Editorial 8-15 January 2017

January 2017
Editorials
Issue No. 2
EDITORIALS
A compendium
8-15 January, 2017

No. 2
Documentation Section
GANDHI SMRITI LIBRARY

LBS NATIONAL ACADEMY OF ADMINISTRATION
MUSSOORIE
INTRODUCTION
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January 2017
Editorials
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INTRODUCTION
The Gandhi Smriti Library has brought out a revised service in a new shape entitled
Editorials: a Compendium. The main objective is to disseminate the information about
classified various editorials and opinions appeared in various leading daily Newspapers of
India. This bulletin is released on weekly basis.
This bulletin is the most important Primary publication. It is designed to meet mainly
needs that with the help of editorials and opinions, one is able to enrich his knowledge of
each of the items included. It is produced by scanning, selecting and compiling relevant
news from about 07 major Newspapers from all over the country. The purpose of
editorial is to create awareness and to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of
Faculties, research scholars, teachers, students, instructors and trainees through the
identification of best commentary on different subjects.
SCOPE
This bulletin covers editorials on the various disciplines, which are extracted from 07
Newspapers. The period is covered from 8-15 January 2017
ARRANGEMENT OF ENTRIES
The entries are made under the subjects, which are arranged alphabetically. The Editorials
downloaded online from the following Newspapers. Entry follows as:
Name of Newspaper,
Title of Editorial
Date of Publication
Editorial Content
COVERAGE OF NESPAPERS
This bulletin includes the following Newspapers:
_ Deccan Herald
_ Economic Times
_ Financial Express
_ Hindu
_ Indian Express
_ Times of India
_ The Tribune
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We are grateful to Ms. Upma Chawdhry, Director, Smt. JaspreetTalwar, Joint Director
and Prof. (Dr.) Sunita Rani, In Charge Library for their encouragements. I am sincere
thankful to Mr. Ramesh Kumar and Ms. Bhupinder Kaur from Documentation section
of the library for compiling the bulletin.
(DR. O.P. VERMA )
PRINCIPAL LIBRARY & INFORMATION OFFICER
8-15 January, 2017
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Contents
Agriculture
Banks & Banking
Black Money
Centre State Relation
Crime Against Women
Defence
Demonetisation
Drought
Economy, India
Education
Election
Enemy Property ordinances
Foods, India
Freedom of Speech
Fundamental Rights
GDP
Handicapped
International Relations
Lt. Governor
NRIs
Parliament
Political Reform
Politics
Poverty
President
Religion & Festivals
Religion & Politics
Road Safety
Secularism
Sexual Harassment
Sports
suicide
Tax & Taxation
Union Budget 2017
Urbanisation
Water
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4-5
6-18
19-22
23-24
25-30
31-36
37-46
47
48-56
57-62
63-78
79-80
81
82-86
87-89
90-91
92
93-97
98-102
103-104
105-106
107
108-116
117-118
119-120
121
122-123
124
125-127
128
129-136
137
138-145
146-157
158
159-161
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Agriculture
Agriculture: If PMO doesnt pay heed, realising sabkasaath,
sabkavikas, eliminating poverty may remain distant dream
Financial Express : January 10, 2017
The first advance estimates of GDP growth for FY17 show a marginal decline, from 7.6%
last year to 7.1% this year. Of the various sectors, gross value added at basic prices (201112), mining and quarrying is down from 7.4% to minus (-)1.8%, manufacturing from 9.3% to
7.4%, construction from 3.9% to 2.9%; trade, hotels, transport, communication, etc, from 9%
to 6%, and financial, real estate and professional services from 10.3% to 9%. The sector
showing a big increase from 6.6% to 12.8% is public administration and defence, which gives
very little comfort directly to masses. These declining growth rates do not take into account
the impact of demonetisation yet. All this is not very encouraging.
However, there is one sector which brings a glimmer of hope, and that is agriculture and
allied sector, which registers a jump from 1.2% last year to 4.1% this year. It is a critical
sector, engaging almost half the workforce of country and providing food security. It suffered
in the last two years, thanks to back-to-back droughts. So, an anticipated growth of 4.1%
brings much-needed relief, although it is far lower than 5.5% agri-GDP growth that NITI
Aayog officials have been talking about for some time now. Interestingly, it shows that
Central Statistical Office (CSO) is not swayed by the over-enthusiastic feel-good signals
being relayed by NITI. This enhances the CSOs credibility.
