The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Ill-advised proposal
Need to look beyond castes and quotas

The Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment’s recommendation to the government to include caste as one of the criteria in the 2011 census is ill-advised. Based on a suggestion from the National Backward Classes Commission, the Ministry is believed to have asked for a differential headcount of the Other Backward Classes and reassessment of their condition so that some changes could be incorporated in the OBC list. The Ministry is reportedly of the view that a caste-based census will help government know the exact population of various castes as also their degree of progress. The proposal, however, is devoid of merit because caste-based census will not only re-affirm caste but also perpetuate the caste system. Moreover, this runs counter to our founding fathers’ avowed aim to establish a casteless, progressive and egalitarian society.

Significantly, the Centre has been saying no to accepting the demand for caste-based census for quite some time. It is noteworthy that India’s first Union Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel had made it clear that the 1931 census would be the last caste-based census. Later, B.P. Mandal, former MP and author of the Mandal Commission report, had asked former Home Ministers H.M. Patel, Y.B. Chavan and Giani Zail Singh between 1978 and 1980 for such a census. But the Centre rejected the demand on the ground that enumeration of thousands of castes and sub-castes in the country was not only “undesirable” but also “impossible”.

Interestingly, the Centre used the same argument when the Supreme Court asked it to update data on the country’s OBC population in the backdrop of the controversy over reservations in 2006. Moreover, it had told the court that it had an “impressive volume of data”, collected scientifically by the National Sample Survey Organisation, the National Family Health Survey, the Mandal Commission and others. Unfortunately, political parties have been using caste for playing vote-bank politics. Caste is so deeply entrenched in Indian society that reservations have consolidated caste divisions and hampered the herald of a casteless society. It is time we looked beyond castes, quotas and vote banks.

Package for Himachal
Promote regional cooperation

As the industrial package given to the hill states, including Himachal Pradesh, comes to an end in March, 2010, a controversy has erupted as the chief ministers of the northern states lobby for and against its extension. The BJP government in Himachal Pradesh is pleading for stretching the tax bonanza to the hill states by another 10 years, or at least for three more years as initially planned. The Union Commerce Minister, Mr Anand Sharma, who hails from Himachal, has backed his home state’s demand. This has raised the hackles of the political leaders and industrialists in the neighbouring state of Punjab who are vigorously opposing any further extension of the package.

Originally granted in 2003 by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government at the Centre for 10 years, the industrial package, which included an income tax exemption for five years and an excise duty holiday for 10 years to industries setting up shop in the hill states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, was curtailed to seven years by the subsequent Congress government led by Dr Manmohan Singh. Though the spirit behind the grant of the tax concessions to industries is understandable as the hill states had lagged behind in development, this has unnecessarily vitiated the cordial atmosphere prevailing among the neighbouring states. In fact, states as far as Maharashtra are voicing concerns over this special treatment as industrial units are moving from their existing locations in various states to take advantage of the tax relief.

Instead of adopting a discriminatory, state-specific approach to promote industrial development, the Centre should encourage regional cooperation so that states in a particular region pool their resources and make joint efforts for integrated growth. This will also check the duplicity of facilities and wastage of limited resources. The ruling political leaders of the northern states should sink their differences and sit on one platform to forge a joint development strategy.

Thought for the Day

My mind to me a kingdom is,/ Such perfect joy therein I find. — Edward Dyer

ARTICLE

A sad commentary
Soft States can’t be super powers
by Inder Malhotra

AT the turn of the year there was a plethora of projections about this country’s spectacular strides not only during the New Year but also throughout the “decisive decade” and beyond. There was no dearth of forecasts that within the foreseeable future India would “overtake China”. This prognostication can by no means be dismissed as preposterous, judging by the rate of growth during the years 2004-08 and even in the period following the worst global recession in 80 years. For quite a while the international community has been talking of “Rising India”, and has taken note of its advantageous attributes such as democracy, long tradition of entrepreneurship, knowledge of English, demographic dividend in terms of young population and so on.

