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Lessons from Scotland Right decision |
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Resolving secessionist disputes
Working with bureaucrats & ministers
The
Tribune
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Lessons from Scotland There are lessons India can draw from the Scottish referendum, which has been watched worldwide with admiration as a peaceful and democratic way of settling separatist issues. Both Britain and Scotland have earned respect for their faith in democracy. Had the British displayed similar maturity and democratic spirit a century ago, Indians would not have had to fight a bloody battle for Independence. Even though the referendum was confined to independence, Scotland has been promised greater powers by the British Prime Minister. A major takeaway from the Scottish vote is that in a multi-cultural country people of various communities, religions and regions want greater say in the management of their affairs. Greater devolution of political power, a liberal environment for carrying out economic and business pursuits and freedom to manage personal, social and religious matters often prevails over and obviates the demand for independence, which often arises out of protests against state controls, interference and excesses, and is misused by out-of-power disgruntled politicians. India has witnessed insurgency and separatist movements in some states, which ultimately seek to have greater opportunities for growth, good and fair governance, a guarantee of the rule of law and respect for human rights. The use of force may suppress a violent movement, but people's yearning for a life of dignity and justice cannot be wished away. They have to be reassured. Though in the recent Lok Sabha elections a national party like the BJP has got a majority on its own after a long time, the broader trend is towards regionalism. Over the years the country has seen the rise of regional parties which are united in their demand for greater autonomy and are voted to power by people. States have seen the emergence of strong chief ministers - one of them reaching the highest executive office in the country. In a country as large and diverse as India a handful of leaders sitting in Delhi with all powers and resources at their command are no longer acceptable. India should move from a unitary system towards greater federalism.
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Right decision The
international basketball federation
(FIBA), which governs basketball, will now allow players to wear religious head coverings, such as hijabs or turbans, in competitions. This addresses the recent complaints made by Sikh players — Amrit Pal Singh and Amjyot Singh - who were directed by FIBA officials not to wear turbans while playing in Asia Cup tournament held at
Wuhan, China. As expected, the ruling raised a storm of protest not only from the Indian sports bodies, especially the Basketball Federation of India, but also from Sikh organisations all over the world and even concerned US politicians. FIBA had earlier allowed Sikh players to play in the Asia Championship in Manila, and the organisation was seen as being behind times, when it failed to recognise that sports bodies regularly allow turban-wearing Sikh sportsperson to play with the headgear. The ban, which also included hijabs worn by Muslim women, was condemned widely for being discriminatory. Even now, the ban has not been lifted completely as FIBA's central board has given a two-year trial period during which players can wear head coverings. Although this is far short of removing the ban altogether, and thereby getting rid of the discriminatory practice, the policy change has been welcomed by both Sikh and Muslim religious organisations. However, it must be noted that there are various conditions that need to be met before players are allowed to compete internationally, and FIBA would do well to streamline the processes. Religious and cultural norms play a major part in an individual's life. It is the duty of international organisations to be mindful of such requirements while formulating policies. Sports, by their very nature, are inclusive, and should thus also be accommodating. Hijabs and turbans cannot be a 'direct threat to other players'. The basketball body has no right to ban players just on the ground that they wear headscarves or turbans. It has done well by partially lifting the ban. It would be better if it were to lift it altogether.
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Thought for the Day
Guilt: the gift that keeps on giving. —Erma Bombeck, an American humorist & columnist
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THE Punjab Legislative Council has passed the Bill to amend the Punjab Courts Act, 1914. It was discovered, after the latter measure had passed through the Council, that it prescribed no period of limitation for the presentation of second appeals which stood in a different position from first appeals, the right of which was conferred by the Code of Civil Procedure, their limitation consequently being governed by the relevant articles in the schedule to the Limitation Act. In their case, the Punjab Courts Act did nothing beyond fixing the Court to which the appeal will lie. The right of second appeal, however, did not rest on any section of the Civil Procedure Code, and was derived from the special provisions of section 41 of the Punjab Courts Act which failed to prescribe any period of limitation. The Limitation Act did not apply because the appeal did not lie under the Civil Procedure Code. The present Act, which, it is provided, shall have effect from the date on which the Punjab Courts Act, 1914, came into force, prescribes that the period of limitation for an appeal under section 41 of the Act shall be ninety days from the date of the decree appealed against. Questions in the Punjab Council
AT a meeting of the Punjab Legislative Council, important questions were put and answered. Sir P.C. Chatterji interpellated on the subject of feeder railways, and the promotion of manufacturing enterprises like sugar factories, silk factories, tobacco, woollen and cotton manufactures and dairy farming. Mr. Mant replied that Government was considering the question of legislating on the lines of the Madras Local Boards Act to enable District Boards to levy a special extra land cess for the development of light local railways and tramways.
