O P I N I O N S

EDITORIALS

Budget dictated by politics
Too much caution will not spur growth
It would be naïve to expect a general budget to be free of political constraints, especially in a coalition setup, but Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s budget for 2012-13 took the cake for caution and a risk-averse attitude. Not that it was an exercise in populism but the general direction was status quoist. With political parties vying with one another to project themselves as champions of the poor, the thrust was neither on innovation nor straightforwardness.

Focus on food security
Pranab’s budget looks eastwards
The 2012-13 Union budget has made incremental allocations for agriculture without addressing the deepening crisis of falling farm incomes and employment. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s main concern is to meet the demands of Sonia Gandhi-backed Food Security Bill. Since food production in Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh has become stagnant, he has turned to replicate the Green Revolution in Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa. Last year he gave Rs 400 crore for boosting rice production in the eastern states, which did produce seven million tonnes more rice. This budget has raised the amount to Rs 1,000 crore.

Such is Sachin
Lot to learn from the cricketer and the man
IN the words of cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle, India sleeps well, when Sachin plays well. And the country heaved a collective sigh of relief after the long, agonising and year-long wait for his 100th century in international cricket, finally ended in Bangladesh last week. The historic milestone, ironically enough, failed to prevent India from losing the match; and some critics have already blamed Tendulkar for his agonisingly slow batting before he reached the century, for the defeat. It revived the criticism that Sachin plays for records and that he is not somebody who can win matches for the team.

• Thought for the Day

ARTICLE

Turmoil in Balochistan
Pak discriminatory policies are to blame
by Lt-Gen Kamal Davar (retd)
THOSE who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it, as a famous truism goes. That Pakistan displays a proclivity in not discarding its myopic, self-destructive strategies while following consistently the policy of adhering to terrorism as an extension of its state policy externally or indulging in persecution internally of some of its own people is no surprise. Pakistan forgets that it was primarily the unleashing of genocide on its then own citizens in erstwhile East Pakistan that led to the severing of its eastern limb in 1971. An uncanny similarity marks the political and security environment in hapless Balochistan today.

MIDDLE

Promises to keep
by Saurabh Malik
The deadly promise Balwant Singh made with death some 15 years ago is coming alive, finally. A decade and a half is long enough for you to move on in life. In the march ahead, something so vital then becomes just a moment of past. But then something happens, and you are transported back to the ‘ancient times’ on the bandwagon of your thoughts in a jiffy.

OPED RAILWAYS

An effort to rescue the Railways
R.C. Acharya
Despite the political storm it has raised Dinesh Trivedi’s budget has made a bold effort to improve the Railways’ finances and safety track record. He has tried to prepare the Railways to meet rising public aspirations in the coming decade
As the Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi had two very clear and contrasting options – either keep the Railways in the status quo mode with just incremental annual changes or bite the bullet and go for a generational change with focus on safety and inclusive growth to meet people’s aspirations in the next decade.

EDITORIALS

Budget dictated by politics
Too much caution will not spur growth

It would be naïve to expect a general budget to be free of political constraints, especially in a coalition setup, but Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s budget for 2012-13 took the cake for caution and a risk-averse attitude. Not that it was an exercise in populism but the general direction was status quoist. With political parties vying with one another to project themselves as champions of the poor, the thrust was neither on innovation nor straightforwardness. Heavily dependent as the UPA is on its constituents for its survival, and with the example of the rebellious Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee fresh in his mind, Pranab Mukherjee took care not to do anything that could rock the UPA’s boat. While he subsequently admitted that diesel decontrol was well on its way (which would lead to a hike in diesel prices), he did not include the inevitable petroleum product price increases in the budget. Sooner than later, the increases in this sector would be announced through an executive decision as has become a pattern with administered prices over the last few years. Significantly, the Finance Minister talked of capping subsidies at 2 per cent of the GDP from the present 2.5 per cent, but he did not pick up the courage to slash specific subsidies through the budget.

