During the Vietnam war, the US Army unleashed hell on a Viet Cong sniper but never found him. adam withnall reports
WHAT would you do if you were a 22-year-old soldier, nine months into a tour of duty fighting for the USA in Vietnam and, every night, you didn’t know if a sniper was going to shoot you in your bed? For James Speed Hensinger, the answer was to get out his camera.
   In April 1970, the compound of the 173rd Airborne Brigade had been receiving sporadic night-time visits from a lone Viet Cong gunman, firing down on the soldiers in their huts with an automatic AK-47 rifle. After a while, Hensinger explains, “We were pissed off. We decided to use a ‘heavy’ response the next time the sniper hit us.”
The next night, he set himself up in a guard tower near the perimeter of the camp. Using a 35-mm Nikon FTN camera, a camera release and some sandbags for a tripod, he waited. Sure enough, when darkness fell the lone sniper opened fire. And the US army unleashed hell.
From the left and right, two 7.62-mm M60 machineguns peppered the hills with rounds, shooting one red tracer for every four normal bullets. Down in front of Hensinger, an M42 Duster open-turret tank fired its twin 40-mm anti-aircraft guns, with its huge white tracers followed by large explosions. Finally, this was all supplemented by high explosive shells shot from an M2 Browning .50 caliber machinegun, creating white bursts without tracers.
Using long exposures between 15 seconds and a minute, Hensinger was able to capture the action with some breath-taking photographs. He had no idea what they would look like when he mailed them home to be developed and was amazed when he returned from his 12-month tour to find he had brilliantly recorded the power and force of the American response.
He had kept the pictures to himself until now, choosing to release them to the public in celebration of this year&’s Memorial Day in the USA. And though the 66-year-old from Westminster, Colorado, remained an enthusiastic photographer, he has never been a professional, instead going on from the army to careers as a petroleum geologist, Volkswagen mechanic, university librarian, software developer, published author, IT manager and corporate manager.
And did they ever catch the Viet Cong sniper? “We sent out patrols during the day,” Hensinger says, “and found a blood trail one morning. Otherwise, we never found him. The rocks on the slope were as big as Volkswagens. It took a very stupid officer to put a pin in the map and say, ‘Build it (the camp) here.’”

the independent

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If you’re looking for a premium quality SUV, the Q3 should help you make up your mind, writes tarun goswami
IT warrants repetition that the 1990s rewrote India&’s automobile history, with then finance minister Manmohan Singh introducing a liberalisation policy and inviting foreign manufacturers to set up shop in the country. All the big boys responded with gusto and captains of industry, like General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Skoda and Volvo, set up plants but it was German auto manufacturers who reaped the maximum benefit of the liberalisation plan. Players like Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, Porsche and Volkswagen have set-ups in the country and their variants are selling well.
The story goes that a gentleman once stopped by a showroom in Germany with a mind to buying an Audi. Not satisfied with the answers he got from the sales people, he approached the workshop manager and asked after the vehicle. The manager in question, an old engineer, calmly told him to direct his questions at someone who had bought an Audi.
This is the sort of pride and confidence Audi exemplifies every now and then. It has introduced several models, the current most popular being the Q3. And for those who exult in driven hatchbacks, this is the dream machine. It really is the most luxurious SUV in its segment — elegance, comfort, power and punch combined so beautifully in a single vehicle.
German cars are famous for their strength and stability, given the obsessive priority placed on passenger safety. The Q3 has steel bars that save it in the event of frontal or lateral collisions and airbags in the front and sides add to this picture of wellbeing. There&’s also a thick steel sheet that safeguards the undercarriage, particularly when you’re driving on a bumpy, potholed road. Very sophisticated and powerful brakes guarantee you stop, and even during emergency braking there&’s no problem.
The Q3 has halogen headlights that operate with electric headlight range control and its daytime running lights as well as LED indicators in the exterior mirrors are welcome innovations. The long-lasting gas-discharge technology enables an even and intensive illumination of the road ahead and the automatic dynamic  headlight range control prevents oncoming traffic from being dazzled.  As a result, night driving is a definite pleasure.
Looks wise, theQ3 is a head-turner, with alloy wheelcaps adding beauty to the exterior. Then there&’s the rectangular grille that contributes to the vehicle&’s ruggedness.
The Q3 can be driven with equal ease in both the city and  on highways. Sensitive steering makes light of driving ennui and the interior is so designed as to remove that feeling of monotony on long trips.
The vehicle comes in attractive colours and after-sales outlets operate round the clock with expert engineers to attend to any hitches. So if you’re looking for a premium quality SUV, the Q3 should make up your mind. It comes for a rather steep price but then you get the works.

