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On Record Democracy at the crossroads:
Time for introspection |
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Boost to social infrastructure
in Haryana by J. George The Haryana Government’s attempt to address the core issue of social infrastructure is commendable. The PART (performance, accountability, responsiveness and transparency) system, a new scientific temper in the schools segment, English teaching in schools, proper planning and implementation of the rural health mission are all areas that will make education relevant.
WTO: The gains and the losses Profile Diversities — Delhi Letter
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On Record
Excerpts: Q: How do you see the performance of the PDP-Congress coalition government in the last three years? A: No person can be 100 per cent satisfied with any government. Coalition governments are even more difficult. Our agenda in the Common Minimum Programme was two-fold — political and economic. The political agenda had three elements. First, to address the tragedy of the victims of violence. Second, to broaden the political process to include the Hurriyat Conference and militants who lay down arms and want to talk. Third, India-Pakistan relationship needed to be healed. It is not a policy of surrender. It is a Gandhian concept of winning over the hearts and minds of enemies through dialogue, understanding and friendship. The second part of the CMP was providing a good and responsive government that boosts development. Development has a direct bearing on militancy. Our rate of growth is 9 per cent in the last two years. Q: What is the agenda for the next three years? A: Because of consolidation of the political process in the last three years, the issues of governance and corruption can now be dealt with effectively. Q: Is corruption acute in Jammu and Kashmir? A: We don’t have criminals as ministers. Corruption has been there for the past 50 years. It has been thought as a political weapon. But then, corruption is a national phenomenon. Q: How do you see Pakistan’s proposal of self-governance in the state? A: As an idea, self-governance is good. But it can have different models. There is a model of European Union and another of American Federalism. In Jammu and Kashmir, there is a model of self-rule under Article 370. There are no details of the proposals made by Pakistan. Unless the details are spelt out, the Government of India may not ask the state government for its response. If the formula of self-governance is aimed at redefining India’s sovereignty on Kashmir, then obviously it is a very serious issue and the Centre will not go around fishing for the opinion of an elected government. We have not been sounded and we do not want to volunteer a comment which relates to India’s sovereignty. It would be better that some of these things are debated behind the scenes (by Pakistan and India). At an appropriate time, the Government of India may like to elicit public opinion. Apparently, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf is working to a self-imposed timeclock of 2007 but I think he, being the head of state and a man of worldly wisdom, should prefer to thrash out these issues behind the scenes with the Government of India. Q: What about the proposal of demilitarisation? A: Demilitarisation as an idea cannot be dubbed immoral or politically unwise. The issue is how and when. If India and Pakistan become friends and learn to live in solidarity and cooperation, trillions of rupees will be saved by both countries. The issue is two-fold. First, when cross-border terrorism is still on and when thousands of militants are operating in different districts of Jammu and Kashmir, how can demilitarisation take place in three districts? Secondly, for the sake of argument, if demilitarisation takes place in these districts, where will the militants go? Will they go back to Pakistan or to other districts and escalate their activities in the state? So, it does not seem very practical idea to talk about demilitarisation without curbing militancy. Later, perhaps when India and Pakistan are at the final stage of negotiation or resolution, it can be part of the solution. But today, it appears to be too early and not practical. Q: Are these proposals meant to generate a debate? A: There are two ways of looking at it. We in the government see it from a diplomatic point of view. President Musharraf sees it from the point of view of his own people. He is mentally preparing them to move away from plebiscite. If the Government of India was to accept his proposals straightaway, he would lose credibility in Pakistan. The government, by giving a cold shoulder, is sending a message to the people of Pakistan, which he (President Musharraf) wants them to send that he is asking for something which is so difficult that India is not agreeing. When they finally agree, he can tell his people that he made them change their point of view. So it is deflecting public opinion from plebiscite to an idea which is more debatable. The idea of plebiscite cannot be considered. Q: How do you see the dialogue process? A: It is a little slow. People in Kashmir want it to be quicker. It would mean having a time schedule not for a final solution but for meetings. I think the dialogue process is irreversible. People of both countries want
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Democracy at the crossroads:
