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Police brutality Punjab at No 5 |
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Competitive strength
India’s declining air power
The VIP rooms of Borjar
Ensuring mothers’ safety Ukraine’s ‘orange revolution’ Should doctors accept gifts?
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Police brutality WHAT Haryana policemen did to workers of a factory at Gurgaon on Monday should rank as one of the most violent displays of police atrocity. They rained lathis on the men pinned to the ground in the same manner in which the British used to subdue the Indians before Independence. The scene was too gruesome to even imagine, let alone witness. But it reached millions of drawing-rooms, thanks to the TV channels. What has been seen by all cannot be denied. But then the policemen seemed oblivious of public reaction. They had simply gone berserk. It is not as if they turned violent without provocation. The workers too targeted them mercilessly. But that was no reason for them to repay in kind. Workers are not a disciplined force. Policemen are suppose to be. It would have been understandable if they had arrested a large number of workers. But beating them mercilessly was nothing less than cruel. It is apparent that the policemen have no clue about scientific crowd control. They are even less trained to handle rioting. The only language they know is the language of brutal force. The us-versus-they confrontation that they allow to develop may help them in tackling the immediate problem but is counter-productive in the long run because it deprives them of public support. The Gurgaon action was particularly vicious and the police will have a lot of explaining to do. The government knows it has been caught on the wrong foot and has been prompt it ordering an inquiry. But its sincerity will be measured by its determination to punish the guilty and reorient the rest of the force. The management of the factory too owes responsibility for the ugly turn of events. It not only closed various avenues of negotiations with its workers but also provoked them to the stage where they hit back with a vengeance. Had at least genuine demands of the workers been met, things would not have come to such a pass. All concerned should work together to improve the vitiated industrial relations in the town. That is not going to be an easy task, considering that hundreds of workers, along with some policemen, have been hurt badly in the police action. Much will depend on what the Hooda government does before and after the judicial inquiry it has ordered.
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Punjab at No 5 THAT Punjab, once on the top in the country in per capita income, has slipped to the fifth place should not come as a surprise. The state’s growth rate has been below the national average for the past few years. According to the latest figures released by the Central Statistical Organisation for 2004-05, Punjab now ranks far behind Chandigarh (which has now rightly reached the number one position), Delhi, Maharashtra and Haryana. What is surprising, or rather shocking, is there is still no sign of economic revival. Worse, no efforts are being made to reverse the slide in growth. More than sound economics, it is big promises and petty politics that rule the state. The state’s downhill journey can be primarily blamed on bad governance and fiscal mismanagement. Post-militancy, the successive governments have misspent scarce resources and piled up loans to fund populist decisions. The state has been spending its entire revenue on salaries, pensions and loan interest payments. With the implementation of the Fifth Pay Commission report, the Punjab employees became one of the highest paid in the country. Accordingly, the spending on health and education registered a fall. Infrastructure suffered due to the resource crunch. Returns from agriculture have declined due to high input costs. Free power to farmers by the Badal government ruined the Punjab State Electricity Board, while irregular, expensive power stunted the industry’s growth. At the same time, limitless corruption and red tape blocked the inflow of NRI and foreign direct investment. The top-heavy police and civil administration, poor tax collections with official connivance, non-disposal of loss-making PSUs and the hijack of the money-spinning liquor trade by a cartel have created a culture of sloth and pushed the state towards the edge. The extravagant governments, particularly those led by Mr Parkash Singh Badal as well as Capt Amarinder Singh, have precipitated the decline. An explosive social situation is building up with unemployment and drug addiction growing in villages and small towns. It may be tempting to blame the downtrend entirely on agricultural slowdown. These are attempts at rationalisation of the lack of will to achieve results for a state whose people can work very hard and are ambitious.