However, perceptive observers, Indian and foreign, are equally aware that we cannot achieve our undoubted potential for as long as we manage our affairs so badly as we have been doing so far. We have been muddling through at best and making a mess of things at worst. Witness, Telangana, the case of the Haryana top cop who molested a minor girl and tortured her family and has received a minor sentence of six months’ imprisonment after 19 years, or soaring food prices under a reign that never stops swearing by aam aadmi. The politico-bureaucratic culture, work ethics, a climate of mindless but unending violence, gargantuan corruption and much else that we have allowed to develop and flourish can defeat the best of aspirations and efforts.

An alarming, if also illuminating, example of what we are confronted with is best provided by the ease with which three Pakistani terrorists - convicted of bomb attacks near the Red Fort nine years ago and awaiting deportation to their country after completing their sentences - have managed to escape. Merely to state the bare facts of this outrage is to numb the mind. The three Pakistani terrorists, one of whom was convicted of “waging war against India”, were housed at a detention centre run by the Foreigners Registration Regional Office (FRRO) with apparently minimal security. It now transpires that they had been at the detention centre for several months. No one has explained why. But it is possible that there were difficulties in sending them back to Pakistan, as that country has always refused to accept even the remains of Pakistani terrorists or even soldiers killed in this country.

The terrorist trio complained of eye ailment and a lone sub-inspector escorted them to a hospital. Thereafter, all four went to a restaurant close to the area where the terrorists had perpetrated their heinous acts to lunch. From there the three terrorists made good their escape. Thereafter, the sub-inspector took a good 13 hours to inform his superiors, thus giving the desperadoes enough time to disappear. It is no less disturbing that the authorities at the detention centre also took no notice of the prolonged absence of the detainees and their solitary escort. Whether the announcement that a “massive manhunt” for them has begun and that a special cell has been established for this purpose will amount to anything is difficult to say. In the past such efforts haven’t.

Delhi’s Commissioner of Police has submitted a report to the Ministry of Home Affairs and some inquiries and investigations are on. There is some talk that the sub-inspector concerned would be arrested. Be that as it may, no great intelligence is required to surmise that the whole sordid drama of escape was pre-arranged. And what could have smoothened the arrangement better than a huge dollop of bribe? This leads to a further question: Since Pakistani prisoners released from Indian jails could not have been flush with cash, the money must have come from their collaborators in this country who, in all probability, are also Pakistanis. It is a sobering thought that the neat escape has taken place barely three weeks before Republic Day, a favourite target of Pakistani terrorist outfits.

Some people have raised the pertinent question as to why such dangerous persons as the Pakistani terrorists were not in chains while being moved from one spot to another. It seems there is a lacuna in the law that requires that anyone who has done his time in jail cannot be sent back to police custody. But in heaven’s name, the Pakistani terrorists were no ordinary criminals and Indian authorities were dealing with them 13 months after the dastardly Pakistani attack on Mumbai, known across the world as 26/11.

During this period, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram has done a lot to strengthen counter-terrorism mechanism. But quite clearly no one thought of the contingency that arose in the case of the Pakistani trio with frightening results. With great justification, this country blames the FBI of the United States for having withheld information about the Headley-Rana case. Shouldn’t we introspect about own shortcomings in the supremely vital area of security?

By a revealing coincidence, on the day the Delhi police was red-faced because of the Pakistani terrorists’ escape (their mentors in the ISI back home must be shaking with laughter) several police officers of Mumbai were caught on camera dancing at a New Year party with notorious mafia dons of the western metropolis. Mercifully, they have being suspended for the present. Whether they would be dismissed remains to be seen. Meanwhile, there has been a chorus in Maharashtra’s capital, joined by several retired top cops, to the effect that there is “nothing new” in the cosy partnership between the state police and mafia. Whatever is true of Mumbai is true also of the force across the country.

