Development Schemes: Need for a Remodelling
Dr. Saumitra Mohan

The social welfare state to realise an objective of an egalitarian society endeavours to ensure maximum good of maximum number of its people. And in its bid to do so, it tries various measures including launching multiple schemes for the hoi polloi. India also has its share of welfare and development schemes and programmes targeted at different sections of the society. Such schemes are executed and implemented by the huge bureaucratic machine in close coordination with the governments at various levels including the local self governments. The contours of a liberal democratic state could very well be delineated by an overview of the detailed planning and execution of such schemes.
Today, there are numerous such welfare schemes and development programmes being run in our country. Some of them include the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Backward Region Grant Fund (BRGF), Backward Villages Development Programme, Community Development schemes, Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), Indira Awas Yojana (IAY), Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC), various region-specific funds e.g. Uttar Banga Unnayan Prakalp (UUP) or Pachimanchal Unnayan Prakalp (PUP) in West Bengal, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), Swaranjayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana (SGSY), Special Component Assistance for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes-dominated area development (as in SCA to SCP/TSP), Swajaldhara, Multi-Sectoral Development Programme (MSDP), Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), Drought Prone Area Programme (DPAP), Integrated Watershed Development Programme (IWDP) and various other schemes relating to sericulture, pisciculture, animal husbandry, horticulture and agriculture.
The number of such schemes being directly supervised or implemented through the office of the District Magistrate (DM) or the panchayati raj institutions (PRIs) wherein DM has significant role in ensuring proper implementation of these schemes is endless. The multiplicity of schemes by creating various layers of execution often complicates the execution by making the system cumbersome. The same invariably creates problems during the execution of schemes. It is here that one would like to moot a proposal for the integration and consolidation of all such schemes. This proposal, if minutely planned after factoring in all relevant aspects and practical problems envisaged, shall go a long way in not only improving the planning and execution of these schemes but in also reaching their benefits to the targeted beneficiaries in a more efficient and effective way.
To begin with, such integration and consolidation of schemes/programmes relating to construction and creation of permanent assets or infrastructures should all be pooled together to be one overarching programme. However, the entire programme could be suitably sub-divided into different components with earmarked percentage of the total allotment to be spent on particular sectors e.g. for connectivity improvement, for rural housing, for watershed development, for minority-inhabited areas, for agriculture and so on, depending upon the need or weightage as perceived by the government.
These sectors could still be named variously like now, but they should all be an inalienable part of a single programme with uniform guidelines including those relating to fund management and account keeping. Such uniformity shall facilitate better fund management and efficient account keeping, thereby obviating the need for maintaining multiple ledgers and cash books for multiple schemes. Even if the records or ledgers are maintained sector-wise, there shall still be uniformity. The need for opening and maintaining multiple bank accounts shall no longer be there, thereby making accounting relatively simpler than now. This would ensure better account keeping and better financial management. The complexities created by the need for maintaining scores of records and files shall be eliminated.
The NREGA model is a good example to fall back on. The new programme after integration and consolidation of the multifarious welfare and development schemes should function in the same way as NREGA. Even though NREGS visualises an important roles for BDOs, SDOs and DMs, the role and responsibility of the local self-governments shall still be very important and critical as it is the latter that would do the micro-level planning and execution of the programme as done now. As the scheme has enough allowance for employment of surplus/additional manpower and other administrative desiderata, the various NREGA schemes are never constrained at the executional level in the way as many other schemes are marked as they are by delay and sundry executional snags.
Similarly, the new programme should be modelled on NREGS to be able to benefit from the experience gained through its implementation. NREGS, in its short life-span, has proved to be a leader among all the previous and extant government schemes. It has not only ensured more efficient fund utilisation and better creation of community assets, the various measures visualised to ensure executional transparency have also minimised the scope for corruption and leakage. Hence, NREGS model should be the ideal template for modelling this new avatar on.
However, one still feels that the new scheme should be based on NREGS only after making some rectification and modifications in some of NREGS parametres. These include stipulations relating to employment for minimum number of man-days for every household, wage-material ratio, kind of schemes to be executed and permissibility of scheme execution through contractors. One feels that that after all these schemes are merged together, the pool of financial resources available with the government shall be significant enough to allow for demand-based employment throughout the year. Therefore, the NREGA cap of a minimum of 100 days work in an year for a rural household should be removed completely.
Also, the wage-material ratio should be made 50:50 instead of present 60:40, thereby maintaining the material-intensive work at the level where they are at the moment. But pooling other schemes' wage components with the new scheme shall create enough leverage and leeway to provide work throughout the year to a rural household. Also, deviating from the present NREGA norm of not executing any scheme through contractor, there ought to be a little scope for 15 per cent of the total schemes to be executed through contractors. The scheme permissible to be executed through the contractors shall be material-intensive (say those which shall require 80 per cent material) and which shall require to be executed emergently. The decision for selection of such schemes must be left to the discretion of the local self-government.
Similarity and uniformity stemming from the integration and consolidation of many of these ongoing schemes and programmes shall markedly improve monitoring and supervision at the field level. The consolidation of these schemes shall also mean availability of more contingent funds, allowing for engagement of additional manpower and additional supervisory infrastructures as permissible under NREGP now. The transparency norms imported from NREGP shall ensure that the common public remain duly informed and participate at the various levels of planning and execution of the schemes. Also, the manpower now engaged in implementation of different other schemes shall become available and could be pooled together for better supervision and monitoring.
Many of the present schemes require identification of beneficiaries which often become cause of partisan politics and friction. The same not only often results in violent clashes or deadlock in the working of the panchayats or decision-making bodies, but also results in delaying the execution of the entire scheme e.g. IAY. After the new programme comes into being, there shall be no need for beneficiary identification as the new scheme shall not be confined to BPL families only as is the case with NREGS whose benefits are available to all sections of society.
There could, however, be a priority list to be decided by the local self-government e.g. Gram Sabha in accordance with which various individual benefit schemes (IBSs) including low-cost housing or sanitary toilets shall be built. The number and kind of schemes to be taken up under individual benefit schemes could be further diversified to include rural housing, sanitation, kitchen gardens et al to cater to many other perceived needs of the people in the countryside. And the truth remains that present focus of NREGA cannot be sustained beyond a point e.g. we cannot continue constructing water harvesting, minor irrigation or flood proofing structures beyond a point as land is limited.
So, we need to get ready in advance to prepare for future by modifying the way we reach various benefits to the underprivileged sections of the society. As almost any and every scheme could be executed depending on the availability of skilled and non-skilled manpower, there shall not be any need for wasting time in discussing the advisability of a scheme. The local self-government shall have a shelf of schemes which shall be executed in order of priority. This would save a lot of time and cost over-runs would be avoided, thereby improving creation of capital assets in the countryside and thereby also bridging the rural-urban divide.
Whether such a programme shall be extended to urban areas or not shall depend on the decision to merge the schemes executed by the municipal bodies with the proposed programme. But if we do it, it shall not be such a bad idea as it shall give a better fillip to development process in the municipal areas though there could be different programme officer e.g. the municipal commissioners or executive officers could do the needful in this regard.
The above is just a proposal and this author feels that the same needs to be considered, discussed and debated thoroughly before actually going on the anvil. One does feel that such a programme shall definitely revolutionise the way different welfare and development programmes are planned and executed in this country.

National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme: An Overview
Dr. Saumitra Mohan

National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGA) has been in operation for over four years and is being implemented in all the districts of this country. NREGA has turned out to be one of the most fascinating schemes launched by the State, generating lots of expectations because of the success story it has turned out to be.

Many executional problems and criticisms of certain aspects of the scheme notwithstanding, NREGA is the flagship scheme which has become the principal vehicle for extension of government benefits to the unemployed masses of this country. The changes in the quality of people’s life could be easily noticed in the countryside as also the massive infrastructures created under the scheme. The purchasing power generated has also created positive spin offs and multiplier effects for the economy as a whole.

However, the programme does require some structural and conceptual modifications to be better able to realise its objectives in the light of experience gained during its operation over the years. It is very well known that almost the districts across the country have not been able to harness the scheme uniformally as the performance varies from state to state. Not only this, none of the districts could realise the target of providing 100 days of employment to all the job card holders even though financial allocations for the programme have never been a constraint.

It is argued that NREGA being a demand-driven scheme, the emphasis should be on provisioning of employment to those demanding work rather than on expenditure of fund allotted. But the fact remains that there are still hundreds of thousands of people in need of work in this country. It is felt that the implementing agencies i.e. district administration and various line departments could be and need to be more proactive in reaching out to the people needing work through better ‘information-education-awareness’ (IEC) programme. Many people still do not know that they can rightfully demand work under NREGA and shall be paid an ‘Unemployment Allowance’ in case of failure to provide the same within 15 days of demanding work.

A regional variation in terms of utilisation of allotted amount has been observed as some states have availed of larger amounts compared to many others. Many states including Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala have done exceedingly well in terms of fund utilisation and number of schemes executed. The same has resulted in creation of massive purchasing power of the local people in those states, while many other states have also started catching up, West Bengal being one of them.

