LIST OF NEWSPAPERS COVERED
ASIAN AGE
DECCAN HERALD
ECONOMIC TIMES
HINDU
HINDUSTAN TIMES
INDIAN EXPRESS
STATESMAN
TELEGRAPH
TIMES OF INDIA
TRIBUNE
1
CONTENTS
AGRICULTURE
3-4
CIVIL SERVICE
5-14
DEFENCE, NATIONAL
15-16
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
17
EDUCATION
18-28
EMPLOYMENT
29
FINANCE
30
FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
31
GOVERNORS
32-37
JUDICIARY
38-40
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
41-42
POLITICSN AND GOVERNMENT
43
POPULATION
44-46
RAILWAYS
47
SOCIAL PROBLEMS
48
TAXATION
49-50
URBAN DEVELOPMENT
51-54
WOMEN
55
2
AGRICULTURE
ASIAN AGE, FEB 1, 2016
Give crop relief to 50 per cent farmers in 2 years: Modi
Praises Haryana, Gujarat for rise in female births
Underlining the significance of the recently-announced Crop Insurance Scheme, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi said Sunday on his monthly radio show “Mann Ki Baat” that awareness about it
should be spread nationwide so that at least 50 per cent of farmers join it within two years.
He also pitched for continued efforts to popularise khadi and awareness to save the girl child and
also referred to the recently launched “Start-Up India” programme.
Mr Modi said he needs “maximum help” from people to spread awareness on the Pradhan Mantri
Crop Insurance Scheme that was launched earlier this month. “In our country, a lot is said in the
name of farmers. I don’t want to get involved in that debate. But farmers face a major crisis. In
natural calamities, their entire effort goes waste. His one year goes waste. To give him security,
only one thing comes to mind, and that is crop insurance,” he said in his first “Mann ki Baat” of
2016.
“In the new year, the Central government has given a given a big gift to farmers — Pradhan
Mantri Crop Insurance Scheme. This scheme has been brought not for the purpose that it should
be praised or the PM should be hailed,” Mr Modi added. He said for so many years, there had
been talk about crop insurance, but “not more than 20-25 per cent” of the country’s farmers had
been able to benefit from such schemes.
“Can we take a pledge that we should connect at least 50 per cent of farmers to this scheme in
two years? I need this help from you. Because if a farmer joins the scheme, he will get huge help
during a natural calamity,” he added.
Mr Modi said this time the scheme had got “wide acceptability because it has been made quite
extensive and easy and involves use of technology. Not only this. If something happens to the
crop within 15 days after harvest, even then help is assured.” Usage of technology will ensure
speedy assessment and disbursement of compensation, he said.
“The biggest thing is that the rate of premium has been kept so low which nobody would have
imagined. The rate of premium for kharif crop has been kept at two per cent, while for rabi crop
it is one-and-a-half per cent... Now tell me, if any farmer is deprived of the benefits of this
scheme, will he not suffer a loss? I want the awareness about this scheme to spread,” the PM
added.
The Prime Minister also referred to the “Start-Up India” scheme rolled out on January 16 and
said it had infused new energy among young people. Mr Modi said there was a wrong notion
3
earlier that the initiative was limited to the sophisticated area of information technology, but now
it had become clear there were enormous opportunities in this programme for all kinds of sectors
and areas, which includes farming. He gave some examples of startups in the farming sector in
Sikkim, which was recently declared as an “organic state”, India’s first. Mr Modi invited more
such examples of startup initiatives.
The PM referred to the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, that was on January 30, and said
people should every year observe a two-minute silence at 11 am in the memory of the country’s
martyrs.
Talking about the popularising of khadi, on which he had issued an appeal in his first “Mann Ki
Baat” in October 2014, the PM said more and more youth were now using khadi products.
Specially mentioning the government’s ambitious “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao” campaign, the PM
praised the efforts of the Haryana and Gujarat governments in taking concrete steps to implement
it. The number of female births in Haryana was rising fast as the “Beti Bachao, Beti Padao”
campaign had brought about a “real” societal change there, he said.
“Haryana and Gujarat gave importance to the ‘daughter’ ... This year, the most educated girl of a
village was invited to unfurl the national tricolour in a government school (at the Republic Day
function). A well-educated ‘daughter’ was given special importance,” he said. Mr Modi had
launched the scheme on January 23 last year from Panipat in Haryana, a state which has one of
the worst sex ratios in the country. Mahendragarh district in the state was the worst-hit, with only
775 girls born per 1,000 boys.
4
CIVIL SERVICE
TIMES OF INDIA, FEB 5, 2016
Govt appoints World Bank expert to post of secretary in water and sanitation ministry
New Delhi: The government on Wednesday appointed World Bank water and sanitation expert
and a former IAS officer Parameswaran Iyer as the secretary of drinking water and sanitation
ministry for two years. This appointment, which took large sections of bureaucrats by surprise,
has come as a strong indication of how the government may take this route and appoint experts
from outside for the success of its flagship schemes.
Sources said it's the prerogative of the government to appoint any professional, including a
former bureaucrat, as head of a department on "contract" basis. The decision comes barely days
after Prime Minister Narendra Modi told secretaries that his government means business and
they should take action against officials, who don't mend their ways despite several complaints
against them.
Iyer's case is not an isolated one. Even in the past there have been a few such examples and one
such was the appointment of R V Shahi as power secretary in 2002. Prior to that he was chief of
BSES Ltd in Mumbai.
"The Central government can bring in anyone as secretary, if it feels necessary. The appointment
of Iyer is perhaps the best choice since he has been an IAS officer and is very much aware of the
processes. This is a priority sector for the government and he is the fittest man to head the
department," a top government functionary said.
The 1981 batch UP cadre IAS officer Iyer had taken voluntary retirement in 2009 and has an
experience of nearly 20 years in the water supply and sanitation sector. His appointment as the
head of drinking water and sanitation department comes at a time when government targets to
push activities under Swachh Bharat mission to achieve 100% sanitation.
5
Well-known for his Jal Suraj programme, Iyer worked with the World Bank from April 1998 to
September 2007 while in service. He returned in 2007, but resigned in 2009 to rejoin World
Bank as a senior water and sanitation specialist. Iyer was working as the programme leader and
lead water and sanitation specialist in the Hanoi (Vietnam) office of the World Bank since June
2012.
Sources said the government has decided to give him a free hand to steer the ambitious
programme.
DECCAN HERALD, FEB 4, 2016
Modi govt brings back retd officer as secretary
Parameswaran to join drinking water dept
Departing from convention, the Narendra Modi government on Wednesday recalled former IAS
officer Parameswaran Iyer, who had availed voluntary retirement, to steer 'Swachch Bharat
Abhiyan' by appointing him as the Secretary of Drinking Water and Sanitation Ministry.
He has been appointed on "contract basis" for a period of two years from the date of assumption
of charge of the post or until further orders, whichever is earlier, an official statement said.
Officials said they do not remember any precedent of a retired official being called back.
Usually, serving IAS officers are appointed as secretaries of ministries. Recently, the NDA
government had appointed Sharad Kumar as National Investigation Agency (NIA) chief on
contract after his retirement.
Iyer, a 1981-batch officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, had taken voluntary retirement in 2009 and
returned to World Bank as Programme Leader and Lead Water and Sanitation Specialist.
While working with Uttar Pradesh government, he had conceptualised 'Jal Surag', a water
management programme. Before his latest stint, he worked with World Bank between 1998 and
2007. He returned to UP government service but availed voluntary retirement in 2009.
Iyer's appointment comes at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet scheme 'Swachch
Bharat Abhiyan' is yet to gain momentum. The officer is expected to take the scheme to new
heights using his expertise and international exposure on the subject.
The World Bank website said Iyer has over 20 years of experience in water supply and sanitation
sector.
In other appointments, the government moved Anil Kumar Agarwal, West Bengal cadre IAS
officer of 1981 batch, to National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST). He was Secretary
6
in Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, which has been merged with the Ministry of External
Affairs. IAS officer Shyam S Agarwal was holding additional charge of NCST.
TRIBUNE, FEB 4, 2016
35% of new govt jobs to be reserved for women
Vishav Bharti
The Punjab government has decided to reserve 35 per cent of government jobs for women. A
practical shape to this decision will be given when the government starts filling 1.14 lakh vacant
posts in 41 departments, it is learnt.
In November, the government had announced to start the process to fill the vacant posts, mostly
in the school education, water supply and sanitation and agriculture departments. The decision to
reserve 35 per cent jobs for women will translate into 40,000 of the 1.14 lakh jobs.
An announcement is likely by the last week of February.
A senior functionary of the government revealed that the decision is being taken on the
recommendation of the Punjab Governance Reforms Commission for women empowerment. It
recently made a presentation before the Deputy Chief Minister, who agreed to the proposal.
According to Gender Statistics in Punjab, a government report, women account for one-fourth of
the staff. At employment exchanges, the percentage of women job-seekers is 30.3 per cent.
The government already provides 50 per cent reservation to women in government teachers’
cadre.
TRIBUNE, FEB 4, 2016
Punjab begins staff pay hike exercise
Empty coffers, but notifies 6th Pay Commission
Ruchika M. Khanna
Its coffers may be empty, but Punjab today notified the Sixth Pay Commission for its over four
lakh employees and pensioners and 1.25 lakh staff of boards and corporations. Former chief
secretary RS Mann has been appointed commission chairman.
Setting up a pay panel seems to be a ploy of the SAD-BJP government to woo the staff and
pensioners ahead of the Assembly elections in early 2017. It generally takes up to two years for
the Pay Commission to come up with the recommendations. These are then submitted to the
government for implementation. Thus, in all likelihood, the new scales will be implemented by
the next government.
7
With the state’s revenue growth much lower than targeted for this fiscal, and almost 65 per cent
of the revenue going into salaries and pensions, a new wage board at this juncture would deal yet
another blow to Punjab’s fiscal health. This year, salaries of government employees will take
away
Rs 18,354.24 crore from the state’s near-empty coffers. Another
Rs 7,182.11 crore is to go
towards the payment of pensions and retirement benefits. Each year, the salary bill of the
government rises by almost Rs 2,000 crore.
Recommendations of the new wage board, if made on the lines of the central wage board which
has recommended a hike of over 20 per cent in salaries, would not be sustainable in a state like
Punjab, which is reeling under a financial crisis. This year, the revenue deficit is already 75 per
cent over the revenue deficit of last year.
Though the terms of reference are yet to be finalised, sources say these will be decided by the
Finance Department and given to the Personnel Department for a final notification.
Sources said the terms of reference would be such that these make the Punjab employees’
salaries on a par with the revised salaries of the Central government staff, rather than giving
them a similar hike (of over 20 per cent).
TELEGRAPH, FEB 4, 2016
'Brainwashed', IAS officers in drier
Pranesh Sarkar
Hirak Raja keeps rebellion at bay by using only one form of punishment: brainwashing.
When his scientist announces he has discovered Jantarmantar - the machine that will brainwash
the recalcitrant - a thrilled Hirak Raja asks: Mogoj dholai? (Brainwashing?)
Gobeshok (scientist):Thik tai
E emon kol
Jate raj karjyo hoye jaye jol.... (Indeed. This is a machine that makes governance simple.)
Hirak Raja: ... Eto obishassho! (It's unbelievable!)
From the 1980 film, Hirak Rajar Deshe, by Satyajit Ray
Calcutta, Feb. 3: Unbelievable but mogoj dholai (brainwashing) appears to have leaped from
the silver screen to the steel frame of Bengal.
8
Twelve young IAS officers who were recently trained for three months in Delhi have been kept
away from the usual posts in the districts apparently because of suspicion that they might have
been brainwashed in the capital by the BJP-led government.
Usually, the first full-fledged postings of IAS rookies who have completed their probation and
training are as sub-divisional officers or SDOs who head the civil administration in the subdivisions.
The SDOs play a key role as they are in constant contact with elected representatives and
targeted welfare recipients. More important, each SDO acts as the returning officer of two
Assembly segments on average - a role that makes them invaluable at a time the elections are
knocking on the doors of Bengal.
But the 12 IAS officers from the 2013 batch have been administratively quarantined, so to speak,
in a safe-zone post called officer on special duty (OSD), a sterile designation without any
specific role. OSDs cannot become returning officers either.