Within agriculture, it may be noted that this 4.1% expected growth is primarily based on first
advance estimates of kharif crops, but the estimates of rabi crops and of livestock (milk, eggs,
wool, etc) and forestry and fishery, are based on targets for FY17, which are normally more
optimistic than what the reality may finally turn out to be. In any case, even with this
optimistic forecast, the first three years of Modi government are likely to yield agri-GDP
growth of just 1.7% per year, and for the forgotten twelfth Five Year Plan (FYP) (2012-13 to
2016-17), it is going to be 2.2% per annum. This will be the lowest growth rate registered in
any FYP since economic reforms began in 1991, and way below the target of 4%, indicating
the biggest failure of policy making .
Nevertheless, in this gloomy performance of agriculture over the last three-five years, as an
optimist, I must count the bright spots and the strengths of our farmers who can always rise to
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the occasion given a positive policy environment. The khariffoodgrain production in FY17
has registered an impressive growth of 8.9% over kharif of FY16, with a special highlight
where kharif pulses recorded a whopping increase of 58%! High prices, hovering around
R180-200/kg in retail markets before the sowing season, induced farmers to bring larger area
under pulses. The good monsoon, of course, helped give a good yield. No wonder, with a
58% increase in production, prices of tur and moongcame tumbling down. In several markets,
prices went below the minimum support prices (MSPs). This was a golden opportunity for
the government to build a buffer stock of 2 million metric tonnes and support farmers by
ensuring market prices did not drop below MSP. But this opportunity was not tapped fully,
and this may see area under pulses dropping next year and imports rising.
A somewhat similar thing happened in the case of kharif oilseeds as well; these had
registered a big jump, of 41%, led by a 65% vault-jump by soybean. As a result, soybean
prices crashed in major markets, going below MSP at places.
It is interesting to note that India is the largest importer of pulses and one of the top two
importers of edible oils. Total import bill on edible oils and pulses hovers around $12-15
billion. At home, India has a Mission Oilseeds and Pulses to promote their production for the
last 25 years, without much success. And now, when production jumps, the system is not
geared to ensure even MSP to farmers. This will surely discourage farmers to produce more
pulses and oilseeds next time, and thus the country will remain import-dependent. The
minimum that the policy makers could do is to remove all restrictions on free functioning of
markets and exports. Exports of pulses and oilseeds are highly restricted, and there are also
stocking limits on traders at home. This does not allow the free play of markets to benefit
farmers, and when government agencies fail to ensure even MSP, the entire policy
environment smells of anti-farmer and pro-consumer bias.
Interestingly, oilseeds and pulses are grown in relatively less-irrigated and poorer regions,
consume much less water and fix nitrogen in soil thereby saving large outgo on fertiliser
subsidies. Therefore, supporting them should be a national priority. It will also help alleviate
poverty faster, and boost demand for manufactured products and help industry. Tractor
demand is already showing recovery with 15-20% growth over the corresponding period of
last year, and more may follow.
However, the current agri-situation raises a fundamental question: How long will Indian
agriculture and therefore the well-being of more than half the population dependent on it
remain hostage to monsoons and ineffective implementation of MSPs policy? It is not just the
case of pulses and oilseeds, but even in case of paddy, farmers did not get MSP in eastern
belt, including the Varanasi mandal, which is the parliamentary constituency of the prime
minister. If the prime minister office does not take note of this and take corrective measures,
realising sabkasaath, sabkavikas and eliminating poverty even by 2030 may remain a
distant dream.
highlights the need for serious thought on how tax rates/structures are to be revamped.
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Banks & Banking

RBI's autonomy in question
Deccan Herald : Jan 13, 2017
Though every day there are public assertions from the prime minister, ministers and BJP
leaders over the big benefits of demonetisation, there is little evidence to substantiate the
claims. After the lapse of over two months, there are no figures that indicate that the declared
aims of the exercise will be achieved. There is no official estimate of the quantum of money
which has been returned to the banks.
Neither the government nor the Reserve Bank of India has released these figures. The
governments reticence is not unexpected. But the RBIs silence on this crucial matter and on
some other issues in the past weeks and its many shifts of positions and decisions have raised
questions about its role, and rendered a blow to its credibility. Governor Urjit Patel is widely
seen as having failed to uphold the independence of the institution. Former governors Y V
Reddy and Bimal Jalan have expressed unhappiness over the RBI conduct in the matter.
