The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

ARTICLE

Stunning verdict and after
Old political ways won’t do
by Inder Malhotra

EVEN after the Niagara of words, analysing the startling outcome of the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and four other states, there is room for a few more thoughts on the implications of the voters’ verdict. One of these was encapsulated in a vivid vignette on the TV screen. Under discussion were the Congress Party’s strenuous efforts to form a ministry in Uttarakhand where it had precisely one seat more than the BJP.

There appeared Vijay Bahuguna — a son of the redoubtable late H. N. Bahuguna, a one-time Congress chief minister of UP and later a leading light of the Central governments of both Morarji Desai and Charan Singh, and also a brother of Rita Bahuguna Joshi, president of the UP Congress Committee who has had the good sense to resign after the party’s rout — to declare that the Congress would certainly form the state ministry because three of the six Independents in the new assembly were “Congress rebels” who would happily rejoin the fold. The monstrosity of welcoming with open arms those who were first denied the ticket and then had worsted the party’s official nominees seemed not to bother Mr. Bahuguna, who has since been rewarded and made chief minister of the state, or anyone else. That, however, was a sideshow.

The significant part of Mr. Bahuguna’s observations was that although he was among the six aspirants to the post of chief minister, the party had “requested” Congress president Sonia Gandhi to “nominate” the lucky winner. “Thereafter we would go to the Governor to stake our claim to form the government”.

His charming candour made a mockery of the standard Congress claim that being a “democratic party” it never names its chief ministers in advance of elections and leaves it to elected MLAs to choose their leader. Actually, this never happens. Every Congress legislature party duly meets and beseeches the Congress president to “nominate” its leader. A rare exception to this rule was the late Y. S. Chandrasekhar Reddy in Andhra. During the latest five-state poll, Rahul Gandhi took it upon himself to proclaim that Captain Amrinder Singh would be Punjab’s chief minister. What happened, however, was that under his leadership the Congress snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

Although nominating chief ministers is a palpably undemocratic way of running a national party in this vast and diverse country, the Congress can surely claim that this pattern has worked. Yet, if the recent elections have any meaning at all, it is that strong regional leaders are taking over state after state because the Congress seldom has a recognizable face of a potential chief minister. This deficiency proved to be particularly stark in UP, notwithstanding Mrs. Sonia Gandhi’s complaint that there were “too many leaders” in that state.

In all fairness, it must be admitted that almost all political parties in this country are run as family concerns, and the dynasty’s head nominates hierarchies in all of them. But it cannot be overlooked that the Nehru-Gandhi clan is the only one that has ruled and still rules both at the Centre and in a certain number of states at any given time, and done so over long years. Other dynasties, though very powerful in their respective areas of influence and dictatorial in their operations, are confined to only one State each. It is time therefore, for the Congress to realize that what might have worked so far is fast losing steam and could soon become counter-productive.

For the system of nominated satraps in the states to succeed it is necessary to have at the helm a leader capable of appealing directly to the people across the country and winning their allegiance. Unfortunately for the Congress, such a happy situation ended with Indira Gandhi. She had no party machine worth the name at her disposal when, after the first split in the Indian National Congress in 1969, she won the 1971 general election hands down, and captured most of the states a year later. Her spectacular return to power in January 1980 was even more of a personal triumph because the Congress (I) party machine hardly existed then. Today no one comparable to her is on the scene or in sight.

For much too long has the world’s largest democracy been propped by political parties that are totally devoid of inner-party democracy themselves. But its intrinsic demerits apart, this system cannot endure indefinitely in the changing Indian circumstances of which fast growing federalism is the most important ingredient.

In a rather bleak situation the Congress can draw one comfort. The plight of the BJP, the second mainstream party, is worse. What is more, further growth of regionalism would hurt the saffron party more than the core of the ruling United Progressive Alliance. This is rather ironic. For an effective principal Opposition party had tremendous scope for exploiting the huge failings of the scam-smothered and virtually paralyzed UPA government, led by the Congress. But a fractious and virtually leaderless BJP just cannot do so. In UP the BJP may have more seats in the assembly than the Congress. But it has lost some seats it had in the old House as well as proportion of votes. By contrast, the Congress has increased both the number of seats and share of votes.