Mr Mukherjee was acutely conscious that Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi had burnt his fingers by announcing rail fare hikes in the budget while the steep freight rate increase a couple of days before the rail budget passed muster without any hue and cry. But the net result of this politics of “coalition compulsion” has been that year after year, there is a woeful lack of money for productive investment while unproductive expenditure rules the roost with a myriad of social welfare schemes and subsidies.

With elections to Parliament slated for 2014, it is on the cards that the next budget would be a soft one. This time around, there was a chance for the Manmohan Singh government to take some bold measures to further the economic reforms agenda which has virtually ground to a halt and to catalyse change in a positive direction so that industry breaks out of its inertia. Blame it on coalition compulsions, but the cold fact is that hope has been belied.

Focus on food security
Pranab’s budget looks eastwards

The 2012-13 Union budget has made incremental allocations for agriculture without addressing the deepening crisis of falling farm incomes and employment. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s main concern is to meet the demands of Sonia Gandhi-backed Food Security Bill. Since food production in Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh has become stagnant, he has turned to replicate the Green Revolution in Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa. Last year he gave Rs 400 crore for boosting rice production in the eastern states, which did produce seven million tonnes more rice. This budget has raised the amount to Rs 1,000 crore.

The northern states have paid a heavy price for meeting the Centre’s food requirements. The rice-wheat cycle and an excessive use of chemical fertilizers have ruined soil quality and damaged water resources. Free power and water hastened the process. Power shortages forced farmers to buy more diesel to run their tubewells. The shrinking levels of water in rivers and canals have increased farmers’ dependence on groundwater. Since the Centre is set to cut the fertilizer subsidy, it will further raise farmers’ input costs. Making more loans available alone will not help. Small, illiterate farmers often stay away from banks and turn to private moneylenders for hassle-free cash at exorbitant interest rates. So Mukherjee’s increased allocation of Rs 1 lakh crore for farm credit may benefit only some educated, better-off farmers.

Political parties dependent on farmers’ votes have no clue about improving their lot. They offer freebies and blame the Centre for not factoring the rising input costs in minimum support prices. Andhra Pradesh farmers have suffered persistent losses due to rice cultivation. Maybe these states can learn from Brazil, which exposed farming to trade, raised farm production with scientific research without recourse to subsidies and used organic practices to grow vegetables. Given the alarming decline in soil health and the water table, Punjab and Haryana need to discover new ways of farming, eliminate middlemen and try linkages between cooperatives, companies and the market.

Such is Sachin
Lot to learn from the cricketer and the man

IN the words of cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle, India sleeps well, when Sachin plays well. And the country heaved a collective sigh of relief after the long, agonising and year-long wait for his 100th century in international cricket, finally ended in Bangladesh last week. The historic milestone, ironically enough, failed to prevent India from losing the match; and some critics have already blamed Tendulkar for his agonisingly slow batting before he reached the century, for the defeat. It revived the criticism that Sachin plays for records and that he is not somebody who can win matches for the team. Even Sachin acknowledged that this hundredth ton was the hardest for him to get and that the burden of expectations had started weighing him down. But nothing can take away the sheen from the achievement. True, cricketers play a lot more international matches these days and both Ricky Ponting and Jaques Kallis, with 71 and 59 international centuries respectively, have played far fewer innings than Tendulkar. Yet, few will question either his genius or passion.

One of the best compliments ever paid to Tendulkar was by the Australian cricketer, Andrew Symonds. On a T-shirt he gifted to the Indian legend, Symonds wrote, “To Sachin, the man we all want to be”. Indeed, there is a lot to learn from the way Sachin has handled both success and failure. His conduct both on and off the field has been impeccable and although opposing teams have sought to provoke him, not even once in 22 years is he known to have retaliated. Fast bowlers have tried to rattle him with bouncers and bodyline bowling. But Sachin is not known to have got into any fracas with any of them. Although a victim of many dubious umpiring decisions, no umpire has ever had to complain against any tantrum or overt display of displeasure by him. He has truly been a gentleman and the best ambassador that cricket could have hoped for.

The social work done by the cricketer is also quite remarkable. Not only does Sachin sponsor the education of several hundred children in Mumbai, he has raised money for cancer victims, the disabled and for providing basic infrastructure to schools. He has been generous with both his money and his time while fulfilling his social responsibility. That is much more than what can be said for a lot of our entertainers.

