The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Lessons for Haryana
Mirchpur mob must be brought to book

Last week it had received a rap on its knuckles from the Supreme Court over its mishandling of the situation after the Mirchpur carnage in April this year. This week it was the turn of the Parliamentary Committee on the welfare of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes to find faults with the state government’s response. The apex court had voiced its disgust over the failure of the Haryana police to arrest 75 people who were part of the mob, which torched 18 Dalit houses and burnt a man and his handicapped, teeanged daughter to death. The court had served a week’s ultimatum to the state to round up the culprits, who are at large even four months after the carnage. The parliamentary panel’s indictment addresses several other failures of the state government. Coming down heavily on the Haryana government’s decision to constitute a one-member commission of inquiry, the panel wondered why the state shied away from making it a multi-member commission and include at least one from the Dalit community. It also criticised the state government’s offer to set up a separate primary school for Dalit children in Mirchpur. Rather than take the easy way out, the panel felt the state government should have taken action against the schools which had denied admission to the children.

The Haryana government appears to be a prisoner of its own police and the bureaucracy, judging by their knee-jerk reactions. Having mishandled the situation from the beginning and having failed to restrain the mob despite warning signals, the state government compounded it with its reluctance to upset a prominent caste group in the state. It took a surprise visit by the Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi and a supposedly stern message from the Congress president to force the state government to act and order a judicial inquiry and announce monetary compensations and jobs. None of these measures, however, seem to have restored the confidence of the Dalits in the state and even the ‘peace committee’ constituted by the district administration does not seem to have been effective in restoring harmony. Only one of the 31 members of the committee apparently called on the parliamentary committee when it visited the village in July, forcing it to wonder whether the peace committee exists only on paper.

Justice is blind and cannot be selective. But the Haryana government appears to have been trapped into believing that compensation in terms of houses, cash and jobs will be sufficient to heal the wounds and restore harmony. Its authority and credibility can only be maintained, however, if it swiftly brings the culprits to book.

Rough ride together
Akali-BJP marriage of convenience

Despite frequent bickering in public, the Akali-BJP marriage is here to stay. Playing an effective marriage counsellor, Yashwant Sinha has advised restraint to the sparring partners. For the moment, the “crisis” seems to have blown over. Anyway, Industries Minister Manoranjan Kalia, who had triggered the row by going public with his grouse of discrimination in fund allocations for the BJP constituencies, has no choice but to keep mum. The BJP national leadership’s compulsions to have Akali support for regaining power at the Centre forces its leaders in Punjab to put up with a lot from the Badals.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has exploited this BJP weakness to the hilt. He gave Deputy Chief Ministership to his son. It is rare to see one coalition partner grabbing both the top two posts. The Badals’ dominance in administration is unmistakable. The senior Badal insists on free power to farmers, his party’s vote bank. The BJP opposes power tariff hikes for urban and industrial consumers. The opposition to taxes on each party’s constituencies has slowed revenue collection. They agreed on a Kalia-Sukhbir committee, which has made feeble attempts at resource mobilisation.

The BJP charge of discrimination can well be an excuse to cover up its failure on urban development ahead of the elections in 2012. Funds are available aplenty under Central schemes like the National Urban Renewal Mission but the government has not met the conditions to get the benefits. Barring the Badals’ constituencies, towns and villages have not seen any development as the state treasury goes empty after paying salaries, pensions, interest on loans and subsidies. Power and road projects the Badals boast of are being executed by private firms. The government is forced to divert funds and sell public land to raise resources. This has not stopped political and bureaucratic extravagance. A top-heavy administration, unwanted boards, a large battalion of parliamentary secretaries and needless VIP security have landed the state in an unmanageable debt of Rs 71,000 crore. That is an issue to fight over.

Thought for the Day

How pleasant it is, at the end of the day,/No follies to have to repent;/But reflect on the past, and be able to say,/That my time has been properly spent. — Ann Taylor and Jane Taylor

ARTICLE

State and Army in Pakistan
How floods bring a harvest of gratitude
by Punyapriya Dasgupta

Of the two high-born Mirabeau brothers who lived through the French Revolution, the younger would have been quickly forgotten but for his legendary alcoholic prowess and one pithy observation he made: “Other states have their armies; in Prussia the army has a state.” Prussia no longer exists except in history books, but the truth in Mirabeau junior’s 12 words lives. In the immediate neighbourhood of India in the west an army has a State called Pakistan and in the east Myanmar (Burma) has been turned into a property of its army. The Myanmarese Generals’ grip on power is brutish. After refusing to abide by the electorate’s clear verdict two decades ago they are going to stage another election with preconditions tailored to their determination to hang on to ruthless oligarchic power. With its Nobel laureate leader Aung San Suu Kyi in the 14th year of house arrest and many of her party comrades in prison, the National League for Democracy (NLD), the winner of the 1990 election, will take no part in the contemplated bogus polls. In Pakistan, geopolitically a far more significant state in global politics, the current moves by the army are subtle and call for more attention.