The claim was that out of over Rs 14 lakh crore of demonetised currency, notes worth nearly
Rs 5 lakh crore, which was black money, would not come back to the banks. The quantum of
unreturned money was to be a measure of the success of demonetisation. But 10 days after
December 31, the RBI has not released the figures, though it had released an interim estimate
last month. There are reports that up to 97% of the currency has come back. If this is correct,
it is a major setback. So the government has changed its stance and said that the black money,
which has now been effectively laundered, would be taxed. The RBIs silence on the matter,
however, has no convincing reasons. There are doubts that it has not given out the
information because that would embarrass the government. The RBI has said that it was the
government which advised it to take the demonetisation decision. This is contrary to the
governments statement, made in parliament, that the initiative came from the RBI. The
governments advice or request is fine, but oddly the RBI took the decision within a day. A
more serious issue is the RBIs failure to disclose the detailed proceedings of the board
meeting where the decision was taken. Its reason that the records are not available is difficult
to accept. The many changes in decisions about accepting old notes also did not help to
brighten its image. The impression is that the RBI was too compliant and did not function as
an autonomous and effective central bank. It has come out with its image dented and with
disturbing questions about its independence, credibility and integrity.
Across the aisle: Whither RBIs autonomy?

The RBIs main objectives in 1934 and now are the same to issue bank notes and to keep the
reserves.
Written by P Chidambaram |
Indian Express : January 8, 2017
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was born under unusual circumstances. A need was felt to
regulate the issue of bank notes and the keeping of reserves with a view to securing
monetary stability. However, in 1929, the world had been hit by an unprecedented economic
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crisis the Great Depression. The monetary systems of the world were in disarray. No one
was sure what kind of monetary system would be suitable for India. Hence, it was decided to
make a temporary provision and that temporary provision was the Reserve Bank of India
Act, 1934! (the Act).
The RBIs main objectives in 1934 and now are the same:
# to issue bank notes; and
# to keep the reserves.
An immutable law
Under the Act and through numerous amendments, vast powers were conferred on the RBI.
The word autonomous does not occur in the Act but, over the years, the principle of Central
Bank autonomy has been raised to the level of an immutable law. Under Section 7 of the Act,
the Central government may give such directions to the RBI as it may consider necessary in
the public interest, but the power has never been exercised in the 83 years of the Act.
There have been times when the RBI and the Central government did not see eye-to-eye. One
governor resigned in protest. One governor was forced to step down. Overall, however, the
RBI and the Central government respected each others jurisdiction and learnt to work with
each other. In a closed economy and with little reserves, the RBI was known more as a
banking regulator and tight-fisted controller of foreign exchange than as an issuer of bank
notes.
Since November 8, 2016, of course, the role of the RBI as the issuer of bank notes has come
into prominence. The RBI has the sole right to issue bank notes (Section 22). The RBI shall
recommend the denominational values of the notes as well as the discontinuance of issue of
notes (Section 24). Further, it is on the recommendation of the RBI that the Central
government may declare that any series of bank notes shall cease to be legal tender (Section
26).
In the current exercise of demonetisation, how did the RBI acquit itself?
Role reversal
1. The government has claimed that demonetisation was announced on the recommendation
of the RBI. One has to suspend disbelief to accept that statement. The Prime Ministers
speech on November 8 made no reference to the RBIs recommendation. On the contrary, the
governments and the BJPs spokespersons boasted that it was entirely Mr Narendra Modis
brainchild. It was an idea imposed from above and the RBI betrayed its mandate.
2. The decision-making process at the RBI was opaque and dubious. The RBIs Board of
Directors should have 10 directors regarded as independent. Seven vacancies in that category
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have not been filled by the NDA government. The three independent directors attended the
fateful meeting on November 8. The recommendation was sent to Delhi where the Cabinet
was waiting! How did the Cabinet know that the RBI Board would recommend
demonetisation?
3. Dr Urjit Patel, the Governor, justified demonetisation as a policy action to turn around
the economy. None of the governors before him since 1978 had advocated demonetisation
even when the economy faced grave challenges. Dr Patel embraced the idea, barely 65 days
after he took office, when the economy was growing, reportedly, at about 7 per cent!
4. The RBI is believed to have told a parliamentary committee that the Central government
had recommended to the RBI (on November 7) that high denomination notes may be
demonetised. Acting in haste, the RBI recommended to the government (on November 8) that
high denomination notes may be demonetised! It was an unusual role reversal. The RBI has
refused to release the agenda note for the meeting or the minutes. The RBI has refused to
answer questions if any director had demanded more information or dissented.
Credibility dented
5. The RBI was totally unprepared to manage the fallout of demonetisation. It did not have
sufficient quantities of lower denomination notes. It had printed only Rs 2,000 notes that
were not easily exchangeable. Besides, the new note did not fit into ATMs. The RBI started
printing Rs 500 and lower denomination notes only much later. A terrible idea caused more
pain through terrible implementation.
