The Economic Times: New Delhi: Monday, April 09, 2012.
What's common between foggy movements of two army battalions, the government auditor's assessments of large notional losses to the exchequer and a letter from the army chief to the PM on his unit's preparedness for war?
The information in each of these instances in the past six months was marked 'secret' in official files, but screamed its way to the public, forcing the government into damage-control mode.
Information leaks in governments are nothing new, but they are stinging more now. "They are more frequent and the issues more critical," says independent journalist Nalini Singh. "In most cases, an institution of importance has been the target."
The other difference is how the leaks are happening. Politicians and corporates, with their agendas, are prolific generators and feeders of information to a scoop-hungry media, as was revealed in sordid detail in the leaked phone taps of corporate lobbyist Niira Radia in late-2010.
The flow of such information is now being shaped by circumstances (infighting in government) and a potent information-gathering weapon (the Right to Information Act).
"The RTI Act and the current Parliament has led to more public debates," says NK Singh, former finance secretary and a member of the Rajya Sabha. "Overall, it reflects in the lack of effective governance, dynamics of unsettled equations within the government and a weak leadership."
The CAG files;
CAG draft reports have leaked consistently ever since it started making damning assessments of government entities: for example, its comments on 2G telecom licences, CWG contracts, and RIL's oil and gas field in KG Basin. V Narayanswami, minister of state in the PMO, says in most cases reports were leaked before the ministry concerned officially reacted to CAG's claims.
Ministries Asked to Track Down Leaks;
"In many cases, there is a substantial difference between the final and draft report, which is lost in the public debate," he says. Narayanswami adds the government is concerned about the leaks of draft CAG reports and letters to the PM. "We are watching the situation. It is to do with the attitude of people who handle vital information."
A senior government official says, on condition of anonymity, that the PMO has informally asked ministries to track down leakages at the department level; further, the Lok Sabha speaker and vice-chairman of Rajya Sabha have asked CAG head Vinod Rai - the auditor is accountable to Parliament - to pin accountability and evolve a system to stop the leakage of draft reports. "The government will step in once the House directs it to look into the matter," he added.
Internal Affairs;
A New Delhi-based media tracker and lobbyist for a large business group says, on condition of anonymity, leaks are acquiring a life of their own because the government is at "war with itself". "You don't need a Dhirubhai (Ambani) versus Nusli Wadia, or the two warring Ambani siblings, to raise a public debate on a secret government document," he says. "The warring ministers have now replaced them."
What's common between foggy movements of two army battalions, the government auditor's assessments of large notional losses to the exchequer and a letter from the army chief to the PM on his unit's preparedness for war? The information in each of these instances in the past six months was marked 'secret' in official files, but screamed its way to the public, forcing the government into damage-control mode.
Information leaks in governments are nothing new, but they are stinging more now. "They are more frequent and the issues more critical," says independent journalist Nalini Singh. "In most cases, an institution of importance has been the target."
The other difference is how the leaks are happening. Politicians and corporates, with their agendas, are prolific generators and feeders of information to a scoop-hungry media, as was revealed in sordid detail in the leaked phone taps of corporate lobbyist Niira Radia in late-2010.
The flow of such information is now being shaped by circumstances (infighting in government) and a potent information-gathering weapon (the Right to Information Act).
"The RTI Act and the current Parliament has led to more public debates," says NK Singh, former finance secretary and a member of the Rajya Sabha. "Overall, it reflects in the lack of effective governance, dynamics of unsettled equations within the government and a weak leadership."
The CAG files;
CAG draft reports have leaked consistently ever since it started making damning assessments of government entities: for example, its comments on 2G telecom licences, CWG contracts, and RIL's oil and gas field in KG Basin. V Narayanswami, minister of state in the PMO, says in most cases reports were leaked before the ministry concerned officially reacted to CAG's claims.
Ministries Asked to Track Down Leaks;
"In many cases, there is a substantial difference between the final and draft report, which is lost in the public debate," he says. Narayanswami adds the government is concerned about the leaks of draft CAG reports and letters to the PM. "We are watching the situation. It is to do with the attitude of people who handle vital information."
A senior government official says, on condition of anonymity, that the PMO has informally asked ministries to track down leakages at the department level; further, the Lok Sabha speaker and vice-chairman of Rajya Sabha have asked CAG head Vinod Rai - the auditor is accountable to Parliament - to pin accountability and evolve a system to stop the leakage of draft reports. "The government will step in once the House directs it to look into the matter," he added.
Internal Affairs;
A New Delhi-based media tracker and lobbyist for a large business group says, on condition of anonymity, leaks are acquiring a life of their own because the government is at "war with itself". "You don't need a Dhirubhai (Ambani) versus Nusli Wadia, or the two warring Ambani siblings, to raise a public debate on a secret government document," he says. "The warring ministers have now replaced them."
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