We often forget people are primarily designed for action, not for listening to lectures, not for manipulating symbols, and not for memorising facts. Perhaps that’s the reason we still continue to deploy these three methods while imparting most of our primary and higher education. In fact, educators have known this at least since philosopher of education John Dewey advised in 1938:
“There should be brief intervals of time for quiet reflection provided for even the young. But they are periods of genuine reflection only when they follow after times of more overt action and are used to organise what has been gained in periods of activity in which the hands and other parts of the body, besides the brain, are used.”
The history of liberal education has so far made us believe that the purpose of education should be to give people the knowledge and skills to be independent thinkers. However, the idea that education should increase intellectual independence is a very narrow view of learning. It ignores the fact that knowledge depends a lot on others as well.
Learning, therefore, isn’t just about developing new knowledge and skills. It’s also about learning to collaborate with others, recognising what knowledge we have to offer and what gaps we must rely on others to help us fill.
In a community of knowledge, an individual is like a single piece in a jigsaw puzzle. Understanding where you fit requires understanding what you know and what others know that you don’t.
Learning your place in a community of knowledge requires becoming aware of all the knowledge outside of yourself. And that’s where the interdisciplinary approach of acquiring liberal education becomes more relevant, where skills like empathy and the ability to listen become more valuable to work well with others. This also means teaching critical thinking skills, not focusing just on facts, facilitating communication, and exchanging ideas.
This is the value of a liberal education proposed in the National Education Policy (NEP 2020) as opposed to learning that you need to get a job.
So far, the educational institutes of the 20th century have had a great run in signaling certain qualities like intelligence, diligence, compliance, and conformity to potential employers. As a result, there is a widespread clamour among students to get
themselves validated through a higher degree, as it presumably increases the probability of landing a well-paying job.
The undercurrent of this line of thought usually gets a strong expression when students are told to score exceptionally well on the standardised test. It makes them eligible to pursue further studies in the prestigious STEM — Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics —field where every other stream finds itself at the mercy of the STEM field to attract the rest of the talented lot.
As long as we don’t find any fault in subscribing to a free market doctrine — where only skills and experiences that are directly convertible to income are considered useful — the need for the education system to make itself sufficiently market aligned remains the top priority, where it doesn’t find any problem in serving as a certification agency.
Historically, vocational training institutes have been doing the same, fulfilling the industry-specific demand for a particular set of skills — exemplifying the utilitarian model of education.
Should the entire curriculum be made hostage to occupational prospects existing in the current job market?
The premise that acquiring knowledge only helps someone grab a high-paying job is very limited in its scope.
A doctor who is not exposed to the concept of empathy might succeed in becoming a good doctor. However, s/he will fail to become an exceptional healer having widespread respect among his patients.
An architect who is yet to inculcate a habit of appreciating the history of beautiful artistic expression through monuments might become a professional architect. However, s/he will fail to become an exceptionally creative designer capable of making someone stop and appreciate the expression of beauty.
Therefore, as proposed in NEP 2020, rather than making students choose only one subject for further studies, the focus should be on identifying their strengths through continuous multidisciplinary exploration so that they could spend a majority of their time on subjects that aligns perfectly with their interest.
Once the interest based on their strength is identified correctly, student invariably ends up on the path of deep learning. And in the process, they become consistently good at producing exceptional results.
The purpose of higher education is more than just creating high paying job opportunities for students. According to the National Education Policy, quality education has an inherent responsibility to play an enabling role in personal accomplishment, constructive public engagement, and productive contribution to society.
The broader objective is to engage faculty and students with local communities to learn a thing or two about real world problems while functioning in collaborative, inclusive, and cross-disciplinary ways.
For instance, students opting to do their major in social work might gain a lot in having interdisciplinary dialogues on the topics of homelessness, poverty, and crimes with students pursuing their majors in criminal jurisprudence. The analysis of multiple deep-rooted problems from a completely different vantage point invariably throws more contextual and sustainable solutions. This method of approaching socio-economic problems from a multidisciplinary perspective is a welcome change from the privileged expert-silo perspective.
The intent is to design diverse courses that allow students to experience relevant local community service as part of their curriculum so that it helps them become socially conscious citizens.
And as envisaged in the NEP, this is made possible by combining the conceptual knowledge with practical engagement having real-world implications through fieldwork, internship, workshop, and student research project. Even the pedagogy for courses strive for significantly less rote learning with an increased emphasis on communication, discussion, and opportunities for cross-disciplinary and interdisciplinary thinking.
Compared to other scientists, Nobel laureates or nationally recognised scientists are much more likely to be musicians, sculptors, painters, printmakers, woodworkers, mechanics, electronics tinkerers, glass-blowers, poets, or fiction writers.
Spanish Nobel laureate Santiago Ramón y Cajal, the father of modern neuroscience, says that “it appears as though they are scattering and dissipating their energies, while in reality they are channeling and strengthening them.”
In fact, the main conclusion of work that took years of studying scientists and engineers, all of whom were regarded by peers as true technical experts, was that those who did not make a creative contribution to their field lacked aesthetic interests outside their narrow area.
As psychologist and prominent creativity researcher Dean Keith Simonton observed, “rather than obsessively focus(ing) on a narrow topic,” creative achievers tend to have broad interests.
This breadth in interest often supports insights that cannot be attributed to domain-specific expertise alone. For instance, electrical engineer Claude Shannon, who launched the Information Age, took a course on philosophy to fulfil a requirement at the University of Michigan.
In it, he was exposed to the work of self-taught 19th-century English logician George Boole. He was the one who assigned a value of 1 to true statements and 0 to false statements and showed that logic problems could be solved like math equations. It resulted in absolutely nothing of practical importance until seventy years after Boole passed away when Shannon did a summer internship at AT& T’s Bell Labs research facility.
He recognised that he could combine telephone call-routing technology with Boole’s logic system to encode and transmit any information electronically. It was the fundamental insight on which computers rely. It just happened that no one else was familiar with both those fields at the same time.
In liberal education, exploration is not just a whimsical luxury; it is a central benefit. Learning stuff is of secondary importance than learning about oneself; the emphasis is on developing all capacities of a human being — intellectual, physical, emotional, aesthetic, and moral — in an integrated manner.
With the visible change in this emphasis, even the assessment needs to introduce a criterion-based grading system to optimise the learning goals, where the learning goals aren’t cast in iron. Students are assessed not only on academic aspects but also on the broad capacities and dispositions that are the goals of liberal education.
