Media introspection! Self-introspection! This is what Rajdeep Sardesai screamed for the
2016th time on his show on October 25. Here’s what I wrote in the post “Confederation of Indian Agitators”. It was an attempt at a sarcastic look into some NGO operations:
“In case you haven't heard, over the last decade or so
there are many NGOs created whose job is to just channel funds. They are NGO
“fund raisers”. Some are even supported by banks. They collect funds from
Indians, NRIs and others and channel those funds to the NGOs of the choice of
the donor. Their earnings come from commissions from the funds donated.”.
Last night on Karan (The
Tool) Thapar’s show on CNN-IBN they were discussing the
conviction of Rajat Gupta for
insider trading. Most of our media members are in deep shock over the
conviction of such a “good man”. The Social
Genius even tweeted she had met him once and he spoke “perfect Bengali” (Mr President, take that warning!). The judge who
convicted Gupta told him there are many good men in history who have committed
bad deeds. Naturally, during the Tool’s show Ramalinga Raju and his good deeds came up for discussion. Sanjay
Baru, former media advisor to PM, mentioned all of Raju’s good deeds. No, he
wasn’t defending Raju in any way. None mentioned the difference that Raju is
still being “tried” while Gupta’s trial is over and he’s been sentenced. In
some part of the democratic world, crimes do get punished and fairly swiftly.
In India we should trust Beni Prasad Verma who laughed that Salman Khurshid
could even be involved in a scam of 76 lakhs. Yeah, even petty NGOs do better
than that.
This here is the pic of the website of Quadriga Art. The site claims it’s a “global leader in direct marketing and creative services. We offer nonprofit organizations, fundraising
agencies and commercial brands innovative direct marketing campaign solutions
that produce extraordinary results. For more than seventy years, Quadriga Art
has helped value-driven clients raise money and create connections”. So
you see, as the first para says, this fund-raising broker thing is becoming
fairly common in India too. But here’s the surprise as Anderson Cooper reported in a series of NGO frauds that had
some connection to Quadriga:
“But here's the problem: Not one dime has gone
directly to help disabled veterans. Instead, CNN's Drew Griffin discovered the
charity sends free stuff to veterans groups - stuff they say they didn't ask
for and don't need. We're talking about thousands of bags of coconut M&Ms,
bulk shipments of chef's aprons and military dress shoes. The veterans groups
have had to sell the items to raise money so they could buy items vets actually
do need. So, where did the nearly $56 million donated by Americans go? Griffin
followed the money trail to a company called Quadriga Art, a company that specializes in fundraising. Quadriga
Art and its subsidiaries have more than 500 charities on their client list,
including DVNF. A source who had first-hand dealings with Quadriga tells us
it’s the "financial equivalent of heroin addiction for charities".
Now, the list of NGO frauds that Cooper covered in his series on AC360
is too long to cover in a single post. Just search for “AC360 Charity fund
frauds” and you will likely run into a coal mine. No, this coal isn’t in mother
earth. What should trouble us is the number of NGOs in India who are similarly
receiving a lot of funds but nobody knows where these funds are really going. The
US Senate has launched an inquiry into the NGO fraud mess. In sharp contrast
some of these Indian NGO operators are celebrated TV panellists, have received
Padma Shri awards and some individuals are even on govt bodies. One such person
is Binayak Sen who is a ‘convict’ but is on the Planning Commission. Mine is not to
wonder if he is really guilty or not. But fact is he has been convicted and his
conviction is under appeal. Even before he is cleared by courts the GOI puts
him on the Planning Commission. I guess, considering his brilliance, Rajat
Gupta too would be welcomed on the Planning Commission by the GOI.
Following the Thapar show Rajdeep Sardesai, the Monk, followed as
usual. Following the Jindal-Zee
extortion spat he had the same topic on his mind again: “Media introspection”. Following a series of introspections viewers
will be convinced nothing will change. Rajdeep’s whole show can be summed up in
one sentence of Justice Katju: “You want everybody to
be regulated except yourself.. You are what? Lords and Gods”? Following
another slap from Katju, Rajdeep will learn nothing. Following…. Never mind! If
there was ever true and honest introspection, the news media would have
wondered about many panellists they get on their shows that are dubious. Since
we are on NGOs, let’s talk about Teesta
Setalvad.
The most outrageous decoration ever has to be that of Teesta Setalvad.
According to reports she is on ‘anticipatory bail’. Time and again the
funding of her NGO, her fake affidavits and complaints from her own colleagues
have been reported. In yet another damning report this is what The Pioneer carried today:
“The FCRA permission granted on November 21,
2007 to CJP by the Ministry of Home Affairs mentioned that “The bank account
mentioned in your application should be used for receiving foreign contribution
and no other amount should be credited to this account”. However, a local donation of Rs 10 Lakh,
received from The Chatwal Groups by cheque no376284 dated 26/02/09, was deposited
by CJP in this FCRA account… These were in clear violation of condition
mentioned in the FCRA registration”. Huh? The Chatwal group? Oh, like
Teesta got Padma Shri I recall somebody from The Chatwal Group was also awarded
Padma Bhushan despite wide protests. Do read the full report in The Pioneer for
the amazing transfer, handling and misuse of funds reported in Teesta’s NGO.
If newspapers are repeatedly carrying so many reports on wrong doings
of Teesta how is it that she is such a favourite panellist with our TV
channels? It doesn’t stop there. She not only gets a Padma award, she gets to
be on Sonia Gandhi’s NAC. This is
like a private club that drafts laws for the nation. Rajat Gupta must be
regretting his misdeeds weren’t in India. He could have been making laws here.
A convict on the Planning Commission, a tainted NGO operator in the NAC! What’s
the message to ordinary citizens? Crime
Pays? That’s not all Teesta is also on the govt’s Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE). This is a body
under the HRD ministry that influences decisions on education in India. No
wonder many people joke that we might as well have Ajmal Kasab teaching marketing tactics in business schools.
The serious question is about the Coalgate issue being totally buried
in the media. If Zee had, as alleged, blackmailed Naveen Jindal to the tune of 100 crores for silence why are the
other channels silent on Jindal and Coalgate? Why shouldn’t one suspect that
they have already been silenced through some form or the other? There is
another case of payments by a steel company ISPAT to VBS (suggesting Virbhadra Singh of Congress) which has
been in the news. The reports are around a page long in most sites and
newspapers, including The Hindu
(October 22). Buried in the report is one sentence that Rajdeep and others
aren’t talking about yet. It says: “Mittal diary for
2006-2010 show routine payoffs to…. Payments
to journalists for stopping negative articles and photographs are also listed
in these cash accounts”. Why isn’t the media or the BEA or the PCI
asking for these names? Shouldn't this raise quite an alarm in the media? Nothing!
The charade of introspection and self-regulation is as big a scam as
Coalgate. Last night on Rajdeep’s show he had N. Ram as a panellist to discuss this so called “media
introspection”. None of the channels has so far even vaguely reported the land
grab case of N. Ram. Nothing! All the NGO representatives and business
celebrities who often feature on media panels somehow turn out to be connected
to some scam or wrong-doing or the other. That
the media is the first line of defence for the corrupt is increasingly coming
across as true. Corruption and scams are a nation-wide plague. The more one
scams the more the respectability. Scams less than crores seem to have even
lost respectability. The day illegal dealings and scams in the media start
being punished severely I believe corruption will start diminishing in other
spheres too. In the meantime, imagine a
battalion of rats trying to protect you from plague.
