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Reach out and get them
Export curbs on potatoes |
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Warrior State, Pakistan
A lesson from daughters
Why Aadhaar remains a game changer
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Reach out and get them The External Affairs Minister has done well in meeting envoys from Gulf nations and seeking their assistance in evacuating Indians who are caught in what seems to be an endless circle of escalating violence. While the diplomats have given the right assurances, the counterpoint was provided by the delegation of relatives of those stuck in Iraq. They sought the minister's assurance that they would soon be reunited with their loved ones. Various reports from those who have made their way back complain of how the government officials provided little or help to them. The continuing crisis in Iraq has come as the first major international challenge for the new government. While it was hoped that a fresh approach would help, what has been seen is a continuation of the standard bureaucratic responses, which look good on paper without making much difference on the ground. The Indians who are caught in Iraq are basically blue-collar employees who work as construction workers or nurses. Often their travel documents, including passports, are kept by their employers, and as such they find it difficult to get away from there. Not only this, many are owed wages and they feel that they have no choice but to stay put. This is putting them in an increasingly difficult position where there is every chance of their being caught in the fighting. It is also believed that Indians in the areas overrun by the ISIS forces have been virtually kidnapped in the expectation of some ransom. The situation in the war-torn parts of Iraq is far from normal. The Indian missions in Iraq and the Embassy in Baghdad need to be proactive in reaching out to the Indians trapped in the war zone. They will need to do some out-of-the-box thinking in dealing with their employers, or even the ISIS forces, to secure their safe return. The government may be judged by how it fares in its primary duty of providing security to Indian citizens abroad. |
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Export curbs on potatoes The Modi government has imposed export curbs on onions and potatoes to contain their domestic prices. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade has said that onions cannot be exported at a price less than $300 a tonne and potatoes below $450 a
tonne. This has brought the exports of the two commodities to a halt. The orders already booked have been cancelled. Restrictions have also been put on the futures trading of onions and potatoes. The forecast of a poor monsoon this year has led to a spurt in prices of farm commodities. Since the rains, if deficient, would hit the coming kharif crops, right now there is no shortage of essential commodities. If prices are rising, it is largely because of hoarding. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley admitted this much a few days ago when he appealed to the states to act against hoarders. States, barring a few, are not known to take on profiteers, regardless of which coalition is in power at the
Centre. The BJP has a vote bank among middlemen and traders, who ensure that prices fall to rock-bottom levels when fresh farm produce arrives in mandis and shoot up thereafter. To protect traders, the BJP opposes FDI (foreign direct investment) in retail, which is crucial for building cold storages and ensuring a faster, air-conditioned transportation of perishable farm commodities. Currently 30 per cent of fruits and vegetables go waste in the absence of back-up infrastructure. In its election manifesto the BJP had promised farmers that they would get a 50 per cent profit over input costs. That promise was not honoured when the minimum support price for paddy was announced recently. Punjab is perhaps the worst sufferer. It has a lucrative market in Pakistan. The latest restrictions have shut this market. Instead of getting help for shifting to vegetables, farmers suffer whenever they opt out of the wheat-paddy cycle. Agreed, the government has to balance the needs of consumers and farmers. Why is it that farmers usually |
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If you can't convince them, confuse them.
—Harry S. Truman |
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Public subscriptions and presentation of dalis
The following circular letter dated Simla, June 25, 1914, has been issued by the Punjab Government to heads of Departments, Commissioners, Deputy Commissioners, Settlement officers, etc: "Sir, The attention of Lieutenant Governor has recently been drawn to a case in which in anticipation of his visit to a certain locality subscriptions for decorating the town were raised from the local notables, Zaildars and others, at the instance of the local officials.” There is no objection of course to the decoration within reasonable limits of a town on the visit of high officials, if the residents desire to show their welcome in this way and are willing to meet the cost by subscriptions. As regards the expenditure on "dalis" (presents) the Lieutenant Governor desires again to draw attention to Rule 2 of the Government Servants Conduct Rules which prohibits Government Servants from accepting, directly or indirectly, any gift, gratuity or reward, and which, while allowing the acceptance of a complimentary present of fruit or flowers or similar articles of trifling value, directs that even such presents should be discouraged. His Honour understands that most officers would be glad to see the practice totally prohibited as a troublesome nuisance and as affording opportunities for the objectionable practices apparent in the present case. He, therefore, desires that in their own interests officers should take steps to limit and discourage the practice as far as possible. In our humble opinion, Government should have stated in the circular which of the officers without impropriety could accept public receptions which involve raising of funds by means of subscriptions. No official, however, high, ought to permit himself to be shown honours which belong to the ruler as the representative of the sovereign.
