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guest column fifty fifty
ground zero |
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guest column Just consider. Every time petrol prices are raised, oil companies end up losing more money. Simply because the price differential between petrol and diesel increases, people buy diesel vehicles and oil companies bleed more. Worse, we all bleed because dieselisation adds to toxic pollution in our cities, which in turn adds to the health burden and costs. This is all very well accepted, yet nobody will do anything to fix it. Today it makes more sense for the next car buyer to buy an expensive personal car — even a Mercedes Benz — but run it on diesel. It makes even more sense to buy a fuel guzzling sports utility vehicle — SUV — and run it on the subsidised diesel. Today, according to the government’s own estimates, the use of diesel in personal vehicles has zoomed — some 15 per cent of the current consumption is in passenger cars. The entire agricultural sector uses less — 12 per cent of the country’s diesel. The myth of keeping diesel prices low for reasons of public policy is busted. Keeping the price low but allowing its use for private transport is a deliberate policy to use the poor man’s fuel to subsidise the rich.
Energy security Taxing the poor Oil companies also say the under-recovery in diesel is costing them big time. Clearly, this is Indian style socialism: Taxing the poor to pay the rich. With each increase in the price of petrol, this gap widens. And each time this happens, it leads to increased dieselisation — bad for oil companies; even worse for the environment. Powerful car companies claim that the modern diesel vehicle is clean. But this is far from being true. Emission data shows that current diesel cars, on an average emit seven times more particulates and three to five times more nitrogen oxides than petrol cars. There is sufficient evidence that tiny particulates — PM 2.5 — emitted from a diesel vehicle are toxic and carcinogenic. This toxin is firmly associated with significant increase in asthma, lung diseases, chronic bronchitis and heart damage. Long-term exposure can cause lung cancer. The increased level of nitrogen dioxide contributes to the formation of deadly ozone, which in turn hurts and damages our lungs. So, be clear, diesel vehicles, however fancy and fitted, are costing us our health.
Europe suffers Today, Europe, which promoted diesel vehicles, is paying a heavily. It is struggling to meet air quality standards, even though it has invested heavily in the cleanest of fuel — reducing sulphur levels to near zero and has fitted vehicles with every kind of anti-pollution gizmo like particulate traps and de-nox catalyst. Diesel also has higher levels of black carbon, which is today understood to be a key contributor to climate change. In the US, the world’s car Mecca, where emission standards and price does not differentiate between fuels, there is no market for diesel cars. So, why does Indian policy continue to provide this perverse incentive to pollute? The irony is there is no policy, which allows this use. It is simply a loophole — car manufacturers struck gold when they realised they could sell more vehicles if they could run them on cheaper and subsidised fuel. They exploit the fact that diesel price is kept lower because of its use for mass transportation — trucks use some 37 per cent of the diesel and buses another 12 per cent. They also know that dual pricing of fuel — differential diesel price for bus or tractor verses cars — cannot be operated. So, they merrily hide behind the policy helplessness.