If still many people do not come forward to do work under NREGA, the reason for the same is said to be the availability of work at higher wages in the private sectors than the one provided under NREGA, resulting in less utilisation of the allotted funds. This explanation may be tenable for the relatively developed states or for the urban areas even in the backward states, but definitely not for the rural and underdeveloped areas in states like Bihar, Jharkhand or Uttar Pradesh. These states definitely should have been able to utilise more money providing more number of employment than they have been able to do so far.

One feels that as the Indian economy grows at the sizzling rate of over seven per cent, there shall be more people attracted to work at the more attractive market wage rates than the minimum wage ranging from 75 to 140 as provided under NREGA. Since no state has been able to provide hundred days of employment to all its citizens, there is definitely a need to take the required corrective measures to reach the said target.

In fact, at this stage of the scheme, it is advisable that we should get more daring and remove the ceiling of 100 days and make it a completely demand driven employment guarantee scheme to be available throughout the year for as many person-days as might be demanded. At least, the individual cap of 100 days per household should be removed. This would allow the individual district to go on providing work to individual household beyond 100 days’ ceiling. It would also enable them to utilise their own projected quota of man-days calculated against the number of existing household for that particular district.

With states unable to realise even 100 days of employment, the drain on government resources is not going to be something beyond its reach. This is more so when more work at higher wages are likely to be available in the private sector in times to come, given the way our economy seems to be performing. With India being one of the demographically young countries, more people are likely to be in the productive age groups meaning thereby they shall all be need to be provided with work. Hence, the need to modify the minimum number of mandays’ stipulations as envisaged in the Act at the moment.

Knowing that employment would be available for asking in the villages itself, the wage labourers will be less motivated to head towards the urban areas for seeking wage employment thereby reducing migration from village to cities. The same shall also reduce pressure on urban amenities and infrastructures. As a result, there is likely to be enough work left for the urban workers. As there shall be less number of persons competing for work in the urban areas, it is likely that the urban wage labourers would get higher and more rewarding wages. It is felt that the same reduces the need for the government to formulate any such wage employment guarantee programme for the urban workers.

The objective of the scheme includes not only provisioning of guaranteed employment in the rural areas to discourage rural-urban migration, but also to create gainful assets in the countryside. It is, therefore, advisable for the government to keep revising the minimum wages from time to time to reflect the market wages as also to diminish attraction of higher wage employment s as might be available in the urban areas. If this does not happen, people would not feel encouraged to stay back in the villages to work for NREGA schemes thereby reducing the opportunities to create basic amenities and civic infrastructures in the rural areas.

It is felt by many that NREGA being a demand driven programme, people should be willing to do the work at the government approved rates, which is the minimum wage sufficient to sustain a household per day. If the people are getting work at higher wages elsewhere, they should go ahead and do it. This would result in saving of government money which can be better utilised for implementation of other ongoing welfare programmes run by the government including NREGA as well as for undertaking more material-intensive schemes.

During rainy season and other such busy seasons which may vary from state to state, people get higher wages in the rural areas itself thereby leaving very few volunteers for wage employment works in the countryside thereby resulting in less utilisation of the NREGA money. But one would say that less or more utilisation of NREGA allotment should not be a criterion to judge the success of the programme. Less utilisation may also mean that there is less demand for such work in that particular area. This should actually be seen as a development indicator as that means people are getting work at higher wages elsewhere, thereby reducing dependence on government to provide such wage employment.

However, one does find it surprising when one sees that work demanded is significantly less even in those areas where people living below the poverty line are more than the usual and are still not demanding work under NREGA. It feels more surprising when such people keep sitting idle without doing any work, while plenty opportunities could be created under NREGA for not only providing them with work, but also for creating productive assets in the countryside resulting in enhancement of basic quality of life for the inhabitants.

So, it does feel that there has not been done enough ground work for creating awareness about the programme. It has been observed that people are still not aware of the fact that they can demand work under NREGA as a matter of their right. Most of them are still not aware of their right to demand unemployment allowance as a result of implementing agency’s failure to provide the work within the statutory fifteen days of the receipt of petition demanding such a wage employment. The necessary allocations for such IEC exercises also remain unutilised in a good number of cases.

Surprisingly, unemployment allowance paid so far anywhere in the country is a very negligible amount of the total expenditure. The reason proffered for the same is provisioning of job within the statutory 15 days which is not the case. Actually, many implementing agencies have mastered the art of refusing unemployment allowance by not issuing the signed receipt for the applications demanding job. The payment of unemployment allowance is not only a charge on the local government, but also means the failure of the implementing agency to provide job within 15 days.

In case of such a failure, the officers and staff members concerned are supposed to be penalised if responsibility is fixed. Hence, the penchant for avoiding payment of unemployment allowances. There have reportedly been regular failures on the part of the many executing agencies to provide the demanded work within fifteen days, thereby defeating the very objective of NREGA. Not only this, no government official has yet been penalised for having failed to realise this programme objective notwithstanding there being the provision for the same.

Under NREGA, there is an in-built mechanism to check corruption and leakage of government money by means of better supervisory and monitoring arrangements. The same is supposed to be ensured by way of regular monitoring, field visits, muster roll checking by public, wide publicity of the details of the work being done or already done through an information board and other social auditing measures by the beneficiaries and other members of the society. The muster rolls are supposed to be publicly read to ward off corruption. However, the same is not being done regularly, thereby giving rise to suspicion of foul play. The provision of keeping an account of job demanded and provided through the specially designed individual job cards carrying photographs of the household members is also supposed to be a major anti-corruption tool.

However, it was believed that these very arrangements were reasons for a general apathy initially among the programme implementing agencies to implement the scheme effectively as there was almost negligible scope for siphoning of government money as was available earlier during the previous wage employment schemes including Swarnjayanti Gram Rojgar Yojna (SGRY) days.

But as they say, human ingenuity knows no bounds. The vested interests immediately discovered newer ways to sabotage the programme and got onto the gravy train. If some newspaper reports are to be believed, not only many fake job cards have come to notice of the monitors, but also there have been many reports where it has been found that implementing agencies or locally dominant factions have got a good number of job cards deposited in their custody and are using the same for nefarious purpose of minting money illegally.

Reports of preparation of cooked-up muster rolls without execution of any work have also come to notice, not to speak of many other known ways of making money. Not only this, employment to job card holders is still being given more as an obligation than as a matter of right. It is complained that the site selection for the schemes is often politically motivated. Usually, those areas are alleged to be preferred for NREGA works which are under control of the locally dominant factions, and not those as are populated by the supporters other than the locally dominant factions. It has also been alleged that the locally dominant party often uses the scheme to oblige its supporters, thereby giving a miss to the workers who are opposition followers.

It has been alleged that by means of fake cards, the vested interests have ensured siphoning of government money by making false entries into the muster roll and the daily attendance sheet. It has also been complained that job cards have not been issued to all those who wanted it and applied for it, but only to those who are loyal to the locally dominant party/faction or could grease some palms. The practice of getting a cut out of the labour wages of workers has also come to the notice and has been reported in the press. With regular monitoring, supervision and participatory social audit, scope for such shenanigans have been reduced considerably.

Also, the wage is supposed to be paid as per the quantum of work done by the individual labourers. However, the same has been noticed to be paid at a flat rate irrespective of the efficiency or work quantum standards in some of the cases, thereby rewarding a hare and a tortoise equally, something which goes against the purported objective of the scheme. The initial idea was that those working harder with higher productivity should be able to earn higher wages under the scheme. At many of the places, officials have pointed to the practical constraint of continuing with the ‘flat rate wage payment’ as differentiated payment creates discontentment among the workers.

Again, the workers have often unfairly refused to work beyond a few hours or at the pre-determined wage on various pretexts. This is simply because NREGA being a government scheme, they would not like to work harder and would like to just have their wages without putting in the requisite labour for a requisite output. At least, that is what has come to be heard by the implementing agencies at some places. But thankfully such instances are only few and far between.

Also, the basic work site amenities as are supposed to be there as per the programme guideline are often not found to be available. The provisioning of a crèche for children of working women, provisioning of the first aid boxes or potable water at the work sites are still not seen at most of the places. The stock argument proffered is that people feel that employment created through such works are less strenuous and villagers object to the fact that some people can earn their wages without putting in any hard labour.

If at all such amenities are provided, they are only to comply with the guideline rather than to fulfil the real spirit behind the provision. What they fail to realise is that such works can accommodate not only the physically handicapped people, but the same works can be rotated among the beneficiaries, if the handicapped or such other people are not readily available.

The signboard giving details of the ongoing or completed NREGA works is also found missing at many of the sites and is often put up without much details. However, the absence of the information board giving scheme details says something about the intentions of the implementing agencies, the motives being pre-empting people to question the quality and quantity of the works done. But such an argument does not stand in this age of Right to Information when any and every information can be accessed by way of the rights created under the said Act.