And what is true of policing is true, to some extent, of every other area of governance. Coinciding with the escape in Delhi and dancing in Mumbai were three train accidents in Uttar Pradesh in single day, which were initially blamed on the fog that had engulfed North India. Later, even glib railway officials realised that fog had nothing to do with the three mishaps. This makes nonsense of all the tall claims Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee and her predecessor, Lalu Yadav, have been making while denouncing each other.

It was in the 1960s that Gunnar Myrdal described India as a “soft state”. Around the same time John Kenneth Galbraith had commented that India was a “functioning anarchy”. Since then, alas, things haven’t improved but deteriorated. One may add, with all due respect, that soft states don’t super powers make.

MIDDLE

Learning from ‘3 Idiots’
by Rajnish Wattas

After spending three decades in the academia, I found ‘3 Idiots’ teaching me more about education than all the years spent in the classroom. The Aamir Khan starrer Bollywood blockbuster is something far beyond just a damn good spoof. It’s educational system reform.

Every year the students of the architectural institution that I headed, produced an annual journal. A forum for the students’ contributions on architecture — the magazine also had an art and literary section. One issue, which I released after much fanfare, to my utter embarrassment, also carried caricatures of all faculty members, including one of me!

As I leafed through the cartoons nervously-all along sporting a sheepish grin — I realised that the students had indeed been rather, insightful and creative in highlighting our respective strengths and eccentricities. Alluding to my deep interest in landscape design and being rather obsessive about trees, my ‘portrait’ showed a sapling growing out of my bald head!

However, some of my colleagues didn’t find their respective caricatures very amusing, and protested at such audacity! Though the students subsequently apologised, I’m sure everyone had a good laugh — especially our spouses! And more importantly, I realised that the faculty needed to break out of old academic moulds and develop new shoots of knowledge.

Similarly I remember that some odd student, every few year, producing extraordinary, creative designs — at times bordering on the bizarre. One student nicknamed ‘Pilot’ as he had taken flying lessons before joining architecture, was always flying on thin air regarding his grandiose design concepts. For the final year thesis project, much against faculty advice he insisted on designing the tallest building in the world, located in the sea. Though he remained at sea about the structural design problems of the project and barely scraped through; he pursued his passion for tall buildings by studying abroad — and today, works with an international firm that is building the first bionic tower of the world!

Once a group of students performed a play called ‘North Point’ in the college festival — written, directed and acted by them. A big hit, it spoofed the obsessively pet concern of architectural teachers about orientation of the buildings in relation to the cardinal points. But more importantly, it made a subtle point about having a larger view of design evaluation, than just looking at myopic fundamentals.

The Howard Roarks of the world are not merely a figment of Ayn Rand’s fiction, but often it’s the naughty, irreverent; but sparkling ‘idiots’ who rattle the hallowed portals of learning. I only hope in hindsight that I was not a Viru Sahastrabudhe who trampled down a Rancho.

OPED

The debt trap
How Punjab farmers have accumulated loans
by Gobind Thukral

Since the early fifties students of economics have been taught that in Punjab farmers are born and die in debt and bequeath debt to the next generation. Writers have been exposing the exploitation of the peasantry by money-lending sharks.

The bane of indebtedness has been a serious subject for investigating scholars as this was a cause of misery for a majority of the population. In this line a new study presents a harrowing picture.

This study conducted by Prof. H.S. Shergill, a well-known economist with the Institute for Development and Communication, records that the farm debt over 1997-2008 at the current prices has gone up five times — from Rs 5, 700.91 crore in 1997 to Rs 30, 394.12 crore in 2008.

Even in real terms at the 1997 constant prices of farm products, it has more than doubled — from Rs 5,700.91 crore in 1997 to Rs 13, 829.32 crore in 2008. The per farm household debt (at 1997 constant prices) has become almost three times over these 10 years — from Rs 52,000 to Rs 1.39 lakh.