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Competitive strength THE government’s decision on providing greater financial and operational autonomy to public sector enterprises is a step towards empowering them to take on market forces as equal players. The doubling of the ceiling on making investments without the need for ministerial clearance will speed up the proposed joint ventures. The JV route has been widely recommended as an important tool for PSEs in getting ahead, but red tape had cramped the initiatives. More freedom on mergers and acquisitions is also well timed. By deciding to act on some of the recommendations of the Arjun Sengupta panel on public sector reform, the government is also seeking to soothe the ruffled feelings of the Left, ahead of what is expected to be a stormy session of Parliament. The commitment to “devolve full managerial and commercial autonomy to successful, profit-making companies operating in a competitive environment” is after all enshrined in the NCMP, along with a commitment not to privatise profit-making companies. The Left might find however that empowerment in a competitive market place will carry a logic of its own, and under-cut some of its cherished ideologies. The Left parties are opposing a sale of 10 per cent stake in BHEL, even though the government would still be holding a majority stake. The panel’s recommendations reportedly include a move to enable divestment without Parliament approval as long as the government’s stake does not fall below 51 per cent. Other recommendations like setting up of screening committees to ensure confidentiality in the face of Parliament questions might face some opposition. In any case, these measures will require constitutional amendments in Parliament. The Left has already opposed taking PSEs out of the ambit of the CAG. But whatever the fate of contentious proposals, more can and should be done to further ease operational constraints of the public sector units.
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The truth is that the propensity of man to imitate what is before him is one of the strongest parts of his nature. — Walter Bagehot
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India’s declining air power INDIA’s nuanced inclusion among nuclear-weapon states by the US does place it closer to becoming a “world power”. But as India is destined to be a global power anyway, why has it taken a posture that signals strategic deviation from this objective? As far as it is known, the nuclear programme has all but been capped. So has the missile development plan involving the Agni-III. We seem to have diluted both our strategic autonomy and reach in deference to the US counselling about a “military balance” in the region. What is worse, our conventional defence capabilities have taken a steep dive, especially in the air. We are now on the brink of forfeiting the signal edge that we have had in conventional defence capabilities vis-a-vis Pakistan. In 1971, the Army enjoyed a 1.7 to 1 superiority over Pakistan. That has declined to 1.2 to 1. The Navy, which unfortunately does not shape the outcome of an India-Pakistan land battle, is also afflicted with delays in decision-making. But it is in the air that India enjoyed a decisive advantage over Pakistan, both in quality and the quantity of aircraft. During Operation Parakram in 2002, the IAF and PAF combat capability ratio was 2.5 to 1 in the IAF’s favour. It is now almost certain that by 2007, this strategic advantage would be lost owing to gaps in planning and acquisition. The erosion of the operational capacity has been staring the government in the face. The IAF could well tell the government “we told you so”, but that is hardly any solace. The LCA programme is grossly behind schedule, and has resulted in the search for 126 multirole combat aircraft. Even if a decision is taken tomorrow, it could take anything up to five or seven years for the six additional squadrons to become operational. By 2007, the PAF would have caught up and nearly bridged the gap: 26 IAF combat squadrons versus 23 of the PAF. What a comedown for the IAF from 391/2 to 34 today and down to 26 fighter squadrons in 2007! The state of the LCA programme does not evoke confidence especially, when one compares this with that of the PAF. The latter took off on its own LCA-counterpart, the JF-17 Thunder three years after we did and will commission its first such squadron in 2007, whereas the IAF, with great luck, may manage to put in operational service its LCA three years later. HAL is actually the key player in ensuring that time and cost overruns are minimal. But equally critical is the role of the customer — the IAF. On July 15 in Bangalore, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee was handed over by HAL the last batch of the twin-seat Jaguar DPSA (deep penetration strike aircraft) which went into service in the early 1980s. Upgraded with the DARIN II (Digital Advanced Ranging and Inertial Navigation System) the longevity of the four and a half Jaguar squadrons has been enhanced with such upgrades for another 20 years. HAL has also produced the first ever “India-genous” Lakshya PTA (Pilotless Target Aircraft) inclusive of a home