6. The RBI has a Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) that was constituted recently after years
of deliberation. Money supply is an integral aspect of monetary policy. The MPC was totally
excluded from the decision-making process.
7. In his speech on December 31, Mr Modi ventured into territory where no prime minister or
finance minister before him had gone. He directed banks to increase the credit limit for small
industry from 20 per cent to 25 per cent of turnover and the working capital limit from 20 per
cent to 30 per cent of turnover. He directed banks to provide 8 per cent interest on 10-year
fixed deposits of senior citizens. On Saturday, the Prime Minister nudged the banks to reduce
the lending rates and, on Sunday, State Bank of India led the pack and announced a cut in
interest rates! Every announcement by the Prime Minister scuttled the independence and
credibility of the RBI.
The RBI has come under severe criticism both within India and abroad. I would like to
believe that the RBI has not fallen victim to institutional capture by the current regime. I
would like to believe that years of nurturing the autonomy of the RBI have not gone to waste.
Website: pchidambaram.in @Pchidambaram_IN
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An autonomy policy
Demonetisation process raises troubling questions over the way government has treated RBI.
Central bank needs to assert.
By: Editorial
Indian Express :January 11, 2017
Over 60 days after the first announcement of withdrawal of high value notes, the major
collateral damage, apart from the economic disruption it triggered, has been to the image of
the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which has been handling the currency swap arrangements.
It is a view, which has now been amplified by Y. Venugopal Reddy, a former RBI governor,
who said in an interview that he suspects the institutional identity of Indias central bank has
been damaged over time.
It is worrying when a former RBI governor raises concerns relating to the credibility and
reputation of the central bank. To quote Reddy, If this is happening in the
international opinion, I would say that it is a national problem now and not just a political
issue. These are strong words, reinforced by a report also in this newspaper on Tuesday that
it was the government which advised the RBI to consider withdrawing currency notes of
denominations of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000. Last month, former prime minister and a former RBI
governor himself, Manmohan Singh, had said in Parliament that the constant modification of
rules for withdrawal of money reflected poorly also on the RBI. Singh added that while he
was sorry to see the central bank being exposed to criticism, he felt it was justified. The last
time the RBI may have faced a similar risk to its reputation was during the securities scam in
1991-92. That, however, led to significant institutional changes and a progressive rise in the
stature of the central bank. The professional leadership that helmed the RBI have also
convinced successive governments to respect the banks autonomy: They have also been
fiercely protective of the banks role as an independent regulator.
Given the enormity of the implications of demonetisation, the RBI leadership ought to have
been more communicative to the public. The core issue is the credibility of the central bank
and public trust. This is critical because at stake is the stability of the economy, which in turn,
hinges on the credibility of the central bank not just in the eyes of global investors and
rating agencies, but also from the perspective of the entities the RBI regulates. The
government too ought to be mindful of the potential risk if the perception gains that the moral
and institutional authority of the RBI has been weakened. There is increasing recognition that
the RBI cannot be viewed or treated merely as just another regulator or a macro prudential
supervisor. For, thats what it has sometimes appeared like during the demonetisation
process. Its disquieting silence, muddled signals and its reluctance to ask questions have
dented its authority. The challenge before the central bank is to assert itself, reclaim the space
vital to the health of the institution.
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Should Hear Them

Its time parliamentary panels open their doors when witnesses testify.
Written by Chakshu Roy
The governor of the Reserve Bank of India will be testifying before two parliamentary
committees in the coming weeks. He will be briefing the committee on finance on the impact
of demonetisation and giving evidence to the public accounts committee on the monetary
policy of the country. It is not unusual for the RBI governor to appear before a parliamentary
panel. In June 2016, Raghuram Rajan had briefed the finance committee on the state of the
economy, the role of RBI and the banking sector in the country.
In fact, the RBI has initiated a six-monthly interaction with the finance committee where the
governor reports on the activities of the central bank, and the committee offer its views and
concerns. Lack of debate on the issue of demonetisation in the winter session of Parliament
has fuelled tremendous interest in the governors testimony. This newspaper has published 10
questions posed to the governor by the public accounts committee (IE, January 9).