statesman news service
CHANDIGARH, 28 JUNE : A US-based NRI has been booked for allegedly posting his wife&’s nude photos on social networking website, Facebook.
A resident of Moga district in Punjab, the wife has alleged that her NRI husband, Mr Sukhdeep Singh, uploaded her nude photos on Facebook after her parents could not meet his demand for Rs 15 lakh as dowry.
The woman got married to Mr Singh, belonging to Moranwali village in Hoshiarpur district, in March 2011. Leaving her behind, he then flew back to the USA two months after the marriage. Mr Singh had allegedly promised to call her abroad in a couple of months.
He allegedly called his wife’s family in October 2012 and demanded Rs 15 lakh for fulfilling her visa formalities. Her parents, however, expressed their helplessness in providing the amount, as they had already spent a huge amount on the marriage. This refusal is alleged to have strained relations between the couple. After some time, the victim discovered her nude photos on the social networking website, uploaded using a fake ID.
After establishing the charges prima facie, police have registered a criminal case under Sections 498-A, 406 and 385 of the IPC at Ajitwal police station against Mr Singh, his father Mr Daljit Singh and mother Ms Surinder Kaur. Police plan to to issue look-out notices against them now.

statesman news service
MUMBAI, 28 JUNE: Risking a disqualification by the Election Commission of India, BJP&’s deputy leader in Lok Sabha Gopinath Munde has disclosed that he had spent Rs 8 crore to win the Beed seat, his home district, in the 2009 Parliament election. “I won’t mind the ECI unseating me as fresh polls are just six months away but the truth must be told to expose the use of unspecified money in election politics.” 
He made it obvious that such a huge amount to win a Parliament seat has to be unaccounted wealth as it also makes a mockery of the spending restrictions imposed by the ECI for Parliament or Assembly seat. Implicit in the disclosure is the filing of poll expenses returns to the Chief Election Officer of the state is nothing short of an alleged fraud.
In February 2011, the Centre, accepting ECI&’s proposals, raised the expenditure limit for the Parliament seat by a nominee from Rs 25 lakh to Rs 40 lakh and for state Assembly from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 16 lakh.
“Poll expenses are at the root of corruption and black money. The only remedy is the government funding of elections,” he added at an event last evening, where the BJP’s chief election campaigner, Mr Narendra Modi, released a book ~ Beyond A Billion Ballots by Mr Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, an ideologue of the RSS. 
Mr Munde’s disclosure hardly startled the audience that took a senior MP’s confession as confirmation of what everybody knew. Mr Modi appeared engrossed in leafing through the book while former BJP president Mr Nitin Gadkari, too, was not amused at Mr Munde stating the obvious. 
Mr Munde said when he fought his first Assembly election for Renapur seat in the Beed district, his total spending on poll campaign had been Rs 29,000, of which Rs 22,000 were allotted by the party and he had to contribute the remaining Rs 7,000. Because of enormous cost of standing for an election, it has became a privilege of the (black) moneyed few. 
An ordinary citizen, however, good and competent, has little chance to contest as only unaccounted spending works in election politics, according to Mr Munde.
In Maharashtra, Mr Munde is acknowledged as one of the main fund managers in the BJP for his widespread contacts in trade and business. Before him, his brother-in-law Pramod Mahajan was the biggest fund raiser for the party. When the BJP-Shiv Sena combine ruled the state in 1990s, Mr Gadkari, as PWD minister, used to organise poll funds for both the allies.

press trust of india
PANAJI, 28 JUNE: Rubbishing rumours of withdrawing from the BJP-led Goa government, its ally, the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, has said it will continue with the alliance in the Lok Sabha elections.
The party will be with the BJP during Lok Sabha polls, the MGP’s senior leader and minister in Parrikar cabinet Ramakrishna Dhavalikar said last evening.
The leaders of both the parties will sit and discuss strategy for the next Lok Sabha elections before deciding on the candidates, for the two Lok Sabha constituencies in Goa.
“Whatever the strategies for the party or decisions on the candidates are, it will be taken by both the party leaders,” he said.
Mr Dhavalikar rubbished rumours that his party was contemplating to withdraw from the government to form an alternate alliance and claim for power in the state.
“I am not interested in such games. I am not interested in becoming chief minister. Right now the government under Mr Manohar Parrikar is doing fairly well,” he said.
The MGP had entered into an alliance with the BJP before the state Assembly elections last year.
The party currently has three legislators in the Goa House.