Officially, government sources cited lack of experience in handling elections as the reason for
keeping the young IAS officers away from the SDO post for the time being.
"The officers' lack of administrative knowledge could cause problems in the run-up to the polls,"
a senior Bengal government official said, adding that they would be posted as SDOs once the
elections were over.
Some other bureaucrats, however, said this could not be the sole reason as "a period of 15 days"
was "good enough" for IAS officers to familiarise themselves with the election assignment.
"Perhaps, the ruling establishment is not sure how the new officers will work during the elections
after the three-month stint under the BJP-led central government," an official said.
Sources in Nabanna, the secretariat, pointed out that chief minister Mamata Banerjee had
opposed the Centre's decision to call these 12 officers to Delhi for the training. The sources said
the leadership felt that the officers were taken to Delhi as part of the Centre's " mogoj
dholai (brainwashing)" plan.
The young officers had reached Bengal in August 2015 after the mandatory two-year training,
mostly in Mussoourie. All 2013-batch IAS officers, including from other states, then went to
New Delhi to be trained as assistant secretaries in various ministries.
The officers returned to their respective states in mid-December. On January 28, the 12 officers
in Bengal were posted as OSDs.
Now that the officers are back, the chief minister is apparently hesitant to place them as SDOs,
especially because of their prospective role as returning officers in the Assembly segments.
As returning officers, the SDOs will have the authority to receive and dispose of complaints on
9
violation of the model code of conduct and law and order.
"I am not surprised that the ruling party would not place an officer who is yet to earn its faith in
crucial posts ahead of the elections," said a retired bureaucrat.
Another serving official insisted administrative experience was the sole reason but unwittingly
drew attention to another factor.
"Many district magistrates have said a new SDO will not be able to discharge poll-related duties
as they have to deal with local political leaders with whom they are not familiar," the official
said.
Veteran officials pointed out that the contact with local leaders was an important issue. Young
officers, brimming with brio and pumped up with idealism, usually refuse to kowtow before
satraps and are known to have enforced rules without fear or favour. The zeal may dim later but
when they start out the officers cannot be taken for granted.
In fact, officers are not expected to be familiar with political figures when they take decisions
related to the conduct of elections. "This is the reason observers from other states are placed to
oversee the elections," an official said.
Others picked holes in the contention that lack of experience would be a handicap. They pointed
out that at least 40 new block development officers (BDOs) were posted just before the
panchayat polls in 2013.
"The BDOs are the returning officers for panchayat polls.... If they can manage, why can't IAS
officers?" asked an official.
The young IAS officers will also lose precious months from the two-year stint as SDOs during
which they were supposed to pick up lessons that will stand them - as well as the state - in good
stead throughout their career.
In fiction and in the shadowy world of espionage, undercover operatives are supposed to be kept
in isolation until debriefing establishes that close contact with the enemy has not made them
double agents.
Bengal can now be proud that its young officers are being put through the paces associated with
James Bond and his ilk.
HINDUSTAN TIMES, FEB 3, 2016
Delhi chief secretary revokes transfer of his aide
The Delhi chief secretary has revoked the transfer order of his officer on special duty Ramvir
Singh, issued by the services department on January 29.
10
The latest move may lead to another confrontation between the top bureaucracy and the AAP
government in Delhi.
The services department comes under deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia. Sources said the
chief secretary issued the cancellation order on February 1, arguing that the services department
has issued the transfer order of such an important functionary of the office of chief secretary
without seeking prior and formal permission of the top government bureaucrat.
Sharma argued that the requirements of the office of the chief secretary, among other things,
include dealing with sensitive and the confidential matters required to be handled by a competent
official enjoying the trust and confidence of the chief secretary, sources said quoting the order.
The government and top babus have had a face-off over several issues in the recent past.
DANICS cadre officers had gone on a strike recently to protest suspension of two officers.
ASIAN AGE, FEB 2, 2016
Bureaucrats clash with AAP government over transfer
SANJAY KAW
Differences between various administrative wings of the AAP government once again came to
light when the services department recently transferred chief secretary K.K. Sharma’s official on
special duty (OSD) Ramvir Singh without reportedly informing the chief secretary. Upset over
the move by the services department, Mr Sharma on Monday is said to have cancelled his OSD’s
transfer by exercising his administrative powers.
The services department, comes under the control of deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia.
However, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s secretary Rajendra Kumar is the principal secretary
of the services wing.
This is not the first occasion when the chief secretary had been put in an embarrassing situation
by the AAP administration. Mr Kejriwal had at one po-int even issued a show-ca-use notice to
Mr Sharma to explain why he had sent certain files related to the Delhi police to lieutenantgovernor Najeeb Jung.
Mr Kejriwal’s notice to the chief secretary was being interpreted in the political circles as a
fallout of the feud going on between Raj Nivas and Players Building over a host of contentious
issues concerning the national capital. Contrary to convention, the AAP government had also
issued a circular stating that the weekly meeting of the HoDs would be chaired by Mr Sisodia.
11
During the Sheila Dikshit government’s 15-year-old rule, the weekly meetings of the HoDs were
chaired by the chief secretary.
A senior IAS officer said that the AAP government’s decision to hold the weekly meetings under
the chairmanship of the deputy CM was a clear message to the bureaucrats that the ministers
were the real administrative heads of their respective departments.
The AAP government had also told the chief secretary not to attend meetings of the Union home
ministry to discuss transfers and postings of IAS and IPS officers. The AAP government had told
the Union home ministry that Mr Sisodia would represent the city in such meetings. However,
the Centre had turned down the city administration’s proposal, saying politicians could not attend
these meetings and the city government had to be represented only by the chief secretary.
STATESMAN, FEB 4, 2016
'IAS Week' to be held in Lucknow in March
A three-day 'IAS Week' would be held here in the Uttar Pradesh capital during March 18-20, an
official announced on Wednesday.
UP IAS Association chairman Rakesh Bahadur said a delegation of officials called on Chief
Minister Akhilesh Yadav earlier in the day and sought his consent for organising the annual
event.
"The chief minister approved the dates after which we have begun the preparations," he added.
Though an annual event of IAS officials in the state, it was discontinued for five years, during
the Mayawati regime as the then chief minister did not allow it.
It was, however, in 2013 that Akhilesh Yadav okayed the event and it restarted.
ASIAN AGE, FEB 2, 2016
Top bureaucrat on long leave to protest against minister order
SANJAY KAW
Yet another top city bureaucrat is proceeding on long leave reportedly in protest against his
minister’s decision to curtail his powers. This time, city health secretary Amar Nath has applied
for two-month leave as he is said to be upset over the “functioning” of his minister Satyendar
Jain. Prior to Mr Amar Nath, principal secretary (power) Shakuntala D. Gamlin and principal
secretary (urban development) Chetan B. Sanghi went on long leave as they too were unhappy
over the treatment being meted out to them by the AAP government.
A highly-placed source said Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain had recently directed officials
to put up files directly before him. The minister, through his signed order, had allocated work to
12
his special secretary, additional secretary, joint secretary and deputy secretary in the health
department.
This was perhaps the first occasion when the city health minister had allocated work to officials
through his signed order. As per the transaction of business rules, principal secretaries are the
administrative heads of the government departments. The ministers, at best, can issue
instructions to them.
However, Mr Jain had reportedly issued similar orders to industries and home departments as
well. As far as home department is concerned, it comes under the purview of the Union
government through the lieutenant-governor.
It is not only orders curtailing administrative powers of senior IAS officers that have reportedly
not gone well with the city health secretary, Mr Jain had earlier assigned the job of senior
bureaucrats to two doctors. He had appointed Dr Ashish Goyal (orthopaedics) of the Bhagwan
Mahavir Hospital and Dr P.K. Malik, assistant medical superintendent of the Guru Teg Bahadur
Hospital, as additional secretaries in the city administration’s health and family welfare
department.
In connection with putting up of files by senior bureaucrats, Mr Jain had ordered the principal
secretary /secretary (health and family welfare) should only exercise the powers and perform the
functions as per law or as authorised by the minister-in-charge.
In his order, Mr Jain had said: “Such matters, if it requires approval of minister, would be put up
special secretary (health and family welfare). Otherwise, it would be put up by the concerned
officer to the special secretary/additional secretary/joint secretary of the department and then to
principal secretary /secretary for approval. Similarly, for all other subjects/issues, the files will be
put up by the concerned deputy secretary to the special secretary/additional secretary/joint
secretary concerned, who would put it up directly to the minister-in-charge for approval. The
work allocation to the special secretaries and other officers are being issued separately.”
A senior officer said that by issuing the order, the health minister had directly infringed on the
administrative territory of the secretary or principal secretary of the department.
He said that the minister in-charge cannot issue any order directing his officials to bypass
secretary /principal secretary or heads of departments as the secretary is the administrative head
of a department.
ECONOMIC TIMES, FEB 1, 2016
Government eases norms for bureaucrats going abroad for training
NEW DELHI: Officers up to joint secretary level going abroad for training will not need
approval of the Screening Committee of Secretaries (SCoS), finance ministry has said. The
13
expenditure department in the ministry has issued an office memorandum saying "approval of
SCoS is not required in case of foreign visits of up to Joint Secretary level officers as part of
foreign training component, midcareer training programme or any other training, irrespective of
number of members and days".
The memorandum was issued to clarify certain aspects of a circular issued by the ministry earlier
this month regarding foreign visits by bureaucrats. The circular issued on January 5 had said that
foreign visits of a bureaucrat should not exceed five working days. It also restricted the number
of overseas visits by a bureaucrat to four in a calendar year. It said Secretaries should undertake
foreign travels only when no one else can be deputed. The circular had also said that foreign
travels of bureaucrats will be authorised by SCoS. Stay on t
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DEFENCE, NATIONAL
STATESMAN, FEB 2, 2016
China sets up new military regions as part of reorganization
Chinese President Xi Jinping presided on Monday over the creation of five new military regions,
part of the streamlining of the 2.3 million-member People's Liberation Army while also signaling
his firm control over the armed forces.
The north, south, east, west and central regions replace the seven previous regions. The new
districts are being touted as better suited to command joint operations.
Xi presided at a ceremony at the Defense Ministry in his capacity as head of the Communist
Party and government commissions overseeing the military. Wearing a high-collared olive green
jacket, he presented PLA flags to each of the new region's commanders and political
commissars.
"Each military region must be ready to command troops and fight at any time," Xi said.
Reinforcing that the military is ultimately loyal to the party, rather than the Chinese state, Xi
called on commanders to "unshakably listen to the party's command and hold fast to the party's
absolute leadership over the armed forces."
Xi's overhaul aims to make the PLA more effective as a modern fighting force by transforming it
from one structured around the ground forces to one of joint command in which the army, navy,
air and missile forces all have equal representation.
Last month, Xi ordered the elimination of four headquarters responsible for staff, politics,
logistics and armaments and their replacement with 15 new agencies under the direct authority of
the party's Central Military Commission.
China also plans to cut 300,000 personnel from the PLA's ranks.
In its ongoing modernization drive, the military has benefited from near annual double-digit
percentage increases in its budget, now the world's second largest after that of the United States.
STATESMAN, FEB 4, 2016
OROP to cost Rs.7,500 crore a year
The annual expenditure on the 'One Rank One Pension' (OROP) scheme has been estimated at
around Rs.7,500 crore, the defence ministry said on Wednesday.
15
The arrears from July 1, 2014 -- the date of implementation as announced by the government -till December 31, 2015, will be approximately Rs.10,900 crore, the ministry said in a statement.
This is set to push the defence budget for pensions, which is estimated to go up from Rs.54,000
crore as per Budget estimates of 2015-16 to around Rs.65,000 crore, the proposed Budget
estimate for 2016-17.
This is an increase of about 20 percent of the defence pension outlay.
The statement said 86 percent of the total expenditure on account of OROP will benefit Junior
Commissioned Officers (JCOs) and other ranks.
"The government of India had taken the historic decision to implement OROP in November
2015. This fulfilled the long standing demand of the defence forces personnel after 42 years
benefited over 18 lakh ex-servicemen and war widows," the statement said.
