The coming together of all 10 Asean heads as guests of honour for the republic Day parade signals how regional powers like India have evolved to play a vital role in modern international architecture.
Regional organisations are increasingly becoming a vital feature of modern international architecture. The Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean), which completed its golden jubilee recently in 2017, is a regional grouping of 10 separate nation-states – Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. It was formed by five countries, which later extended to 10 members.
Asean also shares wide ranging partnerships with various other regional organizations and countries, such as India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and United States. It is the most institutionalized regional association in Asia and a classic example of successful regional multilateralism. Most importantly, it has not remained a mere talk shop, but has embraced economic integration and has, thereby, slowly transformed a once-impoverished Asean region with some war-torn countries into a dynamic economic power house.
The combined Asean Gross Domestic Product rose from $95 billion in 1970 to $2.55 trillion in 2016 and is expected to reach $6.4 trillion by 2027. If it were a single entity, Asean would be ranked as the sixth largest economy in the world just behind the US, China, Japan, Germany, and the UK. France is also at about the same position. Asean is projected to emerge as the fourth largest economy in the world by 2050, with some describing it as the growth engine of the world.
Asean also shares wide ranging partnerships with various other regional organizations and countries, such as India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and United States. It is the most institutionalized regional association in Asia and a classic example of successful regional multilateralism.
All the first five Asean countries Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore — which once suffered varying degrees of internal communist insurgencies, managed to surpass them. Asean’s success has resulted in the fundamental transformation of geopolitics and geoeconomics in Southeast Asia. Its diplomatic weight bears footprints not only in South- east Asia and East Asia, but also in the broader Indo-Pacific region and in the global arena.
India-Asean partnership: India and Asean share geographical proximity and a robust people-to-people relation- ship which is deeply rooted in history and culture. on seeing deep cultural imprints, Rabindranath Tagore, during his visit to Indonesia lamented, “I see India everywhere, but I do not recognize it.” Even today, in Indonesia’s capital Jakarta, statues placed at major traffic intersections depict figures from the ramayana and the Mahabharata. Jeferysng, a former diplomat based in Bangkok and Kishore Mahbubani, dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, in their jointly authored book, The ASEAN Miracle: A Catalyst for Peace, observe, “Many ordinary Southeast Asians are well acquainted with figures from, say, the ramayana and Mahabharata. Yet, they would be surprised to learn that these figures, which they consider to be part of their heritage, come from India.”
Perhaps no other country can match India’s long historical links with Southeast Asia. Ancient maritime trade routes had linked the Kalingas, Pallavas and the Cholas to Southeast Asia.
Perhaps no other country can match India’s long historical links with South- east Asia. Ancient maritime trade routes had linked the Kalingas, Pallavas and the Cholas to Southeast Asia. Barring Vietnam and the Philippines, all other eight Asean countries share some sort of cultural roots in or exchanges with the Indian civilisation.
India’s Look East Policy, articulated during the Government of PV Narasimha Rao, has been re-phrased and energized as ‘Act East Policy’ by the incumbent Government and its being in full gear is visible from the republic Day invite to all Asean leaders. That India-Asean partnership is on the upward trajectory is evident from the fact that the partnership had graduated from Sectoral Dialogue Partnership in 1992 to Full Dialogue Partnership in 1996 to Summit Level Partnership in 2002 and then to Strategic Partnership in 2012. Asean is home to about seven million Indian diasporas. All Asean countries are among the list of countries to which India’s e-visa facility is available. India has set-up Asean-India Centre (AIC) in New Delhi in 2013 and a separate Asean diplomatic mission in Jakarta in 2015 in order to smoothly and speedily facilitate India’s engagements with Asean. Currently, 30 different dialogue mechanisms, focusing on a range of sectors are operational.
Mutually beneficial engagement: India-Asean relations are mutually advantageous and beneficial on economic, cultural and strategic fronts. India-Asean economic ties are gradually deepening. Statistics of 2016 show, Asean was India’s fourth largest trading partner, accounting for 10 percent of India’s total trade, whereas India was Asean’s seventh largest trading partner. India’s production linkages with Asean countries, especially with Malaysia in electronics, with Thailand in automobiles, with Singapore in digital networks, are strengthening. There is rapid growth in India’s textile trade with Vietnam.
India’s mostly service oriented economy has got potential to compliment the mostly manufacturing-based economy of Asean. India is a member of Asean led regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which when implemented, is likely to cover 40 per cent of the world’s population, 40 per cent of world trade and 33 per cent of global GDP. The Government of the State of Andhra Pradesh has availed support from Singapore in designing master plan of its upcoming new capital Amaravati and is also drawing collaboration with it for infrastructure development in its new capital city.
North-East India is looked at by some as being at the frontier of India at a remote corner. But if South Asia and Southeast Asia are taken as a continuum, which is a geographical reality, then North-East India is right at the middle of it. India needs to tap this advantage to its full potential. Whereas over three million Indian tourists go to Asean countries every year, only about seven lakhs tourists from Asean come to India.
China and Japan are more preferred tourist destinations for Asean people. With improved connectivity, geared up infrastructure, enhanced awareness, North-East India, with its charming tourist destinations, should be able to attract greater number of tourists from Asean countries. Potential for land based international connectivity is the highest in North-East. Borders must be made vibrant with land ports and North-East must be evolved as a hub of healthcare and education facilities be- sides tourism.
Both India and Asean are rich with diversity and nurture a culture of tolerance and co-existence. Ecosystem of peace provided by Asean and its live illustration of the culture of co-existence may hopefully help moderate the aggressive impulses of China, which has got economic interests in Asean. India and Asean collaboration would be promising in securing trade routes, ensuring freedom of navigation and sustaining a rule-based order in the In- do-Pacific region in particular, which is vital for economic and security interests all stakeholders.
Republic Day invite to Asean: India has invited all heads of states of all 10 Asean countries to take part as chief guests in upcoming republic Day parade on January 26. Except in 1956, 1968 and 1974, when India had two republic Day guests, in all other years since 1950, there was only one chief guest each year. Hosting 10 heads of states as Chief Guests on republic Day parade this year is a unique symbolic gesture, underlining the importance India attaches to further strengthening friendly relations with all Asean countries. New Delhi will also host an Asean-India commemorative summit on January 25, which marks the silver jubilee of the establishment of dialogue partnership between India and Asean. India-Asean partnership can play a vital role in shaping 21ST century as the Asian century.
(The writer is an advocate & Assistant Editor, India Foundation Journal. Views expressed are personal)
Wild animals straying into city streets during the lockdown show how we have stifled our biodiversity
They say the Coronavirus is Nature’s way of reclaiming its space on its terms for all the degradation of its splendour and resources by humans. So cities across India, that are at a standstill, with no vehicles or people across vast swathes, are witnessing unfamiliar sights of wild animals straying from the natural sanctuaries they have sought out around the peripheries. From Italy to Japan to Thailand and even in India, the roads, that perhaps were once their transit corridors, are now part of their return journeys. In Japan, herds of sika deer, that you got to see only at the tourist hotspot called Nara Park, were seen wandering the streets. In Italy, one of the worst-hit countries by COVID-19, people spotted sheep and horses wandering around without a shepherd or rider. In Spain, more wild boars are having a free run in quiet, deserted streets. Back home, too, there are plenty of videos of animals frolicking on city roads. In Punjab’s Chandigarh, a sambar deer was seen walking on a zebra crossing. And in northern Kerala’s Kozhikode, the critically endangered civet, a species not seen since the 1990s, casually strolled past police patrol. Closer home, in Noida, nilgais are literally wandering the street in front of an otherwise busy mall. In the mornings, the twitter of the heron, the mynah and unseen birds soothes our souls.
While the wild animals may be testing newer territories, most of the urban species like street dogs, cats, monkeys and stray cows are not having it so good. Dependent on food waste generated by eateries and restaurants and home clearances limited in a time of crisis, these creatures are going hungry. Except for some samaritans, city animals and birds have been forced to fend for themselves foraging in garbage dumps. They are also a vulnerable lot as they could get the virus from humans instead. We cannot ignore them as they are part of our eco-system too. This is our wake-up call, for co-existence, co-dependence and the dire need to reverse our relationship with the sentient world. We care little for the natural world though ancient texts tell us about protecting and nurturing every creature or jiva, not exploiting them selfishly. Can a Coronavirus-free world ensure that endangered species do not go extinct? Can we limit indiscriminate human action that is causing much damage to the entire ecosystem and biodiversity? Can our cities develop mini sanctuaries and forests within them so that the animal world can thrive? Predatory food chain behaviour is not working, we must change that to accommodating the lesser species for our well-being.
