14 hindustantimes
TU ES DAY, MARCH 20, 2018
e sta b l i s h e d i n 1 9 24
Red signal to
traffic fatalities
Severe and certain penalties can
deter offenders on the road
O
n Saturday night, three young doctors from the All
India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) were
killed on the Yamuna Expressway when their car
crashed into a truck carrying protruding metal
rods. Although the expressway is notorious for its
record on fatalities – with a reported 100
deaths every year since it opened in
2012 – road accidents in India are not
limited to this stretch alone. In 2016, according to the Union min-
istry of road transport and highways, 150,785 deaths were
reported in India owing to road mishaps.
One way to make our roads safer would be to implement traf-
fic norms with zero tolerance for violators. A deterrent for
offenders could be the passage of the Motor Vehicle Act (Amend-
ment) Bill 2017, which proposes stiff penalties for routine viola-
tions. Awaiting the Rajya Sabha’s nod since last year, one of its
proposals is to raise the fine for drink driving from ₹2,000 to
₹10,000. Another recommendation is a three-year jail for parents
of minor drivers who have caused fatal accidents.
Although the Act has a number of tough recommendations,
it is silent on deaths caused by overloaded or badly loaded vehi-
cles. According to the ministry of road transport and highways,
overloaded trucks kill 100 people every day on India’s roads. Sim-
ilarly, trucks with protruding loads – such as those that killed the
doctors from AIIMS – are a common sight on our roads. In 2014,
the government deleted the provision in the Central Motor Vehi-
cle Rules that allowed protrusions up to one metre and banned
vehicles from carrying rods or any material extending beyond
the body frame. Despite this, lax implementation and the collu-
sion of transport officials, who let offenders without documenta-
tion get away with murder, means that 17 people lose their lives
in road accidents in India every hour. Since 2014, the BJP govern-
ment has been promising a law to replace the Motor Vehicles Act
of 1988. It is time the Opposition and the party in power shed their
differences to enact a legislation that assures the certainty and
severity of punishment. Every four minutes we delay acting on
this, one more person will die on the country’s roads.
§
Putin’s politics may hurt
Moscow’s interests
Hisshort-sightedpolicesareunlikelyto
stemRussia’sgradualbutsteadydecline
T
he least surprising political victory of the year would
have to be the re-election of Vladimir Putin as president
of Russia for another six-year term. Mr Putin had
banned most of his Opposition from running for office. How-
ever, he is genuinely popular among many Russians. The
greater concern for countries like India is whether he can stem
the gradual but steady decline of Russian power. Unlike most
western countries, New Delhi supports a powerful, independ-
ent Russia and sees this as important to the development of a
multipolar global order. Mr Putin was able to bring an end to
the post-Soviet economic chaos and gave Russians a sense of
that superpower status they once had. But he was assisted by
the oil price surge of the 2000s. His failure was to use this period
of plenty to invest in Russia’s ageing industrial plant, funnel his
people’s intellectual abilities into high-technology sectors and
otherwise lay the seeds for a sustained Russian revival.
Mr Putin’s politics in the past few years has been about con-
structing a popular narrative that ensured his people rallied
round him even as Russia’s hydrocarbon earnings began fall-
ing. His politics has been remarkably successful. Taking over
a bit of the Ukraine, deliberately provoking the US and Europe
by interfering in their politics, and conceding economic suze-
rainty of Central Asia to China has allowed him to blame west-
ern hostility for his economic failures and political regression.
Yet there is a short-sightedness about much of this. As many
of these policies have been designed to help Mr Putin stay in
power, they have been at the cost of Russia’s long-term inter-
ests. Russia’s GDP today is half of that of India’s and continues
down a path of relative decline. Moscow’s closeness to Beijing
has meant greater distance from New Delhi. The odds are he
will continue a path of mild repression, provocative national-
ism and minimal economic reform. This is good for Mr Putin,
but not so good for Russia.
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§
citysmart
SWATI RAMANATHAN
Plan for the future but develop for now
Master plans must be utilised to improve the
quality of life and pride associated with the city
O
ne hundred and eighty master
plans had been produced by the
townplanningdepartment(TPD)
ofRajasthaninthespanofbarely
twoyears,withverylittlescience
or scrutiny. “We need to ensure
that master plans translate into something
concrete on the ground,” said the Rajasthan
ourtake chiefministerduringourmeetingonmaster-
plans. “Let us showcase the impact of good
planning in one city.”
