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The case against
division
Small is
not always beautiful |
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Easier
to manipulate small states
ifty fifty IS there a real divide between an India that is growing younger everyday — and politicians in power who are aging before our eyes? Despite Kapil Sibal’s denial, there is consternation over the government’s alleged move to control the Internet
On the record by
PROFILE
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The case against division The ever multiplying breed of politicians, who are entering the trade, so to speak, for no greater reason than to acquire a ‘lal batti’, have to be accommodated in the ministry or the ever-increasing number of commissions and corporations funded by public money seemingly for this express purpose alone. But even in a vast state like Uttar Pradesh, there cannot be more than one Women’s, SC ST, Backward Castes or any other commission through which favorites can be given the benefits of power. With the magic wand of the division of the state, the numbers of such offices multiply manifold. Recently a team of Govind Ballabh Pant Social Science Institute conducted a survey in Bundelkhand and Purvanchal, which went on to confirm what is already well-known. The ‘aam admi’ wants development - division or no division. He is still pre-occupied with mundane ‘dal-roti’ questions of how to light the evening ‘chulha’, arrange for a ‘chappar’ over his head, a dhoti, some kind of education for children in government schools and affordable medical care. The division of UP has never been an emotional issue of cultural or linguistic identity, having a vast number of supporters at the grassroot level. Just look at the forces that have spearheaded the feeble demand for separate states in recent times. Who do Rashtriya Lok Dal’s Ajit Singh, Bundelkhand’s Congress leader, actor turned politician Raja Bundela or Lok Manch’s Amar Singh represent? At best they represent the kulak peasants and crony capitalist forces and not the marginalised farmer or artisans who form the bulk of the state’s agrarian economy. Development requires vision and political will rather than smaller size or more resources. Take the contrasting profiles that are emerging from Bihar and Jharkhand. Bihar was said to be left with only ‘Lalu, aloo (potatoes) and baalu (sand) and Jharkhand was to become the more developed state with the richest mineral resources in the country and with an enviable industrial base. However, ten years down the road, Jharkhand is a state beleaguered with corruption, mining scams and political intrigues while Bihar with its limited resources is picking up on the development front and reasserting its lost glory. In the present political culture across parties having a presence in Uttar Pradesh, there appears to be little to cheer about even if the new states come into existence. At the moment there is no dynamic personality visible in any of these regions who has a vision for the region beyond the lal batti, battery of SUVs and state-sponsored personal security. The number of ministers of the Mayawati government facing charges of misappropriation of MLA’s development fund, encroachment of gram sabha land and general misuse of office for personal gains needs no recounting. More than the division of the state, what Uttar Pradesh needs is a shift in paradigm towards good governance. The state needs leaders who can be the change they want to see in society. As for what needs to be done, there is no better tool than the talisman given by Mahatma Gandhi of recalling the face of the poorest and the weakest man [woman] whom one may have seen, and asking if the step one contemplates is going to be of any use to him [her]. Will he [she] gain anything by it ? Will it restore him [her] to a position from which he or she can have control over his [her] own life and destiny? (Professor, Social History/ Cultural Anthropology at G.B. Pant Social Science Institute, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh )
Area: 2,36,286 sq km Population: 19.95 crore compared to Punjab (2.77 crore), Haryana (2.53), J & K (1.25), Uttarakhand (1.01), Tamil Nadu (7.21), Rajasthan (6.86) and Bihar (10.8) Districts: 75 Cities: 631 UP is a little bigger than England, ten times bigger than Belgium, seven times bigger than Switzerland, three times bigger than Portugal and four times bigger than Ireland
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Small is not always beautiful Reorganisation of any existing unit is a major policy decision having multi-dimensional ramifications. Economic viability, territorial or geographical feasibility, cultural cohesiveness, demographic composition, and, above all, administrative convenience must be accorded due weightage before any such decision is reached. Proper public debate through relevant democratic fora should precede such pronouncements. The sole criterion for creation of new states should be the removal of regional imbalances, economic development and overall progress of the people. The Indian experience with smaller states suggest that smaller states are as likely to become green pastures for the corrupt nexus of politicians, bureaucrats and the corporate houses as the bigger states. The constant dependence of some of the smaller states on central subsidies as in the case of many north-eastern states also raises some concerns about the efficacy of smaller states. Another concern would be whether smaller states are in fact more vulnerable to political instability and horse trading as any corporate