Thought for the Day

A mother takes twenty years to make a man of her boy, and another woman makes a fool of him in twenty minutes. — Robert Frost

ARTICLE

Turmoil in Balochistan
Pak discriminatory policies are to blame
by Lt-Gen Kamal Davar (retd)

THOSE who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it, as a famous truism goes. That Pakistan displays a proclivity in not discarding its myopic, self-destructive strategies while following consistently the policy of adhering to terrorism as an extension of its state policy externally or indulging in persecution internally of some of its own people is no surprise. Pakistan forgets that it was primarily the unleashing of genocide on its then own citizens in erstwhile East Pakistan that led to the severing of its eastern limb in 1971. An uncanny similarity marks the political and security environment in hapless Balochistan today.

Balochistan is the largest of Pakistan's four provinces covering 44 per cent of its landmass with just 4.5 per cent of its population. Though it has gas deposits and is mineral-rich, it has received an abysmally small share of Pakistani revenue since 1947. It straddles both Afghanistan and Iran which also have a fair number of restive Baloch tribes. The local Baloch constitute many tribes and sub-tribes with the Marris, Bugtis and Mengals being the major ones. In keeping with the overly Punjabi orientation of the Pakistani state, the Baloch have a mere 1.3 per cent representation in Pakistan's armed forces.

Balochistan's unique geographical location, providing connectivity through Afghanistan to the Central Asian Republics or, on its own, to the Karakoram Highway (KKH) and then to the warm waters of the Arabian Sea, gives it immense strategic importance. It is thus not surprising that the strategically minded Chinese have invested heavily in developing the deep-sea port of Gwadar on Balochistan's coastline not only to ensure alternative oil supply routes to the Chinese mainland via the KKH but also dominate the Arabian Sea and the Gulf with its navy once Gwadar is fully operationalised.

It is pertinent to recall that at the time of independence in 1947, the Khan of Kalat had refused to merge Balochistan with Pakistan and only a massive intervention by the army in Balochistan ensured its annexation by Pakistan. Since then Balochistan has been gripped by civil wars in 1958, 1963 and again in 1973.

Gen Pervez Musharraf, in particular, during his rule, had unleashed not only his army in great strength in Balochistan but also armed helicopters and even jet fighters against Balochi insurgents, including killing the widely respected Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti and his son. General Musharraf, who is perhaps the most hated Pakistani leader in this province, also established many cantonments in Balochistan. A serious insurgency continues till now.

Baloch grievances against Pakistan are rooted in the denial since 1947 of their political rights, the fear of being swamped by Punjabi machinations, exploitation of the province's natural resources and local land being leased to foreigners. A large number of Balochi tribal leaders have escaped to the US and the UK and are vociferous in their demands of seeking Baloch independence from Pakistan. Only recently in Islamabad, Baloch leader Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo stated that Pakistan's infamous ISI was running Balochistan for the last 15 years and untold genocide had been unleashed on the impoverished people there. The ISI has been notorious for its “kill and dump” policy for years. According to reliable estimates, 231 bullet-ridden bodies were found along roadsides in Balochistan last year. Recently in the fashionable area of Clifton in Karachi, the ISI engineered the murder of Nawab Bugti's granddaughter and his 13-year-old great-granddaughter with a nearby police picket looking the other way.

The world community, so far oblivious of the repression of the Balochi people, appears to be waking up to continuing Pakistani barbarism in Balochistan. In February this year, Amnesty International testified before a US Congressional Committee on the grave human rights abuses in Balochistan. Importantly, a Republican senator has moved a House concurrent resolution in the US Congress seeking the right of self-determination for Balochistan. This step has evoked much protest in Pakistan with the latter complaining of interference in its internal affairs by some US Congressmen and further vitiating the already deteriorating relations between the erstwhile allies.