Payment of arrears and revision of pension under OROP is to be made by the Pension Disbursing
Authorities in four instalments, except for family pensioners and pensioners in receipt of
gallantry awards who will be paid arrears in one instalment.
Asked about the development, Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement spokesperson Col. Anil Kaul
(retd) said it "seemed ok", but they would be studying it and come out with a detailed reaction
later.
"We are still studying it. It seems ok... so far it seems to be almost there, except that they are
paying out from July (2014) not April," Col. Kaul said.
16
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
ECONOMIC TIMES, FEB 1, 2016
Metastatic bureaucracy India’s problem: Nassim Nicholas Taleb
NEW DELHI: Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of 2007 bestseller The Black Swan, says India is
not a fragile country because it is not centralised. "India's strength is that it is an extremely
democratic country. The only problem is it has a metastatic bureaucracy," Taleb, who has
changed the way the world thinks about risk, told a packed audience at the summit on Saturday.
"It is not so much the corruption but fixers who are slowing down India," he said. The world's
bestknown risk expert, who predicted the US economic meltdown of 2008, says we are better off
with frequent shocks and volatility because it's a good preparation for large blowouts. Nature
prepares us for eventualities and trains us to face and recover from sudden eventualities.
"Biologically, we have a marked preference for variability. Antifragile likes mistakes,
disruptions and disorder,'' he said. The principle applies to people, companies and nations alike.
Taleb's basic thesis of antifragility draws from nature, for instance in the way forests grow.
Falling leaves and branches pile up in the forest over time and eventually catch fire. After the fire
dies down, the jungle regenerates with renewed vigour. You use your own misfortune to emerge
stronger. Flat trends reduce the ability to adapt, survive and emerge stronger in life — personal,
corporate or national — as well. But stress builds vigilance and adaptability to disruption, he
said. "Humans get acute stress and chronic stress. Acute stress is good because that is how we
grow. Chronic stress kills you. It never leaves room for recovery.'' So a person who always walks
on smooth surfaces will eventually get repetitive stress injury. Someone who walks on uneven
ground never faces that risk. Two Cypriot brothers — one a cab driver and the other an employee
at an insurance company— were affected differently during the economic crisis. The 57yearold
who worked in the insurance firm was laid off and rendered jobless for pretty much the rest of
his life. He was also unprepared to face his personal crisis because he was never affected by
volatility. The cab driver was used to ups and downs in income throughout his life and was much
better prepared for the recession. It is a central error to lower risk by reducing variability. "(Alan)
Greenspan (former US Fed Reserve Chairman) had it in his mind that the economy needed
finetuning to reduce variability. When you don't go boom and bust, after some time things will
collapse," Taleb said, alluding to the crisis of 2008. Safety technologies and methods develop
quickly after every air accident. "The US had 22 million flights without a single crash,'' he said.
That is because airline companies are quick to strengthen and innovate to prevent such incidents,
making it very safe to fly. In contrast, banks fail repeatedly because every time they crash,
governments come to their rescue, not allowing them to learn and adapt from their mistakes.
That is also what happens to companies that have strategic plans. They become "prisoners" to
them. They don't give themselves flexibility to tear up the plan and benefit from changes in the
environment.
17
EDUCATION
STATESMAN, FEB 5, 2016
Off-campus centre in UGC list of ‘illegals’ cleared ahead of Modi visit
NISER is now the first off-campus centre, out of those put on notice on November 9, to get the
regulator’s approval.
Written by Ritika Chopra
With Prime Minister Narendra Modi scheduled to inaugurate the permanent campus of the
National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER) in Bhubaneswar on February 7,
the University Grants Commission (UGC) swung into action and granted approval to the institute
Thursday.
This development comes within three months of the higher education regulator directing the
prestigious Homi Bhabha National Institute (HBNI) in Mumbai, along with nine other deemed
universities, to shut down their off-campus centres on the ground that they were “unauthorised”
and set up without UGC’s permission. The NISER, which is affiliated with HBNI, was among
the off-campus centres put on notice. Apprised of Modi’s impending visit to the institute by the
Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) three weeks ago, sources said, the UGC got cracking on
NISER’s long-pending application and scheduled an inspection of its campus, faculty and
facilities on January 25. The final approval came during the UGC meeting held Thursday
afternoon.
NISER is now the first off-campus centre, out of those put on notice on November 9, to get the
regulator’s approval. “It would have been embarrassing if the Prime Minister inaugurated the
building of an institution which was labelled illegal three months ago. The crisis has been
averted,” a source in the UGC said.
UGC chairman Prof Ved Prakash could not be reached for comment despite several attempts.
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The other nine deemed universities issued notices on November 9 include Narsee Monjee
Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) University, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
(TIFR), Birla Institute of Technology & Science (BITS), Pilani, and Birla Institute of
Technology, Mesra. The fate of their off-campus centres is still not known.
HBNI vice chancellor R B Grover told The Indian Express: “Yes, a team from the UGC visited
NISER on January 25 but I haven’t heard anything about the approval coming through. We had
first applied for UGC’s approval for NISER in 2009, following which they made several queries
and we finally finished complying with all their requirements in July 2015.”
Asked why the UGC issued notice to HBNI to close down NISER even though it had applied for
approval in 2009, Grover said, “Such things happen. But we kept dialogue open with the UGC
chairman even after the notice came. Things finally worked out and that is what matters.”
Modi’s visit to NISER’s campus is part of his three-day visit to Assam, Andhra Pradesh and
Odisha from February 5 to 7. He will arrive in Bhubaneswar Sunday where he will inaugurate
NISER’s permanent building and then visit the Jagannath temple in Puri.
STATESMAN, FEB 5, 2016
Learning and skills
The Indian economy is the third largest in the world based on GDP calculated at purchasing
power parity. The first and perhaps the foremost task before the Government of India is to
increase the quality of education and skill development opportunities. This should go
simultaneously with doing whatever it takes to create employment opportunities for the
burgeoning middle classes in the cities and 800 million youth under the age of 35. A market
economy can function well if the labour force is educated and skilled. Education is an area of
development that has been avoided by successive governments at the Centre.
It is rarely acknowledged that Jawaharlal Nehru with his genteel temperament forgot to lay
sufficient emphasis on the importance of education for the uplift of the nation, and the NDA
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government functioning more than fifty years after him is doing little to make amends. India has
one of the fastest growing services sector in the world, but its agriculture exists in crisis.
Although the latter employs 49 per cent of the workforce, its contribution to GDP is merely 17
per cent; such a large distortion in input-output ratio reeks of brazen inefficiency.
Thus in the present model of growth, many are forced to migrate from rural to urban regions in
search of better job prospects. Without any social assistance, training schools or skill
development opportunities, rural Indians are forced to live at the wanton mercy of nature. And as
one great philosopher had said, in a state of nature life is nasty, brutish and short. The
Government must ensure that this does not become a living truth for people who comprise more
than half of the nation. They deserve equal opportunity. With skills, quality education, and a
sensibility of what it is to be a modern Indian, they should have the opportunities to compete and
contribute.
The Ministries of Finance and HRD must look into the urgent matter of rural growth,
infrastructure development and education. Indian industry accounts for 26 per cent of GDP and
employs approximately 22 per cent of the workforce. But is industrialisation by itself an answer?
In coming decades only states that can successfully educate and train their people and create
fertile conditions for employment generation will fare well.
India has a rare chance to become a truly emerging economy. It depends on the Modi
government's choice and efforts; either work efficiently to improve the lot of the people, or
choose to forever bask in the faded glory of winning a national election.
Tags:
TRIBUNE, FEB 2, 2016
Inspector raj in colleges
Needless interference in private institutions
There are attempts at the Central and state levels to regulate private schools, colleges and
universities. For every problem the solution offered is a new law that empowers officials to
interfere in the functioning of private institutions, including hospitals. Speaking to media persons
in Himachal Pradesh, HRD Minister Smriti Irani has said that the draft Bill to control unfair
practices in private educational institutions will be introduced in Parliament soon. Admittedly
there are poorly managed private colleges and hospitals that do not follow the rules and tend to
fleece students, patients and the staff. Such errant institutions need to be disciplined.
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But the issue is who should do the disciplining. Like other industries, educational and health
institutions too need independent regulators to ensure that they follow the rules. What is
worrying is that on the pretext of regulation, politicians and officials look for ways to have their
writ run in private institutions. Government schools, colleges and universities are losing appeal
due to malfunctioning. Politicians in Punjab are divided over the move to elevate Khalsa
College, Amritsar, to a university. While the heritage status of the college building and campus
needs to be maintained, the management should be free to decide what is in the best interest of
the institution. Ways can be found to ensure that its land and other assets do not fall into private
hands. However, private colleges in Punjab getting government aid are wrongly asserting their
autonomy to bypass regulatory scrutiny.
The HRD Ministry already uses the UGC to control colleges. University autonomy is no longer
respected. As the Hyderabad University case has demonstrated, the ABVP, the student wing of
the BJP, now uses political power and a pliable HRD Ministry to decide how universities are run
and funded, who can be invited to speak on a campus or punished, and how. The Centre’s
attempts to rid Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University of their minority character
have already aroused misgivings in the minorities. Ministers should first clear the mess in
government institutions for which they are responsible before eying private institutions to
promote their personal, saffron or political agenda.
SATESMAN, FEB 1, 2016
Draft of 'Unfair Practices in Education' bill ready: Irani
The draft of 'Unfair Practices in Education' bill is ready and would be introduced in the
Parliament after consultations with all stake holders, including parents and students, Union HRD
Minister Smriti Irani on Sunday said.
The bill seeking to check irregularities in Private Educational institutions and providing access to
students and parents about the information related to institutions was sent to the states for
comments and also uploaded on the website to seek suggestions from stakeholders, Irani said in
Una.
All stakeholders including the students and parents would be apprised of the provisions of the
bill before introducing it in the Parliament, she said.
The bill would go a long way in "curbing the unfair practices adopted by private institutions"
whose details including the fees and infrastructure would also be in public domain.
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Without naming anyone, she referred to the recent suicide by Hyderabad University research
scholar and said that there should be no politics over it.
"We can also speak on the issue but we don't want to politicise the issue and would speak only in
the Parliament," she said.
Replying to a question regarding opening of an IIIT at Haroli in Una, she said, "laying the
foundation stone for electoral gains was not sufficient. Land, infrastructure and budgetary
provisions are also required for opening educational institutions."
Referring to the campus of Central University at Kangra, Irani said a team of HRD would soon
visit the proposed site.
Later, addressing the BJP workers at Hamirpur, Irani said the site for the main campus of Kangra
Central University would be finalised soon and the claim of Dehra would not be ignored.
Earlier, former chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and BJP MLA from Dehra, Ravinder Singh
Ravi met the Union minister and said that chief minister Virbhadra Singh was issuing "confusing
statements" on Kangra University, ignoring the claim of Dehra.
TELEGRAPH, FEB 3, 2016
Builders and their beliefs: - An institution that fulfilled its creator's dream
Commentarao
S.L. Rao
I was 18 when I joined the Delhi School of Economics in 1954. It taught me to look at issues in
an interrelated way and to place micro issues in macro contexts.
V.K.R.V. Rao, the founder, was a driven man. He was a good researcher, with enormous
enthusiasm for whatever he did, an eye for identifying and developing young talent, great charm,
an impish sense of humour, and a temper that would erupt and then be forgotten. He became the
first professor of economics in Delhi University in 1942. After a brilliant career in Bombay
University, and as pamphleteer for the Indian National Congress, he went to Cambridge, where
he was a member of Keynes's Political Economy Club, also winning the Adam Smith prize. He
had become at 28 the principal of two colleges in Ahmedabad. P.N. Dhar writes how Rao, in his
small office room in the military barracks on the Delhi University campus where he was the oneman economics department, would hold forth on his vision of a Delhi School of Economics
which would rival the London School of Economics. The DSE came into being in 1949 as an
autonomous institution but soon gave up autonomy.
Rao had met Jawaharlal Nehru in Cambridge in 1935. They agreed that the institutional structure
for the economic development of India must include an institution that would train economists
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and do research for development. "I committed myself to build an independent school of
research and training in economics in India that would compare with the London School of
Economics."