The outstanding debt component has increased at a faster rate (14.13 per cent per year) than the total farm debt — 8.81 per cent per year. Shergill estimates that the mortgage debt, however, has declined over this period and may completely disappear in the near future.

A puzzling revelation is that the debt of small and marginal farmers has grown at a slower rate (1.29 per cent per year) than the debt of medium and big farmers (2.71 per cent per year).

Also, over these ten years farm debt has increased at a faster rate than farm incomes, and, as a result, the burden of debt on the farm sector has gone up substantially. The debt amount has increased from being 68 per cent in 1997 to 84 per cent in 2008 of the net farm income generated by the farm sector.

As a proportion of the value of machinery owned by Punjab farmers the debt amount has gone up from being 15 per cent in 1997 to 53 per cent in 2008.

In spite of the steep rise in farm land prices in Punjab, the amount of farm debt in 2008 was equal to 4 per cent of the total value of farm land, compared to it being 3 per cent in 1997.

On the same lines the annual interest burden of farm debt has gone up from 11 per cent to 14 per cent of the net farm income.

It now absorbs about one-third of the rental surplus of the entire operated area, compared to being one-fifth of the rental surplus in 1997. Clearly both the burden of farm debt and interest payments on it has gone up substantially. Around 72 per cent of farm households are heavily stuck in debt.

A disturbing trend is that out of these 72 per cent heavily indebted farmers 17 per cent were under very heavy debt amounting to Rs 80, 000 and more per acre of land owned by them. These 17 per cent farm households are in a virtual ‘debt trap’ in the sense that they cannot pay even the annual interest charge from their current farm income.

What should be done for the small and marginal farmers who are perpetually under debt? These are mostly in the Malwa, which incidentally has produced senior political figures, including five chief ministers, a President of India and several Union and state ministers. Currently, Akali stalwart Parkash Singh Badal rules the state, all in the name of these debt-ridden farmers.

Whom do the farmers owe this huge debt? In the total debt owed by Punjab farmers the share of commission agents and money-lenders is 43.46 per cent or Rs 13,179 crore, of commercial banks 31.78 per cent or Rs 9, 660 crore, and of cooperative credit institutions 18.91 per cent or Rs 5,748 crore.

The remainder is from friends and relatives (3.16 per cent), a mere 0.08 per cent from the government and 2.71 per cent from others.

Private lenders were the single largest player in the farm credit market of Punjab. This tyrannical system continues despite six decades of effort to wean farmers from the private lenders whose interest rates varies from 12 per cent to 48 per cent to cooperative and commercial banks.

The failure of these agencies except commercial banks is writ large on the faces of debt-ridden farmers. Why has the cooperative route for lending been so weak in Punjab?

Strangely, between 1997 and 2008, the share of cooperative credit institutions has declined substantially, by 8.23 per cent points. But the share of commission agents and money lenders declined marginally by 2.96 per cent points; from 46.32 per cent in 1997 to 43.36 per cent in 2008.

Their position as the single largest farm credit agency, however, has not changed. Only the commercial banks gained in the farm credit market — from 19.42 per cent in 1997 to 31.78 per cent in 2008.

These estimates indicated the average amount of long-term (productive) loans per borrowing farmer was Rs 87,921, and per operated acre amount came to Rs 6,663. The per acre amount of these loans was the highest in the case of small and medium farms.

About 78 per cent of these loans were contracted for purchasing machinery and installing tubewells, about 13 per cent for purchasing land, and the remaining 9 per cent to purchase cattle.

The main sources were banks, 62.65 per cent. Commission agents and money lenders provided 32 per cent. The share of cooperatives was negligible — 2.63 per cent.

Significantly, almost 30 per cent of the farm households of the state borrowed some money for long-term non-productive purposes during the agricultural year 2007-08. The total estimated amount of these loans in the state during 2007-08 was Rs 4,060 crore. The average amount of these loans per borrowing farmer was Rs 1.25 lakh. The non-productive long-term loan was the highest in the case of small farms.

