Intro To The Editor!

When my daughter and son and their parivar came down to Mangalore to celebrate Lynette’s and my 40^th wedding anniversary, Daijiworld did a feature on me, mainly in support of this website. Some people suggested that it be featured on this website. Click “Exclusive” on the home page to read the article so thoughtfully written by Daijiworld’s veteran free-lancer, Florine Roche. Please dig under “Exclusive”.

Today’s Highlights

Rogue Rulers!

We are cursed with legislators who loot the public exchequer under manipulative rules and seemingly under legal cover as noted in “Are We Ruled By Rogues?”

Bob’s Banter

Smaller States

Bob has his take on the hot topic of the day in “Smaller States..!”

For more insightful articles by Bob, hit his website – www.bobsbanter.com

CocktailPlaza

To feel the flavour of life in Mangalore, please read “Golden Couples Hark Back To Latin Liturgy”.

Also have a look at our trivia/sublime, random quotes, Indiana and recycled humour in this section – as and when we schedule them afresh – or in the archives.

The Laughter CD is on the website for you to view/ download.

The CD on laughter is loaded in the archives of this website for free downloading and use. Alert your friends who may be interested.

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- John B. Monteiro

Are We Ruled By Rogues?

By John B. Monteiro

When rogues like these (the sparrow cries)

To honour and employment rise

I court no favour, ask no place,

For such preferment is disgrace.

 - John Gay, English poet (1688-1732).

 When I received my master’s degree in the Convocation Hall of Bombay University, I was witness to a strange spectacle. In a hall filled to the brim by the degree receivers, the registrar read out names of passed students of all classes and intoned for the benefit of the Dons (Senate members): “May this grace be granted” – meaning the degree concerned. The dons had to stand up and respond: “This grace is granted”. After several rounds of this ritual, the tired dons would only half rise from their seats and respond, from what I could hear, thus: “Disgrace is granted”!

 We are dished out disgrace by our rogue rulers every day. We have heard of one-night stand which runs the risk of sexually transmitted diseases, including AIDS, and unwanted pregnancies, unless you take the much touted morning after pills. Now we have one-hour-sits in our legislatures which cost the treasury a bomb. Here is the latest instance of disguised corruption by rogue legislators, served as it is dished out by Deccan Herald (15-12-09) under the title “Monday’s Session costs Rs. 44 lakh”.

 Karnataka MLAs and MLCs on Monday met for an hour to pass obituary references to eminent personalities who passed away in the recent past. And each of them pocketed daily allowances (sitting charge) for five days. The total expenditure to the State Government incurred for the one-hour session is close to Rs. 44.23 lakh. Both the houses of legislature met for an hour and adjourned the proceedings to December 21 in the wake of the Council elections. Though the members attended the session for just a day (one hour?), they get daily allowances, also termed as sitting allowance, at Rs. 600 a day for full five days. According to the norm followed by the State Legislature, four days – two days before the session and two days after the session – constitute the travel period for legislators.

 The total daily allowance for each member is Rs 3,000 and for 300 members it amounts to Rs. 9 lakh. Adjournment of proceedings after one day’s sitting incurs additional burden in terms of travel allowance too. As per norms, if the session is scheduled to reassemble after a gap of six days or more, members are entitled to get additional travel allowance, presuming that the members visit their constituency when there is no session. The current session is being convened after a gap of six days (Dec 14-20) and with that the additional burden to the treasury will be around Rs. 16.70 lakh. Had the session continued till the end of the month without a break, the members would have got only one-time TA. A senior officer of the State Legislature says that those who do not turn up for the session appeal to the Speaker/Chairman for release of daily and travel allowance citing health reasons or vehicle problem.

When the sessions are on, babus get extra allowance for coming early and going late. Without going into that, let us see what the legislators did in that one hour as given by Deccan Herald under the title; “MLAs chat away in tribute to departed leaders in Assembly”. “The legislative assembly paid tributes to the departed leaders on Monday, but the atmosphere was one of levity than gravitas, with good number of members engaged in talking among each other than paying attention to the proceedings on the floor of the House.” Before concluding, here is another headline from the paper’s issue on the following day: “Charity doesn’t begin at Legislators’ Home”. It says that legislators pledged to donate one day’s salary for flood relief; but when it came to giving, they gave the day’s salary of Rs. 10,000 and forgot about the daily allowance of Rs. 41,500!

The subject is open to many views. What are yours? Over to you.