house, multinational corporation or politically ambitious business tycoon with the ability to spend a thousand odd crores of rupees may conveniently convert a small state into a vassal or banana state. Exclusive rights over mines, minerals, forests and water bodies are already up for grabs for the highest bidders. The performance of smaller states like Jharkhand and Chhatisgarh has also not been very encouraging, either economically or socially. It is said that Jharkhand and Chhatisgarh have attained more coverage in recent times for Madhu Koda and the Maoist insurgency respectively. It is reasons such as the ones given above that make us sceptical about the wisdom in the decision to partition the state of U.P. as taken by the U.P. Chief Minister. I would say that this decision is only a political gimmick intended to divert popular attention away from the failures of the present ruling party in U.P. in almost every sector of governance. Another important aspect for consideration in the matter is that in Uttar Pradesh, unlike in the case of Telangana or Vidarbha or Gorkhaland, there has been no comparable popular grass root movement demanding the partition of the state. However, the Central Government must constitute the second state reorganisation commission to consider and examine the demands for new states on the basis of empirical study of the aspiration of the people of various regions. The first state reorganisation commission was set up in 1953 under the chairmanship of Mr. Fazal Ali and Mr. Hirdaya Nath Kunjuru and Sardar K. M. Pannikkar as its members and recommended the creation of new states on linguistic basis. Today, however, development and economic viability may afford a better parameter for reorganisation of Indian States. |
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Easier to manipulate
small states THE demand to divide Uttar Pradesh into separate states has been raised off and on for over two decades. But such a demand has never received popular support as the division of Uttar Pradesh has never been a people’s issue. Politicians periodically raise it to serve their own selfish, political goals. The latest attempt by BSP supremo Mayawati is nothing more than an attempt to divert popular attention from her government’s failures. The argument that smaller states accelerate the pace of development isn’t true. Development depends on the political will of the ruling class, equitable distribution and utilisation of resources across regions. Merely carving out small states is certainly not enough. To create the basic infrastructure in the newly created states will require massive investment. Such huge resources diverted to set up fresh infrastructure would impact the availability of resources for overall development. The proposed Bundelkhand, Purvanchal and Awadh Pradesh are relatively backward compared to the prosperous Pashchim Pradesh. At present the revenue generated from the better off region helps the development of the regions lagging behind. Disturbing this arrangement would make the new states vulnerable and dependent on the generosity of the central government. The smaller states will also suffer from the political tug of war if the central government and the state government are not of the same political party. It is also misleading to claim that industrialisation will pick up with the creation of smaller states. Under the neo- liberal policies governments are selling off existing industries and they simply can’t be expected to promote the setting up of new ones. In the private sector, entrepreneurs invest acoording to their priorities. Governments forcibly acquire land from farmers and hand them over to industrialists at throw-away prices. Even after acquiring land at such dirt cheap prices, industries either never come up or, even if they do, often close down due to various reasons. The land is then sold off at huge profits, leaving the farmers high and dry. The example of Noida and Greater Noida is there for all to see. The creation of Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Chattisgarh also demonstrates that if anything has grown unchecked in these states, it is rampant corruption. Capitalists find it easier to ‘manage’ the governments of these smaller states. Controlling the numerically small state assemblies on the strength of their money power is relatively easier just as pushing through legislations in their favour. The mineral wealth, land and forest resources of these smaller states have become vulnerable to the whims and fancies of such crony capitalism. Former Jharkhand CM Madhu Koda is in jail for the Rs 4000-crores graft, money laundering and mining scam. Correspondingly, the strength of the people’s movement to raise their voice against such a sell out diminishes after divisions. Several attempts have been made in the past to divide the people of Uttar Pradesh in the name of religion, caste and now a fresh effort is being made to segregate them on geographical lines. Why should Uttar Pradesh’s stature in the country be undermined for the idiosyncrasies and unbridled political ambitions of a certain politician or political party? There is, after all, hardly any hard evidence that such divisions improve the lot of the common people. (Secretary, Communist Party of India, Uttar
Pradesh) |
IS there a real divide between an India that is growing younger everyday — and politicians in power who are aging before our eyes? Despite Kapil Sibal’s denial, there is consternation over the government’s alleged move to control the Internet