(Courtesy: The Pioneer)
As India aims to acquire better global rankings, policymakers must develop regional centres of excellence in education based on local trends, proclivities, resources and history
British educationist Alick Maclean undertook arguably one of the earliest attempts at producing a university ranking system. Maclean’s study Where We Get Our Best Men (1900), which betrays the late Victorian England’s obsession with its own laurels, remained unnoticed outside the university circuits in England. However, more than a hundred years later, the context, connotations and the scope of such rankings have changed dramatically. With the inclusion of higher education as an “internationally traded” service in the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), universities have become commodities that must sell to sustain themselves in a globally-competitive education industry. Rankings are loudly advertised and have become the very touchstone of marketability. Even in a welfare State like India, where the bulk of higher education is Government-aided and therefore beyond the pale of market vagaries, there has been, of late, a near-feverish fixation with rankings. And while (because) Indian universities weren’t performing too well at Times Higher Education Supplement (THES), Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) or Webometrics world rankings, we introduced leagues of our own in the form of National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) and National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF). To many of the stakeholders, “ranking” is an unwarranted western import which puts the institutions of developing countries at a natural disadvantage.
With their emphasis on measuring research output in terms of publications in English language journals, the global system of accreditation perpetuates the dominance of Anglo-American and to a lesser extent, European institutions. Besides the system of peer-review and mutual-referencing aren’t the most transparent of academic practices. Since the Government appears keen on incrementally linking an institution’s domestic and international standings with the volume and the manner of funding, some even suspect that the entire hoopla is a decoy for privatisation. And then there are those critics who believe that at a time when the majority of university graduates, as highlighted in the Government’s own findings, are unemployable, our pursuit of global stature reeks of waylaid competitive nationalism, hollow chest-thumping and the general lethargy of a stagnated eduction sector. They argue, with some merit, that it would profit the universities more if the staff are mobilised towards research and teaching instead of tedious report compilation. Till a few years ago, before the launch of NAAC and NIRF, many believed that better rankings accrue from user-friendly websites and perception management.
Under the circumstances, quality becomes a procedural casualty and our estimation of a university’s true worth, based on a set of universal parameters, remains delusional and misleading. For example, in several assessment paradigms, the share of international faculty and foreign students substantially propels an institution’s ranking. While this may not be the strength of Indian universities, not many countries of the world can boast of a higher education system which is more committed to affirmative action and social inclusion, than our own.
The massification of education and steep rise in enrollment rates may not deliver immediate dividends but these steps will see India rise as a leader in research and development (R&D) in times to come. Fortunately, the NIRF identifies an institution’s inclusivity at the levels of region, class, gender and physical disability as a parameter in quality assessment. But there are, as yet, no points for diversity in faculty.
As India aims to overhaul its higher education infrastructure through a New Education Policy (NEP), creating world-class institutes of eminence (IoEs) and acquiring better global rankings appear to be two of the priorities. It is expected that resources generated through public private partnership (PPP) and introduction of industry-centric courses will provide stimulus to these enterprises. The Ministry of Human Resource Development’s (MHRD) pitch for IoEs encourages international outreach. Under the scheme, the 16 designate institutions have been empowered to collaborate with foreign universities and recruit up to 25 per cent of their total faculty strength from outside India.
The success of the much-touted ‘Study in India’ campaign, too, is largely hinged on our ability to create IoEs and secure better ranking. The campaign, if successful, will not only bring revenue but the increase in the number of offshore students would also improve our global stature. The degree of internationalisation of higher education, which is partly consequent upon global ranking, will certainly augment India’s soft power. The Government’s website on the initiative lists instruction in English medium, the size of India’s market, recent start-up culture and pluralist campuses as our strengths. But when we leverage our educational infrastructure to entice the global student community, we need to ask the following question: who are we inviting to study in India and what do we have to offer? Given India’s financial constraints and our social commitment to bring the majority into the fold of higher education, planners and policymakers will have to make a series of difficult choices. They will have to choose between scaling a few hand-picked institutions to global stature and making the majority of Central/State universities competitive with respect to education infrastructure in Asia and Africa. Let us not forget that as of now, Indian universities cater mostly to students from South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries.
In some cases, to the wealthy South Koreans and Africans, too. In terms of their preferred academic destinations in India, these foreign students choose mostly institutions located in metropolitan centres. Therefore, we also need to choose between buttressing the existing patterns of student-inflow and creating regionally diverse centres of learning. Further, we have to decide between promoting subjects which feed the local industry and those that are most sought after in the target countries. If we are to invite students to study in India, when the domestic expectation itself is of a cosmic proportion, we must think of ways of marrying the two prerogatives. A balance must be struck between the strategic need to invite foreign students and delivering on the moral imperatives of the State.
Policymakers need to think of developing regional centres of excellence based on local trends, proclivities, resources and history. Delhi is nearly saturated, so are Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune. India needs to create more hubs, showcasing local strength and areas where Indians excel. To that effect, here is a modest proposal. Institutes based in the north-eastern States can be developed into hubs for training in cottage and small-scale industries. Maharashtra and Gujarat can become centres of commerce and trade education. South India could be developed into India’s science hub while Bengal and Bihar can shine as regions catering to humanities and social sciences. Haryana can do exceptionally well in sports and physical health and Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Odisha can lead global research on tribal knowledge systems and sustainable human ecology. At the same time, we must also think of capitalising on domains of knowledge to which we have had privileged access and that have traditionally been our strength. In subjects such as ayurveda, yoga and mental health, with an untapped global market, we have a lot to offer even to the most advanced countries of the world. There is an ayurvedic medical college in my own nondescript village in Bihar. But over the years, instead of attracting students from other States, let alone from other countries, the institution has shrunk both physically and in terms of footfall. Instead of investing in disciplines where global competition is stiff, the MHRD should think of promoting a few institutes dedicated to indigenous knowledge systems as IoEs. In these areas, the chances of becoming a world leader are bright, realistic and hugely rewarding.
But as we draw these schemes, we must never forget that a lot will depend on the quality of teachers employed at these institutes. Paradoxically, as things stand today, students studying outside India, with their international experience and exposure, are being projected as key to the success of the ‘Study in India’ initiative. We have to put in place a robust system of attracting and retaining talented students and teachers. Given the current state of affairs, appointment of teachers would be a good beginning point. Unless we engage and strengthen our workforce, these schemes will be reduced to corporate style weekend workshops on capacity building that offer nothing but a distraction from monotony. That too on a weekend.
(Writer: Gautam choubey; Courtesy: The Pioneer)
What’s next for the NC chief, who still has a psychological hold on the people? Can he still be an asset?
The Government has finally realised that its single-minded Kashmir policy, the one it has been ramming hard without factoring in local contexts and complexities, is costing it international acceptability. So even while it convinced the world about changing the status of Jammu and Kashmir as an internal and sovereign matter and as a larger counter-terrorism initiative, its civil lockdown of the Valley ate into its credibility. But what made India look like an unfair oppressor was the arrest of democratically-elected leaders, with a decided pro-India tilt, and labelling them as enemies of the State overnight. Worse, they were considered as good as “terrorists” and booked under draconian laws, nullifying any interlocutory scope that they could have offered with Kashmir’s civil society and citizenry even in a changed scenario. The growing anxieties about human rights curbs in the Valley despite a largely incident-free record, both in the European Union (EU) and the US, and an interventionist push from US President Donald Trump, have finally forced the Government to yield some ground. So it has released former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference (NC) leader Farooq Abdullah after seven months of captivity. And it is likely that it may release others over a period of time. The Government also has self-serving motives. For some time, it has been trying to restore a semblance of normalcy by conducting panchayat and local-level polls, hoping to build a new narrative ground up, albeit with candidates friendly to it. As another round of panchayat polls is scheduled for March, officials elected a year ago, most of whom were walkover wins, fear to move out of Srinagar hotels, simply because they contested against local will. Such was the boycott then that over 12,000 panchayat seats continue to be vacant. This round, too, could collapse as panchayats have made it clear that any electoral process would have to be preceded by the release of jailed NC and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leaders. This has completely blasted holes in the BJP’s attempt to rebuild a grassroots matrix or carry out its much-touted development agenda, something it thought would be a cakewalk in the absence of traditional politicians. It has failed to raise an alternative political front and, therefore, needs to create a political climate first. The NC and PDP would still be needed for that purpose. The BJP may have encouraged the formation of the Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party (JKAP), drawing rejects from the PDP and NC, under the stewardship of ex-PDP Minister Altaf Bukhari, but it cannot generate reassurance, least of all credibility, driven as it is by self-serving transactional politics than ideology. The Government would still find it easier to deal with old faithfuls than new aspirants. Perhaps, it is to craft an environment of fairplay that Abdullah has been released. The JKAP may have been formed but needs time to develop a cadre base, something which is still concentrated around the NC and the PDP. Question is will the NC now be used as a polarity to justify the politics of the JKAP or be used to build new bridges? After being treated so unjustly for siding with New Delhi throughout his career, Dr Abdullah has refused to comment on political matters till all leaders are released.
