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A soft budget Saving the daughter |
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Welcome decision
Globalisation of education
Numbers game
Rise of trans-national terrorism Kashmir: why boycott talks? FM should aim at equitable growth
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A soft budget THE Haryana Budget for 2006-07 has mildly raised the bus fares. But the travelling public need not worry as the increase is just five paise per kilometre, which is very soft, given the steep rise in oil prices. The last time the Haryana Government had raised the bus fares was in 2003. Apart from this, there is hardly anything unpleasant in the second Budget presented by the Bhupider Singh Hooda government on Friday. On the other hand, there are quite a few sops that should cheer farmers and those undergoing medical treatment. The Hooda government, which had waived power dues of farmers, has now decided to exempt fertilisers from the value added tax (VAT). This is contrary to the recommendation of the Centre’s Empowered Committee, which had favoured a 4 per cent tax on fertilisers. The government has also left the present tax rate on another farm input, diesel, unchanged despite very valid reasons for a hike. Another significant relief given by Finance Minister Birender Singh is the reduction of VAT on medicines and other articles of medicare from a high of 10 per cent to just 4 per cent. This should bring relief to the ailing citizens. The unemployed too have got some solace: there has been up to 200 per cent increase in the unemployment allowance. Film-goers also have a reason to thank the Finance Minister as he has proposed to reduce the entertainment duty from 50 per cent to 30 per cent. All these concessions come at a price. The fiscal deficit of the state will go up from the current year’s level of Rs 53.91 crore to Rs 65.47 crore in the coming year. However, the Finance Minister claims it is manageable. Another worrying factor is the constantly escalating debt liability. The state’s debt currently stands at Rs 28,046 crore. Despite some positive assurances, the industry’s demand for abolition of the Local Area Development Tax has not been conceded. Overall, with a higher-than-national growth rate and buoyant revenue receipts, the state finances are nothing to worry about, specially when compared to the neighbouring Punjab. Despite a smaller tax base, Haryana’s tax revenue is higher than that of Punjab. Besides, it has left the big brother far behind in per capita income.
Haryana’s per capita income, claims the Finance Minister, is now next only to Goa.
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Saving the daughter THERE is hope at last. A small civil society organisation called Upkaar has changed the mindset of the people at Khothran in Nawanshahr in Punjab. What it has done is to persuade the people to turn their back on female foeticide, which was rampantly practised in the village. As a result, the sex ratio among infants born this year is as natural as it could be. Against 50 male and 31 female children born in 2004, there were 44 girls among 77 children born the next year. This marks a quantum jump in terms of male-female sex ratio. It is the persuasive campaign of Upkaar, which has brought about this dramatic improvement. The achievement may be too small in a state where the male-female sex ratio is the lowest but it shows that with determination the people’s mindset can indeed be changed. It’s a shame that Punjab and Haryana, which are otherwise two of the most progressive states, have an abysmal record in the treatment meted out to girl children. The craze for the male child is such that parents do not stop at anything from finding the sex of the foetus and killing it to smothering the girl child. Small wonder that the number of girl children has been falling to such an extent that it has become difficult for many male youths to find wives within their community. Yet, there has been no stopping the sex determination tests using ultrasound machines, which eventually lead to aborting the female
foetuses. Laws have been enacted to prevent misuse of ultrasound technology for such purposes but the greedy doctors, together with parents suffering from son fixation, often succeed in circumventing them. Thanks to initiatives like that of Upkaar, there is growing realisation about the long-term consequences of unbridled female foeticide. There is need for more and more organisations like Upkaar to take up the challenge in every village, even as the government relentlessly hounds those who aid and abet the murder in the womb. Political and social organisations, too, should take up the challenge and change the society’s attitude to the girls, who have proved that they are not inferior to the boys in any field. It is the responsibility of society to provide a level-playing field to the two sexes so that nature’s balance is never disturbed.