Recently we have had some important ministers in the present government at the centre take a few potshots at hard won freedoms. It cannot be a coincidence that one minister yearned for “controlled democracy” while the other decided that the dangerous voices on the internet had to be suppressed and now pressure is being put on the internet service providers to “regulate” the virtual world. These might be straws in the wind, but they are unhappy indicators for a generation that has grown up post independence and has cherished (but for a brief blip in the 70s) an almost magical relationship with democracy, while other countries in the region appear to try and fail and try again. Not too long ago we were celebrating the “Argumentative Indian” and India’s chaotic but irrepressible rise. In fact just ten days ago. I was at a conference in Mumbai discussing whether turmoil (read “liberating chaos”) leads to creativity. For some of the participants, it was an important ingredient pushing us towards invention and art. Thus today it is surprising that influential leaders in the government appear to think that India requires streamlining and scrutiny. That we should be homogenous and not diverse (and irreverent) in our attitudes and opinions, especially towards politicians, is something which will be difficult for a young Indian to accept, and even for an older Indian like myself. Too much democracy ? “Too much” democracy is an oxymoron. Either you have freedom or you don’t. It is like saying a woman is “too” pregnant. Is there, as someone mentioned, a real divide between an India that is growing younger everyday— and politicians in power who are aging before our eyes? Someone should gently rouse them from their stupor to tell them that the world no longer needs or appreciates patriachal attitudes. One only needs to see the recent rebellion in the Middle East to appreciate what the internet can do to change the world. It is best left unfettered — and thus even by suggesting that people need to be nudged in a certain direction appears to signify the work of a curious thought police. It is an Alice in Wonderland phenomenon, an “off with-their-heads” moment. It sounds like the work of a hard-line, fundamentalist party and not a coalition that wears a liberal garb, and certainly not one which hopes to give the country a young Prime Minister, very shortly. So where is India moving towards? Comparisons were made with Myanmar –and coincidentally, during IFFI, I had seen The Lady — a powerful film on Aung San Su Kyi, which only reiterates what can happen in a country where freedoms are controlled, and “liberty” can mean only the very basic freedom — to eat and sleep perhaps. The film was not easy to make because of Burma’s repressive regime, and some of the shooting had to be done in neighbouring countries. (This incidentally is quite common for international films on India as well—as the government sensitivities prohibit “negative” portrayals). Ms Su Kyi had been under house arrest for a long while even though her party, the National League for Democracy –won the elections twenty years ago. The film encaptured Ms Su Kyi’s tumultuous journey from her childhood as the daughter of one of Burma’s iconic leaders—to the time she returned from her peaceful London life to tend to her ailing mother, and could never return to the free world. Her struggle represents the fight for democracy and how valuable it can be, once you do get it. Michelle Yeoh has delivered an Oscar-worthy performance, which is both impressive and harrowing. Not only has Ms Su Kyi spent a major part of her life without any connection with the outside the world, she could not receive her Nobel Peace Prize in person, or be at her husband’s side at the time of his death due to cancer. She also had no access to internet –and yet her followers have found ways and means to support her, and her struggle has not gone unnoticed. And this is precisely the reality that this overweening and frightened move by the Indian government will flounder upon. Even Burma mellowing
It might be possible to introduce censorship into the media through a draconian measure — but it will not be easy to stem the uneasiness which will make people ask “What is this government afraid of?” And regimes which are fearful of their own people become more and more draconian as time goes on –because the idea of democracy and freedom of expression cannot be so easily given up, and people will find new ways of fighting for it. Ironically, even the new President of Burma, President Thein Sein, is now inching towards modernity: he is cutting down on censorship, and has even lifted the ban on Ms Su Kyi’s party, as well as releasing political prisoners. There is constant and embarrassing pressure on Myanmar to embrace freedom — and the US Secretary State, Hillary Clinton’s recent visit to that country reinforced it. Ms Clinton has also just delivered a very strong speech on the importance of internet freedom, and its self-regulatory mechanism. As she and other public figures know very well— being in the public space will bring both brickbats and bouquets. By resorting to censorship — one is taking the easy way out, and not one which will deliver the best results. Perhaps our politicians need to be reminded of the importance of complete freedom and they could be treated to a screening of ‘The Lady’, which is about a heart-breaking contemporary struggle. But let me also state — I do think that the youth in this country will not be sanguine about this move to monitor the internet or talk about curtailing our freedom. In fact, hopefully, this is one draconian move which will badly boomerang on the government.
