KJ Rao's still at it in WB

With the ruckus created by the AAI employees and the left, the upcoming elections in West Bengal have gone off the main page of the national media. Fortunately, the absence of attention has only prompted KJ Rao and other officers of the Election Commission to go about their clean-up in the state. Maybe it helps too that the state government's efforts currently are used up in abetting the AAI protestors shut down Kolkata airport. I've put together some news items to give an update of the EC's findings.

From what I see, the Left despise him, and the media attention being paid to him often bring out the hidden truths but the commies' systematic rigging in their bastion. Their image is taking a beating. Not that they had a base among the majority of the nation, such actions by Mr. Rao and the Left's abetment of the AAI employees strike, now beginning to anger the common traveller, will show everyone for the no-good, Chinese lapdogs that they are.


EC detects 1.1 lakh fake ration cards in WB

A total of 1.1 lakh fake ration cards were cancelled in West Midnapore and the names of around 48,000 false and dead voters were detected and deleted from the voters' lists in Purulia and South Dinajpur by Election Commission observers touring all the 19 districts in poll-bound West Bengal for the second time in two months.

District Magistrate, West Midnapore, Dushmanta Nareila said 56 lakh ration cards had been issued in the district against a total population of 51,934,11 as per the 2001 census report.

He said the EC observer, K J Rao, of Bihar Assembly election fame, had asked the sub-divisional and district controllers to submit a detailed report on this discrepancy by Saturday, reports from districts said.

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Election Commission steps up pressure on Left Front

The 19-strong team will be headed by K. J. Rao, Special Adviser to Election Commission, who is credited with holding Bihar’s first free and fair polls resulting in the rout of Lalu Prasad Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal ruling Bihar for 15 years.

The second team’s mission is to take stock of developments since their last visit and check how much action has been taken on complaints they had referred to the state administration.

Read between the lines, the Election Commission appears determined to put an end to what West Bengal opposition parties describe as the Left Front’s ‘scientific rigging’ to retain its grip on power in election after election.

The team will begin its week-long tour from today, it has been announced. Rao, who earned kudos for his role in the Bihar elections, has been assigned West Midnapore district — a Maoist bastion witnessing an increasingly violent and protracted red-versus-red battle that has left many comrades and policemen dead.

The CPM yesterday reiterated its earlier grouse against poll observers. Biswas said that “observers are welcome but if they take media personnel along again, we will have to take up the matter with the election commission” — revealing that the publicity being given to the Election Commission’s cleansing operation is hurting the red party’s image.

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1 lakh bogus voters in Nadia and still counting

Nearly a lakh “bogus” voters have been detected in Nadia alone.

Members of the 19-strong team of observers, now on the second leg of their mission to weed out such voters, arrived in their assigned destinations today. And that they have a mammoth task on hand became evident from one district.

After a meeting with Nadia observer Amitabh Rajan, district magistrate Rajesh Pandey said by February 15, when the final electoral roll would be published, the number of dead, shifted or Bangladeshi voters is expected to go past the one-lakh mark.

About 3.5 lakh dead/shifted voters have been identified across the state so far.

The 90,000 bogus voters in Nadia were identified following an inquiry initiated by Election Commission adviser K.J. Rao last month.

But, unlike Rao, who never disclosed his destination to the media, Rajan bared his plans. He handed to journalists his schedule for the next seven days.

The CPM reacted sharply. “This is not done. EC (Election Commission) officials are not supposed to inform others about their movement. But some observers are doing just that. We never made public the complaints filed by our party,’’ said Rabin Deb, the government’s chief whip.

Militant Unionism to the fore

Let me begin by stating my simple belief: Incompetence has been institutionalized in India.

Now all it takes is the pusillanimity of the Government and the militant, socialist mindset of the unions to keep it that way. This was the case with Honda in Haryana, which saw protests and violence by some disgruntled employees aided by unscrupulous politicians.

Similarly, the Toyota factory was shut down for a few days after their trade union, left backed obviously, created a ruckus over their firing of three employees who had had a bad track record and were disruptive to the normal operations of the plant. Such inflexibility in our labour laws is the result of this militant mindset that most employee unions have in this country. They have been used to doing half the work but taking in the full salary, and any forward looking entrepreneur looking to change that is an enemy in their eyes.

There are numerous examples of successful disinvestment efforts, such as CMC and a few others, where employee salaries have gone up manyfold, the company has turned around and doing extremely well. But the important ingredient to achieve that success is willing and hardworking employees. AAI is one of those mammoth organizations whose employees fall in the former category, lackadaisical, incompetent and absolutely blinded by the current anti-national assault by the left.

