 |
|
Wheat imports again Quota uncertainty |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Tax them more
Editor’s Column
Mother India’s cricket diaspora
Do not link wheat prices to global market Quiet diplomacy needed in quest for Commonwealth post Delhi Durbar
|
Wheat imports again Once
again, the government has decided to import five million tonnes of wheat. This is to meet the gap between demand and supply. Against a requirement of 120 lakh tonnes, the government agencies have procured only 92 lakh tonnes. This is despite a hefty Rs 100 bonus on the minimum support price of Rs 775. In Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh the FCI has failed to meet its procurement targets. There are two possibilities: either traders/farmers are holding back stocks expecting a price rise later in the year or there is actually a decline in wheat production due to untimely rain. Only a proper study can find out the reality. Anyway, the situation does not augur well either for the poor or the government. Last year’s story is set to repeat itself. Though the government is importing wheat, the demand-supply mismatch may remain. This could drive traders to exploit the situation of scarcity to their advantage. Secondly, the quality of imported wheat is suspect. A Green activist has moved the Supreme Court against wheat imports, alleging the wheat imported last year was unfit for human consumption. Besides, 53,000 tonnes of already contracted wheat was lying unused at ports. Pulses are already in short supply and if the wheat price too soars, the poor would be at the receiving end again and the government’s food subsidy bill would balloon. The food subsidy, which was Rs 9,200 crore in 1999-2000, swelled to Rs 26,000 crore last year. The government may cut foodgrain allocations for the Antyodaya Anna Yojna as well as the food-for-work programme. The government could have paid the market price to farmers and built sufficient buffer stocks, but instead it stuck to the MSP, leaving the field open to corporate and other private buyers. Farmers do not understand the logic behind paying a higher price for the imported wheat than what is given to them. The productivity and quality of farm products need to be enhanced if the challenge of shortages is to be met on a long-term basis. |
|
Quota uncertainty The
Supreme Court has reserved its ruling on referring to a Constitution Bench the petitions challenging the Central law providing 27 per cent reservation for the OBCs in institutions like the IIMs and IITs. With this, uncertainty will continue for some more time among the OBCs for admission to IIMs. Following the apex court’s refusal to vacate its March 29 stay order, the IIMs have already started the admission process for the current academic session for all seats other than those reserved under the OBC quota plan. The two-member Bench consisting of Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice L.S. Panta has given eight weeks to states and parties to file their pleadings. The apex court will also break for summer vacation from May 19 to July 8. If the Centre’s petition for a Constitution Bench is accepted, the hearings will commence only some time after the summer vacation. Significantly, the apex court’s deft handling of the case has helped cool down the tempers on both sides of the quota divide. Moreover, the Bench has indicated that it is not averse to a close scrutiny of the entire gamut of reservation by a wider Bench. However, before deciding about it, it would like to examine broad issues relating to reservation. These should touch on whether reservation per se would violate the right to equality; whether providing quota is valid and how long it could continue; whether reservation could be provided by removing the creamy layer; and whether economic criterion should determine one’s backwardness irrespective of caste considerations. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati’s call for reservation for the poor among the upper castes and minorities has added a new dimension to the current debate even though this demand is not new. She said that if the Centre brings forward legislation on this, she would support it. This is in tune with her new social engineering which helped her return to power with a simple majority in the State Assembly. However, if the Centre fails to do so, she said that she would go ahead with her proposal to extend quotas to economically weaker sections among the upper castes and minorities in Uttar Pradesh. The Supreme Court would, perhaps, study this issue too while examining the constitutional validity of the 93rd Constitution (Amendment) Act. |
|
Tax them more The