Time for introspection We will celebrate Republic Day on January 26, the day on which we adopted our Constitution 56 years ago. The founding fathers drafted a document which established sound traditions and enabled the people to participate in the democratic process. Jawaharlal Nehru, who led the country for 17 years, strengthened the roots of democracy. Institutions were built and precedents set while involving people in the process of governance. This gave a sense of belonging to the people. Nehru himself faced three general elections. The Constitution has stood the test of time. India has been able to function as a parliamentary democracy for 56 years. The legislature, the executive and the judiciary have functioned in a manner which has ensured the stability of the country. Constitutional authorities like the Election Commission have helped strengthen the process. We had regular elections in which governments have been defeated. People have the confidence that they can make and unmake governments. But, of late, doubts have arisen whether they have any say in the working of the governments. Why? The strength of India’s parliamentary democracy is rooted in its multi-party system and the manner in which the political parties work. It is here that we seem to have gone wrong. Indian political parties have not been functioning in a democratic manner, at least since the departure of our founding fathers. Inner-party democracy prevailed all through the Nehru era. This writer had watched Nehru being heckled at the AICC meetings and the Congress’ plenary sessions. Both he and his critics emerged stronger subsequently. Today there is hardly any political party which has primary membership. Most parties are controlled by some families or individuals. Seats for fighting elections are given on the basis of their loyalty to the leader or the candidates’ economic strength to fight the elections. A new leader, howsoever competent, will never be allowed to emerge unless he/she is part of the coterie or promotes himself by being at the beck and call of the individuals or the family controlling the party. Look at the British system which we have adopted. The political parties are able to challenge their leader and throw up an alternative by mobilising the basic members. In all fairness, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L.K. Advani should have retired after the 2004 general elections. But Mr Advani is still hopeful of becoming Prime Minister. If the Nehru-Gandhi family controlled the Congress party’s affairs, the Bhartiya Janata Party became the handmaiden of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Individual families started controlling other parties — Bal Thackeray’s Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, Jayalalithaa’s AIADMK and Karunanidhi’s DMK in Tamil Nadu, Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Samajvadi Party in UP, and Laloo Prasad Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal in Bihar. The exception to the rule have been the Communist parties — the CPI and the CPM. But both have their own brand of inner-party democracy and control! The result: the democratic process has failed to throw up a leader like Lal Bahadur Shastri to head the nation. Potential national leaders like Chandra Shekhar, Sharad Pawar, Ramakrishna Hegde or Narayan Dutt Tewari were felled before they could grow. They had to fall by the wayside, or remain satisfied with crumbs. The political parties’ inability to follow inner-party democracy has made the country drift back to the feudal era. The manner in which Lalu Prasad Yadav imposed his wife Rabri Devi on Bihar as Chief Minister for over a decade speaks volumes for the prevailing conditions in the state. We have learnt little from the communal holocaust leading to Partition. Caste and communal divisions have deepened, corrupting the democratic tradition. Mass agitations can be organised and emotions aroused on any pretext. Remember how Uma Bharti and Sushma Swaraj opposed Sonia Gandhi’s emergence as the leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party that gave her the right to become Prime Minister, after being duly elected as the leader of the Congress party. Could their action be called democratic? There are large sections in the country who did not haveany role to play in the working of our democracy except electing MPs or MLAs once in five years. The fruits of development have not trickled down to the people. In the initial years, India tried to create a welfare state and distribute wealth before creating wealth. Now the country has forgotten people’s welfare. The upper and middle classes have the control on national income. The media too is pampering the middle class. Consequently, the poorer classes have become an easy prey to movements like Naxalism. But the government still wants to fight Naxalism as a law and order problem. To make India a genuine democracy as visualised by the founding fathers, political parties should restore inner-party democracy and become mass based parties. The political system is in a crisis. There is a terrible lack of talent in the political parties. A few individuals, families or coteries control the political parties and they will not allow new talent to emerge. Noted Singapore leader Lee Kuan Yew, during a visit to India recently, called upon India’s businessmen, technocrats and the middle class to evince interest in politics and use their expertise in management to better the lot of the citizens. There is complete silence from these groups as they know they cannot penetrate the present political party system. And they do not wish to be at the beck and call of individuals controlling the levers of power. The Election Commission should ensure that all political parties hold organisational elections regularly. It can use its authority to monitor the audit and receipt of the parties’ accounts and seek details of membership. As of now, the commission has been able to restore people’s faith in the electoral system. Can it rise to the occasion and bring about inner-party democracy in the political parties? The Constitution has provided us the framework for a democratic form of government. To have real democracy, political parties will have to function in a democratic manner. It is time our professionals, especially the Generation Next, evince more interest in politics. Indian democracy is at the crossroads. We must look inwards instead of looking