The amount of non-productive long-term loans (Rs 4,059 crore) was almost four times that of productive long-term loans (Rs 1073 crore). The incidence of involvement in long-term non-productive loans (29.67 per cent) was also much higher than in long-term productive loans (12.67 per cent).

All debt is not bad as we know. We borrow for various reasons. Sometimes to pay debt, other times to have a good social function like marriage or at times to invest in farming. The farmers also borrow for education of children or for sending them aboard.

If farmers borrow to increase production, that is investment like industrialists and is a productive debt. A legitimate question arises: in spite of an increase in the contribution of agriculture to net state domestic product, an increase in production of wheat and paddy and also the multiplication of the minimum support prices, why is the farm debt increasing?

One reason is the high cost of production that leaves less money in the pockets of farmers. While there are farmers who are now traders and some even lend to agents, yet the vast majority is not only steeped in debt, but also taking to drugs and other social evils. Region-to-region broad contours show heavy spending on social ceremonies like marriages, litigation and to send young boys to foreign lands for jobs. Something to ponder over for policy-planners!

Why humiliate another nation?
by Ian Birrell

Sitting amid the trawlers in Reykjavik harbour is a solitary gunboat, a reminder of what happened when Britain and Iceland last went to war. The little grey vessel saw off the British Navy 37 years ago in the Cod Wars, and it serves now to underline the bravery and bloody-mindedness of an isolated island nation.

Once again, the two countries are at loggerheads as they clear up the mess of the credit crisis. Both recklessly rode the boom and are now suffering the hangover, with huge debts threatening prosperity for a generation.

And since Iceland owes us £3.6bn after Alistair Darling bailed out British customers of one of its banks, it seems a simple equation that Icelanders should pay us back.

A deal was struck that involved reimbursement at a hefty 5.5 per cent interest rate over 14 years. But now, following the first grassroots revolt against a bailout since the credit crunch swept the globe 16 months ago, the Icelandic president has bowed to people power and refused to sign the repayment schedule into law. Instead, it will be put to referendum.

Iceland is not saying it won't pay, just querying the terms. Predictably, British ministers fired off fusillades across the Atlantic, telling Iceland to forget about joining the EU. Equally predictably, their opposite numbers in Reykjavik are returning fire. Now Britain should back down, stop the bullying and seek a compromise.

Consider the facts. A group of greedy oligarchs in Iceland, egged on by inept politicians, borrowed huge amounts in a bid to turn a tiny fishing nation into a global financial powerhouse. It didn't take a genius to see they were building empires on foundations of sand as they gobbled up third-rate retailers and offered savers market-beating rates of interest.

When Landsbanki collapsed, British ministers panicked, using anti-terror legislation to freeze assets belonging to a Nato ally. Understandably, this was viewed as betrayal in Iceland, causing bitterness that still fuels the anger behind protests.

The Icelandic bankers were incompetent, taking huge risks to build market share. But so were their domestic regulators, the British regulators, their political masters and, dare I say, those depositers who failed to question why a bank was offering such good deals. Britain and Holland did not have to bail out investors with Icesave, who were putting cash into a foreign-based institution.

The suspicion remains that they acted hastily to cover up their own regulatory failings, a draconian move blamed for precipitating the downfall of Kaupthing, Iceland's biggest bank.

Despite the ill-feeling, Alistair Darling has played hardball. But the terms are extreme. The Icelandic people know their nation has behaved foolishly, and they know they must pay the consequences. The economy shrank more than seven per cent last year, unemployment has soared and national bankruptcy remains a possibility. The country's debt was downgraded this week to junk levels.

Now the mood is turning ugly. "I fear for our future. I have never seen such heated debate and felt such an unpleasant mood," said one prominent local yesterday. "We are not being allowed time to rebuild."

At the heart of things remains the divisive figure of David Oddsson, who viewed himself as Iceland's answer to Margaret Thatcher when his government privatised the banks, unleashing the disastrous boom.