In fact, he may use this unwanted alienation to his advantage and be of some relevance. For at the moment, he hardly has any asset value. For the normal Kashmiri, he is a recipient of much of their hatred and abuse. They believe he shortchanged them by choosing a secular and democratic India and lost Article 370. Now, not only that is gone, the former State has been reduced to a Union Territory. So Kashmiris are questioning his family legacy. For New Delhi, he may have been the moderate face that’s not needed in changed times, given the endorsement of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status both at home and the world. Therefore, Abdullah’s inescapable need to question the abrogation of Article 370 and appear an activist Kashmiri is more than an irritant, it is an obstacle in the new narrative. His suggestions of a negotiated autonomy for the two sides of Kashmir and converting the LoC into a soft border for trade and commerce to flourish seem impractical when all talk is about righting historical wrongs and reclaiming territories in that context, rather than addressing current realities. Yet one must remember his worth through the decades of conflict. He acted as a filter and as Chief Minister did manage to keep militancy in check, give some semblance of credibility to the election process and had a pan-India acceptability as a regional voice. For Abdullah may be a spent force, but people, who have invested in the idea of India at his call, will only see this as betrayal and recede into separatist ways. Simply for that reason, he still has worth and the emotion of his people. It is through him that the Government can let people speak and be heard. Without it, there can be no reconciliation. And the Government’s intent would always seem doubtful to the world.
(Courtesy: The Pioneer)
Chetna Sinha set up the Mann Deshi Foundation with the aim of economically and socially empowering women in Maharashtra’s Mhaswad village. She has never looked back
Mhaswad village is a mere blip on India’s vast geographic radar but it shines brightly on the country’s development landscape. The lodestar in this parched village is a woman of indefatigable stamina and unshakable courage. Chetna Gala Sinha has dedicated her life to empowering some of the area’s most impoverished and dispossessed women by giving them the tools to run businesses of their own. Her work has transformed the lives of nearly half a million women and she hopes to help one million women by 2024. Mhaswad village, which has become a crucible for some of the most revolutionary social experiments, nestles in Satara district, on the placid banks of Manganga River, some 300 km south-east of Mumbai.
Rural areas typically face several developmental impediments: Small land holdings; low savings and capital formation; stagnant factor productivity; limited market access; low levels of human development; paucity of resources and a young population alienated from farming and other rural occupations. Reliant for the most part on subsistence agriculture, villagers are packing up in droves and heading to cities. They need solutions tailored to their needs and problems. Short-term palliatives like loan waivers and cash transfers cannot cure or address the pathology of poverty or fix the deep fault lines in the rural economy. Sinha’s work with marginalised communities is now a legend. Described variously as a social entrepreneur, a microfinance banker, an economist, a farmer and an activist, Sinha has set a path that continues to remain relevant and resonant. She has nurtured social entrepreneurship at the grassroots that is redefining the way the world thinks about rural distress. Sinha has been able to build women’s perspectives in the context of development, enabling them to claim space in the political, economic, societal and cultural systems. Women are reframing crucial questions on burning issues, about their experiences, problems, needs and are developing a different narrative.
Sinha grew up in Mumbai where she obtained a postgraduate degree in economics. She then moved to Bihar to work with landless labourers. She came in contact with the youth movement led by Jaiprakash Narayan and was inspired by his socialist philosophy. She met her husband Vijay Sinha, a farmer from Mhaswad, during a farmers’ movement in Maharashtra between 1984 and 1985. She moved from Mumbai to Mhaswad after marriage.
Transplanted to a totally alien culture, Sinha initially found it difficult to strike roots. She spent time helping her husband on the farm and organising the local community on different issues. The world of inequities that surrounded her kept her restless and she soon found her bearings. With the ebullient spirit that was honed in JPs movement, she set her sights on toppling the status quo in her husband’s county. She followed through to tackle inequities and eradicate dysfunction in the local society. “I found life completely different from Mumbai. It opened my eyes to the plight of people at the grassroots level and the challenge of working for their benefit came with the idealism I had grown up with,” recalls Sinha.
In 1996, Sinha founded the Mann Deshi Foundation with the aim of economically and socially empowering rural women. One of Sinha’s first actions was to set up a bank for village women. She believes access to finance is an important piece in the development ecosystem and has necessarily to be at the core of any economic strategy. “Financial services are like safe water and clean energy — they are essential to leading a better life”, says Sinha. Mann Deshi Mahila Sahakari Bank is India’s first bank that runs for and is managed by rural women. It began with 840 women members, each contributing a share capital of Rs 600. Today, it has nine branches, more than 28,000 members and a share capital of Rs 69 crore. It has enabled thousands of women to save, insure and to responsibly borrow —allowing them to build their assets and improve their well-being and financial prospects. The bank offers specially-designed savings accounts, pension services and insurance products as well as individualised loans. Financing is perhaps the biggest problem faced by small businesses in the developing world. People need credit to increase their financial prospects. “The greatest fracture facing India is women’s inequality”, reiterates Sinha. “The majority of women are doing business on roads in cities and villages, selling things in haats but they do not have access to funds. Regular banks aren’t typically an option; they have several formalities, fee and documentation that can be intimidating and require an arduous trek to the nearest town, which can compromise a day’s wages. Banks find this segment unviable because they feel the costs of underwriting and originating these small loans are substantial,” she says.
Mann Deshi serves as an umbrella platform for several community initiatives like cattle camps; mobile para-veterinary services; erection of check dams; running a farmer produce company; local radio stations and sports talent hunts. Some of the more modern innovations include a business school and the Mann Deshi Chamber of Commerce for Rural Women (MCCRW) in partnership with the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI)
Mann Deshi Business School for Rural Women (MDBSRW) is a unique nursery for unlettered women. It places “professional” expertise in the hands of the weakest of the weak and the poorest of the poor: Village women. Set up in 2006, MDBSRW offers a menu of 25 courses, largely developed in-house. These include classes in finance and marketing management and vocational skills such as screen-printing, chutney-making, bag-making, tailoring and catering among others. The courses are certified by the National Skill Development Corporation of India (NSDC). This ingenuity was recognised alongside Harvard Business School and Fuqua School of Business in a Financial Times’ ranking of the best B-schools.
A unique idea is the Business School on Wheels.The state-of-the-art bus travels with computers and micro ATMs. MDBSRW also offers a Deshi MBA, which is a year-long course where women attend workshops on finance, planning, inventory, marketing and accounting. The course syllabus was developed by Mumbai’s SP Jain Management Institute and acclaimed non-profit Accion. When the programme was set up in 2015 just 286 women participated. This year, 958 women graduated. A Deshi MBA student is also provided with a mentor. With chapters of the business school in 12 centres equipped with nine buses, MDBSRW has unleashed an entrepreneurial wave in villages across Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka.
Mann Desha has helped over 4,00,000 women set up businesses and access new markets. Traditionally confined to the home, these village women have now become productive, articulate and confident in their ability to think for themselves. Sinha argues that rural women should be acknowledged for who they really are — a new generation of dynamic entrepreneurs, job-creators and economy drivers, committed to bringing a change in their communities.
Women have also been trained as “barefoot professionals”. Four years ago, Mann Deshi started a unique initiative to train women in goat farming, vaccinations, first aid and artificial insemination. They are popularly known as “goat doctors.” Today the team has 19 para-veterinarians.
The biggest contribution to the local economy are the cattle camps. This year, the cattle camp was set up in January in collaboration with the Bajaj Foundation and two other organisations. It provides fodder, water and shelter needed to sustain cattle from surrounding villages when periodical and recurrent drought stares at them. Spread over 100 acres, it sheltered 7,000 cows and 20,000 goats belonging to more than 50 villages. Along with the cattle shed, smaller tents — made out of cloth, straw, leaves and plastic sheeting — are built for families accompanying the scrawny cattle. People work through the day, chopping sugarcane and preparing wet fodder for the cattle.
Sinha has been awarded the Nari Shakti Puraskar, India’s highest civilian award for women who work in the area of women’s empowerment, Schwab Foundation’s Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award (2013), Forbes Social Entrepreneurs of the Year Award (2017). She has served as a Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum in Davos (2018) and as a Co-Chair of Financial Inclusion at the W20 Summit (2018) in Argentina.
