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by Raj Chengappa, Editor-in-Chief
Tackling social disasters |
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On Record
Profile
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by Raj Chengappa, Editor-in-Chief
There is a huge controversy over the offer of the debt waiver by the Centre for the state. What is your position on this? The Chief Minister has met the Prime Minister, the Union Finance Minister and the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission a number of times over the issue not only now but also in his previous tenure. Firstly, because of the militancy years, when we fought for the nation, we suffered a huge debt. Secondly, Punjab has a disadvantage because of the hill states around it. Whether it is Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal or Uttarakhand — all get huge incentives given by the Centre. Our industry is also heading to these states. Even my wife raised in Parliament that Punjab’s debt needed to be looked into. The Centre should look at us with that view as its policy on incentives has affected us. So are you for or against the debt waiver? Nobody can be against the debt waiver. But what we want to know, as the Chief Minister and the Chief Secretary clarified, is what is the Centre’s offer. We do not have an official offer stating whether it is Rs 35,000 crore or just Rs 3,000 crore. And whether there are any pre-conditions or not. Once we know what the amount is and the conditions are, only then can we respond. We cannot respond on just hearsay. We are a government. We cannot think of the ifs and buts. We want to be clear first what is the offer in writing. There is no direct communication to the Chief Minister. As the Chief Minister has said once the offer is there, it will be placed before the party and the government will look into it. At the moment, it is too premature to say what is going to happen. But Manpreet had said that there was a meeting of the Cabinet to discuss the waiver offer by the Centre? The Cabinet has been meeting at regular intervals to look into the financial aspects of the state and many subjects were discussed. There was no specific Cabinet meet to discuss just the waiver. The Chief Minister had mentioned a number of times at Cabinet meetings that he had been discussing a waiver with the Centre. And he had gone on record and written so many letters. He also met the Union Finance Minister along with a delegation. They raised some queries. Our officers answered them. And these interactions are still on. As the party president, were you briefed by Manpreet? The Chief Minister has already said that there had been no written communication to us from the Centre about the waiver. We have always been asking for a waiver. It is our right. We are not begging for a waiver because we contribute substantially to the Centre’s revenue from our agriculture production. The Centre is not going to do us a favour. If production of wheat and rice goes down in Punjab, there will be chaos the world over. The international prices also go with the Indian requirement. Then for fighting militancy we should be sufficiently compensated. The Chief Minister is pleading the case. If and when the Centre sends us an offer, we will examine it. Everything depends on what are the terms and what is the amount. For instance, if anybody says you sell Punjab for it, would you agree to it? Are there any differences between you and Manpreet? He is my brother and, personally, I have nothing against him. We meet regularly and have no differences. There is talk that your father has favoured you over him in the succession race? My father has always been very fair. He is not the type of person who will project his son. He had told me categorically that I had to earn my place in the party and that everyone irrespective of their relationship is equal before him. Whether it is his son, nephew or a party worker, he treats everyone equally. He has always been tougher on me than anyone else. If someone gets the same marks as I do, he would prefer him or her. I have to work much harder to prove myself to him. So will you succeed your father as CM? I believe in destiny. I am a very religious person. We believe that whatever has to happen, it is written by God. Who has to come first or second is decided by Him. My father has always said never to compete with anyone. Instead, set your own targets and work to achieve the target. That is why if you look at my entire political career, I have set the highest targets for myself to achieve. Whatever the party has given me I have fulfilled that. I have always considered the party to be number one. What I am today or what my father is today, it is all because of the party. I have always worked for the party and its principles with a mission. The party is nobody’s property, it does not belong to the Badal family. Whoever is the right choice, the party alone will decide. As the head of the party, will you take
disciplinary action against Manpreet? I do not want to comment on this issue because the CM has said not to comment on any of the issues relating to this. As a disciplined soldier of the party, I have to follow his diktats. What has your government done to bring in revenue for the state and reduce debt? The main sources of the state’s revenues are from VAT, excise, stamp duties and from transport levies. When we took over, we were quite shocked to find that the total revenues from VAT was only Rs 5,000 crore during the last 63 years. In just three years because of the measures we took, it has grown to Rs 8,000 crore. In excise, we took the revenue from Rs 1,500 crore to Rs 2,500 crore by modernising the department, bringing in computerisation, plugging the loopholes and cutting down on pilferage. Unfortunately because of the fifth pay commission some Rs 2,000 crore were just sucked out. But because of the additional revenue generation we were able to withstand it. What about reducing subsidies to the agriculture and power sectors? These are decisions taken at the party level. So I cannot comment on the issue at the moment because the party has to look into it. But subsidies are not just a Punjab phenomenon. The Government of India gave Rs 70,000 crore to farmers as debt waiver. Was that not a subsidy? Today kerosene and diesel is subsidised by the Centre. Even in Europe and the US farming inputs are
