Whispers Forum

DEBATE (1) Congress
Negative votes will revive the Congress Party.
S Mathews
DEBATE (2) Congress
Only Nehru- Gandhi family.
R K Jain
DC Sahab da Dhaba
In the year 1994-95,Andhra Pradesh started selling the rice at subsidized rates to poor, thereafter Tamil Nadu led the field including the cheap food for all at subsidized govt canteens. Punjab didn't lag behind and started selling Atta dal at cheap rates to targeted groups in 2007.So there is tough competition at populism at national level. In the recent days, the only work which the govt seems to be doing, is to start Saadi Rasoi or Sanjhi Rasoi through the deputy commissioners generally at district head-quarters, where everyone will get food at fixed affordable rates. There is inter-se competition amongst the deputy commissioners to outdo their peers and that too speedily. Not in the very distance past ,similar competition was visible amongst them to initiate steps for e-governance. I don't remember if any district stood second in that cut-throat competition. Every other day there used to be report that such and such district of Punjab has stood first in the country in e-governance. The public still stands in wilderness, eyes wide open, as to know the benefits of e-governance.
The noble work Saanjha chulha, Sasti rasoi , Saadi rasoi etc is being done without any financial help from the govt. Many, so called philanthropists have been roped in for financial boost to the project. The district officers will have to pay through their noses, for these acts of ostentatious charity, in due course, as such philanthropists have hidden agenda. Primarily Red Cross has taken the initiative to manage these food courts. People still remember that on several occasions in the past, the govt had categorically stopped collection of money by the govt employees for Red Cross. There were serious allegations of misuse of such funds, even at the level of deputy commissioners and a commission was appointed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court , to probe these allegations.It is a fact that the govt collect funds for Red Cross coercively at the time of registration of documents, issue of Arms licenses, issue of driving licenses, issue of Birth and Death certificates and many other similar govt works. The people who voluntarily pay for Red Cross are scarce. Red Cross has done the maximum harm to the probity of the officers over a long period. It is one of the largest organizations, which have promoted corruption in the govt. Here you rob Ruliya Ram to pay Ruldu Ram. One poor is robbed to make other poor comfortable.
Should Punjab open such dhabas, which will be a constant nuisance for the district administration ? Who will be the beneficiaries ? Punjab is not a state ,where such arrangements are required. Most of the poor people live in rural Punjab and they cannot come to the district head-quarters to avail of the cheap meals. Most of the beneficiaries are going to be from the category, which can afford meals at reasonable rates. The regime should not have been carried away by the media reports of success of such schemes in other states, where the number of poor and the level of poverty is much higher.
I remember, in Bhatinda,in 1978,S.Bikramjit singh IAS, the deputy commissioner, had got a Red Cross Bhojan Bhandar ,opened, for general public. It remained a very successful venture as it was self reliant and did not have to depend on the forced charity. If the deputy commissioner will run the dhaabas, then from whom we can expect good governance. There are reports that govt was planning to appoint more than 12000 persons ,mostly ex-servicemen, as guardians of governance. If the Chief instrument of governance will run the dhaba, then where the governance will be for guarding it ? The state must know that already the governance did not exist in the state and that too for large number of years. It is not poverty but governance which has been living in self exile. The regime should use Galileo's telescope to see it somewhere. I remember ,many years back, a chief minister of the state expressed his worries about the dwindling finances of the state , as the govt had failed to pay salary to its employees for one month. He had a large battery of advisers, who tried to soothe him. They said that there was nothing to worry as Bihar had not been able to pay the salaries for many months together. The position has come to a stage, where we cannot even look at Bihar for consolation.
The deputy commissioners ,out of fresh zeal and the urge to please the seniors, are devotedly, opening the Rasois. Once the priorities change, the scheme may generally get ignored for generating large number of complaints. It is the right time that the regime understands the potential and value of their brilliant officers and put them on the track of governance and only governance and not succumb to the populism to underutilize them and consequently undermine them. Thank God! SSPs have not been deployed to open Sweets shops for the poor so far.
Surinderjit Singh Sandhu, Amritsar