Make it equal Given the rising economic cost and pollution, this option of doing nothing cannot be acceptable anymore. The options are to either to equate the price of diesel with petrol or to ban production of personal diesel vehicles. If not, then the government should impose a high tax on diesel vehicles — 100 per cent of the price of the vehicle — to remove the existing fiscal distortion. The tragedy is that we know that this is the right and the only thing to do. But government refuses to act. In Budget 2012, it was said the government would tax diesel cars. But at the last minute it lost courage. The glib response is the government would prefer to de-regulate diesel and remove the subsidy for all. But we know that this will not happen easily. So, private diesel cars continue to grow — today 50 per cent or more cars are fuelled by diesel. All at the cost of our health and environment. The writer is Director, Centre for
Science and Environment
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fifty fifty
Modi: Gujarat is by and large a vegetarian state. And, secondly, Gujarat is also a middle-class state. The middle class is more beauty conscious than health conscious — that is a challenge. If a mother tells her daughter to have milk, they’ll have a fight. She’ll tell her mother, “I won’t drink milk. I’ll get fat.” We will try to get a drastic change in this. Gujarat is going to come up as a model in this also. I can’t make any big claims, because I don’t have a survey in front of me yet. Reading the above question and answer (from the edited online version of Wall Street Journal), one can only assume it was a very serious ‘oops’ moment for Narendra Modi, Chief Minister of Gujarat, who will have to get used to forensic examination every time he speaks, mainly because of his prime-ministerial ambition, or because he would like to project himself as one of the most successful Chief Ministers. To be fair, the same interview also included the very positive statistic that he has ensured the building of 60,000 new toilets in Gujarat for schoolgirls, but in the present overheated environment, anything positive is unlikely to be noticed. Gender dimension
Of course, Mr Modi is in good company where prime-ministerial ambition and gaffes are concerned. We had plenty of them from George W. Bush, the former US President who was such a favourite in India, and now even David Cameron, UK Prime Minister, who was recently slammed when he made a frivolous remark about discontinuing Indian dance in British schools. However, grave issues like malnutrition require a more careful consideration. It is an all-India issue and Mr Modi could have, for once, used the opportunity to look at the national situation, in and outside Gujarat, and examined the impact of this scourge all over the country, and how it continues to take the life of four children every minute. The persistence of malnutrition after 65 years of Independence is saddening, and its impact on women’s health might be an even more persistent problem. Instead of a population meter, we should have (as a constant reminder) a clock that keeps count of the children who die every day. That might prick the conscience of a Chief Minister, and others like him who might be tempted to make a dismissive statement about it. Nationwide challenge
The issue is not how badly malnutrition affects Gujarat but how it impacts children (especially girls) all over the country, ensuring that most of the 2.1 million children dying each year do so due to health-related issues. When we get ready to spend money on a mission to Mars, we must remember many of these babies could have reached adulthood, on earth, but for a lack of resources. Among the hungriest
For a country that says it has sufficient food, the existence of malnutrition is a mystery. One can only conclude it is poor governance. The Global Hunger Index for 2011 indicated India remains one of the worst performing countries in the developing world, where the index between 1996 and 2011 actually rose from 22.9 to 23.7. That means that more and more people in this country subsist on less and less food. Even countries like Pakistan and Nepal do better. It is now estimated 25 per cent of the world’s hungry live in India. Thus, Mr Modi is not the only one who is living in denial. Perhaps he does not want to admit anything could possibly be wrong in Gujarat. Instead of trying to analyse it as a problem of poverty as well as food mismanagement, he would rather present it as a problem of plenty. To further state that he hasn’t studied the statistics makes it look like he does not even recognise there is a killer problem. Simply not good enough for someone who wants to be the Prime Minister! While there are national schemes such as the mid-day meal scheme that seek to address the issue, the fact is none of these go far enough. The current inflationary trend is only adding to the burden of low-income families, and in the past three years, possibly much more damage has been done to the health of very young children and their mothers than ever before. Of course, malnutrition (and in some cases over-nutrition) does exist among the richer segments, and that leads to other issues such as obesity and diabetes. And among middle-class women, too, the problem exists, as many of them do suffer from anaemia. But much more needs to be done to recognise the gender dimension of the issue, among the rich and poor, both in Gujarat and elsewhere.
