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LETTERS

Ever since the rst issue in 1966, EPW has been Indias premier journal for comment on current affairs and research in social sciences. It succeeded Economic Weekly (1949-1965), which was launched and shepherded by Sachin Chaudhuri, who was also the founder-editor of EPW. As editor for thirty-ve years (1969-2004) K rishna R aj gave EPW the reputation it now enjoys.

Japanese Investment

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C Rammanohar Reddy
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Economic and Political Weekly


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his is with reference to the article Japanese Investment in India: Trends and Prospects (6 March 2010). I seek a few clarications. One thing that has been bafing me, and even my queries to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion and other think tanks in India remain unanswered, is why the high prole investments from Japan, such as Daiichi Sankyos buying into Ranbaxy and NTT DOCOMOs purchase of an equity stake in Tata Teleservices, are never reected in the foreign direct investment (FDI) data. I am not sure whether they are excluded purely on technical grounds. Just to add a point, I found no evidence of these investments routed through tax havens such as Mauritius (in such a case they would account for FDI from Mauritius and not from Japan). Tables 2 and 4 of the article, I suppose, made some mistakes in converting the foreign currency amounts. For instance, the investment of Rs 63,782.3 crore during January 2000 to November 2007, if correct, is not a small amount. The same could be said of the amounts in Table 4. There is also an inconsistency between Tables 2 and 4. Maruti Udyog alone is said to have received an FDI, cumulatively, of Rs 10,000 crore, equivalent to more than $2 billion (as per the current exchange rate), but total investments from Japan is less than $2 billion as per Table 2 ($1,437 million). These issues are very important, for these gures might suppress the enthusiasm amongst some prospective investors in Japan who might think that for all the big talk, India does not attract much investment from Japan. The article also failed to recognise the fact that Japanese investors typically take a long time in surveying the landscape before investing and a clear indication of their appetite is their reconnaissance trips and preliminary inquiries they make. I believe there is a rm and positive direction in this regard. The Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor is considered an important project not only for India but also for Japan as several Japanese companies are waiting

to piggyback on the Japanese governments nancial support. This could have been emphasised.
R Gurumurthy Institute for Indian Economic Studies, Waseda University,
Tokyo

Give Health Workers Their Due


our editorial (Evaluation of the Health Mission, 23 January 2010) points out that in some states, pre-National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) data was not available before launching the mission thus making it difcult to measure its efcacy. Preparation of a health plan at the state level is dependent on the district level plan, which is again dependent on the taluka plan. This plan, in turn, is dependent on the primary health centre (PHC) plan. The auxiliary nurse midwife (ANM) and the lady health visitor (LHV) are supposed to prepare the action plan for the respective PHC, under the supervision of the medical ofcer. The ANMs and the LHVs are not qualied enough to set targets and prepare action plans. It is common knowledge that doctors at the PHC seldom take an interest in the administrative and non-clinical aspects. A study to assess the efcacy of the Community Needs Assessment Approach (CNAA) looked at PHC action plans, based on the sub-centre action plan. It was found that the PHC action plan was prepared not on the basis of actual household surveys, but on the basis of theoretical calculations. When the ANM is already burdened with routine work, she may not be able to conduct annual household surveys efciently. Thus,

Erratum
In the article Janani Suraksha Yojana and the Maternal Mortality Rate by Anrudh K Jain (13 March 2010), maternal mortality ratio has been mistakenly rendered as maternal mortality rate throughout the article and also in the headline. The error is regretted.
vol xlv no 12
EPW Economic & Political Weekly