After a spell as governor of the central bank, he became editor of the main newspaper, from where he has fermented resistence against the Icesave deal, embarrassing his social democrat and green successors.

History shows it is counter-productive to humiliate nations with savage reparation demands. The sum we are seeking is small to us, but crippling for a nation with a population the size of Coventry.

It amounts to £11,700 per person, taking national debt to 200 per cent of GDP. Imagine how would we feel if we had to pay £718bn – the equivalent sum based on our population – to another country to cover the misdemeanours of Sir Fred Goodwin?

Instead of firing off new threats, ministers should reflect on their own role in the affair. Then they should sit down with their Icelandic and Dutch counterparts and work out a longer-term and less punitive deal.

— By arrangement with The Independent

Health
Mobile phones ‘may prevent Alzheimer’s’
by Jeremy Laurance

Mobile phones may improve memory and protect against Alzheimer's disease, scientists have discovered.

In one of the most unexpected scientific findings for some time, researchers have found that the electromagnetic waves emitted by the devices may improve cognitive function.

After years of health warnings about mobile phones, scientists in Florida admit they were as surprised as anyone when their research showed they might be good for the brain.

But they have enough confidence in their results to recommend that the electromagnetic waves the phones emit should be "vigorously investigated" as a memory enhancer and treatment for Alzheimer's.

Mobile phones have been suspected of causing problems ranging from ear ache to brain cancer by raising the temperature of the head and exposing cells to "oxidative stress". Inquiries into their safety have been held, but no conclusive evidence of damage has been found.

Scientists in the Department of Cell Biology at the University of South Florida attempted to quantify the damaging effects by exposing mice to levels of radiation similar to that emitted by mobile phones.

The mice received two one-hour doses, delivered in the morning and afternoon each day, for up to eight months – equivalent to that of a frequent mobile phone user.

Half of the mice were genetically engineered to have symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. In them, exposure to the electromagnetic waves was associated with disappearance of the "amyloid plaques" – protein deposits in the brain – believed to be a cause of dementia.

In the younger mice, the electromagnetic waves prevented amyloid plaques building up and had "beneficial cognitive effects".

The researchers, writing in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, suggest the waves may prevent plaques sticking together, forming clumps, or may stimulate the neurons.

Rebecca Wood, chief executive of the Alzheimer's Research Trust, said: "This research has been carried out in mice that mimic some of the symptoms of Alzheimer's in people, so we don't know if any similar effects will be seen in humans.

“Although the researchers hope their findings will translate to people, much more research is needed to find out if there could be any beneficial effects of long-term exposure to electromagnetism, and to guarantee its safety. We don't recommend spending 24 hours a day on a mobile phone – we don't know the long-term effects, and bills could go through the roof."

— By arrangement with The Independent

Corrections and clarifications

n In the report “Punjab Governor’s discourtesy to Justice Mudgal shocks Moily” (Page 1, January 7), the specific nature of the discourtesy should have been mentioned in the report.

n In the report “Kalka Shatabdi late by over an hour” (Page 18, January 7), the train is reported to have left Delhi at 10.30 p.m. which was a good five hours after the scheduled time and over two hours after the rescheduled time.

n In the headline on the escape of three terrorists in Delhi (Page 18, January 5), instead of a comma after “ultras” there should have been an apostrophe.

n The headline “Private buses operate illegally at Phase 3A” (Page 4, January 7, Chandigarh Tribune) should have used “in” instead of “at”.

Despite our earnest endeavour to keep The Tribune error-free, some errors do creep in at times. We are always eager to correct them.

This column appears twice a week — every Tuesday and Friday. We request our readers to write or e-mail to us whenever they find any error.

Readers in such cases can write to Mr Kamlendra Kanwar, Senior Associate Editor, The Tribune, Chandigarh, with the word “Corrections” on the envelope. His e-mail ID is kanwar@tribunemail.com.

H.K. Dua
Editor-in-Chief