Dilip Cherian
Dilligiri
The markets have been jittery of late, and Dilli is saying that finance minister Arun Jaitley’s four-day trip to Washington, DC, could be one reason for the nervous tic. And despite Jaitley’s valiant utterances at the annual spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, investors maintain a cautious approach. His optimism about India on the path to double-digit growth, and his efforts to rationalise the taxation structure and other steps taken to reform the economy are meant to be reassuring but clearly expectations from both domestic and foreign investors are higher still. Oddly, even as Jaitley was assuring US corporates that retrospective taxation is a thing of the past, income tax department has issued a fresh notice to telecom major Vodafone seeking reassessment of its tax returns. The company has been at the centre of a heated debate on retrospective taxation for some years now. Will the taxman review its decision in the light of Jaitley’s statements? But it does seem that the government is now willing to review and simplify the new income tax return forms, following widespread criticism. Now, that would be welcome news.
End of the road
The National Green Tribunal, much to the annoyance of the Central Transport Ministry (ok, ok, we know it’s not called that) has banned motor vehicles older than 15 years, and now the Supreme Court too has upheld the decision. The apex court putting its weight behind the order has quelled for now protests from transport companies at the rather drastic solution to Dilli’s toxic environment. The order is part of other stern measures meant to address the capital’s air pollution, already rated the worst in the world.
Naturally, the order will have a cascading effect on not just new car sales but also the considerable ‘used car’ market, especially for diesel vehicles. Dilli is still trying to understand the ramifications of the decision. But there are some, mainly environmental activists, who feel that though the order is a right step, there are other contributors to the capital’s air pollution – the private and public vehicles. The container depot in South Delhi’s Tughlaqabad is the hub of all truck transport activity, used by an estimated 80,000 mostly smoke belching trucks daily! Dilli’s numerous drains and many polluting industries (despite the Supreme Court ban) contribute majorly to the toxic cocktail of dirty, killing air. But Dilliwallas are wondering whether a blanket ban on old vehicles, in the absence of an efficient public transport system, will be the magic cure?
Undue courtesies
It seems no amount of collective fulmination, from the aam citizenry and even the Supreme Court, will rid us of the VIP (and VVIP) culture so widespread in the country. Dilli being the capital is most plagued by this menace. It does appear that little can be done to fight it. Even the more pious and righteous Aam Aadmi Party seems to have succumbed to the VIP culture, all within days of coming to power in Dilli. VIP culture is not confined to roads but also intrudes into airports, hospitals, railway stations and highway toll booths. In this aspect, the BJP government has not turned out to be any different from the UPA sarkar. In fact, Modi used the “son-in-law” card repeatedly against the Congress party on his campaign trail in the run-up to last year’s elections, and to great effect. But civil aviation minister Ashok Gajpati Raju has reassured members of Parliament that there is no plan to curtail their “privileges” at the nation’s airports. So, far from ending the pernicious culture of privileges, Modi sarkar is as keen as its predecessor to perpetuate the VVIP culture. Feudal habits die hard.
Mind the P’s
Dilli’s prison population seems to be keeping pace with the city’s. The two jails, Tihar and Rohini, are notoriously overpopulated, with 14,000 prisoners in a total capacity of 6,000 inmates! Some of the burden on these jails will not be eased once a new high-security prison complex at Mandoli is ready; tentatively, by October this year. Pison officials estimate that even the 3,700-capacity Mandoli will be unable to accommodate the growing prison population. So plans are afoot to construct two new jails on the outskirts of the capital. But these are issues for the future. There is a more pressing matter which is occupying the minds of Dilli’s police officials. In what is being seen as more than a mere stylistic change, Tihar Jail officials have changed the prison monogram to initials that are same as those of Delhi Police. Switching drom “DJ”, as in Delhi Jails, to “DP” (Delhi Police) would be a non-issue but the police and prison authorities are engaged in a sweet little quarrel which has led to both seeking legal opinion. The prison authorities are having a hard time convincing their police colleagues that the “P” is for “prison” and not “police”. Smile, please!
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