It is in Uttrakhand, however, that the ugly underbelly of the saffron party is on full display. Its narrow defeat at the hands of the Congress is, in fact, a self-inflicted wound that is bound to fester. As a minister in the Vajpayee government at the Centre, Major-General (retired) Khanduri had demonstrated how competent and upright he was. Some scheming leaders of the BJP in New Delhi later saw to it that he was removed from the office of Uttarakhand chief minister and replaced by a notoriously corrupt regime. Rather belatedly he was brought back before the poll. The credit for winning 31 seats in the assembly goes to him. But so intense is factionalism within the party that his opponents ensured Mr. Khanduri’s defeat. This was the extra seat that went to the Congress. About the BJP’s total tolerance of corruption within, the less said the better, and this renders its overblown rhetoric against the Congress corruption hollow.

MIDDLE

‘Hamara Bajaj’ and ‘Meri Britannica’
by Roopinder Singh

The morning papers came in a bit late, and thus I checked up on the day’s news on my smartphone. What I read made me reach out to a bookshelf; draw out a volume that had seen much use over the years, and thumb through the pages of Encyclopaedia Britannica.

A curious child in the pre-Internet era was bound to have a relationship with encyclopaedias. It started in Yadavindra Public School, Patiala, where the library had a good set of a children’s encyclopaedia. Richly illustrated, it was fascinating to see, and instructive to read. Pears Cyclopaedia was often consulted at home, courtesy my mother’s library.

In Amritsar, subsequently, one day I got a call from my father, ever on the quest for rare books at various second-hand stores. He had stumbled upon the seven-volume “Peoples of all Nations: Their Life to-day (sic) and the Story of Their Past.” I cycled up the uccha pul, and negotiated the narrow lanes near the Golden Temple to arrive at the bookstore and take possession of the volumes, which were thereafter precariously perched on the carrier of my bicycle. These occupy a place of pride on my bookshelves till date, and it is fascinating how much of the information in this set, published in 1922, is still valid, and how much of it is not!

Encyclopaedia Britannica was the Holy Grail that still eluded me. One day, just after I passed out of school, I was told to make a choice, between a Bajaj scooter and the Britannica. I found it interesting that the two things that I coveted so much were similarly priced, but for a youngster who prized physical mobility over mental agility, it was a no-brainer, the scooter won. ‘Hamara Bajaj’ came home and the Britannica stayed away.

I went off to college and lived in a hostel. The library was exceedingly well stocked and I would consult the Britannica often.

As time went by, my scooter became old and I felt that it needed an upgrade. My mother, ever mindful of my edification, still felt that I needed the Britannica. This time, I agreed to continue with the old ‘Hamara Bajaj’ and opted for the encyclopaedia. I would refer to it; sometimes check out the brief entries in the Micropædia, and at times, the longer ones in the Macropædia…. Simply browsing through random pages was fun. Year-Books kept the set updated, and the affair continued.

I bought a CD with the encyclopaedia in it, but it remained largely unused. However, the same could not be said for the edition I downloaded for my smartphone. The feature of showing random entries was the first allurement; the quick reference it provided was a life-saving feature, and the immediacy of having it everywhere, all the time, a major convenience. The print edition now took a backseat… till I read the news that Britannica was being discontinued 244 years after it was first published in 1768. It was almost a physical blow. What! No Encyclopaedia Britannica!

The digital move had been inevitable ever since 1981, when the company published what could have been the world’s first digital encyclopaedia, even though it was only a text version, without illustrations and graphics, which came in later. Well, the content will still be there, in a different form. Encyclopaedia Britannica is dead. Long live Encyclopaedia Britannica.

OPED DOCUMENT

‘I chose biting the bullet over status quo’
Embattled Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi in his budget speech argued for the need to go for a generational change, with focus on safety and inclusive growth, to meet the aspirations of the country in the next decade. Excerpts:

When I look at the list of illustrious leaders who have donned the mantle of Indian Railways right from Asaf Ali to Lal Bahadur Shastri, to Jagjivan Ram ji, to Gulzari Lal Nanda, Kamalapati Tripathi, Madhu Dandavate to Mamata Banerjee, I find myself nowhere near their stature. But I have tried to take lessons from history and from their contribution. I am grateful to Mamata Banerjee for giving vision to the Railways in her Vision 2020 document, which has guided me immensely in framing the roadmap.

When I took oath on July 12, 2011, as Minister of Railways, the Railways had just been overtaken by an unfortunate accident at Fatehpur Malwa, near Kanpur, on July10, 2011. I had rushed to the site, instead of going to Rail Mantralaya. The intensity of pain experienced by the passengers and their relatives continues to haunt me and I have spent sleepless nights. At that very moment, I took a vow to eliminate recurrence of such painful happenings and decided that my entire emphasis is going to be on strengthening safety, safety and safety. Death on rail tracks just can never be tolerated.