India, consistent with its policy of non-interference, has studiously avoided meddling in Balochistan despite regular unsubstantiated Pakistani allegations to the contrary. Baloch nationalist leaders are naturally miffed at India's laid-back attitude towards their yearnings for freedom and always remind the Indians of Balochi secular credentials and their respect for Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi. Not many in India are aware that at the time of Independence, no Hindu or Sikh families were driven away from Balochistan unlike from Punjab, the NWFP and Sindh. In addition, after the unfortunate destruction of Babri Masjid in India, no old Hindu shrines were demolished by the Baloch.

Overall, India has to be prudent as regards its Balochistan policy but must, at the same time, firmly tell Pakistan to abandon its policy of interference in Jammu and Kashmir as a quid pro quo. As India must keep its options open on happenings in the neighbourhood, Pakistan is in a bind, anyway, as far as Balochistan is concerned for the restive province's future is currently anyone's guess !

The writer was the first Chief of the Defence Intelligence Agency.

MIDDLE

Promises to keep
by Saurabh Malik

The deadly promise Balwant Singh made with death some 15 years ago is coming alive, finally.

A decade and a half is long enough for you to move on in life. In the march ahead, something so vital then becomes just a moment of past. But then something happens, and you are transported back to the ‘ancient times’ on the bandwagon of your thoughts in a jiffy.

The news of Balwant Singh’s impending execution is no different.

It brings back to mind the somber afternoon of December 25, 1997, when Balwant Singh confessed his hand in former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh’s killing.

The insurmountable walls of Burail Jail were not high enough to prevent the bright and shining sun from spreading lethargy over the green patch in the middle of the prison premises. The patch was the “power centre”. It served as an open air office for the then jail superintendent, R.D. Sharma, and a retiring room for journalists.

The trial was about to begin in the makeshift courtroom in the jail. But everyone sitting around “Sharma ji’s” table was apparently more interested in basking in the glory of the sun rather than penning down the statements of prosecution witnesses being recorded inside.

Jagtar Singh Hawara, Jagtar Singh Tara, Balwant Singh and so many other accused, dressed up almost similarly, could be seen from a little distance walking towards the courtroom. But then Balwant Singh broke lose from the crowd, came over, and boisterously whispered: “Aaj andar zaroor ayao (Do remain present inside today)”.

His voice gave no indication of the turmoil inside his mind. At the most, it suggested the defence was about to come out with another life-saving, time-consuming, gimmick.

But inside, silence descended on the makeshift courtroom as Balwant Singh said: “Judge sahib, mein kuchh kahna chanda han (I want to say something).”

Balwant Singh then went ahead to confess his hand in the killing and said he had no regrets. He had his own reasons — he believed the then Chief Minister was involved in anti-Sikh activities.

Before being pacified, he raised pro-Khalistan slogans, renting the air with cries of “Khalistan zindabad, Bhai Dilawar Singh zindabad!”

The confessional statement was enough to leave any young journalist excited, yet ill at ease. It was a page-one story, of course. But, then, the defence side was cross-examining the witnesses to prove things to the contrary. Why would someone at such a time want to give up his life? The question kept haunting.

His answer was hardly theatrical. “Tusi key jano dosti kinj nebhai jandi hai (How do you know the way of living up to friendship)?”

It was only later the investigators would, off-the-record, tell you that co-conspirator Dilawar Singh and Balwant Singh flipped a coin for deciding who would become the human bomb for eliminating the then Chief Minister.

Dilawar Singh won the fatal toss and agreed to lose his life. But before triggering off the blast, he asked Balwant Singh to confess his hand, which he did in less than four years after the assassination.

For most of us, apology is the price we pay for broken promises. But it is different in Balwant Singh’s case. You can call it brainwashing, foolhardiness or dedication towards a friend. The fact remains that he did not defend himself. He did not even file an appeal against his death sentence. For him death is the price for keeping a promise.

OPED RAILWAYS

An effort to rescue the Railways
R.C. Acharya

Despite the political storm it has raised Dinesh Trivedi’s budget has made a bold effort to improve the Railways’ finances and safety track record. He has tried to prepare the Railways to meet rising public aspirations in the coming decade

As the Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi had two very clear and contrasting options – either keep the Railways in the status quo mode with just incremental annual changes or bite the bullet and go for a generational change with focus on safety and inclusive growth to meet people’s aspirations in the next decade.