press trust of india
Tinsukia/Guwahati, 28 JUNE: The flood in Assam is gradually taking more areas under its grip with around 30 additional villages inundated today, affecting a total of nearly 2,000 hectares of agricultural land in seven districts.
According to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), Brahmaputra and its tributary Jia Bharali is flowing over the danger mark at Jorhat and Sonitpur, respectively.
In Tinsukia district, 14 villages have been affected today, hitting around 5,000 people. Besides, 13 villages have come under water in Dhemaji district, along with 1 in Lakhimpur. Heavy rains are reported from many parts of the state. So far, nearly 140 villages are under water, affecting nearly 55,000 people, official sources said. However, there is no report of any casualty from any part of the state so far.
As per ASDMA records, 1,097.94 hectares of agricultural land have been submerged in two districts ~ Dhemaji and Lakhimpur ~ with standing crops under water. Besides, 858.69 hectares of land is affected in Golaghat, Kamrup and Jorhat districts. Nearly 10,500 animals and poultry have been affected so far. About 50 villages are affected in the worst-hit Dhemaji district, hitting nearly 35,000 people. It is followed by 37 villages in Golaghat, 19 in Karimganj, 14 in Tinsukia, 10 in Jorhat, 4 in Kamrup and 1 in Lakhimpur districts, officials said. The flood this season has also damaged around 550 houses in these villages. Erosion has been noticed on Khalihamari Butikur road in Dhemaji. Also, a bridge has been washed away in Sadiya sub-division of Tinsukia district.

press trust of india
CHENNAI, 28 JUNE: Two former ministers of the DMK and the PMK today joined the ruling AIADMK, boosting its Dalit portfolio.
The DMK’s Mr Parithi Ilamvazhuthi and Mr E Ponnusamy, who had quit the PMK a few months ago, protesting party founder Dr S Ramadoss’s strident stand against SC/ST communities on certain issues, joined the AIADMK in the presence of party supremo and Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.
Incidentally, Mr Ilamvazhuthi, a former minister and popular face in the DMK, prior to his quitting the Karunanidhi-led party after its May 2011 poll debacle, had faced a vigilance probe after the AIADMK assumed power.
He had lost the elections to the DMDK candidate from Egmore constituency.
Mr Ponnusamy is a former minister of state and had been elected from Mr Chidambaram’s Lok Sabha constituency twice.
A senior leader of the PMK, prior to his quitting the party, Mr Ponnusamy was seen as the “Dalit Face” of the party, which claims to largely represent interests of the Vanniyar community.
Recently, Mr Ramadoss had taken a strong stand against Dalits and had been even campaigning against inter-caste marriages involving the two communities. Mr Ponnusamy had walked out of the party protesting this.

New train schedule

KOLKATA, 28 JUNE: To provide passengers with better services, three pairs of Express trains will run as Super-Fast trains, 10 Express trains will speed up reducing journey time and existing local trains in Howrah-Tarakeswar/Howrah-Talpur section, three Up and three Down locals will be extended up to/from Arambagh in the new time table to be effective from 1 July. Moreover, one Howrah-Talpur local will be converted to Howrah-Tarakeswar local from 1 July. Frequency of a Howrah-Tarakeswar local will be increased to daily and a Tarakeswar-Howrah local which is extended up to Arambagh will run daily instead of six days a week.
Man shot dead in freak accident

SONARPUR, 28 JUNE: Sheikh Mahasin (28), alias Bapi, a building materials supplier of Boral under Sonarpur police station area, was shot dead last night. The man’s body was found at Joykrishnapur in Sonarpur this morning.
His friend, Sheikh Wasim, was arrested in connection with the incident and a murder case has been initiated, police said.
Mr Prasenjit Banerjee, the inspector in-charge of Sonarpur police station, said after preliminary investigation they discovered that the two friends were handling a gun while intoxicated when suddenly it went off and a bullet hit Mahasin. He died on the spot, the officer said.
2 Gangasagar pilgrims run over

DIAMOND HARBOUR, 28 JUNE: Two Gangasagar pilgrims from Jaipur, Rajasthan, were run over by a speeding pick-up van near Jethighat under Diamond Harbour police station in South 24-Parganas last night. Police said there were 50 pilgrims from Rajasthan travelling by a luxury bus on their way to Gangasagar. All pilgrims got off the bus near Sagarika in Diamond Harbour for tea. Indramal Lakhela (55) and Bindramal Lakhela (60) were crossing the road when they were run over by a pick-up van going to Kakdwip.
The two were taken to Diamond Harbour sub-divisional hospital with serious injuries where the doctors declared them brought dead.
Three arrested for rape