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ground zero
In keeping with the dress code, women don scarves to cover their hair. But among the young there are many who have dyed their hair blonde or a brunette colour, and allow it to flow out rebelliously onto their forehead. On the surface, everything appears normal in Iran. There are no visible sign of the coming of a ‘Persian spring’ to overthrow the current power structure dominated by the clergy. Many Iranians boast that their “spring” has already bloomed — when the 1979 Islamic Revolution overthrew the Shah of Iran. Tehran had been spruced up for the 16th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) hosted by Iran. Security was tight and journalists like us had to take special permission to shoot pictures or videos of the streets. To keep the streets of Tehran free from traffic, a five-day holiday had been declared. That reportedly saw half the city’s 7 million population leave town to enjoy a break either at resorts in and around Alborz mountains that dominate Tehran’s skyline or at the Caspian Sea. The Summit ended on Thursday without incidents. Simmering discontent Since most countries have cut off trade with Iran even for food, it has to go further away and pay more to the few nations willing to do business. Businessmen, including from India, are finding transactions with Iran increasingly difficult because banks are not willing to offer credit, fearing they’d be blacklisted by the US. The barter way India too has steadily cut down its oil imports from Iran, as private Indian petroleum companies are pruning their commitments because of the sanctions. While Iran still remains India’s second largest oil supplier (next only to Saudi Arabia), oil import from Iranian companies, which accounted for 16 per cent of India’s purchases, is now down to 10 per cent. To improve trade, Iran agreed on 45 per cent of oil sales to India in rupees instead of dollars, and to settle payments through barter. Yet, with India exports accounting for barely $ 2.5 billion of the total of trade of $ 16 billion between the two, experts say there is little hope of Iran making a huge increase in imports to reach the $ 7 billion that it’s committed by way of barter. There are many who believe that given its growing pariah status in the international community, Iran needs India more than we need it. Both the US and Europe scowled at India for gracing the NAM Summit with such a large delegation headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, which they felt gave the Iranian regime a new legitimacy just when it was feeling the heat of international isolation. Manmohan Singh, though, did the right thing by ignoring pressure from the US and attending the NAM summit. Iran’s petroleum resources are vital to India’s energy calculus. Iran has the world’s third largest proven oil resources and is today OPEC’s second largest supplier and exporter after Saudi Arabia. Striking a balance Apart from that, given Pakistan’s intransigence, Iran offers India through its Chabahar port an alternative sea and land connection to Afghanistan and Central Asia, enabling greater trade and investment to these countries. Iran is a key player in the Afghan imbroglio and will be even more so after the US withdraws its troops in 2014. There are also the centuries-old ties that bind the two countries, something Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei mentioned to the Indian Prime Minister when they met on the sidelines of NAM. On the nuclear weapons issue, India has a nuanced stand that Iran has grudgingly accepted. It is not in India’s interest to have another nuclear-weapons power in the region, and it has said so openly. India agrees Iran has the right to develop nuclear energy, provided it meets its international obligations as it voluntarily signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, including observing the protocols laid down by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Iran can’t quibble too much on India’s approach because the Supreme Leader had stated he opposed nuclear weapons, as their development and use was “un-Islamic”. Iran is also appreciative of the fact that India has advocated dialogue and diplomacy rather than force to settle the issue. It is important though that India strikes the balance between staying friendly in its dealings with Iran but remaining firm in its opposition to Tehran developing nukes.
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Indian
Already, diesel cars are close to 50 per cent of the total new car sales in India. In the compact car segment — which is more numerous and popular — diesel cars are already 70-75 per cent of all car sales. Cheap diesel is a threat to energy security. It is is pushing the market towards bigger cars and SUVs that guzzle more fuels, and undermines fuel efficiency advantages of small cars. In 2011, the SUV segment registered a 41 per cent growth — a trend set to grow.
WSJ: Gujarat’s malnutrition rates are persistently high. What are you doing to combat this?
When he made the frivolous statement about malnutrition being due to ‘beauty consciousness’ among women, he missed the point completely. There is certainly a gender dimension to malnutrition, but not quite in the elitist manner described by Mr Modi. Most people now researching malnutrition even in well-performing states are also reaching the conclusion that it is mostly women who receive less food, and thus it is only natural that not only will they be more malnourished than others, so will their children. Especially their daughters, and thus the cycle will continue relentlessly. If only it were a problem of drinking too much or too little milk! Mr Modi made the fatal assumption that the Wall Street Journal would be read by the unthinking middle class, his biggest supporters, for whom his remark was meant. As he must know, in the days of the Internet, no gaffe is twitter-proof.
It’s
The rumblings are discernible. Bazaar gossip was that the people were sent away as the government feared they would embarrass them with a show of discontent during the summit. Economic sanctions imposed by the UN and the US to punish Iran for its nuclear waywardness are beginning to hurt the nation’s burgeoning middle class. “Inflation is just too high,” complains a graduate, adding dramatically, “If you look at a price list and just blink, the prices would have gone up.”