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Warrior State, Pakistan
While India has been invaded from the Northwest, the Northeast and from the coast, it is the Northwest passage that has historically been the main strategic gateway through which conquerors and caravans have entered. Alexander was an early visitor. It is perhaps easy to see why this should have been so. India was long a source of pepper, spices and fine calicoes for Greek, Roman and Arab traders and regarded as a fabled land of wealth and wisdom lying athwart both the silk and spice routes. Hsuen Tsang, Marco Polo, Ibn Batuta and other travellers wrote of its wonders. To those living in the arid or cold deserts of West and Central Asia, the well-watered plains of India seemed most inviting. While the British conquered India from the sea and fought off the Portuguese, Dutch and French for supremacy, it was Russian penetration from the Northwest that it most feared. The Great Game was played out along the wild, tribal marches of the Northwest Frontier and the High Karakoram. The nature of the Great Game changed after the Second World War, when containing communism became the prime Western agenda. As the Second World War wound down, Britain wondered how it might dispose of India should irrevocable differences between the Muslim League and the Congress force Partition. The British “breakdown plan” favoured the creation of two Muslim-dominated Anglo-US allies in the Northwest and Northeast of the sub-continent to halt the march of communism. Both would have preferred to partner the larger and more resourceful India; but Nehru’s non-alignment and the seeming Soviet-Chinese tilt was suspect. Pakistan, staunchly Islamic and in need of support against what it saw as a larger, permanent and ideological Indian enemy, readily fitted the bill. It was also strategically placed, especially as a guardian of the passes to Afghanistan and beyond. No surprise then that Pakistan soon became a staunch ally, a “frontline state”, a strategic partner and a base of operations for the West in containing communism and controlling the emerging oil wealth of Iran and the Arab lands beyond. Ideology, rooted in faith and geography, endowed Pakistan with a strategic value on which its leaders traded. TV Paul, (“The Warrior State: Pakistan in the Contemporary World”, Random House) sums up this geo-political asset as a “strategic curse”. A feudal, emigre-led people divorced from its historical, geographical and cultural roots to embrace a wholly negative non-Indian, non-Hindu identity became a rentier state, trading its strategic utility for military and economic assistance. Jinnah’s very first address to the new Pakistan constituent assembly totally repudiated the two-nation theory as false and untenable. But the twist in the tale is that it was Jinnah who was repudiated by his people and died embracing the two-nation ideological curse. Pakistan, an “Islamic State”, was born to defend Islam and the “ideological frontiers of Islam”. But it is even today unable to define the true Muslim: not Ahmediyas (banned), Shias, Sufis, Aga Khanis, Nurbakshis; not even Sunni Barelivis but Wahabis, Deobandis, jihadis, the Taliban and such medieval fanatics whose goal is to establish a new Caliphate. The defence of Islam and its borders and integrity against a malign India, the permanent enemy, has reduced Pakistan to a garrison state where a military-mullah nexus has assumed control. The Army, aided by the Inter-Service Intelligence or ISI, together constitute a state within a state with vast, agrarian, corporate, financial, administrative, diplomatic and security tentacles. Between 1960 and 2012, Pakistan received some $73 bn in economic and military assistance, $30 bn of this from the US alone. An over-militarised, garrison state can find itself developmentally debilitated. In a population fast approaching 200 million, there are only 2.5 mn registered taxpayers. Defence appropriates the largest slice of the budget, with unaccounted amounts going into developing and augmenting nuclear arms, including tactical weapons. Paul notes that the peoples' critical faculties have been dulled by tendentious and poisonous textbooks and ideologically-oriented madarasas whose products preach from pulpits. Jinnah, Bhutto and Zia led Pakistan down the slippery slope of Islamisation and militarisation, unabashedly aided by the United States that has been totally unmindful of the tremendous collateral damage to world peace and stability caused by its devious policies and the War on Terror. Paul estimates that around 35,000 jihadis from 45 countries trained in Pakistan to unleash mayhem prior to 9/11. It is today a country at war with itself, and a menace to others. Paul’s conclusion: Pakistan's transformation will only take place if both its strategic circumstances and the ideas and assumptions that the leading elite hold change fundamentally. Paul’s is only one of a whole series of refreshingly critical