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Pranab – right choice
No country for old men |
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Jail for cricket financier The lessons India can learn Texan financier Allen Stanford — formerly Sir Allen and an ex-great benefactor of cricket in the West Indies and England — has been jailed for 110 years for defrauding investors of over $7 billion. Stanford was found guilty of running a Ponzi scheme — a fraudulent juggling of money and balance-sheets, whereby investors are paid dividends from their own investments or those made by the subsequent investors, rather than from profits earned by the company.
Playing with fire in Punjab
Zero error
Punjab pays for misplaced priorities
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Pranab – right choice By making Pranab Mukherjee the UPA’s choice for the post of President, Sonia Gandhi may give the country a Head of State who has vast knowledge and experience as a parliamentarian. Pranab has a sharp intellect and a mind of his own.
The post of Prime Minister has eluded him twice – first after Indira Gandhi was assassinated in 1984 and then in 2004 he lost the job to Dr Manmohan Singh. Politically savvy, he has been the UPA’s crisis manager with boundless energy and patience to go into the nitty-gritty of each complicated issue and come out with a pragmatic solution. He is acceptable even to most parties in opposition. Sonia Gandhi must have weighed Pranab’s usefulness for the UPA government before taking the decision. Mamata Banerjee’s “unethical” revelation of Sonia Gandhi’s list of candidates forced the UPA chairperson to take two quick decisions. First, she effectively countered Mamata’s irresponsible and mischievous act of including the Prime Minister’s name in her list of Presidential candidates. In a firm message to her and others, including some in the Congress, she has clarified that Dr Manmohan Singh will continue as the Prime Minister till 2014. Secondly, she has formally announced Pranab’s name. It was difficult for Sonia not to back Pranab once his name came out in the open. By winning back Mulayam Singh and even getting Mayawati on board, the Congress strategists have almost won the race. The BJP’s waiting game has left it with a limited role to play in the Presidential poll. Mamata Banerjee’s brazen, almost conspiratorial alliance with Mulayam Singh, has left her licking wounds, largely self-inflicted. She overlooked the opportunistic politics Mulayam plays. In one master stroke Sonia Gandhi has cut her to size. As the Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee leaves a legacy not much to be proud of. During his tenure economic growth slipped, reforms got stalled and his budgets scared away foreign investors, weakening the rupee. The socialists in the Congress, it seems, are unconvinced about reforms and fear a further erosion of its shrinking vote bank if unpopular decisions are taken.
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No country for old men About 70 per cent of the elderly, who are at the receiving end of abuse from their own children, live in houses owned by them. This is reflective of our consumerist fixation in relationships. This also explains why we have redundant practices like dowry.
We ill-treat our children and elderly alike for their financial dependence. And we claim to have the best family-oriented culture. We are confused whether to adopt the Western pattern of sending our aged to old-age homes or to look after them following the cultural tradition. We follow neither. So, we ill-treat the elderly while keeping them at home. The stories of neglect of the elderly have been trickling in for years, but a survey conducted in 20 cities by HelpAge India confirmed what has been suspected for long — rampant abuse of the elderly within the family structure. Of the 100 million elderly in India, one in every three faces abuse. Ironically, they do not wish to report their abuse to the police nor do they wish to seek help from the National Council for Senior Citizens and the existing laws, especially the Maintenance of Parents and Older Persons Act, 2007, to protect family reputation. In the absence of a proper mechanism for the implementation of these laws, their hollowness proves as futile as expectations of the elderly from their sons. Some community initiatives have shown the way to find a solution to this problem. The Chandigarh Senior Citizens Association is one such example, a group of about 1500 senior citizens who have devised ways to help themselves. About 30 senior doctors among the members render their services to look after the health issues of the seniors. They celebrate birthdays, go for picnics and excursions, conduct computer classes to make seniors e- friendly and have their own physiotherapy centres. This self-help group also extends remarkable social service to the underprivileged. This model can be replicated by the elderly elsewhere to live with dignity.