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Welcome decision PUNJAB Finance Minister Surinder Singla’s decision to withdraw the provision of Rs 25 lakh made in the State Budget for each MLA for the development of his/her constituency is welcome. There actually was no justification on the part of the government to propose such an allocation of funds on the lines of the MPs’ Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS), for each legislator for the development of “critical infrastructure” in the constituencies. The budgetary proposal was flawed from the beginning because of the shoddy record of the MPLADS. Over the years, innumerable reports have pointed out the need for scrapping the MPs’ scheme altogether because of the allegations of misuse of funds. Very recently, four Lok Sabha MPs were caught on camera demanding bribes to sanction projects under this scheme. The Kishore Chandra Deo Committee that inquired into the scam, Operation Chakravyuh, has recommended the suspension of four MPs for their misconduct till March 22, when the first leg of Parliament’s Budget session would conclude. The MPs have been barred from attending the House since December 20, 2005, a day after the sting operation. Though the Lok Sabha is expected to take a decision very soon on the action recommended by the Kishore Chandra Deo Committee, the sting operation reinforces the need to put an end to the criminal misuse of the taxpayers’ money. This cannot be done unless the MPLADS is abolished altogether. Ideally, funds under the MPLADS should go to agencies like the panchayati raj institutions instead of individual legislators. The Punjab government has rightly dropped its proposal and thus prevented a possible misuse of public money.
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The best is the best, though a hundred judges have declared it so. — Arthur Quiller-Couch
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Globalisation of education THE recent ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) that concluded on December 18, 2005, at Hong Kong made a major breakthrough in the trade in services under GATS. The original GATS (General Agreement on Trade in Services) signed in December 1994 stipulated trade in services between members on the basis of bilateral request offer approach. Under this approach, the supplier country was supposed to make a request to the perspective importer of the service(s) and on the basis of bilateral negotiations with the importer country, which was supposed to prepare the offer list of services which the latter was ready to open up, to begin trade. Under this approach, certain services were opened for international trade while others remained protected. The US made a request in 2000 for the opening up of education services in India to which India did not respond positively. This happened because GATS provided flexibility/autonomy to decide the way India liked. One of the decisions taken at the Hong Kong meeting was to replace the “bilateral request offer approach by pluralateral sector approach.” Under this approach, the prospective service importer country cannot opt out of the negotiations. Para 7 of Annex C of the declaration comes out with the obligatory “shall” clause which makes mandatory for countries to respond positively to the demand for the liberalisation of the particular service. This has cleared the road for globalisation of higher education in India. A large number of institutions from the US, Canada, the UK and Australia are interested in the export of educational services to India. It is, therefore, important for all stakeholders in India such as teachers, students, administrators and parents to be seriously concerned about this issue and prepare themselves for the challenges and opportunities which the new situation is going to create. The globalisation of higher education under GATS (WTO) involves a paradigm shift in education. This is a shift from education as a social service with large positive benefits (externalities) for society to a commodity meant for sale/purchase at market prices. The 1998 UNESCO conference cautioned against the adoption of a mercantile approach to higher education. It was noted that fee-funded private educational institutions enrol fewer underprivileged students. The WTO treats education, on the other hand, as a tradable commodity under GATS. The purpose of this agreement is to establish a multilateral framework of principles and rules for trade in services with a view to expanding such trade under conditions of transparency and progressive liberalisation. The opening up of higher education to foreign suppliers would cover the entire sector in India serviced by the universities and colleges for general, technical and professional education. Article XVII of GATS provides for national treatment to services and service suppliers of any member in respect of all measures affecting the supply of services. They would be treated no less favourably than the country accords to its own service and service suppliers. India’s signing of the Hong Kong declaration (December, 2005) has created the real possibility of foreign institutions of higher education entering the Indian market in the near future under the WTO approach to education being a commodity rather than a social service. This needs to be properly understood and preparations are required to be made accordingly. There are two issues which merit our attention. One relates to the competition between foreign institutions and Indian institutions of higher education. This competition, as per WTO rules, will be between two sets of institutions in an equitable, non- discriminatory and transparent way. Some of the foreign institutions are endowed with best faculty and well-equipped infrastructure, and are ranked very high in the