DURGAPUR, 28 JUNE: Three youths were arrested in connection with the Purbasthali gang-rape case in Burdwan today. Two days ago a tribal girl was gangraped. The incident, in the wake of the recent Kamduni rape and murder, caused an outcry in the Purbasthali police station area in Kalna. The locals demanded immediate arrest of the accused. The girl&’s medical tests were done at Kalna sub-divisional hospital. Police today arrested Gupi Roy (18), Biltu Mondal (19) and Krishna Roy (20). They followed the girl, forcibly took her to a deserted place and raped her, police said. The CJM court, Burdwan, today afternoon approved a test identification parade of the accused on 3 July. The district police today assigned Mr Indrajit Sarkar, SDPO, Kalna to help in the investigation.
Youth commits suicide

KOLKATA, 28 JUNE: Mohammad Faiyaz (19) today committed suicide by hanging himself at his residence on Mayur Bhanj Road in Ikbalpur. Police have sent the body for post-mortem and started a probe.
No breakthrough in abduction case

KOLKATA, 28 JUNE: Police are yet to make any breakthrough in the abduction case of a businessman who was kidnapped yesterday from M G Road in the Jorasanko police station area. A senior officer of the city police said they have come to know the victim, Mr Paradip Khandelwal, had taken a loan from the market and was often being threatened by his creditors. Police are interrogating his friends and family.
Body recovered from river Hooghly

KOLKATA, 28 JUNE: Police found the decomposed body of a 30-year-old youth from river Hooghly near Ratan Babu Ghat this afternoon.
Metro services disrupted

KOLKATA, 28 JUNE: Metro services were disrupted from 9.21 p.m in both up and down lines today as an AC Metro came to a halt at Girish Park metro station. The train was going to Dum Dum. Engineers rushed to the spot to look into the technical glitch.
7 held for running gambling den

KOLKATA, 28 JUNE: Seven youths were arrested from a house at BG block in Salt Lake on charges of running a gambling den inside the house. Bidhannagar (East) police today raided the house in the evening and recovered Rs 30,000 from the place. Local residents had complained about suspicious activities in the house. Based on their complaint, police conducted a raid today.

statesman news service
SILIGURI, 28 JUNE: The Cooch Behar district Trinamul Congress set a deadline of 30 June and asked over 200 dissidents, who are contesting in rural polls against official candidates, to circulate leaflets among voters declaring that they are out of fray and vote for party candidates.
Party sources said district leadership would terminate them from party if they (dissidents) do not follow the party whip.
The Cooch Behar district Trinamul Congress president, Mr Rabindranath Ghosh, said: “Initially several party workers wanted to contest the rural polls. More than 1,000 such workers filed nominations but finally the party had not allotted tickets to all of them. We had issued letters asking them to withdraw their nomination papers on time. Though 80 per cent workers had withdrawn their nominations, nearly 250 candidates are still contesting against official candidates.”
“We do not have any problem in the zilla parishad and panchayat samiti level. But in the gram panchayat level, more than 200 workers are in the fray. We have set 30 June as deadline and asked them to declare that they are not contesting the rural polls. If they do not do obey, we would terminate them from the party,” Mr Ghosh said.
Mr Ghosh said that uncertainty over conducting rural polls had already started affecting services to the people since the self government local bodies are not functioning here.
"The present situation has an effect on the rhythm of rural polls campaigning," Mr Ghosh said, adding, “We have changed the style of campaigning after the state election commission went to the Apex court. During rural poll campaigning, the Trinamul Congress leaders are arguing the fact that Chief Minister Miss Mamata Banerjee wanted to hold rural polls in winter but the Opposition prevented her from conducting polls before monsoon.”
“The people of north Bengal as well as Cooch Behar depend on agriculture. It is high time for agriculture because monsoon has already started in this region and they have engaged in cultivation jobs. Despite the fact, people in Cooch Behar want vote as per scheduled announced earlier,” said Mr Ghosh.

