Outlook English - Print Subscribers Copy Outlook English, 17 September 2018 | Page 7

SEEDS OF SEXISM
T
HE Punjab government
is planning to import
sexed semen from US and
British companies. This
is used in cattle breeding
to ensure that calves are
of the desired sex—in this
case, fem­ale. “The move will
result in produc-
tion of female
calves only...bulls
are traffic haz­ards,”
animal husbandry
minister Balbir
Singh Sidhu told reporters
in Fatehgarh Sahib. Presum-
ably, semen of the ordinary
sort is unsexed. Sidhu also
announced a move to intro-
duce registration of cattle
in the name of their owners
to prevent abandonment,
amid other agricul-
tural largesse—like
giving subsidised
equipm­ent to
farmers to control
stubble burning.
MY FAIR PUJARI
O
NE shatrusamhara puja, if you please.
Why, of course, my dear fellow. Will that
be all? Such exchanges may soon become
real­ity, as Varanasi is set to get its first batch of
English-speaking priests to cater to the needs
of non-Hindi-speaking pilgrims. Currently,
(and historically, one presumes) they are at
the mercy of local interpreters, but the 13
priests who will graduate from Sampur­nanand
Sanskrit University’s Deen Dayal Upa­dhyaya
Kaushal Kendra next year will mark the
beginning of change. The course trains both
priests and astrologers. Toodle pip!
A VERY GRAVE MYSTERY
S
KELETONS. Almost
100 skeletons, includ-
ing eight children, dumped
in a pit. A mass grave has
been found in Mannar in
Sri Lanka’s Tamil-majority
Northern Province—the
battlegound of clas­hes
between LTTE and gov-
ernment forces during the
civil war. Excavation began
in May after construction
workers came across skel-
etal remains at the site.
Many forced disappear-
ances have occurred in
Mannar, and locals think
the grave could be linked
to them. Officials say that
analysis and carbon dating
must be done bef­ore any
conclu­sion. This is no
fresh hell—mass graves
from the conflict have
been found before, includ-
ing one with the remains
of 150 people in Matale in
Central Province.
Go West, Officers
T
HE power of the army establishment in Pakistan is
well-known. What goes unnoticed often is the power
Pakistani civil servants wield by successfully manipulating
their political masters. On this score, they may not be
very different from their counterparts across the border
in India. However, while the Indian bureaucracy’s role in
perpetuating the existing Indian administrative system
is no secret, those in Pakistan rarely come in focus.
But they may soon be in the limelight if Imran Khan’s new
policy is implemented in earnest. In what is being wid­ely
seen as the new prime minister’s first major test, Imran
seeks to implement a system of rotating the country’s
bureaucrats. This means that civil servants holding key posi-
tions in big cities would soon find them being posted in least
developed and remote areas. The policy to rotate bureaucrats
from cities to remote parts is not new. Many governments in
Pakistan have tried it for providing
people with better administration.
The transfer
But, so far, such brave words have
of civil
remained mere announcements.
servants, held
The smart civil servant has always
back for so
managed to get the better of their
long, can
political masters by staying on in
cities of their choice.
improve
In India, members of the IAS
administration
and IPS, also have the option of
in remote
choosing their preferred states.
areas and help
But, more often than not, their
in national
early days are spent in far-flung,
cohesion.
under-developed districts. The
machinations to stay on in cities
comes later, as they climb up the administrative ladder.
According to news reports, for almost the past three
decades, successive governments have been formulat-
ing their respective rotation policies, formally known as
inter-provincial transfer policy, for the Pakistani Adminis-
trative Service and Police Service of Pakistan. But none,
including former dictator General Pervez Musharraf, could
implement this policy during their tenure.
“This policy, in particular, will help smaller provinces
to benefit from the skills of officers, most of whom are
now concentrated in Punjab,” an official was quoted in the
news reports as saying. “It will also allow officers from
the smaller provinces to get the exposure of working
in Punjab and at the Centre,” added the official.
The inter-provincial transfer policy, which remained
dormant for the past few decades, is considered critical
for national cohesion, experts say.
In the past two weeks, Imran Khan has announced a
number of austerity measures to change Pakistan. But
this may well be one of his first major challenges.
17 September 2018 OUTLOOK 7