From Mumbai to Mhaswad, Sinha has come a long way. She succeeded because she looked at the familiar problems with fresh eyes. Sinha’s work has several lessons for policymakers, who may think of changing the direction of their discourses. India spends more on programmes for the poor than most developing countries but is not getting the expected dividends that significant public expenditure would seem to warrant. The Government can complement the efforts of crusaders like Sinha by identifying, adapting and successfully scaling up promising interventions instead of rolling out more and more reforms.
(Writer: Moin Qazi ; Courtesy: The Pioneer)
The Cong is hoping that the gambit of putting her in a Central role will hold out some hope of reviving the party
There may be a host of recommendations for the Congress to revive itself and capitalise on its pan-India matrix as a cohesive Opposition force. But there’s nobody to accept them. There may be umpteen calls to restore inner-party democracy by holding organisational elections and choosing capable leaders and its president based on cadre choices. But there’s nobody to “bell the cat” as one of its own self-deprecating leaders said. There may be articulate and activist young leaders, who have sought to shine their light for a 2.0 recast but have been fobbed off by old hawks who fear their irrelevance, even if that applies to holding on to the crumbs of a fast disintegrating party. There may be seasoned leaders with wise words of wisdom that run in different directions, justifying them as inner party democratic dialogues although the world sees them as terrible infighting. There’s the old matriarch, who is still keeping it together, the Gandhi tag the party’s brand adhesive that’s as scapegoating for party leaders in failure as grandstanding in success. But Sonia Gandhi doesn’t know how to pass it on to her offspring. Reconciling some issues and the generational divide, infusing fresh breath energy with his band of followers was son Rahul, reluctant yet stubborn, a cocktail that’s more implosive than explosive. Then there is Priyanka Gandhi, the more willing and capable scion with some strike capabilities, who could have been the galvaniser had not her brahmastra potential been wasted by benching her. So the Congress is tempted to play its last family card to mend the party by assigning her a Central role now rather than waiting for the next round of parliamentary elections. As 51 Rajya Sabha seats will be falling vacant in April, of which eight are from the three party-ruled States, there’s a growing clamour to elect her to the Rajya Sabha.
Can this reset the Congress’ narrative indeed? On the face of it, she has not been able to sway the Lok Sabha verdict even though she was made party general-secretary in charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh (UP). In fact, the Gandhis lost the home bastion of Amethi, too. Beyond some crowd-pleasing speeches, dramatic optics with the boatmen of Varanasi and campaign colour, Priyanka was compromised by an organisational matrix that had been floundering in the face of the BJP’s phalanx. She herself admitted as much. And although she is probably the only politician other than Modi who can produce a mass resonance, she has two handicaps — the people’s rejection of the politics of entitlement and a disconnect with the grassroots. Which is why one must credit her with not abandoning UP even after the Lok Sabha debacle while her brother chose exile. She worked the ground unlike her brother, who chose to be a disembodied conscience. She has been taking up the cudgels on behalf of the dispossessed tribals in Sonbhadra, praying with Dalits and has been visiting the anti-citizenship law protesters at the receiving end of police brutality. She has also been articulating her positions on national issues rather vociferously on social media. There is a rooted realism to her brother’s exalted escapism, one that is now translating into huge crowd turnouts at her roadshow to the utter discomfort of caste-based parties, Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Not only has she lived down her tag, her political sensibilities are primed and she has based herself in Lucknow with diligence of purpose. But the real problem is how she negotiates the tricky territory between her and Rahul camp followers and obviates criticism that by getting elected to the Rajya Sabha, the Gandhis would ensure family representation in each House and were just living out their timelines as legislators. But Priyanka could make herself heard that much more nationally as a parliamentarian and counter the BJP’s oratory and propaganda. Comparisons are being drawn about how her grandmother Indira Gandhi became Prime Minister in 1966 as a Rajya Sabha member. However, the context was different as Indira had the Congress as the dominant political party ruling in most States and at the Centre. That position has been wrested by the BJP today, leaving Priyanka with virtually no enablers. She has a classic glass cliff situation; she could emerge in her own right if she manages to bring the Congress out of the ventilator or she could be condemned for inefficiencies if she fails. Besides, she has a better connect with and a sensibility to deal with both senior and junior leaders, who are claiming fiefdoms of importance and fighting each other, be it Milind Deora, Ajay Maken, Pawan Khera, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Kamal Nath or Jyotiraditya Scindia. She could still be the balancer and end the confusion at least. But how would she avoid her Achilles’ heel, businessman-husband Robert Vadra, who is entangled in vigilance probes? If she manages the political dissociation from personal, perhaps she could still get the party back on keel.
(Courtesy: Editorial – The Pioneer)
The Finance Commission must be lauded for including forest cover in the mix for allocation of tax resources. States must respect this and do their bit in conserving it
One of the keys to improving Centre-State relations and ensuring development is even-handed and judicious distribution of tax revenue and other forms of earning between the federal and State Governments. The Finance Commission of India is a unique constitutional body that is periodically set up under Article 280 of the Constitution to define financial relations between the Central and State Governments. It lays down a set of principles that determines the method and formula for the distribution of tax proceeds between both Governments.
A majority of the taxes such as Customs duty, income tax, service tax and Central excise are collected by the Centre. States were given the mandate to provide economic and social services to the people. They are empowered to levy income tax on agricultural earnings, professional tax, value added tax (VAT), State excise duty, land revenue and stamp duty. Hence, the Finance Commission was created to address issues of vertical and horizontal imbalances of federal finances in India.
The 15th Finance Commission, which was established to decide on the devolution of taxes and other receipts to the Centre and States for the next five years beginning April 2020, submitted its recommendations before the Central Government last December. The Commission used the population data of 2011 while making its recommendations and for the first time, in addition to income distance, population and area and forest cover, it used two additional factors — demographic performance and tax effort — to determine the tax pool of States.
The Commisson’s usage of the 2011 population figures gave rise to considerable controversies. While the 14th Finance Commission had taken the 1971 census as the base with a weightage of 17.5 per cent and assigned a weightage of 10 per cent to the 2011 population figures, the present one has kept the weightage of 2011 population at 15 per cent and has given additional 12.5 per cent to demographic performance. The use of 2011 data has benefitted some States like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar while others have been disadvantaged.
Most States in southern India, except Tamil Nadu, feel that they are suffering because of their policy of population control. They believe they will get a smaller share of the pie if the population dispensation is applied. However, according to the Economic Survey, 2016, inter-State labour mobility averaged 5-6.5 million people between 2001 and 2011, yielding an inter-State migrant population of about 60 million and an inter-district migration as high as 80 million. Apart from the southern States, Assam, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab and West Bengal, too, saw a dip in population compared to the 1971 census. The 15th Finance Commission was critical of the Union and State Governments’ tendency to finance spending through off-budget borrowings, too. On this front, it called upon both to phase out off-budget liabilities.
Irrespective of the surrounding controversies, the Commission made it clear that it wants to play a key role in fostering sustainable development. It must be noted that the 14th Commission had accepted it as a criterion to determine the share of taxes to various States. This is why “forest cover” was assigned 7.5 per cent weightage. The 15th Finance Commission sought to raise the area cover to 10 per cent in order to reward States that have “provided ecological services” to the country.
However, it is distressing that none of the States has been liberal in granting funds to the forest department commensurate to the contribution the forests have made in getting funds. The enhancement of funds to States — from 7.5 per cent to 10 per cent — if implemented, can go a long way in protecting the country’s ecological frontiers. This can also lead to the economic well-being of the people and the country and help consolidate forest resources as well.
The importance of the maintenance of forest-like buildings and roads was first recognised by the 13th Finance Commission, which earmarked Rs 1,000 crore and called upon the States to manage ecology, environment and climate change, consistent with sustainable development. This fund was kept at the disposal of the Government of India and was released to States on a project basis. This helped a great deal in maintaining forests across the country.
However, the actual spending on forests by States, after the 14th Finance Commission grants, has not been very encouraging when compared to the intention of the criterion to strengthen forest cover base. The State of Forest Report 2019 released by the Forest Survey of India recorded a marginal increase of 5,188 sq km in total forest and tree cover in the country. However, it gave a dismal picture in tribal areas (where the forest cover has gone down by 741 sq km). With regard to the disappearance of higher girth class trees in forests due to poor regeneration and protection, the report, if examined critically, indicates the urgent need to spend money on natural forests. Yet another important issue that needs to be dealt with is to address the concern of States, which have less forest cover. We need to step up efforts to cover more areas through agroforestry, farm forestry, block plantations, urban and peri-urban forestry among other efforts.
Efficient fiscal management goals of the Commission cannot be achieved unless we have an effective monitoring system in place. The 15th Finance Commission should follow the pattern of the 13th Finance Commission, which recommend inter alia that a portion of the divisible pool of tax within the forest criterion should be retained with the Government of India to be sanctioned by the Ministry of Finance and Environment, Forest and Climate Change, for the maintenance of forests.
