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Fixing accountability Get tough with polluters |
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Farm reforms
The rupee versus the dollar
ABAC update
John Howard no, Steve Waugh yes! Delhi Durbar
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Fixing accountability THE Bombay High Court’s direction to the Maharashtra government to file an affidavit by February 4 in response to a bunch of petitions asking the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party to pay Rs 50 crore for losses suffered by citizens due to the bandh organised by them in Mumbai in July last year is significant. The petitioners are men of high stature and public standing. They include former Union Cabinet Secretary B.G. Deshmukh and former Mumbai Police Commissioner Julio Ribeiro. In their petitions, they not only called for the arrest of the political leaders responsible for calling the bandh but also urged the court to direct the two political parties to create a fund named “Bandh Damage Fund” with a corpus of Rs 50 crore to be disbursed to the claimants who suffered losses. It is debatable whether the idea of creating a “Bandh Damage Fund” is ideal, but there is no denying the fact that almost all political parties have been organising bandhs at the drop of a hat with little concern for public safety and the hardship these would cause to the people. Worse, mischievous elements enter the scene, indulge in arson and looting, and give a bad name to the parties. Far more disturbing are state-sponsored bandhs directly or indirectly. In Kerala and West Bengal, political parties and trade unions organise bandhs now and then and take people for a ride. The competition between the Karnataka and Tamil Nadu governments in organising bandhs on the Cauvery issue is well known. It remains to be seen how the Bombay High Court will deal with the petitions. But keeping in view the propensity of political parties to organise bandhs for gaining political mileage, there is a need to check their conduct and make them accountable for the losses caused in the process. The responsibility is even greater if the state government itself sponsors a bandh. How can the protector become the offender? In November 1997, the Supreme Court had upheld a Full Bench judgement of the Kerala High Court that declared the calling of a bandh by any association, organisation or political party as illegal and unconstitutional. The apex court’s ruling is crystal-clear on the issue. |
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Get tough with polluters REPORTS of pollution of underground drinking water in Punjab have appeared off and on. The Punjab Pollution Control Board takes a casual note of these and rarely carries out a statewide crackdown. This is because those behind industrial pollution are often influential people. Many still remember with shock how thousands of fish perished due to river pollution near Nangal town. The media has also highlighted how people and cattle in Ludhiana and Jalandhar areas are forced to drink polluted water. Industrial units in these towns discharge their effluents into important water sources without attracting any punitive action. Leather units, sugar mills, fertiliser manufacturers and distilleries contribute the maximum to water pollution in Punjab. The latest culprit caught in the act is a top distillery in Kapurthala district. As The Tribune report on Monday pointed out, residents of at least six villages near the distillery have complained of their drinking water getting polluted by toxic discharge from the distillery. The report is all the more shocking as the company claims it has installed an effluent treatment plant, costing Rs 26 crore, as required by the Pollution Control Board’s norms. Still worse, the board authorities confirmed the underground water pollution in a 4-kilometre radius of the distillery, and yet have not done anything to stop it. The panchayats can play a proactive role in highlighting and preventing pollution, whether of air or water. But the panchayat of the affected Hamira village has been caught napping. No wonder, residents directed their anger at the panchayat’s laxity also. The world over the basic rule of pollution control is to make the polluter pay for the environmental damage. In India, the penalty is either quite often inadequate or the guilty uses their political clout to escape the law. The ordinary citizens are forced to pay a heavy price for the authorities’ negligence or connivance. |
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Farm reforms IT is ironical that agriculture, which is the mainstay of the Indian economy, has not really benefited from liberalisation and globalisation. The reasons are not far to seek. Both the production and marketing of agricultural commodities continue to follow age-old traditions. What is needed is a clean break from the past, bringing these activities in tune with today’s realities. Mercifully, the country is waking up to the unavoidability of land policy reforms. A Model Act prepared by the Centre makes a bold attempt to break the mould. The cornerstone of these reforms is land leasing and contract farming which will promote competitive agricultural markets in private and cooperative sectors. In line with the successful Chinese model, land use rights will be taken from individual farmers to form joint stock companies, whose shares will be issued to them on the basis of the appraised value of the land contributed by them. The companies will then enter into contracts for marketing agricultural produce and providing modern technologies, professional management and capital support to farmers by subletting the land to them for cultivation for a certain period. One thing that has been made clear is that the farmer will not forgo the ownership of the land under any circumstances. The concept is innovative and practical provided certain safeguards are woven into it. One, cooperative and corporate principles must be dovetailed keeping in view the Indian ground realities. Two, the interests of marginal farmers must be safeguarded. Three, holdings should not be allowed to be concentrated in a few hands. The idea can take off only if all states remove various restrictions on the leasing of agricultural land. Punjab, Haryana and some other states already have an informal system of land leasing. This model can be refined to address regional compulsions. The current situation where many owners leave their land uncultivated due to the fear of losing it because of the restrictions on leasing is untenable.