world. The recent ranking of such institutions show that none of Indian institutions figure in the first 100 top ranking ones in the world. A few (IITs and IIMs) figure in the top 1000 institutions in the world, but none of the Indian universities appear in this list. This brings out that in order to compete with the best institutions in the world, India must endeavour to build world class institutions by appointing the best of faculty and having well-equipped infrastructure. This will require a huge investment. Otherwise, it will be a competition between unequals when the weaker will surely lose. The second issue relates to the nature of this service which will become a tradable commodity, implying that it has to be provided on the principles of a mercantile approach in competition with foreign institutions. Under this approach, students will meet the entire cost (plus profits) through fees and funds charged by education service providers. This will lead to privatisation of higher education. In unaided private educational institutions, the capacity to pay, instead of merit, becomes the basis for access to higher education. This excludes the students from underprivileged sections. This will widen the divide between the rural and urban populations and between the SCs/STs and the upper castes. Even now very few students from the rural areas and poor families have access to higher education in India. The involvement of foreign institutions in higher education will bring a lot of investment in education. This will also involve a lot of shifting of gifted and meritorious faculty from public funded institutions (universities and colleges) to private ones, both Indian and foreign. The shifting of the gifted faculty will weaken public institutions due to the limited range of salary under the UGC/government-approved pay scales and the age of retirement. The weakening of the public institutions may lead to the collapse of the monitoring mechanism of higher education. This has already happened in the case of school education in the country. With the adoption of a mercantile approach, it is expected that some quality foreign institutions will provide education services in India but there will always be a tendency to externalise the costs and internalise the benefits inviting unscrupulous elements to exploit the situation. These elements may resort to aggressive marketing without caring for the quality of education, and in the process innocent students and their parents will be exploited. Already there is such a vast experience with substandard private unaided institutions. Under the globalised higher education, monitoring mechanism has to be strong, effective and transparent with respect to the syllabi, number of lectures delivered, tutorials held, the quality of examinations, and the regulation of fees and funds to be charged from the students. It is of utmost significance in India to view seriously at this juncture issues of equity, social justice and nation-building as the mission of education. It would need serious and creative thinking and innovative policy interventions to retain this mission of education and keep it accessible to students from the less privileged sections to make them partners in economic and social development when the country is fast integrating with the global
economy. The writer is Professor, Department of Economics, Punjabi University, Patiala.
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Numbers game OSHO believed that humans produced two types of sound — one in the form of words, the other in the form of wind. He said that these were simply noises produced by the body. I had thought otherwise and agreed with Huxley: “words have enabled us to rise above the brutes and often sink to the level of demons”. Lately, when words appeared to have started losing ground to numbers, I found myself in limbo. Crosswords are almost dead and Su-Doku is alive. When a person asks you, “What is 9/11?” You would tell him the history and aftermath of 9/11 - and further add to his numeral knowledge by talking of the twin towers, zero ground etc. If you say it is,” 0.818181818…” Then he would look at you as if you were a distant relation of Pythagoras. Similarly, 13/12 is not 1 1/12, it is the number that has etched itself in the history of our Parliament. This one number tells us of saddest thoughts — laxity in security and martyrdom of jawans who safeguarded the citadel of democracy. So numbers game is more than what it actually reflects. If you are in Mumbai and do not know what does 26/7 mean, then amidst “gup-shup”, you are just like Gautam Gambhir in Indian cricket Test squad - there; but not there. Remember, it was the day of deluge in 2005 when it rained “tigers and wolves” in Mumbai. Recently when we were in Nasik, our host there ordered for 58 teas. I thought that tea on this side of India carried number as tobacco has on our side of the country because I have heard people asking for ‘300 number wala paan’. It was later that I came to know that 58 teas meant ‘five teas made into eight’. We were eight on the table. Hearing a Hindi news bulletin, my granddaughter studying in second standard came to me and asked,” Nana, what is this figure of 36 doing between Salman and Shahrukh these days?” I explained to her the shapes of Hindi numerals and the meanings of 36. Also told her that the closest number to that in her book of numbers is 69 — one has tail up and the other has tail down. When I asked her whether she understood the meaning of that, she replied,” Yes, monkey is 6, tail up; baboon is 9, tail down.” O’ child, O’ father! The numbers have started encroaching upon our emotions too. When I meet a friend of mine, I greet him with a broad smile but, of late, the inside of my heart says, “Beware, he may be counting the percentages of emotions that are there in your smile.” I and my smile stand nowhere in comparison to Mona Lisa and her ravishing smile and the scholars in the University of Amsterdam have made it official that Mona Lisa was 83 per cent happy, 9 per cent disgusted, 6 per cent fearful and 2 per cent angry while giving that smile. My friend may think that the smile being thrown upon him is 93 per cent four-flush, fake and phony and only 7 per cent twenty-four carat, unadulterated. n