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Jail for cricket financier
Texan
financier Allen Stanford
— formerly Sir Allen and an ex-great benefactor of cricket in the
West Indies and England — has been jailed for 110 years for
defrauding investors of over $7 billion. Stanford was found guilty of
running a Ponzi scheme — a fraudulent juggling of money and
balance-sheets, whereby investors are paid dividends from their own
investments or those made by the subsequent investors, rather than
from profits earned by the company. Stanford entered cricketing
consciousness in an ostentatious manner when he landed a helicopter on
the Lord’s cricket ground, flaunting a large, translucent chest
containing $20 million in cash. The money was most welcome in English
cricket. Their cricket board’s relations with the wealthy Indian
Premier League (IPL) were strained, and they jumped at the opportunity
to befriend the large Texan who disliked Test cricket and wanted to
keep cricket alive in the West Indies by pumping money in it and
sponsoring a yearly, winner-takes-all match against England worth £20
m. Stanford’s bank was also very generous, offering interest rates 3
per cent more than most banks in the US - a sure sign that fraud was
underway, and investigations confirmed this and led to his swift
conviction and sentencing. Now, in India too we have seen suspicious
confluence of sport and massive amount of money in recent years,
raising suspicion. There have been several inquiries against IPL teams
on their ownership pattern, suspicions of money laundering, FEMA
violations and tax evasion. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on
Finance noted that the “fair name of a much-loved sport in the
country... should not have been allowed to get sullied and embroiled
in transgressions of law off the field” due to wrongdoing in the IPL.
BCCI president N Srinivasan, testifying before the committee, said:
“No defence in front of you... We just put our heads down”.
Following the US example, it’s time India punished the violators of
law and cleansed sport.
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The less you talk, the more you're listened to.— Abigail Van Buren
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Playing with fire in Punjab WHEN the Akalis are out of power, they indulge either in a dharam morcha or some act which would evoke religious passions among the Sikhs. But when they adopt the same tactics while in authority, it means that they want to divert attention from problems like unemployment, drug trafficking and farmers’ lessening incomes.
To the horror of the country, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal filed the other day a mercy petition on behalf of Balwant Singh
Rajoana, the killer of former chief minister Beant Singh. Now Badal’s son, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh, is among those who have honoured the insurgents and a few others involved in resisting the Army which was deployed to flush them out from the Golden Temple at
Amritsar. Both Badals are in charge of law and order. In a way, they are the custodians of the state. They have not realised even yet that they cannot carry out their duty if they side with militants. I have been told they had to bow before “pressure”. If the rulers have to act under the direction of insurgents, the state is in for uncertain times. Punjab has been through the phase from the mid-’70s to mid-’80s when the extremists had the upper hand and instilled fear among the Hindus that they were not safe in the state. A hiatus between the two communities began to be visible from that time. The insurgents have now founded a memorial for Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale who, once sponsored by the Congress, challenged the state from within the precincts of the Golden Temple.
Sukhbir’s explanation that the memorial was laid by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee
(SGPC) is not credible. The Akali Dal itself controls the SGPC. In fact, the Government of India should get at the root of the problem and scrap the Gurdwara Act. Let the entire Sikh community, not those who are on restrictive electoral rolls, run the
gurdwaras. The problem with the Akali Dal is that it does not differentiate religion from politics. Bhindranwale committed the same mistake and Punjab paid the price. I do not know what the Akalis have in mind because they are traversing the same dangerous path. How embarrassed must have been Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, a Sikh and the new Chief of Army Staff, Gen Bikram Singh, also a Sikh, over what the ruling Akali Dal did to glorify the insurgents who polluted the Golden Temple, the Sikhs’ Vatican? The government had to employ the Army to destroy the barricades and the bunkers that Bhindranwale’s men had built to fight against the Army. How can a memorial be built to perpetuate those who wanted to disintegrate the country and give a bad name to the Sikhs who are proud citizens of India? Lt-Gen