DEBATE (1) Congress
The only way Congress can revived is through regular visit of Shri Rahul Gandhi, with a lot of fanfare, to all the important Hindu temples, Gurudwaras, Churches and Masjids in the country. At all places prayers should also be organized so that god listens to the dreams of the Congress (I).
BBS
DEBATE (2) Congress
Symptoms of misdemeanors done by the BJP Government at centre have stated manifesting. The way Narendra Modi rose to such an exalted position, the same way he would fall. Modi, who turned the haters into fans with his tall promises, now started facing the music after he retreated from his pledges to provide employment to the common man and good days. The country is stepping to the edge of an abyss with creating a situation like “financial emergency” in his regime. Voices of dissent not only from Opposition but also BJP itself began to rise against the established authority as it failed at all fronts. A wave of anti-incumbency is howling around the country. The eyes of people can been seen flickering anger. They started venting their spleen on social media. The Congress should derive political mileage out of all these. In the digital age, Congress should launch a hammering campaign on social media to repose the faith among its traditional votes.
Barkha Soni

Debate (1 ) Congress
In my opinion, the only option Congress could opt is fighting without the name of "CONGRESS" but unfortunately they have used this "Brahmastra" for very short and smaller purpose in Delhi. Now they cannot reuse it. As our epic Mahabharata suggests it’s a weapon of mass destruction, we can see the after effect of this. It creates our country as opposition less, the maximum harm they did for the country.
Bhupendra
Debate (3) Congress
Congress can be revived in Madhya Pradesh, if Digvijay Singh is given full control of the state party organisation.
Sharik Khan
SBI’s revision of minimum balance amount ridiculous
The news about State Bank of India revising the minimum account balance for its savings accounts, as well as the penalties for non-maintenance of minimum balance, is being projected as a great favour to account holders which is ridiculous. The major change has been made with respect to savings accounts in metro cities, where SBI account holders will now have to maintain a monthly average balance (MAB) of Rs 3,000, instead of Rs 5,000. The bank should think there are a large chunk of customers for whom maintaining Rs. 3000 MAB is also a big amount.
RK

The complainant claimed that 09 of his RTI applications were replied by way of a single letter by the PIO and none of his RTI applications were replied satisfactorily. The Respondent referred to the heavy load of work due to additional charge & that the Complainant had opportunity to file the first appeal but he did not file the first appeal and neither did he attend the hearing. The CIC noted that the exemption u/s 8(1)(j) was claimed regarding information relating to the total number of RTI Applications & Complaints filed under the RTI Act. The CIC directed the then PIO Mr. P.K Mondal, now posted as JCIT, TDS (in charge of Dhanbad and Ranchi) to show cause why penal action should not be taken against under the provision of Section 20(1) of the RTI Act.
Comments
The above case points to the need of periodic conferences/seminars to sensitize, familiarize and educate the officials about the relevant provisions of the RTI Act, 2005 for effective discharge of its duties and responsibilities. This judgment series is a humble attempt in to achieve this goal.
Citation: Mr. Radha Raman Tripathy v. Income Tax Department in Complaint No.:-CIC-CBDTD-C-2016-299256-BJ Date of Decision: 21.07.2017
Dr. Anuradha Verma (dranuradhaverma@yahoo.co.in) is the co-author of the books: RIGHT TO INFORMATION – LAW AND PRACTICE and PIO’s guide to RTI. Her other articles can be read at the website of RTI Foundation of India at http://www.rtifoundationofindia.com/

The Congress party has to first re-organise its State-level units with appointment of leaders who have the ability to ensure victory in Assembly and Lok Sabha seats in various states. Without this ,revival of the party would be a distant dream .
Pramod Sharma
Debate Congress – 2
No one will be able to revive the Congress party until and unless Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi mend their ways. They should leave their arrogance, listen to their party leaders, have faith in them and then only one can think of revival of Congress fortunes.
Nirmal Kulshrestha