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Resolving secessionist disputes The outcome of the referendum on Scottish independence giving a clear verdict in favour of Scotland remaining a part of the UK is of huge economic significance for Britain, Europe and even beyond but most importantly for strengthening democracy and democratic processes worldwide in resolving issues of nationalist conflicts. The Scottish National Party (SNP), formed in 1934, has been the main champion of complete independence, although subsequently the demand for independence has been supported by the Scottish Socialist Party and the Scottish Green Party. The SNP remained a minor political current in Scottish politics, which for a long time has been dominated by the Labour Party. Even the establishment of the Scottish Parliament in 1999 did not enable the SNP to become the largest and the ruling political party, although it emerged as the second largest party and the main opposition party. However, in 2007 the party emerged as the single largest in the Scottish Parliament and formed a minority government with support from the Green Party. In 2011, it gained an absolute majority in the Scottish Parliament but still did not claim that its electoral victory should be seen as an evidence of the Scottish people's support for complete independence. It put forward a case for Scottish independence with a demand for a referendum on the issue. On the opposite side, to the credit of the UK government, it did not ignore the electoral victory of the SNP and gradually came to accept the need for referendum to determine Scottish people's choice regarding independence. This eventually resulted in the UK government and the Scottish government agreeing in 2013 on the arrangements for the referendum. September 18, 2014, was the date agreed for the referendum vote and the question on the vote was: Should Scotland be an independent country? It was also agreed that there would be only two choices for the voters: Yes or No. Although the SNP wanted a third choice of greater devolution of powers to Scotland short of complete independence, it eventually agreed to the UK government's insistence on making a clear choice between Yes and No. It was clearly understood on both sides of the debate that the electoral verdict would be accepted without reservations and that has been admirably demonstrated by the dignity with which the Scottish National Party leadership has accepted the verdict. There are not many examples of such agreed way of resolving the demands for secession. The closest one before this has been the Quebec referendum to secede from Canada in which the secessionists lost the vote. Most demands for secession get resolved either by military suppression of the secessionist movement or, in rare cases, by the secessionists winning the military battle and achieving independence. In both cases, the legitimacy of the outcome remains a contested issue. The most well-known example of peaceful secession ('the velvet divorce') is the separation of Czech Republic and Slovakia but here the elites of the two regions agreed to separate; the democratic choice of the people of the seceding region Slovakia was not ascertained. In the case of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, these Baltic states got independence through peaceful means of massive mass mobilisation but no vote was allowed. Russia, the dominant region of the crumbling Soviet empire, that had economic and political interests in keeping control over the Baltic states, was not in a fit state — militarily and politically — to suppress the independence moves of these states but now it constantly resents in different ways, as was seen most starkly in the recent Ukrainian case, that these former Soviet republics managed to become independent. The disputed outcome is significantly due to the lack of perceived legitimacy of the process of achieving independence in the case of some of the former Soviet republics. The most recent case of secession (South Sudan) is also interesting from the viewpoint of the process of achieving secession. Although there have been violent conflicts due to personal political rivalries, the legitimacy of the secession has not been doubted due to the referendum vote that had led to secession. In the Scottish case, almost every aspect regarding the case for and against independence was debated and most significantly in the form of nationally televised debates between Alex Salmod, the First Minister of Scotland, arguing the case for independence and Alistair Darling, a Labour leader, arguing the case against independence on behalf of all the three mainstream British parties. The major legacy of the Scottish vote will be the transparent and democratic nature of the process leading to the vote. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the Scottish example might become the template for resolving secessionist disputes in future. Increasing globalisation has, paradoxically, heightened the demand for preserving national identities and cultures, and the world needs to evolve democratic ways of dealing with such demands. The way the UK and Scotland have resolved this demand strengthens the trust in democracy and democratic processes worldwide. The writer is a Professor of Economics at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK, and has published a book “Federalism, Nationalism and Development”
