Whispers Forum

The cocktail of religion and politics is explosive. The desire for absolute control over the people is the common thread in both the conditions. None of them want the common man to question them even though they claim to be ruling on behalf of them or for their benefit. All the religious bodies must be brought under the control of the Central Information Commission and should be forced to voluntary disclosure under section 4 of the RTI Act. Removing opacity would bring out the much needed reform in the working of the religious bodies.
Rajiv Bhatia
Economic crisis infinite
Dollar at 81 Mayhem. Economic crisis infinite, RBI in silent mode. Why no action plan with a vision plan for India by RBI and the dispensation. RBI should have intervened by entering into foreign exchange market by now. Dispensation is more worried and busy in strategy for 2024 elections. By now India should have had a vision policy to contain this problem. High time some way out to use the golden opportunity of rupee depreciation, exports can be increased through more incentives to exporters. Imports must be restricted now for a brief period till the situation improves. If no corrective action is taken fast, India will be doomed on the economic front, as a deep global recession too is in the offing.
Harish Kumar

All Indians are regularly watching provocative debates on TV channels, despite knowing their futility. The debates are rarely live but always rehearsed and recorded. These are attended by the self- proclaimed ‘political thinkers’, fighting like the uneducated illiterates. Leaders of different parties and their motor mouths are busy addressing rallies after rallies wearing branded clothes, colourful head gears, receiving bouquets, garlands , scarves from chatukaars. What is Rahul Gandhi's secret objective behind the on-going, country-wide padyatra? Can the country afford such wasteful expenditure? Divisive. The Hindus don saffron robes while the Indian Muslims appear in green attire. Do religions represent specific colours? This is the latest trend. Our politicians have a penchant for giving unsolicited advice. Scripted or tele-prompted, worse still, TV anchors get handsome remunerations for supporting the parties' spokespersons. All are tutored by political masters. One wonders, for how long will this tamasha continue? Can the Indian Hindus and Muslims not co-exist? They have been living together for centuries ,sharing the same composite culture? A majority of Hindus and Muslims wish to live together in peace and harmony. A miniscule, misled minority, however, is not on the same page. Disgusting. Why the judiciary is after passing observations, remains mute spectators. It is split from within. Kyaa Kabhi Achhe Din Aayengey? What is the way forward? First and the foremost, we must stop watching Indian TV news channels. All are owned by media houses ,whose businesses can be manipulated by the ruling political class. The controlled TV news channels dish out half-truths , sometimes, even, untruths. The debates are divisive, fuelling Hindu Muslim hatred. Instead, let us support digital platforms to get the correct perspective of whatever, good or bad, is taking place in the country. The Indian citizens are entitled to get authentic news, not trash. This is our fundamental right.
A K Saxena (A former civil servant)

Crime is increasing all over the country. It is high time that the administration is toned up.
Vijay Kumar
Rahul no match with corruption crusader JP
A K Saxena, I agree with your views that Rahul Gandhi is no match to the corruption crusader JP. But you will also have to accept the fact that the two important corruption crusaders of the country namely JP and Anna Hazare left behind legacies to two people namely Lalu Yadav (chara ghotala) and Arvind Kejriwal (liquor policy ghotala) respectively.
Anurag Srivastava
No problem with African cheetahs as long as they thrive
I have no problem with African cheetahs as long as they thrive. Crores must have been spent to give our leader the opportunity to get cheetahs out of his hat and into the wild. Tax payers' money should be generously spent on education, particularly, girls' education. The figures of available teachers v/s sanctioned posts (not including those recruited by the WB School Service Board) is appalling.
B K Saha

While government of India, under the tutelage of our honorable Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is making all efforts to put the image of the country at zenith position globally and many new initiatives are taken however this sounds ridiculous and unassimilated that in the past, in this dispensation, many times good positions including the present secretary Defence production is jointly held by the Defence Secretary as this has also happened with many other departments. Post of Secretary ex servicemen is just filled after many months void. This gives two conclusions, whether the department, jointly held by one person does not have much importance and is in fructuous or having a very menial job which can be handled jointly by one person only. in that case should be withdrawn secondly ,it really makes one to ponder as to whether Govt Of India is deficient of good officers, as otherwise many IAS from 88 batch to 1991 who are empanelled as Secretary Govt Of India are eagerly and rightfully waiting to be posted as secretary Govt Of India (dream of every IAS to become Secretary GOI when he enters the IAS) besides the fact, govt does not find suitable candidates who until recently being empanelled and must have gone rigmarole of 360 degree and many clearances including CVC, IB These episodes have become quite frequent even in PSU ,like GOI could not find suitable candidate for Chairman ONGC and many names cleared by PESB are not notified by ACC . These lackadaisical approaches on the part of Govt of India compels common public to think otherwise. We have full faith in Govt.
Mahendra Goel