Centre reportedly collects Rs 50,000 crore annually from the service tax. When some states, including Punjab, recently asked for a share, they were given a list of 77 services which can be taxed by them. That Indians are among the heavily taxed has been widely known for long. This, however, has not deterred the government from further increasing the tax burden on the people year after year. The latest trend is to go in for a “cess” for a specific purpose. The high rates of taxes and complicated procedures have led to widespread tax evasion. Exemptions help the better-off to escape the tax net. When reforms began in 1991 it was assumed that the role of government would shrink and the cost of administration fall. While the private sector has expanded, the public sector has not shed flab. The vested interests have scuttled the process of disinvestment. The various central and state pay commissions recommended higher scales on the condition that the government would cut the staff strength. The new scales were implemented sans the condition. This has caused financial havoc in states. The ruling parties give in to populism to win elections. There is, no doubt, scope for increasing the tax base. The number of taxpayers in a country of more than one billion is very small. There are many services which can be taxed. But then the tax rates for honest taxpayers must come down to reasonable levels. Taxes account for 53 per cent of the petrol retail price. Is it fair? The Income Tax Department has declared as “non-recoverable” tax arrears of Rs 85,000 crore (up to 2003-04) and wants them waived. Isn’t it the easy way out? Litigation, provoked by cumbersome tax laws and exemptions, has held up huge amounts of tax arrears. Before rushing to levy fresh taxes, the government should set its own house in order. |
|
The virtue which requires to be ever guarded is scarce worth the sentinel. |
Editor’s Column In the film Shree 420 Raj Kapoor, who had been driven to desperation, could not sell his toothpowder. The word had spread that he had mixed sand picked up from Chowpatty in his version of the toothpowder. Mulayam Singh Yadav’s mascot, Amitabh Bachchan, could not sell the idea that his political mentor had made Uttar Pradesh the best-governed state. The ageing star could not make a fool of the people by claiming that there was no crime in UP governed by his friend. Raj Kapoor in Shree 420 ultimately followed his instincts and opted to be on the side of the people and honesty. Amitabh Bachchan must now be finding himself on the wrong side of the people. The Congress party’s new brand ambassador, Rahul Gandhi, tried to sell a dream of an Uttar Pradesh the people had not seen for years. He promised jobs, houses, healthcare and education. His first major foray into the heat and dust of an election campaign in Uttar Pradesh has come a cropper, pushing the Congress a few more notches down the table. For the BJP, the UP campaign was a major attempt to come out of its wilderness and win power in the State and later at the Centre. The party, which is generally averse to learning from past failures, again tried to sell the idea of a State based on Hindutva. The party was badly beaten in the State where over 14 years ago it demolished the Babri Masjid, arrogantly believing that it would provide a short-cut to power at the Centre. The BJP’s mythical State based on Hindutva had nothing to do with what the people wanted. Hindutva was the BJP’s toothpowder and the people saw through the worth of the stuff the party’s clumsy salesmen tried to dole out to them. Most politicians are reluctant to learn and some of them even tend to think that the people who had voted them out were very wrong. In frustration, Mulayam Singh Yadav has even blamed the Election Commission whose only fault was holding one of the fairest polls the State has witnessed for years — free of rigging and booth-capturing, although with the admission that it could not weed out candidates with a criminal record. TV channels, by and large, were not of much help to Mayawati, but her victory is of a major significance which goes beyond just proving that pollsters know more about statistical jugglery than the ground realities that shape politics in India. After 14 years UP will have a single-party government which, if all goes well, may remain in office for five years and possibly provide the State the much-needed stability. Mayawati may be young in years, but she can be expected to know that if her government succeeds, the people will remain with her and if she reneges on her promises, she will be treated like many of her predecessors. Mayawati’s victory, however, is a message