Along with critical thinking, the faculty makes it a point to complement the curriculum learnings through the magic of analogical thinking, keeping students’ needs in mind.
The pedagogy of analogical thinking takes the new and makes it familiar, takes the familiar, puts it in a new light, and allows humans to reason through problems they have never seen in unfamiliar contexts. It also allows us to understand what we cannot see at all. For instance, students might learn about molecules’ motion by analogy to billiard-ball collisions; principles of electricity can be understood with analogies to water flow through plumbing.
Concepts from biology serve as analogies to inform the cutting edge of artificial intelligence: “neural networks” that learn how to identify images from examples (when
you search cat pictures, for instance) were conceived as akin to the neurons of the brain, and “genetic algorithms” are conceptually based on evolution by natural selection —solutions are tried, evaluated, and the more successful solutions pass on properties to the next round of solutions.
We live in a society where the gap between the ideal and practice is so immense that we could park a fleet of Boeing 777 in the existing space. Given that we don’t have a very encouraging track record of implementing the ideals engraved in well-intended policy documents, the actual implementation of holistic and liberal learning by adopting a multidisciplinary approach as proposed in the NEP 2020 will require us to go beyond our usual method of commitment and execution.
Since the stakeholders (parents, teachers, and employers) involved in this whole scheme of things do suffer from a skewed mindset, it is imperative to bring visible changes in their perspective. The speed with which we can correct the existing skewness in their perception would decide the ultimate fate of implementing the National Education Policy (NEP 2020).
As long as we keep resisting all the changes needed to overhaul the outdated legacy of the 20th-century educational ecosystem, we wouldn’t be able to prepare our next generation for the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century.
(The writer is an educator and former IRS officer)
Once known as world-class trade centre, Hong Kong is currently encountering an ever-aggressive mainland China. It is gradually slipping into an abyss. The locals are trying to safeguard their basic freedom against the backdrop of the imposition of the draconian National Security Law in June last year. Since then, millions are protesting on the road to register their utmost displeasure against the sudden curtailment of their rights and freedom.
In the wake of massive overhauling of the legal administration of Hong Kong, the UK, the former colonial master of the city, proposed a citizenship offer to the islanders in the middle of last year. Indeed, the offer is not only crucial for those suffering in Hong Kong, but it also reflects a strong concern on what is unfolding in the island territory.
The decision has also demonstrated the legacy of British control for nearly a century over this part of China. When Hong Kong was handed over to China by then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to Deng Xiaoping, President of China then, there was a call for issuing this kind of unique citizenship offer from Britain. However, such measures were not considered by the Government of the UK during that time in July 1997.
What has provoked the current Boris Johnson regime to make the citizenship offer to millions of Hongkongers? On November 11, 2020, the Chinese parliament decided that any Hong Kong legislator who promote or support Hong Kong independence, refuse to recognise China’s sovereignty over Hong Kong, seek foreign countries to interfere in the affairs of Hong Kong, or endanger the national security of Hong Kong will be held guilty of the breach of the parliamentary oath and will be disqualified from the membership of the Hong Kong Legislative Council with immediate effect.
The decision of the National People’s Congress (NPC) eventually disqualified four members of the Hong Kong Legislative Council. Back home in London, it was advocated that this sudden move of Beijing was a ploy to gag all voices critical of the policies adopted by the mainland authorities over the years.
Truly speaking, this new rule set by the bosses in China has become another tool to suppress the concerns of the locals in Hong Kong. Today, the British Government feels that this decision of the NPC are in contravention of the legally binding historic Sino-British Declaration signed on December 19, 1984 in Beijing. The Declaration which came into effect on May 27, 1985 clearly outlines the administrative arrangement of Hong Kong after the withdrawal of the UK on July 1, 1997. What has been highlighted by the Westminster today is that China has violated its earlier commitment of providing considerable autonomy to this former colonial territory.
In fact, this high degree of autonomy and freedom of speech for Hong Kong was very much guaranteed under the Paragraph 3 and Annex I of the joint Declaration. The British Government noted that this is for the third time the Chinese Government has breached the legally binding Declaration since the handover of the territory in 1997.
The first such instance took place in 2016, the second, when Beijing imposed the National Security Law in June 2020 and third in November 2020. This clearly indicates what Beijing is aiming to pursue in Hong Kong.
The root of the current crisis spearheaded by the Umbrella Movement and various democratic protests lie in the blatant violation of the Basic Law or Mini Constitution under which the NPC had agreed to respect the autonomy of the territory. In fact, since the formal transfer of the territory, it has been administered as the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).
Further, the mainland authorities have also committed to maintain a unique administrative system called “One Country, Two Systems”, under which Beijing will follow the Communist pattern and this former colony will carry on with the capitalist system of economy and polity. And this autonomy, wherein basic rights and freedoms were to be enjoyed by the Hongkongers will be continued for another fifty years i.e. till 2047. Clearly, many locals were happy that they will be able to have a free life even under the Communist China and will not be affected by the opaque and authoritarian regime of Beijing.
The decision to offer citizenship to millions of Hongkongers is indeed affected by choices made some decades ago. It was a commitment that Britain shared with China to maintain the status quo in Hong Kong until 2047. But then China has violated the fundamental rights of freedom of the islanders much before the due date. Apparently, all these started taking place with the coming of Xi Jinping to power in the year 2012. And now with his life-time presidency, the international community could hardly expect any positive development in Hong Kong.
After removing two-term limits for the office of the President, Xi has become the most powerful head of the state after Chairman Mao Zedong. His expansionist trend, in fact, started with the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) through which he aims to extend China’s economic prowess much beyond Asia. The aggression of the Chinese state has increased manifold. And one of the strongest manifestations of it is Hong Kong.
With the coming of the citizenship offer from Britain, the counter reactions are pouring in from the mainland and the pro-establishment figures in Hong Kong. Regina Ip, a member of the Executive Council and Legislative Council of Hong Kong, has already issued a call for issuing curbs on dual citizenship in the island. She has argued that those who obtain foreign nationality should be stripped of the right of abode. Even she is advocating that Beijing should put an end to its special treatment of Hongkongers and impose its own nationality law on the city. The irony is that though she is trying to make a strong case of China’s full intervention in Hong Kong, the lawmaker is not receiving adequate support from even the pro-Beijing bloc in the city Council.
Providing sanctuary to some millions of Hongkongers will not solve the crisis in the city. But certainly, this step will offer an immediate relief to some of the troubled citizens of the territory. Even the MPs in the British House of Commons openly approved the citizenship offer to Hongkongers. How serious London is about the current situation in its former colony is very much evident the way various government dignitaries are responding to it. Particularly, Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, expressed his anguished by saying, “This is a special, bespoke, set of arrangements developed for the unique circumstances we face and in light of our historic commitment to the people of Hong Kong.”