It would be appropriate to ensure third-party monitoring of the use of the grant to States so that misuse or arbitrary or unauthorised use of the funds can be checked. Further, for monitoring and evaluation of the works undertaken through the Finance Commission Awards, States should opt for certification of forests. This can help promote sustainable forest management and at the same time provide space for international markets for procurement of forest products.
Further, the Commission should put a complete ban on the freebie culture of politicians, who are more interested in votebank politics. If need be, it must ask the Government to amend the Constitution. The Prime Minister must think about curbing the freebie culture sooner than later. At the same time, the Election Commission must ensure political consensus on this. A group of retired forest officers had sought time from the Chairman of the Finance Commission to submit a memorandum on these issues so that the Commission’s own recommendations lead to desired effects on the country’s economy and on conservation of forests, water and bio-diversity. A forest governance policy must pay attention to the multiple ways in which our green cover is valuable.
(Writer: VK Bahuguna; Courtesy: The Pioneer)
Nobel laureate and an authority on sustainable development and climate change, RK Pachauri has set the template for our continuity in climate-challenged times. A long-time columnist of The Pioneer, here are extracts from some of his recommendations made in these pages. We will miss him
RK Pachauri, former Chairman of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), who passed away on February 13, was India’s pre-eminent expert on sustainable development, climate change and environment. He received the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for raising awareness on the issue. During his eminent career, he also served as a member of the Prime Minister’s Council on Climate Change that was constituted in 2007. India’s National Action Plan on Climate Change was finalised in 2008 under his advice and he was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2001 and Padma Vibhushan in 2008, the country’s third and second-highest civilian awards, respectively.
Pachauri assumed responsibilities as TERI’s Chief Executive in 1981 and led the institute for more than three decades. He had become synonymous with TERI before he demitted office as the Executive Vice-Chairman in March 2016. One of his flagship projects, Lighting a Billion Lives, that began with distributing solar-powered lamps to rural homes in remote parts of the country that did not have access to grid electricity, resulted in lighting homes in 12 countries. Pachauri was a regular contributor to The Pioneer and here are a few excerpts of his articles that we are publishing as a tribute to the environmental crusader:
Blowing in the wind: (Published January 8)
Wind energy can not only help achieve a sustainable future but also meet economic and social objectives. India must make the best use of this opportunity. Recent developments, with the US having targetted an Iranian General located in Baghdad, would lead to a hardening of global oil prices. There is a valid fear that any further escalation of conflict in the Middle-East could lead to further price increases, which would impact unfavourably on India’s already unsatisfactory rate of economic growth. Earlier concerns related to energy security and the objectives of bringing about energy independence appear to have been given low priority as a result of a glut in the global oil market in recent years. At the same time, the negative externalities of coal production and consumption remain understated, with an expansion of supply, essentially to maintain coal as the major fuel for power generation in this country. There is a need, therefore, to articulate a long-term renewable energy strategy, which would also meet the objectives of the Government’s “Make in India” initiative. Wind energy developments will be an excellent candidate not only for India to achieve a sustainable energy scenario in the future but also as a means to meet a large range of economic and social objectives. It is inevitable that the world would move away from fossil fuels largely for mitigation of carbon dioxide emissions, which are resulting in climate change world over. Hence, there would be a growing demand and a major market opportunity for nations, which innovate and produce equipment for harnessing renewable sources of energy. India has a growing opportunity to play a role in this market.
Preventable reality: (Published January 22)
The comprehensive listing of threats that can emerge this year, published by the Astana Club, is specific to Eurasian countries but has lessons for the entire world. With respect to climate change, we need to come up with scenarios on how we may be able to bring about a transition from fossil fuels to low carbon sources of energy. Far more immediate is the issue of impacts of climate change, which would pose increasing risks across the globe. Projections of extreme events, which the IPCC had clearly brought out 11 years ago, is the increase in intensity and frequency of disasters and extreme events. A typical but unfortunate example of this is provided by the raging forest fires, which recently affected several parts of Australia, followed immediately by extreme precipitation events which led to flooding and excessive damage. All in all, it is important that the Astana Club has come up with a comprehensive listing of threats, which can emerge during 2020 and, therefore, extending into this decade as a whole. Kazakhstan and several Eurasian countries may lie beyond the Himalayan range but in terms of proximity, they are in some cases very close to us in terms of geographical distance. India should, perhaps, engage far more closely with countries of the region and exercise its soft power, including the flow of knowledge, education and research on issues that have a bearing on the region. The threats for Eurasia apply equally to India as well.
Anatomy of a heat shield: (Published January 21, 2019)
The impact of climate change would leave a large part of the population vulnerable in India. It needs to develop its industrial strengths in a technology of the future. It is important to remember that for India as a society, the impacts of climate change would leave a large part of the population vulnerable. If global action is neglected, in which India has high stakes, then we cannot blame others as a nation, which many developed countries have been responsible for as a measure of neglect for much too long. In particular, quite apart from the economic merits of large-scale renewable energy production, which the Government of India has now committed itself to, what is perhaps of even greater priority is to electrify those villages which are as yet un-electrified, and which may have major constraints in supply of grid based power. The TERI launched a major programme in 2008 called “Lighting a Billion Lives,” which focussed on the provision of lighting in the homes of these villages, using renewable energy, mainly through supply of PV based power. India had a great opportunity to not only complete this task within its own borders, but perhaps make the experience available to homes in Africa and other parts of the developing world. There is, of course, a significant benefit in exploiting economies of scale both through an approach such as the programme on “Lighting a Billion Lives” as well as large-scale supply of grid-based power using renewables.
India can become a leader in mitigation of emissions of GHGs and set a path for growth with significantly low carbon emissions. It may thus develop its industrial strengths in a technology of the future, with significant commercial benefits and reach across other regions of the world. This, of course, would also have major implications for action at the global level for meeting the provisions of the Paris agreement and maintaining the limit of 1.5 °C.
In the worst of times: (Published April 3, 2019)
It is necessary for national governments to put in place safety measures so that vulnerable sections can be protected from the ill-effects of a downturn in economic activity. When Charles Dickens wrote the following lines for his epic creation, A Tale of Two Cities, he obviously gave expression to the state of society as it existed in that period: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity…”. If the same author were to write similar lines today, it is likely that he would drop the words “best of times”, given the extent of uncertainty and the lack of “feel good” that we see before us. Perhaps every generation feels some helplessness at what they perceive as the decline in standards, opportunities — and most importantly, hope — in comparison with yesteryear. Yet, today, the confusion that defines global affairs and the state of the world seems more compelling in mapping the human condition as, say, in comparison with what existed just a few years ago. The global economy has reached unprecedented levels, which should normally have resulted in the elimination of poverty, hunger and malnutrition, and a reduction in inequalities but the growing difference between the richest members of society and those at the bottom rung has never been sharper than it is today.
Leaders with hubris: (Published April 17, 2019)
A large number of leaders, both at the global and the national levels, today appear to be victims of self-pride when they should be more humble and modest personalities. The question is whether these leaders are seen by their followers as larger than life and measuring up to the dimensions of a superman, to be idealised and admired by them. It is hoped that distinguished leaders in the future would show a certain level of humility and shed the hubris that they appear to have acquired in recent years. It is relevant to recall that the brightest scientist in history Albert Einstein is reported to have said, “I prefer an attitude of humility corresponding to the weakness of our intellectual understanding of nature and of our own being.” Could it, therefore, be that those leaders with hubris lack an intellectual understanding of their own being and most certainly that of nature, which takes the form of remoteness from reality and basic humility? We urgently need leaders in this mould before those with hubris can impose untold harm on society and distort the finest attributes of human nature. But in recent times, leaders with hubris have strutted the stage in the US, the UK, the Philippines, Indonesia and many other countries. Will they be succeeded by more humble and modest personalities?
The desecration of democracy: (Published January 21, 2019)
The gun control issue and opposition to restrictions on tobacco use are symptomatic of how democracy is being desecrated by abandoning our responsibilities towards the welfare of the people. As the world’s largest democracy, it is important for India to learn the lessons from the flaws and distortions of other countries, such as the US, or else we would also become major desecraters of democracy with devastating consequences. The one ray of light which appears now is the enormous effort being made by the youth of the school in Parkland, Florida, where a shooting spree took place. It is particularly important that they use their moral power to not only influence the state legislature and the Governor of Florida, but also create public opinion for action to introduce gun control. It is important that on all such issues, whether it is banning of tobacco consumption or action to deal with climate change, youth power should come to the fore. It is after all their future which is at serious risk, and clearly it is for them to take leadership, as indeed they are doing with the authorities in Florida. If the current tragedy leads to youth succeeding in imposition of gun control, then perhaps such carnage won’t happen.