K.S. Brar, who led the force during Operation Bluestar, has spoken in pain about the operation. In an interview to a daily, he has said: “The Akalis are allowing a move to revive terrorism. Siropas are being offered to the kin of terrorists. Militants and their families are being garlanded. Are the Akalis attempting to get the sympathy of militants by allowing such activities?” Brar’s question should better be addressed to both the Chief Minister and his deputy who have not yet understood that they have to crush the divisive forces which believe in separatism. I do not know why no Sikh organisation or a non-political person of consequence from the community has condemned the honouring of a killer and the laying of the foundation. The Akalis are creating a Frankenstein which will one day devour the peaceful citizens of Punjab. The silence of the Bharatiya Janata Party surprises me. It is a partner in the state government. The BJP is either giving its tacit support to the radical fringe or sticking to ministerial postings for their personal gain. Both ways, they do not serve the interest of the party or the country. If they are really “unhappy”, as some reports say, they should quit the government. But then they too, like the
Akalis, have electoral considerations in view. And the victory at municipal polls must have strengthened their decision to stay with the
Akalis. Whether the Akalis realise it or not, there is a wave of indignation against what they have done at the Golden Temple. But the main anger is directed against the Badals who have gone along with those who had held the integrity of India to ransom. Both the Akali Dal and the Chief Minister owe an explanation to the nation. It would be, however, pertinent to know whether the Intelligence Bureau warned Punjab about what the radicals and insurgents were up to. Although Home Minister P. Chidambaram is pre-occupied, he should have pointed out in writing to the Punjab Chief Minister about the ramifications of what was contemplated at the Golden Temple. It amounts to the failure of the Constitution, and the state government should have been taken to task. The Punjabis are oblivious of why the Akalis are supporting groups like the Damdami Taksal and the Dal
Khalsa, both known to be extremist organisations. On the one hand, the party is talking of development and requesting the centre for a special package and, on the other, it is endangering peace without which no development is possible. The Akalis should not forget the second innings the people have given them in the recent polls. The reason why they preferred it to the Congress was the promise of development which the Deputy Chief Minister made at every election meeting. People are so puzzled over the presence of the same person in the ceremony at the Golden Temple. His projection as the future CEO of the state is being doubted. How can he guarantee social harmony and development when he himself presented
siropas? The Akalis are playing with fire which may push them to a point where they may feel the heat. The party has too much at stake. It cannot afford to fritter away the goodwill it created in its earlier innings. Faith in a pluralistic society is a commitment which cannot be diluted for placating the radicals. Secularism is not a fig leaf to be used by the Akalis for their wrong belief that religion and politics are two sides of the same coin. Even otherwise, the ideology of theology is archaic and outdated. Not long ago, it looked as if the Akalis were changing their outlook to imbibe progressive ideas and modern thoughts. The loss is that of the Akali Dal if it wants to cling on to gurdwara politics. The Punjabis will assess them and vote accordingly at the general election in 2014.n
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Zero error
Don’t
you always say the Army is a zero-error organisation?” my wife asked, looking up from the newspaper. “Well yes…” I said guardedly, not sure of the purpose of this unexpected
googly. Wives have an uncanny habit of surreptitiously getting one to bare his most guarded secrets. After realising that the query was harmless, I said, “Yes, of course” with my chest swelling, “Most certainly it is”. “And what do you say for the police?” she queried. My mind went into recall of an
incident. Biru Kochar and I were posted as instructors in the Army School at Mhow in the late 1960s. Biru had recently acquired a five HP Triumph motorcycle that literally rocketed over the cantonment roads. Almost on an impulse we decided to visit Jabalpur to join his battalion’s Raising Day celebrations. We planned to drive to the destination some 525 km away. We took three days leave; two days for driving up and down and the intervening day for the festivities. The celebrations were expectedly grand and carried on till early morning. By there was a strange coincidence during this period — Indore town that lay on our route had been caught up in a communal flare-up. The police and the Army were deployed and a curfew was imposed. On the drive back we took turns at the machine and kept splashing cold water on our face to keep awake. The Triumph had developed a clutch problem and had to be push-started with the pusher then climbing on to the running bike. It was not easy running straight on sozzled legs. As darkness closed in, we discovered that the headlights were also not working. We had to reach Mhow for duty somehow; in my case the commando PT was to start at 4 am the next morning. We would wait for a passing car and using its headlights race ahead despite incessant honking from our benefactor. It was around midnight when we approached