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Working with bureaucrats & ministers During
my career I had the privilege of working with various bureaucrats and ministers. Although every effort was made to give due respect to visitors who came to see officers/ministers, yet, in spite of the best efforts, one could be trapped in difficult situations at times. When I was working with another minister, I had another bitter experience. The minister had passed an order for the adjustment of a particular person at a particular station. The application was marked to the Secretary and the Director. The Director was interested in another person, for reasons best known to him, and thus did not implement the order. He wrote a twisting note and the order was not issued. The beneficiary in whose favour the order was passed, again met the minister in order to remind him and apprise him of the latest position. The order was not implemented even after a lapse of one month. Irritated, the minister called the Secretary and the Director to discuss certain files, including this issue. A time was fixed for discussion and the Secretary and the Director came together. Files were discussed, one by one, and when the turn of this particular file came, the minister asked the reason as to why his order was not implemented. To my utter surprise, the Director replied abruptly that Mr. Wadhwa was interested in this case. After hearing this, the minister only said, “Then it is alright”. It was a shock to me but I kept my cool, and did not think it proper to put such a senior officer in an awkward situation. After both left, I enquired from the officer concerned on the telephone why he had tried to degrade me in the eyes of the minister by giving wrong information. He took it lightly and said, “I know you are capable of sorting out the issue, in your own way, in order to save me from such an embarrassing situation.” Afterwards, to clear my position, I brought the factual position to the notice of the minister, who only smiled and put the matter to rest.
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The
Tribune Two major aspects of energy policy in India have not received the kind of attention that they merit. The first relates to energy access and the second to the issue of security of energy supply. As far as energy access is concerned, it is sad that around 300 million people in the country still do not have access to electricity, and perhaps an even larger number is subjected to erratic, irregular and unreliable supply in their households. What is even more serious is the use of poor-quality biomass for cooking in over 160 million households in the country. Harmful pollution The use of kerosene and other combustion-based lighting, prevalent in rural parts of India, leads to harmful pollution, essentially affecting women and children. But what is even more serious is the health impact of cooking using poor quality biomass such as twigs, cow dung and agricultural residue, which leads to high levels of indoor pollution, extremely harmful to the health of those who are exposed. Some efforts are now in hand to address these problems. The programme on “Lighting a Billion Lives,” launched by TERI has covered almost 3,000 villages in the country and has brought solar-based lanterns, which use LED systems, to homes in the villages which have been covered. The introduction of improved cookstoves is also moving ahead with designs that essentially provide a flame as clean as that of LPG or natural gas stoves, even with wood as a fuel. The big benefit of these improved cookstoves is a substantial reduction in the use of firewood and, of course, cleanliness in homes which is the result of smokeless combustion and cooking. The Government of India and several state governments are also now focusing on this widespread problem of traditional lighting and cooking, which not only has harmful health and environmental impacts, but is also wasteful in the use of fuels. Fossil fuels The problem of energy security is one that is likely to become progressively more acute with time. Fossil fuels account for about 70 per cent of the primary energy supply in India. Import dependence in the case of oil was 76 per cent in 2011-12 and even coal is now being imported in substantial quantities. If the country continues on the path of energy consumption that represents business as usual, then oil imports alone would be around 10 million barrels per day by 2031-32, rising from around 2.5 million barrels per day in 2011-12. That would make India a major consumer of oil in the world, and with this substantial demand, India would also have an impact on the global price of oil in that year. Coal imports Annual coal imports were around 100 million tonnes (MT) in 2011-12, but on the business-as-usual basis they would rise to 947 MT in 2031-32. The import bill for these volumes would be 5.8 times the current level in real terms and could prove to be a major burden for the Indian economy. In the case of oil, India is largely dependent on imports from a small region of the globe where geopolitical developments could influence the global price of oil and even its physical supply. If a price increase of 50 per cent was to take place, which cannot be ruled out as unlikely, the Indian economy could suffer seriously. Similarly, with rising imports of coal there would not only be possible restrictions