Several suggestions are being made to modify and improve NREGA further. It is felt by many that the material-wage ratio of 40-60 should be hiked to be 50-50 and this ceiling should be flexible enough to be applicable only at the state level so as to make allowance for taking up bigger and better schemes. The use of machineries should be made more flexible than it is admissible now though the same should be explicitly linked to facilitating the works and without compromising the generation of more mandays under NREGA.

Again, individual benefit schemes (IBS) have been allowed for weaker sections/marginal/small farmers for the permissible schemes under NREGA. Such schemes include conversion of wasteland/uncultivable/undulating land into cultivable land, roof-top water harvesting structures, construction of dug-wells, soil conservation, excavation of pond/water harvesting structures, social forestry schemes, watershed development schemes, construction of irrigation channels and some other schemes.

Many states have done exceedingly well while many other states have a long way to go on this count. One feels that there is a need to move methodically with regards to the implementation of IBS under NREGA as the same shall not only result in creation of more mandays in the under/undeveloped areas, but shall also create productive assets in the countryside. The same is likely to have immense multiplier effects. Timely identification of beneficiaries and creation of model scheme banks shall go a long way.

Again, there is a lot of scope for convergence or dove-tailing of NREGA with other schemes/programmes implemented by the line departments. If converged with other cognate schemes, the same shall help in more employment generation. It shall also result in improvement in the quality of schemes executed as the pool of resources available shall increase manifold through such convergence.

Convergence with Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) shall be another area requiring attention of the policy makers. As is known, TSC is one of the flagship schemes of the Government. However, the same has not been in a very good shape in many parts of the country. Even at the places where sanitary toilets have been constructed, they are not being used by the beneficiaries for different reasons including the one relating to the quality of the toilet constructed if feedback from the beneficiaries are to be relied upon. The main problem against the extant model is need of lot of water for flushing the night-soil which becomes more acute in the water-deficient areas. As the new model envisages use of ceramic pan in stead of a concrete one, water requirement could be greatly reduced.

Now that we are undertaking several individual benefit schemes (IBS) under schemes like NREGA, one feels that the convergence between the two (i.e. NREGA and TSC) can do wonders for both the development programmes, particularly TSC. Since now we allow expenditure upto a maximum of Rs. 150,000 for an IBS under NREGA for the small/marginal farmers, the dove-tailing of the schemes can do wonders to TSC, a scheme critical to the basic health and hygiene in the countryside.

Under the proposed convergence programme, people could be encouraged to contribute their share (Rs. 300/BPL household Rs. 2200 scheme subsidy and Rs. 2500/APL household) and then the rest could be contributed out of NREGA, thereby greatly encouraging people to opt for construction of sanitary toilets in their premises. Such models are not only more durable, they shall also need less water for flushing the night-soil. The total cost of a sanitary toilet under the proposed convergence may be around Rs. 6500. It is hoped that with proper IEC (Information, Education and Communication) campaign, the said convergence can do a world of good to our sanitation programme.

We are hopeful that this model of sanitary toilets when integrated with the IBS under NREGA has the possibility of becoming quite popular and could realize the objectives of the total sanitation campaign. This small piece of change to be effected through NREGA funds (if allowed) could go a long way in ensuring better health and hygiene in our countryside, not to speak of the possibility of unleashing immense opportunities for employment generation.

The administration of NREGA can improve further with a dedicated Programme Management Unit (envisaged, but still not done at many places) at all the levels including districts, blocks and Gram Panchayats. There is also a need for proper utilisation of the six per cent contingency provided for provisioning of the requisite infrastructures and manpower required for better programme implementation. Fund flow to various programme implementing agencies (PIAs) has to improve with proper coordination among the District Programme Management Unit, banks, post offices and all other concerned.

Newer NREGA schemes should be taken up. Such schemes may include solid waste management, more IBSs, drainage system, construction of model houses (of specific value a la IAY), sanitary toilets, kitchen gardens, rural hats, repair and maintenance of government building including construction of boundary walls. Self help groups (SHGs) and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) need to be involved in a huge way in various ways in implementations of the schemes including monitoring, work measurement and social auditing of the scheme.

Approved and vetted shelf of schemes should be ready for better and faster implementation of the NREGA schemes. Also, there is a need for the proper planning for all the seasons of the year. Still, the focus seems to be on expenditure of maximum money under NREGA but as it is a demand-driven scheme, the focus should be to generate employment for the unemployed to prevent them from emigrating to the urban areas while also creating valuable assets in the countryside.

If NREGA has to be successful in realising its programme objectives, then these concerns and problems, as mentioned above, need to be addressed sooner rather than later. One just hopes that with regular monitoring, social auditing and proper accounting coupled with some positive changes required in the light of experience gained during its operation over the years, NREGA can really become an effective answer to many of the problems for India’s poor masses.

The Great Indian Nation: Are We Racist?
*Saumitra Mohan

We, as a nation, have been very sensitive to ‘racism’ for a long time and continue to be so. The recent times have seen a lot many issues relating to race and racism hogging media attention. The recent attacks against Indians in Australia have also kept the racism debate alive in this country. It was our own Mahatma Gandhi who had taken up the cudgel against ‘apartheid’, the dreaded racist policies in South Africa of the yore. His first encounter with racial discrimination at the Pieter Maritzburg railway station in South Africa towards the end of 19th century became the symbol of a fight against the colonial powers all over the world.

When India became independent, non-discrimination on the basis of race was included in Article 15 of the Indian Constitution. Later, India also joined and signed various global instruments including the International Convention against Racial Discrimination. But one finds it really surprising when Indians are accused of racism and racist behaviour.

Be it the ESPN advertisement during the Cricket World Cup, the preference for fair complexioned cheer leaders over dark ones during the Indian Premier League cricket matches, the alleged comment made by a Radio Jockey against Prashant Tamang, the Sony Indian Idol or the Andrew Symonds controversy surrounding Harbhajan Singh’s alleged ‘Monkey’ remark against the former, the issue of racism seems to have become a regular part of our intellectual consciousness. Very recently, one very senior and respected politician from North East alleged that he has been butt of racist remarks in this country. Are we, as a nation, really racist?

Is the hoary caste system or the related obnoxious practice of untouchability (now banned vide Article 17 of the Indian Constitution) responsible for the same? Even though caste system and untouchability are still living realities (though with subdued rigour and vigour) in this country, is it that the same has also fashioned our likes or dislikes for a particular community, caste, race, religion or is it just our misplaced fascination with the fair complexion. After all, fair complexion has been associated with the high caste Aryans in this country even though that barrier has long been broken. We have dark complexioned members in any and every caste or community as a result of inter-caste and inter-racial matrimonies. Not only this, we also have differently complexioned members as part of the same family.

Still, the affection for fair complexion subsists and survives in our sub-consciousness and often comes forward to modulate our behaviour towards differently complexioned differently. The Indian perception of beauty is often defined in terms of fair complexion. Aren’t almost all our Gods fair complexioned and all the demons dark complexioned?

Since then, dark complexion is believed to be associated with sins and vices while fair complexion has been associated with piousness, chastity, virtue and beauty. Indians’ craze for the white/fair complexion is borne out by the huge market for the fairness cream and other such cosmetic products in this country. You can sell any ‘damn’ product here as long as you can promise that the same could enhance fairness of the skin. Our matrimonial advertisements also bear out the preference for a fair complexioned spouse. Many males in this country harbour the desire of having a fair complexioned wife, if, at least, to have fair complexioned children. If your kids are fair complexioned, you could be assured of finding a suitable match for them quite easily. This applies more to the daughters than to the sons.

Many African nationals have often alleged discriminatory/racist behaviour by Indians. Being relatively fairer than the Africans, many Indians deem themselves racially superior. There was a time when there was an innate bias in favour of fair complexioned people while selecting air hostesses, TV newsreaders, actors and actresses or, at least, so was alleged. Still most of our successful actors and actresses are not shot with their true complexion. Most of the successful Bollywood actors and actresses, even though not-so-fair-complexioned, are all portrayed as fair complexioned persons. At least, that’s how most of us know them.

Various colloquial appellations with racial overtones are also part of our day to day cant. Words such as Mallu, Chinky, Sardarji, Gujju, Punju, Bihari and so on have become inalienable part of our day-to-day vocabulary. And so have become the jokes based on stereotypical behaviour relating to them. And we all love sharing or cracking jokes based on a Mallu, a Sardarji, a Bihari or a Gujju. But does that prove that we are racist?

One feels that such prejudices are not natural to India or Indians alone, but it is a global phenomenon. Racial, gender or regional typecasting or such prejudices are formed on the basis of our day to day interactions. Such typecasting also stems from some hoary folklore or history. All this slowly becomes ingrained in our subconsciousness and forces us to form a particular opinion about a particular caste or community. We gradually start accepting the same as natural. At least, the hoi polloi does the same.