This is how he says China could be cohesively forced to allow the British Overseas Nationals to come over to the UK. In fact, he termed China’s current steps in Hong Kong as a “flagrant assault” on the freedom of speech and the right of peaceful assembly across the island. The good part of the concerns raised over Hong Kong in the UK is that these moves by the Johnson Government almost enjoy support from the Labour’s side as well. The Labour Party said it welcomed the Government’s action but said there must be no discrimination on those allowed into the UK on the basis of income or other factors.
Even the party had gone one step ahead and said that the UK also had the responsibility to consider the responsibility of those who were not able to relocate or who wished to stay in Hong Kong.
The Labour Party’s shadow Foreign Secretary Lisa Nandy urged the Government to work with its international partners through the UN to force an enquiry into police brutality in Hong Kong and also called for the UK to re-examine its commercial relations with China. This will be an added support for Johnson to act swiftly and handle Chinese actions in Hong Kong effectively.
How is the Xi regime reacting to this citizenship offer by the UK? Precisely, after the British citizenship offer, the Sino-British relationship has come to almost a deadlock. This month the Chinese Government announced that it will no longer recognise British National (Overseas) passport as a valid travel document or as a form of identification.
This declaration from Beijing has come days before a new visa route for Hong Kong residents is to be opened in the UK. While reacting to the announcement coming from authoritarian Xi regime, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in London said it was disappointed but not surprised by the decision. But for Beijing, London’s Hong Kong interventions simply reflect its age-old colonial mentality only.
For Johnson, on one hand, his Government has just moved out of the EU and stalled further immigration from other parts of Europe to the UK. And now, the same Government has decided to welcome more than three million Hongkongers to the same land.
However, as the UK is out of the EU stranglehold, it is a testament of the principle that the country is now free to decide who comes in and who goes out. Let’s wait and watch how this new saga of migration from Hong Kong to the UK unfolds.
(The writer is an expert on international affairs)
The Budget sets the tone for recovery and creation of jobs in various sectors owing to the Govt compensating for falling consumption through a hike in expenditure
One of the thoughts that must have certainly crossed everyone’s minds while hearing Finance Minister (FM) Nirmala Sitharaman’s Budget speech was how nothing went as planned, last year. Given the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic and its socio-economic impact, the future is uncertain and the best of planning can go haywire if circumstances are unfavourable.
However, despite all the constraints of the contagion, this Union Budget has paved the way for reviving the Indian economy. Pointing out an important fact that this was only the third time in Indian history that the Budget was announced against the backdrop of a shrinking economic growth, the FM ensured that fiscal deficit figures did not keep her from announcing spending in areas where it was needed.
Focus on the informal sector: The early signs of recovery in the Indian corporate sector do not necessarily point towards increasing investments, demand or productivity, all of which could have led to sustainable growth and increasing incomes. The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy reported that the corporate sector made bumper profits in the quarter ended 2020 due to significantly lower spending on inputs compared to sales. However, wages grew by 3.2 per cent only in the September 2020 quarter, which is very low historically and in stark contrast to growth in profits.
The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) have also been adversely affected by the pandemic, with many being forced to shut down operations, resulting in massive job losses.
The Union Budget has raised the allocation for the MSME sector to Rs 15,700 crore from Rs 7,572 crore last year. The Government has also announced the Rs 3-lakh crore Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme under the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan.’ Besides, as was expected, the Centre has committed to creating a portal to collect information on gig economy workers in order to enable them to avail the benefits of Government schemes as well as help in designing specific policies for them.
One Nation One Ration Card: The ‘One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC)’ is one such scheme that will help migrant workers avail of subsidised food grain at the place of work, rather than their home States. Under the ONORC plan, beneficiaries can lift their entitled food grain from any electronic Point of Sale device (ePoS) enabled Fair Price Shop (FPS) of their choice by using their existing ration cards with biometric authentication on the ePoS device. The scheme that is being implemented by 32 States and Union Territories covering 69 crore beneficiaries right now will be slowly implemented by the remaining States as well.
Labour codes: The FM also pointed out that the implementation of labour codes will be a step towards the formalisation of gig economy workers as they will now be covered under social security schemes. The FM spoke about labour welfare bringing a larger pool of workers, including gig workers, under the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation to expand the social security net. However, the overall Budget allocation of the Labour Ministry was reduced to Rs 13,306 crore for 2021-22 from Rs 13,720 crore in the revised Budget of 2020-21.
The four Labour Codes would be implemented, signalling the Centre’ resolve to go ahead with labour law reforms.”We will conclude a process that began 20 years ago,” Sitharaman said, adding that minimum wages would apply to all categories of workers and women would be allowed to work in all categories and also in night shifts with adequate protection.
Production Linked Incentive scheme: The Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for 13 sectors, with a spending of Rs 1.97-lakh crore for five years, is a much-needed initiative for helping scale-up firms, boosting employment and helping businesses revive. The MSMEs will also be provided with a lot of digital support to reduce the cumbersome regulatory and other procedures.
The FM has laid down the road map for expenditures by the Government. However, it remains to be seen whether it would be able to append and collect revenues as planned from the disinvestment of Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) and strategic sales of Life Insurance Corporation, Air India, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, Industrial Development Bank of India and so on.
For the time being, the FM has remained undeterred by the ballooning fiscal deficit which she pegged at 9.5 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the Financial Year (FY) 2020-21 and 6.8 per cent of the GDP for FY 2022. The deficit is to be partly funded by market borrowings and the Centre plans to raise Rs 80,000 crore from the market. The extraordinary circumstances of the pandemic have called for extraordinary measures by the Government, leading to the high fiscal deficit. However, the legislative constraints of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act have to be honoured and, therefore, the FM indicated the will to bring the fiscal deficit below 4.5 per cent of the GDP by 2025-26.
Overall, the Budget sets the tone for economic recovery and creation of jobs in various sectors owing to the Centre compensating declining consumption and private investment through increased State expenditure.
The writer is Joint Director, National Institute of Labour Economics Research and Development, NITI Aayog. The views expressed are personal.