I don’t understand that why a Senior Bureaucrat like Sri R K Srivastava (retd IAS) made a survey between a roaring lion and a sick horse. He should have made a survey between the lion and a strong & healthy horse. As a fan of WIC, I would like to see a Survey between the roaring Lion and a Horse either from outside or within.
Akula
Mastery of Hindi essential
For a successful career in Indian politics, mastery of Hindi language is very useful. Numbers aside, it captures the real ethos of India. Hindi largely touches the Indian ethos, culture, values, ideals, vision and sense of unity. Even aspirants for the highest office in India from other language backgrounds acquire proficiency in Hindi for success. It can be deduced from failures of many non-Hindi speaking background politicians that proficiency in spoken Hindi alone did not help them become party president or Prime Minister. One needs to live India. India means one has to live what one professes. Hindi helps achieve that much for any sincere person. It is no wonder that the ruling dispensation possessing very high proficiency in English has all along been transacting business in English (official and personal too) but never used it for electioneering. It has been Hindi in more than 70% territory and other Indian languages in the rest of India (largely areas so far underserved). It is sinking into the ideology of political parties to resort to more and more use of Hindi for party work and elections. Party leaders of national political parties from non-Hindi speaking areas going for election work and public rallies in Hindi areas use Hindi to garner votes for their candidates. When they use Hindi, their appeal increases due to a new flavour to the language their pronunciation adds naturally. Sometimes a word or a metaphor uttered by them may impress the audiences. Hindi is such a big market that no manufacturer, distributor or seller can afford to ignore. It was 20 years ago that I had predicted the entry of big MNCs in the market using Hindi for reaching out to the consumers and market research. I am happy to see foreign sellers using Hindi, surveys specially conducted for market research to serve consumer taste. Foreign films are now available in Hindi. The point is Hindi has the potential for enormous economic growth, profitable business and vast employment. This potential of Hindi has so far gone unnoticed. It ought not have been. The entire focus has remained on the language aspect, especially around the question whether it can replace English in transaction of official work, education in professional branches like engineering, technology, medicine and law. Had this diffidence been shed with the determination to make it possible to use Hindi with the same felicity we use English for transaction of official work and business, we would not be asking/answering this question. The politics around language apart, no Indian language has been able to develop to that level in the last 75 years. What purpose does such language politics serve? It harms the people generally. It divides the people as the ruling class and the ruled class. English serves that objective. The ruling class corners all the benefits through a single instrument of absolute power of the English language in their hands. It makes the difference between poverty and affluence in our society. It concentrates the national wealth and other assets in the hands of a few who own all political power and control of the economy. Now that harm has been done by such language politics, let us decide to turn the tables on them by making every Indian proficient in English. Those who discourage people from acquiring proficiency in English do so for unlawful gains for self or siblings. English is easier to learn in comparison to Hindi: it has 26 letters in its alphabet in comparison to Hindi which has 52. Our teachers and examinations have made it difficult. Just like mathematics, English has been made difficult and frightening to promote the private coaching industry. High proficiency in English will only strengthen Hindi. Afterwards it will not take more than two years to demolish the myth that Hindi can’t replace English. The process of enrichment of Hindi will only empower it to assimilate knowledge in this information revolution era and digital world. Luckily, Hindi can draw on such a valuable treasure of ideas, expressions and content from Sanskrit and all other Indian languages. It is not because of Article 343 or Part XVII of the Constitution of India or any emotional reason or historic role of Hindi in the Freedom Movement but because it is the right time to give the language its due for economic and developmental vision for the improvement of the conditions of people of India that the need for accelerated development of Hindi is being re-emphasised this Hindi Day 14th September 2022.
M L Gupta

I eagerly look forward to the posts on the whispers in the corridors as you are amongst the first to give a breaking news on bureaucracy. Specifically, Monday is important for the RTI article. The RTI Act had come with a lot of expectations which remain unfulfilled. It is sad to see the gradual decline in the implementation of the RTI Act. The Information Commissioners hardly seem to be fulfilling the role they are expected to play. Even when there is a lapse on the part of the public information officer, they prefer to let him go with just a warning. The RTI Act must be implemented effectively if a significant change is expected. The fear of penalty is necessary if the timelines are to be followed.
Pramod Agrawal
Dignity of retired bureaucrats
This is how retired bureaucrats' dignity is recognized by Modi Govt. What a sad commentary! Seems like India is hurtling towards an unabashedly autocratic regime.
Deepak Gupta