Indore, only to be stopped at a police post. We pleaded, but the policeman would not let us go. He was joined by a Head Constable who, on being told that we were Army Captains, softened a bit but not enough to relent. Finally, he said that even if they allowed, the next check-post was manned by the Army and we would never get past it. “Oh, don’t worry”, we said nonchalantly, “we will tell them who we are and there would be no problem.” They were unmoved, “You won’t get a chance”, they asserted, “because the Army beats you up first and asks questions only later.” This unfair branding deflated our pride but circumstances were not opportune for correcting misperceptions. While we were still pondering over a suitable reasoning, the man in khaki said, “Actually, we ourselves would have wielded the stick if one of you was not wearing the turban, which proved that you do not belong to either of the quarrelling communities.” It is this common sense that keeps the police from committing errors . “Yes?”, my wife pulled me back to reality of the zero-error question. I was about to respond when she said, “See this” pushing the newspaper before my eyes. It spoke of a typographical error in registering an FIR by the police where an unwanted zero was added and that made the Reebok fraud loss appear Rs 8,700 crore instead of Rs 870
crore. My first thought was a prayer for some of these kind souls from my sister organisation to be deputed to our pension paying
office.
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Punjab pays for misplaced priorities
Punjab is considered to be the number one state in the infrastructure index prepared by several agencies. The state is supposed to have all its towns connected with national highways, villages with state highways, 100 per cent electrification of rural and urban areas and clean and potable drinking water for all. There are several departments, boards and corporations for facilitating housing, roads, bridges, water and sewerage and a nodal agency for infrastructure. It is called the Punjab Infrastructure Development Board. Punjab has also enacted the Punjab Infrastructure (Development and Regulation) Act, 2002. However, the ground reality is that one of the most important components of infrastructure, power, is woefully inadequate and unreliable. Also, the state suffers from the shortage of all types of basic and sector-specific infrastructure. There is an extreme shortage of storage space for foodgrains, rural roads were washed away during rains/floods many years ago and the delivery of basic urban services leaves a lot to be desired. Impact of militancy The state created a well laid-out canal irrigation system for agricultural development and also set up schools, hospitals, roads and bridges during the 1960s and 1970s. Punjab was at its glorious best till the menace of civil strife hit the state. The attention of the state administration as also the resources including manpower and finances were used up to curb the growing threat of insurgency in the 1980s. It was only in the early 1990s that a popular government was, once again, installed in the state, but by then the well developed social overhead capital in Punjab had started withering away. The then government tried to gain a grip on the development of Punjab but the pace of growth of the state economy had slowed down by then. However, in the second decade of the twenty-first century we cannot continue to shift the blame of poor civic amenities in Punjab either on militancy in the State or the neglect by the Government of India. All of us are aware and must acknowledge that the major reason for this has been a deterioration in state finances and an extremely fragile fiscal health of the state. The setting up of new departments, boards and corporations for infrastructure development alone is not enough, rather it is an additional burden on the state exchequer in terms of administrative expenses. There are many government departments as well as boards and corporations carrying out similar activities and increasing non-plan expenditure of the government. It is the quality of state expenditure that reflects the seriousness of the government towards the maintenance and creation of modern infrastructure and delivery of basic services in the state. If we look at the pattern of expenditure over the recent past, the development expenditure, i.e., expenditure on social and economic services was more than 48 percent of the total expenditure in 2006-07 and decreased to nearly 45 percent in 2010-11, which is 64.42 percent for other general category states on an average. Similarly, the capital expenditure which was nearly 12 percent of the total expenditure decreased to only 6.74 percent in 2010-11 and the average for the general category states was more than 13 percent. If we further compare the ratio of expenditure on social and economic services with other states, again Punjab lags behind. This reflects that Punjab accords much lower priority to development expenditure, including expenditure on education and health. Capital expenditure increases the asset creation which, in turn, generates opportunities for higher growth. This expenditure is also inadequate in Punjab as compared to other states. The share of salaries and wages in revenue expenditure on social services in the State is more than two-thirds of the total expenditure on this head. This shows that not only the capital expenditure is inadequate but is also not efficient as a very low proportion is used for the creation and maintenance of assets in the State. Civic bodies