Is it a surprise that the only airport in India to report major disruptions to traffic was Kolkata Airport? It was expected that the state government in that state would abet the union strikers, and they did by preventing the Air Force fire tenders from reaching the ATC towers. For those not in the know, one of the fundamental requirements for ATC towers under ICAO rules is that they must function only when there are fire services available. Expectedly, the union members prevented the IAF tenders from doing so and caused delay in the airport because the ATC could not function for that time period.

I came across an interesting blog posted by forumers in SSC and BR, that of Gaurav Sabnis. Gaurav talked to a striking employee in Mumbai, and it was interesting to read the other side of the story. Shockingly, the employee said most of them didnt want to be in the strike, but were forced to by the union leaders. The AAI employee's name is Peter.

http://gauravsabnis.blogspot.com/2006/02/from-strikers-pov.html

To assure and console him I said the usual comforting things "everything will be ok" etc. To which I am surprised at his reaction. He says -

"I know everything will be OK in the long run. Everyone knows that the airline sector is doing well and there will be no job problems. My worry is for the short term. There is intense pressure on us to do something."

"The Union leaders are hell bent on making a big issue out of this. And since yesterday's strike didn't cause any major issues, they want a bigger and more newsworthy demonstration of our protest."

He looks at me worriedly, and asks me "Maybe you would have been too young at that time, but do you remember Rajiv Goswami?"

Of course. Who doesn't know Rajiv Goswami? The student who set himself ablaze during the Mandal demonstrations. the incident which shot the whole controversy to the front pages. Was there pressure on AAI employees to immolate themselves?

He said that most of the striking workers, including him, have no interest in striking. But Workers Unions don't work on a participatory basis. It is the union leaders who call the shots. They just come with a decision already made, mostly sent from Delhi, that there should be a strike.

There have apparently been a lot of general meetings called by the airport officials, and even people from the ministry to talk to employees and assure them that privatisation won't lead to job losses. And all those who are working properly at the airport know that their jobs are safe, regardless of such assurances. After all, Peter says, with capacity expansion, there will be more terminals, more gates, more counters, and people will be needed for it.

He smiled, as if at my "innocence" and said "Because if I don't take part in the strike, I will be beaten up. And I know that this will be just a small token strike for 1 or 2 days for the union leaders' benefit. After that, everything will be normal. So I don't want to take unnecessary panga against these 'gundas'. I will go there, be part of the protesting crowd, make sure I am standing far away from the police and the union leaders, so that I am not used as a weapon."

"Yes, a friend who works with me told me this yesterday. If a strike is really just 'peaceful', then it serves no purpose of the union leaders. What happened yesterday was, we were on strike, but planes were flying properly. So one union leader forced a group of people to follow him, and unnecessarily attacked the police. The police were shouting, don't come near, don't come near, but yet these people were forced to. Then the police counter charged. And it becomes a head-line."

Peter told me how the men who actually provoke the policemen, smartly escape, leaving innocent workers to bear the brunt of the police rage. How it is all set up after ensuring that the media's cameras are trained on them.

What next in the short term. Have the puppet-masters of the Union leaders had their share of the emdia frenzy? If so, then they will go away, let the airport workers get on with their lives in peace. If not, and if they want to derive more mileage out of this, then a bigger and more extreme demonstration will be on cards. An immolation, a bigger police attack, or something.

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An absolutely shameful state of affairs, this. Not surprisingly, the media is the most gullible of all propaganda tools, even for a free country as ours. Violence and sensationalism sells, and they have been lapping this strike up. It took a common man's blog to bring the truth out, but I doubt any of the news channels who spend hours chronicling the road blocks and lathi charge, will have it in them to take this theme mainstream. I hope they prove me wrong.

Airport Employees protest

Its here too. The protest by the AAI Employees Union. The nationwide strike has the government on alert, and the IAF has been put on standby in case things go out of hand. Protests in front of the Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan in New Delhi, housing the Civil Aviation ministry, are intense and being led by MP's belonging to the communist parties. For once I hope they will relish this great opportunity to garner votes at the expense of national good. Not surprisingly, Kolkata Airport has been reported to be affected the most by the strikers, because of its ill fortune to be situated in the commie bastion. There has been violence in Mumbai, where the slum dwellers have been a part of the agitation, for fear that they will be removed to clear space.

