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Financing elections
Suicides in the Army |
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Discovery of India
The perils of nostalgia
‘Dogged’ victory
Time to wash hands of paddy
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Financing elections
TWO NGOs’ revelation that the Congress and the BJP got Rs 2,008 crore and Rs 994 crore, respectively, as donations between 2004 and 2011 should not come as a surprise. Donations are commonly made with an ulterior motive as a quid pro quo. The ongoing political battle over coal block allocations should be seen in the light of the NGOs’ claim that some of the companies engaged in mining have been making regular contributions to the two national political parties. Political funding is a grey area which has far too long evaded public scrutiny. Though the Election Commission has established an income tax cell to keep watch on politicians’ income and requires contestants to declare assets, but no state agency tries to find out how their wealth multiplies or establish the link between black money used during electioneering and the source to catch tax evaders. It is an open secret that political parties and candidates spend much more than the prescribed limit. Violations are not met with deterrent punishment. During the last Punjab assembly elections vehicles carrying unaccounted cash were seized but the cash owners were never caught. Once elections are over, criminal cases too are dropped. The use of cash and intoxicants to buy votes is a common practice. Elections have become so expensive that a party or an individual without the backing of moneybags cannot hope to win. The root cause of systemic corruption lies in the non-transparent political funding. Despite some serious efforts, the Election Commission has not succeeded in stopping the entry of criminals in electoral politics. It can at least cut poll expenditure by reducing the period for campaigning and encouraging the use of the electronic media and common platforms for reaching out to voters. The law must provide for the registration of political parties, the maintenance of lists of members and an audit of accounts. Each payment must be transparent, accompanied by the donor’s PAN number and income tax details. NGOs and social activists, meanwhile, have to keep up pressure on politicians to clean up the electoral system.
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Suicides in the Army
Expressing concern over suicides in the Army, Defence Minister AK Antony has asked the three Service Chiefs to come up with additional suggestions to improve the living conditions of soldiers and to suggest methods to curb suicidal tendencies among airmen, naval ratings and, more importantly, Army jawans. The issue is of grave concern particularly in the Army considering that over a thousand soldiers, the equivalent of slightly over one-and-a-half Infantry battalion, have committed suicide in the last nine-and-a-half years starting in 2003. And this is not counting suicide figures of the Navy and the Air Force, which, when combined, exceed over two Infantry battalions worth of troops. It can be argued that a hundred suicides in an Army of over one million strength is insignificant. But that would be too statistical and reductionist to describe an issue that is clearly more complicated. The fact is that suicides are continuing year after year. An oft-cited factor is work stress in the Army, much of which is deployed in either or both life-risking counter-insurgency operations and harsh terrain and weather. But if that alone had been the case, then the number of suicides should have been higher during the last three decades keeping in view the Army’s long history of deployment in risky operations – the high altitude Siachen glacier from 1984 onwards, counter-insurgency in the Northeast since the late 1950s, anti-LTTE operations in Sri Lanka in the late 1980s and anti-terrorist operations in J&K since 1990. Over the last decade, the situation has improved in many ways. Insurgency has reduced in J&K, there is peace in Nagaland and a ceasefire is in effect along the Line of Control and the Actual Ground Position Line with Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir since November 2003 along with considerable improvement in equipment and living conditions for the troops. Yet, incidence of suicide continues year-after-year — over 100 annually in the Army alone since 2006. Clearly, the issue cannot be stress alone. The issue relates to morale, leadership and the expectations of the soldiers who, with their long periods of separation from their families, face a different nature of stress and anxiety. A study done by the Defence Institute and Research a few years ago listed suggestions for improving the situation. But these have either not been fully implemented or not been deemed sufficient. The services clearly have a problem which needs urgent addressing.