SawaiMadhopurbecamethefront-runner
for three reasons: first, with a population of
150,000,itcouldbethemodelforsmallercities;
second, with Ranthambore Fort and the
famed tiger sanctuary, it had cultural and
environmentalsignificance;andthird,itscur-
rent master plan was due for revision.
Iwasentrustedwiththepreparationofthe
masterplanforSawaiMadhopur.Discussions
were held with the MLA from Sawai Madho-
pur and government officials, where we
agreed on a two-fold goal: first, to produce a
progressive,integratedSpatialDevelopment
Plan(SDP)2035;second,toidentifykeydevel-
opment projects for immediate implementa-
tion.Mymandatewasessentiallyto“planfor
the future, but develop for the present”.
After multiple workshops, consultations
withthepeopleandtheirrepresentatives,and
I S L A N D WA R M T H
n President Ram Nath Kovind looks on as First Lady Savita Kovind offers sweets to students
during their ceremonial welcome on his arrival in Madagascar, March 14
Why the Indian Ocean is
central to our geopolitics
After the Maldives crisis, India’s ability to deliver in a
region critical to its strategic interests is under scrutiny
HARSH
V PANT
P
resident Ram Nath Kovind is visit-
ing Mauritius andMadagascar, two
key island nations in the Indian
Ocean region. India has announced
a new $100 million line of credit for
defence procurement by Mauritius. A
defence cooperation agreement with Mada-
gascar is also on the anvil. This visit comes
days after India and France, eyes firmly on
the Indian Ocean, signed the “reciprocal
logistics support” agreement as part of which
warships of both the nations would have
access to each other’s naval bases.
With the Indian Ocean channels carrying
two-thirds of the world’s oil shipments, a
third of the bulk cargo and half of all con-
tainer traffic, the region’s strategic signifi-
cance remains well established. China’s rise
has added another dimension where tradi-
tional power equations are now in a flux. For
India, which sits astride the Indian Ocean as
its pre-eminent power, this is an important
phase in the evolution of its thinking on the
region. The Modi government has been giv-
ing the Indian Ocean due attention with
former foreign secretary S. Jaishankar argu-
ing in favour of “reviving the Indian Ocean as
a geopolitical concept.”
innervoice
TRUE LOVE IS WHEN YOU
GIVE MORE LOVE TO
SOMEONE THAN YOU GET
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MANAGING EDITOR: SOUMYA BHATTACHARYA
comment
exhaustive data gathering, the final draft
SawaiMadhopurSDP2035wascompletedon
November30,2016,andsubmittedtotheTPD.
Itisacomprehensiveroadmapforthegrowth,
conservation, and development of the Sawai
Madhopurcityregion.Threespecificfeatures
of the plan are highlighted below.
First,isthereplacementofone-size-fits-all
standard regulation, with those specific to
SawaiMadhopur.Anonlinegeographicinfor-
mationsystem(GIS)basedplatformhasbeen
developedtoenableindividualpropertyown-
ers to view zoning regulations for their par-
cels of land, thereby bringing the plan to life.
Second,theregulationof“landuse”iscom-
binedwith“cityform”toovercometheusual
haphazardnatureofdevelopment.Thedesign
ofform-basedregulationisinformedbyevolv-
ing global theories of “new urbanism” that
emphasise compact growth and neighbour-
hoodcommunities.TheSDP2035codifiesboth
land use and city form, using a conceptual
frameworkcalled“ONELandZoning”(Open
protected zoning, New growth zoning, Exist-
ing redevelopment and infill zoning). The
framework enables zoning to create a visible
distinctioninformanddensitybetweenrural,
peripheral and core city spaces.
Third is the introduction of a new land use
classification — “Urban Agriculture”. The
PTI
India has been keen to underscore that it
is not merely an Indian Ocean and South
Asian power but one which has the capacity
and increasingly the intent to shape the
wider strategic realities in the region. India’s
self-defined strategic interests now straddle
the wider Indo-Pacific, stretching from
established framework in the Indian Ocean,
to its expanding interests in the South China
Sea, and indeed into the South/West Pacific.
And this understanding of Indian strategic
reach is now being widely accepted. The US
has welcomed this growing footprint but
other major powers have also responded pos-
itively. The re-emergence of Quad, involving
the US, Japan, Australia and India is also a
reflection of this growing consensus.
