Armed corps for protection of Ganga
NEW DELHI: The draft National River Ganga Bill 2018 has proposed the setting up of an armed ‘Ganga Protection Corps’, with the powers to arrest offenders who pollute it, to keep the river clean and help in its rejuvenation, according to government documents and people familiar with the matter.
The corps will be raised by the ministry of home affairs as demanded by the National Ganga Council, which is a panel of five experts with powers to issue directions on closure or regulation of industry and the construction of dams and other structures that affect continuous flow in the river, and to stop any activity causing pollution.
The Centre shared a copy of the draft bill, a copy of which is with Hindustan Times, with environmentalist GD Agarwal days before he died while on hunger strike on October 11. The bill aims to rejuvenate Ganga to its “pristine stage and ensure its uninterrupted flow”.
UP Singh, secretary, ministry of water resources, confirmed that the draft has been sent for interministerial circulation. “It will be finalised after all ministries have seen it,” he said. According to the draft bill, the armed personnel will have powers to “arrest (offenders), take him or her in custody, or take him or her to the nearest police station”.
The long list of offences and penalties punishable under the Ganga Act include spoiling or defacing ghats or stairs or throwing any “offensive matter” in the river. Other offences include stone quarrying, commercial fishing without permission, deforesting hill slopes or other sensitive areas, withdrawing groundwater for organised consumption through tube wells or industrial needs, among many others.
“Even in the court of law, a criminal is not punished twice for the same offence but by introducing this new appraisal form the organisation will punish NE officers multiple times…Who could not be promoted to the next rank because of limited vacancies and not because of incompetence (what is told by our so-called great organisation),” wrote the officer, who commands a tank transporter unit.
Army officials who spoke on condition of anonymity said the proposed assessment parameters were aimed at keeping aspirations of NE officers alive and also protecting the organisation’s interest.
“I respect and admire the officers who have earned the ‘Red Tabs’ (colonel rank and above) but I request them not to step on the shoulders of others (who are already trampled) to prove their worth and innovativeness,” the lieutenant colonel wrote.
“Every time the word organisation interest is used (rather misused) by few officers to deprive the people who hardly have any aspiration left… I would like to suggest them, it is not only the flowers and fruits which make a tree but the roots that are not visible hold the tree. The organisation includes the NE officers who are also living beings and want to breathe,” he added.
He wrote that NE officers should automatically be eligible for a few “basic things” such as timescale promotion, study leave, posting to Class A/B cities and re-employment, a view echoed by two other NE officers HT spoke to.
“Now he (an NE officer) has to prove himself every year to his boss about the worthiness for even these things. At the fag end of the service (I will not say career because that is already finished), an NE officer will not only have to perform but also please his boss who at times will be couple of years junior in service,” the officer wrote, admitting that the language and tone of his letter may not be appropriate but he does not regret it.
Experts HT spoke to were divided on the issue.
“In the army’s pyramidical promotion structure, a lot of deserving people don’t make to the colonel’s rank because of limited vacancies. They are not incompetent. They should not be humiliated or discriminated against by introducing this new appraisal model,” said Lieutenant General SPS Katewa, who retired as the Commandant of the ASC Centre and College in Bengaluru last year.
He said on an average almost 75% lieutenant colonels don’t get selected as colonels and there may be 5,000 to 7,000 such officers in the army at any given time.
However, Lieutenant General AS Lamba (retd), a former vice chief, said the recent proposal appears to have been approved in principle at the Army Com- manders’ Conference and would have been backed by data and feedback.
“Revision in formats is an ongoing process and it can be absorbed fully or partly after due deliberations and application,” Lamba said, adding that around 35% officers are selected for the colonel rank due to promotion challenges.
Two serving officers said the rejection rate was as high as 80%.
ARMY OFFICIALS WHO SPOKE ON CONDITION OF ANONYMITY SAID THE PROPOSED ASSESSMENT PARAMETERS WERE AIMED AT KEEPING ASPIRATIONS OF NE OFFICERS ALIVE AND ALSO PROTECTING THE ORGANISATION’S INTEREST