c# - ODP.NET Oracle.ManagedDataAccess causes ORA-12537 network session end of file -

There is no use pretending that the departures of N.K. Singh and Montek Singh are not going to hurt. They are. Two very different men--Montek is an elegant economist and NK is a natty networker, who knows how to turn every screw in the government's machine. But both are reformers. N.K. Singh has been transferred from the Prime Minister's office (PMO), where he coordinated the PM's economic agenda, to the Planning Commission. Montek is leaving to head the Independent Evaluator's office for the International Monetary Fund. Earlier, he was Finance Secretary, where he had spearheaded many an economic reform ever since the summer of 1991. Both men have fallen victim to the RSS and the swadeshi lobby. Although, Muralidhar Rao and Datta Pengdi may have precipitated N.K.'s recent departure, all anti-reformers are delighted. The communists, the leftists--the Samtas and Mamtas--and the considerable forces of darkness in the Congress would rather live with inefficient and corrupt public sector monopolies than have anything to do with competitive markets. Montek's achievements are well known, but NK too leaves a considerable record of reform, culminating in the recent path-breaking budget with dramatic reforms in labour, agriculture, and industrial policy. It contained both Mr. Vajpayee's and Mr Sinha's reforms, and was a product of teamwork between North and South Blocks, and NK's networking skills with the ministries were crucial. NK has left a mark on many Vajpayee initiatives: for example, the current momentum in building highways, the new "open skies" policy (held hostage for so long by the malicious civil aviation ministry), the decision to lease five major airports, the new energy behind ports privatisation, resolution to the telecom tangle via an excellent telecom policy--the ruckus over WiLL notwithstanding, and the soon to be announced liberalisation of drugs price control. Against these successes is failure in the power sector and the centre's inability to get the states to reform SEBs. The lack of initiative on Enron is also inexplicable. India cannot afford to let Enron blow-up and destroy our credibility with the world. At one go we could lose our reputation for honouring contracts. Remember, Enron's board members, James Baker and Kenneth Lay, are George W. Bush's closest friends. Reforms don't happen without reformers. Even the most reform minded minister needs a reforming officer to help build pro-reform coalitions in the bureaucracy, the party and in parliament. Few realise A.N. Varma's stellar role when he was Prime Minister Narasimha Rao's secretary. His legendary Thursday meetings with economic secretaries became the crucial instrument for the blistering pace of reform between 1991 and 1993. Mr Varma was a terror and ran his committee tightly. No one was allowed to travel on Thursdays. The committee met for only two hours, when the reform in question was openly discussed. Varma summarised and minuted the outcome and the reform proposal was taken to the cabinet for approval, and then on to the parliament. Many of us remember our excitement in those golden years as a new reform was announced every week. Just as Narasimha Rao had Varma, so Manmohan Singh had Montek. Chidambaram had Jairam Ramesh, and Vajpayee had N.K. Singh. These minister-officer partnerships have been crucial in making reforms happen. Those who criticise the PMO for becoming too powerful forget that in our political model ministries are independent and someone has to coordinate our chaotic government. It used to be the cabinet secretary, but when you want strategic management of change, then you require initiative and pro-activity. Who knows, a powerful, hands-on secretary might have been able to prevent the Fifth Pay Commission disaster--the lowest point in our economic history of the 1990s. To our worthy anti-reformers, who are gloating over N.K. and Montek's exits, I ask: how can you oppose the work of reformers who are trying to, for example, reduce the theft of electricity by employees of the state electricity boards? If this theft is reduced from 30 per cent today to only 18 per cent, there will be enough capital to build sufficient new power capacity. But the only way to stop thievery is by privatising distribution, for no private distributor will allow his power to be stolen. Thieves don't steal power in Bombay and Calcutta because distribution is private. Our anti-reformers retort, "don't privatise power, just catch the thieves!" Well, for fifty years we have not been able to catch them. Should we wait another fifty? Think about this--the next you oppose reforms and reformers you vote for public sector thieves rather than competitive markets. Liberalisation is not a matter of ideology. It is common sense to want clean, uncorrupt services. The only losers in privatisation will be thieves and lazy workers. The winners will be the Indian people.