that goes beyond Uttar Pradesh and is relevant for the entire country. Political parties, which are generally loathe to change their ways, must take it seriously if they have to remain active players in politics. The message is simple: India is a plural society encompassing many religions, castes, languages, ethnic groups and people – poor, very poor, rich and not-so-rich. No political party can afford to ignore the basic truths shaping India. A plural society and polity do not leave any scope for sectoral politics, providing for the dominance of one community at the cost of others. The BJP has, however, been having its own exclusivist agenda. The party top brass, whatever it means these days given the serious divisions prevailing at senior levels, badly needs to shed its obsession with divisive politics. The BJP leaders do not care to know that the people’s problems cannot be sorted out by remaining stuck to the past. They do not know that the nation’s unity cannot survive unless every Indian, irrespective of considerations of caste, religion, language or ethnicity, can hold his or her head high, and live without fear. A plural society and polity call for an inclusive approach where the door is thrown open and opportunities provided to every community. An exclusivist approach, besides sharpening the divides, alienates many other sections, narrows minds and constituencies and rules out mutual accommodation that informs democracies. Mayawati had somehow come to the conclusion that depending only on the Dalit vote would not carry her far and that she will have to enlarge her constituency by following an inclusive approach and co-opting others. It is not without reason that she gave a big share of seats to upper castes like the Brahmins and the Thakurs, besides the Muslims and the OBCs. The upper castes and Muslims prominently figure in her council of ministers. Besides hard work, planning and tenacity, it is the widening of the base that has really helped her to come to power in Uttar Pradesh. The Congress party had ruled the country for years with ease so long as its constituency was large and cut across various divisive fault-lines of Indian politics. An inclusive and coalitional attitude of the party helped it steer the country without serious problems. The narrowing of its constituency led to its losing power at the Centre and several States, the growth of regional parties and dependence on them for survival. If the BJP is out on a limb now, it is because of the politics of exclusion it has followed all along. The Sangh Parivar often discusses in its secret conclaves the relevance of Hindutva in the 21st century India, but the minds of its leaders and followers are too tightly closed to permit fresh thinking. Essentially, the Sangh Parivar’s mind is not coalitional and if it has approved of coalitions at the Centre and in States, it is because of convenience, not conviction. In a way, Mayawati’s ascendancy to power is a tribute to Indian democracy where a Dalit can reach the top, not because of grace shown by the upper castes and dominant sections of society, but despite them. Now it is she who is offering inclusion of upper castes, particularly the deprived among them, along with minorities into her fold. Whether they like it or not, the bigger parties dare not spurn her hand that they were hesitant to clasp earlier. Immediately, the Congress and the UPA need her help for getting a suitable candidate elected as President. The majority in the UP Assembly elections gives her considerable bargaining power to play a role in Delhi. Mayawati is also looking ahead and beyond UP. Having unfurled the flag in Lucknow, she made it known at her victory celebrations that she would now aim at the Red Fort. The bigger parties may not relish these kinds of statements, but seem shy of joining issues with her. Power is sweet after victory and Mayawati has the right to celebrate. There are formidable problems and challenges facing her, however. An immediate challenge will be her need to come unscathed out of the Taj Corridor scandal. Even if the CBI goes slow on the trail at the instance of the UPA government, the Supreme Court may prove a spoilsport. The other is the presence of several criminals in her party. Even if they are fewer than those in Mulayam Singh’s brigade, she may have to ensure that criminals play no role in the governance of the State. It will not be easy for her to get some of the baggage gathered in the campaign off her shoulder after victory. But her long-term plans will demand that she does not compromise with corruption and criminalisation. What she ultimately does in this area remains to be
seen.
