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haryana Why an
all-India gurdwara Act may be a viable option |
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‘Feuding
has hurt Akal Takht dignity’
union budget
Steps the Centre has taken so far
Why prices may not come down, yet
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Why an all-India gurdwara Act may be a viable option
Former
Chief Justice Harbans Singh, then Chief Commissioner of Gurdwara Elections, was asked in 1977 to prepare two separate documents. One draft proposed certain amendments in the existing Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925, while the second was aimed at replacing the Act in its entirety. This, after several re-drafts over the years, came to be known as the Sikh Gurdwara Bill, 1999, and is still pending before Parliament for the past decade and a half. But before going into the recommendations of Justice Harbans Singh, it is important to understand the historical significance of the Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925, which enables the current Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). After its adoption by the Punjab Legislative Council, the first election to the SGPC General House was held in 1926. The legislation extended to all historical gurdwaras in Punjab as it stood then. After Partition, the SGPC control was reduced to gurdwaras in the Punjab territory that remained with India. Also, the SGPC remained devoid of all gurdwaras that were in Patiala and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU), comprising the states of Patiala, Nabha, Jind, Faridkot, Nalagarh, Kapurthala and Malerkotla. On November 1, 1956, PEPSU merged with Punjab and the SGPC gained full control over the gurdwaras in the erstwhile PEPSU states. It was in 1960 that the first SGPC election was held in the territories that it currently holds. After the reorganisation of Punjab in 1966, the SGPC continued to hold control over gurdwaras that became part of Haryana or Himachal Pradesh, but these were only those that were part of former PEPSU states. The SGPC currently has 157 constituencies in Punjab, 11 in Haryana and one each in Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh. Out of these 170 seats, 20 are reserved for Scheduled Castes and 30 for women. However, Sikhs residing in erstwhile hill states that merged with Himachal Pradesh but were not part of PEPSU do not have voting rights in the SGPC. Important and historical gurdwaras like Paonta Sahib in Himachal Pradesh and those in erstwhile states such as Sirmaur, Chamba, Mandi, Rampur, Jubbal, Kotkhai, etc, are thus not controlled by the SGPC. It is possible that with the demand of the Haryana Sikhs for their independent control of gurdwaras, others too may resist SGPC moves to bring them under its control. All-India gurdwara Bill Demand for an all-India gurdwara Act had been simmering since the 1930s. When the Janta Dal government came to power after Emergency, the Akalis persuaded it to entrust the job of drafting the Bill to former Chief Justice Harbans Singh in 1977. This demand also became part of the Anandpur Sahib Resolution in 1978. The draft he prepared was sent to the SGPC, which approved it and the same was then sent to the Union Home Ministry by the Punjab Government in 1979. But thereafter it was put in the cold storage at the Centre. The issue again came up in the Rajiv-Longowal Accord in 1985, which too had a demand for an all-India Act. When the Akalis pointed out that a draft was pending with the Centre since 1979, the same was sent back for a review to the Punjab Government in 1986. The state government, then headed by Chief Minister Surjit Singh Barnala, constituted a review committee headed by his minister Natha Singh Dalam. This committee in turn constituted a redrafting panel with Dr Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia as its convener secretary and had Dr Gurnam Singh Teer and Giani Lal Singh as members. There were objections from various quarters over the revised draft prepared by the Dalam committee. But before it could be implemented, the Barnala government was dismissed in 1987 and the draft remained unimplemented. Years later, when the issue was almost forgotten, Justice Harbans Singh managed to procure a copy of the abandoned draft prepared by the Dalam committee and reworked on it and merged it with his own previous draft. He then sent a copy of his revised draft as “All-India Gurdwara Bill, 1999,” to the Union Home Ministry, with a copy to the SGPC. The SGPC wanted to get it vetted by a legal expert, so it sent it to Justice K.S. Tiwana, who revised it and sent it back to the SGPC in 2002. This draft had ever since lain forgotten, till