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On the record by
Realising the limitation imposed on e-commerce by the shallowness of credit card penetration in India, they introduced the system of cash payment on delivery and this is considered to be one of the main reasons for the success of flipkart.com. It has now11 million books on offer and has also branched out to selling CDs, DVDs, mobile phones, cameras and other electronic gadgets. There is usually the lament that reading habit has suffered as children have got hooked to TV and Internet. What prompted you to deal in books? The cost of books was considerably less than electronic items. It was therefore easier for a first time customer to trust us with their money. Moreover, they were less likely to get damaged during transit – and hence reduced our liabilities. Though our initial reason for selling books online was more practical – the rapid increase in demand led us to realise that there was a huge gap in the market waiting to be filled. People were eager to read – but constraints like non-availability of titles, high prices and the inconvenience of taking time out from their hectic schedules to travel to bookstores were acting as deterrents. Our model leads to low overhead costs and results in significant savings, which we pass on as discounts to customers. We have built up a reputation of being able to offer the customer the toughest-to-find books. Our inventory of 11.5 million titles covers an immense variety of books – something a regular bookstore may find difficult to do. What made you start something on your own? When we started Flipkart, India was already witnessing quite a bit of interest in e-commerce in the form of booking of online tickets etc. While our initial plan was to create a comparison portal for various e-commerce sites, a study of the market revealed that there were not too many players in this space. This is when we realised that there was an opportunity waiting to be realised and decided to establish a site of our own. What were the challenges you have faced while launching the service? Setting up bank accounts, getting an online payment option, convincing publishers to share their inventory with us – all of this was a challenge for an unknown company. It was difficult to generate supplier confidence in us and the inability to keep a large inventory was an issue. Tying up with logistics partners and ensuring timely delivery of our products was another challenge. There was a time when we would pick up, pack and deliver the products on our own. What would be the market size of online bookstores of India? Though we don’t have information about the market size for online books market in India, as per information provided by our suppliers and publishers, we have cornered almost 80% of the online books market. We now have a registered user base of 2 million customers. We currently sell about 12 books per minute. Do you foresee other products overtaking your book business in future? Our intention is to make Flipkart the largest e-commerce player in the country. In terms of revenue, non- book categories constitute nearly 60% of our revenue today. We will continue to expand our categories and add more products. Did either of you imagine doing it all alone? It is always an advantage to have a partner at work – this makes it easier to plan your work and divide your responsibilities. The partnership was beneficial in the initial years – when both of us had to take care of every single aspect of the business, from customer service to order delivery, on our own. Today, when the business has expanded tremendously, we have been able to divide our responsibilities and specialise in our respective areas. Now that you are based in Bangalore, do you miss Chandigarh ? Chandigarh is where we started out and it will always have a special place in our hearts. Today it is a growing market and an important part of the emerging economies that characterise urban India and we have ensured that Flipkart has a presence in the city as well. It is one of the cities where our self-delivery team, Flipkart Logistics, has a presence. India is definitely a happening place and there are a lot of opportunities in different fields. If you are thinking of starting up, this is the best time. |
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PROFILE THE
rough and tumble of life and grinding poverty, it is said, mould a writer and a poet. Kannada writer and recipient of the prestigious Saraswati Samman Award, S L Byrappa, has seen poverty from close quarters, which clearly left an indelible mark on his writing. Eighty-year-old Byrappa lost his mother to Bubonic plague in his early childhood and took to odd jobs to pay for his education. Having completed his higher education, he became a lecturer of Philosophy at Sri Kadasiddheshwar college, Hubli, then moved on to Patel University, Gujarat . He subsequently moved to NCERT, Delhi, and the Regional College of Education, Mysore from where he retired in 1991. Even though Byrappa joined the freedom struggle at the tender age of 13, he feels that the real freedom is intellectual freedom, nurtured by the strong foundation laid in teachings of rich Indian culture and values. His works do not fit into any specific genre of contemporary, Kannada literature or Dalits, partly because of the range of topics they deal with. In his speech after receiving the Sarswati Award for his novel Mandira, Byrappa said that literature is possibly the only intellectual activity in which all the values of life can be explored to the maximum. On Mandira, Byrappa said he has tried to explore the relation between Art and other values of life, through a musician, his surroundings and persons who come in contact with him.” Throughout the novel, music is the main character. This is because it is the purest and, therefore, the most powerful medium when compared to other arts. It moves through all basic and mixed rasas”, he says. Byrappa’s novels have been translated in most Indian languages and English. He has been the top selling author in Kannada for the past 25 years and for the past eight years in Marathi. He has also been among the top five best selling authors in Hindi. Byrappa was the centre of controversies in certain quarters because of his selection of themes and also because of his stands. Most of Byrappa’s prominent novels have strong roots in ancient Indian philosophical tradition. He had a running debate with Girish Karnard in Vijaya Karnataka regarding religious tolerance of Tipu Sultan. In Byrappa’s novel Aavarana, he had accused Tippu Sultan of being a religious fanatic. This was criticised by Girish Karnad, who had glorified Tipu in his plays.
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Simply
Fifty fifty
S
In his autobiography Bhitti (wall) Byrappa records a break in his high school education. He compulsively quit school, following his cousin’s advice and wandered for a year with him. His wanderings led him to Mumbai, where he worked as railway porter. In Mumbai, Byrappa also met a group of sadhus and he joined them to seek spiritual solace. He wandered with them for a few months; not finding spiritual solace, he returned to Mysore to resume his education.