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Discovery of India
IT was not too long ago that the Tourism Minister had sought the support of the corporate sector and public sector undertakings to improve the conditions of heritage sites. It’s heartening to note that close on the heels of the launch of Clean India Campaign, the ONGC has been roped in to keep six major tourist sites, including Taj Mahal and the Konark temple, clean and environment friendly. While the modalities have yet to be worked out, the oil PSU’s willingness to take up the cause as part of its corporate social responsibility is an example that others need to emulate. There is little doubt that India, with its rich heritage and enviable tourist destinations, can be the hub of tourism. Sadly, it has been left way behind by much smaller countries like Singapore and Malaysia. Though foreign tourist arrivals have been growing steadily, India’s share in the global tourism industry is a paltry .6 per cent. The lack of infrastructure and unhygienic conditions prevailing at a number of tourist places certainly serve as a dampener on the enthusiasm of those who wish to discover India. That tourism can be a major contributor to economic growth has been realised by the Indian government. The resolve to make India a leading tourist destination is backed by some significant moves. In 2008, an awareness campaign, Athithi Devo Bhava, was launched. Campaign Clean India aims to ensure a minimum level of hygiene. However, to really capitalise on India’s tourism potential, there is a need to go beyond campaigns. A holistic approach must incorporate the private-public partnership model, and include locals in developing tourism. While multiple strategies are welcome, instead of aping other countries like Singapore and setting up theme parks on similar lines, India has to work on its USP. Starting with heritage sites is indeed a good beginning. But if India has to achieve the targeted growth rate of 12 per cent in the tourism sector during the 12th Five Year Plan, the direction must be clear and the involvement of stakeholders complete.
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Never forget the three powerful resources you always have available to you: love, prayer, and forgiveness. — H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
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The perils of nostalgia Nostalgia represents a longing for both the near past, such as one’s childhood, and the more distant past with its wellsprings of cultural and spiritual heritage. This is not unnatural except when it tends to pre-empt the future or build on past images of glory or victim hood leading either to arrogance and chauvinism or self-doubt and a desire for revenge on the other. Hindutvadis and radical Islamists represent the first category while the other, sometimes unknowingly, remain rooted in the status quo for fear of change. In a traditional society still emerging into a modern era, which in some ways is the case in India, various elements tend to usurp the role of guardians of disadvantaged and marginalised classes such as the landless, tribals and forest dwellers. This becomes the social or electoral constituency on which they thrive and without which they would feel deprived, even disempowered. So do-gooders, individually or collectively, can sometimes unconsciously perpetuate themselves for fear of otherwise being left out in the cold. The current effort of the Congress to amend the Constitution though ordinary legislation to provide quota reservations in governmental promotions for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes personnel is a case in point. It is masking vote-bank politics in assuming a neo-guardianship role for these categories way and beyond the constitutional guarantee of primary reservation to government servants at the entry level as part of a policy of affirmative action. Extending this formula to promotions, instead of leaving upward mobility to merit, will dilute good governance, which is surely a better instrument for creating equal opportunity and a just society. Not to be handicapped in the race for votes, the SP and the DMK have joined others in demanding reservation of merit promotions for the OBCs as well. This is likely to perpetuate a culture of “backwardness” and social divisions rather than obliterate such false distinctions. Gujars are seeking tribal status to benefit from reservations that have advantaged Meenas. In the Northeast and elsewhere, ethnicity and denominational labels are being asserted as a means of gaining preference over others. The Shiv Sena roots for the Marathi “manoos” and so on. These are dangerous trends. The recent flare-up in Assam was less a manifestation of resistance to alleged illicit immigration than a struggle over land and forests, a synonym for jobs. If no other employment is generated, the land and forests must provide, as always in traditional societies. Territorial demands for homelands and the eviction of “outsiders” are intended to ensure that demographic factors do not adversely affect the electoral balance and political outcomes. The major threat of “nostalgia” comes from fierce opposition to land acquisition and conversion of forest lands for industrialisation through the development of mines, dams, connectivity, power, townships and other infrastructure. An NSS survey done around 2004-05 found that some 40 per cent of all agriculturists wished to give up farming which they found was no longer economic. They preferred to sell or lease their lands and use the proceeds to educate their children and give them the chance that they themselves were denied. The alternative was to invest in some small business or service enterprise. Failing these, the option has been distress migration by the tens of millions, first seasonal, then permanent, to take a chance at the lottery of life the big cities offer, not excluding beggary, crime and prostitution and life in noisome shanty towns. At earlier times compensation and rehabilitation were unsatisfactory. Things have steadily improved and those impacted are being handsomely compensated, offered training to avail of new opportunities and made stakeholders with entitlement to share in the future stream of project benefits. Yet people will not move, fed on sermons eulogising nostalgia by vested interests and busybodies, the grounds ranging from