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Rise of trans-national terrorism Much blood, if not ink, has flowed since terrorists struck at the World Trade Center and Pentagon in the U.S. This was followed by an upsurge in terrorist activities across the globe. At a military camp in Jammu terrorists left 30 dead and the terrorist attack on Parliament a few years ago cast a long shadow over the security network. These attacks have not only exposed the security and intelligence network but also robbed confidence of modern nations in controlling the menace. Whether terrorism is unleashed at the local, regional, national or international level, it cannot survive for long without international support and collaboration. In a globalised world, the matrices of power turn on the highly visible, inegalitarian structure of international economy and as such inter-relations between socio-economic conditions in different parts of the world are becoming more and more obvious. At another level the post-coldwar international political-economic order is still a victim of the power game that was thrust on the world by the then big powers. The power-network woven by the US and its allies in the entire West Asian region has provoked the ire of the opposition forces in almost every state where the US has had an interest-based relationship. Thus, as societies globalise and curtains of opacity are raised through increased inter-societal interaction at the international level, people in the under-developed countries are holding the big powers responsible for their inferior socio-economic positions. The major power of the world needs to realise that to a great extent it is gradually becoming a victim of its own game. The post-second World War ideological rivalries between the capitalist countries and the Socialist block have created many problems. Years of interference in crucial areas such as Afghanistan, South-East Asia, Gulf and Latin American countries has resulted in the development of peculiar trends which provided breeding grounds for terrorist activities. Talibanisation of Afghanistan would never have taken place had the powerful nations handled the situation well in the beginning. Consequences of the failure to diagnose this social disease (terrorism) at the early stage can be pernicious for the various countries. The strategies of imposing arms and economic sanctions on the so-called rogue nations during the last few years have been counter-productive, and rather helped these nations to gain international sympathy. Although the hope of a permanent solution to the problem of terrorism is still far away, one hopes that the powerful nations will develop a more mature understanding of the phenomenon of terrorism that has assumed alarming proportions. The rapid international transportation and use of sophisticated weapons like AK 47 assault rifles and plastic explosives (RDX) have helped to facilitate the expansion of terrorist networks around the world. Besides, the new suicide squads of terrorist have left the entire security apparatus of the affected states in a state of shock. The recent incidents cannot be viewed in isolation. A leading anti terrorism expert, Mr Brian Jenkins, believes that though more articulate and multiplied effort by the police and intelligence can tell us about a possible terrorist attack, there is still confusion over whether such a mechanism is successful in dealing with terrorists driven by fundamentalism. Gradually, religion is becoming the main motivating force for terrorism across the globe. There is a growing nexus between terrorists and internationally organised crime networks. Mr. Alison Jamieson, a British analyst on organised crime and political violence, commented that a distinction between terrorism and organised crime has become very blurred recently. An Italian organised crime expert, Professor Ernesto, says: “The terrorist’s goal is an ideological one, while organised crime’s goal is financial, but the instrument is the same. They both need money and arms”. In Sri Lanka, the Tamil Tigers engage in drug trafficking to finance their struggle, in north-eastern India guerrillas kidnap tea planters and hold them to ransom to help fund their fight for independence. In Chechnaya, the secessionists were heavily involved in drug distribution. These days terrorists are more confident than ever before of their access to the vulnerable points before carrying out any of their attack and they plan their attack in a heroic manner for the justification and fulfilment of a cause which they think is just. Thus, they attempt, by their acts, to inspire and manipulate fear to achieve a variety of purposes. Therefore, jostling crowds, busy hotels and crowded trains are increasingly becoming targets of terrorism. For effective administrative measures, various sources of terrorism must be found first. There is a need for truly effective preparedness programme at the government level. First, we must know about the people involved in terrorist activities and their motivation. Dealing with a terrorist incident