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Boost to social infrastructure
in Haryana The Haryana Government’s attempt to address the core issue of social infrastructure is commendable. The PART (performance, accountability, responsiveness and transparency) system, a new scientific temper in the schools segment, English teaching in schools, proper planning and implementation of the rural health mission are all areas that will make education relevant. The discussion on the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) 2005 and decision to use NCERT textbooks in Haryana are right. However, the social infrastructure development merely by “Books Alone” will not address the social regression. Nor will enhanced budgetary allocation or creating physical access to education provide any relief. Social infrastructure development should be given a thrust in its entirety for sustaining growth. There are growing concerns about inequity in income growth. The widening social precipice, after Gurgaon and Gohana experiences, must make a serious engagement with the rubric social infrastructure. The pathways to Haryana’s growth demand it. This is different from the economic infrastructure typology. Plans to set up educational facilities in Haryana (as in Oxford University) suggest the government’s seriousness. A concrete proposal hopefully has emerged in the decision-making corridors. The exclusionary characteristics will hopefully get sorted out with the Right to Information Act. Encouragingly, the brand equity of Oxford University is being used in Haryana. The benefits of such brand equity must flow to all segments of education. If restricted to a few institutions, it will be counter-productive. The higher education segment selectively went in for quality audit under the aegis of the National Assessment Accreditation Certification Council. However, there are many deficiencies in this system. The audit processes and parameters can be improved upon. Higher educational institutions must create and deliver quality and relevant education. For this, they must be given a special policy space for affirmative social development action. The spectrum width of education starts with primary education and ends with higher education. There is, unfortunately, no visible organic link between any entities. For instance, there are about 110,000 scholars enrolled in recognised colleges for general education. Women constituted over 90,000. Do these scholars have any stake in Haryana’s development? Is the education imparted to them in tune with the current reality of social regress in the state? How and when will the “education city” touch their curriculum, give them jobs or make them capable for a meaningful engagement with factors leading to social regress? Of late, the market for education has been witness to a heavy dose of private initiatives. Are they supplementing or complimenting the state initiatives or merely segmenting the market in the name of competition? These have serious ramifications on the access and quality of
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WTO: The gains and the losses
There has been mixed reaction of various countries after the conclusion of the sixth ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) at Hong Kong. The 149 members of developed and developing countries who participated in the proceedings celebrated their victories. However, the fact remains that the developing countries have not been able to achieve any concrete results as expected. The biggest success of the ministerial meeting is that it has been able to produce a unanimous declaration which reflects a strong desire among all members of the WTO to pursue the Doha Development Agenda in the times to come. The actual results of the WTO in future discussions can be gauged only after some time, but the need to continue under the WTO auspices has been given due importance than the route of regional arrangements and free-trade agreements which are gaining ground among the South Asian countries including India. This is disappointing for the developing countries considering the demands made by the bloc in the run-up to the meeting. Among other things, it was repeatedly said that the key to the Hong Kong meeting was agriculture and its success would be decided on whether the developing countries extract their pound of flesh in the sector vis-à-vis the developed economies (notably the US, the EU and Japan), specially in the areas of reduction of domestic subsidies (green and blue box subsidies), export subsidies and market access. Nothing of the sort was achieved in any of these areas. This can be interpreted as a victory for the developed nations. The greatest success for the developing countries has been getting together of 110 developing countries (including LDC) for the first time on a “common minimum platform” and act as a “development thrust” on the developed countries