The Government, reduced to a minority, decided to win the confidence vote by bribing MPs. And this was done openly and shamelessly. Three BJP MPs actually played the role of whistle-blowers and in the full glare of TV cameras dumped a crore of rupees on the centre table of the Lok Sabha on July 22 while the confidence vote debate was going on.

 Sidharth Varadarajan of the Hindu wrote on that morning: “Even if the government wins the trust vote on Tuesday, the Prime Minister and the Congress will not be able to live down the taint of impropriety surrounding their victory.”

 

Last month, on the day the Wikileaks story was published narrating how two chests full of currency notes amounting to 50-60 crores were shown to a U.S. Embassy official at the residence of Satish Sharma, M.P., Varadarajan recalled what he had said in 2008 and affirmed: “The U.P.A. lost its moral centre that day, and with it, its political bearings.”

 

The unending series of scams that are making the headlines these days and the continuing reprimands being administered to the Manmohan Singh Government  by the Supreme Court (the latest being about Black Money: ‘Is the Government Sleeping’ ?) are forceful pointers to its loss of moral centre - ethical deficit as a Union Minister described it. I wish to stress today that New Delhi’s stubborn refusal to draw any lessons from Fukushima illustrates how Government has lost even its political bearings.

 

Everyone is by now aware how much the tragedy in Japan has disturbed all countries of the world having nuclear power plants.

 

 German Chancellor Angela Merkel has ordered seven nuclear plants of its to be closed down for three months during which period these would be examined from the safety angle.  The Chancellor said all other plants also would be subjected to a fresh review from the safety angle.

 

Chancellor Merkel said :

 

“The disaster in Japan means that not only Germany, but the entire world, is suddenly confronted with an entirely different situation.

 

“We should take this as an opportunity to review the situation with an entirely open mind.”

 

Not only Germany, but almost all major countries of the world which have nuclear energy plants have adopted a similar approach.

 

Europe has 143 nuclear power plants spread over 14 countries. The European Union (EU) Energy Chief Guenther Oettinger has announced that risk assessments of possible damage by earthquakes and high water levels would be made at all the nuclear plants.

 

Russian P.M. Vladimir Putin, and Spanish P.M. Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero have made similar announcements.

 

France, the world’s most nuclear-dependent nation, has acknowledged that lessons should be drawn from the crisis in Japan. President Nicolas Sarkozy has ordered tests on security systems on all the nuclear reactors in the country and has said that the results will be made public.

 

Against the above background, it is surprising to find GOI spokesmen practically ridiculing everyone who voices reservations about rushing headlong into the direction of new nuclear energy plants. If any environmentalist strikes a note of caution that the tragedy in Japan should not be disregarded, particularly in parts of the country which are known to be in a seismic zone, he invites sarcastic remarks from the Environment Minister that it is “paradoxical” that the environmentalists are against nuclear energy !

 

Explaining his adamant stand on Jaitapur, which has sparked an explosive situation in Maharashtra, Jairam Ramesh has said that he has been trying to balance four objectives, namely :

 

            i)  amount of energy required to sustain a growth rate of nine per cent;

            ii) proportion of fuel mix;

            iii) environmental concerns; and

            iv)  strategic diplomacy, specially after the Civilian Nuclear Deal.         

 

One can understand and appreciate the first three of these objectives. But how does “strategic diplomacy” became an objective for the Environment Minister unless it is acknowledged that one of the objectives of signing this treaty even at the risk of losing UPA’s majority was to promote the commercial interests of U.S. nuclear firms.

 

The Prime Minister of Poland, Donald Tusk has said: “Energy and energy diversification are very important things, but obviously the safety of citizens will be the most important factor.”  Is it not strange that this ‘most important’ factor of safety does not even figure in the parameters spelt out by Jairam Ramesh ?

***

During my election campaign in West Bengal I visited a tribal tract in District Birbhum (North 24 Parganas). The constituency was Sandesh Khali, one reserved for Scheduled Tribes.  The BJP candidate was Sukumar Sardar, a Tribal activist serving his community through the Adivasi Kalyan Parishad.

 

Before addressing the large gathering, I enquired from the local residents what was the main problem that bothered them. Their instant answer was: health care. There is a hospital in Sandesh-Khali, they told me, but no doctors !

 

In my speech in the evening I referred to the report in the morning newspapers in which U.S. President Barack Obama had admonished Americans for rushing to India for their health problems.

 

Those who run the hospitals in India reacted sharply to the American President’s comments – particularly his remark that Americans go to Indian hospitals because they were ‘cheap’. Dr. Naresh Trehan, heart surgeon and CMD of Global Health, said: “Obama got elected on the promise of reforming health-care in his country which is in a bad shape”.  Dr. Trehan said that people from the advanced countries come to India because the quality of medical treatment here is at par, at times even superior, and certainly more affordable.

 

TAILPIECE

I recall that it was many years back that while on a foreign visit I had my first glimpse of the immense respect that Indian doctors abroad commanded. As Information and Broadcasting Minister in Shri Morarji Bhai’s Government I had gone to Kuala Lumpur, capital of Malaysia, for a UNESCO Conference. 

 

At a Reception organized by the Indian Embassy I had occasion to interact with many Malaysians as also Indians.  Quite a few of the Indians present at the function were Sikhs. 

 

In the course of my conversation with the guests I was told that affluent Malays, after retirement, generally went and settled in Europe.  But a trend clearly noticed was that if any of them developed an ailment which necessitated surgery, the afflicted person would rush back to Kuala Lumpur to have his operation done back home. 

 

That’s a compliment to your doctors, I remarked. 

 

Not at all, I was told, it is Indian surgeons who have a very high reputation here.  Continuing in a light vein the person talking to me said: Indeed, if after recovering from his anesthesia the patient sees a turbaned and bearded Sikh surgeon overseeing him in the operation theatre, he would feel reassured that everything must have gone off well !

 

L.K. Advani

New Delhi

24 April, 2011

 

Courtesy : http://blog.lkadvani.in/blog-in-english/fukushima-should-make-us-cautious?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ShriLalKrishnaAdvaniBlog+%28Shri+Lal+Krishna+Advani%27s+Blog%29