris no real negotiations
debates around EVM tampering were underway at all.
and on whether or not we
should amend the Constitution. Notwithstanding the exis A HUNDRED YEARS AGO JUNE 4, 1918.
tence of a multiparty, parliamentary system, regular elec
tions, freedom of the press, and an independent judiciary, Madras Labour Union.
doubts are raised with respect to the fairness of elections, al CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
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liances of the media, insuffi cient separation of the judiciary A meeting of the mill hands and labourers held at Perambore
from the executive, populism, and plutocracy. CONCEPTUAL SHELF HELP Barracks on the 1st instant was attended by over three thou
A major characteristic of a populist regime is that it is in Pain point sand persons. Dewan Bahadur Kesava Pillai, Messrs. S. Guru
fl uenced by a strong, popular mass leader who appeals to Business Tortured by your own thoughts sawmy Chetti, B.A. B.L., and Kalayanasundara Mudaliar, Vice
the linguistic, religious, regional, or community sentiments Presidents; Mr. Vedachala Mudaliar and several others were
of a populace. Typically his campaigns throw up issues of This refers to any unsolved The struggles of battling with OCD, anxiety and depression present. Mr. Kesava Pillai was voted to the chair. Mr. Pillai deli
cultural pride, adopt a propoor and antielite language, dei problem facing a consum vered a long and lucid speech in Tamil extending over an hour,
fy ideas of nationhood, aggrandise military might, glorify a er in the market. Investors G. Sampath the True Story of a Life single, harmless thought, in the course of which he narrated the circumstances that
golden past and assure a prosperous future. and entrepreneurs try to Lost in Thought, journal then gradually takes over brought about the existence of the union which has now [on]
The current government has manifested most of these at identify consumer pain Every mental illness ist David Adam writes the mind, which then tries its rolls more than 1,600 members. It was due to their own de
tributes in the past four years. Demonetisation was couched points in order to decide comes with its own bag about his battle with OCD to assert its control by un sire to have an organization to cultivate a sense of fellowship
in antielite language, military aggrandisement came in the on making investments gage of public perception. and his attempt to over leashing a ‘compulsive’ and brotherhood and to safeguard their interests. He pointed
wake of the “surgical strikes” across the Line of Control, and and developing new pro In traditional societies, come the illness by under behaviour that in many out that the complaints of the millhands were less in the Pe
statements by numerous Bharatiya Janata Party leaders hint ducts for an unexplored they continue to carry so standing it, only to realise cases rapidly spins out of rambore mills than in the Choolai mill which is under the In
at the glorifi cation of the idea of Hindu nationhood. The market. Consumers are cial stigma, though that is that “no pathology of control, sometimes end dian management.
2014 election slogan of Achhe Din was nothing but the pro not always aware about beginning to change. For thought can be solved ing in suicide or selfharm.
mise of a prosperous future. Alongside the rise of populism their pain points, so busi instance, depression has with more thought”. He comes up with ar CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
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has been the deepening of plutocratic politics — govern nesspersons may have to achieved a degree of social Adam begins by diff e guably the best metaphor
ments of the rich, by the rich and for the rich. It is easy to fi gure out these points on
DATA POINT
understanding and accep rentiating between obses to describe the mind of so
fi nd a positive correlation between the net worth of an indi their own through the pro tance thanks to several ce sion (where you are still meone suff ering from
vidual and his likelihood of obtaining a ticket to contest elec cess of trial and error and lebrities — from Chima able to identify the obses OCD: a computer with ma
tions. Given an open market of cash for votes, such indivi sample studies. The study manda Adichie to Deepika sive thought as intrusive ny windows open but
duals also tend to amass more votes. of pain points is common Padukone — ‘coming out’ and foreign), possession where, all of a sudden, it
In India, a strong alliance of class interest and political to startups which try to about their battles with it. (where you no longer becomes impossible to
power is apparent. At a broad level, massive tax evasion and fi nd the actual potential of Similarly, other disor can), and compulsion close or minimise a partic
multibilliondollar scams involving not only big corporates their ideas before commit ders such as autism and (where you act out as a re ular window.
but also public banks demonstrate how profi ts are increas ting to making huge invest Attention Defi cit Hyperac sult of your obsessive Narrated with humour
ingly being privatised while the losses are being national ments. It is also the centre tivity Disorder are now be thoughts), and draws on and lucidity, the book is a
ised. Even during the United Progressive Alliance regime, of attention of groups that coming a part of the cultu scientifi c research, medi fascinating exploration of
mega scams such as those associated with the Common are involved in conducting ral mainstream. One such cal history, and his own “how the brain, our clos
wealth Games or the coal sector surfaced, in which political market research. illness, which is consi life experiences to illumi est ally and biggest asset in
leaders were allegedly involved. CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC dered manageable in its nate a little understood millions of years of evolu
There is a risk that the combination of populism and plu moderate manifestations ailment. From a girl who tion, can turn against us.”
M ORE ON
3
tocracy, which prioritise personality and private interests but could also prove truly eats an entire wall of mud It might be enlightening to
over public good, may dilute the independent functioning of THE WEB debilitating, is Obsessive to Kurt Gödel, the brilliant follow it up with Johann
institutions that sustain a vibrant democracy. Any strategy Compulsive Disorder mathematician who Hari’s Lost Connections,
to prevent such institutional erosion must aim to collectively Abuse us, criticise us but (OCD). It doesn’t help that starved himself to death, which connects depres
reinforce faith in the principles and practice of democracy, please come and watch us OCD is often seen as little to his own obsessive fear sion to cultural norms,
constitutionalism and social justice. play: Sunil Chhetri’s more than an eccentricity of contracting HIV, Adam and Sarah Wilson’s First,
heartfelt plea or a personality quirk. details numerous cases We Make the Beast Beauti-
The writer is a PhD scholar at the University of Delhi, and founding In The Man Who where an ‘obsession’ fi rst ful, a memoir about
partner, Jan Ki Baat bit.ly/Chhetri Couldn’t Stop: OCD, and makes its appearance as a chronic anxiety.
CM A ND-NDE
YK