Man dreams of fame while woman wakes to love. — Lord Tennyson |
The rupee versus the dollar INDIA'S foreign currency reserves crossed the magic $ 100 billion mark in the third week of December. But the Union Finance Minister has scotched speculation to the effect that the time is ripe for the rupee to become fully convertible on the capital account. Mr Jaswant Singh has pointed at the government’s high fiscal deficit and the rise in the inflation rate — two important reasons why the country is not yet ready for full capital account convertibility. There is another important reason why caution should be exercised before the government allows unfettered freedom to all and sundry to convert their rupee holdings to American dollars, euros or, for that matter, any other currency. This is on account of the fact that the non-performing assets — a euphemism for unpaid loans — of Indian banks are still at uncomfortably high levels. There has been a dramatic change in the country’s foreign exchange position from that which prevailed in early-1991 when the short-lived Chandra Shekhar government had to mortgage the country’s official gold stocks with the Bank of England after non-resident Indians panicked and withdrew their deposits. The assassination of Rajiv Gandhi in May 1991 made matters worse and at one stage, it appeared as if the Indian government might renege on its external financial obligations. The International Monetary Fund stepped in at a time when the country’s hard currency reserves had touched a low of around $ 500 million after the P V Narasimha Rao government came to power. The reserves at that time were barely equal to a fortnight’s import requirements. Contrast this position with the fact that the forex reserves are at present equal to a little under two years’ import requirements. If indeed we have an embarrassment of riches on our hands, why is the government reluctant to make the rupee a fully convertible currency? In 1997, a committee headed by the then Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Mr S.S. Tarapore had charted a road map towards full capital account convertibility. The committee had suggested that the government should ensure that four crucial preconditions are met before the Indian currency is made fully convertible. The first precondition was that the annual rate of inflation as measured by the wholesale price index should be in the 3-5 per cent range. The inflation rate stood at 3.6 per cent in 2001-02 and 3.5 per cent in 2002-03. Subsequently, inflation went up steadily and stood at 5.63 per cent in the week that ended on December 20, the highest in more than seven months. This rate could go up further and nudge 6 per cent. The second precondition for full capital account convertibility was that the country’s forex reserves should be equal to six months’ import requirements. As already stated, forex reserves are equal to nearly two years’ import cover. Precondition three was that the Union government’s fiscal deficit as a proportion of the gross domestic product should not exceed 3.5 per cent. This proportion is currently close to 6 per cent. Given the fact that there would be populist pressures on the government to spend more and not cut expenditures before the next general election, the deficit is certain to become bigger. The Tarapore Committee’s fourth and last precondition for full capital account convertibility was that the non-performing assets of banks should not be more than 5 per cent of the total deposits. The actual proportion is twice as high at present, despite the enactment of a law that has made it easier for banks to recover their dues. Thus, three out of the four important preconditions for capital account convertibility — low inflation rate, low fiscal deficit and low NPAs of banks — do not exist right now. The government and the RBI would, therefore, do well not to hasten towards full convertibility. Over the last few years, the RBI has gradually relaxed restrictions on the movement of foreign currency. For NRIs and persons of Indian origin as well as for business travellers, especially exporters, the rupee is virtually convertible on the capital account. In November 2002, the RBI allowed even resident Indians to maintain bank accounts in foreign currency under certain conditions. The traumatic experience of 1991 evidently made the RBI extra cautious. But the mere existence of high forex reserves is not a sufficient condition to prevent a financial crisis. In 1996-97, South Korea had comfortable hard currency reserves. However, this in itself was unable to insulate the country from the Asian financial meltdown. The hard currency reserves with the RBI have gone up rapidly in recent years: from $ 17 billion