Here we can see employees in front of the Civil Aviation Ministry offices in New Delhi


Here we see two communist MP's leading the protests in New Delhi


I also feel that the government, particularly Mrs. Gandhi and the Cabinet, are aware whats at stake here. If this process goes through and the AAI employees are convinced that this process has their interests in mind as well, then it will go a long way in establishing India's growth as a modern economy.

By the way, a forumer on SSC found their blogspot!

http://www.aaiforum.blogspot.com/

This entire process will give everyone, and I am hoping the GoI in particular, the chance to introspect and take a hard look at what went wrong with the bidding process, and possibly the outcome. The process needs to be strengthened so that future parlays are not held to ransom by a few militant unions. We must make an effort to change the socialistic mindset of these left-leaning unions and if we can't, then we must make an effort to make it clear to them that they will not be allowed to hinder the process.

I hope the government's non-chalant attitude as noticed in the news article below is only a front and that they have done their homework. The Cabinet is well aware that a process of such enormous repercussions will not be without its share of protests and litigation. With Anil Ambani looking ominous with his calls of "untenable and unconstitutional" bidding process, the Government is well advised to get its paperwork together and prepare for a showdown, although I hope it will not be as intense as the word suggests.

Airport strike intensifies, Govt says won't interfere

The Cabinet on Wednesday decided not to interfere with the privatisation of the Delhi and Mumbai airports or the right of the employees to protest.

Referring to the two Hyderabad-based consortia awarded the contracts for modernising the airports, Dasmunsi said: "The Cabinet cannot interfere with the selection process. The Government will also not interfere with the rights of trade unions to protest.

Reacting to the Reliance group threatening legal action and alleging that tender conditions were changed, the minister said: "Any group enjoys the right to go to court and get a writ if they feel they are aggrieved."

Airfields close to Delhi and Mumbai have been put on alert.

Passenger services at all airports were affected even as officials claimed that flights across the country operated smoothly.

Baggage handling has also been affected at various airports due to strike. The authorities have advised passengers to travel light.

All flights to and from Kolkata were cancelled. The Air Traffic Control (ATC), which had earlier issued notice that flights could neither land nor take off, have withdrawn the notice. Some flights may now take off.

Cabinet approves contracts

Also, the Union Cabinet has approved the selection of GMR-Fraport and GVK-South African Airports consortia for the modernisation of Delhi and Mumbai airports.

"The Cabinet has accorded its approval to the report of empowered Group of Ministers on Delhi and Mumbai modernisation and restructuring plan," Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told reporters after the Cabinet meeting chaired by Manmohan Singh.

Workers of India unite!

I've always appreciated editorials in the Indian Express. They seem to me very straightforward and to the point. They usually get to the main point without beating around the bush, in a very curt language. And in this particular editorial, I love the words used to describe them. But they do talk of a very important point. Most of these country's policies are held hostage by a vocal few while most prefer to keep quiet even if they approve of them. This needs to change.

With the AAI strikes going on in Delhi, led by the Left, the IAF has been put on standby and there are reports that the employees will be slapped with ESMA (Essential Services maintenance Act) if they try to disrupt the airports.

Workers of India unite!

Will airports become dysfunctional? We hope they do. We hope AAI unions muster the efficiency to paralyse air services now that Delhi and Mumbai airports have been awarded to private parties. We want the strike to be lengthy. It shouldn’t merely be the case that air passengers suffer huge inconveniences. Air travel as an option should become virtually unavailable. We say that because a protracted strike will establish a fundamental point: that even if privatisation means zero job losses, airport employees have a right to not accept a change in their work environment; even if we have to make do with third grade airports we don’t have a right to ask for better choices. This precept in fact should be extended across the board, for all state-run services.

When that is done, those of us ambivalent about reforms in the state’s economic activity and those of us who tend to think that arguments for change mask heartlessness towards workers’ welfare, will have a marvelous opportunity to rethink. What is the price of allowing comfortably compensated, tenure-protected, work-wary state employees to define what should or should not be done? How is a policy that sacrifices the future of many to coddle the vested interests of a few egalitarian? Are we free market loonies simply because we want better services for which we are ready to pay?

For long, these questions have not been discussed openly and dramatically in India. Arguably, they never have been because reforms in this country have never really been sold in the name of consumers.

Britain of the 1970s showed what such muted public debates could lead to. Union militancy was never confronted, only accommodated in various degrees. The Thatcherite revolution was born out of the resultant public anger. India’s political and social complexity means there will be no Maggie Thatcher. But we do need to understand once and for all the social and economic costs of being blackmailed by a militant labour aristocracy.

Delhi/Mumbai Airports contracts awarded!