I would like to reiterate my belief in the phrase, “Safety never sleeps”, as emphasised by Mamata Banerjee all along. I believe safety has to be benchmarked against other modern railway systems in the world, be it in Europe or Japan, with no deaths due to accidents for decades together.

The commitment made in 2001 to reduce accidents per million train km from 0.55 to 0.17 has been achieved. However, our target should be zero death. However, funding is an issue which needs to be collectively addressed.

Benchmarking safety

In order to achieve even higher safety standards, I decided to set up a committee to examine the current standards of safety and suggest suitable benchmarks. Dr Anil Kakodkar headed this High-Level Railway Safety Committee, which submitted its report on February 17, 2012, and recommended far-reaching measures and safety protocols.

In line with the recommendations, I propose to set up an independent Railway Safety Authority. Since research and development are central to safety enhancement, I also propose a Railway Research and Development Council.

Safety and modernisation are two sides of the same coin. At the same time, modernisation cannot take place without financial resources and professionalization of manpower. Therefore, I had set up yet another Expert Group headed by Sam Pitroda on modernisation and resource mobilisation. The group submitted its report on February 27, 2012, and provided a blueprint for the next five years. Recommendations of the group entail an estimated investment of Rs 5.60 lakh crore.

There has been considerable criticism of the Railways in regard to only partial implementation of recommendations of several committees set up in the past. The Safety Committee has also observed that the Railways suffers from an “implementation bug”.

The Expert Group for Modernisation of Indian Railways has recommended implementation of the modernisation programmes following a “Mission Mode” approach, with clear objectives, measurable milestones, tangible deliverables and well-defined timelines. I have decided to create missions headed by directors in each of the identified areas for a three-year term. In addition, a high-level committee will be set up to facilitate coordination among the missions and address bottlenecks.

The Approach Paper of the Planning Commission to the 12th Plan envisages an investment of US$1 trillion in the infrastructure sector, with half the investment, or Rs 25 lakh crore, expected from the private sector, and the remaining Rs 25 lakh crore from government resources. I believe the Railways, being a key transport and infrastructure sector, must attract at least 10 per cent of the government share of investment, i.e., about Rs 2.50 lakh crore during the 12th Plan.

I intend to align the Railways’ investment in the 12th Plan with the recommendations of the two committees. The investment proposed at Rs 7.35 lakh crore represents a quantum jump over the investment during the 11th Plan of Rs 1.92 lakh crore.

The concern of safeguarding our borders also needs to be addressed. The geo-political situation arising out of building of state-of-the-art road and rail network by neighbouring countries requires a matching response. There is also an emergent need to connect the remote and backward areas to foster growth. Besides, there are projects of national importance in the NE region and Kashmir.

Pending projects

The Railways have a large basket of pending projects. A total of 487 projects of new lines, gauge conversion, doubling and electrification with a throw-forward liability of over Rs 1 lakh crore have already been approved by this House in the past and are at various stages of execution. With inadequate budgetary support, most of these projects cannot be completed in time.

A budget is not just numbers. It involves policy pronouncements and defining goals along with a credible roadmap. The choice before me was either just to keep the system dragging or build a new, safe and modern transportation system that would contribute at least 2 to 2.5 per cent of the GDP, as against less than 1 per cent at present. I have chosen the latter. With this, the Railways would become an even more powerful engine of growth. This would require a multi-pronged approach. Therefore, in this budget I have focussed on i) safety; ii) consolidation; iii) decongestion and capacity augmentation; iv) modernisation; and v) bringing down the Operating Ratio from 95 per cent to 84.9 per cent in 2012-13 and to 74 per cent in the terminal year of the 12th Plan, which would be an improvement over the best ever achieved by the Railways. These would need to be supported by a sustainable financial model.

Opportune moment

There cannot be a more opportune moment to formulate a long-term plan, now that we are at the threshold of finalising the 12th Plan. I intend to follow a carefully thought out plan for at least five years, within the overall perspective of Vision 2020. The budget for 2012-13 would seamlessly integrate with the 12th Plan and Vision 2020 document of Mamata Banerjee.

A huge sum of Rs 14 lakh crore is required in the next 10 years. Given the constraint of funds even to meet the day-to-day operational expenditure, I have a Himalayan task of running the Railways safely. I had two very clear yet contrasting options — either to keep the Railways in status quo mode with just incremental annual changes, or, as the phrase goes, ‘bite the bullet’. The second option would involve going for a generational change with a focus on safety and inclusive growth to meet the aspirations of this great country in the next decade. I chose the generational change, inspired by Kabi Guru Rabindranath Tagore: “Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high.”