After many doubts and fears about its genuineness Pakistan’s main political parties participated in the February 2008 general election and accepted the results as fair. The President Gen Pervez Musharraf went into exile and his successor as Army Chief Gen Ashfaque Kayani called all military officers heading civilian administrative units, including even dairy farms, back to the barracks. Pakistan today is trying to project an image of a civilian-ruled democracy. A low buzz of amusement mixed with incredulity inside the country as well as outside greeted the recent announcement in Islamabad that the Prime Minister had extended the tenure of General Kayani by three years.

The reality of the power equation in Pakistan had been demonstrated earlier. The civilian leaders of the government were made to realise that they must not venture into the army’s domains. The government of President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani was rapped on the knuckles when they ordered transfer of the Inter-Services Intelligence Agency (ISI) to the Ministry of Interior. Within a few hours the Gilani government issued a second statement saying that the notification placing the ISI under the Interior Ministry had been “misunderstood” which meant that the ISI remained with the Ministry of Defence — effectively with the army. In its scope and nature of operations the ISI resembles America’s CIA with the very important difference that in Pakistan it does not report to any civilian President.

In 33 of the 63 years since its creation Pakistan has been ruled by military Presidents. In the democratic interludes after the death of Gen Zia-ul-Haq the army got civilian Presidents to dismiss elected Prime Ministers — the late Benazir Bhutto twice, (in 1990 and 1996) and Mr Nawaz Sharif in 1993. Mr Sharif’s second ouster was directly by the army when he tried to sack the Army Chief, General Musharraf, and was himself thrown not only out of office but of the country as well. This chastisement of Mr Sharif was endorsed by the Supreme Court under the “doctrine of necessity”. After the make-believe restoration of democracy the shortsighted leaders of Pakistan’s main political parties vied among themselves in handing over the whip hand to the army.

Ms Benazir and Mr Sharif assiduously spread well-founded reports of their corruption and lobbied the army for the dethronement of whoever among them was in power at any time. In brutally frank words, neither of them was above prostituting Pakistan’s politics. In the current phase, politicians are trying to show themselves as more circumspect, but attempts at currying favour with the army leadership are evident. Pakistani commentators have interpreted the extension of the tenure of General Kayani as the Army Chief for three years as an insurance taken out for themselves by President Zardari and Prime Minister Gilani.

As of now, no army sword overhangs the civilian regime. But a question has arisen about the relative importance of the civil and military authorities in the State of Pakistan. Mr Richard Holbrooke, a peripatetic American diplomat currently hopping in and out of Pakistan and Afghanistan, has revealed, perhaps inadvertently, to the embarrassment of the Gilani government that General Kayani “is an enormously powerful political factor” in Pakistan and “we have extensive discussions with him.” This is confirmation of what was unofficially known to all: that Pakistan’s foreign relations too are guided largely by the army. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi may be impolite to his Indian counterpart — as it happened the last time they met in Islamabad — but he has to be respectful to what the army says about the handling of his portfolio.

The cataclysmic floods in Pakistan have brought the army a huge harvest of gratitude from the people nobody could have foreseen. The Generals had for long been reviled for their suppression of democracy and turning the country into their fief. At the head of every profitable organisation of the government sat an officer of the armed forces. General Kayani ended this system and since mid-July he has been seen visiting the flood-hit areas time and again. By contrast, the misery of his people made no difference to President Zardari enjoying his visit to France and Britain. He would not forego even his scheduled visit to the 16th century chateau in Normandy which his late wife Benazir Bhutto’s family had acquired and now belongs to him.

At home Prime Minister Gilani found coping with the floods beyond the capacity of his government and confessed it. He thought this was good enough reason why government officials were not seen trying to help the distressed people. Mr Gilani was taken on a visit to one relief centre and this one turned out to be a fake. The armed forces have filled all the gaps left by the government and are extracting all the credit for it. Wherever they go to rescue people or provide relief they advertise it with the help of banners.

Journalists are on frequent flood surveys in military helicopters, and Pakistan’s TV networks are full of pictures of the army providing succour to the affected people. In some refugee centres cries — spontaneous or tutored — are heard: “Army zindabad”. For the first time in Pakistan the armed forces are scoring high in winning the hearts and minds of the people — a fact testified by respected newspaper columnists. This will help General Kayani to guide Pakistan to wherever he intends to take it.

MIDDLE

The road and the rage
By Gurdeep Singh Mann

Immediately after entering Chandigarh from Punjab, we give deadly glances to each other pointing towards seat belts. As the car moves ahead we have to dip the high beam headlights. A little further, we frantically locate all documents of the vehicle and prepare our minds to answer policemen if something is missing.