Yet as the crisis in the Maldives has indi-
cated, India’s position in the Indian Ocean is
being challenged in unprecedented ways.
Merely stating the intent is no longer enough.
China is challenging India in the Indian
Ocean region in ways few would have antici-
pated even a few years back. And India’s
credibility to emerge as a net security pro-
vider in the region is on the line. While
India’s commitment to shape the futureofthe
region is a welcome shift in New Delhi’s tra-
ditionally diffident posturing, India’s ability
to deliver on the ground is being scrutinised
more carefully now, both by the resident and
extra regional powers. It is for New Delhi to
live up to the expectations it has generated.
Harsh V Pant is professor, King’s College London and
distinguished fellow, Observer Research Foundation,
New Delhi
The views expressed are personal
PP Wangchuk
What is love? Well, that may be a silly ques-
tion. But, think for a minute, and try to
come to a good and an acceptable defini-
tion. Think, and now ask the question once
more: What is love?
At least I could not because various
thoughts crisscrossed my mind and that
made me feel confused all the more.
Loving your parents, friends, relatives
or even a stranger in the marketplace, and
some of the pets and objects within your
H INDUSTAN TIMES , NEW D EL HI
n A labourer at work, Gandhinagar, Gujarat
(Representative Photo) REUTERS
purpose of this zoning is to bring alive the
symbioticrelationship betweenurban-rural
linkages of agricultural demand and supply,
whilesimultaneouslyreducingtheecological
footprint of food from farm-to-table.
Inlinewiththesecondobjectiveof“develop
for the present”, three projects have been
designed in detail. The first is a road develop-
mentproject,strengtheningthecentralspine
connecting three sub-centres (Old Town,
Alanpur, andMantown),andintegratingthe
networked services along the spine.
States will benefit from
an independent PCA
The proposal to create a single­tier Police Complaints
Authority for Delhi has too many gaps
PAVANI
NAGARAJA
A
n independent Police Complaints
Authority (PCA) is being consti-
tutedforDelhitoinquireintocom-
plaints by the public against the
police. This comes 11 years after the
Supreme Court issued a directive to all
states and union territories to set up com-
plaintsauthoritiesasoneofthesevendirect-
ives in what is popularly known as the Pra-
kash Singh Case.
In 2015, the Commonwealth Human
Rights Initiative (CHRI) filed a petition in
the Delhi High Court seeking the quashing
ofanexistingordermandatingDelhi’sPub-
licGrievancesCommissiontofunction asa
PCA.Beingcontrarytothecourt’sdirective,
CHRIwantedafreshnotificationcreatinga
free-standing,independent PCA.Aftertwo
years in court, the lieutenant governor
issuedadraftnotificationonJanuary31,set-
ting out an independent PCA. The high
court’sapprovalisapositivestepincreating
amechanismtoaddresspolicemisconduct.
PCAismandatedto lookintoallegations
of police misconduct such as custodial tor-
ture, rape, death, extortion and any other
serious abuse of authority. While the pro-
posalsubmittedtothecourtisbroadlycom-
pliant with the Prakash Singh directive, it
has substantial gaps.
Theapexcourthasdirectedthesettingup
ofPCAsatstateanddistrictlevelsforstates.
However,asingle-tierPCAforDelhiisbeing
set up with a chairperson and three mem-
bers,presumably with jurisdiction over all
ranks of personnel in the Delhi Police. The
national capital is a sprawling area with a
population of over 25 million. It has one of
thebiggestpolicedepartmentsinIndiawith
over82,000personneland13policedistricts.
Ithasthedubiousdistinctionofreceiving
the highest number of complaints against
personnelcomparedtoothermegacities.In
2014, data revealed that the Delhi Police
received 12,872 complaints against its per-
WITHOUT ITS OWN
INVESTIGATORS, PCA WILL
INEVITABLY HAVE TO DEPEND ON
THE DELHI POLICE TO GATHER
FACTS AND INFORMATION WHICH
CAN LEAD TO BOTH DELAYS AND
COMPROMISED INQUIRIES
home and outside are love.
J Krishnamurti says, when someone
says he loves his country, his god, his
pleasure, etc, it is just an idea and ‘absolute
nonsense’ because, when you love god, you
are worshipping yourself, and that isn’t
love.
The best definition of love I can think of
is: Love is when you think of the happiness
of the person you love more than yours.
