TOI Edit: The message in the Jerome sacking

TO T H E P O I N T
What’s the message in the Demolition Man’s exit?
H.S. Balram

So, Jayakar Jerome finally goes. Bangalore loses a no-nonsense, go-getting bureaucrat. His fault: turning a sick Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) into a profit-making organisation, taking on the land sharks, demolishing illegal structures, forming layouts with sites for distribution among the general public, building roads, flyovers and underpasses and rejuvenating parks and lakes. All this in just four and a half years. He was in the process of completing many more projects. Chief Minister Dharam Singh, burdened with running a coalition government with arch rival Janata Dal, succumbed to pressure from Deve Gowda and the land lobby to show the door to this hands-on bureaucrat. A case of killing the goose that lays golden eggs.

Jerome’s transfer wasn’t unexpected. The countdown to his exit began soon after S.M. Krishna’s government fell. Krishna had given him a free hand and stood solidly behind him when he came under pressure from political heavyweights and threats from goons. Bangalore benefited in the process. Jerome’s latest was the Arakavathy layout project, for which he had braved land grabbers. With Krishna out of power, Gowda became the rallying point for Jerome’s ‘victims’.

Gowda has been a bitter critic of Krishna’s style of functioning and the cronies around him. He suddenly discovered some discrepancies in the tendering process for Arakavathy layout and demanded a halt to the project. Dharam Singh immediately obliged. Jerome went on leave in protest. The government asked BWSSB’s M.N. Vidyashankar to hold additional charge of the BDA and look into the complaints. But he gave a clean chit to Jerome and said all was well with the project.

Vindicated, Jerome decided to cut short his leave and resume office. His interest was to speed up the ongoing projects. But before he could take his seat, he was served marching orders. Where? To a newly created but nondescript place called the minorities welfare department. Who knows, he may do wonders there too. Minorities may benefit from his ingenuity and pro-activity. And then, vested interests may poke their nose once again and ensure his transfer from there too. Jerome is not the only officer to suffer such humiliation. Time and again, officers like him who are keen to do what they are supposed to do, have fallen prey to scheming elements in the corridors of power. Who suffers? The citizen.
But there is some good news too. Vidyashankar, the man who has taken over from Jerome, is an equally upright and go-getting bureaucrat. He may be not be as aggressive as Jerome, but is disciplined, does his homework well, is accessible to public, and attends to problems promptly. At the BWSSB, of which he now holds additional charge as commissioner, he has done commendable service by computerising all work, introducing good work culture and speeding up projects. He is capable of picking up the threads left by Jerome. But will he be allowed a free hand? Like Jerome, will he be able to resist pressure from various quarters? A big question, really.

More geese are awaiting such death.
Take BATF, the much-appreciated public-private enterprise set up to improve civic amenities in Bangalore. It is closing shop now, having failed to get any encouragement by the new government. Bangalore’s loss will be Delhi’s gain, as the Sheila Dixit government has invited the
BATF to introduce the model in that city.

Azim Premji, Wipro chairman, has decided to move out all new projects fed up with the ‘Ignore Bangalore’ attitude of the government. More are likely to follow suit.

The much-publicised Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor, a proposed expressway between the two cities, may slip into a limbo, what with the coalition partner JD(S) demanding a CBI inquiry into alleged irregularities by the Krishna government. Embarrassed Congressmen are hitting back by demanding a CBI inquiry into the Upper Krishna Project when Gowda was the CM.

In a belated reaction, the government has said Bangalore will not be ignored and that civic task forces will continue. Such statements look good only on paper. What is needed is active support. True, the Congress fared badly in the elections as the Krishna government projected its achievements only in IT and Bangalore. That does not mean the new government must stop looking at Bangalore. Nearly 50 per cent of the state’s GDP comes from Bangalore.