the demand was revived recently. By this time Justice Harbans Singh was 88 years old and in bad health. He died in 2004 at the age of 90. Multiple proposals In an article written in The Tribune on October 7, 1999, Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia, who had headed the re-draft committee in the Barnala regime, presented the concept behind this legislation. He wrote, “In the Sikh mind, the idea of an all-India Sikh gurdwaras legislation has been that of self-management in the sense that all historical gurdwaras in India as well as the shrines notified under the 1925 Act should be structurally organised into a unifocal, elected management with autonomous state regional units conceived as integral components of the SGPC with enlarged scope, functions, jurisdiction and membership.” “Four objectives can be perceived in this idea. The first relates to the conception of a gurdwara as an institution rather than a property as in the existing 1925 Act. Secondly, it is hoped that the institutionalised consolidation of the religious power and polity would be instrumental in realising the universal values of Sikh religion and also in enabling the Sikh community to play, in its corporate capacity, its due role in world civilisation. Thirdly, the all-India legislation is looked forward to as an opportunity for democratising the gurdwara management with the due role of Sikh sangat therein. Modernisation of the gurdwara management is the fourth important objective expected of the legislation.” Justice Harbans Singh in his draft envisages the setting up of a central board for the management of gurdwaras across the country, including jurisdiction over Harmandar Sahib and the five Sikh Takhts, with a proposed Punjab Board (replacing the present SGPC) having jurisdiction over the remaining gurdwaras only in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. Ahluwalia, opposing Harbans Singh’s proposal, said the proposed central board would have about one-third members from outside Punjab and their concerns and considerations might not be in tune with those of the members from Punjab. This could lead to polarisation and pulls and counter-pulls. Thus the democratic principle of direct election of members of the central board by Sikh voters had been abandoned in his proposed Bill. In a bid to rebut criticism of the draft Gurdwara Bill, 1999, and the proposed amendments to the Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925, Harbans Singh had before his death told the ruling SAD patron and Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal that an extensive consultative process had preceded the exercise and it “should not be allowed to be bogged down by a controversy in the media”. He had written to Badal in September 1999 to say, “The community had been clamouring for [an all-India gurdwara Bill] for the past more than half a century and it should not be allowed to be bogged down by any controversy in the media.” In his proposal, he had divested Sehajdhari Sikhs of the right to vote in the gurdwara elections, proposed a new definition of Sikh and dropped reservation in the SGPC for the Scheduled Castes.
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‘Feuding has hurt Akal Takht dignity’
Sikh
scholar Bhai Ashok Singh Bagrian, while claiming he speaks neither for nor against a separate HSGPC, says the clash has turned political, which is harming the Sikhs as a community. Sikhs living in Haryana demanding an HSGPC and those in Punjab opposing it are playing into the hands of politicians in either state. “It is natural that the Sikhs in Haryana will have greater affinity for the ruling party there. Then why should the SGPC accuse the Congress of meddling in the affairs of the Sikhs. Did the Punjab Government not interfere in the affairs of the Sikhs by establishing a Blue Star memorial in the Golden Temple complex? The Punjab Government is not a Sikh government; it is a coalition government with an Akali majority,” he says. Bagrian goes on to say that “the entire episode, in which Akal Takht has also got involved, has significantly lowered the status of the highest Sikh temporal authority. Akal Takht succumbed to the pressure from Sikh leaders in Haryana and sent a team to meet the leaders there after they refused to come to Akal Takht”. He feels there is an immediate need to de-politicise the issue to restore the sanctity of the highest temporal and spiritual seat of the Sikhs. He said the 10-member committee of the SGPC formed to speak with Sikh leaders in Haryana included several Dera heads. As Deras followed their own ‘maryada’, which was not in consonance with the accepted Panthic code of conduct, this act did not augur well for the dignity of Akal
Takht.