For all the institutions he founded (the DSE, the Institute of Economic Growth and the Institute
for Social and Economic Change), he first recruited good teachers, outstanding students, and
built well-stocked libraries. The bricks and mortar were not his first priority in building
institutions. At the outset, DSE faculty had been borrowed from the two premier colleges. Soon
it had some of the best minds as faculty, a tradition that continues today. The DSE attracted
brilliant young people as students and faculty. The first was the 33-year-old monetary economist,
K.N. Raj, from the new Planning Commission. Rao told him in the interview that he was
rejecting him for the reader position he had applied for. He then offered him a professorship.
In a few years, the eminent sociologist, M.N. Srinivas, started a department of sociology. In
keeping with the vision of social sciences in conversation, management, commerce and
geography were added.
Like Nehru, Rao envisaged a dominant role for the government in development through
democratic 'socialism' and through creating a 'welfare state'. He said: "My passion was always to
make my economics useful for the nation's economic growth and the welfare of its masses...
economics should not be studied in isolation from the other social sciences... economics should
be learnt and used to solve people's problems... I preferred applied economics to abstract
speculations in economic theory unconnected with Indian reality... the rural poor of India, who
constitute the vast masses of the Indian people, are the people whom we should serve... through
education, investment, development and social and economic programs directed to their welfare,
and improvement in their quality of life... (t)here (has to be) a vast increase in the opportunities
for non-agricultural employment or occupations; and these opportunities need to be created in
the rural areas... I do have till today the strong conviction that there should be a marriage
between theory and practice, and a balanced mixture of both in any sphere of knowledge or
academic discipline to make it useful for policy purposes and the promotion of human welfare..."
In 1944-45, the Bombay Plan prepared by J.R.D. Tata, G.D. Birla and other industrialists, asked
for a key role for government in the economy. It asked the Union government to invest in
infrastructure and basic industries (like roads, rail, ports, ship-building, steel, aluminum, power
plants - coal and hydro - transmission and distribution of power, coal mines, oil and gas
exploration and production, and refining and distribution and other such). The private sector, it
said, was too small to raise the required funds. This gave the government the backing to play a
central role in the economy.
In 1951, the first Five-Year Plan was based on the Harrod-Domar model. It placed savings and
investment at the centre of development planning. The plan's primary focus was agriculture. It
was successful chiefly because of good harvests in the last two years of the plan.
Development economics was studied in a closed economy; exports were not a priority; foreign
investment would be from governments and international institutions, not private sources; the
United States of America was aid giver and food supplier. Resources were raised through high
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direct taxes. The weak and vulnerable were to be looked after through subsidized rations (food,
fuel, sugar, janata cloth and so on). Innovation, technology, enterprise, private profit and the
process of implementation were not studied.
By 1967 the private sector had grown considerably. But Indira Gandhi went for more Central
ownership, control, restrictive regulation, a marginal income tax rate of 98 per cent, plus estate
duty and wealth tax and comprehensive industrial and import licensing. Her government
nationalized banks, insurance, many sick textile mills, airlines; it manufactured bread, ran hotels,
and so forth. Managing these enterprises were officers from the government services, with little
understanding or experience of managing enterprises commercially. There was little conception
of management accounting, delegation, motivation, incentives, improving productivity and so
on. Boards were appointed politically. The one success was in agriculture, transformed by a
well-planned Green Revolution.
The government sought to restrict corporate size, production capacities, sources of technology,
restricted royalty payments for technology import and disallowed foreign direct investment in
most sectors. Indian manufacturing was inefficient, of low quality and high cost.
Industrial licences led to shortages and quasi-monopolies. R.K. Hazari in 1963 reported at
Nehru's request that the Birlas had industrial licences in almost every sector even with no prior
experience.
Rajiv Gandhi in 1985 broad banded industrial licensing. When a licence to make scooters could
also be used to make motorcycles it was considered a major reform. He freed the information,
communications, and technology sector from restrictions. P.V. Narasimha Rao from 1991
removed industrial licensing altogether, most of import licensing, and removed many significant
limitations on investment and technology. Atal Bihari Vajpayee began privatizing State-owned
enterprises. These economic policy changes accelerated growth from the 40-year-old 'Hindu' rate
of 3 per cent, reduced poverty, but increased inequalities. India was becoming a huge consumer
market and attracting foreign private investors.
Much remains to be done. We must cut red tape, further stimulate enterprise, develop diverse
sources of funds, become a single national market; land must be made easily transferable for
other uses, restrictive laws relaxed, penalties for wrong-doing made stiff.
In his last years, Rao recognized the effects of the emerging economic policy priorities and their
beneficial impact on growth and poverty reduction. He accepted that India had given too much
power over the economy to bureaucrats and politicians, much to its detriment. But his basic
approach was unchanged - improve the condition of the masses and for that economics must
converse with other social sciences.
There is no magic economic wand. High savings rates must have many more channels for
investment. Government control over public enterprises must cease and its focus should be on
better management, on improving demographic quality through education and skills, health and
public health services. Independent statutory regulation must reduce the misuse of resources, and
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ensure fair competition.
Rao's vision of the DSE as the Indian rival to the LSE is now a reality. The DSE's teaching,
research and the contributions of its faculty and alumni to policy-making are unquestioned.
The author is former director-general, National Council of Applied Economic Research
HINDU, FEB 4, 2016
The illusion of equity in the classroom
AJEY SANGAI
Success of a new education policy would depend on how it socialises the privateand embeds the
basic right to a quality education
As the Right to Education (RTE) Act just completed five years of operation, it is time to take
note of some facts. Kerala became the first State to achieve 100 per cent primary education, but
in Uttar Pradesh, only 12 out of 75 districts have admitted students from disadvantaged groups to
private schools. The Act mandates that schools reserve 25 per cent seats for these students. There
are rumours that due to the pressure exerted by the private schools’ lobby, Karnataka may dilute
the Act. A large number of Dalits, Adivasis and girls discontinue education because of
discrimination in schools. And more than 60 per cent of urban primary schools are overcrowded,
and about 50 per cent of Indian students cannot do basic mathematics or read a short story when
they complete elementary education.
Equitable quality education
Universalising education involves issues of both distributive justice and quality. While the
former concerns taking education to marginalised communities, the latter asks, ‘what counts as
meaningful education?’ Considering that inadequate education affects the disadvantaged groups
more severely, it is a possibility that these groups will end up with restricted opportunities and
diminished outcomes given the market-driven economy we live in. The RTE, therefore, entails
the right to equitable quality education. It is with this aim that India enacted the Right of
Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009. While it is too early to pass a judgment
on the success of this Act, the initial trends are somewhat disappointing. According to the 2011
Census, the average literacy rates of people aged above 15 among Scheduled Castes (SCs) and
Scheduled Tribes (STs) are about 9 per cent and 17.4 per cent less than the national average,
respectively. The female literacy rate is 19.5 per cent less than that of males. This difference
increases to 23 per cent and 23.5 per cent among the SCs and STs, respectively, indicating the
double discrimination faced by Dalit and Adivasi women. The dropout rates among SCs and STs
are significantly higher than the national average and more girls discontinue schooling than boys.
Of course, there is a wide variation across States and the gap is wider in rural areas as compared
to urban, but these statistics suggest significant inequalities in the distribution of educational
opportunities.
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The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2014 reveals that enrolment in private schools
has increased from 18.7 per cent in 2006 to 30.8 per cent in 2014. But has this increase been
accompanied by a proportionate inclusion of disadvantaged groups?
The National University of Educational Planning and Administration’s 2011-12 report shows
that only about 16 per cent of students from SCs and STs attend private schools and the average
Indian household spends five times more money on each child annually if s/he is enrolled in a
private school compared to a government school. It is reasonable to say that private schools are
ordinarily more accessible to higher income groups.
ASER reports suggest that private schools fare only marginally better in terms of imparting
quality education compared to government schools. While the ASER methodology of
quantifying learning has been disputed, these statistics suggest that our education system has
fared poorly on both equity and quality parameters.
The Constitution provides a flexible framework for a welfare state. Article 39 directs the state to
frame policies that distribute the “ownership and control of the material resources of the
community” such that it serves the “common good”, and “provide opportunities and facilities
that enable children to develop in a healthy manner in conditions of freedom and dignity”. While
Directive Principles are non-justiciable, Article 37 commands that they shall be “fundamental in
the governance of the country and it shall be the duty of the State to apply these principles in
making laws”. Initially, universal elementary education was a Directive Principle under Article
45. The fact that it was made a fundamental right vide the 86th Amendment does not jettison the
egalitarian perspective that placed it in the same scheme as other Directive Principles,
particularly those under Article 39.
The Kothari Commission recommended a common school system (CSS) to “bring the different
social classes and groups together and thus promote the emergence of an egalitarian and
integrated society”. It lamented that “instead of doing so, education itself is tending to increase
social segregation and to perpetuate and widen class distinctions”. This results in the “anaemic
and incomplete” education of both the rich and poor as it forecloses sharing of perspectives. The
CSS was adopted by both the 1968 and 1986 national policies on education. While the
interventions from ‘Operation Blackboard’ to Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan brought universalisation
and quality to the forefront, the CSS was somehow relegated to the background.
The road ahead
The RTE Act provides for minimum quality standards and mandates 25 per cent reservation for
children belonging to weaker sections. This provision has caused much debate. The Ministry of
Human Resource Development has clarified that “the larger objective [of this provision] is to
provide a common place where children sit, eat and live together for at least eight years of their
lives across caste, class and gender divides in order that it narrows down such divisions in our
society”. Four caveats could be issued here. One, in conceiving ‘disadvantaged groups’, we must
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also include children of sex workers, transgendered groups, disabled persons and minorities.
Two, equality also means the right to be treated with dignity and respect. Three, the government
must not abdicate its responsibility to make its schools inclusive. If Dalit children sit separately
and clean toilets and girls perform stereotypical gender roles, then we have only engrafted
inequality and entrenched hierarchies. Four, education itself needs to celebrate the diverse ways
in which knowledge is transferred and acquired.
As the RTE Act emerges from its nascence and education statistics continue to disappoint on
both quality and inclusion parameters, the government is deliberating the first education policy
post-1991. Its success would depend on how it socialises the private and provides a vision for an
equitable quality education.
(Ajey Sangai is a Research Fellow with Education Initiative at Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy.)
It is reasonable to say that private schools are ordinarily moreaccessible to higher income groups
DECCAN HERALD, FEB 4, 2016
Book schools for student deaths
It is a shame that two kids lost their lives in Delhi schools within a week because of criminal
negligence on the part of the authorities. While five-year-old boy Ankit died on January 27 after
falling into an open septic tank in a school run by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, Devansh,
a Class 1 student in the upscale Ryan International, was found dead on January 30 in the school
water tank which was uncovered and unguarded. After a public outrage, the police have finally
arrested Principal of the MCD school in southwest Delhi but no action has yet been taken against
the authorities of the private school. In the mean time, the Delhi High Court, hearing a public
interest litigation, has sought status reports from the Delhi government, the MCD and Ryan
International School. If the Delhi parents thought sending their loved ones to the private schools
than those run by the government or MCD would be safer, they have been proved wrong by the
tragic incident in Ryan International located in upmarket Vasant Kunj.
In a typical reactive mode, the Delhi government has now asked all the schools to conduct safety
audits on their premises. On the other hand, the manage-ments of the ‘branded’ schools are now
waking up to the safety pitfalls in their backyards while the police response would depend on
duration of the media coverage. As soon as the media glare moves away from these incidents,
there are real chances of botched up investigations which will fix the blame on generic issues or
at best on some lowly functionaries. There are rare chances that top officials, including the
manager or principal could be held account-able and prosecuted in a professional manner to get
those guilty convicted in courts of law. Unless the guilty in this kind of criminal negligence cases
are booked and brought to justice, no lessons would be learnt and things would be back to
“chalta
hai”.
After all, for Municipal Corporation staff, their preference is to fight for their salaries while the
private schools have other issues like fixing their admissions in a manner nobody including the
government, can question. For the AAP government, its face off with the BJP and the Central
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government will leave them with little time for resolving citizens’ problems which become
severe in big cities. At times, one wonders if we are getting our priorities right? We are all
talking about smart cities, but what about safe cities where the citizens are rest assured about the
safety of their kids and themselves?