statesman news service
RAIGANJ, 28 JUNE: In protest against the anti-social activities in the locality, a section of women of Nawapara in Raiganj staged an agitation in the premises of Raiganj police station in North Dinajpur district last night. They met Mr Dinesh Pramanik, IC Raiganj police station, with an urge to take measures to stop the sale of hooch and gambling in the locality. Otherwise, they threatened to start a movement against police.
Ms Sufala Barman of Nowapara said: "Most of the male members of Nowapara are daily wage labourers. In our village there are some hooch sellers and some houses are conducting gambling. Every day in the evening anti-socials from different places assemble in our village to consume hooch and gamble. The men of our village are trapped by them and girls and women are teased. The occurance of theft and snatching have also increased. In spite of informing police, they failed to take action against them, forcing us to stage the agitation. If they do not take measures against them, the women of our village will destroy the hooch selling units for the sake of our safety."
The IC, Raiganj police station, Mr Dinesh Pramanik, said: "We have heard the crisis of the village from the women. In order to stop gambling and selling of hooch we have already started raids in the villages."

“We want to express solidarity with the larger women&’s movement with regard to the violence, or rather the campaign against violence, which is taking place at the moment in various parts of the country.”

statesman news service 
KOLKATA, 28 JUNE: Sexual violence across India also affects Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) communities and it is an issue they’ll try to highlight at this year&’s Kolkata Pride Walk, organisers said today at a Press conference at the American Center. 
“We want to express solidarity with the larger women&’s movement with regard to the violence, or rather the campaign against violence, which is taking place at the moment in various parts of the country,” said Mr Pawan Dhall from health NGO Saathi and Kolkata Rainbow Pride Walk, a collective of which organises pride activities throughout the year. The Kolkata Pride Walk will take place this year on 7 July. 
The American Center has been running a series of events, including discussions and film screenings, to celebrate Pride Month and promote LGBT rights. 
Award-winning film-maker Onir, who took part in an interactive session at the center yesterday and was at a workshop today, said he thinks there needs to be more education about sexuality and gender at schools. 
“I think it&’s extremely important that colleges and educational institutes, schools, have this move to get people talking about gender. And telling children that it&’s ok, you need to accept and respect everybody,” he said. 
Onir said he doesn’t understand those who say that sex education is not acceptable to Indian culture. “So you mean it&’s ok for children to get abused but it&’s not good to educate them, to arm them to protect themselves?” 
At the workshop today, LGBT community members and activists were busy making colourful posters and sparkly masks for the Pride Walk.  
The walk, though, is not just for those part of the LGBT community, but for anybody interested in standing up for human rights, said Raina, also known as Dhiman Roy, an activist at the workshop who has experienced serious violence in the past. “If you walk with us, then it will look like it is not an issue of ours only, it is the issue of all people.”

At the current market price of Rs 34.55, disinvestment of 3.74 crore shares would fetch Rs 129.21 crore to     the exchequer

statesman news service
NEW DELHI, 28 JUNE: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday approved the proposal to divest 7.64 per cent paid-up equity capital of its stake in National Fertilisers Limited, which is expected to fetch nearly Rs 130 crore to the exchequer, finance minister P Chidambaram said today. The company has nearly 3.74 crore shares.
The government currently controls 97.64 per cent stake in the ‘Mini Ratna’ company engaged in manufacturing and marketing of urea and other fertilisers.
Addressing the media, Mr Chidambaram said the government has decided to divest its stake in the company in order to comply with the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) norms.
As per Sebi regulations, the government’s shareholding in listed public sector undertakings must come below 90 per cent by 8 August 2013.
At the current market price of Rs 34.55, disinvestment of 3.74 crore shares would fetch Rs 129.21 crore to the exchequer.
National Fertilisers Limited is engaged in manufacturing and marketing of urea, 16 industrial products and three types of bio-fertilisers from its five operating units located one each at Nangal and Bhatinda in Punjab, Panipat in Haryana and two units at Vijaipur in Madhya Pradesh.

statesman news service
NEW DELHI, 28 JUNE: Privately owned Yes Bank has been allowed to increase foreign holdings in the company to 60 per cent with the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approving the bank’s request in this regard. The approval is likely to result in the bank’s overseas equity inflow of Rs 2,650 crore.
The CCEA chaired by the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh approved the proposal at a meeting last evening. The Cabinet has given its approval based on the recommendations of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB).
The FIPB had sent the proposal to the Cabinet as the amount involved was more than Rs 1,200 crore, the limit beyond which the board cannot take a final decision.