march 20, 2010

LETTERS

the outcome of the survey would be anybodys guess. The ANM must be freed from recording and survey jobs so that she can use her time to provide quality service. Community participation in the decisionmaking process is indeed a novel idea. However, given the social-economic background and literacy levels of villagers, it is difcult to implement it. Villagers are not only busy on the farms, they are also divided along caste and community lines, making a common agenda difcult. That is why the village health committees or the Rogi Kalyan Samitis are seldom formed, and, when formed, seldom meet regularly. The most important component of the NRHM is the Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY). The target was to achieve 100% institutional deliveries by 2010. This is indeed a very ambitious target, given the poor quality of services and corruption at the government health institutions. It has been pointed out that delayed payment, non-payment, or irregular payment of incentives under this scheme are some of the problems mentioned in the Comptroller and Auditor Generals (CAG) report. The procedure for paying the incentive amount should also be simplied. To avoid misreporting or underreporting of details on various health indicators, an efcient Health Management Information System (HMIS) should be introduced. Untied funds are a unique component of this mission (it is well known that even to meet petty expenses at the sub-centre or the PHC level, the ANM or the doctor at the PHC has to write to district level ofcials). This has been devised with the aim of facilitating ow of funds for emergency purposes at the sub-centres, and other health institutions. But, here again, the health workers and doctors are at the mercy of the elected representatives in drawing the amount. The village panchayat pradhan demands his share before the bills are passed. The health worker may not take the initiative to spend money as she has to obtain quotations and maintain accounts and then produce them before different authorities. The untied funds should be freed
Economic & Political Weekly EPW

from the clutches of elected representatives and health workers must be made responsible and accountable for the money released. The Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) too has to often pay money to get the incentives due to her. Inbuilt mechanisms for monitoring and evaluation seem to be inactive in the NRHM. Instead of waiting for the completion of a project, there should be concurrent or mid-term evaluation. This would help the programme administrators to take corrective measures during the course of a project itself. The implementation of the NRHM is left largely to the district level ofcers. The District Health Ofcer is already burdened with routine duties. If the NRHM has to be reasonably successful, a parallel district level ofcer or one taken on deputation should be appointed to implement it.
G B Venkatesha Murthy
Bangalore

Shoddy Economics Textbooks


write this to share my experience with textbooks meant for the Bachelor of Business Management (BBM) students at Bangalore University (BU). I am a teacher of economics and have considerable experience teaching introductory courses. Recently I had to teach some students, prepare them for the BU, 1st semester BBM exam. I needed to nd a suitable textbook, but was unable to nd a web site to see the syllabus and a list of prescribed books. When I got the syllabus from another college, I found names of 14 books for reference but soon realised that if I used some of the books on the list, the students might fail the semester examination, as the books did not touch upon some of the topics included. I had hoped to nd a selection of about one to three books that complied with the syllabus and had been checked for quality. The book I purchased said on its cover that it was for the 1st semester at BU. It was full of typographical errors, had one or two conceptual errors, very little conceptual clarity, no index and some
vol xlv no 12

outdated concepts that many modern books prefer to ignore as they have become less useful for analysis. In general, the prescribed texts mimicked the exams in placing great emphasis on rote learning and memorisation. Indeed, even a student who had scored 73% in the nal said she did not understand anything about economics. Why are we condemning our students to such mediocrity? Can the concerned authorities not exercise due diligence and good faith in the search for a good textbook? A tighter regulation of the textbooks or an honest effort to select and reprint a good textbook would help. In the current situation, any textbook publisher can declare that the book complies with the BU syllabus, even if it does not. Apparently, BU has no control over this. The book I bought, besides being full of errors, had not included the required chapters on national income and business cycles, nor had it covered market structures adequately. I think we need to set up a group of honest and committed persons to look into these matters. Seniority of the people should not be the only concern. There should be an attempt to nd persons who have been active in the academic community and have kept up with current thinking on issues (I do not mean market fundamentalism). We need to afx responsibility and give them the power to carry out their tasks. I think we have a duty towards the students who have managed to overcome so many hurdles to get to college. We are underestimating both our teachers and our students with tragic consequences. Unfortunately, the students who graduate have little understanding of economics or any conceptual clarity.
Cavery Bopaiah
Bangalore

Letters EPW now offers its readers an additional page on which they can comment on articles published in the weekly. Readers are encouraged to contribute short comments to the Letters pages. The letters should be no more than 300 words.

march 20, 2010

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