that made a small dent on the draft agenda. If this unity continues, this can deliver substantial dividends in the future. The draft, approved by all the 149 signatory countries, decided, among other things, fixed 2013 as the deadline for the elimination of export subsidies in the Agreement of Agriculture and “disciplines on all export measures with equivalent effect”. This will be achieved in a progressive and parallel manner, to be specified in modalities, so that the substantial part is realised by the end of the first half of the implementation period. The choice of 2013 was made by the EU for its convenience (the developing countries had preferred 2010). A close reading of the draft will indicate that there is no finality of the schedule as it has been made dependent on the “completion of modalities” — the deadline for which is April 30, 2006. Given the record of the failed deadlines, there is no certainty that this date will be rigidly followed. It has also been decided that discussions on Geographical Indications, Geographical Appellations and Biological Diversity would be further intensified so as to be completed by June 30, 2006. The second draft is concerned with the reduction of subsidies on cotton demanded by the five cotton producing African countries. The developed countries have agreed to reduce the subsidies on cotton after completing the modalities by April 30. Union Commerce Minister Kamal Nath, who attended the ministerial meeting at Hong Kong, said the agreement on the elimination of export subsidies would help protect Indian farmers from unfair competition in the domestic market even while opening up new opportunities for the export of agricultural products. This seems to be wishful thinking unless the final agreement is signed in 2008. The Hong Kong draft allowed the developing countries to declare an appropriate number of special products — that would remain outside the ambit of the tariff reduction formula — on a self-selection basis. It was decided in the Framework Agreement also at the July 31, 2004 Geneva meeting. However, India has still not been able to decide and declare on the special products so far. The developed countries had already extracted substantial concessions in the July Framework. The document had signalled the acceptance of the continuation of the Blue Box with five per cent reduction and 80 per cent of reduction of Green Box subsidies. The declaration has completely ignored the problem of Box Shifting or transfer of trade distorting support into forms conveniently defined as non-trade-distorting. The only issue up for negotiations was the extent of and timeline for import tariffs and domestic subsidy reduction by different members and the date and the modalities for elimination of export subsidies on agriculture products which has not been identified. It also decided a special safeguard mechanism under which the developing countries would be able to raise their import duties on agriculture products in the event of a surge in their imports or a fall in their prices. One has to wait and watch for this provision for its implementation. Mr Kamal Nath, while addressing the concerns, said that India would draw up a list of 90 special products, which would be outside the tariff reduction formula and enable Indian farmers to safeguard their crucial crops from global competition. On the non-agricultural market access (NAMA) the proposal submitted by ABI (Argentina, Brazil and India) has been preferred. But there is no indication whether the “coefficients” mentioned in the declaration relate to just two (the choice of the developed countries) or many (preferred by the developing countries in particular India), which would take into account the different requirements of the poor economies, though it had been ensured that flexibilities for the developing countries would be included in the final package. In this area, the contentious issue was the degree to which developing countries would have to give up their right to protect the domestic firms in order to build and strengthen their domestic industrial base and face the threat of deindustrialisation by opening up their markets to imports of industrial goods. The thrust of the developed countries was to demand that all industrial tariffs have to be bound in all countries except the LDCs and these bound tariffs must over the time cover across countries and products. The developing countries’ position was that this amounted to ignoring the implications of international inequalities in industrial history. On the services sector, the setback for the developing countries is true of the services area. In the draft declaration Annex C, which argued for accelerating the liberalisation of services, was bracketed, implying that there was no agreement on the area. In a surprising development, the whole of Annex C has been unbracketed, albeit with some changes. This shows that the developing countries are now willing to engage in sectoral and plurilateral negotiations, though Cuba and Venezuela have formally expressed their reservations on the issue. India's role in the mobilisation of developing countries' support for the inclusion of Annex C, driven by its own interests, was crucial. India had asked for Mode 4 — movement of natural persons — concessions; the declaration makes a special mention of such allowance only for the Least Developed Countries. In sum, even at this framework stage, developing countries have given too much when they are in majority for little in return. The exact level of the gains and the losses will be clear when the modalities have been fully worked