subsidised. What about power-related subsidies? If you look at the cost of power, we are buying it at very expensive rates from other states. And then supply it to the industry at subsidised rates. The only solution is to be self-sufficient. So that is why we are going into power generation in a big way It is this government’s biggest achievement. We have sanctioned so many plants in these three years that power generation is likely to cross 10,000 MW in the next couple of years as compared to the 4,500 MW that had been installed since the state was formed. And the rate at which we would be generating power would be far cheaper than what we are purchasing it now. Doesn’t this make better economic sense? What has been your contribution as Deputy Chief Minister? I have two roles. One, I am the president of the party and as its president my aim is to improve the image of the party. Also I wanted the image of the government to go up. If the image of the government goes up, it is natural, the image of the party will automatically improve. Two, I have focused on economic development. We had to create an environment under which people and investors would come back to Punjab. We have an advantage that Punjab is an agricultural state. But we cannot depend for all the developmental activities on agriculture alone. We have to create the environment and infrastructure to attract investment. So we expanded in a big way on power. Another important thing for development is connectivity. We have been able to get four airports for Punjab. Apart from that, we have got sanctioned four-laned highways connecting our major cities and towns. Now we will have international connectivity, a good road network and improved power situation. Also, we have spent a huge amount for the development of urban areas. My agenda is the economic development of the state. As regards your party affairs are concerned, there are reports that there is lack of inner-party democracy and a dictatorial style of functioning in the SAD. What do you have to say on this? If you have a look at my father’s decisions, you will notice that he has always taken collective decisions and never goes for individual decisions. We have a core committee and senior leaders are there to take collective decisions. How much has the debt waiver issue damaged your party and the government? I do not want to comment on this. As a disciplined soldier of the party, I am not supposed to comment on it. I have full faith in the leadership of the party. There is no crisis at all. The party is too big an entity, these are minor issues. Watch
a video recording of the interview here tv.htm
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Tackling social disasters
The NDMA is an important institution on three specific aspects. Though formed by a statute, it works closely with the civil society, in planning and executing its programmes. It is not merely a reactionary institution that comes into action post-disaster but also plans in advance and even predicts the nature, course and severity of a natural disaster. The NDMA works closely with the first responders — from the health sector to the paramilitary and military forces. In terms of design, structure and functioning, it is likely to become a huge success story in the coming decades. Today, it prepares and even simulates reactions not only to natural disasters but also manmade disasters. On the NDMA pattern, there is a need to establish a national institution, with similar operational structure and planning, to manage social disasters. Today, the Centre and the states and their various agencies are groping for alternative strategies. New Delhi was paralysed for the last few months vis-à-vis Kashmir. For though it expected a mass youth uprising, it didn’t know what course to pursue, except asking the police and paramilitary forces to sit tight and not retaliate. In the Naxalite-affected areas, though there is a blueprint on how to carry out anti-Naxalite operations, the CRPF is groping in the dark on how to address the practical problems — for example, countering the propaganda machinery of the Naxalites and how to improve coordination between the CRPF jawans and the state police. While the Centre has more than what is needed in terms of funds to be used in the Naxalite-affected regions, the paradox is, how to effectively spend the funds. The primary problem today is how to ensure that the developmental funds do not reach the Naxalties! A National Conflict Management Authority (NCMA) on the models of the NDMA will be extremely beneficial to the Centre and the states. The above mentioned three specific aspects of the NDMA could form the basic guideline in establishing a Conflict Management Authority. Like that of the NDMA, it could be a public-private partnership, in which the NCMA includes civil society organisations and research institutes. While the government may suffer from a crisis of legitimacy in certain areas, for example in Kashmir and Naxalite-affected regions, the NCMA could work through the civil society organisations and research institutes. Especially in terms of reaching out to the people, countering negative propaganda and finding alternative measures, which could be acceptable to people at the local level. In return, these organisations could reach back to the government via the NCMA and provide the much-needed independent feedback. The NCMA need not necessarily be a post-conflict management organisation. Today, like natural disasters, social disasters and conflicts also emit adequate early warning signals. This is where the participation of research institutes and think-tanks in the NCMA will be useful. While the government and its agencies primarily address the conflict after it is surfaced with all its ugliness, research organisations and think-tanks, with right skills and inputs, will be able to pick up the early warning signals of an impending conflict and warn the government through the NCMA. There is a sudden