sentiment to unreason as evident in many recent cases. Investments, development of infrastructure, growth and employment have been seriously impeded and, ultimately, national stability and security endangered. The so-called coal scam is a case in point. Apart from the time it might have taken to move from the prior policy of coal block allocation to auction, allocations were made to stimulate investments and provide the basic coal requirement for power, steel and cement projects. That state governments should have recommended allocations tied to end-use projects within their own boundaries was no surprise and no crime. What has been faulted is that only one out of 57 such coal blocks allocated to private parties for private end-use has commenced operations five to seven years after the event, resulting in speculative transfers and windfall gains. The explanation offered is that an allocation is only the starting point for seeking environmental and forest clearance, land acquisition, compensation and an R&R package, with rules and even laws sometimes taking retrospective effect. The real reason, however, is that the country’s project clearance procedures are so cumbersome, sequential and dilatory that the whole process may take several years with intervening stay orders, agitations and other delays. It does not appear to have registered on the political and administrative class that time is a very precious resource and that the “presumptive loss” from the opportunity cost of delay would outweigh that of all the real or imagined scams put together, raised to the power of 10. Delayed or aborted projects and start-ups such as of the Vedanta bauxite mine at Niyamgiri and related aluminium refinery expansion at Lanjigarh, POSCO’s 12 m tonne steel plant in Orissa and the Koodankulam and Jaitapur nuclear power stations constitute major setbacks to national development and employment generation. In most cases, nostalgia for land and forests and keeping tribal people as they are represent aspects of land and forest nostalgia. With Vedanta ousted, those whose hearts bled for the Dongaria Khonds have lost interest in the fate of those unfortunate tribals whose lives would otherwise have been hugely transformed without harm to the environment. Poverty is an enemy of the environment. Land is limited but population has multiplied more than threefold since Independence and is still growing. India is fast urbanising as a development necessity and the land can no more support such numbers. People need to get off the land and take to non-farm occupations but “nostalgists” bind them to the land. Some agricultural land will and must be diverted, with higher farm productivity providing food security. The proposed new Land Acquisition Act needs to be liberalised and the strange fetish of preserving large areas of degraded forest land from being productively exploited is plain foolish while nostalgic land for land compensation policies are, exceptions apart, impractical. India needs to break from nostalgia that is acquiring viral proportions. Instead of allowing and encouraging the government to create more employment — without which social explosions threaten — the BJP irresponsibly blocked both Parliament and governance. In the circumstances, the government must now act decisively to move the country forward on the path of reform, sadly but firmly, by ordinance. Dogs may bark, but the caravan must move
on.
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‘Dogged’ victory Barely one year into our marriage, I thought of introducing a pup into our lives and brought home a cocker spaniel which was greeted by my wife with scant enthusiasm. Friends who dropped in made snide remarks about what should have been a more appropriate addition to the family. Ignoring all this, I immersed myself into raising the pup. Its drooping ears and soulful eyes drew the best cuddly response from me. Watching me trying to protect its ears from dipping into the food pan, she said, “I don’t like dogs with drooping ears.” “Why ?” I questioned her. “I dunno; I think the dog should have ears that are perked up,” she replied. “But dogs are dogs. There are so many lovable breeds, the Labradors and the St. Bernards to name a few who don’t have perked-up ears, and that does not make them less of a dog or a pet for that matter,” I replied rather firmly. Sensing my assertiveness, she dug her heels in and then recounted, “We had an excellent pet Peter, whose ears were perked up. It followed us loyally, and was ferocious towards intruders and other beasts,” she answered. “Well, I am sure, our cocker would do its best towards intruders and even retaliate towards other beasts, but we should acknowledge its limitations of a small dog… .” Before I could complete my sentence, she interjected, “Dogs with drooping ears cannot fight; only dogs with perked-up ears can do that and Peter would have proved my point had he been alive.” “Is that the reason for your disdain ?” “Yes! drooping ears signify subjugation and meekness while perked-up ears go with assertiveness and aristocracy.” “But cockers are known to be British Aristocrats’ favourites and they use them for a duck hunt; listen to jazz, sitting near the fire place over a drink with them curled up at their feet.” The argument threatened to spin out of control, as I became passionate in defence of my choice of a pet and she vehement in her assertion. Like the zoological invincibility of drooping ears becoming perked up, the issue between us seemed incapable of being resolved and Dyer the cocker’s loony antics were lost to the heroic tales of Peter condemning the neighbour’s pet — a “boxer” to a life of ignominy with half chewed ears. Every healthy matrimonial relationship is one where in a situation of disagreement, the lady wins. So, more than 25 years of enjoying “matrimonial health” (pun intended) and finding no end to the vexed issue, I was reminded of the words of a war veteran — “If you don’t sight clear victory, start looking for its signs.” So, like a true battle-hardened General, who stoically stood his ground, I noticed the first sign of victory when she brought home a golden retriever with ears, well, not drooping but not perked up either. So, if you are afflicted with the “drooping ear” syndrome in “healthy matrimony”, don’t worry. You may still have the last word. True victory is one where you win over the heart and mind of your
opponent.