in March 1996 to nearly $ 30 billion three years later and over $ 51 billion in March 2002. Reserves jumped by over $ 28 billion in nine months, from under $ 72 billion at end-March 2003 to over $ 100 billion in late-December. There are a variety of reasons why the country’s hard currency reserves have risen so rapidly. Perhaps the most important reason is that NRI deposits are piling up and are right now in excess of $ 30 billion. NRIs are choosing to move more of their savings to India simply because deposits in Indian banks earn a higher rate of interest than the deposits in banks abroad. The movement of hard currency to the country has accelerated because the rupee has strengthened vis-a-vis the US dollar. Whereas in 2002-03, it had appeared as if the value of one American dollar would soon cross the Rs 50 mark; in fact, it is now closer to Rs 45. From the benefit of hindsight, it is clear that the government should not have made efforts to raise deposits from NRIs after it conducted nuclear tests in May 1998 that led to economic sanctions being imposed against India by the US, Japan and other countries. That year, the government issued a series of India Resurgent Bonds to raise $ 4.2 billion. Then, in 2000, the State Bank of India launched its India Millennium Deposit scheme that garnered $ 5.7 billion from overseas Indians. In recent months, the RBI has undertaken the purchase of US dollars to prevent the value of the Indian currency from appreciating too much. As former Revenue Secretary M R Sivaraman has pointed out, this has left the country’s central bank on the horns of a dilemma. If the RBI does not buy dollars, the rupee appreciates and exporters raise a hue and cry. On the other hand, more dollar purchases add to money supply at home that, in turn, fuels inflationary fires. Be that as it may, the RBI would certainly prefer to tackle a problem of plenty rather than a situation of shortage. |
ABAC update LET'S go to BM with GJu and have GG and GJ there,” If you have not understood the sentence then it is time to brush up your knowledge of latest abbreviations and acronyms (ABAC). BM is Bengali Market; GG are GJ are Gol Gappas and Gulab Jamuns, respectively, while GJu Jijaji. Don’t think that AAA is CRISIL rating only, it is Amar Singh, Amitabh and Ambani, the trinity behind UPVP-Uttar Pradesh Vikas Parishad. Remember Maruti-800 is poor man’s cart (and not car) today, these are the days of Nissan or Toyota or Mitsubishi or BMW — which are cars. So, don’t travel in cart and think that ABCDEFGHIJ are the first 10 letters of English alphabets. It means “American born confused Desi emigrated from Gujarat here in Jersey.” Similarly, RSTUV are not the 18th to 22nd. letters of the alphabets. These are the five lady Chief Ministers of States in India — Rabri, Shiela, Thiruamma (so is Jayalalitha called), Uma and Vasundhara. “Letterology” indicates that a lady with name starting with W has strong chances of winning the next elections. Where are you Waheeda Rehman? Sonia may also think in terms of changing her name to Wonia. The “won” part of the name is morale boosting. But it has to have the approval of SSKC — Sonia Soni Kitchen Congress. The BJP, which is more of Bangaru Judeo Party than Bharatiya Janata Party, has learnt a lesson from the recent elections and that is that BSP, not that party with bluish white elephant, but bijli, sadak, pani, are likely to play a major role in the elections to come. It also means Bull Shit Promises. Promise everything under the sun but do not forget to repeat the important catchwords “TINA for SBV”. What the heaven (why use uncouth word) is this? It is — There Is No Alternative for Shuttle Behari Vajpayee. His shuttling to this and that country is more prominent than being Atal in India. The Indian politics has also given us numbers having different meanings —6/12 is DAD and 13/12 is SPCA. He who thinks that the two abbreviations mean the Digital Video Disc and Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is RVW — Rip Van Winkle. The first stands for Dhaanchaa Vidhwans Divas and the second means Sansad Pe Chhayaa Aatank. Also TIPTOP in politics is the happening mode today. It has nothing to do with “very acme and pitch” of things, but it means — Tape Input and Tape Output. Tape Output becomes known to all those who have ears and eyes but Tape Input according to those on defence is FOSPUT — “foul shadow play using technology”. TNG observes that present-day politics is to CCCC gather as much KSKN today for none knows KHNH. (Decoders: TNG-The Next Generation; CCCC-Chori Chori Chupke Chupke; KSKN-’ Khuda Se Kam Nahin’ and KHNH-Kal Ho Na Ho).
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John Howard no, Steve Waugh yes!