developed PTAE-7 engine replacing the French-made engine. These are the bright spots in an otherwise dismal and overcast sky. HAL is India’s premier aerospace company with a turnover of Rs 4500 crore in 2004-05. It has over the decades manufactured more than 4000 aircraft, over 3500 engines, overhauled in excess of 7000 aircraft and 23,000 engines, produced and overhauled over 900 types of accessories and avionics equipment. Initiating new joint ventures with Russian and European companies, fructifying the proposal to build a Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) for the Army, forward movement on the plans to develop a twin engined jet-trainer with combat capabilities called the twin-engine combat attack trainer (TECAT) and adding the Navy’s Sea Harrier to HAL’s list of aircraft upgrades are some of the key programmes for HAL. Despite this impressive track record, HAL has suffered from a 20-year design gap which has induced over-reliance on licenced production whereas there was need for emphasis on design and development. The fate of the GTRE Kaveri engine after 20 years is uncertain. It will need to be rescued by foreign technology. In the meantime, two key decisions on the LCA have to be taken quickly. The choice of an imported engine and a fire-control radar for the first two squadrons while work on the indigenous multi-mode radar and the Kaveri engine continues. At the Bangalore ceremony, the Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal S.P. Tyagi, was generous in stating that the relationship between the IAF and HAL was not one of buyer-seller but a partnership. “Our destinies are closely intertwined”, he stated. This profusion of sentiment was not matched when questions were raised by journalists regarding IAF orders for the LCA. HAL Chairman Ashok Baweja only said that HAL would take up the manufacture of eight “Limited Series Production” (LSP) aircraft after ADA had completed the seven prototypes in the technical demonstration phase. He did not mention though that there are differences between ADA and HAL over who would be in charge of overall management. Mr Baweja added that HAL would produce 20-plus another 20 LCAs for the IAF. It was here the media expressed reservations about the IAF’s commitment to these orders. Neither the Chief of Air Staff nor the Defence Minister who were present at the Press conference chose to intervene. HAL’s own design efforts are manifest in the new HPT-36 (Intermediate Jet Trainer) which will become the natural step between propeller-driven HPT-32 basic trainer and the AJT Hawk replacing the Kiran jet trainer from 2008. The second product is the Dhruv advanced light helicopter which has a military as well as civilian version. Surprisingly, the Indian Army is urgently seeking 197 new helicopters from the foreign market and not the upgraded HAL Cheetah (called Cheetal). How did this happen? Meanwhile, the Dhruv is being offered to Chile, Turkey and other countries apart from Israel and Nepal who have a few of them already. HAL will certainly have to do more in finding a niche market in the civil aviation industry. The steady decline in the IAF’s operational capacity when air and space are going to shape the future battlefield is a reflection of inadequate management by the government in ensuring defence preparedness. When the government wakes up to the new air reality with Pakistan, it will scramble to acquire aircraft. The Qataris had offered to sell 12 second-hand Mirage 2000-5 to the IAF. The price quoted was $ 750 million for 12 aircraft plus spares and support equipment. According to informed sources, the same package was being offered to “friendly” countries at about half that figure. So, when we offered $ 375 million, we were asked to buzz off ! Will it be back to the Russians who are vigorously marketing the new model of their MiG-29, similar to the type sold to India’s Navy for its former Russian Navy aircraft
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The VIP rooms of Borjar IN its own quiet way, the C.R.P.Force has made a very significant contribution towards keeping the country together. Wherever there is internal disturbance, these peace-keepers to the nation are invariably there. Since, over the years, our North-East has been a perpetual trouble spot, there has been a heavy deployment of the Force there all through. 21st Battalion of the Force was then located at Guwahati, the gateway to the North-East, and I was the second-in-command of the unit. As a side job, we had to ensure that our visiting top brass got the facility of the VIP waiting rooms at the local Borjar airport. Only a handful of the high functionaries and celebrities were entitled to these rooms. Our IGs and DIGs were by no means on this elite panel. Yet, it would be deemed a big administrative failure on our part if they were denied this privilege. So, we had to always keep the Air Manager in good humour and sometimes also resort to a bit of “dadagiri” for the purpose. This time, late N.S. Saksena, our IGP, was coming. Besides being a high-profile police officer, he was a celebrated writer. The Bodo trouble had just started to simmer and he wanted to do a story on it. Thus, I was asked to produce a paper on the