and mitigating its consequences need to be carefully thought out. Sufficient data about the terrorist-hit area could be of immense use. Intelligence should be able to provide information about terrorist’s target, timing and site in advance. But the government alone cannot do much to stop it. Individuals and groups can make a significant contribution towards improving the general security environment. On the other hand, there is a need for the sophisticated security procedures which can go all the way from airport screening to the border area. Some kind of positive programmes which can alleviate frustration of terrorists can prove effective. There is also a need to promote open institutions, including political institutions to absorb the ethnic, religious and political pressure and allow terrorists to vent their feelings in a proper way. This will change their mind and thus encourage them to settle their differences in some peaceful way. Since present-day terrorists are very well organised and more professional than their counterparts a decade ago, new concepts of safety and security should arise. A vigilant and assertive police and paramilitary network should replace the old one. There is an apprehension that with the availability of biological and chemical weapons, terrorists could start their campaign with a renewed vigour. No civilised political system can progress until terrorism is wiped out, but terrorism cannot be eliminated unless there is a political solution. The need of the hour is the political will to solve problems that generate terrorism. The states affected by terrorism should open up avenues for a negotiated settlement of disputes and exhibit genuine willingness to resolve long-festering problems. The efforts of the state to maintain security on the face of terrorist threats should go hand in hand with increased devolution of power to the people and greater democratisation of the system of power and administration. This threat can be encountered by training and development of a new mechanism bolstered by a multi-dimensional and multi-layered approach based on checks and balances.
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Kashmir: why boycott talks? THOSE who have advocated in the past a consensual solution to the Kashmir problem with the involvement of people of Jammu and Kashmir should welcome the process of broad-based consultations that the Government of India has initiated. At the bottom of these consultations is the government’s acceptance that there also exists Kashmiri public opinion outside the body of the elected representatives of the state. The Hurriyat Conference Chairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq’s reasons for rejecting the roundtable conference between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Kashmiri leaders on February 25 in New Delhi were highly presumptuous. For the February 25 roundtable conference both factions of the Hurriyat were invited. But both turned down the invitation. The Geelani faction did so because as a matter of principle it is opposed to a dialogue with the Centre. But the faction, led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq which is considered moderate as against the Geelani faction, has had two meetings with the Centre - one during the NDA government and second with the UPA government last year. It was, therefore, expected that the Mirwaiz faction would welcome the expansion of the base of consultations on Kashmir and participate in the roundtable conference. This would have given the Hurriyat a chance to interact with Kashmiris who held different points of view on the Kashmir issue. But the fact is that neither faction of Hurriyat can afford to be tolerant to a point of view that militates against Pakistan’s policy in Kashmir. After all, Hurriyat owes its birth to Pakistan. It is Pakistan which calls Hurriyat the true representative of the Kashmir people. But Hurriyat has never submitted itself to the test that should qualify it to a representative status. It cannot claim this status simply by enforcing frequent Valley bandhs with the backing of the pro-Pakistan militants. It was because of this presumption of being the sole representative of the people of Kashmir that Mirwaiz rejected the roundtable conference. He showed contempt for other invitees to the conference by reportedly calling them “Tom, Dick and Harry” at a press conference in Srinagar. In fact, the actual counterpart of Hurriyat in PoK is the nationalist parties alliance called the All-Party National Alliance (APNA). But Hurriyat does not take freedom movements in “Azad” Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan into account because that will annoy its patrons in Islamabad. Thus when Hurriyat leaders went to Muzaffarabad and Islamabad last year they met Pakistani leaders, including General Pervez Musharraf, and PoK’s elected leaders, who enjoy no credibility in PoK. They avoided meeting the APNA leadership. Hurriyat and the separatists who boycotted the 25th February roundtable conference must admit that their particular views on Kashmir are not shared by all regions of the State. On this side of the LoC there are Jammu and Ladakh who have their own views on the Kashmir problem. Within the Valley, Hurriyat represents only one view but this view too is countered by voters at the time of state assembly elections as also during the local body polls. Hurriyat should have the humility of respecting the point of view of other Kashmiri leaders instead of dismissing them as “Tom, Dick and Harry”. The problems of the State and its people cannot be solved if parties boycott peace talks just because they (peace talks) don’t serve the objectives of their patrons across the border.