Its here. The day when the airport upgradation contracts have been awarded. For one, kudos to Praful Patel, the PMO for ensuring this process went through and not buckling under the threats by the Communist partners and the AAI employees union.

The New Delhi Airport has been bagged by the GMR- Fraport combine. GMR is the company working on the new Hyderabad International Airport as well. Fraport runs the Frankfurt International Airport, and is a heavyweight in the aviation infrastructure sector.

The Mumbai Airport has been won by the GVK-ACSA combine. GVK, like GMR, is based in Hyderabad and has interests in various infrastructural sectors. ACSA, or the Airports Company of South Africa, oversees all the major 9 airports of South Africa.

The process has not been without its problems, as is with any major liberalization program in the country. For one, the AAI employees fear for their jobs, despite having been assured time and time again that they will be absorbed in the new setup. But i feel the real reason, as do many others, is that they will finally have to work hard to earn their money, something which they havn't been accustomed to do. Basically this has been the crux of every trade union against privatization, their fear of actually having to work hard to earn their living.

Then there is the issue that AAI will lose most of its revenue, considering these airports provide it almost 40% of revenue. Again this seems a red herring. They are assured 46% revenue for Delhi and 38% (i think) for Mumbai airport, besides the 150 crores upfront for each airport.

There is another aspect that considering Mumbai and Delhi are AAI's cash cows, they spend little time bothering about other airports. Yet even in Delhi/Mumbai, their major profit comes from charging fees for parking, landing rights etc, because true to their govt. department mentality, they have spent little effort in generating income through hotels, business parks, etc, simply because they dont need to.

The good old Left has actually threatened the fall of the UPA government over the issue! The government has crossed its 'Lakshman Rekha,' say the hypocrites.

The Reliance combine has raised the most hue and cry over the bidding process, accusing the Government of changing criteria midway and changing various clauses, including the one that required the winner, GMR, to match Reliance's revenue sharing percentage of 46%. They say it wasnt a part of the deal, but media reports seem to suggest that it was, and the contestants should have been well aware of it. But GMR deserved the option considering it was the only company to have a qualified technical bid.

With Reliance and possibly Essel group threating to go to the courts, it could be possible that despite the contracts having been awarded today, the actual work on the ground may still be some time away.

Here is a report from the Hindu.

Bids for Privatization of airports finalized

While the GMR-Fraport consortium won the bid for the Delhi airport, the GVK-South African Airports combine bagged the Mumbai airport project, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel announced.

The investment for the Delhi airport is estimated to be around Rs. 2,800 crore and for Mumbai, it could be around Rs. 2,400 crore. The investment of Rs. 5,200 crore is likely to be for the first phase of modernisation, to be completed by 2010.

Earlier in the day, the financial bids of the four qualified bidders for each airport were opened in the Civil Aviation Ministry amid protests and demonstrations by employees of the Airports Authority of India (AAI). The Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan, housing the AAI and the Civil Aviation Ministry, was barricaded and virtually turned into a fortress by policemen and security personnel.

The Minister said GMR-Fraport would match the highest bid and give a revenue share of 45.99 per cent to the AAI. In the final evaluation process, GMR-Fraport had emerged the sole qualifying bidder subject to its matching the highest bid. It was given the option of matching the top bidder as it was the sole technically qualified bidder among the five aspirants for the Delhi airport and the six for the Mumbai airport.

For the Mumbai airport, the GVK-South African Airports' bid was 38.7 per cent, GMR's offer was 33.03 per cent, DS Constructions-Munich 28.12 per cent and Reliance-ASA 21.33 per cent.

In a statement, the Anil Ambani-controlled Reliance Airports Developers said there was no provision in the "Request for Proposal or tender conditions to give any bidder an option to match the highest bid, that too selectively for only one airport." It said such changes were "untenable and unconstitutional."

On the concerns of the AAI employees, Mr. Patel said both the consortia had given a written commitment to absorb 60 per cent of the AAI employees as against the minimum requirement of 40 per cent. For the first three years, all AAI employees would remain on deputation to the two joint venture companies.

On the issues raised by the Left parties, he said the Government had adopted a "middle path" and all aspects, concerns and interests of the country and the AAI employees had been considered. The AAI would be able to improve its financial health by the revenue share from the two airports.

On why the alternate plan submitted by the AAI Employees Forum was not considered, Mr. Patel said it was felt that the AAI should not spend all its resources only on the Delhi and Mumbai airports but should develop the 35 non-metro airports as the civil aviation sector was growing at a rapid pace.

The airports are likely to be handed over to the companies by March-end. Over the next six months, they will prepare master plans for modernising the airports.