WHAT IS REQUIRED IS POlITICAl WIll TO ACT, NOT MERRY-GO-ROUND OF OFFICIAl MEETINGS
In their first meeting with the Chief Secretary GC Pati, members of the newly-formed Indian Steel Association (ISA), a body representing all integrated steel manufacturers in the country, demanded that the problem of raw material shortage, which is crippling their operations and forcing them to incur huge losses, be addressed by the government on a top priority basis. The most prominent among them, JSPl (Jindal Power & Steel Co), Essar Steel and Tata Steel, are, in fact, the hardest hit. last financial year, the JSPl suffered a staggering loss of Rs1,280 crore, their first annual loss in at least a decade. The Essar Steel is on its bank’s NPA list. Tata Steel, too, suffered a stunning loss of Rs4,000 crore as against a profit of Rs3,600 crore in the previous year. While some of their financial woes are due to external factors like import of steel from China and South Korea, shortage of iron ore constitutes a major problem for them in increasing their production. If the steel sector has invested Rs2 lakh crore in the State, it is our Government’s bounden duty to provide them adequate raw materials to run their plants. But the response of the Government is pathetic. Forming an association and collectively meeting the Chief Secretary reflects the steel manufacturers’ frustration in having otiose rounds of discussions at various levels of the Government machinery. Shortage of iron ore provided the spark, but the fuel was undoubtedly the Government’s callous attitude to their multifarious problems. Those problems require attention from the highest quarters. The jobsworth bureaucrats can’t solve their problems. They are too blinkered and risk-averse to take difficult decisions, even though sensible. Only the Chief Minister can take such decisions. It is here that Naveen Patnaik lacks what it takes to be a dynamic leader. His manifesto commitment to ‘facilitate industrial growth’ has always been propagandiaed but never materialised.
FATAllY WOUNDED PYARIMOHAN MOHAPATRA SNARlING IN A CORNER
He may be politically forlorn. His party may be in shreds. And both may be staring into the abyss. But he can’t be kept down for long. Pyarimohan Mohapatra pops up once every few months before the media to display his larger-than-life persona and outsize ego. When it comes to prizes for boastful ranting, no one should come in his way. The ‘villain of the failed coup’ three years ago may be a spent force in politics, but his self-serving windbaggery blasts our eardrums even now. A few days back, while admitting that his meeting with 33 MlAs in May 2012 was a strategic mistake, he blustered in the same breath that even now, he can create, like ants to an elephant, problems for Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. He said he could have been, had he wanted, the Chief Minister of the State in 2009 when 85 MlAs were under his belt. But he swore that was never his intention. Why did he then assemble an armada of 33 MlAs when Patnaik was abroadIJ It was only to prove that the MlAs were still loyal to him and nothing more. Such protestation of innocence is of only archival value now. History, they say, is written by the winners. Patnaik termed it as an attempt to depose him, and the narrative has largely gone that way. Between the two extreme positions of Mohapatra’s outright denial and Patnaik’s assertion, it is safe to assume that the former was probably testing the water in his meeting with the MlAs on that fateful day. It was only when the numbers didn’t reach the critical mass to threaten the incumbent CM that Mohapatra backtracked and offered a different explanation. Mohapatra overtly didn’t do anything that day to invite charges of plotting to overthrow Patnaik, but his intentions were deeply suspect, no matter what rigmarole he invents to deny them.
THE COMICAl CHARADE OF REVIEWING MINISTERS’ PERFORMANCE
If you want to see an illustration of running with the hare and hunting with the hound, go no further than Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s ongoing review of his Ministers’ performances. Days before the review, Secretaries prepare question papers for Patnaik and answer papers for the Ministers. Both the sides unerringly stick to their scripts. While the questioner is incapable of deviating from the script, the answerers are meticulously coached not to be too smart to speak outside the prepared draft. No wonder, the Ministers routinely get full marks for their performances. After the charade, Patnaik beams before the cameras and leaves the reviewing meeting fully satisfied with the way his administration is running. We are told that the farce which started after the first anniversary of Patnaik’s fourth term as Chief Minister will continue for one month. Those who thought the incompetent Ministers would be grilled are hugely disappointed. They are not even lightly sautéd.
CONGRESS AND GIRIDHAR GAMANG: TRIAl SEPARATION OR REAl DIVORCEIJ
Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s invitation to Giridhar Gamang to meet her in Delhi makes people wonder whether the latter’s resignation from the party is a trial separation or a real divorce. Son Sisir Gamang, who does most of the talking on his father’s behalf and seems to be the real decision-maker, says he and his father would be going to Delhi on the appointed date but on their ‘private business’. If indeed the duo meets Sonia Gandhi, will they up the ante in the current competitive market for their membershipIJ Was the resignation just a gambitIJ The new-age Natawarlal dug out an ancient grudge, which nobody knew he was harbouring for so many years, to quit the party. He looks quite adept at playing both ends against the middle. The junior Gamang, too, seems far more canny and calculating than his age. like the tail wagging the dog, the son has the father completely at his beck and call. The father will join whichever party the son joins. Then why not take only the son into the partyIJ You will get two for the price of one.
RP SHARMA IS AN All RIGHT POlICE COMMISSIONER
The High Court’s serious concern over the rapidly deteriorating law and order situation following an armed robbery in the house of a retired judge should make our Police Commissioner RP Sharma reformulate his policing strategy. But Sharma has other ideas. He thinks helmet checking is the most important part of the police duty. He deploys, even now, large numbers of his force to do this soft job. His skewed priority baffles common sense. It is the ailing heart of our law and order problem. No matter how serious the crime situation, scores of police personnel will be seen hanging around city corners to catch helmetless bikers. like desi blades which leave the beard and run after the skin, Sharma’s police leave the hardened criminals and regularly chase the minor offenders. Why can’t they be deployed to patrol city streetsIJ But Sharma will never neglect helmet checking, come what may. Can a leopard change its spotsIJ Sharma has done some good things and failed in many others. On the whole, he is nothing to write home about. He is an all right Police Commissioner.
(saratpattanayak@hotmail.com (M) 9437962121)