HINDU, FEB 1, 2016
JNU V-C’s new open-door policy
KRITIKA SHARMA SEBASTIAN
: Sticking to his commitment of giving priority to students, the new Vice-Chancellor of the
Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has told students that he will be available to meet them on
the first Monday of each month without prior appointment.
The newly appointed V-C, M Jagadesh Kumar, on January 29 sent out a communication to
students: “The V-C will be available to meet students of the university, without any prior
appointment, on first Monday of every month between 2.30 p.m. and 5.30 p.m. in his office to
discuss their problems or hear their views, if any, related to any academic matter.”
“However, this day and time slot is liable to change if the situation/circumstances so demand,” it
added.
Mr. Kumar, who took over as the V-C of JNU on January 27 in his earlier interviews mentioned
that students and their issues will be his top priority along with academics.
The former IIT professor, who joined the varsity in the midst of a controversy of a dalit scholar
threatening to commit suicide if his research grant is not extended, solved the student’s issue on
a priority basis. The scholar’s research grant was extended two days ago.
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EMPLOYMENT
STATESMAN, FEB 4, 2016
Decadal employment
Quite the most distressing thought on the tenth anniversary of the Mahatma Gandhi National
Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme is the kerfuffle between the Congress and the Bharatiya
Janata Party over its effectiveness. The Congress, as its originator, is engaged in drum-beating
the perceived success of what Manmohan Singh had once described as the “flagship
achievement” of the UPA government. While the BJP claimed on Tuesday that it has succeeded
to a depleted inheritance, decidedly quirky has been the BJP-led NDA dispensation’s turnaround.
Though initially critical of the welfare endeavour, it has now let it be known that the
“achievements of a decade are a cause of national pride and celebration”. Double-think runs wild
as only last year Narendra Modi had referred to the MNREGS as a “living monument of the
Congress’ failure to tackle poverty in 60 years”. As it turns out, the second perception has
dominated the BJP’s discourse. The anniversary angst is targeted at the Congress praxis, and the
charges and counter-charges can be of little or no interest to the intended beneficiaries, with
Rahul Gandhi leading the Opposition brigade. On closer reflection, the ten-year time-span (200616) predominantly covers the Congress dispensation (till 2014), and well might the party preen
its feathers ahead of the assembly elections in five states. Currently, a sarkari recital of statistical
data may be less than relevant to the country’s poor, indeed the target group. For Middle India
and the affluent segment, facts and figures are merely of academic interest.
Of an anniversary evaluation there is none; of an attempt to plug the loopholes even less. This
without question is the right juncture to conduct a decadal assessment across the country. Not
that the scheme has been uniformly ineffective; there are certain states that have performed
commendably. Ten years after it was launched with considerable fanfare, it would be instructive
to know which are the states where the rural employment project has been effective and the
extent thereof. In parallel, the evaluation ought to cover the regions where MGNREGS has been
plagued by failure to generate employment for 100 days a year, siphoning of funds, and the
percentage of villagers who have benefited. If indeed there has been a revival of the scheme
nationwide during the last fiscal, it would be instructive too to know the reasons for the sluggish
phase. An earnest assessment of the performance of state governments and/or NGOs will have a
profound impact in terms of public policy, general development and welfare economics. It ought
also to have a bearing on budgeting ahead of the 29 February presentation. Arguably, this is the
right juncture for Niti Aayog to conduct a performance appraisal; the political class must hold its
fire.
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FINANCE
TIMES OF INDIA, FEB 6, 2016
Budget 2016: Govt to provide Rs 1.10 lakh crore for 7th Pay Commission, OROP
New Delhi: During the financial year 2016-17, the Central Government has to make provision
for about Rs 1.10 lakh crore in order to meet the liabilities on account of implementation of
Seventh Pay Commission recommendations and One Rank One Pension (OROP) Scheme,
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Friday.
The Finance Minister was making the Opening Remarks at the first meeting of the Consultative
Committee attached to the Ministry of Finance during inter-session of Parliament held here
today. The Subject of the Meeting was “Suggestions for Budget”.
Jaitley said that all the major economic organisations including IMF have predicted low growth
for the world economy in the coming year. He said that these developments have implications on
India’s economy as our exports are also affected. However, he further added that silver lining is
low international commodities and oil prices which in turn has helped in better macroeconomic
situation of the country.
The Finance Minister said that the agriculture growth in the last two years has suffered mainly
due to insufficient monsoons. Jaitely said that highest ever amount was given to the States for
drought relief during the current financial year 2015-16 and more incentives will be given to
agriculture sector for increasing agriculture production and productivity.
The Finance Minister further said that this was also the first time that the real expenditure
amount was higher than the Budget proposal.
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FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
BUSINESS STANDARD, FEB 4, 2016
Govt to infuse Rs 5,000 cr more into state-run banks in FY16
Funds would be infused after Parliament approves the third Supplementary Demand for
Grants
Committee likely to go into sector-specific NPAs of PSBsGovt nominates Anjuly Duggal on
RBI boardTop FinMin officials reshuffledWon't let bad elements in tax dept ruin investment
climate, says AdhiaFinance ministry asks banks to revisit their risk management process
A senior finance ministry official said on Wednesday the government would infuse another Rs
5,000 crore of capital in the current financial year to strengthen banks' balance sheets. "As
committed, banks would get fund infusion in the fourth quarter. Banks will get about Rs 5,000
crore," Financial Services Secretary Anjuly Chib Duggal said on the sidelines of a workshop on
social security platform.
Of the Rs 25,000 crore earmarked for 2015-16, the government has pumped in about Rs 20,088
crore into 13 public sector banks. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said he might provide more
money to the banks, provided resources allowed him to do so. Funds would be infused after
Parliament approves the third Supplementary Demand for Grants in the upcoming Budget
session. Last year, the government had announced a plan, called Indradhanush, to infuse Rs
70,000 crore in state-owned banks over four years, while these would have to raise a further Rs
1.1 lakh crore from the markets to meet their capital requirements in line with global risk norms
Basel-III.
PSBs will get Rs 25,000 crore this financial year and the next, and Rs 10,000 crore each would
be infused in 2017-18 and 2018-19. On initiatives taken by the government to deepen the social
security net, Duggal said banks were addressing last-mile connectivity issues and that they can
work with local kirana and post offices as points for financial inclusion, where people can get
their direct benefits transfer payments.
"The Department of Financial Services is holding discussions with banks on a regular basis to
sort out issues as soon as possible," she said.
31
GOVERNORS
HINDU, FEB 4, 2016
Time to debate Governors’ powers
By imposing President’s rule in Arunachal Pradesh even before a mandatory floor test could
establish conclusively that the Congress government of Nabam Tuki had lost its majority, the
Central government acted prematurely. Indeed, the Supreme Court in seeking reasons for the
decision, and observing that “the matter is too serious”, underscored what President Pranab
Mukherjee had said in his new year’s message to Governors: they must play, he said, their
assigned role while respecting the distinct authority and responsibility vested in the executive,
the judiciary and the legislature, and help “create a harmonious relationship between the Centre
and the States”. When the Centre sought his assent for President’s Rule in Arunachal Pradesh,
Mr. Mukherjee cautioned against a hasty decision — indeed, one that runs counter to Prime
Minister Narendra Modi’s promise of cooperative federalism. But the government, projecting it
as a ‘textbook case’ for the use of Article 356, had its way. On Monday, the Supreme Court
accepted that a Governor is not answerable to the courts for the exercise of the powers of his
office. But simultaneously it ordered the Centre to release all documents — including personal
letters of the Chief Minister and of his ministerial colleagues — to enable Mr. Tuki to prepare a
defence against the contents of Governor J.P. Rajkhowa’s report that accuses him of instigating
fellow Nyishis and funding public protests to seek the latter’s exit. The Governor also claimed
that he had been abused, threatened and nearly assaulted by Mr. Tuki’s Ministers, who joined
protestors and even sacrificed amithun outside the Raj Bhavan.
However, this is not the first case of a clash between a Governor and the Chief Minister of a
State in the past year. The Governors of Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Assam —
Tathagata Roy, Ram Naik, Keshari Nath Tripathi and P.B. Acharya, respectively — have been
on a collision course with the Chief Ministers of the States. Mr. Naik clashed with Chief Minister
Akhilesh Yadav’s choice of Lokayukta, and sat over the State’s nominations for five members to
the Legislative Council. In Assam, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi accused Mr. Acharya of
“interfering” in the political affairs of the State. Mr. Acharya also hit the headlines for his
controversial “Hindustan is for Hindus” comment. Mr. Roy attracted adverse attention when he
said publicly: “Whatever gave you the notion that I am secular? I am Hindu.” The imposition of
President’s Rule in Arunachal Pradesh is, in a sense, in keeping with the record of governments
of all hues to use pliant Governors to dismiss opposition-run State governments. However, at
present there is another concern: many Governors are being seen as active agents working to
implement the Sangh Parivar’s Hindutva agenda. Later this month, when the President hosts the
annual Governors’ conference, it would be in order to have a deeper discussion on the
constitutional proprieties that should guide a Governor’s word and deed.
INDIAN EXPRESS, FEB 3, 2016
The governors and their role, once again at the Centre of things
32
The Seventies and Eighties saw the en-masse sackings of state governments, particularly by the
troubled Indira Gandhi regime, followed by others in retaliation.
Written by Seema Chishti
The governor of a state is a very interesting appointee of our political system. Seen as part of the
“checks and balances” the Indian democracy is proud of, the post is also often no more than a
vestige of a colonial past, complete with pomp and a big bungalow, the best address in a state
capital, that is often able to exercise authority in contravention of an elected government.
Legal experts like A G Noorani trace the ancestry of the governor to Section 93 of the
Government of India Act, 1935. As he writes, “The governing words are, ‘a situation has arisen
in which the Government of the State cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of
this Constitution’.”
While the role of the governor is set out in Part VI of the Constitution and Article 153 states
clearly that there will be a governor for states, misgivings were expressed right at the beginning
over whether the powers of the post could be misconstrued.
At the time the Constitution was being debated, Sardar Patel sought to make it clear that a
governor’s “special powers” wouldn’t put him in conflict with the ministry. There would be no
“invasion of the field of ministerial responsibility”, he stressed. The “special powers” would be
limited to sending a report to the Union President when “a grave emergency arose, threatening
menace to peace and tranquillity”.
During the discussion on the emergency powers of the governor though, an amendment moved
by K M Munshi was adopted that empowered a governor to take over the administration of a
province when there was a threat to peace and tranquillity and the governor felt the elected
government could not carry on working in accordance with the advice of his ministers.
33
At one point there was a discussion that the governor be directly elected by the people in a
province, but that did not find favour. Jawaharlal Nehru also stressed that the post could be used
to bring academics as well as distinguished people in other fields, who might not have the
appetite or skills for winning an election, into public life.
Independent India has seen much water flow under the bridge, and the role of the governor in
situations has been a function of the authority the powers that be at the Centre have chosen to
exercise and been in a position to exercise.
The Seventies and Eighties saw the en-masse sackings of state governments, particularly by the
troubled Indira Gandhi regime, followed by others in retaliation.
The growth of regional parties and coalition politics after this made the Centre careful about the
exercise of Article 356, but it by no means stopped the creative use of the governor’s office for
political purposes.
In 1994, the landmark Bommai judgment — on a petition by the dismissed Janata Party chief
minister in Karnataka S R Bommai — laid down the limitations for gubernatorial authority as it
made the decision of dismissing an elected government open to judicial scrutiny.
However, the trend continued. Governors in Bihar, when Lalu Prasad was seen as getting
powerful by the NDA, or conversely when Nitish Kumar was emerging by the UPA, were seen
to have been used to try and seize the political initiative.
In 1998, Jagdambika Pal took over as chief minister of UP for just a day after Kalyan Singh was
sacked and again came to power, with full support of governor Romesh Bhandri. It was the time
34
of the United Front government at the Centre, and its instincts were to help any nonBJP dispensation.
In 2002, Uttar Pradesh was kept under suspended animation for months on end as the result had
thrown up a fractured verdict. The governor took very little time to recommend the start of
President’s rule.
In 2006, Buta Singh was told off by the Supreme Court for his dissolution of the Assembly as
governor in Bihar.