And that is why a ‘Gujju’ or a ‘Marwari’ is associated with his love for money or a ‘Mallu’ or a ‘Bihari’ is known for his penchant to go anywhere in search of work or a business. The ‘Mallu’ is also ridiculed for his accent and so is a ‘Bihari’ or a ‘Jat’. A ‘Sardarji’ is the perpetual butt of many of our jokes as is a ‘blonde’, or an ‘Indian’ (read Red Indian) or a ‘Pathan’ elsewhere.

One feels that this is all very healthy as long as the same is done and accepted with a sense of humour without making much of it and as long as the same helps us in enjoying a hearty laughter at the expense of each other. This is how societal camaraderie grows and a civilization evolves. Actually, it is our unwarranted and over the top reactions which is responsible for creation of a needless controversy. It is definitely not in the same genre as ‘apartheid’ or the abhorrent ‘slavery’ of the recent past. It is definitely not racism unless and until the same is not said or done with an intent to insult or humiliate someone.

When someone cracks a ‘Sardarji’ or a ‘Mallu’ joke, the idea is definitely not to inflict insult or humiliation on someone as both are supposed to be very successful members of the Indian society. But it becomes a problem once we take the same too seriously and start depriving each other of the deserved opportunities or social goodies or in allocation/distribution of societal values (a la David Easton) on the basis of such prejudiced opinions. The violence stemming from such opinionated prejudices can actually turn out to be serious enough as to break a nation as happened to Pakistan during the 1970s. Thankfully, this is not true in case of Indian society.

If separatism in Punjab could not succeed, one reason for the same is said to be the ‘Roti-Beti Ka Rishta’ (relationship of livelihood and matrimony) between the two dominant communities there. Similarly, as we go along and the society experiences more inter-caste, inter-religious, inter-community and inter-regional marriages, such notions and prejudices shall slowly lose their sting. And then even if cracked or commented, such jokes or remarks shall probably not evoke the same reactions as they do now.

India traditionally has been a very open society, welcoming and accepting anyone reaching its shores. And that is why it has become what it is today, a ‘salad bowl’. A plural, multi-racial and multi-ethnic society often experiences such behaviour by members of the society and it is not abnormal as long as the same is in a good spirit without malice to anyone. One also feels that such conduct or such reactions shall get tempered with time as we go along and become more mature as a society, when our nation building process is complete in all respects, when our society become more egalitarian and when almost all members of our society become relatively more educated and enlightened.

Changing Climate: Changing Ourselves
*Saumitra Mohan

There is a wide consensus all around that the problem of climate change stemming from the increasing concentration of green house gases (GHG) in our atmosphere is going to be the biggest challenge to the existence of life on this Blue Planet. And if there were any scruples left, the erratic climatic behaviour all over the globe including the Monsoon Deficit in India has disabused the same. It is also agreed unanimously that we would postpone the solution to this problem only at our own peril.

It is believed that the rise of even two degree Celsius shall mean the collapse of the global ecosystem. The global temperature has already risen by 0.6 degree Celsius since the beginning of the 19th century. The Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) believes that global temperature shall rise between 0.5 and 2.5 degree Celsius by 2050 AD with an estimated rise of 1.4 to 5.8 degree Celsius by 2100 AD. An estimated 10 billion metric tons of carbon is said to be pumped into our atmosphere every year.

Even if we go by the most optimistic scenario, the global temperature, because of the sustained anthropogenic emissions and other cognate reasons, is likely to rise between 1.1 to 2.9 degree Celsius by the end of this century. As a result of crossing this critical threshold of two degree Celsius, it is believed that the same shall result in the global GDP loss between 1-5 per cent. The sub-Saharan countries are likely to be the most affected. Their economies may get devastated as a result thereof.

There is a real apprehension that melting ice cap of the snow-clad mountains and the melting ice sheet at Antarctica shall result into a gradual rise in the sea level. The IPCC assumes a sea level rise between seven to 23 inches by 2100 AD. The same is likely to displace millions of population in the littoral and riparian areas giving rise to the phenomenon of the environmental refugees. It is believed that every one centimetre rise in the sea level results in the displacement of about one million people.

A customized relief and rehabilitation programme needs to be drafted for them to preempt the impending catastrophe that may befall the human race in the times to come. Not only this, the resulting large-scale migration would also mean increased tension and discord among the countries of the world. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN agency concerned with the refugee matters needs to gear up early to face up to the challenge. The phenomenon of environmental refugees may turn out to be one of the biggest human catastrophes of all time.

The aggravating global warming is also likely to result in erratic climatic behaviour including irregular precipitations as is already visible now in the form of deficient monsoon in this country. The meteorological and climatogenic changes shall herald myriad problems. They would vary from flash floods stemming from abnormal precipitations at certain places to storm surges to drought-like conditions at many others. The rainfall patterns shall change for ever and so shall change the soil composition at many places thereby negatively impacting agriculture of that region.

All the situations shall uniformly lead to crop reduction or crop failures bringing in a food crisis with very serious implications for the nutritional security of world’s 6.75 billion people. Even though it is projected that India may be freed from the clutches of poverty, hunger and malnutrition and would become an environmentally safe country by 2030 AD, we should not forget that there are reportedly about 200 million undernourished and about 300 million people subsisting below the poverty line in this country. One just hopes that our National Food Security Mission succeeds in realizing its objectives and should thereby see through the feared food scarcity.

We shall also be confronting a severe water insufficiency as a result of the erratic rainfall. Abnormally high precipitation shall not mean high water table. Most of this hydrological bounty is likely to be drained out as a result of increased run-offs and also due to reduced holding power of the soil because of reduced forest cover. Melting ice cap or ice sheet shall deprive our rivers of a perennial water source. This would make our rivers seasonal thereby making water scarcity severer.

The dreaded sea level rise shall also mean that brackish water shall not only encroach upon the agricultural land making them unworthy of agriculture, but shall also infiltrate the freshwater aquifers thereby further threatening the source of potable drinking water. The resulting water stress or water crisis is told to be serious enough to engender water-related battles, even wars among nations. There shall, therefore, be a need for water use efficiency and a well-drawn water management policy. The watershed development would require special attention. More than that, there is a need for the end-users to use the water as efficiently and as sparingly as possible.

Besides, a serious health emergency is also awaiting us if we fail to respond to the incoming challenge in time. There shall be grave health-related problems in the form of increased incidence of various kinds of known and unknown diseases. They shall be mostly vector and water borne diseases, not to speak of various dermatological disorders and diseases occurring mostly because of hyper-thermogenic disorders. The climatic changes are also likely to affect our rich bio-diversity and physical geography. It is believed that millions of plant and animal species, many thousands already endangered, shall become extinct for ever.

The poor and the most vulnerable sections of the society are likely to be the worst affected by the climate change. This is because of their limited capacity, capability and resources at hand. There shall, ergo, be a need to find alternative livelihoods for these sections of the society. They shall not only lose their home and hearth first, but shall also be devoid of any resource or capacity to cope with the impending calamity. It is imperative today to ensure that millennium development goals (MDG) including halving the number of global poor by half by 2015 AD are realized will in time.

The provisioning of better hygiene and sanitation, health services, basic education and safe potable drinking water are among other important goals which are intricately intertwined with the problem of climate change. A healthy and better educated human resource can better cope with the problem at hand. After all, poverty is known to be one of the biggest reasons for pollution and global warming. And all round development is supposed to be the best antidote of this Mother of all problems. Famous social scientist John Rawls rightly says that ‘justice consists in maximizing the welfare of the worst off individuals’. Governments all over the world need to coordinate their actions to ensure that a suitable disaster management plan is in place to deal with any such situation.

But herein lies the nub of the problem. Notwithstanding the fact that there has been a series of dialogues to discuss the various aspects of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the developed North and the developing South are still to reach a consensus about the various modalities appertaining the ways to deal with the crisis. While the developing countries including India argue (quite rightly) that since it is the West which has caused the problem, hence, it is West which should share the major burden of meeting the challenge. They believe that the West must clean the Augean Stables it has left behind in its rush to reach to the top of the pecking order.

Even today, the per capita emission in the United States is four times that of China and 20 times that of India though China surpassed the United States in terms of emission of carbon dioxide in 2006 itself. India has proposed a 0.5 per cent of Gross Domestic Products (GDP) of the developed countries (reasonably less when compared to the 0.7 per cent recommended by the South Commission during the 1960s) to be contributed to an Adaptation Fund (something like a Green Marshall Plan) to be utilised for the purposes of helping the developing countries in meeting their sundry responsibilities arising out of the climate change problem.

To further curb emission of GHG, there is not only a need to check unbridled consumerism, but there is also a need for increasing production and consumption efficiencies across the board. Our water and energy consumption need to become more efficient. It is widely felt that people should be encouraged to use public transportation more than ever, but before that there shall be a need to make the same more efficient and more people-friendly.

There are recommendations for the impositions of high fuel and car taxes to discourage private car ownership. Tougher energy standards and high user (utility) prices are being suggested for everything to make the consumption more efficient across the board to reduce the ‘Consumption Overload’ on Mother Nature. There is also a need for an intensified education and awareness programme to conscientise our people and to make them appreciate the challenge at hand. Our day-to-day behaviour and consumption patterns also need to be adapted to bring the same in sync with the demands of our environment.

