JCBS AND ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS.

K Vijayachandran*

It was heartening to see that the last article in this column Administrative Reforms in Kerala, One Step Forward Two Steps Back has inspired several ministers: Finance Minister has endorsed the view that Kerala has a Government of clerks, by the clerks and for the clerks. Critical views expressed by him in a Government employees meet was then promptly followed up by Desabhimani, through an editorial (see box) on the very next day titled: Hegemony of Clericalism.

But all these do not mean that the message of that article has gone down even skin deep, on our policy makers or general public. We had, for instance, the great Karimeen incident reported from Kottayam medical college hospital and then a little later the entire state was rocked under the impact of JCBs, operating from the heights of Munnar. Both these episodes have excited the imagination of our clerical classes: They have even begun to look at JCBs as extensions for their own mighty pens.

To start with, let us dissect the Karimeen: We do not know whether the surgeon in charge of the offending refrigerator was really guilty: He had refused to cooperate with the media and appear on the television screen, along with his suspected exploits. We have not seen even a photograph of this surgeon the newspapers were even reluctant to reveal his full name. However, the hospital superintendent had reportedly prepared a detailed document on the number and size of Karimeen, and when, how and where these fishes were discovered, along with photos and video clippings of the frozen fishes being taken out of the hospital fridge. The report was prepared after detailed investigations as instructed by the Health Secretary, drafted, typed and fair copied and issued by the office superintendent and submitted to the Medical College Principal, who in turn had emailed a copy directly to the Minister, possibly along with the video clippings. Hard copies of the report were naturally sent to the health secretary, strictly according to procedures and protocols, and then to the private secretaries of the Minister, as well as others. Minister had reviewed these e-details on the laptop of her private secretary, sitting in Kerala House, and got convinced that the real culprit was the surgeon and not the fishes. Despite these lengthy consultations and complicated procedures, commendable results were achieved pretty fast, thanks to the dedicated and collective efforts of a dozen or so senior officials: The offending surgeon was suspended from Government service on the telephonic orders of Minister. The media celebrated the Karimeen episode with numerous expert interviews, panel discussions and open sessions. But nobody seems to have posed the question: Why the Superintendent or the Medical Collage principal did not act on their own and try to discipline the surgeon, without involving the Health Minister or Health Secretary, even though they had all the powers to do it?

The question was possibly considered stupid and never asked or could have faced a counter question: In that case, what are the ministers for and why democracy? You may argue still: If the local level officials exercised their authority most of the Karimeen like offenses would simply disappear and everybody knows, why the officials in charge of local offices or public utilities are often sacred of exercising their disciplinary authority. I had pointed out in my last article, how the clerical culture, that is all pervasive in our administration, have its seeds in the sectarian politics that rule over the personal staff of our ministers. Karimeen will remain as a symbol of inaction and indifference inflicted on our health administration by the dominant clerical culture in our system of governance. Possibly, the JCB might turn out to be a far more powerful symbol, and its memories will haunt us for a much longer time. It is surprising that nobody is seen resisting these machines, and that reminds me of the bulldozers of the Libyan leader, Col Qaddafi, the self proclaimed prophet of Arab socialism. His Green revolution and Green Book were the contemporaries and challengers of the Red Revolution and Red Book of Mao of mid seventies. The Cornell had challenged the culture of the filthy rich Arabs, with the music and poetry of bulldozers.

In many ways, the JCB was a clerical response to the deep rooted problem of corruption and maladministration in the management of our land resources. Sponsored by his faithful team, VS had proposed the operations: CPI(M) and LDF had accepted it with much less than half a heart. It was therefor not surprising that, service organizations like NGO unions did not even express their solidarity with the JCB. The militant leaders of DYFI and SFI had refused to shift their focus away from professional education, and CITU forced into a studied silence. The tragic comedy of Pinarayi-VS tango may continue on its course into an unnatural finish this time, but the JCB is sure to retire from its present mission, sooner than later, and a little premature. However, it has struck a sympathetic note in the hearts of the poor and the down trodden like the great MGR films, and the question keeps coming back: after JCB what? No political leaders, barring K Karunakaran and Kotiyeri, have responded to the JCB operations, with the minimum level of self-confidence commensurate with statesmanship. Karunakaran had made a point: taking over the ill gotten assets could have been a far better and more civilized response than demolishing. And, Kotiyeri had promised a grand master plan for Munnar tourism, in addition to strategic investments in the region by his tourism department, as soon as the JCBs vacated the scene. Others, without exception, sang the same song all in praise of the JCBs in public and cursing them in private. After all, they were individually and collectively responsible for the all pervasive land-grabs. encroachments, and illegal constructions.

Revenue department has been the sole custodian of all land resources and the backbone of administration, when land revenue was a major source of government incomes. Land revenues has virtually ceased to be a source of income, and the high power body known as the Revenue Board, a legacy from the days of British Raj, was wound up long back, with out precipitating any administrative discomfort or vacuum. Functions of the land revenue as well as survey, re-survey and registration departments could be safely handed over to LSGIs with out any administrative hazard. Land and land use questions should normally get settled at the LSG level ie municipalities, corporations and the three-tier panchayats, in tune with the laws of the land and regulations. Despite the proliferation of agencies dealing with the land question, reliable maps of good quality are simply not available today, and this is a major impediment for our economic and cultural development. Resurvey project initiated some three decades ago for liberating the land records from the labyrinth of centuries old clerical hegemony of land revenue department has added to the confusion: It is in limbo, and has not yielded any tangible results so far. As mentioned already, land records and land use records are best maintained at the local level and they could be integrated into district or state level maps using modern satellite technology. The right approach is to nominate the LSGIs as the primary custodians of land and land records, and make them responsible for updating and making available reliable information, data and maps of good quality for their respective regions, as is the practice in more civilized nations.

Despite their massive demolitions, no body has seriously questioned the legitimacy of JCBs and special task forces. Even the courts seem to be reluctant to intervene. We have a plethora of laws on land and land use, administered by numerous departments and institutions even other than the revenue: irrigation, forest, registration, survey and re-survey, geology, town planning department, land use board, and local self government institutions. There are also building rules and powers of granting exemptions by Government at various levels up to and including the state Government. Thanks to these complexities, laundering of land records has emerged as a lucrative profession and perfectly legitimate business. Maybe, every one of the JCB operations will be sued in the coming months and weeks, on the strength of these complex laws and the loopholes built into them. And unless the threads of genuine reforms are picked up in right earnest, laws of the jungle are sure to return in no time, and JCBs will be remembered more for their nuisance than righteousness.

* The writer may be contacted on email: kvijaya40@yahoo.co.uk

23.05.2007