Jagmohan, who recently received with a Padma Vibhushan, is best known for his stint in Jammu
and Kashmir when, in 1984, he dismissed the elected government in the state, which set J&K on
a course from which it took years to recover. J&K has seen the longest stints under Central rule
than any other state.
Other governors, such as Bhisham Narain Singh appointed around the same time, as the governor
of Assam, helped political processes initiated by the Centre and aided brokering of peace
accords, same as Arjun Singh in Punjab in 1985.
As for the choice of accomplished academics, artistes or distinguished citizens to the posts, that
concept has largely gone out of the window. Of the current governors too, Vajubhai Vala,
Kalyan Singh and Kesari N Tripathi were in political hot seats till hours before being airlifted
into Raj Bhawans. Before this, the Modi government appointed former chief justice P A
Sathasivam as governor of Kerala without any mandatory cooling off period post-retirement.
35
In fact, the Narendra Modi government marks a period yet again of more concentration of power
and authority at the Centre after at least 25 years of a more dispersed federal scheme. The row
over Arunachal Pradesh comes against that backdrop.
TELEGRAPH, FEB 4, 2016
Governors stripped of halo: - All political appointees, no unbridled powers: SC
R. Balaji
New Delhi, Feb. 3: A Supreme Court bench has asserted that every governor, even if he is a
former judge, is a political appointee and does not enjoy unbridled powers.
The bench also asked a telling question about the "discretionary power" of governors, wondering
whether it empowered an incumbent to change the sequence of "1, 2, 3, 4" to "4, 3, 2, 1".
The five-judge bench made the observation while dealing with the political row in Arunachal
Pradesh that has culminated in President's rule and brought under glare the role of the governor.
"Governor is a political appointee even if he is a judge of the Supreme Court. Every governor is
a political appointee," Justice J.S. Khehar, heading the bench, observed. Justice Dipak Misra
added: "What we will judge is constitutional neutrality, not individual personality."
The observations have come at a time former Chief Justice of India P. Sathasivam is the
governor of Kerala, an appointment that drew widespread criticism when it was announced by
the Narendra Modi government.
The nature of the appointment of governors figured at the hearing today when two senior
lawyers, Vikas Singh and Shekhar Naphade, contended that governors enjoyed absolute
immunity under Articles 163 and 361 of the Constitution as their actions could not be questioned
in any court of law.
The two lawyers, appearing for a group of BJP legislators, told the court that governors enjoyed
a unique position in the Constitution and were answerable, at best, only to the President but not
to the judiciary. Singh also told the court that Arunachal governor J.P. Rajkhowa was a former
civil servant and not a political appointee. This comment provoked the bench to observe that
every governor is a political appointee.
Singh quoted from a constitution bench ruling in the S.R. Bommai case, which set the stage for a
landmark judgment against the misuse of powers allowing the Centre to dismiss state
governments, to buttress his argument.
However, Justice Misra countered: "The constitution bench has said the governor cannot be
made a party before a court. But if there are allegations of mala fide, the court can examine
36
whether it is personal mala fide or legal mala fide. Has the governor violated any of the
conditions? You can't say it is beyond jurisdiction."
The bench added: "Now, everything cannot be prescribed in the Constitution that this has to be
done or not. The rules shall not be in conflict with the Constitution."
One of the key questions in the dispute is whether the governor had the power to advance an
Assembly session, which Rajkhowa did in Arunachal.
Defending the governor's action, Singh said Article 179 did provide discretionary powers to him
to convene, prorogue or dissolve the Assembly.
However, Justice Madan B. Lokur asked: "The Business Advisory Committee will say that the
list of business of the House should be taken in the form of 1, 2, 3, 4, but can the governor say
'no, it should be taken in the order of 4, 3, 2, 1?"
Singh said: "What can judicial review do? Article 361 puts the power of a governor at a higher
pedestal."
But the bench asked: "Can constitutional finality take over the power of judicial review? What
you are saying is that irrespective of whatever the governor does, he has discretion under Article
163, (he is) not subject to judicial review, that we cannot accept.
"You can't say 'I am the governor of the state. I can do whatever I want to do. My action cannot
be questioned in court'."
Singh said: "Your Lordships cannot rewrite the Constitution."
Justice Misra said: "His action is subject to judicial review. It can be tested on the bedrock of the
Constitution."
Naphade, the other lawyer, said every constitutional authority was vested with certain
discretionary powers that are not amenable to judicial challenge.
But the bench did not agree with the submission. "If we confer so much power on the governor,
it could be a double-edged weapon. He may secure democracy or trample upon democracy.... To
say we can't adjudicate is not acceptable," the bench said.
37
JUDICIARY
HINDU, FEB 6, 2015
Vocabulary of justice and being
If judges are willing to learn from the singular, the minuscule minority and the multitude about
what it means to live without a sense of liberty and dignity in the deepest sense of the term, then
there is a profound constitutional lesson to be learnt from Rohith Vemula’s words.
After the Supreme Court delivered its verdict in Suresh Kumar Koushal v. Naz
Foundation (2014) overruling the Delhi High Court’s decision, the National University of
Juridical Sciences brought out a special law review issue assessing the judgment. Prof. M.P.
Singh, the constitutional scholar and former vice chancellor of the university, wrote an article
praising the judgment for its judicial restraint, in which he described the use of constitutional
litigation by sexual minorities as a case of “misplaced hope in courts”. Prof. Singh prefaced his
article with a cautionary extract from Judge Learned Hand that warns us against “placing our
hopes too much upon constitutions, upon laws, and upon courts. These are false hopes; believe
me, these are false hopes”. Prof. Singh similarly suggests that what activists ought to do is to
educate legislators rather than pin their hopes on the judiciary. Underlying these opinions seemed
to be an unwritten rule of an economy of hope (that one could have a little but not too much of it)
but the essential trait of hope is that it is greedy sentiment that demands the impossible, and
the Nazjudgment with its rich evocation of dignity, liberty and equality had already proven that
we could not just demand but hope for the impossible.
In December 2015, Shashi Tharoor attempted to introduce a private member’s bill in Parliament
to amend Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code and give effect again to the overruled Delhi High
Court decision. The bill was supported by a grand total of 24 MPs, a good indication that it is
unlikely that we will see any reform of the law in Parliament in the near future. And credit must
be given to all the LGBT activists, their supporters and lawyers who refused to lose hope despite
all the setbacks from the judiciary and the legislature, proving that hope is precisely what one
maintains against all evidence to the contrary. They held on to their conviction that they would
take their struggle right to the very legal end, and that even if Naz had been overruled legally, it
could not be overruled socially.
‘Minuscule minority’
In the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s admission of the curative petition and its decision to
refer the matter to a constitutional bench, it is not surprising that the word hope has resurfaced
again in media coverage and analysis (‘hope rekindled’, ‘hope flickers again’). The hearing
before the three-judge bench did not go on for very long and the judges did not dwell on whether
the conditions for a curative petition had been satisfied, but from reports it appears that they
agreed with the submission of Kapil Sibal that sexuality is a matter of serious constitutional
importance and that the Koushal decision impinges on the liberty of individuals, violates their
38
fundamental identity and has the ability to affect not just current but also future generations. The
decision to refer the matter to a constitutional bench (which should have heard it in the first
instance) is therefore a welcome corrective after the glaring wrongness of theKoushal judgment.
Koushal got many things wrong and much has been written about its constitutional failures. (One
of the few times that a court narrowed down the scope of fundamental rights after they have been
expanded by the judiciary, prejudice masked through an enthusiastic if inconsistent judicial
restraint, the flawed presumption of the constitutionality of a pre-constitutional colonial law, the
narrow technical claim that Section 377 merely criminalises an act and not identity and hence not
violative of the doctrine of “reasonable classification” in Article 14.) But none was as
problematic as their characterisation of sexual minorities as a “minuscule minority”.
The reference to the size of a vulnerable community is simultaneously a matter of legal as well
as political and ethical perspective. While the Delhi High Court saw that “the criminalisation of
homosexuality condemns in perpetuity a sizeable section of society and forces them to live their
lives in the shadow of harassment, exploitation, humiliation, cruel and degrading treatment at the
hands of the law enforcement machinery” (paragraph 52), the Supreme Court reduced not just
the population of sexual minorities but also managed to shrink our collective vocabulary of
personhood. Ignoring the evidence placed before it, the courts chose to deploy an algorithm of
subtraction where size does matter in questions of justice.
This has in turn prompted a number of critics to point out that sexuality minorities are not as
minuscule a minority as the court believes. But rather than pointing out the obvious to the courts,
what would happen if we were to turn their descriptive error on its head and make it the basis of
our political and constitutional demands? If the Supreme Court is supposed to be a countermajoritarian force in democratic politics, then shouldn’t our criteria for judging the judiciary be
their commitment to protecting and enabling the minuscule minority? The reference of the issue
to a constitutional bench affords the court an opportunity to articulate a political vocabulary of
dignity and personhood which is good not just for sexuality minorities but for all minorities who
have been historically discriminated against.
The Rohith backdrop
Even as we celebrate this moment, we cannot but place it within the context of the deep anger
and pain that Rohith Vemula’s suicide has provoked. To be able to think from the perspective of
a minuscule minority may sometimes not even involve communities (regardless of their size),
but to recognise that constitutional lessons about dignity and human rights can be learnt from
many sites. In his letter Vemula states, “The value of a man was reduced to his immediate
identity and nearest possibility. To a vote. To a number. To a thing. Never was a man treated as a
mind. As a glorious thing made up of star dust. In every field, in studies, in streets, in politics,
and in dying and living.” If judges are willing to learn from the singular, the minuscule minority
and the multitude about what it means to live without a sense of liberty and dignity in the deepest
39
sense of the term, then there is a profound constitutional lesson to be learnt from Vemula’s
words.
This was indeed a lesson that was sought to be imparted to the judges through the sharing of
personal testimonies and where the Delhi High Court empathetically translated these voices into
an inclusive jurisprudence of dignity, the Koushal bench obsessively sought clarification on what
“carnal intercourse against the order of nature” actually meant. It is worth recalling paragraph 26
of the Delhi High Court judgment where relying on a South African case the judges ruled, “It is
clear that the constitutional protection of dignity requires us to acknowledge the value and worth
of all individuals as members of our society. It recognises a person as a free being who develops
his or her body and mind as he or she sees fit. At the root of the dignity is the autonomy of the
private will and a person’s freedom of choice and of action. Human dignity rests on recognition
of the physical and spiritual integrity of the human being, his or her humanity, and his value as a
person, irrespective of the utility he can provide to others.” There are striking resemblances
between Rohith’s plea not to be reduced to an identity, a number or a thing, and the court’s
understanding of the dignity of an individual beyond their utility. The letter offers us a tragic
perspective of what it may mean to be unconstituted through a devaluation of our being just as
the judgment affirms a complex sense of selfhood — one in which liberty, dignity and integrity
combine to produce glorious things made of stardust.
A politics of being
Constitutional lessons are often learnt too late and at too heavy a price, but when grasped with
integrity, they can become the basis of a transformative politics of immense
significance. Naz was partially the outcome of the tragic price paid by people, many of whom
were not even around to celebrate it. When judges stitch together Articles 14, 15, 19, and 21,
they are engaging in more than legal interpretation, they produce a legal poetics and politics of
being, and to refuse to engage with such questions through the guise of judicial restraint is to do
a disservice not just to the experience of people but also to the court’s philosophical
responsibility. So let’s not be mistaken — the reference to a constitutional bench is an
acknowledgment that the Supreme Court in Koushal had not really treated the arguments made
before it with the seriousness it deserved.
By referring the matter to a constitutional bench, we can only hope that the court recognises that
a grave injustice was done, not just to sexuality minorities but to a judgment that had articulated
a rich and nuanced understanding of what it means to achieve full personhood. That it is hope
that we come back to is not surprising, but hope for whom? The obvious answer is for millions
of sexuality and other minorities but equally hope for a constitutional vision, and hope for the
Supreme Court that it does not betray itself a second time around.
(Lawrence Liang is a co-founder of Alternative Law Forum and is currently an independent legal
scholar and writer in Bengaluru.)
40
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
STATESMAN, FEB 2, 2016
Delhi’s garbage war
The AAP-BJP tug of war over Delhi municipal workers’ unpaid salaries has led to a civic
lockdown in the Capital that is now witnessing a re-run of last year’s strike by sanitation workers
with the city becoming a stinking garbage dump.
The Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government’s claim that adequate funds have been provided to
the three BJP-led municipal corporations is promptly countered by the BJP saying that the civic
bodies have not been given enough by the city government and hence cannot pay employees’
salaries and arrears.
These political slanging matches, that had also marked the AAP government’s first 49-day stint,
seem to be part of political posturing ahead of next year’s civic polls that will see AAP trying to
unseat the BJP that has been entrenched in the civic bodies for more than a decade.
However, the immediate upshot is that more than 1.5 lakh municipal workers are on a strike that
is threatening to become indefinite. It is affecting sanitation services, schools and hospitals that
the aam aadmi frequents. Now doctors and nurses too have joined the stir as have a section of
municipal engineers. The Delhi government has declared that it will not let residents of the
national capital live among piles of rubbish and has enlisted PWD workers and AAP volunteers
to lift the waste.
Ministers and AAP MLAs, too, have picked up brooms only to be confronted by angry
municipal workers. A full-fledged garbage war is being played out on the streets of the national
capital. The Delhi High Court has taken cognizance of the situation and sought responses from
the AAP government, the three civic bodies and the Delhi Development Authority by 2
February.
The MCD workers perform an essential service and are expected to be more responsible. Their
agitation is only the latest flashpoint in the AAP government’s never-ending confrontation with
the ruling dispensation at the Centre. The conspiracy theories and alleged witch-hunts against the
Kejriwal government raised by AAP’s articulate spokespersons have now become repetitive.
There is a pattern to the almost daily run-ins with Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung, who too
appears to be taking his role as a representative of the Centre much too seriously. The citizens of
41
Delhi are tired of this battle of attrition and are beginning to suspect that the confrontation is only
an alibi to cover up governance deficits on both sides.
The city government may be chafing at the inability to fulfill the many promises made to voters
but surely Delhi’ites who threw out the tried and tested and took the step of voting in an
unknown entity deserve better for their brave but risky attempt at change.
42
POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT
STATESMAN, FEB1M 2016
Change in Taiwan
Taiwan is a forerunner of emerging Asian economies. Not only must it deal, like other Asian
tigers, with the financial woes faced by the world such as economic restructuring, redesigning of
complicated regional trade deals, poverty and distributional disparity but also delicately manage
its relationship with the neighbouring powerhouse, China. The latter is the most significant
challenge before the President-elect of Taiwan Tsai Ing-Wen. Ms Tsai is the second leader from
the Democratic Progressive Party to have become President. She has been called the most
powerful woman in the Chinese-speaking world. Her rise comes amidst widespread
dissatisfaction with the Kuomintang Nationalist Party (KMT) which ran the island nation for the
last eight years under the leadership of Ma-Ying Jeou. Domestically the President-elect will have
to deal with the discontent spread and portrayed by the Sunflower Movement; a student uprising
that was against any trade pact with China. Ms Tsai has been vocal in her views and has given
an indirect message to the Chinese. After her election victory, she said that Taiwan's democratic
system, national identity and international space ought to be respected. China has relentlessly
claimed sovereignty over Taiwan since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949. Internationally
China has been consistent that nations cannot have official relations with both China and
Taiwan. China sees Taiwan as a breakaway province, a rebel region that it would take back by
force, if required. During elections Ms Tsai was called a pro-independence candidate. However,
she has been prudent enough to keep Taiwan's independence issue at a distance and has stated
that "it is the shared resolve of Taiwan's 23 million people that the Republic of China is a
democratic country".
Japanese President Shinzo Abe congratulated Ms Tsai on her victory and called Taiwan "an old
friend". Japan does not have a pleasant history with the Island republic; in 1895 Japan occupied
Taiwan as its first formal colony after winning the Sino-Japanese war. For the next 50 years
Japanese rule changed the socio-economic and political landscape of Taiwanese society. Taiwan
has been a free country for all practical purposes since 1950. After its independence from China,
Taiwan successfully avoided serious economic disruption and social conflict and reached its goal
of creating a multi-party democracy. Ms Tsai has been a formidable political force, and having
been at Cornell University in the US and the London School of Economics, she is familiar with
the workings and priorities of the Western world.
43
POPULATION
INDIAN EXPRESS, FEB 5, 2016
S. Subramanian
Religion and demography
India’s bogus population concerns
In an earlier piece in these columns I had highlighted many genuine concerns which a
responsible student of India's population problems would acknowledge and address. There are
potential benefits and potential burdens associated with the country's demographics which cry
out to be dealt with. An indicative list of issues would include facilitating a magnitude and
pattern of growth that draws on and feeds into the country's demographic dividend; combating
neo-natal and maternal mortality; stabilising population growth; feeding a hungry nation and
mitigating the worst manifestations of stunting and wasting; transforming rural-urban migration
from a phenomenon induced by agrarian distress to one induced by industrial progress;
addressing the worrying problem of growing gender imbalance, as reflected in a deteriorating
population sex-ratio; dealing with morbidity and disability; and, in the widest and most inclusive
sense, promoting the quality and productivity of human capital by furthering the causes of access
to education, sanitation, energy and good health. We are speaking here of opportunities and
challenges which demand to be addressed with urgency, vision and planning.
If what we need is constructive vision, what we seem to have, instead, is destructive fission. The
ideological fount of the ruling dispensation at the Centre, the RSS has been at it again: its
dubious treatment of the subject of 'religious demography' has in recent times been once more in
the news (not that this preoccupation is ever dormant with the country's Hindutva forces for any
length of time). In October 2015 the RSS passed a resolution at its national executive meet in
Jharkhand, in which it is observed that "…the share of population of religions of Bharatiya origin
has slipped from 88% to 83.5% between the 1951-2011 censuses while the Muslim population
has increased from 9.8% to 14.23% in the intervening period…"; that "…the Muslim population
growth rate has been higher than the national average in (the) border states of Assam, West
Bengal and Bihar indicating unabated infiltration from Bangladesh…"; that there has been
"…unnatural growth of (the) Christian population in many districts of the country indicat(ing)
targeted religious conversion activity by some vested interests…".
While the scientific and secular lay communities interpret India's 'demographic imbalance' in
terms of a skewed female-to-male ratio (especially at birth), the majoritarian religious orthodoxy
interprets that same phenomenon in terms of the dystopias of population swamping by religious
44
minorities, threatening cross-border incursions and infiltrations, and sinister acts of religious
conversion (terms which take no account of the fact that in a steady state the Muslim population
in the Indian Union should stabilise at around 14 per cent). Such readings of demography are
natural bed-fellows of a general climate of intolerance, aggression and violent insularity in which
the suspected storage of beef in one's house is met with being beaten to death; provocative
signals of temple-building on a disputed religious site are broadcast; and those who find such
acts objectionable are certified as being anti-national or seditionary or worse and invited to
emigrate to Pakistan or Saudi Arabia. These sorts of responses to population dynamics are on all
fours with racist and ethnic interpretations of population change that one would typically
associate with white supremacists and right-wing Zionists.
The assertion of a hierarchy among humans, on the basis of classificatory schema of population
according to race or caste or religion or gender or ethnicity, is as old as the hills. A more
'modern' tendency has been the effort to impart the status of 'scientific validity' to such divisive
demographics. The sciences that have most often been tapped and compromised are those of
biology and statistics. Pseudo-disciplines such as 'phrenology' have flourished in this atmosphere
of disingenuousness. Stephen Jay Gold, the late distinguished evolutionary biologist from
Harvard, has done much to demolish such demographic myths.
Of somewhat humorous (or at least tragic) interest in this connection, from an Indian point of
view, is a book published in the first decade of the new millennium on "The Religious
Demography of India" by researchers from the Centre for Policy Studies in Chennai. The book
solemnly promises (that is to say threatens) the reader with the forecast that by the year 2061 the
proportion of 'Indian religionists' in the combined population of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh
('Akhand Bharat'?) will be down to 50 per cent. This interesting prognostication has been made
on the basis of a 'scientific' exploitation of the statistical technique called 'regression analysis',
involving, more specifically, the employment of what is called a 'third-order polynomial
equation.'
What chance does the benighted lay public have against the power and authority and mystique
wielded by a third-order polynomial equation? Is one not obliged to take such demographic
projections seriously? Fortunately not. For those with a little knowledge of statistics and
demography, this sort of impressive jargon-mongering cannot succeed in concealing the fact that
it reflects rather trivial (and therefore rather serious) nonsense. Indeed, a fellow-scholar (D
Jayaraj) and I have extrapolated the methodology and calculations of the authors of "Religious
Demography of India" to estimate when the Hindu population in Akhand Bharat will become
extinct. As nearly accurately as we can tell, the appointed day of doom should be December 26th
45
2063. (We admit to some uncertainty, though, on the precise hour of the clock when this disaster
will strike.)
Scenarios of this nature are constructed around certain outlandish beliefs. (I was shocked and
dismayed to discover, in the course of a social evening in California some years ago, that such
beliefs are embraced as 'scientific facts' by upper-caste members of the Indian diaspora employed
as IT professionals, electronics engineers, and software specialists.) Amongst these beliefs are
the 'stylised facts' of a menacing order of excess fecundity amongst the minority communities in
India, fed by such practices as polygamy. As it happens, indiscriminate proliferation wrought by
each man marrying four women would suggest a bizarre sex-ratio of 4,000 females for every
1,000 males in this community (when the biological norm ordained by nature is roughly one
female for every male). What is more, and simply as a matter of fact which is upheld by the
Census of India, the incidence of polygamy amongst Hindus and Jains is not lower than amongst
Muslims. Nor is the general fertility rate systematically higher for all minority communities than
it is for the majority community. Again, as it happens, fertility is lower for Christians than for
Hindus, and lower for Hindus than for Muslims. Amongst Hindus, fertility rates amongst the
Scheduled Castes and Tribes are comparable to Muslim fertility rates. The reason is not hard to
find. Demographers have for long known that fertility declines with development. A good part of
the reason why Muslim fertility rates (which, far from incidentally, have been declining over
time) are somewhat higher than those of some other communities is that the Muslim community
is also relatively more deprived (as the Sachar Committee Report has so eloquently testified).
As in other aspects of social and economic life, it is a profound pity that what ought to be
genuine population concerns for India are being diverted, by prejudice and mis-diagnosis, to
bogus and divisive concerns.
The writer is a retired Professor of Economics
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RAILWAYS
ASIAN AGE, FEB 4, 2016
Railways’ joint venturess with state governments okayed
The Union Cabinet Wednesday approved a railway ministry proposal to set up joint ventures
with state governments for projects. The Railways recently signed MoUs with Kerala and
Andhra Pradesh, and with Orissa and Maharashtra last year.
The Cabinet decision will allow the Railways to enter into agreements with other states for lastmile connectivity and station modernisation projects.
As land is a state subject, the Railways hope that partnering with state governments will allow
speedy execution of projects. Also, the cash-strapped Railways hopes to pool resources with
states.
A senior Railway Board official said the joint venture companies would identify the projects
with feasibility studies and sourcing of funds.
Under the proposal cleared by the Cabinet, at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra
Modi, each JV will have an initial paid-up capital of Rs 100 crores, with half of it coming from
the state. The joint venture would ensure greater state government participation in
implementation of railway projects.
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SOCIAL PROBLEMS
TIMES OF INDIA, FEB 2, 2016
Govt to make ID proof must for registering on matrimonial websites
Himanshi Dhawan
NEW DELHI: The Centre plans to crack the whip making matrimonial websites responsible for
obscene material or misuse of their platform for dating or chatting. Prospective grooms and
brides will now have to give proof of identity and address before they can register on a
matrimonial website, according to draft guidelines by the ministry of women and child
development.
Transmitting obscene material electronically already comes under the Information Technology
Act, Section 67 that prescribes a jail term of three years and penalty of Rs 5 lakh for the first
offence and a prison term of 5 years and fine of Rs 10 lakh for subsequent offences.
Speaking in Jaipur at the All India Regional Editors conference WCD minister Maneka Gandhi
said, "We are reforming matrimonial websites, reforms will be in place next month.'' The
minister has been vocal on her concern over the growing "misuse" of matrimonial websites as a
ruse to cheat people. Complaints have poured in about fraudulent claims by users.