subject. After he had finished with his inspection and was preparing to leave, a copy of my piece was handed over to him. He made a few alterations and asked us to have it retyped. As the article was somewhat lengthy we had to carry our steno-typist along to the airport. Displaying devil-may — care attitude, we lodged our IGP in one of the two VIP rooms that was, in fact, booked for an ambassador. Finding this room occupied, the ambassador quietly diverted to the other room that, in turn, was booked for Mohammad Rafi, the celebrated singer. Leaving his briefcase there, he casually strolled out. After a while, Rafi and his entourage that included the sex siren of the times, Jayshree T, also arrived and we duly deflected them to the diplomat’s room. When the ambassador saw all this commotion from a distance, he rushed to the room. Taking him to be a curious fan, some toughies of the troupe tried to push him away. To save the situation, I had to yell at them that the man should at least be allowed to pick up his briefcase. The gentleman, to our relief, did not create any further fuss once his briefcase was delivered to him. Before the flight was announced to the other passengers, the Airport Manager escorted the VIPs to the aircraft. Just then, our steno was able to finish the typing. I went to deliver the copy to the IGP. He had a little tendency to stammer under excitement. To our embarrassment, he went into his stammering mode while thanking me rather too profusely. Jayshree T was sitting close to him alright, but I do not think his excitement really radiated from this
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Ensuring mothers’ safety THE programmes launched in pursuance of the National Health Policy of 1983 have failed to arrest the alarming rise in the maternal mortality rate (MMR) in India. About 500 mothers die after one lakh childbirths in India. The corresponding figure for Sri Lanka is just 16. Strangely, though the infant mortality rate (IMR), according to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), declined from 114 to 72 per 1,000 births, the MMR reported no decline from 1993 to 1998. On the contrary, it rose from 407 per 1,00,000 births in 2002 to 500 per 1,00,000 births as per the latest estimations. Even countries like Thailand and Malaysia have a lower MMR than India. While maternal deaths continue to rise, demanding urgent policy intervention, it is sad that no official data are made available in this respect. Although the Registrar General of India’s Sample Registration System provides annual data on the Infant Mortality Rate for the states as well as the UTs, no such records are given for the MMR, making the monitoring of maternal mortality and evaluation of its causes most difficult. Adding to the rot is the absence of a system to audit maternal deaths in India. Although some states like Haryana have vowed to start a maternal death audit in the second phase of the Reproductive and Child Health Programme (RCH) launched recently, others are yet to respond. Incidentally, the neighbouring Sri Lanka attaches utmost significance to the issue. There the audit report of each pregnancy is sent to the country’s President. For India, another worry is that the National Family Health Survey has not been reporting any major change in the extent of complications leading to maternal deaths. Categorised as “obstetrical causes”, these complications include haemorrhage, sepsis (infections leading to shock), obstructed labour, fits caused by pregnancy-induced hypertension and anaemia. And because none of these complications can be predicted, medical preparedness at hospitals has to be high enough to avert a maternal death following any such complication. But the state of medical preparedness at hospitals in rural and semi-urban India is far from satisfactory, with little or no attention is paid to the availability of three critical components that come together to save delivering mothers. These are the availability of obstetricians, anaesthesiologists and doctors equipped to handle blood bank facilities. Most district and sub-district hospitals lack this combination. Dr Rajesh Kumar, Head of the Department of Community Medicine, PGIMER, admits to the problem and says, “Following any of the above stated complications, the mother can be only saved within a specified period — an hour in case of a haemorrhage; 12 hours in case of obstructed labour and seven hours if she is experiencing fits. “Unfortunately, none of the sub-tehsil hospitals (like the ones in Ambala, Naraingarh and Kharar) are prepared to handle these complications. They refer mothers to us but because much time has been lost, mothers invariably die.” Another painful loophole in the system is the lack of proper manpower policy in hospitals at various levels. Irrespective of his stream of specialisation, every doctor posted in a district or sub-district hospital in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh is designated as the medical officer. Transfers are rampant with medical officers using politicians to seek convenient postings. Resultantly, gaps created in the healthcare delivery systems are never filled. Since there are no specialised cadre posts for doctors, hospitals