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Dear Mike
East or West - everywhere Government as well large corporations lie in
their budgets. In India accurate statistics in rural areas are totally absent: I
know from experience how vital statistics (The village headmen keep records of
births and deaths) are kept and maintained; records of deaths from
disease, accidens and other causes are hardly compiled. Figures relating to the
cattle population are supplied by 'mondals' and such other
functionaries on the basis of their wide guesses.
In my view the reason for this failure to keep and maintain proper records
cannot be attributed solely to the successive governments which inherit
a totally decrepit set up. This is a Herculean task and requires
years of planning and expenditure. Computers of course will help in course
of time. Corporate accountants and managers as well as their counterparts
working for Government always juggle with the figures in order to meet
emergencies. I know of occasions when Government of India itself had to obtain
information from other countries: information which New Delhi should certainly
have had. In the Bofors case, data were not available in Government of
India offices. One of the causes of its failure was lack of information. I
understand even the Government of UK admitted that detailed and accurate figures
relating to illegal immigrants to the country were not available. Mr Blair
had a very rough time once on this score in a television interview. I wonder how
the Right to Information Act will operate under these circumstances.
Regards
Bhuban |
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