Indian policymakers must not allow their reasoning to be clouded by netizen-driven campaigns
India has shown consistency and maturity in conducting its foreign policy through diplomacy, in the interest of attracting investment and furthering cooperative economic growth. The current geopolitical milieu is interesting in that it offers India a chance to mobilise investments to ensure that we grow fast. Yes, India is in the throes of an economic slowdown due to the pandemic but it can ride this phase out by attracting investments and by boosting the confidence of business owners who have invested in the India story. In the last few years, India has attracted global attention by improving its Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) Index ratings. In the process, it has become the world’s fifth-largest economy, beating France and the UK. This momentum must continue and India needs to keep reforming and maintain consistency in its business environment for all investors. Of late, there has been talk of retaliating against companies from countries like China, Turkey and Malaysia. What we need to realise is that these firms are apolitical and letting them operate in an unbiased manner projects a great image of India to the world. The country has much to gain from treading a path of economic cooperation, which has always defined its policymaking.
India needs investments to prosper and, according to the UN Conference on Trade and Development, it was the ninth-largest recipient of foreign direct investment (FDI) to the tune of $49.97 billion in 2020. This was a 13 per cent increase from $44.36 billion in 2019 when it was ranked 12th in FDI receipts. The changing world order and geopolitical events will further contribute to investments, especially in the backdrop of a growing anti-China sentiment globally. India’s commitment to EoDB and providing a stable business environment should not change. Foreign firms that operate here consistently are ambassadors of the EoDB. They invest with the intent of a lasting interest, creating employment opportunities for both skilled and unskilled labour, which translates into increased income and overall prosperity. Skills gained through training and experience boost India’s education and human capital quotient and have a ripple effect. The long-term benefits of such investments are there for all to see.
India is a democracy with a market-driven economy that has earned a reputation for being a country that provides stability of regulation with predictable policymaking. We must not let this hard-earned reputation change and squander our economic achievements. Policymakers should remain on the path of making India an increasingly welcoming place to do business. We live in a global village and targeting foreign firms could prove counterproductive, as there are several Indian companies operating in other countries and any unilateral action could be reciprocated. What’s worse, other nations can easily jump in to fill India’s shoes, costing our country in the form of lower trade volume. The world is economically integrated and India needs to safeguard its economic interests by collaborating with countries. Nations have understood the need for collective resilience to recover from the economic repercussions of Covid-19. India has and should continue to choose diplomatic channels to respond to other nations. Economic sanctions and exclusionary/protectionist tactics are detrimental to all. India experienced this first hand when it lost a source of cheap crude oil in Iran, as the West Asian country remains sanctioned by the US. In today’s world, as economies grow increasingly intertwined, commerce dictates that countries collaborate and find a way to resolve differences and move ahead in mutual interest. Policymakers should not allow their reasoning to get clouded by netizen-driven campaigns and should continue to prioritise the economic interest of the nation.
(The writer is Associate Professor at BHU. The views expressed are personal.)
Women are at the forefront of struggles to protect the environment. Can their role in the ‘Chipko movement’ to save the forests ever be forgotten?
As the darkness of the night begins to set in, there is only one house in Pune’s bustling Budhwar Peth area which is lit by oil lamps. In this small house lives Hema Sane, a retired professor of botany. The 80-year-old Sane has authored over 25 books, many of which are course books for graduate students of botany studying at the city’s famed Savitribai Phule University. But this is not why she is pleased with her efforts. What makes her happy is that she was able to continue her habit of writing even at night despite not having electricity. Writing by candlelight was not new or strange to her. With no electricity in the house since birth, Sane became an expert in managing without it. Her doctorate (Ph.D) in botany was also completed with the help of oil lamps and candles. “I don’t have a refrigerator, television or oven because I don’t have electricity. My parents also didn’t have power. I have lived all my life without electricity and don’t see the need for it. I am happy living in harmony with nature,” she says.
Many are of the opinion that she is insane to live the way she does, surrounded by trees, plants, birds, cats, dogs and piles of books. “If you type my surname (Sane), the internet will tell you it means sensible. The opposite of sane is insane or mad. This is what some people say about me (that I am mad) when they hear I have chosen to live without electricity,” says Sane with a chuckle. Living without power amid the hustle and bustle of a cosmopolitan city is not the only factor that makes Sane’s life so fascinating. She is an institution in herself (her impressive academic record includes degrees in Indology as well) and inspired one of her botany students to name a new plant variety after her name.
It also motivated film-maker Ramana Dumpala to make her the subject of his award-winning documentary film. Aptly named ‘Glow Worm in a Jungle,’ the film explores her life and work, and her steadfast refusal to give up her rundown house to a builder because it would mean leaving her best friends — the trees, plants, birds and animals —behind. Interestingly, the film-maker shot the entire film in the light that filtered in during the day and from the oil lamps and newly-acquired solar lamps in the night to honour her philosophy of using natural resources.
Sane’s abiding bond with nature, the courage to challenge existing values and practices and offer new perspectives about ways of living is also why this film was chosen as a part of the ongoing ‘Rising Gardens Film Festival.’ A part of the One Billion Rising (OBR) campaign in India, the online Festival showcases acclaimed documentary and animation films on women and their cosmic connection with nature, agriculture and the environment. Held annually, the OBR focuses attention on the strength of women through various forms of creative expression. This 2021 campaign explores the influences that have shaped the world, its revival, restoration and transformation. Since OBR was launched in 2012 as a call for the world to rise against the widespread violence against women and girls, this year’s theme of ‘Rising Gardens’ has been so named to underline that communities must rise to respect and protect both women and mother Earth if life is to exist.
The exploitation of nature and the oppression of women are deeply linked, contends Kamla Bhasin, coordinator, OBR South Asia. “It is the larger, unjust systems that make this violence against nature and women acceptable and even necessary for its perpetuation. In response to this, the OBR campaign is pushing us to work towards healing the environment and our communities by growing gardens, directly challenging capitalist patriarchy which has increasingly pushed us away from mother nature. We call to build gardens and communities where everyone can flourish,” says Bhasin.Curated by Reena Mohan, an award winning independent documentary film-maker, the festival has been organised by Sangat, a feminist network. The aim of presenting 48 films of hope and resilience from 11 countries over the next four months is to show that communities can imagine a better way to live without destroying nature.
“These are stories of courage, compassion and hope, with women at the fore, engaged in either environmental or agricultural work or presenting a significant connection to nature. These are works that challenge, inspire and expand our vision,” states Mohan.