sometimes end up getting three anaesthesiologists whereas what they need is an obstetrician. Another senior PGI doctor reasons, “In the absence of a cadre review, policy-makers never know which hospital lacks which specialist. Under the 1992 Child Survival and Safe Motherhood Programme, it was stated that the First Referral Unit would be established at each sub-district level to ensure provision of essential obstetric care, specialist manpower and facilities for operative delivery, including management of complications like haemorrhage. Later, Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) required that 85 per cent of childbirths in India should take place in hospitals. But surveys show dismal progress in this regard.” NFHS-2 states that only about 34 per cent deliveries in India take place in medical institutions (95 per cent in Kerala; only 25 per cent in Uttar Pradesh). Many factors cause this problem, the main being — most expecting mothers often seek treatment from medical practitioners close to villages. Says Dr Kumar, “Unless you provide mothers with free transport to the nearest hospital, they are likely to avoid health services.” And even if they reach hospitals, it has been observed that MBBS doctors are reluctant to take up delivery cases. Senior specialists admit most MBBS doctors take refuge in the Consumer Protection Act and mislead patients by saying they can’t handle deliveries because they are not trained to. Points out Dr Kumar, also General Secretary of the Indian Association of Preventive and Social Medicine (IAPSM), which monitors the MMR at its own level, “No law prevents any doctor from conducting deliveries. Very often MBBS doctors have been found to be incompetent to deliver children. So they make excuses. In fact, they should be strictly instructed to conduct deliveries. If required, competency-based training should be arranged to help them prevent maternal mortality.” Disturbed by the rising cases of maternal mortality, even in the low risk group of 20 to 30 years, IAPSM recently submitted a resolution to the Health Ministry of India, making some suggestions. Dr Kumar says, “We have demanded role enlargement for nurses who have taken the Midwifery course. Given the perennial shortage of doctors and health workers, the Health Ministry should authorise nurses to conduct normal deliveries and provide emergency first aid to delivering mothers. MBBS doctors should further be instructed to give anaesthesia and handle blood bank facilities for maternal cases.” Unless such suggestions are urgently implemented, safe motherhood may only remain a slogan in India.
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Ukraine’s ‘orange revolution’ Revolutions
are dangerous things, even when they are peaceful and bathed in an orange glow. Six months after Viktor Yushchenko’s inauguration as democratically elected president of Ukraine, his government seems to have lost much of its early sense of purpose. On the surface, the capital, Kiev is still high on the euphoria of “people power”. Independence Square is a dawn to dusk festival starring hundreds of Ukrainians from all over the world feeling good about being Ukrainian. You want a book by or about Yushchenko? No problem. A bust, a portrait? Pick the size, and take one of the Prime Minister, Julia Tymoshenko, while you are at it. The religious pictures and small, reproduction icons are laid out adjacent to the portraits of the revolutionary duo: the icons of yesterday and today, side by side. Newspapers had once been lavish in their support for the orange batallions. The revolution belonged in part to them, because it was they who insisted the elections conform to the law and then ensured that they did. But it also belonged to Ukraine’s young urban population, who saw in Mr Yushchenko and Ms Tymoshenko not only a different future for themselves and their country but a future in which they and Ukraine would be part of Europe. Of course, it was always going to be hard for the orange revolution to live up to the expectations invested in it. And, like the somewhat hazy and idealised vision of Europe, those expectations were often ill-defined. So far as the intelligentsia was concerned, they hoped above all for an end to the pervasive corruption. Many journalists hoped for the freedom to report as they wished, and without any financial constraints. Such aspirations were utopian. But many Ukrainians - not only those who had flocked in person to Independence Square - had convinced themselves they had accomplished a revolution and thought that after December everything would be possible. For those now swelling the ranks of doubters, all that the new government has produced to reward their heroic efforts in the snow are price rises, leadership squabbles and a series of excited and ill thought-out policy moves based on a free-market ideology very few Ukrainians fully understand. Top of the list of misfired government initiatives is the review of earlier company privatisations, which were widely seen as corrupt. To the population at large, it seemed so simple: just confiscate the ill-gotten gains from the millionaire oligarchs and spread the largesse around. For an elected government, operating - or trying to operate - in an international context, however, it is not so easy. How can privatisations be reversed without destabilising Ukraine’s fragile market and discouraging wary foreign investors? The prime example is the country’s largest steel mill, Kryvorizhstal, sold last year for what was regarded as an unfairly low price to a consortium that included the then president’s son-in-law and, in effect, renationalised last month. —The Independent