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union budget Rising food inflation and fuel prices are a challenge to the Modi govt which had made it a poll plank. There is no quick fix, but Finance Minister Arun Jaitley may take some hard decisions in his maiden Union Budget on July 10 to arrest the trend. By Sanjeev Sharma
Inflation, which was the bugbear of the previous UPA government, has returned right at the beginning of the Narendra Modi government’s tenure, presenting it with an immediate challenge ahead of the presentation of the Union Budget by the Finance Minister. The narrative has turned to inflation as prices of vegetables like onion and potato are up, railway fares have been hiked by over 14 per cent, diesel prices continue with their monthly 50-paise hike, petrol prices were hiked last week, and sugar prices rose by Rs 2 a kg after the government announced a package for the sugar industry and raised import duties. All put together, while some of these may be necessary economic decisions like fuel and rail fare hikes, the inflationary impact on households is going up. Food inflation has got the economy managers worried with vegetable prices shooting up. To add fuel to the kitchen fire, is the conflict in Iraq which has led to global crude oil prices spiking up to $115 a barrel and leading to hike in petrol prices. Worries on the monsoon front are not helping and with 43 per cent deficient rainfall, expectations of high food prices are feeding into the price spiral. Inflation has been described as a tax on the poor. It impacts household budgets and reduces purchasing power. Given the fact that price rise was among the primary themes in the Modi election campaign to attack the UPA government, it is no surprise that the Opposition is now holding protests on the issue. The most stubborn component of the inflation basket is food inflation. It has refused to die down in the past few years and it is also the most difficult to rein in, given the fragmented nature of the food chain and division of regulatory oversight between the Centre and states. Contrast this with the instrument of interest rates which the RBI can use in the organised and regulated banking sector ensuring transmission to handle inflation of a non-food variety. A research report by brokerage firm Motilal Oswal Securities points out that “springboard nature of food inflation” is perplexing. During the last five years, food inflation was the highest in three decades, compared to the previous five-year period. “What is most perplexing is that in different times, various components of food inflation have spiked, resulting in the persistence of food inflation,” it says. While in financial year 2009-2010, cereal inflation was high, for the next two years (till 2012) premium food inflation comprising milk, eggs, poultry and protein items accelerated disproportionately. In 2013 and 2014, vegetable prices have risen sharply. Despite the relatively lower weight of vegetables in the Wholesale Price Index and Consumer Price Index, the extent of vegetables inflation was highly disproportionate and held the overall inflation high. The report suggests that very high food inflation has prevented the overall inflation from moderating and it remained high despite significant easing in other components of
the price basket. The month of May saw a surprising spurt as headline inflation shot up to 6.01 per cent to a five-month high, sharply higher than the 5.2 per cent in April. The worrying part for the economy managers is that the high inflation number came even before the weak monsoon has played out. Analysts say that a weak monsoon will drive food prices even higher and cereal and oilseed prices will be watched closely.
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Steps the Centre has taken so far
Facing
the heat, the Modi government has announced several measures to check the price spiral in food items. With onion prices at Rs 25-30 a kg and potato prices up 40 per cent since March, these are the two staples being attacked for hoarding. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has emphasised on the urgency to check constraints in ensuring the availability of essential commodities through de-hoarding, inspection and monitoring. A meeting of the state Food Ministers has also been convened by the Centre. Onion, potato: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the inclusion of onion and potato under the purview of stock holding limits under the Essential Commodities Act. This will empower state governments to undertake de-hoarding operations. Export curbs have been levied. Fruits, veggies: The Delhi Government has been asked to consider delisting fruits and vegetables from the Agricultural Produce Market Committee Act and procure additional supplies of onion for distribution through government’s retail outlets. Rice: Additional allocation has been approved for 50 lakh tonnes of rice for distribution among BPL families and at above poverty line price for July 2014 to March 2015, or till the implementation of the National Food Security Act. Milk: The steady increase in the retail price of milk is being monitored. Export incentives may be withheld.
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Why prices may not come down, yet
Given
that the Budget is around the corner on July 10, analysts are looking for some answers on future policy direction. Experts believe that several factors have contributed to the inflation problem. NR Bhanumurthy, professor at National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, says reducing fiscal deficit through reduction in subsidies resulted in higher energy and fertiliser prices that pushed up the agricultural cost of production. The policy measure that could have become inflationary is the overall inclusive development strategy that forced the government to go for policies such as the employment guarantee scheme with inflation-adjusted wages in the rural segments. There is land issue as well. With the shadow returns from land expected to be much higher in the case of non-agriculture use, there appears to be large-scale land conversion from agriculture to non-agriculture activities, putting higher pressure on the reward from agriculture land use, he says. Hoarding is also an important factor. Sucha Singh Gill, Director-General, Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID), Chandigarh, says the price rise is manipulated by hoarders and middlemen. While the Centre had asked the states to crack down on hoarders, it has not happened because middlemen tend to be very powerful. He advocates sending a signal on freeing imports to cool down prices. For instance, importing 100 trucks from Pakistan would bring down onion prices, he says, adding that the recent price hikes by the government are not signals towards containing inflation. Ramesh Adige, chairman, PHD Rural Development Foundation, feels the foremost reason for high food prices is profiteering by middlemen and wholesalers followed by hoarding, specially in cold storages. The Essential Commodities Act should be used as it has an all India jurisdiction. It can be enforced in a controlled manner to influence production, supply and distribution of agricultural produce. What may work Headline inflation May:
6.01 per cent April: 5.2 per cent
Poor rainfall triggers hoarding. “The inter-connection of rivers across the country is a good idea but may take decades. It is effective to build check dams in districts suffering from drought,” he adds. Fuel prices is also a worry. The Iraq conflict has led to crude oil prices shooting up to $115 a barrel though it has cooled down to $110. This has led to a hike in prices, rupee coming under pressure and possibly a challenge to manage subsidies, which the government may want to attack. An Assocham paper notes that the turmoil in Iraq will punch a big hole in the finances of the Indian Government, forcing it to go in for “further bitter medicine” for the consumers of goods and services. This would exert pressure on prices, pushing the economy further into the vicious circle of high inflation and low growth. The HSBC says the outlook on monsoon has deteriorated and the Iraq crisis has put pressure on imports. Both events will require a bigger subsidy bill if the government decides to limit the pass through. This scenario also has ramifications for the fiscal consolidation that the economy requires. It says with rating agencies expecting fiscal consolidation to continue, stick high inflation will be a challenge for the Finance Minister. “Recently, the RBI put the ball in the government’s court by tweaking its inflation outlook on the anticipation that strong government action will alleviate inflation risks from poor monsoon. Loosening the purse strings at this point would not go hand in hand with the RBI’s stance of containing inflation,” it adds. Analysts are expecting the government to outline a roadmap for medium-term fiscal consolidation, particularly for subsidy rationalisation. Barclays notes that in financial year 2013-14, India spent about Rs 2.5 lakh crore — 2.2 per cent of the GDP — on food, fertiliser and fuel subsidies. As subsidies on diesel have almost phased out, the focus will shift to reducing subsidies for LPG and kerosene which accounted for 55 per cent of the total under-recoveries of oil companies in financial year 2013-14. Barclays adds: “We think the government may choose to rationalise some fertiliser subsidies, but is unlikely to make changes to food subsidies, especially given the backdrop of poor monsoon and recent price shocks.” It estimates that the price pressures are manageable given the weak growth momentum, excess capacity and lack of pricing power. A stable rupee and lower pass through from global commodity prices have also helped. Risks from a poor monsoon and geopolitics persist. Citigroup says the recent macro muddles in the form of monsoon and Iraq pose risks to the “FY 15 GDP forecast of 5.6 per cent which factors in a sub-par agri growth of 0.5 per cent with a 50-90 basis points downside in the event of a drought”. As regards inflation, it says a combination of poor monsoon, sustained high crude prices and administered price hikes poses a risk of 50-80 basis points to the 8 per cent FY 15 CPI estimate. On interest rates, it expects space for easing to open up early 2015. The fiscal deficit situation will need a fix as the first two months of the year have shown a worrisome trend. Fiscal deficit in the first two months shot up to 46 per cent of the full year target with 10 months to go. DBS Group says in a research note that this number may be skewed due to the front loading of last year’s subsidy deferments and delayed payments. DBS expects FY 15 fiscal deficit target to be revised to 4.5 per cent of the GDP by a combination of modest rationalisation in expenditure, lower tax revenue projection and higher divestment proceeds. Deutsche Bank expects the Modi government to surprise positively with three key objectives. These include shifting the bias of government policy from consumption to investment, raising the sustainable GDP growth rate by promoting labour intensive manufacturing and infrastructure investments, addressing fiscal imbalances through a combination of politically prudent subsidy rationalisation and raising non-tax revenues and promoting savings. However, the solution to inflation may take time. Bhanumurthy says to contain food inflation in the short-term is going to be difficult, if not impossible. For long, India has been managing hoarding through policing. But for better outcomes, a “good pricing policy” is needed. While monsoon failure is not new to India, this time it is coinciding with high inflation. This could worsen the situation and put the new government in trouble. He, however, says given the subdued global growth, the prices in the world commodity markets are also subdued. The government should have seized this opportunity by reducing import duties and allowing for more food imports. It can still undertake imports as the cost of such imports on the fiscal and external account would not be large compared to the inflation cost. “In the short run, containing fiscal deficit and also inflation is going to be a challenge,” he adds. Motilal Oswal, chairman and managing director, Motilal Oswal Securities, believes very little can be achieved in the short term, but if non-plan expenditure is contained to the minimum, fiscal deficit financing would get contained. The government will be required to make concerted efforts to stabilise inflation through small and big measures. — Sanjeev Sharma
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Haryana has a considerable Sikh population as well as historical
gurdwaras. The state at present has nearly 4 lakh SGPC voters, concentrated mostly in Ambala,
Panchkula, Kurukshetra, Karnal, Hisar and Sirsa districts. 
‘SGPC indifferent’
All-India Act SAD trick
Act unites Sikhs
Total in India 1.92cr