But let us agree that there can be no love
without any kind of selfish interest. We say
a mother’s love for her son is the purest
The second project is the revitalisation of
the city’s 17 km-long water channel (Lutiya
nallah),thatisalsodesignedtoprovide175ha
ofcontinuousgreenlungspace,withwalking
and cycling trails linking the three sub-cen-
tres. The third project is the development of
thecorridorconnectingthetigersanctuaryto
the tourist centre, as a tourist walking trail
zoned for green establishments.
Detailedprojectreportsforthesehavebeen
developed, and are prioritised from a larger
listing of development projects in the SDP
2035.Behindthisistheunderstandingthatthe
role of the planner is expanding to cover not
one but three roles: bringing technical capa-
bilityforplanpreparationisimportant,butno
longerenough.Iftheplanhastosucceed,plan-
ning professionals need to also engage with
thedetailsofimplementation, aswell aswith
the challenges of enforcement of proposed
regulations. The sealing of illegal construc-
tions in Delhi, is an example of failed zoning
that results in enforcement challenges.
While each city is unique, the Sawai Mad-
hopur SDP 2035could serveas a template not
just for Rajasthan to get the best of the twin-
objectiveof‘planningforthefuture,butdevel-
oping for the present’, but also other Indian
cities. It can help urban planners come up
with master plans that impact citizens in
termsofthequalityoflifeandleisurethatthey
enjoyin theirneighbourhoods,andthe pride
of identity with the city they live in.
Swati Ramanathan is chairperson, Jana Urban Space
Foundation, and co­founder, Jana Group
The views expressed are personal
sonnel,withamajorityofdistrictsreceiving
well over 500 complaints each. Looking at
thevolumeofcomplaints, asinglePCAwith
four members will be insufficient.
In the present structure, undue restric-
tions are placed on complainants in two
ways.First,complaintscanonlybereceived
from the victim, someone on the victim’s
behalf,theNationalHumanRightsCommis-
sion(NHRC),thelieutenantgovernororthe
chief secretary (home) of Delhi. There is no
justificationforrestrictionsonwhocansub-
mitacomplaint.Thisshouldbeamendedin
the notification. Second, it unnecessarily
mandates the submission of a complaint
through a sworn affidavit. This creates a
burden,particularlyonthepoorandvulner-
able. Most important, it suggests a distrust
of potential complainants. In fact, every-
thing is stacked against the complainant
whofacesasdauntingataskasfilingacom-
plaint against a police officer.
In states with functional complaints
authorities, complaints are generally sub-
mitted in the form of letters which describe
thenature ofallegations. Independent bod-
ies, such as the NHRC, do not prescribe the
submissionofcomplaintswithswornaffida-
vits and allow any person to submit com-
plaints through letters. It is important to
retain this process to keep a complaints
body as accessible as possible.
Theproposalisalsosilentonthepowerto
appointandutilisetheservicesofindepend-
entinvestigators.TheSupremeCourtstated
thattheauthoritieshavethepowertoutilise
theservicesofretiredinvestigatorsfromthe
CID, intelligence, vigilance or any other
organisation for field inquiries. This is
essentialtokeepPCA’sinquiryroleatarm’s
length from the police department.
Without its own investigators, PCA will
inevitably have to depend on the Delhi
Police to gather and corroborate facts and
information which can lead to both delays
and compromised inquiries. Other states
have good practices to emulate —Tripura
andAssamPCAshaveappointedindepend-
ent investigators, and the annual report of
Uttarakhand PCA stresses their necessity.
Further, in complete violation of the
Supreme Court directive, the present draft
says that the PCA’s decision is binding
unlessthegovernmentreversesoraltersthe
decision. The apex court directive is une-
quivocal that the PCA’s recommendations
orderingdepartmentalinquiryorregistra-
tion of FIR against police personnel should
bebinding.By givingthe governmentcom-
pletediscretiontoaltertheauthority’sdeci-
sions, the draft goes against the spirit and
letter of an effective PCA for Delhi.
Pavani Nagaraja is project officer, Police
Reforms Programme, CHRI, Delhi
The views expressed are personal
love, and that she seeks no returns. But she
knows that the little boy will be a man one
day and will take care of her in her old age.
Of course, there is nothing wrong in this
kind of selfish interest. It is like your love
for a plant that you have taken care to let it
grow with great love because you know it
will bear sweet fruits, one day.
(Inner Voice comprises
contributions from our readers
The views expressed are personal)
n innervoice@hindustantimes.com