change in the social equation between the Hindu and Muslim communities, especially among the youths. More important, there is an influence of Wahab Islam, which is likely to undermine the Sufi Islam, for which the entire Jammu and Kashmir is known for. This is likely to divide society further and result in a different conflict in this region. Already there is a Gujjar-Pahari conflict brewing. These are early warning signals of an impending conflict. Like the NDMA, the NCMA should also work closely with the first responders. Like in natural disasters, there should be enough simulation exercises of an impending outbreak and what measures need to be taken. The police and paramilitary forces in particular should know what to anticipate and how to respond in a situation. Social conflicts are not like natural disasters; the human component can change the course of a conflict and make it unpredictable. Yet, the NCMA will be a vital institution, from the government perspective, to provide alternative approaches and predict conflicts in
advance.
The writer is Deputy Director, Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, New Delhi
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On Record
THE Canadian Prime Minister’s recent apology for the bombing of Air India Kanishka that killed over 300 people, mainly Indian nationals, came after 25 years. It brings into focus where Canada and India went wrong in preventing the conspiracy and then punishing the guilty. While the last word on the conspiracy is yet to be said, Salim Jiwa, celebrated Canadian journalist and author of the bestseller, Margin of Terror, who had exposed the conspiracy and the spread of Punjab terrorism in Canada, feels the fear of militancy was far-fetched as there was no public support for the movement. Currently editor and publisher of Vancouver’s online news source, Vancouverite, he speaks to The Tribune in Jammu. Excerpts: Q: Has justice been delivered on the bbombing case? A: Justice works both ways. In a fair trial, insufficient evidence will result in acquittal. In terrorism trial, it is often difficult to convict the whole group but Canada has done well in getting Inderjit Singh Reyat since he made the bombs that detonated in Japan and aboard Air India. Parmar died in Indian government custody and a lot of evidence went down with him. Others have died natural death. So justice has been done. However, it may not satisfy the victims’ families. Q: Was the Canadian Prime Minister’s apology for his failure to check Sikh militancy and the conspiracy behind the bombing too little, too late? A: The Canadians’ conduct in the episode is shameful. The government tried hard to obfuscate the fact that a bomb had brought the plane down. Canadians failed to grieve the loss of fellow citizens because of a lack of kinship with the victims. Q: In Margin of Terror, you said mystery still shrouds some men involved in the bombing. These included two persons who booked tickets for the flight and their luggage contained the bombs. Will you please explain? A: There has been progress in identifying some more players. However, whether that will lead to further prosecutions will depend on the quality of
evidence. It is possible that not every person involved in the tragedy will be identified for two reasons — not all suspects may have known each other and several key players are dead. Q: The Punjab police killed Parmar, a key accused. You said that these cops lost opportunity in unraveling the whole mystery as he was kept in custody before his death. Who failed to unearth the truth behind the bombing? A: The Indian government agencies allowed the bombing suspects to romp around India freely. Your consulate granted a key man, Hardial Singh Johal, visas to proceed to India. They also allowed Ripudaman Singh Malik to visit India. India could have furthered the case by telling the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to arrest Parmar. Instead, they killed himwhich proved costly for the investigation. The CBI, RAW and IB all failed to assist adequately. Q: Blacklisted Sikhs may finally get the green signal to visit India. Any comment? A: In 1984, there was extreme emotion over the Golden Temple attack. That helped fuel the insurgency. Time and distance have taken care of the wounds inflicted by the attack. The key support provided by Pakistan is not there anymore. The movement is unable to get off the ground. It is wrong to suggest that Sikh militancy is again on the march. Once support for militancy died down in India, it died a natural death over here. Some people suggest that militancy is on the rise. That is not true. Militancy can rise only if it finds a root in Punjab and it will be difficult to sustain the movement. as there is no emotional issue tugging at the present generation. While the criminals should be brought to justice, reconciliation is not a bad idea either. That is how most insurgencies have been resolved. Q: Your book is an amazing work on Punjab militancy. What are your future plans? A: I am currently working on my thesis for Master of Journalism programme at Carleton University. My thesis involved the examination of the writings of Tara Singh Hayer (a controversial journalist who ran a Punjabi Paper in Canada) in 1984 and 1985 during which the community was torn by events in India. Specifically, my thesis will dwell on how a medium written in a language that is non-native to mainstream Canadians can fan social conflict within a closed community and during times of intense
emotions. |
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Profile
FIFTY
million workers today salute A.D. Nagpal, Secretary, Hind Mazdoor Sabha, and
trustee of the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). Three years of
unassailable calculation and sustained efforts by him have ensured a one per
cent increase in the interest rate of the employees’ provident fund
benefiting 50 million people in the country. Rare are men like Nagpal, so
dedicated to a cause. When he takes up an issue, he fights for it with a
missionary zeal and there is no question of looking back. Nagpal, 77, calls
himself “a practicing socialist”. His lifestyle continues to be bohemian.
