Below the line: Twists and turns at CBI

The way events have unfolded in the National Capital during the last few days make for a readymade script for a masala movie. Check this out: On Wednesday (October 24), the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting issued a seven-point statement claiming that faction feud in the CBI had reached its peak leading to a potential loss of credibility and reputation of the ‘premier investigating agency of the government.’ And that the government has passed orders divesting Alok Kumar Verma, Director, CBI, and Rakesh Asthana, Special Director, CBI, of their powers, duty and supervisory role in respect of cases already registered and/or required to be registered and/or being inquired/enquired/investigated under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

But a day later, the CBI had to shield the government that was anticipating a further backlash. During an evening interaction, the CBI officers clarified to reporters that both Verma and Asthana continue to hold their posts and that they were very much still the Director and Special Director at CBI. Are you kidding?

Composure and calm are the norm for officials at the Central Bureau of Investigation. But the recent turn of events at the country’s premier investigative agency has left officials in the CBI campus on Lodi Road, New Delhi, red-faced. Even the security personnel who man the gates express embarrassment at the loss of credibility for the agency. While allowing journalists into the campus, one of the security personnel quipped, “Now it is in the hands of the media to bring back our confidence.”

Seems like the NDA government is quite certain of coming back to power in 2019. In a recently held press conference, the Minister of Human Resource Development, Prakash Javadekar, was asked when the next list of Institutes of Eminence (IoE) will be put out, as term of the government has entered its twilight zone. The minister replied, “This is our first term which is coming to an end”. So far, only six institutes — three public and three private — have been awarded with the status of Institute of Eminence out of 20.

Gurcharan Das, an Indian author, commentator and public intellectual, rued recently at an event in the Capital that not a single Member of Parliament or MLA had so far come out in the open for competition in the economy. The reason is not far to see, quipped a member in the audience: Most MPs and lawmakers would not have read Gurcharan Das’ book Difficulty of being good ! That’s a bit cheeky, you may say. Anyway the message from Das is that MPs have to do the difficult job of explaining to people that reforms are the best thing for them (people). Even after having seen so many benefits flow out of reforms, why does the government still reform by stealth, Das wondered.

He supplied the answer — Indian reformers have not mustered courage, and sold reforms to the masses. This information gap is adding to India’s woes and not helping the country’s growth story, he argues.

It has been close to two months since the expert committee constituted by the Health Ministry submitted its report on compensation for Indian patients fitted with allegedly faulty hip implants manufactured by Johnson and Johnson. Recently, a few patients from various parts of India got an email from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) saying that they should come to New Delhi and present themselves before the committee for evaluation of the damage inflicted by the hip implant. The patients, however, didn’t turn up, as they were not clear on who would pay for their tickets to New Delhi, or the duration of their stay. Will the Health Ministry turn sensitive to patient needs?

Our Delhi Bureau