|
Mother India’s cricket diaspora
I
had watched the World Cup cricket this time around from a curious, though myopic, point of view. Struck by the cricketers of Indian origin with their tell-tale names brandished on their sweatshirts, I sat down to counting their heads. The revelations were startling. Out of the 16 teams that took part in the World Cup, if one includes Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh and India, prominent members of as many as 11 teams derive their descent from the Indian sub-continent. The Caribbean hosts had Shivnarine Chanderpaul, a rare combination of batsman and bowler, Denesh Ramdin wicketkeeper and batsman of great potential who filled the vacuum for Jeff Dujon, Ramnaresh Sarwan, a nimble Chaplinesque figure, who took over as Brian Lara’s vice-captain in 2003. The Kiwis on the other end had obviously Gujarati lineage Jeetan Shah Patel, the Kenyans had Ravi Shah, the stylish right handed opener and Bombay born Tanmay Mishra, apart from Malhar L. Patel, Hiren Ashok Varaiya and Rajesh Lalji Bhudia of India’s West coast origin as its valuable members. Coming to the English-speaking world Sunil Dhaniram, who made his debut in the West Indies and later moved to Canada to become their all-important allrounder, the 25-year-old Delhi-born Ashish Bagai — the small tidy wicketkeeper with good glove work, and Umar Bhatti adorned the Canadian multicultural team. From the European soil, the Scottish team playing with its distinct cultural identity had Glasgow-born allrounder star Navdeep Singh Poonia deriving his genes from the Indian Punjab. That is not to miss Patka clad Mudhusuden Singh Panesar (Monty) hailing from Ludhiana and leading the English bowling attack and Ravinder Singh Bopara (Boparai to be precise), a top order England batsman from the Indian Punjabi soil. All this made me feel intensely proud that Mother India is the cradle of international cricket today. The sport may have come to India with the British but it flourished and disseminated from India with the diaspora that left the Indian shores in the foregoing centuries in search of greener pastures as also by painful geographical divisions. It looks quite natural when you find Danish Kaneria playing for Pakistan after his cousin Anil Dalpat did the wicketkeeping for them for some time. Sports conquer barriers. Narrowing down the focus, another word of pride for all Punjabis. In the Pakistan team out of the 15 members squad 10 of them —Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Nazir, Mohammad Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Asif, Abdul Razzaq, Naved-ul-Hasan, Iftikhar Anjum — hail from Western Punjab. With West Punjab-born Mohammad Kashif and Adeel Raja playing for the Dutch team, at least 12 World Cup players are known to have been born in Lahore, which was once the capital of joint Punjab.n |
Do not link wheat prices to global market Punjab
and Haryana farmers are dissatisfied even with the revised higher procurement price of wheat. They are demanding a procurement price equal to the world market price of wheat. The governments of the two states are also supporting this demand. The Central Government, however, is not willing. Should the procurement price of wheat be linked to world market prices? The decision on such a vital question should not be based on a short-run consideration and temporary situations. The long-run interests of the country should be the deciding factor. Farmers are swayed by short-run gains in the current season, and do not understand the long-run negative implications. The world market prices of wheat fluctuate very widely over the years. Farmers’ gains of the current year, from a high world market price this year, will be more than wiped out by the low prices in other years. The consumers will also suffer because the certainty of availability of wheat at almost fixed prices will disappear. Wheat prices in India will fluctuate in line with world market prices. Only traders and speculators will gain from such wheat price fluctuations; both farmers and consumers will suffer. The long-run dangers of linking the procurement price of wheat to the world market price will manifest itself through many routes. Under such a system, the procurement price cannot be fixed in advance at the beginning of the wheat-sowing season in November, because the relevant world market price will be the one prevailing the next April at the time of wheat harvesting. The uncertainty about the procurement price till the harvesting time will make crop planning by farmers impossible, and will have a depressing effect on wheat production. The present system of cheap, subsidised farm inputs cannot survive for long once farm produce prices are linked to world market price. The demand for making farmers pay for farm inputs at market determined rates will gain momentum, and cannot be resisted for long. Farmers will end up paying a higher price for fertilisers, diesel and other farm inputs. The income gains from high procurement prices in some years will get wasted in increased consumption, but the losses suffered in years of low procurement prices will pile into huge debt. The already