Our buildings need to become more energy efficient. The concept of ‘smart homes’ is required to be adopted in keeping with the changing times. All new constructions need to meet climate vulnerability norms. Our town planning and infrastructural constructions need to integrate the climate change concerns. There shall also be a need to build our infrastructures above the apprehended sea levels. In fact, many countries like Netherlands are already building defenses against the expected sea-level rise. Our weather forecasts shall accordingly be required to become more precise to safeguard the population from the vagaries of nature.

Besides, we need to undertake massive exercises for greening the globe to roll back the damages wrought to the Mother Nature. Hence, there shall be an urgent need to undertake afforestation at a massive scale as part of the humongous geo-engineering which might be needed for the purpose. The concepts of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Emission Trading System under United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) can be suitably brought into service.

CDM means carbon offsets offered to rich country firms and institutions in exchange for the financing of emission reduction projects in the developing countries. And emission trading means sale of one’s quota of emission in exchange for financial or other assistance to those who need higher emission caps. There is also a need to build more biological sinks, give requisite tax incentives for adoption of costly but eco-friendly technologies, discovery of clean energy sources, putting in place a system of emission credits, ensuring better energy efficiency and to discourage carbon-intensive energy infrastructures.

Furthermore, we need to give deserved attention to our agriculture. As far as India is concerned, there is a crying need for a second Green Revolution in this country. Still about two-thirds of our net cropped area is under dry land farming and is rain-fed, accounting for about 42 per cent of the total food produce. An effort should be made by all to reduce our dependency on weather by expanding our irrigation network and bringing more areas into it.

We need to strengthen our irrigation capacity further to ward against an erratic monsoon. The proposed river linking project could go a long way towards an improved food security for our country provided the same could be made cost-effective and scientifically more practicable. The related R and D and agricultural extension services need to be suitably attended and undertaken. Climatic stress proof seedlings and saplings need to be discovered and popularized to ensure an undisturbed supply of food grains for us all. Genetically modified food, even though not universally acceptable, can show a way forward provided popular apprehensions could be suitably taken care of.

It is felt that we need more of ‘Rurbanism’ i.e. keeping a balance between the development of rural and urban areas. Even though we already have a National Action Plan on Climate Change in place, we need to see to it that the same is implemented with all seriousness. There is a greater need for building practical partnerships among countries of the world, NGOs, INGOs, United Nations, businesses and all concerned to better face the climate change challenge.

Transfer of technologies from the West to the East is one of the many proposed solutions. Eco-friendly technologies for coal gasification, carbon capture and carbon sequestration apart from creation of an efficient carbon storage mechanism, discovery of low carbon fuels and expedited development of renewable energy sources shall be required to better face the global warming problem. We also need to find and invest in alternative energy sources. There shall be a need to make huge investment in research and development (R& D) efforts for the purpose.

There shall be a need to introduce suitable changes in WTO’s (World Trade Organization) trade related intellectual property rights (TRIPS) regime to encourage transfer of eco-friendly technologies from the North to the South. There shall also be a need for enough escape clauses in the UNFCCCC to allow the developing countries to be able to strike a balance between the demands for development and the concerns of climate changes. Today, initiatives like International Carbon Sequestration Technology Forum (ICSTF) need to be encouraged more.

Burden-sharing among members of the Comity of Nations is one of the principal solutions doing rounds. A major portion of the same has to be borne by the developed countries because it is rightly felt that it is reckless consumerism and unsustainable life style of the West which has been chiefly responsible for the present climatic conditions. The North need to take a lead in this because of their better endowment in terms of resources and share the same with the developing South as the advantages or disadvantages emanating from a ruined ecology shall unfailingly come to all. The countries of the world shall need to work out a better synergy to face this problem when they meet next at the Copenhagen Summit later this year.

The Refugee Problem: Need for a Coordinated Response
*Saumitra Mohan

From a population displacement perspective, South Asian region has a unique history. Here, people have been pushed beyond their borders as a result of war or they have left their country of origin on ethnic, racial, ideological or religious grounds. Subsequently, migrations have taken place for environmental or developmental reasons as well. The States of India and Pakistan witnessed massive refugee movements from the time of independence itself. After the 1947 partition, 7.5 million Hindu and Sikh refugees from Pakistan crossed over to India and 7.2 million Muslim refugees from India crossed to Pakistan. It was the largest recorded refugee movement in history.

There was little international assistance in this massive humanitarian crisis. Later, in 1971, 10 million refugees crossed over to India during the war of independence of Bangladesh. In 1979, 3.5 million Afghans fleeing Soviet intervention in their country sought and received asylum in Pakistan of which 1.2 million are still said to be there in the refugee villages. Between 1970s-1990s, Bangladesh has been witness to the influx of over 300,000 Muslim refugees from Rakhine district in Myanmar, of whom nearly 30,000 refugees are still to be repatriated. Similarly, 90,000 Bhutanese of Nepali origin were expelled and a substantial number of them are still located in refugee camps in Jhapa district of Nepal. However, many of them have been recently resettled in third countries by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Sri Lanka has often been described as an 'Island of Refugees' due to external displacement of Tamils and internal displacements of Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslims. Though Sri Lanka is not known as an asylum country, it is well known as a refugee-producing country. Since 1983, Sri Lanka has produced hundreds of thousands of refugees apart from over 500,000 Sri Lankan Tamil 'jet refugees' to the Western world. Major portion of Sri Lankan refugees in Tamil Nadu were voluntarily repatriated, but still over 60,000 have remained behind due to the ongoing security crisis in North-East Sri Lanka.

Since 1960s, India has been hosting over 100,000 Tibetan refugees and some 50,000 Buddhist Chakma refugees from Chittagong hill tracts in Bangladesh, some of whom were repatriated recently. India also has permitted UNHCR to assist about 12,000 Afghan refugees on pure humanitarian grounds. Maldives is the only SAARC country, which neither produced nor hosted a significant refugee population.

Despite these past and existing refugee movements and deep rooted humanitarian traditions of asylum, none of the SAARC countries has acceded to the 1951 International Convention on Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, which has been ratified by 136 countries in the world. However, all the SAARC countries, except Bhutan and Nepal, have offices of the UNHCR - the UN agency responsible for the promotion of the Refugee Instruments and marshalling of international humanitarian assistance on behalf of the refugees.

The reasons advanced for the non-accession to the 1951 Convention or the 1967 Protocol by SAARC countries are very similar in content. They argue that they have rich traditions of asylum comparable to international standards, sometimes even better than what is practiced by some of the signatory states to the International Refugee Instruments. Therefore, they would continue to deal with refugee issues on ad hoc bilateral policy basis, but welcome international humanitarian assistance based on burden-sharing (with the exception of India).

SAARC countries further argue that the persecution-based 1951 Convention or 1967 Protocol is inadequate to comprehensively address the current refugee issues in the region, which are mostly the result of internal conflicts and not due to fear of persecution by the states per se. In support of their contention of inadequacy of the International Refugee Instruments, they cite the regional refugee instruments of Africa, the 1958 Organisation of African Unity Convention and the one for refugees in Latin America, the 1984 Cartagena Declaration on Refugees which are more comprehensive in their definition of refugees.

Refugee situation in South Asia has become chronic and has affected both national security and inter-state relations due to the reluctance of states to discuss them on pure humanitarian basis. Since all refugees are technically considered illegal aliens, they have no institutional protection or the protection of the principle of the Rule of Law. In this context, a regional Convention or Declaration on refugees by the SAARC countries becomes timely and relevant. A regional agreement on fundamental questions such as the definition of a refugee, the granting of asylum and the exceptions thereto, the cardinal principle of non-refoulement, or the voluntary nature of eventual repatriation of refugees would reduce the room for friction between the state interlocutors. A SAARC Refugee Convention or Declaration would also mean a great step forward in developing a humanitarian regime in the region.

In the case of India, the Superior Courts have addressed certain humanitarian concerns of the refugees on the basis of constitutionally guaranteed fundamental and human rights. But no such developments have taken place in any other SAARC countries. The prevailing political and security preoccupations of each country determines the standards of treatment for the refugees. These standards may differ from time to time and from one country to another.

By developing a regional Convention or Declaration on refugees, the SAARC countries would not only be recognizing and refining the existing traditional humanitarian policies, but will also be developing a set of non-contentious principles, which will enhance the organisational solidarity and its commitment to human rights. Such a Convention or Declaration will not be a document borrowed from outside that is unsuitable for the specific needs of the refugee problem in the region, but a SAARC-developed piece of international law.

There are differing opinions on the advisability of having a regional or a national instrument but, there is definitely unanimity on the fact that there should be a specific legal instrument on refugees in the region to guide the governments in their policy towards refugees. Whether the South Asian governments would like to accede to the existing international refugee regime, or they would like to have a legislation of their own, is something that they need to take a decision about. However, there are certain issues that can be better dealt with within the multi-lateral regional framework.