WATCHING the world is not all that easy. You can get stumped on the topic of the week. Readers in India were fed with billions of words on the Islamabad SAARC summit and the achievements of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee while television provided viewers with such interesting tidbits as how the Indian Prime Minister was accommodated in the most expensive suite at the Islamabad hotel. Competing with the SAARC coverage which was restricted only to member nations, was the international media obsession over the final test and retirement from cricket of the Australian captain, Stephen Rodger Waugh, making his exit at the age of 38. Fittingly he was involved in one of the most exciting series ever played in his country, that too against India which had been written off before the tour had started. India’s challenge must have come as a surprise for Waugh, but he relished it because over the past 15 years, he had thrived on similar challenges. Thanks to extensive television coverage, the emotional moments of Waugh’s last hurrah were vividly portrayed. His exits and entrances were wildly applauded by the record Sydney crowd. Thousands of spectators waved the traditional red handkerchief normally sported by Waugh. After the game was over, his team mates chaired him for an honour lap around the ground. The Indians did not lag behind. They had a special cheer when Waugh came to bat for the last time. One of the nicest gestures of modern times was our star batsman, V.V.S. Laxman dedicating his century to the Australian captain. As captain of a strong Australian team, Waugh had the reputation of grinding the opposition to dust without mercy. Unlike SAARC and Vajpayee, Waugh’s departure received international media coverage. I vaguely remembered the sentiments when the great Don Bradman retired at the end of the 1948 England tour but there was no television then to capture the magic and sentimental moments. We saw close-ups of Waugh but the tough old Aussie did not have a lump in his throat nor did he use the famous red hankie to wipe any tears. Never overly sentimental, the exit from the game was just another milestone in the life and career of Steve Waugh. In his own way, Waugh was as important a leader in Australia as its Prime Ministers. The country had always been crazy about sports, and the interest had percolated to the level of party politics and Prime Ministers. A former Prime Minister, Sir Robert Menezes, was such an addict that he timed his visits abroad particularly to England to coincide with the test matches where his country figured. He was a frequent visitor to the dressing room of the players and cheered them from close quarters. Sir Robert’s tradition had been kept alive by his successors, including the present Prime Minister, John Howard. Unfortunately, most Australian Prime Ministers, unlike the cricketers, turned out to be arch Conservatives who stuck to a rigid right-wing policies. Howard is no exception. Under him, Australia continued to support the military adventures of the US. By sending troops to Iraq in the US-led war to oust former President Saddam Hussein, Howard only emulated the policies of his predecessors who did not hesitate to contribute men and money to the American adventure in Vietnam. The Australian people, more inward looking and inclined towards the joys of life and sporting events did protest but only mildly. Again, like most conservative Prime Ministers Howard chose to follow a “White Australian” policy offering immigration facilities to the white from all parts of the world. The Aborigines continued to be exploited. The benefits of a booming Australian economy were mainly reserved for the affluent, white majority. The immigrants could never aspire for the top positions in any field, however, well qualified they were. Many changed their tracks and headed towards the US, but Howard and his party men could care less. On the political front, men like Howard had few friends in Asia, and Africa. At the Commonwealth meets, he firmly sided with other white nations like Britain, New Zealand and Canada, urging severe trade restrictions against Zimbabwe and its mercurial leader, Sir Robert Mugabwe. Like Bush, Howard firmly believed that by getting rid of Saddam Hussein, the world had become safer. Though popular among the conservative population of Australia, Howard and his government had few friends among the developing nations. This was where Steve Waugh scored. Of course, his activities were restricted to the field of cricket but several times he went beyond that barrier. Unlike the incomparable West Indian captain, Sir Frank Worrell, Waugh was not a universally-loved cricketer. But he commanded the respect and admiration of the cricket playing nations with his hard, no-nonsense approach to the game and captaincy. Under him, the Australians became an immensely popular unit everywhere, particularly the cricket playing nations of Asia and Africa. Waugh seemed to thrive playing in alien conditions. India took Steve Waugh to its heart and the teams led by him played before immense crowds in the cricket crazy nations. India also revealed a lesser known fact of his career and thinking, his association with the West Bengal welfare centre, “Udayan”, which cared for the children of leprosy patients. No wonder, Steveda is a hit in Kolkata and the kids of Udayan. What a contrast to some of our own top players who had become money-making machines, expecting financial rewards for the few ‘social obligations’ they commit themselves to. Waugh may well continue to play a major role in the future of Australian cricket. But he should not be content with that. Knowing him, one can say that he will play an increasing role in dealing with social problems, even within Australia. While India will continue to be his priority, how about paying some attention to the deplorable, inhuman conditions of the Aborigines of his own affluent country? Steve Waugh had been an outstanding cricketer for his country, he is the most successful captain in the history of the game. But his horizons were wider. Even without entering politics, he can show the world that not all powerful and influential Australians were like the racist Prime Minister John Howard, bowing and scraping before the mighty US. |