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Time to wash hands of paddy THE recent call from Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, asking Punjab to switch from paddy to other crops, has come as yet another wake-up call, this time from the key driver of agricultural policy — the Central government. He made the statement at a meeting convened in Chandigarh to hear Punjab’s plea for financial aid to compensate for the deficient monsoon. Pawar made it clear to all concerned that Punjab should switch from paddy to alternative Kharif crops because in the next couple of years there would be few buyers of the state’s paddy. The reason was strong fiscal support from the Centre to states in the eastern region for promotion of paddy there to make them self-sufficient. The debate over whether Punjab should grow paddy or not is old, only now the view has come from the Centre, which had thus far observed silence over the issue. The next question is how much to grow if at all, and what are the alternative crops to which the farmers may switch. The farm sector in Punjab is at a crossroads. It grew at a rate of 1.9 per cent during the Ninth Plan, 2.28 per cent in the Tenth, and for the Eleventh the state government has pegged its growth at 4.35 per cent, whereas the Plan Commission has put it at 2.4 per cent. Yet, this is less than the growth in both the industry and services sectors, despite the state being predominantly agricultural. Pawar demanded to know from Punjab’s political executives and officials why the state spent so much on power and other resources to grow paddy.
Big shift Former Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) Vice-Chancellor S.S. Johl has been raising the issue forcefully since years. With the help of experts from diverse fields, he once authored a report — which was also submitted to the Centre — that showed Punjab had the resources to cultivate only 16 lakh hectares of paddy. He suggested that at least 10 lakh hectares of land be shifted from paddy to other crops. He still holds the same view. However — even as the Centre is now advocating Punjab cut back on paddy — it then had strong apprehensions regarding national food security, and ignored Johl’s report. At the time the Centre had not considered extending the Green Revolution to the eastern region, including Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and West Bengal. The Centre thought of promoting agriculture in the eastern states only in 2009. In his Budget in February 2010, then Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee allocated a special grant of Rs 400 crore for this. The subsequent year it was enhanced to Rs 1,000 crore. Chhattisgarh has now become one of the leading rice-producing states. Pawar’s observations have made the Punjab government sit up. What are the viable alternatives to the crop that has been giving good returns to farmers, even if leading to an ecological disaster, and burdening the state government with a bill of more than Rs 5,000 crore a year to subsidise electricity for the farm sector. The ground water level — used extensively for irrigating paddy — has reached critically low levels. The crop cannot be sustained in the region that does not have the water required.
The US example From an unbroken wheat-paddy cycle, Punjab’s farm sector has to shift to a dynamic and demand-driven production system. Can it be done? California, the leading agricultural state of the US, faced many problems, such as underproduction or overproduction of certain food grains or fruit crops in the beginning of the last century. It passed an Agriculture Adjustment Act in the 1930s to deal with the related issues. Under the Act, it took several policy decisions to make quick adjustments in the farm sector to overcome problems, and set short-term and long-term goals. Punjab — a state with extensive infrastructure, a dependable irrigation system, fertile soil, and favourable climatic conditions for agriculture — has the capacity to bring about a diversity in farming aimed at meeting the demands of the expanding middle class. However, the decision-makers will have to be quick, and dynamically respond to the needs of the market, and remove the hurdles in farmers’ way. Immediately after Pawar’s advice to the state, the Punjab government approached him for a fiscal assistance of Rs 1,000 crore to create infrastructure and develop technology for the production of alternative crops and their post-harvest handling. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal met him at his official residence in New Delhi in this regard. Punjab was a non-rice producing state till the 1970s. The crop was grown only in some parts the Ferozepur-Amritsar-Gurdaspur belt. In 1961, the area under paddy was only 2.27 lakh hectares. For the past few years, the state has been growing paddy in about 28 lakh hectares. Residents of Punjab consume very little rice, and nearly all of the 90 lakh tonne rice prepared after shelling paddy in Punjab goes to the Central grain pool.