It is high time the South Asian countries took a stand on the refugee regime issue, rather than dealing with the same through administrative measures. Hence, the South Asian countries should have a specific refugee legislation of their own. Since they have already been accepting and hosting refugees, by having a specialised legislation, they would only formalise and give a concrete shape to the existing practices. This legislation can be specially designed to factor the respective national interests, making it more in sync with the sub-continental reality than the international refugee regime that was drafted in a Cold War context and appears to be out of touch with the ground realities in South Asia.

By doing away with the element of discretion and putting in place an organised structure and infrastructure for dealing with refugees, the new system can be custom-made to regional and national interests. Such a system would make the regional reaction to refugee problem more consistent, coordinated and predictable. It would also help the countries of the region in meeting their international obligation required under the UN system. Drafting of a ‘Model National Law’ and ‘Draft Regional Declaration’ on refugees under the leadership of UNHCR are positive developments in this regard. It is hoped that by taking a positive decision to have a specialised legislation on refugees, the countries of South Asia would live up to their reputation of being a liberal host to the refugees on their shores.

Creating Newer States: How Desirable?
*Saumitra Mohan

Given the way demands for creation of newer states keep cropping up from time to time, it seems that the reconfiguration and reorganization of the Indian State could go on for ever. One felt that no such political demands centring around creation of a separate state would be put forward after the last such exercise was undertaken in the year 2000. The same resulted in the birth of three new states namely Chattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttaranchal.

The country has witnessed many such demands in recent times as also borne out by the fact that as many as ten such demands are now pending with the Central Home Ministry. These inter alia include demands for a separate Mithilanchal in Bihar, Saurashtra in Gujarat, Coorg in Karnataka, a Harit Pradesh in UP, Telangana in Andhra Pradesh, Gorkhaland in West Bengal, Bundelkhand comprising areas from UP and MP and a Bhojpur carved out of Eastern UP, Bihar and Chattisgarh.

The demands have been raised by disparate political organisations like Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) coming forward for a separate Telangana state and Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJMM) pitching for a separate Gorkhaland state. The demand for creation of Bundelkhand comprising districts like Banda, Chitrakoot, Jhansi, Lalitpur and Sagar of UP and MP has also been pending with the Home Ministry for quite some time.

The creation of a separate state of Saurashtra in Gujarat, one of the most prosperous states, is said to be pending with the Ministry for several years now. The Centre has also received representations for creation of a Harit Pradesh or a Kisan Pradesh consisting of several districts of western UP. The Central Home Ministry is also said to be in receipt of formal demands for creation of a Mithilanchal or a Mithila state comprising territories in Bihar, Greater Cooch Behar out of parts of West Bengal and Assam, Vidarbha in Maharashtra and a state for the Coorg region of Karnataka from different political and non-political organisations.

Before acceding to or even considering such demands, we should not forget as to how India broke into fragments after the decline and degeneration of the Mughal Empire. Many Ex-Governors of the Mughal principalities called ‘subahs’ declared their independence. And by the middle of the 18th century, there were congeries of ‘rajas’ and ‘nawabs’ who held sway over 600 principalities across the sub-continent. It was this India that Robert Clive defeated and subjugated after the historic battle of Plassey in 1757. This established British Raj in this country that lasted for about 200 years.

What was notable in all this was the fact that Robert Clive could emerge victorious with the help of a faction of army of Nawab Sirajudaullah. These ‘fifth columnists’, not bound by any feelings of nationality, did not deem it an act of treachery to let their Nawab down. This was again repeated 100 years later in 1857 when the English were able to stave off the challenge to their rule from Indian forces by using different factions of Indian forces through their notorious and reviled policy of ‘divide and rule’.

These forces, who supported the English, thought nothing of siding with an alien power as the feeling of Indian Nationhood or an overarching sovereign Indian State was conspicuous by its absence. There were Marathas, Sikhs, Muslims, Rajputs, Biharis and Jats, but there were no Indians. The famed ‘Aryavarta’ or ‘Hindustan’ was nothing but a geographical connotation. Today’s India actually emerged out of the womb of the British Raj. In fact, one of the unintended benefits of the Raj is said to be the integration of India which ultimately gave rise to the extant Indianness.

It was this feeling of Indianness which was responsible for catalyzing our freedom struggle, thereby paving way for the creation of a pan-Indian Nation. It is this Indianness that Jawaharlal Nehru discovered, Mahatma Gandhi nurtured, and Sardar Patel consolidated. We have only been fostering, cherishing and relishing the fruits of a free and sovereign Indian State that our forefathers bequeathed us.

Now, we need to ponder as to whether we can allow this hard-earned unity and nationhood to be dented or destroyed by new parochial demands for creation of smaller states based on ethnicity, culture or linguistic factors. There is also a considered view that creation of new states never means that no such demands would be made in future. In fact, their creation is actually said to be an encouragement to such fissiparous forces who make and pursue such demand if only to grind their own axe.

After the creation of Chattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttaranchal, there are still newer demands to further divide these states e.g. the demand for Harit Pradesh in UP and that of a Mithilanchal in Bihar. Once Saurashtra is carved out of Gujarat, there is no guarantee that the Kutchis would not demand their own state. In fact, there is already such a move by the erstwhile Maharaja of Kutch. In Andhra Pradesh, the talk of Telangana has caused uneasiness in the Rayalseema region which wants its own separate state. Muslims in Hyderabad region also yearn for an Urdu state of their own. This is a never ending vortex into which the celebrated Indian Nation might get sucked for ever.

Some observers believe that many such demands are merely political in nature, being made as part of populist politics rather than being genuinely popular demands. Before becoming a reality, such a demand should not only be rooted in a genuine popular desire, but also needs the backing and recommendation of the local state government. No such recommendation has so far been made by any of the concerned state government, without which they remain mere wishful thinking.

However, many argue that some of the Indian states are still very large and need to be broken up into manageable units without being swayed by any consideration of petty politics. They also argue that there is indeed a case for a second State Reorganisation Commission to consider all such demands dispassionately with a view to better governance and faster development of the country as a whole. Without being judgemental about the advisability of newer states, one does feel that any such move for creation of a new state should be predicated on the practical considerations of geographic, administrative and economic viability rather than being rooted only in populist politics.

Belling the Naxal Cat
*Saumitra Mohan

After making a tactical retreat from Lalgarh in West Bengal following the state offensive, the Maoists were waiting for an opportunity to strike back to make their sinister presence felt. The recent outrage resulting in the killing of 36 policemen including an SP in Chattisgarh was an example of what the Naxals are capable of. This takes the casualty toll to 148 this year in that hapless state falling in the so-called Red Corridor. Indeed, the three almost simultaneous attacks were the deadliest of the extremist violence Chattisgarh has seen in recent times.

The Maoists seem to have struck with lot of precision and planning. The modality and dynamics of the strike are said to be somewhat reminiscent of the early seventies in West Bengal. The worst strike took place in Rajnandgaon, barely 70 km from the state capital of Raipur. This points to the audacity which informs the functioning of the Maoists these days. They appear intent on moving closer to the seat of authority from the forests and tribal areas. If some of the intelligence reports are to be believed, the Naxals are working hard to make forays into towns and cities through recruitment of more and more volunteers.

The slain SP, who was on the Naxal hit-list for quite sometime, is said to have been targeted for his deemed success in breaking the extremists’ urban network in Bhilai city in Madhya Pradesh. The way Naxals could pull off this strike with deadly effect points to the need for further sprucing up our intelligence and internal security apparatus.

Rightly, the Naxalism has been termed as the biggest threat to the national security by none other than the Prime Minister himself. The Union Home Minister Mr. P. Chidambaram has also bracketed Maoists with terrorists for the threat they pose to the internal security. Be it noted that CPI (Maoists) has been declared as a banned Organization by the Centre barely a few weeks ago.

While there still seem to be no consensus on banning the Naxals, the time definitely has come to take the Naxal threat more seriously than has been felt so far. The Union Home Minster Mr. P. Chidambaram rightly believes that the Naxal menace had so far been underestimated which allowed the Left-wing extremists to consolidate and spread their wings. He has promised that the battle against Maoists ultras would be joined in full earnest through sustained efforts and drive.

The ban and the branding of Maoists as terrorists should further convince the skeptics about their insidious design on the Indian Nation. We need to find out better ways of dealing with this internal adversary masquerading as Left Radicals. There is not only need for infrastructural upgradation in terms of better logistics, equipment and arms, there is also need for better and more scientific ways of gathering intelligence. Our police force needs to be better trained and better motivated to face the Naxal challenge. The training needs to be customized to make the force understand the various nuances of anti-insurgency operations. Besides, there is undoubtedly a need for better execution and better targeting of developmental schemes in the Naxal-infested areas to extirpate the grounds of frustration and alienation there as per the recommendation of an expert panel recently.