The guidelines say, users will have to give proof of identity and address before they are
registered on any website. The identity proof could be Aadhar card, voter identity card or driver's
license among others while for foreigners it could be their passport.
The draft says that before activation of the users profile, the service provider will have to verify
that the proof of identity and photo given match. "The local contact can be telephonically
verified. In case the documents are found to be forged, the account will be disabled and referred
to the police within three days," a source said.
To safeguard against misuse, websites will give a declaration that the site is only for matrimonial
matches and not dating or chatting or posting obscene material.
The websites will be tasked with setting up a grievance redressal mechanism.
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TAXATION
INDIAN EXPRESS, FEB 3, 2016
Tax policies: Finance Ministry sets up 2 panels to ensure consistency
TPC will reduce the freedom of the apex bodies on taxation — CBDT and CBEC.
The finance ministry on Tuesday set up two new bodies — the Tax Policy Council (TPC) and
Tax Policy Research Unit (TPRU) — with the broad objectives of achieving a more coherent
approach to the making of tax policies and ensuring independent, multidisciplinary analysis of
the proposals before decisions are taken.
The formation of the TPC, headed by the finance minister, will effectively reduce the freedom of
the two taxation bodies — the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and Central Board of
Excise & Customs (CBEC) — to take decisions independent of each other and avoid potential
inconsistencies in their policies.
The move is in line with the recommendations of the Tax Administration Reform Commission,
headed by Parthasarathi Shome, which had suggested structural changes.
Analysts have cited instances of the tax policies in the country being at conflict with one another
and the field formations being not prompt in following the policy directions given from the top.
Even when the political establishment promises a non-adversarial regime, certain wings of the
tax administration tend to focus on revenue maximisation, even oblivious of the broader
economic imperatives.
The TPRU will be a multidisciplinary body with the objectives of carrying out studies on various
topics of fiscal and tax policies referred to it by CBDT and CBEC and providing independent
analysis on such topics. It will also prepare and disseminate policy papers and background
papers on various tax policy issues and liaise with state commercial tax departments.
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“The TPRU may also interact with various research institutions, wherever necessary. It will
prepare for every tax proposal an analysis covering the following three points: The legislative
intent behind the proposal, expected increase or decrease in tax collection through the proposal
and the likely economic impact through the proposal,” the finance ministry said.
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URBAN DEVELOPMENT
DECCAN HERALD, FEB 2, 2016
Smart Cities plan, a dynamic move
A new phase of urban governance is being launched with the selection of 20 cities from
different parts of the country for implementation of the Smart Cities Mission. The need for urban
renewal had received the attention of governments in the past, but the Smart Cities Mission is
seen as a more comprehensive project than the earlier ones. It will cover 97 cities, with 77 cities
to be included in it in the next two years. The shortlisting and selection of cities has been done
with much popular participation with citizens making suggestions on how to address the specific
needs and situations in their cities. The bottom-up approach makes the mission a decentralised
project, and avoids the one-size-and-kind-fits-all strategy that has caused the failure of many
developmental schemes in the past. It must also be ensured that local self-government bodies and
not bureaucrats have the power and responsibility to implement the mission in every chosen city.
The highlight of the scheme is the extensive use of technology, especially information
technology, in addressing and resolving civic issues. It aims to adopt smart solutions for efficient
use of assets, resources and infrastructure. Basically, a smart city is an urban region with
advanced infrastructure, sustainable housing and seamless communications. It will provide the
basic infrastructure and will be a key facilitator in offering essential services to citizens. A smart
city is expected to provide assured water and electricity supply, efficient sanitation and solid
waste management, easy mobility and public transport, good IT connectivity, e-governance and
safety and security to citizens. Public participation will be a key element of the implementation
of all the plans that come under the mission. The selected areas can serve as new growth centres
and can improve the quality and standards of life of the residents. There is much greater chance
for realisation of the potential for the development of Tier II cities under the mission. Smaller
and backward towns and cities will receive attention and investment, and this can ensure more
balanced urban development across the country.
In the next two decades, India will see that half of its population live in urban centres. The urban
explosion that is going to happen in such a short time is difficult to manage in terms of
governance, administration and provision of facilities. The Smart Cities Mission
may be considered as a step to meet the challenge. It should lead to even and uniform urban
growth across the country, and not just to creation of islands of excellence. Its importance cannot
be overstated as development and urbanisation are closely interlinked.
STATESMAN, FEB 5, 2016
Smart is as smart does
Tuktuk Ghosh
There has been a palpable build-up of impatience about performance by the NDA government
now almost two years into its tenure. This is not unsurprising, given its massive mandate for
development and change and soaring expectations of promised new governance models. The
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message appears to have reached the quarters that matter as the formal launch of many flagship
programmes reveals and also the well-orchestrated outreach efforts to disseminate them.
Of a piece with these endeavours is the recent announcement of 20 cities which made the cut to
the list of Smart Cities. The concept of Smart Cities had been brought in to the election campaign
in 2014 and had generated considerable interest, both nationally and internationally.
While there is no universally accepted definition of a Smart City, it is envisioned as a major step
to upgrade institutional, physical, social and economic infrastructure in a sustainable and
inclusive manner.
Thirty-one per cent of India lives in urban areas and contributes 63 per cent of GDP. By 2030,
these figures may escalate to 40 and 75 per cent respectively. But our cities are nowhere close to
being world class and are perhaps no one’s envy, being bogged down as they are by a
crepuscular overhang of complex problems which detract heavily from the quality of life for the
vast majority of citizens.
For its ambitious scope and the manner of its crystallisation, the List of 20 has attracted much
attention. Bhubaneshwar making it to the top seems to have stumped many as also the inclusion
of lesser known cities and exclusion of many well known ones.
In terms of population, these cities account for 35.4 million. An investment of Rs 50,802 crore
has been proposed over a five year period. Of this, Rs. 38,693 crore will be spent on area
development and Rs. 12,109 crores on 56 pan-city solutions covering basic infrastructure
through assured water and power supply, sanitation, solid waste management, efficient mobility,
public transport, IT connectivity, e-governance and community participation.
One cannot miss an element of irony, however, in the timing of the announcement insofar as the
national capital is concerned. NDMC (New Delhi Municipal Corporation) - the plush, though
decaying-in-parts heart of the city - features as a winning candidate. On date, in large swathes of
Delhi, uncleared garbage and waste are threatening to take overwhelming proportions. Civic
services have come to a standstill. Yet the powers that be do not seem to be interested in
resolving the underlying governance issues. Finger pointing is an all consuming passion. And
this is not the first time.
Perhaps the citizens are meant to take cold comfort in the fact that the imbroglio illustrates
legacy-glitches and that the future belongs to Smart Cities, where layers of smartness get added
incrementally, through a well ordered process, to effect enduring makeovers.
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In this context, the big positive of the Programme calls for resounding acknowledgement. It has
to do with the nature of its piloting by the Urban Development Ministry, which has been
remarkably distinctive. The model could well be replicable for other flagship programmes of the
Government. The preparatory phase has been shot through with unprecedented citizenparticipation, IT-enablement and kosher professionalism. The proposals by various States have
been objectively evaluated on rigorous parameters and there has been no scope for discretion or
politically biased outcomes. It almost sounds too good to be true.
While M. Venkaiah Naidu chose to describe it in the conventional manner as being the “bottomup approach”, it was an altogether different experience from its previous avatars and should be
projected as such. Around 15.2 million citizens participated, along with Government and other
interested agencies.
To set the ball rolling, from June 2015 Government hosted several workshops and training
sessions for Mayors and Municipal Commissioners. In December 2015, 97 selected cities
submitted their plans to the Urban Development Ministry and were given Rs. 2 crore for
drawing up details. The City Challenge Competition that followed was fiercely contested and
was said to be as demanding as the Civil Services Examination conducted by the Union Public
Service Commission. While one may not endorse that analogy, it rather dramatically conveys
the sheer scale and intensity of the energy- packed effort that went into its success. The buy-in by
all stakeholders has been tremendous as a result.
Those who did not make the cut have been given another opportunity to fix the deficiencies and
await the decision by mid April. Relaxations have been ruled out, which is welcome.
The highly unoriginal and utterly predictable barbs from Nitish Kumar, Samajwadi Party and
BSP of the “ehsaan pharamoshi” of the Centre in ignoring Bihar and UP which have 104 BJP
MPs between them in the Lok Sabha, need to be brought “on record” at this point in the
narrative if only to showcase how some mindsets will continue to assiduously cling to the quidpro-quo paradigm of our political lexicon and resist keeping pace with the times.
To get back to the laudable and most prominent positive described above, of ensuring ownership
of key Government- sponsored programmes, it is important to take note of the implementation
challenges which have been the bane of many such well- intentioned initiatives for as long as one
can recollect.
For starters, there is a lot of the old in the cities that will need to be stitched in with the new, not
only by retrofitting, rebuilding and reclaiming or through pan-city smart solutions but by taking
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up more fundamental changes. This is not going to be easy. Compatibility of systems will call for
skilful location of pain-points and their redressal. The framework for effective operation too
poses problems involving multiple stakeholders. Special Purpose Vehicles will have to deal with
tricky aspects of coordination and convergence of myriad strands and whether they will be well
equipped for them will have to be tested out.
Moreover, it is somewhat disappointing to observe that the SPVs have been saddled with tiersupon-tiers of monitoring and supervisory structures. They start from the ground up and traverse
all the way to the National Apex Committee and appear to carry the portents of hobbling an
efficient roll-out and a dynamic, optimal run. The somewhat stale stench of the past cannot but
hit one here.
Time is of the essence. To be given only five years for execution with the humongous ground
work called for in terms of fine-tuning specific components, mobilising significant resources in
the innovative manner contemplated, obtaining clearances, putting in place nuanced eco-systems
and credible architecture of support, promises to be daunting. To hit the ground running is not
what the Indian development story has been about.
The first full-fledged review is not mandated till the next two years. But for now cheers to
smartness and to the project not morphing into the proverbial albatross!
The writer is a retired IAS officer.
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WOMEN
HINDU, FEB 2, 2016
Woman having child through surrogacy entitled to maternity leave’
The Bombay High Court on Monday directed the Central Railway (CR) to grant three months’
maternity leave to its employee who became a mother by using a surrogate.
A Division Bench of Justice Anoop Mohta and Justice G.S. Kulkarni gave this verdict while
hearing a petition filed by a nurse working at the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Railway Hospital in
Byculla East. She moved court after the CR refused to grant her leave on the ground that the
Railways had no rule that allowed leave.
The court ruled that a mother enjoys the same benefits of maternity leave as any other working
woman under the Child Adoption Leave and Rules. “There is nothing in the rules that disentitles
maternity leave to a woman who has attained motherhood through surrogacy procedure,” the
court added.
While challenging the CR for disallowing her leave, the woman’s lawyers argued that if the
maternity leave was refused, it would certainly violate the right of a child to develop a bond with
the mother. The petitioner got married in 2004 and underwent IVF in 2007 on two occasions but
lost her baby. In 2012, she was advised to have a child through surrogacy. When the surrogate
mother completed 33 weeks, the petitioner applied for maternity leave in January 2014 as the
baby was expected to be delivered in the first week of February.
In its reply, the CR asked her if she had sought permission before opting for surrogacy. She
wrote back saying that she can claim maternity leave for surrogacy under the Indian Railway
Establishment Board that provides for a Child Adoptive Leave. However, she was not granted
the leave.
On January 29, 2014, the surrogate mother delivered twins and again the petitioner wrote a letter
to the medical officer seeking leave under Child Care Leave. The officer forwarded it to the CR.
The High Court Bench on Monday directed the Central Railway to grant her maternity leave of
180 days. The petitioner’s lawyers referred to an earlier judgment of a Nagpur bench of the
Bombay High Court which, in a similar case, said: “a woman cannot be discriminated as far as
the maternity benefits are concerned, only on the ground that she has obtained the baby through
surrogacy.
“Though the petitioner did not give birth to the child, the child was placed in the secure hands of
the petitioner as soon as it (child) was born. A newly-born child cannot be left at the mercy of
others,” the judgment said.
A newborn cannot be left at the mercy of others, says Bombay HC
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