One such film is about the Bhils, a large tribal community, primarily residing in Madhya Pradesh. While paintings made by the Bhil community are famous for the stories they narrate about their land, animals and deities, what is less known is the fact that painting for them is akin to offering a prayer. ‘Hum Chitra Banate Hain (We Make Images)’ is an animated interpretation of how Bhil art originated and why it is so closely connected to nature and the lives of the community. The film centres around an elderly woman from the community whose traditional wisdom about nature leads the community out of its long-standing problem of water scarcity. This turnaround in fortunes and the subsequent prosperity arising from good crops and good health is recorded by drawing pictures first on clay pots and then on walls of their huts. Since then, every painting is a story of the land told through the depictions of people, animals, deities and their festivals.
What makes this collaboration between the indigenous Bhil artist Sher Singh and film-maker Nina Sabnani so engrossing is the beautiful way Bhil paintings have been animated to tell the little-known story and the engaging way a rooster has been used as the storyteller in the narrative. One of the reasons why Sabnani wanted to make this film was to tap the rich resource of oral histories of the Bhils which has remained unappreciated and unknown outside the community. “These narratives, which store the knowledge and wisdom of the Bhils, represent their unique ways of seeing and experiencing the world and are a part of their cultural identity. These stories and their indigenous knowledge may be lost with communities migrating for economic reasons. To create a film that drew upon their knowledge and their art so that we could learn from them became a reason for us to come together,” explains Sabnani.
Many times indigenous knowledge of the land is dismissed as unscientific. But when women in science use their knowledge to explain why conservation and protection is imperative, their work is not taken seriously enough. Sri Lankan ocean educator, Asha de Vos, faced this form of discrimination. “I was told that I was too young or that I was too female”, says de Vos, a pioneer of blue whale research. Her journey to become a marine biologist, considered by many as a male domain and the challenges of being a South Asian woman in science presented in the form of an interesting animated interview by Sri Lankan director Irushi Tennekoon, strikes a familiar chord. Even in India, women scientists become targets of prejudice and gender bias. This is probably why only 15 per cent of the Indian research and development workforce in the country are women. Fortunately for de Vos, she was able to cross all such hurdles and now heads Sri Lanka’s first marine conservation, research and education organisation.
Women have traditionally been storehouses of indigenous knowledge and wisdom. They are at the forefront of struggles to protect the environment. Can the role of women in the Chipko movement to save the forests or their immense contribution during the Narmada Bachao Andolan ever be forgotten? Whenever they have risen, they have become agents of change, using their knowledge and expertise to mitigate adversity and offer adaptation strategies. Just as these films underscore, respecting women’s skills, resourcefulness and leadership can boost gender equality, address climate change and protect the planet.
The writer is a senior journalist. The views expressed are personal.
US President Joe Biden has hinted that he would turn the heat on China and Russia
In his first diplomatic address, US President Joe Biden has shown aggressive posturing towards China and Russia. His speech clearly reflects the Biden Administration’s foreign policy priorities and the kind of equations that the superpower is likely to work upon in the coming days while dealing with “friends” and “foes”. Biden’s approach towards Beijing holds a subtle message for the Indian foreign policymakers that America will keep its interests first and foremost while dealing with affairs related to Southeast Asia, South Asia and China. On the one hand, Biden pledges to counter China’s economic abuses and human rights violations and, on the other, asserts that he is ready to work with it when it is in America’s interest. India should not decipher the implicit message as being in its favour. New Delhi shares tense relations with Beijing due to China’s expansionist policy and its military adventurism, breaching India’s territorial sovereignty at several points. The violation of privacy by Chinese apps and India’s subsequent ban on these have only worsened bilateral relations. India must keep in mind that, be it Donald Trump or Biden, capitalism drives the US democracy and economic interests often subsume all other forms of commitment. There are no permanent friends or adversaries and economic interests, coupled with other factors, play a key role in formulating America’s foreign policy.
“America is back. Diplomacy is back,” is how Biden started the address. He has attempted to repair what he terms “damage to America’s global standing” by reversing the policies of his predecessor. This might not portend well for India as Trump, who shared friendly relations with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had taken several decisions keeping Indian interests in mind. If Biden quashes these, it will only be counterproductive to India’s interests. In a direct message to Russia, Biden said that the days of the US “rolling over” to President Vladimir Putin are over as he called for the immediate release of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. “We will not hesitate to raise the cost on Russia and defend our vital interests and our people,” Biden said. The message is loud and clear. America is going to intervene in every possible manner in the affairs of other sovereign powers to satiate its diplomatic and economic interests. However, only time will tell what Biden’s diplomacy holds for India and the rest of the world. Till then, we need to watch carefully and tread cautiously.
Will the plan to build charging stations every three km really boost electric vehicle usage in the Capital?
There is no doubt that electric vehicles are the future of mobility; if not the immediate future, then definitely within the next 10-15 years. However, electric vehicles as we know them today have one critical problem that prevents their widespread use. That is the issue of charging infrastructure and time. The fact is that with an internal combustion engine that runs on diesel, petrol or even natural gas, it is fairly easy to pull over at a petrol pump, tank up and be on your way within five minutes. Finding a petrol pump is not a challenge even if one is critically low on fuel. That is clearly not the case with electric vehicles where finding a charging station remains a challenge and ‘range anxiety’, that is the fear that one will run out of charge, is a real thing. As more electric vehicles such as Hyundai’s Kona SUV come onto Indian roads, more charging infrastructure will be built but of course this is a chicken-or-egg situation. Will one buy an electric vehicle without an adequate number of charging stations in the vicinity? Or should the Government build charging stations when there are few electric vehicles around? The Delhi Government believes that the latter route is the one it must take. The Government had announced the Delhi Electric Vehicle Policy on August 7, 2020, with the target of making the city-State the EV capital of India. The policy — widely considered among the best in the world — aims to achieve the overarching objective of improving the Capital’s air quality and creating an entire supply-chain ecosystem for this new segment of vehicles. State Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot has said that the Government will build and work with private partners to install electric vehicle charging stations every three kilometres, which is a definite positive although, given Delhi’s huge vehicular population, it isn’t even a drop in the ocean.
There is another problem with electric vehicles. Unlike with a petrol or diesel vehicle where you can be on your way in minutes, even “fast charging” outlets take a minimum of 15-20 minutes to deliver a reasonable amount of power; electric vehicles are not for those with an impatient bent of mind. While technological innovations will probably speed up fast charging and more charging outlets will make a difference, for real private electric vehicular usage will grow only with more charging stations at home and also by allowing private individuals to establish their own outlets where anybody can charge their vehicles (and presumably pay). This, coupled with renewable sources of power such as solar and wind, can make a major difference to electric vehicle usage in India. But, as of now, even with rapidly increasing petrol and diesel prices, the massive capital costs of buying a decent electric vehicle are far too high to make these automobiles viable, no matter how many charging stations are built.