in exporting nations, but also price increases that would naturally reflect increases in oil prices. As it is, with the devaluation of the Rupee over the last four years, oil prices in effect have gone up by 50 per cent for this country. Improving efficiency A careful analysis of where we are heading would clearly suggest that we need to rapidly improve the efficiency of energy use in every sector of the economy. Initiatives for improving energy efficiency are required in the major energy- consuming sectors, such as transportation, buildings, as well as industrial and commercial establishments. Households would also need to bring about changes which would rest on changes in lifestyles as well as the use of energy-efficient appliances. On the supply side, there is a need to move rapidly towards greater use of renewable energy sources, given the fact that India has a large endowment of these in the form of high and extensive insolation, areas with attractive wind potential as well as substantial quantities of agricultural residue and other biomass which could be harvested on a sustainable basis. Evaluation of future options and strategic imperatives requires very detailed and rigorous assessment of how economic activities can grow and what would be the implications for energy use for different scenarios. TERI has been carrying out extensive modelling of energy economy developments in India, and has a set of quantitative models which are very elaborate, incorporating all the relationships between different sectors of the economy, technological characteristics and implications for the energy cycle associated with different pathways of economic development. Using these models and running them for the future, driven by specific assumptions related to growth of the economy as a whole, and the mix of growth that can be envisaged, a number of scenarios have been developed for the future in order to evaluate the choices that India has for ensuring asatisfactory level of energy security. Shift towards services The MARKAL model, which has been used primarily for this purpose — involved 300 different technologies and around 100,000 variables — representing various elements of the Indian economy. A healthy growth rate of 8 per cent per annum for the GDP has been assumed in running the model. At the same time, future scenarios are based on a structural shift towards services, but, of course, there is also a major increase in manufacturing and other sectors of the economy. For the year 2031-32, a population of 1.5 billion has been assumed with steady growth in the intervening period. Three different scenarios have been run to evaluate the outcome related to the economy and its energy implications. The first scenario is essentially a business-as-usual pathway, where no major policy interventions are made to change the current path of energy development. The second scenario deals with a moderate effort to bring about changes in energy mix with an increase of supply from renewable sources as well as penetration across the economy of some specific new technologies. The third scenario is driven by ambitious objectives aimed at a drastic reduction of energy imports by the year 2031-32. This entails faster implementation of energy efficiency measures, rapid penetration of new technologies and increased electrification of the economy. The role of renewable energy technologies and their widespread use is crucial in this scenario. Unconventional options Some of the unconventional energy options that are part of the future scenarios used in this modelling exercise include liquid biofuels, tidal energy, geothermal energy, conversion of waste to energy, power generation using biomass as a fuel and, of course, wind, solar, hydro and nuclear options. The conventional options that are included are traditional biomass, natural gas, oil and coal. Demand & supply n A greater attention to energy access for those who receive no modern energy supplies today is overdue. n Fossil fuels account for about 70 per cent of the primary energy supply in India. n If the country continues on the path of energy consumption as usual, then oil imports alone would be 479 MT by
2031-32. n To scale down the demand for energy, a substantially different transport policy is needed. n Stronger regulation of standards and benchmarks for construction of new buildings and retrofits in existing buildings are also required n A far more energy-efficient industrial sector and some changes in lifestyles would be necesssary to reduce the growth of energy demand without compromising on economic growth and welfare Future runs The results of these future runs outlining the three distinct scenarios are particularly revealing. In the case of the business-as-usual scenario, imports in the year 2031-32 would be 947 MT of coal, 76 billion cubic meters (BCM) of gas and 479 MT of oil. The moderate scenario results in a significant reduction of these import levels with coal imports at 401 MT, gas 57 BCM and oil 329 MT. What is even more significant is the ambitious energy security scenario which reduces coal imports to a manageable 206 MT, gas imports increasing to 121 BCM and oil imports to 219 MT. It is, therefore, obvious that in the medium term, which extends to 2031-32, India should attempt to consume a larger quantity of natural gas, preferably increasing domestic production far beyond reasonable assumptions that