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Should doctors accept gifts? WHEN it comes to accepting gifts from the marketing reps of pharmaceutical firms, the American College of Physicians-American Society of Internal Medicine suggests that its members apply a simple litmus test: “What would the public or (our) patients think of this arrangement?” Most patients never find out. If they did, they’d probably go into shock over the goodies doctors accept, like meals, travel, gift certificates or parties. The pharmaceutical industry estimates it spends $5.7 billion a year on marketing directly to physicians, which works out to about $6,000 to $7,000 per doctor. Three years ago, Vermont enacted a groundbreaking law intended to remedy the situation by requiring drug companies to publicly report promotional gifts and payments to physicians. As in many areas of government and business, the law was tailored with the idea that if shame alone fails to curtail excesses, at least information about gifts and contributions can empower voters, investors or consumers to make more educated choices, aware of potential conflicts of interest. Yet in the world of medicine, this is a new concept and, judging from Vermont’s experience, such legislation might require further surgery. Not only have pharmaceutical companies and doctors circumvented the disclosure rules, but it’s virtually impossible for patients to find the information. “It’s not surprising that this extraordinarily well-financed industry circumvented the law,” says Peter Shumlin, the former Vermont legislator who sponsored the bill. “The surprise is that we consumers still take it.” The scope of the problem in medicine is well known — at least among doctors. As a medical student, a colleague of mine once walked into the offices of a practice where she was working and unexpectedly found herself at a party. Food, trinkets, pens and coffee mugs were being handed out to the staff, about 20 people including med students and doctors—all courtesy of Merck & Co. And to the physician who was the number one prescriber of Vioxx in the region that year, a marketing rep of the company awarded a pair of Philadelphia Eagles season tickets. That was almost five years ago, and the party for Vioxx has ended — the painkiller got yanked from the market because it could cause heart problems. Recent congressional investigations revealed Merck marketers had misled physicians, wrongly suggesting Vioxx was better for the heart than other pain relievers, even after research suggested possible dangers. Did Merck’s perks encourage that doctor to prescribe a drug he might otherwise have avoided? It’s difficult to judge. Like political contributions, these gifts are not necessarily improper, and some industry-physician collaborations can lead to important advances. But research shows such largess affects physicians’ prescribing practices and might compromise their objectivity. Certainly if I knew my doctor was getting $5,000 to $20,000 a year from the maker of Vioxx, I would wonder why the doctor was prescribing it. — Washington Post - L.A. Times
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From the pages of THE IMPENDING FAMINE
IN Northern and Upper India the rains practically failed last winter, but when the budget was prepared no scarcity was anticipated. The forecast of the monsoon as prepared by the Mateorological Reporter also gave no cause for anxiety, but a feeling of uneasiness has been noticeable in the country from the beginning of this year, and the first signs of scarcity were noticed in some districts in the N.W.P. and in certain neighbouring Native States. Sir A.P. MacDonnell promptly realised the gravity of the situation and relief works were opened in the districts suffering from scarcity. Since then the scarcity has gone on spreading and spreading, and now the whole country is threatened with a famine of fearful proportions. From Bengal, from Bombay, from Madras, the Central Provinces and the Punjab comes the same intelligence. Staples are selling at a price which places them at once beyond the means of the majority of the population, and even those who in better times would be considered fairly well off are feeling the pinch of want….
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The only people who never fail are those who never try. — Book of quotations on success When conscience is blindfolded by desire, the sense horses drag the body astray. — The Upanishadas By obeying him, wisdom, consciousness and understanding enter the mind. — Guru Nanak Success is relative: It is what we can make of the mess we have made of things. — Book of quotations on success Neither analysis nor argument will reveal the Supreme. —The Upanishadas
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