Myanmar’s tyrannical generals have done it again and halted the country’s transition to democracy which had started in 2008
According to a report in Al Jazeera, an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) failed on February 3, 2021, to adopt a statement on the military coup in Myanmar on February 1. The statement had condemned the coup, called upon the military to respect the rule of law and human rights, and demanded the immediate release of those unlawfully detained. The report further said that the statement had demanded repealing the state of emergency, which the Myanmar military (official name Tatmadaw) had imposed, besides appealing to “all sides to adhere to democratic norms”. The statement, says the report, was grounded by China and Russia which had “asked for more time”. The chances of it, or another one adequately condemnatory of the coup, being adopted are slim. Russia and China are no champions of democracy.
This is a shame. The coup has halted the transition to democracy which had started in 2008 with the adoption of Myanmar’s current Constitution prepared by the Tatmadaw. The latter has justified its action by alleging that Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy’s (NLD) sweeping victory — 396 seats out of 476 in the Lower House of Parliament — in the November 2020 elections was fraudulently obtained. It claimed to have detected 8.6 million cases of irregularities. The Union Election Commission, which conducts elections in Myanmar, has, however, emphatically said that it had found no evidence of any voting malpractice or fraud.
Widespread electoral fraud, had it occurred, would have been widely reported in international media given that Suu Kyi has lost its favour because of her stand on the Rohingya issue. Besides, the Tatmadaw’s record is significant. Suu Kyi’s NLD won a massive victory in the 1990 elections. It rejected the results, put her under house arrest which lasted 15 years, and imposed a horribly repressive regime on the country.
There are other reasons. Last year, Suu Kyi sought to reduce the Tatmadaw’s share of reserved seats in both Houses of Parliament from 25 per cent to five per cent. The move failed but the intention to clip the military’s wings it conveyed rattled the generals who, like their Pakistani counterparts, reportedly have links with many lucrative economic ventures, which they may lose under a strong civilian Government.
What now? The Myanmar police charged Suu Kyi in a court on February 3 claiming that walkie-talkie radios, found during a search of her home in the capital, Naypyidaw, were imported illegally and used without permission. They sought her custody till February 15 “in order to question witnesses, request evidence and seek legal counsel after questioning the defendant”.
The charge has been widely condemned as spurious. Suu Kyi had every opportunity to legitimately import the walkie-talkie sets when she was heading the Government as State Counsellor. Besides, the charging of Myanmar’s overthrown President Win Myint with offences under the Disaster Management Law indicates the targeting of the NLD’s top leadership. In a report, Al Jazeera has quoted Ali Fowle, reporting from Myanmar, as saying that the country’s import-export Act was “notoriously vague”. She added: “It could be anything from a fax machine to a walkie-talkie.
It’s a notorious law because it was used under the former military regime all the time to frame political prisoners.”
Not surprisingly, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters that the charges against Suu Kyi “just compound the undermining of the rule of law in Myanmar and the democratic process”. He added: “We continue to call for her immediate release and the President’s immediate release and all others who have been detained by the military in the last few days.” The chances of the military obliging are negligible. Nor can one foresee the protests, which have broken out in the form of doctors and other staff staying away from Government hospitals and people banging their pots, snowballing to oust the regime, which will stop at nothing. It has already banned Facebook, used by the protestors, at least until the end of February. China and Russia will back the generals. Much will, therefore, depend on the pressure that the US and European countries, which have strongly condemned the coup, bring to bear on the generals.
India’s External Affairs Ministry had issued a statement on February 1: “We have noted the developments in Myanmar with deep concern. India has always been steadfast in its support to the process of democratic transition in Myanmar. We believe that the rule of law and the democratic process must be upheld. We are monitoring the situation closely.”
India has to tread with caution. The Tatmadaw has been cooperating closely with it in dealing with the ethnic insurgents of its North-East. It has developed deep economic ties with Myanmar and, in 2019, emerged as the latter’s largest supplier of military hardware, selling arms worth $100 million. It cannot, however, watch the rape of democracy in Myanmar silently, and must continue expressing disapproval of the Tatmadaw’s action and pressuring it firmly to release Suu Kyi and the others, and allow her party to form the Government on the basis of the November election’s results.
(The author is Consulting Editor, The Pioneer. The views expressed are personal.)
New Delhi, Feb 6 (IANS) India's first Budget after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic is prudent, transparent and futuristic and is aimed at making the country self-reliant, Minister of State for Finance, Anurag Thakur, told IANS. Following are the excerpts from the post-Budget exclusive conversation IANS had with Thakur.
Q1. What were your first thoughts regarding the economic impact that will occur due to the Covid-19 lockdown? What was your first reaction?
Ans. Today, you can see that India has emerged stronger from this pandemic. We know what happened in those countries which did not impose the lockdown or those that did but were not able to save as many lives. India on the other hand emerged as one of the countries with the lowest mortality rates as we implemented a systematic lockdown. This was our main goal to save as many lives as possible.
Besides, we have grown our capacity. Earlier, we had negligible manufacturing of PPE kits, today we are a major exporter. We are also exporting vaccines which have been made in India to around 100 countries. Our approach has been to save lives and livelihood, and the results of the same can be seen.
We had taken steps to support the MSME sector and the economy by the way of additional funding, there was also the loan moratorium as well as other schemes and steps which were taken such as partial credit guarantee scheme, additional working capital loans that were given to protect businesses and jobs.
Q2. Is the worst behind us in terms of economic shock that was unleashed by this pandemic?
Ans. If you look at the projections, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects India's GDP growth to be over 11 per cent in FY22, while the RBI's estimates show a growth of around 10.5 per cent. India is seen as the only major economy in the world to have a double-digit growth next year.
This recovery has been made possible because of the structural reforms that we have undertaken under the AatmaNirbhar Bharat package. These reforms range from power, coal, agriculture to defence production, mining and space sector amongst others. These reforms were even bigger than the ones carried out in the 1990s decade. The Prime Minister has turned this crisis into an opportunity which has given the pace to this recovery. This V-shape recovery has been made possible due to the measures taken to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, and the historic reforms that were implemented to support the economy.
Q 3. With stepped up expenditure, as is also visible in the Budget proposals, to counter the adverse effects of the pandemic, are we moving away from the path of fiscal consolidation?