out. ——— The writer is Director, Institute of Development Studies and Training. Chandigarh |
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Profile
Vinda has reached that stage as his creativity, full of worldly struggle, always striving to achieve aesthetic perfection, cuts across the boundaries of language and region. Age has caught up with him as he is conferred with the highest literary award of the land but his spirits are still high. He walks slowly, as every day routine, to his third-floor apartment in Mumbai, clutching a bag which he refuses to give to anybody. The day after he was conferred the Jnanpith Award was a special day as well wishers and friends flocked to his modest residence in a Mumbai suburb. As usual puffing, he climbed the stairs. Admirers offered to carry his bag. He refused. He deposited the bag in his flat; it contained fresh vegetables. As a well wisher bowed before him and tried to touch his feet, Vinda, an avowed socialist, stopped him and pleaded with him “not to touch my feet”. He had worshipped only three persons in his life but never touched their feet. They are Sane Guruji, Senapati Bapat and Baba Amte. While the first two have passed away, Baba Amte is too old and lives near Nagpur. He is no longer in touch with him. Those who had met him after he was given the Jnanpith Award say that his memory appears to be failing. He also does not give interviews but reacted with dignity and humility when the prestigious award was announced. “This award does not belong to me… it is a respect to the tradition of poetry nurtured by Marathi language and readers for decades…It is an honour for this land…please do not restrict it to me”. Vinda’s genius is not confined to Marathi literature alone. He is accomplished in English literature, having taught it for several years at Mumbai’s two prestigious colleges. He also taught at the University of Chicago, briefly though. His area of teaching included Aristotle and Plato and works of Shakespeare. He has translated into Marathi works of Aristotle and plays of Shakespeare of which King Lear is rated as outstanding. His students, one of whom later became Professor of English Literature, say “Vinda was a brilliant teacher and an original thinker”. Says one of his pet students: “He taught us Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice and Macbeth. The characters of the two plays would come alive as he lectured — Macbeth brooding in high tension and remorse, and Portia becoming a Daniel come to judgement for the bloodthirsty Shylock. He also composed delightful nursery rhymes for toddlers. Apart from literature, there is yet another unknown facet of Vinda’s long life. He had financially helped projects relating to family planning and HIV/AIDS awareness programmes. He was jailed for four months for participation in the liberation movement of Hyderabad from the Nizam’s rule. His past time included flying kites which he did with his son till a few years back. Vinda started writing little late in life when he was in his thirties. Quite early in his career, as far back as 1943, he was attracted by Marxism and his poems bear the influence of Marxist thoughts. Vigorous in expressing anger and protect, his poems, as if, clamour for social justice. His love poems have sensuous delicacy. A day came in his life when he announced his retirement. His admirers asked why? The answer was, “I have nothing more to say. Doctors and teachers too, after all, retire”. As a contemporary writer explained “creative fatigue” could hit a writer at any stage, but it becomes a permanent factor in old age. “Pride prevents self-analysis. So you keep on writing though you are neither heard not read. You are terrified of being forgotten”, a Marathi writer has been quoted as saying. Vinda now leads a contended life, reading, playing with the grandchild, attending music concerts when his arthritis permits. Normally he shuns visitors and public functions and does not give interviews. “I can't trust myself to be coherent and consistent”, he confesses. The citation of Jnanpith Award says: “A long creative life, full of worldly struggle and ceaseless in its search for aesthetic perfection is at the back of this achievement”. Vinda has dedicated the award to the field of Marathi
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Diversities — Delhi Letter If you are under the impression that all are sitting unconcerned at the general state of affairs, then you are wrong. Definitely wrong. Kaam ho raha hai, if I may repeat the words of M.F. Husain which he'd uttered and muttered a couple of years back in an entirely different context. Anway, back to the present. This week, a Citizens' Report on Governance and Development was released by I.K. Gujral. The coalition called National Social Watch (NSWC) has focussed on the key institutions. In the report on Parliament, it decried decline in the number of sittings per year, too much of Parliament time being wasted on political controversies, disinterested attitude of the MPs towards critical issues like drought, insufficient food, plight of farmers, etc. This report also tabled some other findings. The resource allocation for rural development has been going down. In 2003-04, 9.3 per cent of plan outlay was allotted for rural development, which declined to 5.64 per cent in 2004-05. For primary education, we see an increase in the allocation of public expenditure resources. In 2003-04, it was 1.43 per cent and in 2004-05 it went up to 2.18 per cent Public expenditure on health for 2003-04 was 4.2 per cent. In 2004-05, it increased marginally to 4.4 per cent.