Even though many of the politicos and observers believe that the so-called ‘liberated’ or ‘compact revolutionary’ zones are nothing but media hype, we need to take the Maoist challenge in its true perspective. This, inter alia, requires a massive overhaul of planning and coordination, along with arming and training of specialized forces. The Naxal threat appears in sharper relief once we look at the latest statistics for this year. The sundry violent incidents involving Naxals exceed those involving terrorist violence in Jammu and Kashmir and North-East put together. While Naxal-affected states reported 915 incidents, Jammu and Kashmir and North-East witnessed 810 incidents till May this year. Of these, 624 took place in the North-East and 186 in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Government is learnt to have appointed Brigadier D S Dadwal as its military advisor to help out in operational matters. Plans are also being drawn up in close consultation with different state governments. Proper coordination among the affected state governments along with a unified command structure seems to be need of the hour. The Naxal expertise in executing ambushes and mine blasts point to the extent and amount of challenge Naxalism poses to our country.

Brigadier Dadwal, who was so far serving as Deputy GOC with the 11 Infantry Division, is supposed to coordinate among disparate police forces of different states. This is likely to help in tackling the Naxal threat better. He is expected to not only advise the security agencies on specialized training, but is also supposed to help out in operational and logistical coordination. The manner in which our policemen are being repeatedly targeted in ambushes makes it necessary to constantly assess and improve tactics and strategy. The counterforce to Naxals has to be speedier and unorthodox beyond the mundane operating systems.

The truth is that the Naxals are a confused lot, not knowing what they wish to do. They actually do not seem to have any ideological mooring or any vision for the alternative they proffer vis-à-vis the system they seem to be fighting. The Indian democracy gives every ideology ample opportunity to seek popular consent through the first-past-the-post system. But till the time the Naxals do not see reason, an efficient and effective counterforce seems to be the only alternative.

Protecting the Steel Frame
*Saumitra Mohan

In a recent survey by 1274 experts working across 12 North and South Asian nations, the Indian bureaucracy has been dubbed as the worst and the least efficient in the whole continent, behind Vietnam, China and Indonesia. While the findings are not very shocking and surprising, one has every reason to worry about. After all, the future development does depend on the strength and efficiency of this institution. There is, therefore, an urgent need to grope deeper into the reasons to fix the problem rather than just keep cursing the once famed Steel Frame of India.

Among the various reasons responsible for the present sorry state of affairs of Indian bureaucracy, one principal reason relates to the constant interference with its functioning as well as the power of the political class to transfer or shunt the civil servants to inconvenient or insignificant posts. The transfers are often made for the most absurd of the reasons or sometimes for the alleged or suspected proximity to the opposing political party or faction. More often than not, if a bureaucrat decides to put his/her foot down against illegal orders or just decides to go by the rulebook, he or she often gets the boot. It is against this background that the proposed Central legislation to tackle such irregularities becomes significant.

The Centre is believed to be busy preparing a legislation which shall not only assure the civil servants of a fixed-tenure posting, but is also likely to protect them from mundane political interference in their day-to-day functioning. Not only this, all such appointments, transfers and postings of top civil servants are likely to be subject to parliamentary scrutiny to remove the element of discretion in such orders. If the proposed Bill becomes a reality, the IAS and IPS officers in the country will no longer be at the mercy of the whimsical transfers and postings which seem to be order of the day in many parts of the country.

However, there is a rider to the proposed legal protection against irregular transfers and postings. The government is also learnt to be planning to bring in a new Public Service Code which would lay down a strict performance evaluation regime for promotions and postings of India’s ‘Babus’ (read bureaucrats).

All these provisions along with many other proposals are already on the anvil as part of the proposed Civil Services Bill, 2009 to reinvigorate India’s famed steel frame to prepare it better to deal with the newer challenges of development administration and governance. The Bill is being further fine-tuned and is supposed to be a spruced-up version of the Public Service Bill, 2007, which could not see the light of the day during the previous regime. The various provisions of the Bill are likely to be applicable, first to the IAS and IPS officers and may later be extended to all the other All India Services including the Indian Forest Service.

The Bill, having incorporated sundry suggestions of the Second Administrative Reforms Commission, has also envisaged setting up a new Central Public Service Authority (CPSA) at the national level. This Authority will not only supervise the professional management of the premier civil services, but is also expected to be a watchdog to secure the interests of the civil servants and citizens through a system of checks and balances.

If the Civil Service Bill does become an Act, all the civil servants are supposed to get a minimum fixed tenure of three years. And if one is to go by the provisions enshrined in the Bill, a civil servant, being transferred prematurely, shall have to be suitably compensated for the inconvenience and harassment caused due to the same. The top-level appointments including that of the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police in the states are to be made out of a panel of candidates to be screened and drawn up by a State-level Committee comprising the Chief Minister, Leader of the Opposition as well as the Home Minister. As of now, the Chief Minister is the sole authority taking a decision on such appointments.

Usually, such transfers and postings have been the prerogatives of the government in power, with no reference to the Opposition. The proposed Bill fixes this anomaly with due recognition being given to the Leader of the Opposition as well in making a decision regarding such top appointments in the states and at the Centre. So, the Leader of the Opposition is likely to play a crucial role at both the levels. Like the state-level top appointments, the Leader of the Opposition is also to have a say in the appointment of the Cabinet Secretary and other top posts. Like the state level postings, the Cabinet Secretary, too, is likely to be selected from a panel to be drawn by the Central-level Committee comprising the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and the Home Minister. If the government decides to deviate from the norms laid out in the Act, it shall have to inform and explain the reasons for the same to the Parliament for doing so.

The performance evaluation of the bureaucrats has also been given adequate attention in the said Bill. The performance parameters of the officers are to be given due importance before being considered for the top jobs. A more scientifically-designed objective system of performance evaluation is proposed in place of the extant practice of Annual Confidential Reports (ACR) which merely takes a panoramic view of a civil servant’s work through the year. The new Performance Management System shall evaluate the bureaucrats on their job-specific achievements and the number of tasks that they perform as a Team Leader in a particular department.

The proposed system is likely to be managed by the CPSA which will supposedly be supervised by a Chairman of the rank equivalent to that of the Chief Election Commissioner. The Chairman, CPSA is to be appointed for five years by a Committee comprising the Prime Minister, a Supreme Court Judge, the Union Home Minister and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lower House of the Parliament. With the Cabinet Secretary acting as its Convener, the CPSA will aid and advise the Central Government in all matters concerning the organization, control, operation, regulation and management of public services and public servants.

CPSA is also to be the custodian of the Public Service Code for the civil servants. This Code, supposed to replace the current All India Services Conduct Rules, is to be framed with a view to enable the civil servants towards proper discharge of their official duties with competence, accountability, care, diligence, responsibility, honesty, objectivity, impartiality, without discrimination and in accordance with the law of the land. The CPSA, comprising three to five members, will also have the power to recommend action against the public servants who do not adhere to the Public Service Code and public service values. After the Bill becomes an Act, the CPSA will also compile and submit a report to the Central Government detailing the compliance with the various provisions of the new legislation by every Ministry and Department of the Government every year.

One hopes that the necessary spade-work for making this Bill into an Act shall soon be completed to make it a reality sooner than later. However, one does feel the need to hammer out the various implications such a Bill is likely to have for the Centre-State relations in our federal polity.

Employment Guarantee, Not Employment Subsidy Approach Suits Indian Conditions
*Saumitra Mohan


A liberal welfare state tries to ensure equitable distribution of the development pie by resorting to myriad ways of redistributive allocation of values among its citizens. One of such measures include employment guarantee schemes for the toiling masses to ensure them work for minimum number of days on pre-decided subsistence wages. It is with this objective that the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) was launched in all the districts of this country. This follows on the back of various employment generation and food for work programmes including Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP), Community Development Programme (CDP) and Swarnajayanti Jawahar Rojgar Yozna (SJRY). NREGS is actually predicated on the experiences and knowledge gained during implementation of all these previous schemes.

Since then, many observers have come up with suggestions and proposals for further fine-tuning of this flagship employment guarantee programme. This author read with interest an article recently which espoused the idea to provide employment subsidies to employers instead of providing guaranteed jobs through state-run employment generation programmes like the NREGS. The underlying assumption of the said proposition was the belief that such an approach would create jobs more efficiently and effectively than done by the present employment guarantee scheme.

Nobel Laureate Prof Edmund Phelps was quoted in the said write-up as saying, “Although such programmes have been substantial in Europe and the US, the working poor remain as marginalized as ever. Indeed, social spending has worsened the problem because it reduces work incentives and, thus, creates a culture of dependency and alienation from the commercial economy, undermining labour force participation, employability and employee loyalty.”

Proposing an alternative, Prof Phelps says, “The best remedy is a subsidy for low-wage employment, paid to employers for every full-time low wage worker they hire and calibrated to the employee’s wage cost to the firm. The higher the wage cost, the lower the subsidy, until it has tapered off to zero. With such wage subsidies, competitive forces would cause employers to hire more workers, and the resulting fall in unemployment would cause most of the subsidy to be paid out as direct or indirect labour compensation. People could benefit from the subsidy only by engaging in productive work.”