Ans. We have to look back at the period of 2013-14. India was known as among the fragile five economies under the Congress-led UPA Government. After 2014, for the next the Narendra Modi government gave more than 7.5 per cent growth rate, every year, on an average. Now we are among the top six big economies of the world. What is the challenge in the financial year, 2021, which was the Covid-19 year. For us it was important to borrow and more than Rs 12.5 lakh crore has been borrowed by government of India to give food grains, funds, subsidies, to those who actually require this. More than 80 crore people got food grains, pulses for a period of eight months. No other country was able to even afford that, but India did it. Also, 30 crore women have been given Rs 31,000 rupees in their Jan Dhan accounts by the government. Three crores disabled, especially abled, widows and old age people have got more than Rs 3,000 crore, farmers got more Rs 1.10 lakh crore. And during the pandemic time, they got thousands of crores rupees into their bank accounts. Apart from this, the EPF contribution of the employer and employee has been paid by the Government of India totalling about Rs 7,000 crore. Now that kind of money was required. You also wanted to help the states to fight the pandemic. So, virtually for the first three months, the economy was shut in a way and no economic activity was taking place. So, what could you do as a country, you have to borrow and help people.
Now in this budget also we have utilised those funds for the capital expenditure. So that clearly means, more amount in respect of the capital expenditure, close to 35 per cent capital expenditure increase. Now, the multiplier effect will be 2.5 times. There will be more job creation, more revenue for the government. So, I think it is very important for us to borrow, build, monetize and then repay. It will help the Indian economy to grow, create more jobs, and also be among the top leading economies where the growth will take place.
Q 4. The privatisation policy announced in the budget has not found favour in several quarters with certain sections of the political class terming it as an exercise to sell the family silver?
Ans. We have to see the government's decision on privatisation in perspective. The UPA government also tried to do this during the Prime Ministership of Manmohan Singh. But they could hardly raise about Rs 10,000 crore from 2004 to 2009. But the Modi government raised close to Rs 3 lakh crore between 2014-2019. That is the big difference. You have more credibility. You can deliver better. You could have that transparent policy for the disinvestment. We have also divided the companies into priority and non-priority sectors and disinvestment will be based on this categorisation. This while giving opportunity to the government to mobilise more funds will also help companies to grow up the ladder with the infusion of fresh capital that will also generate more opportunities for employment. If in the operation of certain entities, PSUs are not able to do well or the government has too many players in the field, why not to pursue privatisation initiative involving change of management. Government job is not to be in business but to facilitate more people to do more business activities and the government should get more revenue out of it.
Q 5. So, through budget proposals as well, the government wants to make a statement that it is solidly behind the economy?
Ans. Absolutely. Economy needs investment and sentiments improve once the government invests. So, when the government itself increases capital expenditure next year by 35 per cent, it would give a necessary boost to the investment climate in the country and help improve the health of the economy and generate more employment opportunities for its people. Worldwide experience has proven that economies where the government initiates the investment, the growth pick up is faster. This also helps to bring in private investment. The multiplier effect of capital expenditure 2.5 times. The budget also aims to achieve this with higher capex.
Q 6. Will the higher capex announced in the Budget, are we on course to become a $5 trillion economy faster?
Ans. The growth of any economy takes time. But for India, we became the sixth largest economy in the world from earlier eleventh in a matter of just five years. Our effort to raise economic growth has continued but with Covid-19 pandemic we have lost one full year. Any economy takes time to recover from acute slowdown. But the steps that we have taken, have ensured that the recovery is faster. We presented a good budget that was also acknowledged by the capital markets with a consistent rise over the past few days. This clearly shows that if you take the right steps, the overall sentiment improves and investments too picks up.
Q 7. You have also announced privatisation of two public sector banks and one general insurance entity. These announcements have already evoked sharp reactions from bank unions. How do you aim to pursue this critical disinvestment plan?
Ans. During the UPA time, the way the funds were distributed to the banks and loans were given, putting the banks in a difficult situation that were also having higher NPA ratio. And this year, there was a reduction in the NPA ratio by 20 per cent. So that clearly showcases that we have done well in the last five six years. We have done the asset quality review of the banks; we have done the recapitalisation of more than Rs 5.5 lakh crore for public sector banks. India needs more facilities for the consumers or the people who bank. Then what do you do. You have 12 banks. We have done the amalgamation/ merger of banks, we have strengthened the banks, brought them out of the PCA framework. But the government can't keep on investing in the banks, every year. They have to stand on their feet, or they have to earn, they have to be more profitable. That is where we said that out of 12, even if the government does the privatisation for two, and one insurance company, it will also help the employees also to get better salaries and to get more benefits, and those banks and insurance companies can also grow. If the present management is unable to do justice then the new management could be able to do so. If we look at the past experiences, most of the companies have grown manifolds and the employees are also very happy.
Q 8. But will the government take bank employees into confidence before stating the privatisation process?
Ans. The Government will take all steps that are required for healthy disinvestment.
Q 9. Will we also see weaker banks that are in prompt corrective action (PCA) framework being put in the sell off list?
Ans. We have to think from buyers' perspective also. We have to offer something to buyers that attracts investment.
Q 10. The budget has put a cap on tax free interest earnings on individual savings put in provident fund (PF) and ULIPs. Is this not reducing the shrinking list of avenues available to salaried to save in instruments that offer security and assured returns?
Ans. Many have taken advantage of investment in PF that give tax free assured returns. But this advantage is also being taken by high net-worth individuals (HNIs), some of whom have put over Rs 2 crore into their PF accounts. This raises a question, whether the savings is for workers or for ones who have amassed huge wealth and are depositing in excess Rs 50 crore in PF accounts in a year and taking 8 per cent tax free returns. The Budget proposal will keep less than half per cent of EPFO subscribers out of the tax-free savings benefit. But 99.5 per cent of EPFO subscribers will get the services as it is. So, no change for the common man.
Q 11. The Budget is yet to be passed by Parliament. Is the government looking to bring more changes in the Finance Bill to further strengthen proposals required for putting on path of a speedy recovery or there is a rethink on some proposals that may be rolled back?
Ans. I think we have covered everyone from youth to women to farmers to the common man or traders. We have tried to take care of all the sectors. Even if you look at the scheduled caste and scheduled tribes, there is an increase of 51.65 per cent in the budgetary allocation. So, the government has taken care of several sectors and a scientific thought process has gone behind devising schemes for each sector so that a larger population benefits from this Budget.
A reduction in funds for the Environment Ministry means that many green initiatives and critical projects will come to a grinding halt
The Union Budget has always been a hit and a miss and this year is no different as the annual financial statement for the year 2021-22 brought cheer to a section of the 1.38 billion-strong population while it disappointed some others. The 350 million-strong middle class that bore the major brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic was expecting some relief from the Budget this year. However, it was left disappointed as the Income-Tax slabs remained unchanged.