It was indeed a tight rope walk, balancing between populist demands and the need to drastically improve the Railways’ safety record, and by all counts Trivedi in his maiden Rail Budget has acquitted himself admirably well!

He had already faced the public wrath when he went to the site of a train accident at Fatehpur Malwa, near Kanpur, as soon as he had taken over as the Railway Minister. No wonder safety was on top of his many priorities when he was busy framing the Railway Budget proposals for 2012, and for which the road map provided by the Kakodkar Committee for Review of Railway Safety came handy.

Special purpose vehicles

With management being freed from the shackles of the bureaucracy, Trivedi has found the setting up corporations as the way to move forward, and hence, the flavour of the season has been SPVs (special purpose vehicles)!

With Rs. 50,000 crore to be spent to eliminate all grade crossings — manned and unmanned level-crossings — which had been responsible for 40% of all train accidents and involved 60% to 70 % of casualties over the last five years, a SPV viz. Rail-Road Grade Separation Corporation of India, is proposed to be set up.

Another SPV viz. Indian Railways Station Development Corporation will redevelop stations and maintain them on the pattern of airports, while a Logistics Corporation would develop and manage the existing goods sheds, and multi-modal logistics parks. It would provide a more user-friendly approach for logistics solutions to the rail-users to help them cut down their operating costs.

He also proposes to create a Safety Authority as a statutory regulatory body which would function in line with international practices to ensure greater passenger safety as well as a Railway Research and Development Council at the apex level to spearhead developmental efforts to enhance rail safety.

Trivedi finds that safety and modernisation are two sides of the same coin, hence the Sam Pitroda committee’s recommendations in areas of modernisation impacting safety — with a price tag of Rs. 5.6 lakh crore — is proposed to be vigorously pursued. ‘Mission Directors’ would be appointed for a period of not less than three years to vigorously pursue implementation of the projects, reporting directly to the Railway Board.

Investments of Rs. 7.35 lakh core for the 12th Plan are proposed to be met as follows: Rs. 2.5 lakh crore by gross budgetary support, Rs. 30,000 crore by government support for national projects, Rs. 20,000 crore by ploughing back of dividends, Rs. 1,99,805 crore by internal resources, Rs. 2,18,775 crore by extra budgetory resources, and Rs. 16,842 crore by the Railway Safety Fund.

Public private partnerships

Making a special reference to his successful PPP (Public Private Partnership) initiative with Chhatisgarh and user industries in the region, Trivedi announced that an MOU was signed with the concerned stake-holders to develop three new rail corridors in the northern parts of the state for the movement of passengers and freight.

Making a special mention of rail-based industries, Trivedi was happy to report on the successful production of the first lot of 78 wheels in 2011-12 from the Rail Wheel Plant at Chhapra in Bihar and that the plant would be ready for full commissioning in 2012-13. A new coach factory at Rae Bareli in UP is ready for full production with 10 coaches having already been rolled out. Phase II is expected to be completed by 2012-13.

A Diesel Component Works at Dankuni has commenced production of under-frames for high-powered diesel locomotives, and is likely to be fully operational by 2012-13 , while a wagon manufacturing unit at Kulti and a Fiat bogie manufacturing unit at Budge-Budge will start production in 2012-13.

Trivedi also proposes to augment the facilities at Dankuni for fabrication of locomotive shells and assembly of the three-phase electric locos for the new generation 9000 hp locos under transfer of technology from Japan, with capacity to assemble 100 locos a year.

All the above three projects in West Bengal were initiated by Mamata Banerjee last year when she occupied the corner room in Rail Bhavan !

More states have now joined in the clamour for such rail-based manufacturing facilities, starting with Kerala which has promised to chip in for a coach manufacturing unit at Pallakad, while Gujarat wants one in Kutch, Karnataka in Kolar and Odisha has thrown its hat in the ring for a wagon factory at Sitapali in Ganjam district. A facility for the manufacture of alternators for high horse power diesel locomotive at Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh is also on the cards.