are included in the model. In 1989, this author, along with Dr Ali Shams Ardekani of Iran, developed a forward-looking scheme for import of natural gas from Iran through Pakistan. Through a rigorous and elaborate exercise, a later stage of this proposal involved development of contractual and other institutional provisions by which all the parties to this arrangement would have been able to establish secure supply opportunities and minimisation of business or political risk. For a variety of reasons this option did not take off, and now, of course, there is interest on the part of India in promoting the TAPI (Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan– India pipeline). A regime of irrational policies has also been responsible for inadequate increase in domestic production particularly from offshore areas. It is, therefore, imperative that the Government focuses on improving the prospects for energy security through greater reliance on natural gas. Benchmarks for construction At the same time, on the energy demand side, a substantially different transport policy than what is seen currently, far stronger regulation of standards and benchmarks for construction of new buildings, retrofits in existing buildings, a far more energy-efficient industrial sector and some changes in lifestyles would be necessary to reduce the growth of energy demand without compromising on economic growth and welfare. Much greater attention to energy access for those who receive no modern energy supplies today is also overdue. The most important element perhaps of future energy strategy would rely on faster development of renewable energy options, involving a set of policies with a strong promotional element to start with and support for research, development and pilot activities. Emphasis in the past on looking at energy decisions within a short frame, and that too within silos related to coal, oil, renewables as distinctly different initiatives, has led to a situation which cannot continue along business as usual lines. It is imperative that the Government of India and society at large in this country evaluate the directions in which we are going and the perils that we might face in respect of the security of energy supply. It would be prudent to heed Mahatma Gandhi’s advice which stated “A technological society has two choices. First it can wait until catastrophic failures expose systemic deficiencies, distortion and self-deceptions. Secondly, a culture can provide social checks and balances to correct for systemic distortion prior to catastrophic failures.” The writer is Director-General, The Energy & Resources Institute (TERI), New Delhi, and Chairman of UN’s
Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
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The importance of the process that has led to the decision in Scotland has not been adequately captured in the debate on Scottish independence. It is important to recognise that the process of arriving at any political settlement determines the legitimacy and the quality of the settlement. In the Scottish case, the process has been so democratic, open, and transparent that it is close to being exemplary. The decision to have a referendum was arrived at after a long period of debate and negotiations. That Scotland, which became a part of the UK in 1707, has a distinctive identity is very well recognised by all sides on the debate. This recognition of a distinctive identity was given a further boost during Tony Blair's prime ministership when the long-standing demand of Scottish people to have their own Parliament was accepted and the Scottish Parliament with devolved powers started functioning in 1999. This devolved power was partly aimed at weakening the demand for full independence which was at that time a minority political tendency. The decision to create the Scottish Parliament by the Blair government was not seen as a partisan initiative but was arrived at in a consensual manner by all sides of the Westminster- based political establishment. The three mainstream British political parties — the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrats — all agreed on the need for a Scottish Parliament with devolved powers.
While working as a secretary to the Health Minister, one day a bearded gentleman came to my office to hand over an application of his spouse, who was a doctor, for mutual transfer. He said he had met the minister at her residence and she had sent him to me. I went through the application and since, it was a request for mutual transfer, there was no hindrance for the minister to pass orders. I said to him gently, “OK. ‘Ho jayegi’ (it will be done)”. On hearing this, he was enraged and started speaking, without a break, “Under what authority have you spoken these words? You are not a minister. You are not to pass the orders. You, members of the personal staff, think yourselves as super ministers. I again respectfully said to him, “To my mind, I have not spoken anything harsh, which could annoy you.” He told me that since he was a mediaperson, he would teach me a lesson by getting it published in newspapers. When he did not stop shouting, I said, “Look gentleman, go to hell and do whatever you like”. I, on my part, put up the application to the minister after narrating the sequence of events. She said to me, “Throw this application in the dust bin, relax and do not bother”. 