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FM should aim at equitable growth THE Union Budget for 2006-07 presents a remarkable continuity of economic policies initiated in 1991 with all attendant risks and opportunities. The target to achieve 10 per cent growth rate may be a pious wish. Given the present trends, it is only the service sector which can push up the growth rate but that will be at the cost of the agricultural and manufacturing sectors. Then, given the preponderance of marginal and small farmers, how many farmers can avail of loans of Rs 3 lakh? Considering that agriculture is a state subject, the Centre should encourage the states to initiate only those policies (like crop insurance) which are sustainable and dissuade them from adopting populist measures. The decline in revenue deficit is only marginal, i.e., 0.1 per cent. How will the Finance Minister wipe it out by 2008-09 as envisaged in the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act and promised in the Budget speech for 2004-05? By making cold drinks and ice cream cheaper, whom does the Finance Minister want to please? Similarly, the dream of the Finance Minister to make India an auto hub in the world could have been better achieved by continuing the same excise duty for domestic consumers. For the exported cars, the excess duty could have been refunded. For example, to promote export competitiveness of rice, the Punjab government refunds the purchase tax paid on exported rice. The most crucial issue is to achieve equitable growth, i.e., to find and collect excess resources wherever they are and spend them where these are needed the most. The across-the-board increase of 20.0 per cent in the service tax, which is an indirect tax, would hit the poor more than the rich, besides putting a premium on its evasion. Insofar as the promotion of PPP is concerned, it is a pragmatic approach, provided the government does not abdicate its responsibility for providing basic economic and social infrastructure. But there are indications that government investment has been on the decline. Similarly, inducements to foreign institutional investors should not be at the cost of domestic savings. The most important visionary announcement in the budget relates to the adoption of the uniform goods and service tax (GST) in the country by 2010. But there is no road map. Let the whole issue be examined by some expert committee and its recommendations placed before the Empowered Committee of the states’ finances. In the same vein the Union Finance Minister has asked the states to remove the sales tax on LPG and petroleum products. It may be mentioned that a very few states in the country levy such a tax and wherever it is levied it is a tip of the iceberg as central taxes on petroleum products constitute nearly 80-90 per cent of their basic price. Credit must be given to Dr Manmohan Singh that whenever he presented the budget as Finance Minister in the post-reform period, he always kept in view its implications for the state finances. We can conclude that the budget itself can neither push up the growth rate to 10 per cent nor promote an equitable distribution of income and wealth. However, the Finance Minister deserves some patting for initiating innovative steps towards introducing a single commodity tax in the country (GST), a gender budget and an outcome budget.
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From the pages of The Apple of discord IT is impossible in a few words to give a truer description of the White Paper than what Mr H. K. Hales, Conservative M. P., gives of it in the statement he has just issued. “The Indian White Paper,” he says, “is undoubtedly the joke of the century.” Nor does he leave the reader in doubt as to why it is so. Whilst on the one hand we are assured by its sponsors that the White Paper is the only possible solution of India’s problem, that 350 million people are waiting for this great boon to be granted, and that it does not satisfy any section of the Indian nation with the exception of one single Indian community, the Muslim. The overwhelming majority of Indians find in the pretentious scheme nothing else than the proverbial apple of discord, which has been thrown into the arena to effectually prevent any real nationalisation. It segregates the women, the Indian Christians, the Hindus and the Sikhs and places Hindus and Muslims all over the country and Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs in the Punjab in water-tight compartments.
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It is not difficult to practice peity. Begin by speaking words of compassion to the distraught. Be a friend to the friendless and a support to the helpless. — The Buddha The Holy Quran teaches us to keep our body clean, and to wash ourselves in case we are under an obligation. — Islam
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INTERNATIONAL terrorism, though comparatively less in
volume than the domestic
variety , has crossed all limitations despite increased government efforts to combat it.