(Writer: RK Pachauri; Courtesy: The Pioneer)
With shrinking habitats and a reduced prey base, translocating this cat species isn’t a good idea
Following the green signal by the Supreme Court, India will soon be reintroducing cheetahs into the wild by flying in the carnivore from Africa, over 50 years after the animal was declared extinct in the country in 1952. That it was a tragedy and a big loss to our biodiversity that we hunted and caged the beautiful animal into extinction, is undisputed. But the fact remains that the cheetah is the only big cat to have gone extinct in India. What is lost is lost. Now we need to focus on the other large carnivores that we still have and try and save them the best we can. And given our meagre resources, can we really afford to take on this project? We have 20 species that are on the brink, with the Asiatic lion, tigers, Indian wolf, the great Indian bustard, the Asian wild buffalo, Jerdon’s courser and the red panda being among them. Except for 50 reserves that come under Project Tiger, the allocation for all wildlife habitats and 21 endangered species was a mere `497 crore between 2017-20. Over 10 years ago, the cost of the cheetah project was estimated at `300 crore. So, where will we get the funds to conserve the cheetahs from? Will we rob the snow leopard of its chance of survival to pay for the cheetah’s reintroduction? Also, what is the guarantee that the exotic, yet very vulnerable cat, will be able to survive in India?
As it is, the number of cheetahs is on the decline globally with just 7,100 left in the wild, having been driven out of 91 per cent of their habitats. Asia has been the worst offender where its decimation is concerned. India’s last spotted cheetah died in 1947. There are less than 50 of them left in Iran and now the majority of this shy and secretive feline lives in six southern African countries. Have all the proponents of the idea of bringing the cheetah back thought why the animal is on the verge of becoming extinct elsewhere? It’s because this cat is hard to protect. Being the fastest animal in the world, cheetahs need a very wide range for hunting prey. So according to researchers, an estimated 77 per cent of a cheetah’s habitat would be outside protected zones, making it difficult to keep them safe from poachers, vehicular traffic and rural populations. This is also a very big impediment to monitoring its progress and well-being. This problem is further compounded by the man-animal conflict. India certainly doesn’t have the prey base or the ranges required for the survival of a translocated species. Unless we want the cheetah to die here, this idea doesn’t seem good enough.
(Courtesy: The Pioneer)
Year 2014 saw a changing phase in India’s political history. Fol- lowing that there have been a great revolutions in the central and the state governments of the nation. The shift in the politics was well received across the nation but for Karnataka. While BJP swept the nation through its saffron flag, Karnataka as a state couldn’t come in terms with the existing BJP team, instead two parties (JDS and Congress) came to coalition to lead the state as joint affairs. MR. Siddaramaiah and Mr. Kumar Swamy who were fighting the tug-of-war for CM managed to rub shoulders together in forming what’s called “Hung Government” in the 15th assembly elections. This defiance against the BJP costed them the power itself when the public disowned their rule and eventually B.S. Yeddyurappa became the chosen CM for the State of Karnataka.
Whilst the happenings ever since 2014, Karnataka has seen major deviations from progression. The state that was once known as the silicon hub of the nation turned into a politically wretch. Bangalore (Bengaluru) turned into a political slugfest for few weeks and hence the “hung Government” came to an end with B.E. Yeddyurappa as its current CM.
In all this unrest, there has been a void in the minds of citizens caught between too much information or too many confusions. However, the intellectual strata Bangaloreans’ missed the “progressive state” brand that was associated with the State (especially Bangalore) ever since the dawn of 2000. This reminds us of the technology and the innovation that set its foot in the then developing-metro Bangalore. Until then the last known recall as a reformist and revolutionary Chief Minister of Karnataka was Mr. S M Krishna (Somahalli Mallaiah Krishna) ; a lawyer by profession and a staunch politician started his political career in 1962 (Praja Socialist Party).
SM Krishna hails from Somanahalli in Mandya district the heart bed of Cauvery studied in the United States, graduating from the Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas and The George Washington University law School in Washington D.C, where he was a Fulbright Scholar. He was locally called as the “Oxford Krishna” for his academic achievement. SM Krishna belonged to the very popular community in Karnataka, especially from the Mandya region- The Vokkaligas. This community is not just considered as the prime sect but also are the most contributors in Karnataka Politics to this date. SM Krishna played a key role reconciling Praja Socialist Party with the Indian National Congress . This turned his political career and gave him the requisite to cover the political mileage. He joined the congress party post the coalition and server as the minister of state for industry under Indira Gandhi and ministry of state for finance under the able guidance of Rajiv Gandhi. He then served as the speaker of “Karnataka Legislative Assembly” before he adorned to be the deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka under M. Veerappa Moily.
SM Krishna was popular for his diplomatic yet astute businessman approach. He moved with a sway that wooed the locals for his intelligence and wit. He too was considered at par with the then CM of neighboring state Mr. Chandrababu Naidu and thus found his niche in implementing new technology and cutting-edge innovative solution in Karnataka, Bangalore. While he honored the position as president of Karnataka Pradesh congress committee, it is heard that SM Krishna kept his circle closed and in best of Bangalore classes. He was an open- minded administrator with a vision for the state, hence he is also known as the visionary CM in the state. He would always accompany himself with Bangalore’s best businessmen, educated clout and pool of well-educated and exposed civil service seniors as advisors. Thus, he got the brains and the bastion to lead the party and won the assembly elections in 1999 and went on to become the favorite Chief Minister of Karnataka state until 2004. To this day, SM Krishna’s key impetus comes from these hand-picked advisors, communities and solicitors. His drive as the chief minister was technology and it is his commitment towards technology that marks his uniqueness. He is considered as the tech-icon of the country to have implemented state-of-the-art civil infrastructure in terms of building sub-ways, flyovers, cable bridges etc. He was instrumental in enabling IT infrastructure in the state, IT biggies such as Infosys and Wipro, biotechnology giant such as BioCon and Indian Institute of Science- flourished under his administration. He was backed by the best in class intellectuals who not just assisted SM Krishna in achieving his vision but also backed him in his economic affairs, thus Bangalore became one of the major contributors to country’s GDP through IT and Bio- technology.
The main declarations behind the fiscalised development model were the increase of growth rate and re- structuring of public finance. These declarations should not be considered as means for only economic restructuring rather they have been designed with an agenda to ‘redefine the role of the State’. The portion of public expenditure in GSDP got reduced from 23•3 % to 19•45?tween the year of 2002 – 03 and 2013 – 14 BE (Gayithri 2014). The decreased public expenditure indicates reducing role of the State especially in the organization of public systems. Karnataka jumped into e-governance bandwagon to ensure effective service delivery. It is one of the most progressive states in utilizing the benefit of ICT (Information Communication Technology). It established a computer center way back in 1971 to computerize govt. departments. various e-governance schemes have been introduced to make information accessible to the people and increase efficiency of the govt. works. Bhoomi (land records), Khajane (treasury system), Kaveri (land registration), Mahiti Centre (IT Kiosks) are few of the exam- ples of successful e-governance projects (KDR, 2007).
Furthering his career from being the CM he served the nation under various administrative roles. He moved on to become the Governor of Maharashtra (2004 to 2008), before he returned to his homeland and participate in active state politics. However, upon his successful entry in Rajya Sabha he was drawn as Union Cabinet Minis- ter of External Affairs in the Council of Ministers under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 22 May 2009 until October 2012. He represented India as Foreign minister and visited Israel on a two day in 2012. The Israeli PM deemed this visit by Krishna a historical step forward in developing the relations between the two nations.
Samuel C. Rajiv is Associate Fellow at the Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses, New Delhi wrote “EAM S.M. Krishna’s visit to Israel, marked by both positive atmospherics and substance, was an important political effort on the part of the two governments to further consolidate the burgeoning bilateral relations, which stands on three pegs—economic, defense, and people-to- people contacts. Among the deliverable achieved during the visit include the signing of an extradition treaty and India agreeing to the Israeli proposal for opening a Consulate in the hi-tech hub of Bengaluru. High-level political and strategic engagement as exemplified by Mr. Krishna’s visit is essential to better understand each other’s concerns regarding difficult foreign policy issues as well as conserve the momentum in the bilateral ties for mutual benefit.”
He is considered as the tech-icon of the country to have implemented state-of-the-art civil infrastructure in terms of building sub-ways, flyovers, cable bridges etc. He was instrumental in enabling IT infrastructure in the state, IT biggies such as Infosys and Wipro, biotechnology giant such as BioCon and Indian Institute of Science flourished under his administration.