books on Pakistan being published by domestic and foreign authors about what they describe but do not quite name as a failed state. “The Pakistan Military in Politics: Origins, Evolution. Consequences” by Ishtiaq Ahmed (Amaryllis) is an example. Few are sparing of Jinnah who spoke of Pakistan as a Sharia State as far back as in November 1945. Ahmed dispels the myth that Mountbatten conspired with Radcliffe to gift India some Muslim-majority tehsils of Gurdaspur to justify its award to India. In fact, he notes, this was part of the Wavell breakdown plan so as to ensure that Amritsar, at least, though not Nankana Sahib, both Sikh holy places, remained with India. He equally astutely describes sharing the Indus waters as a geo-political issue linked to Kashmir. Like others, he cites Major-Gen Akbar Khan and Air Chief Marshal Nur Khan respectively for affirming that the 1947 and 1965 invasions of J&K were staged by Pakistan. He too cites Prof. K.K. Aziz’s “Murder of History” and then quotes Brig. S.K. Malik on “The Quranic Concept of War”, with an approving preface by Zia-ul-Haq. According to Malik, “The Quranic military strategy thus enjoins us to prepare ourselves for war to the utmost in order to strike terror into the hearts of enemies ..., (This) is not only a means, it is an end in itself... It is the point where the means and the end meet and merge.....”. This is chilling. No surprise then that terrorist cells have penetrated Pakistan's military and carried out attacks on its GHQ, the Mehran naval base and similar targets. Finally, the fairy tale spun by Islamabad about Osama bin Laden's long and comfortable sojourn in Pakistan over many years, latterly, in the garrison town of Abbottabad, from where he was finally taken out by the US Naval Seals in 2011. This showed up the Pakistani establishment as a bunch of complete fools or liars, probably both. The New York Times reporter, Carlotta Gall, comes closest to confirming that the US had information that the ISI knew the whereabouts of bin Laden. (“The Wrong Enemy: America in Afghanistan, 2001-14”. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). The official story is far too naive to believe. In blaming everybody, the Commission of Inquiry blamed nobody. The truth has once more been quietly buried. Pakistan remains steadfastly in denial. It has once again gloriously lied to itself. Its real enemy is truly within. Truth hurts. But it is the ultimate balm. www.bverghese. com |
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A lesson from daughters Frugality had such a profound impact on me that I never had more than four trousers at any time and when it came to woollens, I continued to use the suit which I was gifted at the time of my marriage till my body bulges refused to accept that any more. But after the marriages of my daughters, this time-tested practice started coming under strain, thanks to their gift culture. They started gifting me shirts, jackets and when I'd object, their reply would be, “If you can't accept, then stop giving to us.” My wife’s intervention that I should respect their feelings would resolve the standoff, but it would be in their favour. Otherwise also, in a family which has only daughters, a male member can't be argumentative for long. It is a taste of matriarchy in a patriarchic India. This time when my daughter got me a jacket from the USA, I said: “Enough is enough. Can’t you see my age? Now I am in the last leg and do not need so many clothes. You may feel bad but there is lot of sense in what I am saying”. She didn't like to argue, seeing me angry for a change. Hardly a week had passed when I was flummoxed to find my cupboard almost empty. I rushed to my wife in a fit of shock. Before she could say anything, both the daughters were there with a mischievous smile playing on their faces, “Papa these have reached the right place. We put all your garments in a box and gave it to the needy. But, don't worry; we have bought new garments for you.” Still not recovered from the shock, I was looking at them helplessly. Now, it was the turn of the younger one. “Papa, don’t worry, we know how sentimental you are about the pullovers gifted to you by buaji. We have kept them separately. Now don't think much. If everyone starts living like you, how will our economy move? This is the age of use and discard. The reject of one is the raw material for the other. Please start adjusting to this. You can still be frugal by having a few garments but the latest ones.” Wearing a new suit, to me every onlooker appeared to be giving a message, “Be a part of new India.” |
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Why Aadhaar remains a game changer
Aadhaar, an identity-card based on three types of biometric data (Iris scan, finger prints of all the 10 fingers and a picture of the face), seems to have been an unfortunate target of unfair criticism right from the outset. Compromising security Firstly this dream project of the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh to provide an unique identity (UID) to every Indian became a victim of inter-ministerial rivalries. The Home Ministry objected to it on two grounds. One, it would compromise the security of India as unique identification authority of India (UIDAI) is issuing the UID to illegal migrants from Bangladesh and other countries. Two, it would duplicate the National Population Registrar (NPR) which too is based on the use of biometric data. Whereas, the Ministry of Finance has criticised it on the ground that it involves a huge cost. The Registrar-General and the Census Commissioner of India have also expressed their resentment against this venture on the plea that enumeration was their job. So much so that the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, headed by the BJP leader Yashwant Sinha, went to the extent of suggesting that the Government should revise the UID bill and introduce a modified draft. The Committee, it appears, had completely ignored the fact that the UIDAI enrolment procedure had been initiated after it had been unanimously recommended by an inter-minister level and stakeholders’ committee which also included the representatives from the Ministry of Home Affairs, after proper scrutiny and careful deliberation. The Committee also seems to have ignored the fact that the Prime Minister had very thoughtfully assigned this responsibility to a person of impeccable integrity and expertise, Nandan Nilekani of Infosys. Anyway, good sense prevailed and this dream project was finally allowed to continue despite the adverse recommendation of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance and opposition by a few ministries and politicians. Now the Aadhaar scheme has received a new blow. A Bench of the Supreme Court of India comprising of Honourable Justices BS Chaudhary and J. Chelamswamy has passed an interim order stating that Aadhaar be not made mandatory for people for availing any government service and the orders of the Government of Indian in this context should be withdrawn immediately. The Bench passed the order on a petition filed by the UIDAI, challenging the order of Goa Bench of Bombay High Court, directing fit to share the data collected by it for the preparation of Aadhaar cards from the citizens with CBI for solving a rape case. In this interim order, the Supreme Court also directed the UIDAI not to share any information pertaining to an Aadhaar card holder with any government agency. Biometric database It is pertinent to mention in this context that the CBI had sought the database involving biometrics of the persons from Goa so that these could be compared with those obtained from the crime scene for the purpose of investigating the rape of minor girl in the premises of a school at Vasco in Goa and the Bombay High Court had directed the UIDAI to consider sharing of biometric data collected from people with the CBI in order to help it in solving the case. The High Court had also directed in its interim order (Februry 26, 2014) the Director-General Forensic Scientific Laboratory, New Delhi to appoint an expert to ascertain if its database has the technical capability for matching up its data with the finger prints electronically obtained by the UIDAI. While challenging the order of the Bombay High Court, the UIDAI had contended before the Supreme Court that it would set up a bad precedent and would open the floodgates of similar requests by other investigating agencies and the police from various states for seeking biometric information of the residents of India provided by them in good faith. It had also submitted in its plea that more than 60 crore of them have enrolled themselves for Aadhaar and given their demographic and biometric information only for the purpose of getting a Unique Identity. The sharing of the same with the investigating agencies and police would endanger their fundamental rights. The UIDAI had rightly submitted that building a system that can search using latest finger prints, quite like criminal database searches, is not within its constitutional and legal mandate and scope and is also fundamentally against the core reasons for which the residents have provided their data voluntarily to the UIDAI. The UIDAI had also rightly asserted that the Right to Privacy is one of the basic human rights of an individual and it is fully committed to protect the same. Therefore, the Supreme Court verdict setting aside the order of Bombay High Court and directing the UIDAI not to share any information pertaining to an Aadhaar holder with any investigating agency has to be wholeheartedly welcomed by all the stakeholders who are committed to the survival of democratic system in India in general and in the protection of fundamental rights, which are also human rights, in particular. However, the part of the interim order of the Honorable judges that Aadhaar card be not mandatory for availing Government services needs to be reviewed by keeping in view the following facts Firstly, the chief aim of Aadhaar as had rightly put in the editorial, "Redirect UID bill" (The Tribune, December 10, 2011) is to give every Indian a single card, based on biometric data and to do away with multiple identity cards currently fashionable. It will not be out of place in the context to highlight the fact that prior to Aadhaar, people had to run from pillar to post for getting different types of identity proofs for availing various types of government services. Secondly, the project aims at revolutionising the delivery system in India. It seeks to root out widespread and deep- rooted corruption in the implementation of the rural-development programmes such as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and the Indira Awaas Yojana. The social audit of their implementation by the people through the gram sabha and their monitoring by other means have utterly failed to check this malady. Even the Right to Information (RTI) has not been able to stem the rot because of the lack of awareness of it among the rural masses on the one hand and the persistence of the culture of secrecy in the development bureaucracy on the other hand. Streamlining the PDS Thirdly, the Aadhaar aims at streamlining the public distribution system (PDS) which is going to assume a huge form after the implementation of Food Security Act by all the states. This ambitious venture is a link to cover the bulk of rural population and the sizeable segment of the urban population. In the absence of Aadhaar, the performance of this herculean task will become very difficult. It may be mentioned that the PDS is already not in good health. It would eventually breakdown without Aadhaar. Fourthly, an enormous amount of time, energy and money have already been spent on this challenging task by UIDAI. More than 60 crore residents have already enrolled themselves for Aadhaar by providing their demographic and biometric information and most of them have been able to get the same. As Nachiket Mor, Head of Reserve Bank of India's Committee on Financial Inclusion, has aptly observed in an article in a business daily, “Even if the next Government decides to junk Aadhaar, the available database will provide immense opportunity for financial inclusion.” Fifthly, no better substitute has been suggested so far by any individual or any agency for achieving the objectives for which the Aadhaar had been launched on January of 2009. SC verdict merits review Sixthly, the verdict of Supreme Court also merits review because its order directing the Government not to make Aadhaar mandatory for availing essential services has created a perception among people that it is of little use for them despite its usefulness for effective and delivery of subsidies of various kinds and welfare services of different kinds. And this erroneous impression has become widespread despite the fact that Supreme Court has not questioned the relevance of the scheme. This makes the need for review all the more urgent. Lastly, as RC Acharya, former Member, Railway Board, has aptly observed, “Aadhaar has to be recognised as a game changer in delivering social justice.” It will be ideal if Honourable Supreme Court takes suo motto notice of this unintended at its interim order. Otherwise, let the UIDAI approach it for this purpose. If the UIDAI shows reluctance, some public- spirited legal luminary should file a Public Interest Litigation petition for getting the record straight. Let us hope that the batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of Aadhaar pending will not prove to be a barrier in this context. One would like to conclude that the Narendra Modi-led government will continue with this path-breaking venture to not only ensure efficient and honest delivery of various services but also to ensure good governance in development administration. The writer is consultant, Haryana Institute of Rural Development, Nilokheri
What is the UID?
The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) was established in January 2009 and is part of the Planning Commission of India. UIDAI aims to provide a unique 12-digit ID number to all residents in India on a voluntary basis. The number will be known as Aadhaar. The UIDAI will own and operate a Unique Identification Number database which will contain biometric and demographic data of citizens.
What is the NPR?
In 2010, the Government of India initiated the NPR which entails the creation of the National Citizens Register. This register is being prepared at the local, sub-district, district, state and national levels. The database will contain 13 categories of demographic information and three categories of biometric data collected from all residents aged five and above. Collection of this information was initially supposed to take place during the House listing and Housing Census phase of Census 2011 during April 2010 to September 2010.
UID vs. NPR
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