Paddy addiction In 1960-61, the area under pulses was 9.03 lakh hectares, which by 1970-71 had been reduced to 4.14 lakh hectares. Today, it is down to 30,000 hectares. Nearly the entire Malwa region, dotted by huge sand dunes, once grew gram, moong and masoor dals, besides oil seeds such as groundnut, rapeseed and mustard. There was no paddy. For the past 20 years, Punjab farmers have predominantly grown wheat and paddy. The net sown area in Punjab is 41.5 lakh hectares. During the Rabi season, about 35 lakh hectares is under wheat. In Kharif, around 28 lakh hectares is under paddy and 5 lakh hectares under cotton. The remaining is under sugarcane, maize, fodder and other crops. Only the Bathinda region in Malwa grows cotton, besides paddy. Why are the farmers sticking to paddy? The reasons include low production risk, relatively high return and assured marketing supported by a minimum support price (MSP) paid by the government. The entire produce is purchased by the government. The per-hectare return for the farmer from paddy is more than most other crops. But if the expenditure made by the state on free power for farmers and the value of the ground water consumed is included, then the return from paddy is not attractive. It is also an ecological disaster. A plan In consultation with PAU authorities, Adviser to the State Government Dr Balwinder Singh Sidhu has prepared a blueprint for diversification. He says the most important factor for a farmer to switch from one crop to another is the comparative return. Thus, the alternatives must give at least 15 per cent more than paddy. The farmer needs to create the infrastructure required, such as seed drills, raised-bed planters, harvesters, etc., for the alternative crops. Dr Sidhu says the gross returns from paddy over the variable input costs are Rs 53,075 per hectare. As such, the returns from the alternative crops should be at least Rs 61,000 per hectare. For this, the MSP for those crops will have to be raised accordingly.
Alternatives available There were many crops grown in the state before the rice revolution. Maize, cotton, sugarcane and pulses were the important Kharif crops till 1970-71. The area under these crops can again be increased in their traditional belts, if the prices become remunerative, the market is assured, yield variability is reduced and value addition is taken up. Punjab also grows vegetables in about 2 lakh hectares, annually producing about 36 lakh tonne. It cultivates fruit in about 65,000 hectares — 13 lakh tonne — mainly kinnow, guava and low-quality mango. Additional 1-lakh hectares can be brought under vegetables and fruits in the respective belts. However, a price crash due to increased production is a major concern, which will need to be addressed. Special efforts should be made to develop the Kandi area of the State as a horticulture belt for fruits such as Amla, Galgal and Kinnow. A land-locked state, Punjab has several disadvantages that restrict its export potential. Opening of trade through the Wagah border to Pakistan, West Asia and Central-Asian countries, besides providing freight subsidy on agri-exports through sea and air routes would be necessary. Regular cargo flights from Amritsar International Airport to these countries would be needed to boost exports. Agro-forestry is another option, under which the area can be increased from the current 1.3 lakh hectares to 3 lakh hectares, keeping in mind the growing demand for wood products. The poplar-based agro-forestry system has the potential of giving returns greater than the paddy-wheat cycle. Although the milk productivity per animal as well as the total milk production in the state has increased, there is still a vast potential for increasing the productivity. But to handle the increased production, milk processing facilities will have to be expanded. Technology generation The degree of production risk in alternative crops is higher than in paddy. Climate change is further aggravating the risk. Improving productivity and reducing risk for the alternative crops would thus be the twin challenges before the research institutes. PAU will have to be strengthened in terms of funding and additional grants for research, especially in biotechnology, to develop high-yielding varieties. Above all, during the transition period there will be unforeseen problems that will have to be overcome by both by farmers and those supporting the diversification. The government will have to provide support in quality seeds, besides technology. The setting up of cooling chains for fruit, vegetables and milk products, sugar mills, and processing units for other crops will also be required. A crucial challenge will be marketing the alternative crops, in which government intervention will be required, especially at times of distress sale. Without firm assurance on marketing, farmers will not opt for diversification in any case.
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