He lives in a small house along with Purohit, the general secretary of the Hind
Mazdoor Sabha. He does not even own a car. His sons, well settled in business, often ask him, “we will get you a car”. “I don’t need one”, is his stock reply. He uses public transport for his movement. Nagpal had been associated with top socialist leaders like Jayaprakash
Narain, Ram Manohar Lohia and Madhu Dandavate. He was the sole conduit of the Socialist Party with JP who was in jail during the Emergency. He was told that his task was to stay out of jail so that he could act as a liaison man. He used to escort
N.G. Gore when he would come to Chandigarh to meet JP. Nagpal began his career in the Life Insurance Corporation of India at a salary of Rs 2,600 a month. “I opted to stay out of the rat race for Zonal Manager because I wanted to do union work”, he says. He is often asked how did he find out the discrepancy in the
EPF? He takes lot of pains to explain that in the past, before interest rates fell so dramatically, the EPFO used to earn as much as 16 per cent interest on the contributions. But the rate of interest would almost invariably be 12 per cent. The Comptroller and Auditor-General of India had also pointed out this discrepancy. In other words, everything that the EPFO would earn was not always distributed to its contributors. This was because the Union Finance Ministry would always demur and say, “Don’t give more than 12 per cent interest”. In January 2007, Nagpal wrote a letter to the Chairman of the Central Board of Trustees
(CBT) and the Executive Committee that manages the EPF, in which, he charged that because of the single-entry system of accounting, Rs 2,481 crore was missing from the interest suspense account. It was not only missing but was an accounting discrepancy. But what was needed was a re-examination of the books dating to nearly 60 years back. How did he arrive at that figure? Nagpal says that the first figure that he computed was wrong for which he apologised to the
CBT. The final correct figure was Rs 2,481 crore. Being a trade union leader he has friends everywhere. A set of officials alerted him to this fact. At first, no one believed him. There were times when his own resolve was weakened. He spent three years repeatedly checking his figures and writing to the Union Labour Ministry (which supervises the EPFO) and the CBT, telling them “we were Rs 2,481 crore short”. Still nobody believed him. When he asked for an audit, they kept telling him that the accounts had been cleared by Parliament and they could not reopen them. But Nagpal and
Purohit, general secretary of the Hind Mazdoor Sabha, kept on writing to them. Ultimately, Union Labour Minister Mallikarjuna Kharge and his Secretary accepted that they had made a mistake. Till May 31, before a full meeting of the
CBT, they said a sum of Rs 158.7 crore was all that was there in the interest suspense account. But again, he challenged them. Finally on September 8, the Minister and the Secretary called up Nagpal to say that his calculation was correct. There are many pending issues that require his attention as a trustee of the Employee Provident Fund, he says. It was
Nagpal, as an EPFO trustee since 1997, who detected in the EPFO accounts and insisted that the organisation re-examine its books since its inception in 1952. About his future plans, Nagpal says that with “a few years of active life left”, he wants to dedicate himself for “socialist trade union activity”. |
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Punjab’s
THE ongoing crisis in Kashmir Valley and the Naxalite-affected regions in Central India, and the failure of the Centre and the states to find alternative strategies call for the establishment of an exclusive institution at the national level to manage conflicts on the models of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). 