Many civic services are provided by local bodies to citizens for which the state governments allocate funds according to the recommendations of the State Finance Commissions. The Government of Punjab has not been releasing the funds to Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) as recommended by the State Finance Commissions. Consequently, funds available to ULBs and PRIs are inadequate and the delivery of public health services suffers to that extent. Also, the abolition of octroi as a populist measure in the State has reduced funds at the disposal of local bodies. The funds meant for the improvement of rural roads and other rural infrastructure collected by way of mandi fee and other extra-budgetary sources are not used for maintaining rural infrastructure. The state government squarely blames the Centre for the woeful inadequacy of storage space during the procurement of foodgrains in the state. The canal system in the state needs urgent maintenance as the damaged canals are leading to a colossal wastage of precious water and several other related problems in the rural areas. Power is the worst performing sector in Punjab. There is lack of power for households, agriculture and industrial purposes. The state is unable to generate enough power and is compelled to buy expensive electricity from outside. Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd accounts for 92 percent of the losses of state public enterprises, which amount to Rs. 8,411.23 crore. This situation is, once again, created by populist policies of the state government which is reflected in a grim financial health of Punjab. In the run-up to the elections there were promises galore of making Punjab a power surplus state but it does not appear that even the basic needs of the citizens can be met with the quality and quantity of power available in the state at present. The state transport sector is in a shambles as both Punjab Roadways and Pepsu Road Transport Corporation are running into losses. All this has led to a flight of capital from Punjab as industry is attracted only to regions where there is seamless delivery of infrastructure and an enabling environment for setting up business. Both are lacking in Punjab. Dismal use of
The Government of India allocates funds to the state governments under various schemes for providing social and physical overhead capital. The record of the Punjab government in the utilization of such funds is dismal. The funds have been given to the state for urban transport, programmes for providing general and public health facilities as well as for educational institutions, etc. but the utilization rate has been about one-third. Since the further allocation of these funds is tied to their effective utilization, these are not allocated in the next year. Therefore, Punjab is not only lagging behind in basic infrastructure creation and maintenance out of its own funds but also does not take advantage of central funding for social and economic overhead capital. The Public Private Partnership (PPP) model in Punjab has resulted in setting up of only one worthwhile mega-project: HPCL- Mittal refinery at Bathinda. All the other PPP initiatives in the state are in the education sector, roads, etc. There is no regulation of the quality of education imparted by the mushrooming technical and management institutes. There is a haphazard growth of the real estate sector in Punjab in the name of creating housing infrastructure and shopping malls. The promised international airports at Chandigarh and Ludhiana have not yet taken off. Improve connectivity What is really needed in the state has to be prioritised. The most pressing need is for adequate power, the upgrade and repair of irrigation facilities , good quality roads, air links with major national and international destinations, quality health and education, besides water supply, sanitation and public health facilities in urban and rural areas. The state government must stop being self-congratulatory over likely development in future and be realistic in admitting its failure to provide this so-called developed state any world-class infrastructure project. Unless we admit the inadequacy, we cannot be expected to create any good infrastructure. The rate of growth of Punjab can, once again, be augmented if the gap in social and economic overhead services in the state is bridged by a sincere effort on the part of the government. The present government has been given another chance to prove itself and pursue the development agenda for the state – the slogan on which they won the state elections and not merely use it once again to fight the next general election. People are waiting to see the revival of the economy, which cannot take place unless the slogans are translated into concrete actions. Punjab must be made a desirable destination for both domestic and foreign investment in the secondary and tertiary sectors and its agricultural deceleration must be arrested. All this is possible if efficient and adequate public investment is made in infrastructure, besides a clean and investor friendly environment. Ideas for
Finance Minister
The writer is a Professor of Economics at Panjab University, Chandigarh
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