DEBATE (1) Congress
The true planning can revive congress by quoting all previous work done by congress for nation since independence.
There need to be proper guide to Sonia ji and Rahul ji.The spokesman should be wise and convincing.
The policy of opposing the work done by the opposition is negative factor.
No body wants hatred speech.
What congress had done for citizens in past needs to be the only part of speech to attract people .
No new face needs to be brought forward.
Only tuning of existing congress members need to be done.
At this stage inter unity is desired.
If you think that I can be proper person in this regard to guide then I request to get fixed my appointment with Sonia ji and Rahul ji.
Harsh Mehta
DEBATE (2) Congress
The Congress has failed to overcome from relentless enemies in the party itself. The Congress is not suffering from leadership problem, but the party is split by internal squabbles. An internal party dissent is major threat to the party. The Congress can revive itself if all the leaders are united to the party cause.
Archana
DEBATE (3) Congress
The Congress party should give a chance to Rahul Gandhi by installing him as Congress President. He should be given free hands to prove his mettle when party is suffering from internal splits.
Iram
“ Performance Extraordinaire”
An unprecedented address by Sushma Swaraj at UNGA on Sept 23,2017.
Finest ever by an indian Foreign Minister since independence..
A big retort to Pakistan that refuses to learn from history.
People-to-People contact between India and Pakistan has failed to dissolve the hostility between the two sub-continental cousins.
India empathises with the people of Pakistan for having been denied the fruits of democracy by Pakistani army by remote-controlling the civil administration.
It is the most appropriate time for India to launch an Army-to-Army contact and replace the present sham democracy in Pakistan by India-like democracy.
The country gives its compliments to PM Modi for choosing such an able, sober and logical lady as foreign minister.
A K Saxena ( A retd civil servant)
Rahul feels more at home abroad
Rahul Gandhi, the President in waiting of his party hopefully and Prime Minister -in -waiting (For life it looks like) has gone to USA to reinvent himself. Looking at his photograph with the students of Princeton University, it seems he is nostalgic about his young days when he was a student in his 20s(Where? we do not know) it does seem that he feels more at home abroad than in India as he can find faults of his own party. Has he not said that UPA too failed to create jobs as has Modi failed. He needs to remember that UPA was there for 10 years and Modi has been there for three years. He still has seven years to deliver (He is expected to be back in 2019) and people hope he will deliver.
Aarti Khosla

