Southern States - Karnataka   

85 get Krishna's 'discretionary' largesse

By A. Jayaram

Bangalore July 21. The list of "eminent'' persons honoured by the Government with the allotment of stray sites from the Bangalore Development Authority has left many wondering about the real meaning of the word and given vent to many a stray thought.

The Government believes they have "contributed to various fields''. The Chief Minister, S.M. Krishna, himself released the list of the names of those allotted such sites, in the Legislative Council. The allotment of sites has been made by Mr. Krishna exercising his discretionary powers under the BDA Act to allot what are called stray sites to 85 persons. Of them, 31 are listed as eminent persons recognised by the Government during the period in question, November 1, 1999 to July 15, 2002. Interestingly, 18 of them are journalists. Does it indicate the bankruptcy of eminence in other fields? It is often stated that it is not the really eminent but the grey eminences who earn the beneficence of the Government — Rajyotsava awards and those for writers, artistes, and others.

No doubt, the Government's scope for dispensation of rewards is becoming limited with the near end of the permit quota raj. Permits for selling stainless steel, iron and steel, cement, and even the allotment of the once much-fancied Fiat cars and Vespa scooters are now passe and unknown. Today, there are only the awards or recommendation for the Padma awards, and allotment of stray sites in cities such as Bangalore and Mysore. Bangalore is today so comprehensively developed that there are no vacant city corporation land to be allotted as jagirs. The chief ministership of Devaraj Urs witnessed intense activity in granting city corporation land as jagirs to a few deserving associations and institutions, and many whose only eminence was their right connections with the then Congress dispensation. The Miller's Tank bed land is an apt example. It was originally earmarked for a sports complex and also thought of for shifting the Shivajinagar Bus Station.

In contrast to the elected or responsible governments, the Maharajas of Mysore were very judicious in granting jagirs. There were only two jagirs in princely Mysore, The Sringeri Shankar Math with 48,000 acres of land, and the Yelandur Jagir given to the family of Dewan Purnaiya.

About the journalists who have been allotted stray sites from the Chief Minister's discretionary quota, it has not gone unnoticed that almost all of them belong to the stream of reporting. The other major stream in journalism, editing, has been completely ignored. What is more, most of those allotted sites are yet to reach the higher rungs of the professional hierarchy (in the print or television media). However, the redeeming feature is that they are professional journalists and not owners/editors of those notorious occasional newspapers and fakes, some of whom have made their way to bodies formed by the Government. It is also stated that not all the 85 persons rewarded are without houses and house sites. Some of them are even known to own them in multiples and guilty of perjury while filing the affidavit before the BDA.

When J.H. Patel was the Chief Minister, he had rewarded the former Test Captain, Mohamed Azharuddin, in a decision taken at the spur of the moment. It is not known whether the disgraced cricketer, who is not a resident in Bangalore (going by the BDA Act), took possession of it. In contrast, the same Patel Government ignored the claims of a former Mysore Cricket Captain, A.S. Krishnaswamy, who was unlucky to miss playing for the country. He died in November 1999 without getting a BDA site and his approaching the High Court was to no avail. The Patel Government and the BDA had also ignored the claims of seven prominent sportspersons of Kodagu for allotment of sites. Unlike Azharuddin, Krishnaswamy and the sportsmen from Kodagu had hardly benefited monetarily from sports as they belonged to the pre-sponsorship era.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Southern States

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• 85 get Krishna's 'discretionary' largesse
• Rai promises to improve transport services
• Alarming rise in pollution in Hutti, Kota
• Rai to boost transport
• Academy preparing code of conduct for journalists
• Promises mean little to Bagur-Navile farmers
• Roshan Baig decries VHP propaganda against Muslims
• Missionaries urged to continue service
• `Expedite efforts to involve farmers under crop insurance scheme'
• SHIMUL chief denies charges

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu