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Saturday,
March 8, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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A powerful challenge Sheer high-handedness Fishing in rough sea
India’s defence budget: 2003-04 |
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Money makes the cops go... International
Women's Day is being observed today
The eternal triangle
Obesity root cause of ailments: study
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A powerful challenge The Haldea committee report on power sector reforms in Punjab, submitted to the Chief Minister on Thursday, is likely to meet stiff opposition from employees of the Punjab State Electricity Board who are already gearing up for an agitation. Mr Gajendra Haldea, who heads the Centre for Infrastructure and Regulation, National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER), and his team members have recommended sweeping reforms whose implementation would test the sincerity of the Congress government in Punjab. It is very easy to constitute reform committees, but hard to accept their advice, especially if it is expected to hurt the well-entrenched interests. Most often expert committee reports keep gathering dust in bureaucrats’ files. The treatment meted out to Mr S.S.Johl’s reports on reforms in agriculture can be recalled in this context. Quite often experts’ reports are not even discussed dispassionately and are discredited by sloganeering and protests by those likely to be adversely affected. That is why Punjab is still only talking about power sector reforms whereas states like Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Orissa, Rajasthan, Delhi and Haryana have undertaken far-reaching reforms much earlier, though with mixed results. Punjab now at least will have the benefit of learning from the mistakes of these states. The reforms followed by the most states for the power sector include privatisation of the generation and distribution of power, the appointment of a state regulatory authority to fix power tariffs and corporatisation of the state power board. Of these measures Punjab has not gone beyond the appoinment of the regulatory authority. The protesing PSEB employees feel that there is no need for privatisation of either power generation or distribution. The existing system can yield the desired results if the PSEB is run professionally, corruption is checked and political interference stopped. They point to the less-than-expected results of power reforms in certain states like Orissa and high tariff in others like Haryana. The damage done to the PSEB by the Badal government’s free power supply to the farm sector and to certain disadvantaged sections is also pointed out. But the ground reality is too shocking: the PSEB suffers an annual loss of Rs 1,000 crore a year despite repeated tariff hikes. For every 100 units sold 38 are lost in transmission, including pilferage. The employees’ solution may not be able to take care of such a grim situation. The regular supply of quality power is the key to development and the state cannot afford any more delay in making it happen. The Haldea committee, which has studied the post-reform power scenario in the various reforming states, has gone beyond recommending the commonly followed formula. It has suggested the introduction of real competition in the system. The committee says that the network should provide open access to bulk consumers for enabling competition in generation and supply. Distribution and bulk consumers should be allowed to buy directlly from the competing producers. There should also be freedom to trade in electricity. It will require tremendous political courage on the part of Capt Amarinder Singh’s government to carry out the recommendations of the Haldea committee. Making an investment of Rs 16,000 crore in the power sector in the next five years, as recommended, is a big challenge. Will the Punjab Government rise to the occasion?
Next time you go to a cinema hall or a coffee shop, make sure you carry sufficient documentary proof with you that you are paying for this “undesirable activity” through your own hard-earned money. Also, be prepared to spend five hours in a police station answering a volley of questions directed at you by the burly cops. The SHO will go out for lunch while you suffer hunger pangs. More than that, warn your parents that they will have to pay a visit to the thana to stand surety that you are not a criminal. That is exactly the kind of nightmare that several dozen residents of Chandigarh had to undergo on Wednesday when the mighty cops raided several pool joints as if these were some kind of vice dens. The owners and the helpers of the joints were also picked up and the joints locked. Among those rounded up were the city’s top billiards player and an industrialist. They should thank their stars that POTA was not invoked against them. Obviously, the Chandigarh Police treats everybody as an equal: it infringes on the fundamental rights of everybody and is unfair to everybody. New laws are framed almost every day, but as far as one can recall, there is none banning the playing of billiards and snooker. In fact, these games have given the country many international champions. Even otherwise, playing pool is any day better than loitering aimlessly. So what was the excuse for this high-handedness? The police case is that many anti-social elements have been found to be frequenting pool joints. The boys who were hauled up were forced to explain where they got the money to play pool and that too during examination days. This was the “special police drive” to solve increasing incidents of snatching and thefts and came close on the heels of an avowed claim by the UT police that it was determined to improve its image and was seeking the ISO 9001:2000 certification from the National Productivity Council. What wonderful image the police has projected! The message is loud and clear. The men in khaki can barge in anywhere claiming that the place was the haunt of criminals. This was not the first instance of police brutality. Over-zealous cops have repeatedly applied third-degree methods perfected during the dark ages on the residents every now and then. Nor is it going to be the last. The authorities always promise to take action against the erring cops. Some of them are even sent to police lines, but are back in action in no time. The brutality shows no sign of decline. The least that the authorities can do is to change the slogan “We care for you” to “We care two hoots for you”.
The violent clash between the Tamil Nadu and the Sri Lankan fishermen in mid-sea the other day was most unfortunate. The Sri Lankan police arrested 75 Indian fishermen for crossing the international border and encroaching on its territorial waters close to the Gulf of Mannar coast. Even as the Indian Government sought to secure the release of those hailing from Ramanathapuram, 21 fishermen from Nagapattinam were taken captive by the Sri Lankan police. It is a pity that the Tamil Nadu fishermen are always forced to face the high-handedness of the Sri Lankan authorities. In the absence of proper understanding and coordination between both countries on the international border, our fishermen are tortured and deprived of their only means of livelihood whenever they venture into the sea. Fish catch in the Katchatheevu island is said to be a major attraction for Tamil Nadu’s trawler-owners. (The 285.2-acre Katchatheevu island is 10 miles northeast to Rameswaram. The term “katcha” refers to the unavailability of water in the area). However, it is always the poor fishermen who are arrested for encroachment and face judicial proceedings in the Sri Lankan island. Unfortunately, the 1974 agreement, known as the “Katchatheevu pact” between the two countries does not seem to be acceptable to the Tamil Nadu fishermen. They complain that India took the initiative of signing the treaty unilaterally without taking them into confidence. They say that Sri Lanka has been honouring the agreement more in its breach than in implementing it. For instance, they say, even though the agreement gives “full rights” to them to dry their nets in Katchatheevu, visit a local church and attend festivals, without having to obtain visas, whenever they approach the waters around Katchatheevu, they are not only attacked by the Sri Lankan fishermen but also arrested by the island police and naval authorities. The Tamil Nadu government and the fishermen’s associations have often urged the Indian Government to seek the recovery of the Katchatheevu island from Sri Lanka. But will it help resolve the perennial problem? Clearly, Sri Lanka will not return the island to India and it will only vitiate the atmosphere and good neighbourly relations between the two countries. One way of avoiding clashes between the fishermen on both sides is to effectively implement the Katchatheevu agreement. While the Sri Lankan government should be told to honour the pact in toto, there should be closer and effective supervision of each other’s areas by the civil, naval and Coast Guard authorities to check encroachment. The proposal for installation of floating buoys equipped with beacon lights within the Indian fishing zones with a view to protecting the Tamil Nadu fishermen from the Sri Lankan Navy should be implemented. The Tamil Nadu government, in close cooperation with the Coast Guard, should take the initiative in this regard. According to an earlier plan, the proposed buoys, with day and night visibility, were planned to be set up at the rate of one at every four nautical miles. |
India’s defence budget: 2003-04 Surrender of Rs 9000 crore by the defence establishment in the Revised Estimates (RE) of Financial Year (FY) 2002-03 resulting in a “stagnant” defence budget of Rs 65300 crore for FY 2003-04 (it was Rs 65000 crore in FY 2002-03) shows that at long last the deep-rooted shortcomings of our defence planning and financial management are becoming transparent. Why did not these shortcomings become public knowledge so far? The answer is- excessive secrecy in the defence establishment, inadequate understanding of defence planning and procedures on the part of political leadership and the media, lack of debate in and outside the Parliament, but mostly due to our unaccountable defence financial managers who are not prepared to accept the faults in the system and make long overdue changes. Let me briefly run through the Defence Budget 2003-04 with its implications before I deal with the more important issues of “surrenders” of Capital Fund and its implications. For the FY 2003-04, the Army has been allotted Rs 34574.29 crore, Navy- Rs 11744.68 crore, Air Force- Rs 15410.45 crore, and the DRDO- Rs 3647.6 crore. The total budget of Rs 56300 crore is not such a huge amount for the size of Indian economy, its Armed Forces, and the national security challenges that the country faces. India spends only 2.5 per cent of its GDP on defence, as compared to 4.6 per cent by Pakistan and about 5.5 per cent by China. The total budget shows a hike of 16.6 per cent over the RE of Rs 56000 crore in FY 2002-03. This hike is being tom- tommed for political reasons, and also to underplay financial mismanagement resulting in “surrender” of Rs 9000 crore in FY 2002-03, mostly on Capital account (Rs 6499 crore). The “surrender” shows that 30 per cent of the funds allotted for modernisation of the defence forces have not been utilised. The only good news in this year’s defence budget is that this money will not lapse but be carried forward to the next financial year. Carrying forward of the Capital Head was one of the New Financial Strategy proposals recommended by Army Headquarter in 1998. Some columnists have suggested that the decrease in the Army budget and increase in the Naval and Air Force budget this year reflects “a changed geostrategic perspective which moves away from interminable hostility towards a wider regional role”. This is not true. First, in the absence of a Chief of Defence Staff, there are no integrated threat perceptions, strategies and therefore defence planning in the Ministry of Defence. The Services continue to follow their own “plan” priorities and compete for their share of the budget. Second, the annual budget cannot reflect changed strategic priorities. This is based on anticipated revenue expenditure, contractual liabilities, and new contracts likely to be concluded during the coming financial year. And now to the surrender of funds from the Capital Head! The inability to spend funds allotted under Capital Head has been going on for several years. In my first year as Chief of the Army Staff, I noticed that till end-February, 1998, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Army Headquarter had spent only Rs 30 crore out of Rs 390 crore allotted for modernisation of the Army. We organised a special financial review meeting with the Secretaries of Defence, Finance, Revenue Expenditure and others. After giving these details and serious implications thereof, I told them: “We are in a Catch 22 situation....We don’t have the money....If we have the money, we cannot spend it....Which is as good as....We don’t have the money.” No ministry likes to surrender funds, because that usually reflects poor planning or poor financial management, and has a direct bearing on the budget allocation for the next year. The Ministry of Defence has several budgetary heads and, therefore, considerable flexibility in adjusting expenditure. For several years, we had the practice of giving large advances to Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) and ordnance factories even when they would repeatedly fall short of pre- paid production targets. When we protested and forced surrender of funds rather than giving advances to some inefficient DPSUs, there was hell to pay. For the Services, the problem is not only the shortage of funds but also more importantly our procedural inability to spend. Some of the causes for non-utilisation of funds are repeated examination of proposals at various levels, inadequate delegation of financial authority to the Ministry of Defence and Services, lack of decentralisation, post-Bofors fears of scams, speculation and wrong publicity in the media, and inability of the DRDO, Ordnance Factories and DPSUs to deliver in time. These were brought to the notice of the Group of Ministers appointed to review the national security establishments and systems after Kargil war. This resulted in some organisational changes like setting up of a procurement board with integrated staff. Apparently the capital procurement problems have either not been addressed adequately or the attitude of our financial managers has not changed. Armed Forces all over the world require continuous modernisation in a planned manner. Most armies follow a ratio of 65-70: 35-30 in their Revenue and Capital budgets for this purpose. In early 90s when the defence budget was severally curtailed and the Army was forced to evolve the “Bottom Line” concept (1993-94), our Revenue and Capital Head expenditure had reached a ratio of 90:10. In 1998, we checked this trend by suppressing 50,000 personnel and tightening the belt on maintenance. We sought an increase to 25 per cent in the Capital Head for the 9th Plan. But the Ministry of Defence reduced this to 18 per cent, and the Ministry of Finance to 7.5 per cent before the Cabinet approval. Despite that, with some sustained efforts, we were able to improve the modernisation expenditure to about 30 per cent of the total Army budget by FY 1999-2000. Low allocation for Capital Expenditure and its non-utilisation year after year shows neglect, complacency, and antiquated procedures getting priority over national security. It has serious long-term implications on our defence preparedness. For the Army, it may mean (a) further delay in procurement and induction of 155mm towed and self-propelled guns as planned nearly 10 years ago (8th and 9th Plans) (b) further delays in completion of Army Static Switched Communication Network (ASCON), Battle Field Surveillance network, Command Information and Decision Support System (CIDSS) project and induction of Electronic Warfare equipment (c) reduction in the Air Defence capability due to obsolescence of L70 AD guns (d) delay in upgradation and improvement in the night fighting capability of T 72 tanks (e) no improvement in the surveillance equipment, radio communications, and night fighting capability of the infantry which can result in higher casualties during low intensity conflicts, and (f) the Army generally having to fight with obsolescent/obsolete equipment. This, and a similar impact on the Navy and Air Force modernisation programmes will impact our deterrence posture against Pakistan, which, as proved by the Kargil episode is always on the lookout for a military showdown, nuclear weaponisation of the subcontinent notwithstanding. Defence forces are based on the required combat capability to deal with envisaged threats. Capabilities are not purchasable off the shelf. It is a time-consuming process to translate “money” into “capability”. Weapons and equipment have to be made or purchased, then absorbed; tactics and procedures revised and honed, personnel trained, and maintenance capabilities built up... it takes time. The cost and time to build combat capabilities gets multiplied — and grows exponentially — with every year of neglect. The writer is a retired chief of the Army staff. |
Money makes the cops go... The woman, in her forties, emaciated and seemingly unlettered, and looking pressed down by unspeakable torment, sat before me on the ground, and shed tears copiously. She had her eyes downcast and the shreds of tattered chunni on her head, to cover her face. It was sometime in June, 1971, and I was present in police station Kahnuwan, district Gurdaspur, where I had been appointed to work as station house officer (SHO) during my training as an IPS probationer. The time was 8 in the morning. I coaxed her to speak out. She spoke haltingly, among sobs. She was the wife of a siri (worker) who worked on the land of a zamindar (landlord) in a village about 7 kilometres from the police station. She had three children — one son, grown up and also working with the same zamindar, and two daughters, too young to work. The zamindar had imprisoned her husband and the son in his haveli over a dispute of payment of wages and had been physically assaulting them for the past one week. That morning, having heard the deadly shrieks from the side of the haveli, she had presumed extreme torture upon her husband and son, and had come to the police station for rescue and help. I got a report lodged of the complaint of the woman, collected a small police party and commanded the woman: “Let’s go to the village”. She stood up, untied the knot at a corner of her chunni, took out a two-rupee note — creased and soiled — put it on the table in front of me and folded her hands. “What’s it?,” I demanded to know. “I have this much only, no more, sahib,” she said meekly and apologetically. “There is no need for it,” I explained to her. “You and your family are in trouble. It’s my duty to take action under law against the guilty,” I added. She didn’t seem to believe what I said. She kneeled to touch my feet and implored to me in utter supplication: “Sahib, you are my mai-baap; you are the sirkar.” I pressed upon her to take the money back; she took it back hesitatingly, not yet sure of the police action. In the village, we got the prisoners freed and booked the zamindar and his men. What dismayed me most then and still distresses me now, more than 30 years down the line, is the equestion as to why a common man (and woman) should consider a government servant in authority as mai-baap, and not a public servant which he actually is. And why does he have to think that without a bribe, even his rightful works would not be done? There is another incident of that period which too is itched strong in my memory. While entering the police station one day, I heard the sub-inspector who was the SHO before I joined as such, and who had now been relegated to the second position, shouting at an assistant sub-inspector (ASI). “What’s the matter?” I asked the SI. “Nothing much, sir,” replied the SI non-chalantly. I persisted with my query. “Sir, if you promise no action against the ASI, I shall let you know,” said the sub-inspector. Keen to learn and know all aspects of the police station working, I gave my word. “Sir, this fellow took a bribe of Rs 5 from an accused this morning,” the SI informed me. “Yes, this is bad indeed. The ASI needs to be severely reprimanded,” I expressed my opinion. “No sir, that is not for what I was scolding him,” the SI said and then confided: “Actually, sir, Rs 5 is too low an amount to be accepted by an ASI. By his conduct, he has lowered the standards!” What,” I asked him, “should have been the amount, to keep the standards?” “At least Rs 50, sir,” he informed me without batting an eye. “And what would be the benchmark for an officer of your rank?,” I wanted to know. He twirled his frightening moustaches and laughed the question away!
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International
Women's Day is being observed today Today if Rupa turns up late again for the morning “jhaaro pochha” she will as usual get an earful for being slack. Yesterday she had come with her infant daughter and was scolded. The child's body was burning with fever otherwise she would have been as usual left in the care of other toddlers in the park opposite Rupa's place of work. So what? That is her problem. Another International Women's Day (IWD) is not going to make any difference to her life or of the millions of Rupas whose are born in misery and die in misery. Why then dedicate a day exclusively for the celebration of the world's women? Well the global joining of hands for fashioning a more gender-friendly world order has at least made a section of our insensitive society to at least make a beginning. The United Nations General Assembly decided to celebrate IWD to recognise that peace and social progress require active and equal participation of women. For the women of the world it is a day to take stock of the progress they have made in their struggle for equality, peace and development. The popular notion that women's equality is a recipe for social disaster is based on ignorance. The fact of the matter is that one percentile growth in female secondary schooling results in 0.3 per cent growth in the economy. Until men and women work together to secure the vast untapped potential of women, lasting solutions to the world's most serious social, economic and political problems cannot be found. There is some progress after the adoption of the UN charter for gender equality. But it is painfully slow. Nowhere in the world can women claim to have the same rights and opportunities as men. The majority of the world's 1.3 billion absolute poor are women and India's contribution to the pool of deprived and sexually, socially and economically exploited women is substantial. Yesterday the male-dominated Indian Parliament went through another charade of resurrecting the Women's Reservation Bill during the Budget session. Members from all political parties were involved in the exercise. This was their way of articulating their phoney concern for the emancipation of women. The global situation is not any better. Only 14.1 per cent of representatives elected to legislatures across the world are women. Of the 189 highest ranking diplomats to the United Nations only 11 are women. Whether the gender profile will begin to look better if the Bill reserving 33 per cent seats in the country's legislatures becomes a law that will reserve 33 per cent seats for women is debatable. But what is not in doubt is the fact that today on an average women receive between 30 and 40 per cent less pay than men earn for the same work. And women continue to be victims of gender discrimination, domestic violence and rape resulting in serious disabilities and even death. The idea of an International Women's Day took roots at the turn of the last century and was the direct off shoot of the great industrial revolution that changed the way communities used to work. On March 8, 1857 women working in clothing and textile factories, called garment workers, in New York City, staged a protest against inhuman working conditions and low wages. The police dispersed the protesters. Two years later the women organised another protest and this time gained some concessions from their male bosses. But what caught the eye of the global community was a march by 15,000 women through New York City on March 8, 1908 demanding short work hours, better pay, voting rights and an end to child labour. The slogan “bread and roses” symbolised economic security and a better life.
However, for a majority of Indian women to even dream of “bread and roses” is still a sin for which they are made to pay with their honour and even their life. The sexist attitude of the average Indian male is reflected in the failure of the law to prevent dowry deaths and female infanticide. Who then will give Rupa the right to refashion her life on the universally accepted principles of gender equality? |
The eternal triangle I
don’t know whom to pity more, media columnists who have to file their copy mid-week when momentous events invariably take place near the week-end for instant coverage, or the radio and TV channels, which find that they have to cope simultaneously with India playing Pakistan in the World Cup, the state elections where the contest in Himachal was almost like the World Cup and, of course, the Budget, which is one of the most important events of the year for all of us and not just the tax evaders. In the event, most channels did the balancing act with great elan, keeping the populist needs in view. The India-Pakistan match took first lead in major news bulletins, updating the scores with increasing glee as Tendulkar thrashed the Rawalpindi Express and Co. Meanwhile, the special programmes on the Budget carried on with sober analysis and kept the channels on an even keel. One is not entirely sorry to say that the state elections, while very much in the news, only had their day in the election specials, which every channel had lined up, with the usual speakers racing from studio to studio to give their expert opinions. One need not repeat that when it comes to the Budget, no programme is in the same class as the Prannoy Roy - T. NnNinan duo and their all round coverage took in a long exclusive interview with the Finance Minister, a new and interesting format with round tables and stiff panels being discarded by the NDTV team passing the mike round an informally seated group (which was very skilfully arranged and not half as casual as it looked). Meanwhile, the nail-biting cricket match went on merrily with the usual irritating ads sometimes cutting into the first ball of an over and not allowing any comments on the game in between overs, even when viewers were torn with anxiety about the extent of Sachin’s injury. Indian channels only strictly allow you to see the actual play and cut out everything else. We had the usual sidelights such as Mandira proudly announcing that her sari had been specially flown in from a noted designer in India (wonder if the ad was paid for by the designer) and the Masala Girls (othertise known as Charu’s Angels and I wish they stuck to heaven and not cricket) doing their usual act in the studio and on the field, even trying to flirt with the Pakistani players, which was like adding insult to injury. I then made my choice. Cut the Extraa Innings until one had to switch to the channel for the actual match and up to the presentation ceremony, even if it meant missing Kapil Dev and Tiger Pataudi, also choosing their tarot cards. Instead I watched the expert comments on the ESPN/Star channels before and after the match with Gavaskar, Sidhu, Geoffrey Boycott and the rest. With no Masala Girls around, thank heaven. After looking at Animal Planet and the rest last week for the benefit of non-cricket lovers, back to my two steady serials, which I genuinely enjoy. On Tuesday, Public Hai Sab Janti Hai did a good take-off on delays in justice and conditions in jail. The current jailor is visited by a doddering lawyer who had taken up the case of a prisoner in jail without a trial for 20 years when the present jailor’s father was the jailor. Mr Arun Jaitley will get some points from the programme. Meanwhile in Astitva on Zee TV, Dr Simran is not only pregnant but her 10-years younger photographer husband has won a big award as photographer of the year. His young, attractive, adoring woman assistant has got brownie points for sending in his entry without his knowledge and is now trying to cash in on his gratitude which he expresses openly in his TV interview. But his wife Dr Simran is watching expectantly for him to say he owes his inspiration to her. Her ex-IAS papa is meanwhile trying to get his IAS son-in-law to get his girl friend selected for a fellowship. All quite credible, well scripted and acted and much more fun than saas-bahus who, I am told, are coming down in ratings. Serves them right. TAIL-PIECE: For those who missed them, may I pass on two cricketing jokes: What is the difference between Saurav Ganguly and God? God does not think he is Saurav Ganguly. Second, and I heard this on TV, a young lad says: “ Sachin Rawalpindi Express ko bina ticket Rawalpindi wapas bhej diya.” That is because of Sohaib Akhtar’s crude boast that he would dismiss the Indian XI single-handed. But Indians also noted with appreciation that civilized Wasim Akram was asked for tips on his bowing by Ashish Nehra and gladly gave them. It takes all sorts to make a world, doesn’t it?
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Obesity root cause of ailments: study Obesity is the root cause of many ailments and researchers now emphasise that the condition can also lead to decline in mental ability in men, possibly through its effect on blood circulation in the brain. Researchers in America have shown that obesity by itself can make men less intelligent. By studying the records of more than 1400 men and women, Professor Merrill Elias and colleagues at the University of Boston found that men classified as clinically obese appear to have significantly reduced mental agility. Curiously, fat women did not suffer the same fate. When given cognitive function tests involving logic, verbal fluency and recall, obese men achieved scores as much as 23 per cent below those of non-obese men, even after taking into account factors such as educational level, occupation and blood pressure.
ANI |
They burn The bones like tinder, hair like straw. And seeing the world in flames, Kabira turn away. —
Kabir Granthwali, Sakhi 15.7. |
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