Debate (1) Congress
I am of the view that two contributory factors worked to keep the Congress at bay. First is polarisation of Hindu votes and second anti-incumbency waves against Congress at centre after ruling two decades consequently. Congress can return to power with concerted efforts.
Rajesh Kumar
DEBATE (2) Congress
The Congress party riven by internal disputes should overcome internal party dissent and roll up its sleeves in view of Vidhan Sabha election in MP in 2018 and Lok Sabha in 2019. The Congress party should confer with party senior leaders to set further course of action to snatch the power from BJP.
Sunil Kumar
Cheapskates!
In early 1960s,i was in fifth class, when a senior officer of my father started living in our street in a rented accommodation. His son was five years younger to me and since he was pampered at our house, he would freely visit us three or four times in a day. He was very innocent looking, brilliant child. Almost regularly,out of innocence, he would alternatively say,''We got many mangoes today free(Ajj barhe amb aaye,oh vi mufti),we got sweets today free(ajj mithiaian aayian oh vi mufti).''His father was a superintendent in a very important office ,so the subordinates often kept the supply line flourishing and the little boy thought that they were getting everything free.His name was Vinay, but everybody started calling him Mufti Ram.
In those days in the college,often we came across friends, who would never spend a penny,but whenever tea was ordered in the canteen, such spongers would appear like the characters in a magic show,take tea and vanish into thin air as soon as payment was to be made.Here was one such jovial fellow,who belonged to a rich family,but never ever spent even a single penny on his friends.He was called johnny as he had styled himself on Dev Anand, though his name was very simple and rustic. Dev Anand's 'Johnny mera naam',had proved a big blockbuster in those days.Often he was referred to as a makhi(fly), being a hanger on and a burden on other people's purse. Nobody could ever see his purse or any money in his hands.He had the knack of making his friends laugh even at his own cost. He knew that he was derisively called a mufatkhor,so he very jocularly named himself as Johnny Makhtaurhi (mufatkhor) in the party of friends in college canteen. This man has a flourishing business in Madras now, where he had gone 45 years back as a stranger with 12000 rupees cheque and no other reference. Once he met me at Delhi Airport with two gentlemen around him .He introduced one as the Chief commissioner Income tax and the other as Home Secretary of Tamil Nadu. I took him aside and asked him whether he lived by the same principles of mufatkhori. He laughed loudly and asked me to look at his friends and judge whether he has still to spend any money.He appeared proud of his specialisation in spending from others' pockets
My tayaji(uncle) was a very senior army officer and every year he would spend some days with us. He hated the civil officers like plague and even i was not spared by him. He thought us to be the most corrupt and incapable people unworthy of any respect.He had the habit of taking nap of about half an hour at 3 pm.In our officer's colony, a very old gentleman would at that time bring his pushcart and hawked loudly,''Ajnale di Basmati lai lao 15 rupye kilo( Take Basmati of Ajnala at Rs 15 per kg).''On the first day tayaji just murmured in his mouth as to why he was disturbing the people at that hour.Next day was saturday and incidentally i was present when the vendor came and started saying loudly,''Ajnale di Basmati.''My Tayaji asked me harshly,''Yaar ,don't you pity this old man,who comes here daily,tires himself and his throat and i have never seen him selling even one kg of basmati.''He paused for a moment and told me to tell him not to come again in this colony and waste his time.I was unnerved at the suggestion as i could not tell the old vendor not to come.Tayaji looked at me for a few seconds and then barged out speedily.''Bhai sahib zara gall sunna'', he raised his hand to signal the old man to come closer.I also got near the window to hear what tayaji had to say.The old man came very near to tayaji,who asked him ,whether he knew, who lived in that colony.He did not wait for any response from that old vendor and added.''Eh mufatkhoran di basti a,itthe apna time na kharab karo,ik paiya basmati vi nahin kisse ne karidni itthe,kite hor ja ke vecho eni vadhiya cheez.(It is the area of cheapskates,don't waste your time here,nobody will purchase even 250 gms of basmati,go and sell this precious commodity elsewhere).''I looked around .Thank God! nobody else had heard what Tayaji had said.
Surinderjit Singh Sandhu, Amritsar.

DEBATE (1) Congress
Capable or not, there is none other than Rahul Gandhi at this point of time to keep the congress flock together. Manish Tiwaris, Digvijay singhs and several groups as found in Tamilnadu congress will crop up resulting in total elimination of the congress. Look at what is happening to AIADMK IN TAMILNADU after Jayalalita. For Congress revival, Rahul should resort to the following. 1. Stop forthwith commenting on Narendra Modi. More comments he or his closest aids make about PM, more sympathy about Modi comes in people's mind. People still believe and respect that an ordinary person ,one like them, without any personal or family attachment fighting corruption is leading the country. Any attack on him is construed as an attack on ordinary person becoming the PM of the nation. 2. By branding every unwanted incident or utterences of some fringe elements in BJP as that of Modi or RSS and giving that as Anti secular attitude of PM, gives the majority community a feeling of appeasement for a particular community and weans them away from congress. 3. Congress lost last time because of association with proven corrupt parties like RJD and DMK 4. Rahul should apologise to people for the massive corruption that took place because of coalition politics and assure people that corruption free government will be provided 5. Last but not the least, he should at least from now on wards for the rest of the term of Loksabha show the people and BJP how an opposition party should conduct themselves in Parliament for orderly functioning by debates and discussion concerning people and issues. 6.It is not yet late for congress to revive or at least perform better than last election as people are slowly getting disappointed with the present government. 7.Rahul should shun away from Lutyans group and should not give credence to what they say. He should understand they all work for their vested interest and not in the interest of congress coming back to power. His focus should be for the people, to the people and by the people.
Ramjays
DEBATE (2) Congress
What keeps the congress party together is the Gandhi tag, even if fake. Without it everyone in congress is a leader in his/her own right, even if they have no followers. So only a Gandhi family member can revive it.There appears no prospect in near future! Maybe congis will wait for the next generation in the family to lead them, while many of them, who are acceptable, will switch to BJP.However the BJP has to be cautious in choosing, else they may have to face the ire and wrath of the people, if the thugs and unsrupulous among congis are taken in by BJP.
S Chatterjee
DEBATE (3) Congress
Rahul Gandhi makes a difference in past and present congress if he will be the congress leader.
Rohit Jain
DEBATE (4) Congress
No chance, BJP is dominating in all sectors.
Hemant Sahi
Promotion to take place genuine
The promotion which has to take place is based on the existing CSS Rules, past practices and is also genuine. There is only one impediment. It is the whims and fancy of the current Secretary, Department of Personnel & Training. The Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions is a weak character. This was the reason as to why he did not get promotion in the last Cabinet reshuffle. People do not realize that they are trying to create intentional hurdle. The nature and god is sitting up there high in the sky to dilute things (adverse or in-adverse) at a later date).
B B Srivastava