When all is done, we sit straight and drive well below the speed limit of 60 kmph. We are one of those who feel scared at the sight of Chandigarh traffic cops, not forgetting their pink slip that would land us in the soup of challan, irrespective of who we are.

There are many other drivers from parts of Punjab and Haryana who commute to the city beautiful on their four-wheelers but as soon as they enter the city, sobriety takes over even the most roguish.

In Punjab, people moving with seat belts are frowned upon or even stared at. The moment an exhausted Punjab Police cop waves someone to a stop, the somewhat-influential drivers lose no time in flipping out their mobile phones like an AK-47.

The poor cop is left with no option. If a daring one challans the errant driver, he may end up being suspended or transferred.

The not-so-influential ones have no option but to part with a few crispy notes. Over the years, we have realised that traffic cops have a well “integrated” method of milking their victims. They never accept the money themselves and instead have “tie-up” with nearest juice-wallah or pan-wallah, who acts as proxy gift recipient.

Flaunting VIP numbers is yet another craze, especially in youngsters. In the words of a Punjab MLA, “I have a VIP number, but my son’s motorbike has an ordinary number. He flatly refused to ride the bike until I got him a VIP number. Reason - every Tom, Dick or Harry waved him to stop for reckless driving with an ordinary number.”

When the same belief is handed over through genes in youngsters, it results in the tragedy like the one at Chandigarh wherein two girls driving a luxury car in an inebriated state ran over a youth and a child, that too in a VIP area.

It is the same belief that dispels the fear of law and order from the young minds and makes them tread the forbidden territories.

Will this incident instil fear amongst us (the inhabitants of Punjab)? Or will it also get buried somewhere in the annals of history as just another police file?

OPED Development

Wasting food is a criminal act, says the Supreme Court. Food grain waste at various stages is 9.33 per cent of the production. Some 13.5 lakh tonnes of food grains have got damaged in the last 10 years in Punjab alone
What a waste!
M.S. Sidhu

Food is the first essential to a life of dignity and fulfilment. Hunger and lack of food sow the seeds of conflict and unrest. Dr Norman E. Borloug, a Nobel laureate, once said: "There is peace in the world until sufficient food is available".

To increase the availability of foodgrains to the masses, it is not enough to increase production. Proper and scientific post-harvest management of food grains is also the need of the hour. A study conducted a few years ago revealed that food grain waste at various stages is 9.33 per cent of the production. This wastage was 18.94 million tonnes, which could feed 1,400 million people for a month. In a poor country like India, where 27.5 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line, food grain losses are a criminal waste.

According to press reports, a whopping 13.5 lakh tonnes of food grains have been declared as damaged in the last ten years by the five state procurement agencies and the FCI in Punjab alone. This is higher than the FCI's total national figure of loss of ten lakh for ten years. It may be stated that 5.79 lakh tonnes of wheat, rice and paddy lying with the FCI (Punjab region) were damaged in the last ten years.

However, what is more shocking is that 7.56 lakh tonnes of wheat has rotted in the custody of five state procurement agencies. The state procurement agencies store only wheat. The storage capacity of the public procurement agencies for food grains in Punjab was 20.35 million tonnes at the end of March, 2009. Out of this, about 68 per cent and 32 per cent was covered and open (CAP) storage. About 49 per cent of the total covered storage capacity (13.76 million tonnes) is owned by the state procurement agencies and the FCI. On the other hand, 51 per cent of the storage capacity is hired.

As on July 1, 2010, the stock of wheat and rice was 57.85 million tonnes against the minimum buffer stock norms of 26.9 million tonnes in the country. The actual stock was more than double the minimum buffer stock norms. About 27 per cent of these food grain stocks are lying in the open.

It is very distressing that warehouses of the Punjab State Warehousing Corporation (PSWC) were stacked with cartons of liquor in Ludhiana district in spite of shortage of covered space for food grains in the state. According to press reports, the warehouses in other districts, including Moga, Sangrur and Ferozepur, too have been rented out to store commodities other than food grains.

The Union Agriculture and Food Minister, Mr Sharad Pawar, recently stressed the urgent need to add 15 million tonnes of warehousing capacity at Rs 4,000 crore in the near term. The Eleventh Plan has a target of construction of additional storage capacity for 30 million tonnes of food grains. It may be stated that capacity building in warehousing has been progressively declining with every successive Five Year Plan. Keeping in view the storage problem, the Punjab Government recently formulated a plan to add about seven million tonnes of storage capacity at a cost of about Rs 2,000 crore.