serious farm debt problem will further worsen. The very system of assured purchase of all the surplus wheat at a guaranteed price by central government agencies cannot last long in such a regime. The insulation of the domestic market from the world market is a necessary condition for the successful operation of the system of guaranteed prices and assured purchase of all the surplus produce of farmers. In a regime of world market linked and fluctuating procurement prices, price expectations start playing a dominant role in the hoarding and off-loading decision of producers and traders. Even consumers start storing the commodity much in excess of their real requirements. In such a market environment, procurement operations of central government agencies will be repeatedly disrupted by fluctuations in market arrivals of wheat, and will ultimately break down. The central government may ultimately find it cheaper and easier to depend on the world market, rather than building its own buffer stocks of wheat. These long-term ramifications of linking procurement price of wheat to world market price may be difficult to understand and appreciate by farmers of surplus wheat producing states. But they can easily learn from the experience of farmers of rich, wheat exporting countries. Farmers of these rich countries do not demand world market-linked prices for their wheat; rather they dread such a linkage. Everywhere in these countries government guarantees a price that covers the cost of production, and also ensures a rough parity of farm incomes with non-farm incomes. A system of procurement prices that covers the cost of procurement and also leaves sufficient surplus in their pockets to ensure a decent standard of living, would be ideal from the farmers’ point of view. Rather than demanding world market-linked procurement prices, farmers should press for a long-term commitment from the central government to purchase all the surplus wheat at the cost of production and an inflation-linked procurement price. Central government food policy advisors should not be swayed by short-term considerations as they were in the previous few years, when the world market price of wheat was low and domestic buffer stock situation comfortable. Taking advantage of that temporary situation, procurement price of wheat was virtually frozen from 2000-01 to 2005-06. Over these six years procurement price of wheat increased only by 6.6 per cent, whereas the wholesale price index rose by 25.6 per cent; and farmers real realised price of wheat declined by 19 per cent. As a result wheat production stagnated and wheat procurement for central stocks fell below the required norm, and desperate wheat shortage situation emerged in the country. It is well known to central government food policy advisors that all assessments of supply of, and demand for, wheat in the country indicate that it will be extremely difficult to maintain self-sufficiency in wheat production over the next two decades. The pricing and procurement of wheat and rice in India is a very delicate balance of administered produce prices and subsidised farm inputs, that should not be disturbed for short-run gains. The writer is a retired Professor of Economics Panjab University, Chandigarh |
|
Quiet diplomacy needed in quest for Commonwealth post The
Commonwealth, as it exists today, is an Indian creation. It would have dwindled into insignificance if the old concept of it, as an association of countries which recognise the British Crown as head of state, had remained intact. India heralded a “new” Commonwealth by opting to stay within the Commonwealth as a fully independent state, a lead followed by many other independent states. The new trend, no doubt, ensured the perpetuation of the Commonwealth, but also weakened it as an organisation. It did not have the bond of a common head of state anymore and it became a club of convenience. It created anomalies like the maintenance of high commissioners rather than ambassadors between independent countries within the Commonwealth. The new Commonwealth had a special agenda as long as apartheid existed in South Africa and other British colonies remained. Many smaller Commonwealth countries were also not members of the UN till recently. But today, the Commonwealth is just a club, which merely duplicates much of the UN agenda, like the environment and human rights. The Commonwealth is now essentially a storehouse of memories, maintained by the UK, Australia and Canada for sentimental reasons. For many small countries, it is a convenient additional source of financial and technical assistance. India does not have much to gain and, on issues like human rights, it compels us to defend our position in an additional forum. Even with all its strong bonds of the past, India has no major stakes in the Commonwealth. But as long as the association exists, the post of its Secretary General will be considered a mini-UN Secretary General with a fat salary and perks. It will be a good sinecure for someone the Government wishes to reward. The present quest for the post by India should be seen in this context alone. We have any number of diplomats, who will