DEBATE (1) Congress
If Congress comes with powerful leaders like P Chidambaram, Kamal Nath, Ahmed Patel and Gulab Nabi Azad and make efficient strategies on communism. So they stand on unity in diversity principle which is very much needed in the country.
Mohan Deshpande
DEBATE (2) Congress
Congress can be revived in Madhya Pradesh, if Digvijay Singh comes as CM.
Sharik Khan
Deliverance from Curse of deb
Peasantry of West Punjab comprising mainly Sikhs and Hindus, was almost rendered pauper in 1947.With the super human efforts of Tarlok Singh and MS Randhawa, both ICS officers the peasantry got lands in lieu of the lands left in Pakistan on war footing, though with substantial cuts. However the farmers did not have the money for seeds, bullocks, fertilizers and implements etc to cultivate those lands. Small amount of loans called taccavis were disbursed to them for the purpose. Similarly some loans were advanced for building/repair of houses. Income from the agriculture generally remained elusive, causing piling up of loan amounts, along with interests and penal interest. The farmers ,who were able to repay the loans, faced different kinds of problems.
Our family had got such loans to the tune of rupees seven thousands. My father, who had also got a government job, used to regularly pay the installments. But invariably we would get demand notices of the money, which we had already repaid with interest and penal interest. On the day we received recovery notices, a shadow of gloom and sadness pervaded over our home. My father would get hold of the treasury receipts, get leave from the office and proceed to Ferozepore , where the land had been allotted to us, to get the accounts reconciled and settled. My father, on his return home, would profusely abuse the clerks, responsible for issuing the notices, in spite of the fact that the loans had been repaid. He would also narrate the travails of travel from Amritsar to Ferozepore. Harike barrage had not been constructed then. Punjab roadways bus would go up to Harike, the passengers would get down there to get on the boats to cross the confluence of Sutlej and Beas rivers. After crossing the river, a bus would take the passengers to Ferozepore. Harike barrage came into existence only in 1953.Next year the same notices with the addition of interest and penal interest would reappear to make our life hellish. The tehsil officials acted like agents of tyranny, not thinking of the difficulties of the peasantry.
I was in BA part 2,when my father told me to go to Ferozepore, to get the matter settled as he was not well. Since we had made our residence at Amritsar, I was terrified to think of visiting a tehsil or deputy commissioner's office at Ferozepore. I had natural aversion to the haunted looking buildings of tehsils and police stations, unaware of the fact that i will have to spend many years in such buildings. I went to Ferozepore and as advised by my father ,i went to meet the deputy commissioner. While entering his room, I was trembling. However that ferocious looking noble man listened to my problem and called both the branch officer of revenue branches and Assistant superintendent revenue. On that very day the tehsildar and wasil baqi nawis were also summoned. It was revealed that the challans were allowed to pile up and not incorporated in the relevant register of accounts. Resultantly, thousands of ill-fated farmers, who had to leave heart, hearth and land in Pakistan, suffered this tyranny of repeated notices. The deputy commissioner suspended the tehsil employee and put on duty extra staff to incorporate the pending challans in the account books to update the record. Our purpose was served.
It was coincidental that after a decade , I joined civil service and was posted in the same district. I made discreet enquiries as to what had happened to thousands of people, who used to repay the loans with great difficulty ,but still the account books showed them as defaulters. I was told that the deputy commissioner would himself sit throughout the night to complete the records. He also got the proclamations made in the villages to the effect that if anyone was facing such problem, he could directly meet him. Patwaris and qanugos also spent day and night to get receipts from the people and got those incorporated incorporated in the record. The deputy commissioner had accomplished this small looking great work and never boasted about it. But the old timers remembered such a noble administrator for very long. He was S. Kuldip Singh Virk, who later retired as Chairman PPSC.
Surinderjit Singh Sandhu, Amritsar.