SM Krishna’s reforms- The chief minister has created many such task forces to help him in the state’s governance. BMP officials say the fund-based accounting system has several benefits-like access to accurate, fast and timely information with an ability to administer the development works efficiently. “The reforms have brought clarity and professionalism within the organization. The successful implementation of the fund-based accounting system would not have been possible without the comprehensive partnership of the task force headed by Mr. Nandan Nilekani.” It included process mapping, designing of appropriate accounting policies and procedures, streamlining relationship with banks through memoranda of understanding, software development and deployment
Power reforms- ESCOMS
State government project to segregate electricity load in rural areas to agricultural and non-agricultural consumers, in order to supply 24 hours electricity to rural households and small industries, while monitoring quality supply to irrigation pump sets. The Government of Karnataka approved the implementation of the project in two phases, at the total costs of ` 2,123 crore with 40% equity and 60% to be borrowed as loan by the ESCOMs (GoK, 2016)
Digitization of land records (BHOOMI)
A flagship project of Karnataka State Government is a Land Records management system. The project was inaugurated in the year 2000. Under this project, all the manual RTCs which prevailed at the time of data entry were digitized and made available to the citizen through Kiosk Centers. All the ownership or any other changes in the RTCs are carried out through mutation as per KLR Act using the Land Records data- base. Bhoomi back offices have been set up at all taluks of the state. In each of these centers LR Kiosk & Application Kiosk have also been setup. India’s largest e-governance program has received worldwide acclaim. The online delivery of land titles under the Bhoomi program was chosen for a Commonwealth award in September 2002 in Glasgow, UK, from among Common- wealth’s 54 member states. Shri Krishna is the architect of the program. Bhoomi project has also impressed the United Nations Development Program which is keen to replicate it in other developing countries.
A ten-point reform program
Mr. Krishna, from the very beginning of his tenure, tried to create a public debate on fiscal policy; he launched a 10-point reform program in March 2000 to promote all round development of the state (Box 11.1). The reforms are aimed to create necessary conditions for the eradication of poverty through economic growth with equity (Khuntia, 2003)
Private Sector Development
The third mechanism is a tactical strategy adopted to develop private sec- tor in place of public sector. This component was instrumental in closing/merging the state-run PSUs and promotes deregulation of business. The decision was taken “that investment in Public Sector Enterprises should be restricted to strategic sectors or sectors of social concern and that Government need not continue to involve itself in production of consumer products and marketing enterprises, particularly if they are not generating profits (World Bank, 2001, Annex E, p.2)”. A reasoned argument was that priority of investment needs to be changed from public sector to social sector as per the policies of economic liberalization. As a part of private sector involvement strategy in public systems, the Krishna govt. constituted altogether ten Task Forces to invite suggestions of non-govt. entities in health, education, Information technology and biotechnology, infrastructure etc. BATF (Bangalore Area Task Force) was particularly important in initiating private sector-led solutions for Bangalore Municipal Corporation (World Bank, 2001). various were taken up to systematically reduce budgetary support for public enterprises by disinvesting and restructuring. Schemes like voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) were adopted to downscale the work- force (GOK Finance MTFP, 2002).
The new system (Bangalore Area Task Force) leaves no scope for corruption. It recognizes the complexity of various functions of local bodies (social, enterprise, commercial, fiduciary). The new accounting system lends itself to record the financial transactions under these categories accurately. With the implementation of the fund-based ac- counting system, BMP becomes the first civic agency in the country to adopt the state-of-the-art accounting and finanrefocus the BDA. Apart from distributing house sites and plots for civic amenities, the BDA is also building several state-of-the-art flyovers, knocking off illegal buildings, auctioning recovered properties and transforming its image of a dead organization. It is now one of the few government bodies that have won national fame. BDA is a statutory body which is a cash rich agency and perhaps the only of its kind to be listed on the National Stock Exchange.
Administrative Reform
It is to be noted that this mechanism is related to governance management still encapsulated under the economic reform scheme. The governance reform has been separately going on in sector- specific areas, such as health service, transport, panchayat raj (local governing bodies) etc. and these were few of the most important reforms in Karnataka. Governance reform has been initiated based on two strategic decisions. The first one is to rationalize (or limit) the state’s role to deal only with the “most critical public goods and services” that private market is incapable of supplying effectively. Second one is to strengthen the role of the state by increasing its effectiveness, transparency and account- ability (World Bank, 2001, Annex D, p.1).
The main aim behind this mechanism was to strengthen the government bureaucracy for advancing fiscal reform and transform public services (limited to basic needs) to become more account- able. He promised to provide the people of Karnataka with a transparent, responsible, responsive and decentralized government. The political adherence to reform is evident with the introduction of new institutional mechanisms for managing infrastructure better. The government also declared that it was committed to offer good governance to the people of Karnataka. Hence, public dialogue was complemented by legislative action and administrative measures. The government tried to take people into confidence to make them accept the path of reform by creating a public debate and democratizing the in- formation regarding the fiscal position of the state.
Fiscal and Public Expenditure Reform
“Chief Minister S M Krishna, who held the Finance portfolio, presented the medium-term fiscal plan for the coming five years … rationalize and target subsides, enhance efficiency and accountability in public spending and stabilize debt, Krishna said”
Karnataka Economic Restructuring Loan 1 (KERL 1) by the World Bank was the first in its kind where the state got a one-tranche (one-time) operational assistance for the fiscal year of 2000 It was a conditional assistance based on the four specific mechanisms to restructure the entire economy. The assistance was divided in half loan (INR 3594.75 Cr./USD75 million) and half credit (INR 3594.75 Cr. /USD75 million) form. (1) The mechanisms focused on fiscal and public expenditure reforms, administrative reforms, private sector development, and poverty and human development monitoring (World Bank, 2002). The Second Karnataka Economic Restructuring Loan 2 (KERL 2) was also made in line with the KERL 1 to advance the same mechanisms for reform. KERL 2 assistance was also equally shared between loan (INR 2283 Cr. / USD 50 million) and credit (INR. 2283Cr. / USD 50 million) support from the Bank for the fiscal year of 2001 – 2002 (World Bank, 2003). World Bank-guided economic re- form interrupted the legacy of state’s politics-driven planning The Bank, already a party to the Union govt. for state level reform for long, has a theory behind the state level economic re- structuring. Below is the Bank’s model of fiscalised development in Karnataka which the state has been following since the beginning of 2000. Karnataka received the biggest venture capital funding in biotechnology among all Indian states, observes Entrepreneur of the year award winner Kiran Majumdar Shaw, who is also chairperson of the CII Biotech committee and the Karnataka Vision Group.
SM Krishna’s Government does not view development as something that should be confined to urban centers like Bangalore. Under his guidance some dead agencies have sprung to life. A few years ago, a former state Government report had recommended that the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) be closed following an internal suggestion by a top bureaucrat.
Decentralization of governance: Decentralization is also acknowledged in the World Development Re- port, 2000/2001 as a pro-poor solution to alleviate poverty fiscalised development model certainly uses the state’s decentralized orientation of governance to execute various sector-specific reforms. The decentralization component of the administration is used to suffice the purpose of political intervention as well as economic restructuring. This is an important move to set Taluk as a nodal point for development which recognizes the structure of decentralization as well as the viability of grassroots-based development politics. Decentralization is used as a political choice for development practices,i.e. equity (one of the two components of Karnataka Model of Development), the World Bank’s model has used decentralization as a tactical choice to expedite the reform process. The presence of decentralization component in the Karnataka development model convinces scholars to argue that Karnataka development model is derived from the “Mysore Model”. The foresightedness of the Mysore Modernity (led by Wodeyars and their Dewans) in early twentieth century paved the way for building many academic institutions to generate skilled human resources in science and engineering and that eventually helped in developing a temperament for scientific and technological innovation. Bengaluru’s emergence as an IT capital of India is a result of these historical proceedings (Kadekodi, Kanbur and Rao, 2008). The fundamental difference between these two models is while Mysore modernity was a state-led development, the modern Karnataka’s development model is a state-supported, private cap- ital-led development. This difference raises question on various governance reforms to know how the state is acting as a facilitator to advance private capital led development.
Poverty Reduction and Human Development Monitoring
The last mechanism is poverty reduction and human development monitoring. This is in-fact the mechanism to measure the impact of the performance done by the above mentioned three interlinked mechanisms. This mechanism helps in establishing Poverty and Human Development Monitoring System by institutionalizing the Human Development Report and enhancing the state’s statistical management capacity. The mechanism holds the theoretical relation of the three former mechanisms. In third mechanism, the tactical alliance with the private sector has been tried to fill the gap in financing (created through fiscal reform) and right-size as well as deunionize the workforce (administrative reform). The main assumption behind the private sector development is that private investment leads to high growth, leading to massive job creation and that ultimately reduce the burden of poverty and thus improve the social indicators. The fourth mechanism is envisaged to capture the success of the very theory propounded by the World Bank; high growth will reduce poverty and improve social indicators. The state govt. echoes the same to accelerate the theory.
