STATE SPONSORED GAMBLING

Dear Friends,

Have you ever heard of a Government sponsored gambling den. Yes, this is the story of a Gambling den called "Dalal Street". It is located somewhere on the eastern shores of the Arabian Sea. It is sponsored by the King of the land. Since ancient days, gambling and prostitution though they are social evils, are nurtured by the rulers of the land. The great Indian Epic "The Mahabharata" was born with the seeds of gambling - that too - State sponsored.

In the land of the post "Mahabharat", ruled by King Mansudhan, State sponsored gambling is rampant. The king is a financial wizard and was the adviser to Lord Kuber, during his last birth. Being in the company of Lord Kuber, he has mastered the art of wealth generation and mismanagement of the State's resources by encouraging gambling. As the saying goes, `Birds of same feather flop together', Mansudhan has advisers who think in the same wave length. Mansudhan has appointed another financial manipulator named Shriman Chinnaswamy. Chinnaswamy has a track record of financial manipulations as finance minister with various other kings. Kings like Mansudhan prefer to appoint Chinnaswamy as their Finance Minister.

Chinnaswamy during his previous tenure as finance minister with another king 10 years back, is very famous for blessing the birth of Money Minting Companies called as, "Plantation Companies", Non-Banking Financial Companies", "Share Brokers " and "Sub-Share Brokers" . They cheated the local subjects under the very nose of the King and his Finance Minister. These companies grabbed the hard earned money of the people with a promise of very high rate of interest as returns. One fine morning, these companies vanished from the Kingdom leaving the subjects high and dry. The King and his Finance Minister said that they were helpless. Many people who were employed as agents with the so-called infamous Money Minting Companies committed suicide to escape the wrath of the people from whom they had collected money on behalf fo their Principal. There were social chaoas - suicides, mental depression, anger, frustration etc. etc. But the rulers did nothing because it was a part of the modern State sponsored gambling.

Now, after 10 years, again Chinnaswami has become the Finance Minister under the King Mansudhan. This time, his theme of State sponsored gambling is something called SENSEX, REAL ESTATE, SEZ, and many more. The local gamblers are confused which game to play. Some over sensuous gamblers enter the den called SENSEX, those who craze for land and houses enter the den called REAL ESTATE and the list is confusing. Even foreighners are attracted to these gambling dens. There is no need for passport or visa. They use a route called Hawala. Unfortunately this route was not known during the Mahabharat period.

The gambling is going on a full fledged scale. The stakes are astronomical. People are putting their wealth at stake to win a Jackpot. The crooks have looted and quit from the back door. The ominous signs of suicides, depressions and all other social chaos will repeat its cycle. The greenery will collapse. The Kingdom will come down and the Finance Minister will look for greener pastures

SIXTH CENTRAL PAY COMMISSION


The Sixth Central Pay Commission constituted to recommend compensation package to the Central Government employees is studying on the modalities for performance pay. It would be very difficult to chalk out a system for performance related pay within the present administrative set up of the government. The promotions in government service service are based on the ACRs of the last five years and seniority. It is a well known fact that the ACRs are generally graded as `Good` or 'Very Good" which are the benchmark for promotion. Generally all the incumbents in the cadre are considered for promotoin to the next higher grade primarily on their seniority with zero consideration of merit. There are personnel in various departments of the government whose knowledge and proficiency in their work is hardly 10 to 20 percent.

Instead of performance related pay let us talk of basic and elementary knowledge and proficiency of the job dealt by the respective staff. Where is the question of performance related pay when there is lack of basic ingredients for performance by a government servant.