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Delhi Durbar PRIME Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his Pakistan counterpart and host of the 12th SAARC summit in Islamabad, Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, appear to have had their quiet moments of introspection on the contours of Indo-Pak relations. Jamali conducted the proceedings of the summit in a business-like fashion after assuming the chairmanship of the grouping. After Vajpayee made his speech at the the inaugural session underlining the need for economic realism, Jamali described the former as a “visionary, a poet, a writer and an able politician. These are the qualities of a true leader.” It was apparent that in the quiet interface that the leaders had at the retreat and on the sidelines of the summit, Jamali had taken up the issue of the Iran-India gas pipeline and observed that the “ball is in Vajpayee’s court.” Musharraf
at his best Even though the SAARC Charter and protocol kept out Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf from the actual glare of its deliberations, he stole the thunder at the end of it on January 6 with a largely attended press conference in Islamabad. He had his say at a banquet for the seven Heads of State and Government that the grouping should amend its Charter to take up bilateral issues. The impeccably suited Musharraf came extremely well prepared for the press conference and did not utter one word which might have earned the angst of India or for that matter the other member States of SAARC. He disclosed that during the telephone conversation with Vajpayee, he wished the latter good health and found it a trifle funny that Vajpayee should wish him assured safety. The import of Vajpayee’s good wishes was, however, not lost on
Musharraf. Musharraf appeared to have all the time to chat with the assembled media but deadline constraints compelled a woman journalist from India to ring down the curtain on the press conference which began to meander aimlessly. In a tight spot Flamboyant and cigar-puffing Pakistan Information Minister Sheikh Rashid sent everyone into a tizzy in Islamabad when he told PTV that India and Pakistan would issue a Joint Declaration after the SAARC summit concludes on January 6. There were hardly any takers this time even among the Pakistani press after the fiasco of the Agra summit. A motley group of Indian scribes who came to face with Rashid at a cultural programme by Ghulam Ali late at night on January 5 tried to elicit more information about the Joint Declaration. He shied away quickly on the plea that he was waiting for the arrival of the Bangladesh Foreign Minister. Well, Rashid was not entirely wrong as India and Pakistan issued a joint statement to get the composite dialogue going next month, the modalities for which will have to be worked out. BJP woos Varun The BJP is trying to have some charisma of the Gandhi clan as it is making efforts to woo Feroze Varun Gandhi and his mother and former Union minister Maneka Gandhi to join their ranks. Varun Feroze’s entry into the BJP is seen as an attempt to offset the charisma, if any, of his cousin Priyanka Vadra Gandhi for the Congress. Some initial parleys are believed to have taken place between the BJP leaders and Varun Feroze. Tall and youthful, Varun is a poet and has completed his first year (M Sc in economics and public policy) from the London School of Economics. Few smiles The decision of the Congress high command to resolve the fight in its Punjab unit came as an anti-climax for most of the dissidents who seemed sure of seeing the back of Capt Amarinder Singh as Chief Minister. As it turned out, the only announcement made by the high command was for making Agriculture Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal Deputy Chief Minister and other decisions, including about the PCC chief, the Youth Congress chief and ministerial berths, were kept hanging. As the inevitability of the high command’s directive dawned, the dissidents got down to assessing what was in store for them. Many of them delayed their departure from the Capital in the hope of getting a firm assurance from the central leaders about their inclusion in the Cabinet and continuance in the ministry whenever the whip is cracked to implement the provisions of the new anti-defection law. Expectedly, Capt Amarinder Singh’s camp was not too happy either. He now has a deputy and the high command’s emphasis seemingly is on “collective leadership.” Contributed by T.R. Ramachandran, Tripti Nath and Prashant Sood. |
They who meditate on the Fearless Lord All their fears vanish. — Guru Nanak Who is a Gurmukh (God loving person)? Who can be called a Gurmukh? This word ‘Gurmukh’ is composed of ‘Guru’ and ‘Mukh’. It means one who has his face towards Guru, who is not deceitful, hypocrite, robber, or plunderer, is a ‘Gurmukh’. — Nirankari Baba Hardev Singh I salute him who tore the bodies of demons, who wields two maces like those of Yama, the sound of whose footsteps puts the kings to fright, whose anger is seen best in battle, and whose eyes are yellowish. — Shri Adi Shankaracharya Doing good to others is virtue (dharma); injuring others is sin. — Swami Vivekananda God governs the world, and we have only to do our duty wisely, and leave the issue to him. — John Jay Nature is too thin a
screen; the glory of the omnipresent God bursts through everywhere. — Emerson |
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