Transparency: The govt. has tried to establish transparency by simplifying the filing system,computerization of accounting works, streamlining of tax and license systems, introducing single window system for investment stimulus (procedures) and setting-up of regulatory authority (regulations) within the government system with an aim to simplify the administrative works and limiting the corruption (KDR, 2007). Similarly, these procedures and regulations were backed by the legislative actions. The Second Karnataka Economic Re- structuring Loan report acknowledges the importance of legislative backing for reforms in India.
Accountability: Corruption is a persistent crisis in Karnataka’s governance management and that always affects the service delivery negatively. The reform period-initiated number of measures to curb corruption. Empowerment of Lokayukta, implementation of Citizens’ Charters, initiation of social audit in rural and urban local bodies, public hearing (water adalat) and on- line complain registry are some of the reform measures Karnataka has adopt- ed to make public service accountable (KDR, 2007).
The ‘Reformed’ Model of Development
The reform has changed the philosophy of the state polity, anatomy of the economic structure and orientation of the governance management. This reform is celebrated as Karnataka Model of Development which professes that technology-led (mostly Information and Biotechnology) growth combined with decentralized governance can address the challenge of achieving “growth tempered with equity” (Kadekodi, Kanbur and Rao, 2008, p. 17). This model is crafted as ‘growth with social justice’ by the state. It is acknowledged by the state leadership that growth alone cannot ensure equitable distribution of income and other resources (HPCCI, 2002, chapter – 34). Hence, the model mixed the assurance of equity with the prospect of growth to pronounce as a macro-economic statement. Karnataka has altogether made seven laws to fulfil the transparency crteria of reform. Electricity Reform Act, Anti-Power-Theft Act, Transparency in Public Procurement Act, Ceiling on Govt. Guarantees Act, Fiscal Responsibility Act and Industry.
All this and more would not have been possible but for the pro-active supportive role of the Government headed by the scholar-turned-statesman chief minister. Shri Krishna’s image as a tech- savvy chief minister only helped boost the already strong tech presence in his state. Even top industry titans from the world like Intel CEO Craig Barett and GE Chairman Jack Welch, who were in Bangalore to open technology centres of their respective companies, have been wonder-struck by the industrial climate in the state. Most of the cutting-edge technology takes place in this part of the country. The Karnataka capital generates bigger software exports than any other Indian city.
To this day, SM Krishna is considered Karnataka’s ideal Chief Minister. His efforts to uplift the minority community, develop employment opportunities, enable low budget housing solutions through BDA (Bangalore Development Authority), IT and Bio-Tech industry zones, SEZs, State civil infra- structure, Agriculture, Power and the
list goes on. Despite several challenges posed to the chief minister, Karnataka continues to be the flagship of development in the fields of information technology (IT) and biotechnology (BT) in India. Some of the world’s biggest leaders have made Bangalore a must-stop on their India itinerary. From global leaders like China premier Zhu Rongji and Britain Prime Minister Tony Blair to industry captains like General Electric Chairman Jack Welch, Intel CEO Craig Barett and media mogul Rupert Murdoch. In August 2000, the prime minister of Japan, Mr. Yoshiro Mori, was in Bangalore to hold discussions with Shri Krishna on bridging the digital divide. This was the first visit by a Japanese prime minister to India in 10 years. Shri Krishna invited big Japanese infotech companies to set up shop in his state. Some Bangalore companies like Wipro already have a presence in Japan.
SM Krishna believes in all-round development of Karnataka. “Bangalore is the showcase of development as the capital but we have to create many more Bangalores throughout the state. I am the chief minister of the entire state and I want to have all around development,” says he. His resolve is to ensure that Karnataka has a GDP growth of 8-9 per cent, much higher than the national average. Boosting hopes is the Planning Commission’s observation that Karnataka is poised to be a major performer during the next five years and its GRO is expected to grow at 10 per cent. Two years ago (2000) when the state hosted the Global Investors Meet in Bangalore, investments poured in. The meet attracted more than 250 projects with a total investment of Rs 27,000 crore. over time, Karnataka has attracted nearly Rs 50,000 crore in investments which is a major achievement. The Global Investors Meet and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Partnership Summit held in Bangalore drew some of India’s top industry captains and these spurred investments flowing into Karnataka.
Karnataka’s CEO as he likes to call himself, has been accessible to public and their grievances over emails;more than 300 e-mails every day. A special management information system in the chief minister’s office, directly under the charge of an IAS officer, ensures that all the mails find responses from the chief minister. Clearly, Shri Krishna likes to keep in touch with the common man and there are no restrictions in reach- ing him.
Q: Why you did not consider taxing rural incomes and reductions to the subsidies on electric- ity?
A: They (especially the rural elector- ate which decides elections) would never forgive me and I would be finished. Ref: Pani N. Public Affairs Centre (2004) A Report Card on Bhoomi| Kiosks: A User Assessment of the Computerized Land Records System in Karnataka
His open mindedness, humble attitude and willing to adopt and try various schemes and methods for better governance and improved lifestyle has earmarked Bangalore and the state of Karnataka on the global map.To this extent, he is remembered as the most effective, efficient, intelligent, astute, statesman like administrator.
An able chief minister such as him- self had to withdraw from congress due to lack of like-mindedness and appreciation to leadership; he joins Bhartiya Janata Party to resume politics. However, there had been discerning interest after the financial issues and troubles and eventual death of his son-in-law Siddharth (Founder of Café coffee day). It is during these politically hard times for the State that the ministers of the hung government were finding resort from him, perhaps! Also, a prolonged personal solidarity from politics and issues concerning his son-in-law’s death might have troubled the aged Mr. SM Krishna. We as Kannadigas would like to ask the government to seek his advice and perhaps put the state governance in order.
People’s opinion
Karnataka CM S.M. Krishna tops charts consistently- the conclusions suggest a marked continuity with Karnataka’s S.M. Krishna topping the charts consistently. An assessment of what does and doesn’t make the state leaders tick with voters
A suave administrator and a firm believer in teamwork, his modern outlook, openness and accessibility have helped put the sheen back on Karnataka’s image.Call it Krishna and the art of political consciousness. For he has a Zen like approach to his job – a calm and a detachment that are reassuring. He doesn’t sound embarrassed about admitting that he enjoys the good things of life.
(Writer: Shakila Makandar, Principle Correspondent Opinion Express)
The former President renews hope for democracy by encouraging civil society protesters
Citizen Pranab Mukherjee has as usual listened to the voice of his conscience and restored faith in our democratic renewal as a nation. So on a day that India slipped 10 ranks in the 2019 Democracy Index to the 51st position, its lowest since 2006, the former President came out strongly in favour of peaceful protests across the country, emphasising that they would keep the institution alive and well. Stressing that the present wave of civil society campaigns would deepen the nation’s democratic roots, Mukherjee took a veiled dig at the Government and said that Indian democracy had been tested time and again but had come through regardless. Coming from Mukherjee, who has been feted as a Bharat Ratna by the Modi regime and who was even invited by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to address its session, it shows his public morality would not be beholden to political trade-offs. Of course, even as President, he didn’t mince words, decrying cow vigilantism, lynchings and curbs on free speech. The significance of his nomenclature as “Citizen Mukherjee” was not lost on anyone, particularly at a time when the BJP Governments at the Centre and in Uttar Pradesh (UP) had been facing flak for their autocratic ways in executing power. Though he did not make an all-out statement in favour of the anti-CAA protests, his comments were seen as an indirect validation of the protesters — especially the students who have borne the brunt of the establishment’s wrath — and a much-needed salve on the bruised spirit of the nation.
Meanwhile, the protests against the Act, that is largely seen as divisive, discriminatory and unconstitutional, continue unabated and have acquired a momentum of their own, forcing politicians to follow them for a change. The social spectrum widens every day. Right from Bollywood actors like Deepika Padukone and former Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Najeeb Jung to students’ organisations, lawyers, doctors, academicians, housewives, the Mayor of Maharashtra’s Malegaon Municipal Corporation, Dalits and the Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, a representative cross-section has joined the cause. By lending weight to a people’s movement, Mukherjee has encouraged us into demanding answers. All things considered, these protests now show that the arrogance of the Government of the day has boomeranged on itself and powers that be don’t quite know how to handle such spontaneous combustion.
(Courtesy: The Pioneer)
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