It is believed that the employment generated through this alternative scheme that Prof Phelps proposes, shall be an asset for the economy instead of a burden. Prof Bharat Jhunjhunwala of IIM, Bangalore believes that the present approach provides for taxes to be imposed mainly on urban business enterprises while money is spent in rural areas. The urban businesses have to bear the tax burden while the benefits are reaped by faraway villages. The business sector suffers on account of higher wage rates. The availability of some employment in the villages acts as a disincentive for workers to move from labour-surplus to labour-scarce areas because some employment is available locally under the Rojgar Guarantee Scheme. The author bemoans the fact that the business enterprises do not only have to pay higher taxes, but also have to pay higher wages. The author believes that if Prof Phelps’ suggestion is accepted then the taxes paid by businesses are recouped by receiving employment subsidies. The net outgo on wages shall be reduced due to subsidies thus received.

While the author’s suggestion for subsidy to labour-intensive industries does make some sense, but going whole hog for Prof Phelps’ proposed alternative definitely does not, more so in the Indian context. To begin with the beginning, notwithstanding the supposed failure of the employment guarantee scheme in the developed countries, they still have not been able to replace the same with the ‘employment subsidy’ approach as advocated by many including Prof Phelps.

This is notwithstanding the fact that such employment guarantee schemes have been in force for over 50 years in most of these developed countries. Prof Phelps’ proposal is fraught with loopholes and complexities and prone to more corruption than one thinks. Moreover, it also does not promise to increase the job opportunities for the jobless as has been proved to be practicably possible by the present employment guarantee scheme, the many implementational hitches and glitches notwithstanding.

First and foremost problem with this approach is the moral hazard of passing off the extant employment in a firm to claim wage subsidies falsely and dishonestly. The employers led by petty and comprador bourgeoisie, in stead of creating new employment, would try to ingenuously cheat the system for claiming the subsidies. After all, we don’t necessarily have a data-base of employed manpower of all such firms and industries. And such a data-base, even if created and maintained, may not be completely sacrosanct. Our experience tells us as to how such data-base is often tinkered and tampered with, often to the advantage of the high and mighty.

So, any system of working out compensatory subsidies for employers by establishing contrived linkages to employment generation is going to be very complex and is also likely to involve a lot of scope for discretion and subjectivity for the bureaucracy than the extant system. There is definitely no need to compensate big businesses for higher taxes levied on them as there are already multiple government schemes and incentives for performing enterprises and businesses. Moreover, even after paying those taxes, they are still left with decent profit margins to go shopping the world over for acquiring many of the renowned companies even in times of recession. Over the years, our tax and incentives structure have come to be comparable with the best in the world.

The assumed fear that such employment guarantee scheme actually encourages mediocrity and dependence on government is far from the truth. The present system is an incentive-based transparent system where a more productive worker can earn more if she/he gives more output and her/his wages shall correspondingly be higher compared to others whose output is less. The fear that villages unduly gain at the expense of towns is unwarranted, to say the least. The fact remains that towns are always better endowed in terms of basic services and facilities than those found in the villages. The employment guarantee scheme not only ensures assured employment for a household throughout the year (considering 100 days for each adult member of a family including the handicapped), it also envisages creation of basic infrastructures in the countryside.

It is believed that the progressive creation and availability of such infrastructures and employment opportunities in the countryside shall discourage people from migrating to the urban areas where basic infrastructures and services are already feeling pressure of increasing population. It shall also bridge the gap between rural and urban areas in terms of socio-economic indicators which are quite uneven at the moment. It is believed that wages in the urban areas shall go up consequent to reduced emigration and reduced availability of workers from the rural area. With less workers competing for more works, the real wages in urban areas shall go up which would continue to attract a minimal number of workers from the countryside as per changing demand and supply curve. The increased wages for urban workers shall be in keeping with the increased expenses required for urban living eventually enabling them to lead a better life than has been possible otherwise.

The apprehension that reduced availability of low wage workers shall either lead to shut-down of enterprises in the urban areas or relocation of many of them to the rural areas is also unfounded. At a time when we are talking of liberalization and globalization, we definitely should have no reason to think of the industries who shut down as a result of having to pay higher wages to the workers, more so when multiple government incentives are available. The enterprises need to learn to survive the cut-throat competition in the market. They always have the option of shaping up or shipping out. Moreover, such an apprehension remains far fetched as the pool of low wage workers shall still be larger in this unreasonably populous country despite local availability of guaranteed employment in the villages as there still are many push and pull factors which drive people to the urban areas. As such, there is no reason to panic.

Still, if some of them decide to move to low-wage areas which are likely to be under-developed, it is all the better as that would lead to infrastructural and capacity development of such areas and further improvement of quality of life there which eventually may see rise in labour costs in those areas as well. The cycle may go on till all parts of the country are more or less equitably developed. The government can actually think of giving incentives for relocation or establishment of new industries including labour-intensive ones in the backward and underdeveloped areas.

The belief that the current employment guarantee approach reduces labour force participation and employability of a worker is also not true. The experience from all over the country tells us that labour force participation in the economy has only increased as a result of operation of such a scheme and as a result, per capita income has also gone up. The multiplier effect of such a rise has been perceptible in the relatively high economic growth rates and other development indicators of our economy, recession notwithstanding. Besides, an employment guarantee scheme is also immune to the negative impacts of a recession. While the government shall have more reason to persist with such employment guarantee schemes in difficult times like recession, the employers, finding reduced demand and market for their products, would shut down overnight rendering all the workers under their dispensation jobless.

Again, contrary to the belief, the employability of a worker is also not compromised because of in-built incentive structure in such employment guarantee schemes as the worker learns to be more hard working to earn higher wages by giving better output and by being more productive. The various training programmes given to people under the said scheme and under many other schemes do give the workers a choice to decide for themselves as to what do they intend to do. The dovetailing and convergence of many such cognate schemes and programmes further could yield better results with better value allocations among the hoi polloi. The cascading multiplier effects and resultant pay offs for the country as a whole is bound to be better and greater than commonly understood.

The supposed acquisition of newer skills under the employment subsidy approach is quite problematic and is more at the level of assumption than a reality. The belief that the innocent, ignorant and gullible workers would get better jobs and acquire better skills as per their choice and aptitude moving from one industry to another for job-shopping is misplaced and fraught with danger. The danger emanates from the feared exploitation of workers by these enterprises who are likely to take advantage of their helplessness and non-possession of requisite skills by paying low wages and forcing them to work in unhygienic and undignified working conditions.

Most of these enterprises are not likely to be enlightened enough to do a charity by employing an ignoramus and inexperienced worker to teach him/her newer skills to employ him/her later. However, the spirit of the proposal here is well taken and one does feel that the scope and ambit of such employment guarantee scheme needs to be further broadened and diversified. It could also be creatively fine-tuned to offer better wages and better opportunities to the people. But one has to give the scheme some time to evolve naturally and be more promising and better suited to the requirements of the employment-seeking workers.

After all, the Constitutional Right to Work, as envisaged in the fourth chapter of the Indian Constitution detailing directive principles of state policy, which took five decades to be translated into a reality, is likely to be some more time to be better customized to the requirements and needs of the target people. The very fact that NREGS, after being launched selectively in some districts of the country for guaranteed employment in the rural areas throughout the year, has now been extended to the entire country, is itself a big achievement of sorts.

The belief that the alternative proposal is corruption proof compared to the present one is also not true as already pointed out above because of the element of discretion and subjectivity inherent therein. The extant scheme because of the transparent system of job-card, fixed responsibility to provide jobs within fifteen days of receipt of an application demanding work or to pay unemployment allowance in case of failure of the same and the provision of social audit is much better placed to do the needful. The provision of job cards, public hanging of Muster Roll, public notice of details of an on-going works and Muster Rolls and a participatory social and financial audit of all the aspects of the schemes ensure better transparency and accountability than any other scheme. The Right to Information plugs the loopholes and fills the gaps, if any left anywhere.

Yes, one does feel that there is lot of scope for further improvement of the scheme. One is sure that as more feedback from the field is received and fed into the system to further fine-tune it, the extant scheme shall respond better to the tasks and objectives it is supposed to realize. To give some credit to Prof Phelps, his proposal can be tried on an experimental basis in selected areas as a pilot project rather than completely replacing the extant scheme. After all, it is too early to pronounce a judgement on the success and failure of the same. And in any case, an ingenuous and creative mix of the two conceptions rather than an exclusive reliance on any of the one can always be a better idea. One hopes that NREGS would evolve with time in keeping with the objective of realizing and ensuring growth with equity and justice.

Also, with the failure of the invincible capitalist system of economic development as represented by the Washington Consensus, it is all the more accepted and acknowledged that we can no longer depend on market forces for taking up social responsibilities. Rolling back the state completely is no longer an option. The state has to be there as a regulator and disciplining force with minimal responsibilities of maintaining law and order, dispensing justice and building an equitable society. So, the ‘employment subsidy’ approach, as dependent on private enterprises, is just not acceptable in preference to the employment guarantee approach.