MUMBAI, 28 JUNE: Bajaj Auto management and its union today came to the negotiating table in a bid to end the four-day old strike by over 1,500 workers at the Chakan plant demanding wage revision and better working conditions apart from a hefty paring of the companies shares with employees. The preliminary round of talks, however, failed to bring any tangible solution, union sources said.
Over 1,500 workers of Bajaj’s Chakan facility are on strike since Tuesday, bringing production to a complete halt. pti

Mr Kumar Mangalam Birla at an interactive session in Kolkata on Friday. sns

statesman news service
KOLKATA, 28 JUNE: India needs to ensure an investor-friendly environment so that more investments flow into the country. Indian industrialists invest abroad because of the enabling business environment there, Mr Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of the Aditya Birla Group, said here today.
Speaking at an interactive session organised by the Calcutta Chamber of Commerce, Mr Birla, who took up the mantle at an age of 28 in 1995 from his father Aditya Birla after his untimely demise, said that Indian industrialists are not investing abroad at the cost of the domestic economy. India’s business environment needs to improve so that these industrialists can invest at home.
However, things are changing for the better now, he said. Giving an example of one of his projects in Brazil, Mr Birla said that the authorities there apologised for a day’s delay in the commissioning of the project. But here the environment is different.
Commenting on the present political scenario, he said coalition governments do not necessarily be averse to a business-friendly environment. Once the group finalises a decision on a particular policy it should stick to it till the end to give confidence to the investor, added.
Coalition governments cannot be blamed for stagnation in economy. Because, the country has seen coalition governments for quite some time. What is needed is political alignment, he said.
Asked why industry was critical about liberalisation when it was the greatest beneficiary of such policy, he said industry was within its rights to speak against the government for uncertainty in policy-making.
Mr Birla said indian industrialists are not making all their investments abroad. They are investing in the domestic sector also. But if the environment here was improved there would have been greater flow of investment.

In Andhra Pradesh panchayati raj institutions are being run with special officers as elections could not be held for the past two years.
Bengal could follow the same path if elections are not held

anindita chowdhury
HYDERABAD, 27 JUNE: Bengal can hope to learn a lesson or two from the state of affairs in the Panchayati Raj Institutions in Andhra Pradesh which are being run with special officers as elections could not be held for the past two years.
The lack of public representatives in more than 21,000 Gram Panchayats, often described as democracy at the very grassroots, has adversely affected their running and development work. Bengal might tread on the same path if the elections are not held on time. The West Bengal State Election Commission (WBSEC) has moved the Supreme Court to ensure adequate security forces even as the first phase of elections is due on 2 July. Elections to local bodies, both rural and urban, have not been held in Andhra Pradesh for the past two years. Apart from losing about Rs 2000 crore of Central assistance fund in the rural areas for the past two years the absence of public representatives is also affecting services to the people. “The officials are out of reach of the common people.
The government has just appointed any officer, say agricultural officer as a special officer and they are carrying out the task in addition to their existing duties. They are often away on tours. Moreover, often they are not well versed with the Panchayat Act,” said Mr M Padmanabha Reddy, secretary of the Forum of Good Governance who had filed a petition in the High Court seeking early elections. However, the government had wanted to use the census data of 2011 to work out the reservation of Backward Classes which it had raised to over 60 per cent.
Though the Andhra Pradesh High Court had said the reservation quota should not exceed 50 per cent on the basis of Supreme Court guidelines, the apex court had given clearance to the government&’s proposal earlier this year.
“Still they are dillydallying over the issue. Politicians want to hold elections only when it suits them,” said Mr Reddy. According to political observers, the ruling Congress had not been very keen to hold local body elections because of apprehensions that the newly formed YSR Congress may sweep the elections if they were held on time.
    The elections were due in July 2011 and since then the Panchayati Raj Institutions have been run with special officers, a model which the Opposition in Bengal claims that chief minister Mamata Banerjee is keen to follow. “It is not a model but compulsion”, Mr Reddy said while alleging that cases of corruption have increased. “Earlier if the people felt that the work was not progressing according to plan they could gherao the Mukhiya and call for an explanation. This is no longer happening now,” he added.  A senior official from West Godavari district agreed. “There are some pro-active officials and in those cases the Panchayats are run smoothly. But there are problems of reaching out to the people because officials can never take the place of public representatives,” the official said.  But now the polls to the Panchayati Raj institutions are finally going to be held in July. The Andhra State Election Commissioner P Ramakanth Reddy said the poll notification would be issued next week and the three-phase poll process would be conducted within the next 2-3 weeks. The entire exercise would be concluded by August first week.