On the other hand the business community seems to be satisfied with the provisions in the financial spreadsheet that aim to rejuvenate the ailing economy. The environment, however, has landed in a mixed bag.
In a surprise move, it slashed the funds meant for the National Climate Change Action Plan from Rs 40 crore to Rs 30 crore. The Budget reduced the allocation to the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) by a whopping Rs 230 crore — from Rs 3,100 crore last year to Rs 2,869 crore this year.
A reduction in funds means that many green initiatives and critical projects will come to a grinding halt. This also implies that the total budgetary allocation to the five autonomous institutes, under the MoEF&CC has been effectively reduced by 20 per cent.
These figures in fact caught many environmentalists off-guard as a rise in budgetary allocation was expected instead of a reduction, given India’s commitment to the cause on the global arena. However, this slashing of allocations shows the lack of seriousness on the part of the Government when it comes to dealing with pressing environmental issues.
At this critical juncture, “recovery in all spheres” including the environment should have been the key theme of the Budget. Instead of making a big reduction in the allocations to the MoEF&CC the Government would have done well to adopt a phased approach for fund disbursal while at the same time ensuring that the funds to fight pollution and other environmental degradation issues are diverted more to the areas that are highly compromised urban hotspots of pollution. The Centre should have reduced the fund allocation for other parts of the country where the conditions are relatively better.
Similarly, it was also a great opportunity for the Centre to convey its vision of recovery in “all spheres” in the present situation. Ironically, the lion’s share of recovery measures seems to be earmarked for the economy and healthcare only.
On a positive note, the Government’s financial statement gave a shot in the arm to clean air by earmarking Rs 2,217 crore for controlling air pollution in 42 cities across India. However, there is no clarity on how this fund will be utilised. This clarity is very essential given the fact that no concrete information is available on public domain regarding how last year’s allocation of Rs 4,400 crore for clean air was spent. It is a issue of grave concern given the fact that 231 cities out of 287 have Particulate Matter 10 (PM10) levels exceeding the limits prescribed by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
A baffling aspect of the Budget is the voluntary vehicle scrapping policy under which 20-year-old personal vehicles, instead of being scrapped, will be sent to automated fitness checking centres for health certificates and will be re-registered. Can the Government ensure the much-needed transparency in the process? It is also unfortunate that the National Green Tribunal (NGT) rule pertaining to mandatory scrapping of 10-year-old diesel vehicles and 15-year-old petrol vehicles seems to have been scrapped automatically. This may prove costly for the environment in the long run, as old vehicles during the process of re-registration can slip through system loopholes and keep polluting the environment.
Instead of allowing 20-year-old vehicles to ply, the Government through the Budget could have put the urban electric energy driven mass transit system and passenger electric vehicle policy on fast track. This would have helped achieve multiple objectives of fostering entrepreneurship, increasing employment, conserving the environment and so on. The Budget cuts for the MoEF&CC reflect the Government’s tepid response towards fulfilling its environmental commitments. However, steps such as setting up of the Hydrogen Energy Mission in 2021-22 to harness hydrogen from green sources will go a long way in reducing India’s carbon footprint.
The writer is an environmental journalist. The views expressed are personal.
It shows the Govt’s willingness to be out of business and put on the bootstraps on delivering services
There are many firsts to this Union Budget. It was the first paperless Budget in the history of India and the Bahi Khata was replaced by a tablet. It was the first Budget to be presented by a full-time woman Finance Minister (FM) three years in a row and it was the most challenging policy document to be attempted in the history of India coming out, after a once-in-a-century pandemic. All this aside, the Budget shows the willingness of the Government to be out of business and put on the bootstraps on delivering services to citizens.
The increased allocation for healthcare fills an important gap left by years of neglect. The FM has got her bearings right in releasing the potential of modern and emerging technology in keeping the sovereign safe, future war-ready and taking giant strides in value creation for human lives, not to mention the life-saving potential, as reflected in the development of vaccines for a novel virus. It would have been a great moral booster if technology-aided healthcare would have found mention in the Budget. While it does mention support for 28,812 urban and rural health and wellness centres, it is unclear about the contours. These touchpoints of primary health services are vital links in the wellness chain as they are the first to feel the pulse of any emerging pandemic or life-threatening conditions. They are also important data nodes on the condition of sanitation and purity, including the presence of toxic metals in drinking water and nutrition levels of people. The enhanced health expenditure recognises the multidisciplinary approach to people’s health needs but fails to join them together on a digital platform.
It is strange that even though former TRAI Chairman RS Sharma has taken charge at the National Health Authority to head the flagship ‘Ayushman Bharat’ scheme and will be leading the rollout of the national digital health mission with data privacy, these words, which will define new-era healthcare did not find a mention in the Budget speech.
It may be that the FM wanted to keep the focus on the increased healthcare spends rather than diverting attention to issues which may have resulted in precious time being lost on endless debates on privacy vs the right to good health. It would have been good if she had at least referred to connecting thousands of primary and tertiary healthcare centres in urban and rural India on a digital platform with a robust answerable guided policy framework. There was also an expectation of providing the much-needed policy fillip to healthcare for non-life-threatening ailments, using technology. Taken with the emerging spurt of electronic pharmacies, these are not just efficient and effective solutions to healthcare for a geographically vast country like ours but also a great source of jobs for semi-skilled professionals. If India needs to be the “e-pharmacy” of the world the change would have to start now.
Finally, the much-discussed disinvestment process which has been met with the expected euphoria in the stock markets, though, it is spoken about with extremely cautious optimism in closed circles. The reason is best illustrated by the example of Air India which has been on the block for as long as the current Government has been in power. It is a bold initiative to announce the sale of two banks and one general insurance company together with a bunch of large PSUs. But it is tough to actually see the sale go through. The reason being that these PSUs employ thousands, who over the years have organised themselves into powerful unions/pressure blocks with certain entitlements. Any threat to status quo of entitlements would mean these powerful groups are easy picks for opposing political blocs to take advantage of and make a grand show of protest to be played out for social media audience. No amount of talks with senior influencers would convince a group lured by a reward of assured income along with digital media publicity. That is where the sharp negotiators and politicians have to come in to persuade sale to strategic investors for survival. It is not an easy job and heavy lifting by various arms of the Government along with private sector support are what will make Budget 21-22 the best one of the decade.
(The writer is a policy analyst. The views expressed are personal.)
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