Benefits for patients

As usual the 62 -page document is full of sops for the weaker and less privileged sections of society such as extending 50% concession in fares for 2 & 3 tier AC, chair car and sleeper classes for patients suffering from aplastic anaemia and sickle cell anaemia. Arjuna Award winners are proposed to be allowed to travel by Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains.

SIMRAN — a very popular name in Punjab — is a Real Time Train Information System (RTIS) developed by the Railways to provide accurate train running information to passengers through SMS, Internet etc. Already covering 36 trains, including Rajdhanis, Shatabdis and Durontos, it will be introduced for all mail and express trains in the next 18 months though it may not necessarily lead to any better punctuality!

Adding to the already top-heavy Railway Board, Trivedi now proposes to induct two new Members, one for PPP/Marketing who will be charged with finding ways and means for augmenting financial resources — a very tough job — and another for Safety/Research to provide a further focus on safety, taking the number of ‘wise’ men from 7 to 9!

As the Railway Minister over the last eight months, Trivedi had received as many as 5,741 requests, including 476 for new lines, doubling, gauge conversions or expediting completion of ones already in the pipe line. Some 273 requests were for ROB/RUBs (Road Over Bridge/Road Under Bridge), 48 for setting up new manufacturing facilities, 646 for new trains, 303 for extension of trains, 214 for increasing frequency, 811 for stoppages and 3000 miscellaneous requests, and he has tried to accommodate as many as possible!

More trains, unsafe tracks

Apparently Dinesh Trivedi was not ready to fully ‘bite the bullet’ yet. He chose not to ignore all demands for new trains, extension, increasing frequency etc. till such time as adequate line capacity and maintenance facilities had been built up, a pre-condition which had been strongly recommended by the Kakodkar committee.

A long list of 75 new express, 21 passenger, 8 MEMU, (Main Line Electric Multiple Units) 9 DEMU (Diesel Electric Multiple Units) trains features at annexure 20 of his budget speech. So are 39 extensions and 23 increases in the frequency of trains, undoubtedly further adding to the mayhem on the already crowded tracks.

Unfortunately, the cost of this highly populous step cannot be measured in financial terms alone. Windows available for hundreds of expensive track machines to efficiently perform and achieve a meaningful track maintenance to rated output will undoubtedly further shrink, making the tracks that much more unsafe.

Though Trivedi had already announced a 20% hike in freight tariff a week ago, he proposes to now rationalise the passenger fares by a nominal hike per km. of 2 paise for suburban and ordinary second class, 3 paise for Mail and Express second 5 paise for AC chair car, 10 paise for AC 3 tier & First, 15 paise for AC 2 tier, and 30 paise for AC 1st. Class.

The 1,388-km journey from New Delhi to Mumbai Central in the cool comfort of an AC chair car by Lalu Yadav’s Garib Rath, which costs Rs.600, will now cost Rs. 630, an increase of a mere 2%, hardly making a dent in the poorest of the poor’s finances!

This is a much delayed yet bold step, which is in keeping with inflation over the last nine years when the last hike in passenger fares was announced, and would help garner much needed finances. Unfortunately, it is will be a drop in the ocean for the level of funds needed to finance various programmes which Trivedi has now proposed to turn Indian Railways into a world-class system.

Rises above populism

Undoubtedly Trivedi has set an example of keeping the nation above self — a rare trait amongst politicians. Reportedly he is ready to face consequences for the decisions which were dictated purely by his conscience. As proudly claimed by him, the bold steps taken by him would indeed help bring the Railways out of the ICU!

The Railways would not have to come to the present sorry pass only if the scores of Railway Board mandarins over the last two decades had the same courage of their conviction. The successive Railway Ministers would not have been able to fritter away precious financial resources for hundreds of populist unviable projects costing Rs.80,000 crore at the last count.

Nor would they have been able to announce thousands of new trains crowding out precious freight traffic, the bread and butter of any transport business. Perhaps Nitish Kumar would have been stopped dead in his tracks and not allowed to play about with the carefully built command and control structure of the Railways and increase the number of Rail Zones from a manageable nine to 17, further adding to avoidable overhead.

The writer is a former Member, Railway Board