To understand the aspirations of the people, I visited several states along with Board Members. I interacted with chief ministers and MPs. In my eight months as Railway Minister, I have received 5,741 requests, including requests for new lines, doubling and gauge conversion, ROBs/RUBs, electrification, manufacturing facilities, new trains, train stoppages, and miscellaneous subjects such as transfers.

I have tried to provide something to meet the aspirations of the people within the available resources.

Symbol of unity

Just as we cannot imagine India without the Himalayas, we cannot imagine India without the holy river Ganga. Similarly, we cannot imagine India without Indian Railways. The Railways is the symbol and substance of India’s unity. The Railways has its wheels on earth, not in the sky or just urban streets. If we do not strengthen the Railways, we weaken our country. That is why I believe it is the collective responsibility of Parliament to make the Railways amongst the best in the world. This means national investment. So the time has come to think of a national railway policy, just as we have one for defence and external affairs.

While the world is grappling with the problem of dealing with a flat economy, India has remained in a healthy growth mode. The world is looking towards India and the huge potential it possesses to act as an engine of growth. On a somewhat smaller scale, what India is to the world, Indian Railways is to the Indian economy. Therefore, if I may be permitted some immodesty, Indian Railways has a very critical role in catalysing growth for the world economy. India cannot sustain its GDP growth unless the Railways grows 10 per cent annually.

Drawing from the Kakodkar and Pitroda committees’ recommendations, I have chosen five focus areas: a) tracks; b) bridges; c) signalling and telecommunication; d) rolling stock; and e) stations and freight terminals.

The budgetary support to the Railways has been pegged at a modest Rs 24,000 crore, as against a projected requirement of Rs 45,000 crore.

Budget estimates

The Railways is targeting to carry 1,025 million tonne of revenue earning originating traffic during 2012-13, which is 55 million tonne more than the revised estimate target of 970 million tonne. The freight earnings target has been kept at Rs 89,339 crore, a growth of 30.2 per cent over the current year revised target. The number of passengers is expected to increase by 5.4 per cent in 2012-13 with increase in number of trains and higher occupancy. The passenger earnings have been kept at Rs 36,073 crore, an increase of Rs 7,273 crore over the revised estimates of the current year.

The Railways has been facing considerable criticism, much of it unwarranted, for its present financial situation. The budgetary support from the government has not been at the levels required. Yet it is my duty to address the issues. I have had a hard look at the revenue model available and have realised the true import of the dictum, “One who does not help himself, is helped by none”.

I have been under tremendous pressure from all quarters, including staff, parliamentary committees, MPs, media and even rail users, to address inadequate resource generation. They have questioned as to what is restraining the Railways from raising resources internally.

The input costs have been going up. The impact of the Sixthth Pay Commission is well known. Fuel prices have increased by more than 50 per cent during the past decade. During this period, the cost of passenger transportation by road has increased manifold. Consequently, a large chunk of short-distance passenger traffic has got diverted from road to rail, creating additional pressure.

“Kandhe jhuk gaye hain/ kamar lachak gayee hai/ bojha utha kar/ bechari rail thak gayee hai/ railgari ko nayi dava, naya asar chahiye/ is safar mein mujhko apsa hamsafar chahiye.”

Therefore, I have been counselled to go for a steep increase in passenger fare, as there has been no increase for the last almost eight years. However, guided by concern for the aam admi, I have desisted from any steep increase.

So far, earnings from the freight traffic have been subsidising passenger traffic. This model of heavy cross-subsidy is not sustainable. If this continues, the Railways may lose freight traffic to road.

There has been a demand for setting up an independent Railway Tariff Regulatory Authority to suggest tariffs. This is an important area and needs debate. I am, therefore, appointing a body of experts to examine this.

The proposed adjustments [in fares] do not even cover the impact of increase in fuel prices during the past eight years. I am keeping the valuable passengers insulated from the burden of increase in staff costs.

I seek to create a partnership with my passengers and I assure the House that the additional revenue will help the Railways provide better, cleaner and safer services.

Before I end my speech, I would just wish to say: “Railgari ki chhuk chhuk mein hi/ aam aadmi ki dhak dhak hai/ railgari ki barkat mein hi desh ki barkat hai/ railgari ko kuchh dular ki zaroorat hai/ thoda rahat thodi chahat thode pyar ki zaroorat hai/ railgari ki chhuk chhuk main hi/ aam aadmi ki dhak dhak hai.”