Meet on Indo-Pak relations To bring people together on a common platform to assess the Indo-Pak relations, there was a two-day long meet here. Hosted by the Nelson Mandela Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies and The Gandhian Studies Centre (Jamia Millia Islamia), it brought people from the Valley and Pakistan. Inaugurated by Union Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh, it took off by two main guest speakers, Pakistan's former foreign minister Sardar Aseff Ali and former deputy chief executive Northern Area who is also a member of the North Area Legislative Council, Fida Mohammad Nashad. Of course, there were several other speakers from both countries. Though the speeches were along political lines, getting worse with a couple of the speakers from the Valley even speaking along narrow party lines, the redeeming factor was the human angle. The earthquake and the disaster it has brought has mellowed some of the rigidities involved. Pakistan’s Lateef Akbar, who is a member of the PPP and hails from Muzaffarabad, was very vocal in his speech about the lack of coordination between the two countries in the context of the earthquake. He recounted how many people died in his own family and he’d himself been injured — was still limping with a dislocated foot. It was tragic hearing. Let’s see if in the midst of all this massive tragedy, some sense prevails and there’s more people-to-people getting together and the politics of hatred somehow bypassed. In fact, one of the key speakers did come up with an extremely potent and worth mentioning key line. He said if till date India and Pakistan have failed to come on friendly terms, now let it be the duty of Kashmiris to help them in this direction and help achieve peace.
Conference on communalism Another activist forum, ANHAD, together with other NGOs like Peace, Sangat, Aman Samudaya are holding a two-day consultation on communalism (Jan 26-27). There is an urgent need to focus on the communalisation of Indian society witnessed during the last two decades because it has now entered a new phase. After the 2004 elections, the communal forces are regrouping and revising new modes to regain the lost ground and to further their influence. For this reason, it is proposed to bring together people who are concerned about the survival of secular democracy in India. This meeting is intended to take stock of the communal situation in various parts of the country, particularly the steps adopted by communal organisations during the last two years. Well known social activists keenly involved to halt this communal sway are Prof K.N. Panikkar, Harsh Mander, Shabnam Hashmi and Biju
Mathew. |
There are many who see truth in untruth and untruth where truth exists. They are deluded ones. They follow the path of vain glory.
—The Buddha The trial of the world is not surmounted by trying to avoid it, but by living life as best we can, so that we may find out who we are in the process of taking responsibility of our lives and destinies. — Islam Raga-bhakti is pure love of God, a love that seeks God alone and not any worldly end. —
Ramakrishna One must strive for excellence in all undertakings but maintain equanimity in success and failure, gain and loss, and pain and pleasure. — Bhagvad Gita Life is like the razor’s edge, temptations beckon on either side. But he who walks the straight and narrow path wins eternal happiness. |
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Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Muzaffar Hussain Baig, 59, is forthright in his views about the situation in Jammu and Kashmir. In his childhood, he had to trudge miles on foot to school. He earned scholarships to reach the Harvard Law School. He stayed in the US for a few years before returning to the state. A founder member of the People’s Democratic Party, he was among those who finalised the Common Minimum Programme of the ruling
coalition.
Vinda Karandikar, recipient of the prestigious Jnanpith Award, is an 87-year-old scholar of Marathi literature. It would be unfair to see him as writer and poet of a regional language alone. Persons, who rise to dizzy heights in the field of literature, cut across the barrier of language and region because their contribution — whether in prose or poetry — encompasses the truth and harsh realities of life. They are not confined to a region or to a language.