Though MPs from Opposition parties have been disrupting Parliament for 16 consecutive days, demanding a JPC probe into the 2G scam, they did do one thing: They passed a bill for supplementary grants to the Budget, by which the government's windfall gains from 3G auctions will be "consumed" by various subsidies. This bill was passed without discussion! The disruption of Parliament has already cost the taxpayer 95 crores.
In theory, parliaments are meant to "represent taxpayers": "No taxation without representation" has always been the rallying cry of democracy.
Reminds me of the time I lectured schoolkids in a small town in the district of Chikmagalur, western Karnataka. This district became famous once for returning Indira Gandhi to Parliament. I asked the kids whether they would prefer to elect someone to run their little town well - and their little town was quite a mess - or send someone all the way to represent them in a distant Parliament in Delhi. They immediately understood why centralisation is a very bad thing.
Anyway, our central Parliament is clearly not doing much - and certainly not representing taxpayers. The rowdyism of Opposition MPs seems theatrical and hypocritical. The BJP leader LK Advani is calling for a "crusade against corruption" while their own chief minister in Karnataka is mired in land scams. The furore over "illegal mining" is a land scam, too.
Then there is a report today of one of his key ministers being charged with corruption over land (that minister has since resigned). There is another report today, this time on Gujarat, where the BJP rules, on a CBI chargesheet against Narendra Modi's former home minister Amit Shah in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case, which details the "politician-police-gangster nexus" in this state. This editorial in the ToI nails the BJP for its "political grandstanding."
Thus, JPC or PAC, CONgress or BJP, political corruption will forever continue in socialist-democratic India.
While the "politician-police-gangster nexus" sounds ominous enough, I found this report on corruption in the ToI today, which reveals an aspect of the ugliness of our The State that no one talks about. The report is on Bangalore, and it says huge bribes have to be paid to sub-registrars just to register property. These sub-registrars - there are 33 of them in the city - collect over 3 crores in bribes every month. The report ends with a condemnation issued by the High Court, which said that "all land acquisition officers and sub-registrars are corrupt." For the ordinary citizen, this sort of rampant corruption in matters relating to Property is far more damaging than the 2G scam. As I wrote a few days ago, seeing how our The State has wasted its takings from the 3G auction, the 2G scam is a "good thing" - because investors have saved money, and consumers will therefore benefit.
The word "parliament" is of French origin, with its root in parlez. It is a "speaking place." In France, all the cities and towns have their own, ancient parliaments. The word was taken to England by the conquering Normans. The Anglo-Saxons had another word - "husting" - which is an abbreviated form of "house meeting." There was a Court of Hustings in the Olde City of London till fairly recently. We in India need to think of local parliaments. We need to run our cities and towns independent of higher authorities. All these land scams and corrupt registrars are proof of urban destruction, fatal to civilisation itself.
We must also pause to comprehend why parliament has degenerated so. There is but one answer to that - and that is central banking. It is this institution that allows governments to finance themselves by printing paper money. Thus, they are no longer dependent on taxpayers. They can finance wars; they can finance "welfare." Unless this power is taken away, no reform of government is possible.
The airwaves are being taken over by a different song - the "siren song" of the global banksters. Here is what the IMF chief had to say to Mint yesterday. They want central banking and fiat paper currencies to go on forever. Further, they want the IMF to be able to issue its own currency - the SDR. The IMF chief says: "Certainly, the role of SDR will be enhanced, it will become more and more non-sovereign international currency." I shudder at the thought.
However, our Parliament did meet yesterday - when Professor Jagdish Bhagwati of Columbia University delivered the Third Professor Hiren Mukherjee Memorial Lecture at the Central Hall, with Chacha Manmohan S Gandhi by his side fondly recalling their times together in Cambridge. Cambridge is where Nehru also studied, as did John Maynard Keynes. Professor Bhagwati endorsed Chacha's "welfare schemes for the poor." He even endorsed the bio-metric ID card scheme as essential for the delivery of welfare. He endorsed State education. Back in the USSA, Professor Bhagwati is a vocal supporter of the Democratic party - the "socialists" of America. It is because of the "welfare-warfare State" that the US dollar is in such a mess, as is the US economy.
Which way do we go, Indyeah?
Corruption is not a big issue in a developing economy with lumpen capitalism. In fact,it distarcts from main issues of poverty, education, inflation and unemployment. Prof Bahgwati talked about the democratic reforms but has not suggested any concrete strategy for mass education, reduce inflation and eliminate poverty and unemployment. In fact there is no meaningful theory of distribution in the neoclassical economics except waiting for growth to percolate downward. Although many well renowned economists like Joseph Stiglitz ans Krugman admitted failure of neoclassical economics Bhagwati continues to carry the bandwagon. Since the first census our govt can't even put a correct number how many people are below the poverty line. If you do not know the problems, how can you address? It appears to readers that Manmohan Singh is rallying around American agenda by inviting Bhagwati to deliver Prof Hiren Mukherjee memorial lecture which is an insult to cause and principles for which he stood.
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