The storage capacity for food grains in India was 58.36 million tonnes by the end of March, 2009. Out of this, 62 per cent was owned by the public agencies and the rest 38 per cent was hired. The policy planners at the national level should think of construction of additional storage capacity in the food grain deficit areas to reduce the pressure on the surplus states of Punjab and Haryana. It will result in better management of food stocks. Punjab and Haryana, being the major contributing states of wheat and rice to the central pool, can have transit storage

The Union and state governments want public-private partnerships (PPPs) in warehousing. There is scope for viable PPPs. To minimise storage loss and ensure efficient handling, silo storage for wheat may be preferred. The state-of-the art-silos have been constructed by Adani Agri Logistics on behalf of the FCI at Moga in Punjab and Kaithal in Haryana. Each silo has a capacity to store 2.25 lakh tonnes of grains. The plants have been built on a build-own-operate basis. The FCI has given a 20-year guarantee for using these storage facilities.

Under this project, two base depots have been constructed at Moga and Kaithal. While the first mother depot at Moga has been linked to three field depots in Chennai, Coimbatore and Bangalore, the Kaithal depot is linked to Navi Mumbai and Hoogly. Except for the Navi Mumbai field depot, which has a storage capacity of 50,000 tonnes, all the other four field depots have a storage capacity of 25,000 tonnes each.

A key feature of this storage is that the entire handling process, right from receiving food grains at the base depots, their cleaning, drying, storage and transportation to the field depots is carried out in bulk form, thus minimising waste. Such silos may also be constructed at other places in Punjab and Haryana with the participation of the private sector with a 20-year guarantee by the FCI for the storage of wheat. To attract private investment in warehousing, a tax holiday may be given on the pattern of the food processing industry. The new warehouses may be located near those areas which have a rail connectivity.

For sustainable agricultural development, the post-harvest management of the produce, particularly storage, is equally important. A delay of a few years in this regard will not be in the interest of the nation as the wastage of each grain is a national loss.

The writer is Professor and Head, Department of Economics & Sociology, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. The views expressed are personal

The space under road and rail over-bridges and flyovers, now filled by earth at a huge cost, can be used to store food grains
Why not store grains under flyovers?
S.S.Grewal

Huge quantities of badly needed food grains produced with heavy investment, tireless efforts of farmers using scarce ground water resources of Punjab and Haryana are shamelessly allowed to rot year after year on the pretext of inadequate storage capacity with the procurement agencies.

In the recent flash floods inundating the low-lying tracts of Punjab and Haryana, a colossal loss of both openly stored and godown-stored food grains has taken place. Plastic sheets covering food grains stored in the open were blown away. Floodwaters entered the godowns and damaged the stored stacks of wheat.

The blame game has started as usual. The issue of huge national loss has been raised by the media. The Supreme Court has taken a serious note and has reprimanded those concerned for the lapse. The Punjab government is asking for more funds from the Centre to construct a large number of silos and some of our elected representatives will again go abroad to study as to how silos are made.

There appears a lot of scope for storing food grains under the large number of flyovers now being planned to expand the road network by building four-lane and six-lane state and national highways. In the expansion process, a number of bridges are being constructed over the existing canals, railway tracks, rivers, streams and khads.

Unfortunately, the approach roads to these bridges are being made by filling huge amounts of earth on both sides taken from a 200 to 400-metre distance to provide a gentle gradient to the highway. There are a number of examples close to Chandigarh where huge quantities of earth was filled up by the National Highway Authority of India to construct approach roads to over-bridges in the process of building four-lane highways.

As you go from Chandigarh to Kullu and Manali, the first such earth-filled approach to an over-bridge on a railway line is found in the heart of Kurali town. The second huge earth-filled approach road to a very high over-bridge now under construction over the Bhakhra main line canal is near the police lines of Ropar. The third one is again in the heart of Ropar over the railway line, the fourth on the Bhakhra canal near the village of Ahmedgarh and the fifth one is on the same canal near Bharatgarh village.

In all these, huge amounts of earth were transported, thoroughly compacted again and again and then an approach road was laid. Such examples are also available on the recently laid railway line from Chandigarh to Morinda and will also be found when the line is extended to Ludhiana. The proposed project to build a six-lane GT Road from Panipat to Jalandhar will also involve the construction of similar earth-filled high approach roads to over bridges.

Instead of using earth to raise the level of such approach roads to elevated bridges over canals, rivers and railway lines, reinforced cement concrete flyovers should be made on the pattern of those at Panipat and Zirakpur. These flyovers should be covered from both sides by pre-fabricated sheets now being used by the NHAI on these elevated roads. The concrete floors can be laid at the base. The space now filled by earth at a huge cost could be used as godowns to store food grains.

There appear to be some other advantages as well. The transport of grains would be easier as they would be stored underneath highways. The construction of additional godowns and silos would need additional land, which is already very scarce and costly to acquire. The same system can be applied to the Railways, which is planning to have new tracks. The Ministries of Surface Transport, Railways and Agriculture may have to work out a joint strategy.

The writer is a former Director of PAU, Regional Research Station, Ballowal, and senior consultant on natural resources management