fill the bill. We can also muster enough arguments to claim the post such as our size, our past contributions and need for geographical rotation. In fact, India’s turn had come long ago, but each time we offered a candidature, it was thwarted by the interested parties. The fact that a person of Indian origin was a fixture in the post for long in the person of Sir Sridath Ramphal was one reason for the Indian claim being not highlighted so far. India should, however, be wary of putting up a candidate, unless there are iron clad guarantees from the UK, Canada and Australia that they would favour an Indian. Though they have no veto, they hold the key to the election in many ways. They have their own criteria as to who they would like, because of their stakes in the association and its future. Like the permanent members of the UN Security Council, who wish to have manageable secretaries general, these countries will not like strong and imaginative individuals, who may change the direction of the Commonwealth. Indians are particularly suspect in their eyes. Our experience of 1979, when India put up a candidate for the post of Commonwealth Secretary General may have receded from public memory, but it is a lesson worth recalling if we are contemplating a candidature this time The responsibility of handling India’s candidature fell on the then External Affairs Minister, who neither had the experience nor the wisdom to handle the situation. As a result, we ended up losing the post, falling out with President Kaunda and generally being seen as novices in international diplomacy. It even led to the premature termination of Jagat Mehta’s term as Foreign Secretary. The fiasco was not caused by the ambition of an individual, but by the machinations of some countries, which used the Indian candidature for their own ends, but disappeared when things did not go the way they wanted. The post of the Commonwealth Secretary General is not one for which India should aspire to for political or strategic reasons. It should just be seen as recognition of India’s position in the association and an opportunity for one of our diplomats to secure a high profile post. Quiet diplomacy rather than an aggressive campaign will yield results in this case. |
|
Delhi Durbar With
Gandhigiri sweeping the country, why not have a Gandhian like Nirmala Deshpande as the President? That was the poser by Minister of State (independent charge) for Women and Child Development, Renuka Chowdhury. It was not that she was taking the Congress line, as the political parties are expected to come to grips with their nominee only over the next few days. Chowdhury just mentioned the name of Deshpande in passing when a scribe asked her who she felt would be a good President. This was at a memorable evening she hosted for women journalists, where there were only a smattering of their male counterparts. Noted sufi singer Zilla Khan regaled the gathering with her melliflous rendition of the evergreen Rajasthani folk song “Kesariya Balam.” Another surprise was a lesson in self-defence.
Water website With the growing focus on water due to disputes between some states and concerns about its scarcity, the Ministry of Water Resources has redesigned its website to provide people updated information about the precious natural resource. The new bilingual website, launched in the Water Year 2007, gives an overview of the problems relating to water and steps being taken to address them. Given Water Resouces Minister Saiffudin Soz’s insistence on “transparency,” the website has a separate section on inter-state water disputes. The section tells about the relevant constitutional provisions and awards of tribunals but says nothing of how the Ministry views these disputes.
Challenging post TCA Raghavan has taken over as the new Joint Secretary (Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran) in the Ministry of External Affairs. Raghavan is an old and adept Pakistan hand and he recently came from Islamabad where he was posted as India’s Deputy High Commissioner. Raghavan took charge on May 10 from Dilip Sinha, who is going to Greece as India’s ambassador. Raghavan’s posting comes at a time when India and Pakistan are smoking the peace pipe and the fourth round of the Composite Dialogue process is already on. The post is a pivotal one, though of late Joint Secretary (Americas) has climbed one notch above in the informal MEA heirarchy of important posts.
Daring doctors The Ganga Ram Hospital team that dared to do a simultaneous kidney and liver transplant surgery on a teenaged boy, using two, live, related donors, is determined to report its first-time success story to the international scientific community. Dr A.S. Soin, senior liver transplant surgeon in charge of the case, is hopeful about reporting the case to “Liver Transplantation”, an international journal published by the International Liver Transplantation Society. The 18-hour surgery was exceptional in many ways. Contributed by Vibha Sharma, Prashant Sood, Rajeev Sharma and Tripti Nath |
You have thousands of eyes, O Lord! and yet you have not even one. |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