DEBATE (1) Congress
Only Nehru-Gandhi family .Now Priyanka Gandhi
Vivek Dhawan
DEBATE (2) Congress
Only wise man can revive the congress, who can stand infront of Modi like warrior.
Nitika Singh
DEBATE (3) Congress
Collective report against and sincere watch on BJP tenure, makes congress lead by taking advatages of their cons like demonitisation is a big falure.
Ramish
Most bureaucrats are bothered about postings only
Many of the bureaucrats are bothered about nothing else in life but there own posting (sometimes of their colleagues and competitors too). Every time a new transfer order is issued, there is an opacity in the issue of it. Some of the officers with connection, power and clout know how to manage their orders as per their choice. The only way to bring a sense of decorum to the system is to observe transparency in the transfer and posting. Unfortunately, everyone just pays lip service to it but there is no concrete systemic action in spite many commissions who have discussed this issue threadbare. For the country, it would be indeed a good omen if RTI Act is able to bring about this tranparency.
Sameer Bhatia
A Tribute
The Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh died on Saturday. Till three years ago he used to come regularly for an hour in the afternoon at 4 p.m or so to India International Centre to read his favourite foreign newspaper.Getting out of his bluish greenish Ambassdor car he would walk to the library earlier with a stick and later with the help of an aide.He exuded so much charm and goodness that floored everyone.You wish him and he would acknowledge the same with a hand on your hea as if to bless or a peck on your back.His smile was so innocent and infectious and many of us in the library- the visitors and the staff were overwhelmed by his presence.He was a perfect gentleman besides being a great warrior.As one of the Air Force Officer wrote the other day God does not make such individuals any more.Rest in Peace the Great man.You will not be seen by us but your image will always inspire your countrymen.
Aarti Khosla

DEBATE (1) Congress
The Congress is unlikely to revive so long as the BJP government is headed by PM Modi. The reason is that there is no one in the Congress with an image equal to the PM.
Vijay Kumar
DEBATE (2) “ Who can revive the Congress ? “
None, in my view.
The Congress is terminally ill. The power-hungry Nehru-Gandhi dynasty and its loose cannons , are the root cause of party’s slow death.
Being out of touch with the ground realities, the party has lost its relevance and usefulness. Lack of inner-party democracy, most vicious during Indira Gandhi’s times, promoted cult worship, stifling the voice of reason and sanity.The trend continues, till date. Only, characters have changed endowed with zero intellectual maturity
The crooked veterans in the Congress are spineless slaves, devoid of self esteem. Revolving around the fulcrum and maintaining their seesaw balances. They vie with each other in keeping the self- proclaimed Supremo happy. The leadership , has neither the concern nor understanding of country’s problems. It draws strength from ill-gotten wealth stashed in tax havens abroad.
Sudden emergence of anti- dynasty movement in the Congress could save the party from itself. Even the chances of such an eventuality, are nil. So strong is the mafia-like stranglehold. A majority of Congi veterans involved in UPA scams, may be paying the price of their sins. Performance or non -performance by ruling dispensations in States, should not be ignored. This could have negative or positive impact on one party or the other.
Anti-incumbency factor arising out of corruption and non-performance , could kill any political party.and strengthen the hands of its enemies. Public is watchful. Parties like the SP, BSP, RJD, AAP etc could meet the same fate as the Congress due to their corrupt practices.
Such cases need close monitoring. Investigations, prosecution and convictions have to be followed up in the interest of speedy criminal justice administration.
In sum, the situation is hopeless. The Congress is at the cross roads. No one can help in its revival, let alone, Rahul Gandhi’s boring address at the Berkeley.
A K Saxena (A retd civil servant) .