The public accounts committee of Parliament has been in existence since 1921 and the
departmentally related committees (like finance, defence, etc.), as we know them today, were
given final shape in the early nineties. Members of Parliament from both houses are part of
these committees. They scrutinise legislative proposals initiated by a ministry, its demands
for grants, annual reports, and long-term policy documents presented to Parliament. These
committees do the heavy lifting of parliamentary oversight of government functioning. To do
their work, they are empowered to call witnesses to give evidence and produce documents
required by the committee.
These committees have contributed immensely to the policy debate in Parliament. However,
their work has always been behind closed doors. They meet in private; their meetings open
only to members of the committee, Parliament staff and anyone invited to testify before the
committee. The deliberations of the committee are confidential, and evidence tendered before
it is usually kept secret and made public only after the committee presents its report. It makes
sense to hold the committees deliberations closed door. It promotes the free exchange of
ideas between participating MPs. The absence of cameras live telecasting its proceedings
discourages political grandstanding.
This is possibly the reason that at the time of framing of general rules governing the
proceedings of committees, there were divergent views amongst MPs about the press being
allowed to witness the sittings of committees.
However, this logic does not apply for keeping the testimony of individuals before
committees secret. For example, in the US, statements made before committees of Congress
are open to the public and are also telecast live. The chairman of the Federal Reserve, Janet
Yellen, routinely testifies before committees of the House of Representatives. It is televised
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and archived for easy viewing. In addition, the prepared statements made by individuals
testifying before the committee are uploaded on the website of the committee. In the United
Kingdom, the House of Commons publishes a calendar of select committee meetings which
are open to the public. This week, the oral evidence of Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of
England on last years financial stability reports was open to the public. Also open were
multiple select committee meetings examining the impact of Brexit on the country.
There have been a few examples of the opening up of legislative committees in our country.
Last year, a committee of the Delhi Vidhan Sabha looking at irregularities in sports
administration bodies of cricket and hockey allowed the press to view its proceedings. In
2008, the Goa Vidhan Sabha had also opened up its committee meetings to both the public
and press. In the 13th Lok Sabha, given the widespread public interest, the chairman of the
joint committee examining the Stock Market Scam briefed the press at the end of each
committee meeting.
It might be an opportune time for our parliamentary committees to open their doors when
witnesses are testifying before them. It can be done in multiple ways. The easiest will be to
permit Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha television to telecast the testimony of witnesses.
Allowing the press to observe the evidence can be used to supplement it. Publication of the
transcript of testimony is another low-hanging fruit when it comes to opening the committees.
The final step can be allowing the general public to view evidence proceedings of
committees.
The rules of parliament provide some avenues for opening committee meetings. For example,
rule 269 of the rules of procedure of the Lok Sabha gives the chairman of a committee the
discretion to allow evidence presented before it to either be treated as confidential or made
public. It takes a minimum of three months to finalise the report of a parliamentary
committee. The current rules can be amended to enable uploading of the evidence given
before the committees before the final report is published. These changes will have to be
tempered to assure individuals that they can testify freely before committees.
The changes to the working of parliamentary committees are essential steps for securing
openness and transparency. They also have the added advantage of strengthening
Parliaments accountability.
The writer is head of outreach, PRS legislative research
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Give credit
RBI governor is right structural reform and public expenditure are key to growth
By: Editorial
A little over two months after the governments decision to withdraw high value notes, the
economic mood appears to be sombre. That may have to do with the reinforcement of the
growing belief that attempts at firing the economy are not working: Government data on GDP
released last week and RBI figures on loans to the infrastructure sector put out on Tuesday
and the fact that automobile sales in December was the lowest in 16 years paint a depressing
picture.
The RBI data shows that loans to the infrastructure sector recorded its sharpest contraction of
6.7 per cent in November, after sliding over the first eight months of this fiscal. Credit
outstanding or bank lending to the infrastructure slipped from Rs 964,800 crore in March
2016 to Rs 900,700 crore in November 2016, with the power sector, which accounts for a
dominant share of credit, reporting a contraction of 10.4 per cent in November. This comes
on top of the GDP data, which indicates that growth will slow to 7.1 per cent in FY 17,
against the earlier projection of 7.6 per cent, and the marking down of growth estimates for
this fiscal by many forecasters and agencies. RBI Governor Urjit Patel has red-flagged the
central banks concerns on the relatively high level of borrowings of both the Central and
state governments. On Wednesday, Patel warned of the dangers of a high level of government
deficit in India, among the highest in the G-20 countries, which could come in the way of a
sovereign rating upgrade. Patel also spoke of the need to put a lid on borrowings to ensure
stable and low inflation. Adding to the gloomy vibes is a report by the State Bank of India,
which says demonetisation has hit almost 70 per cent of businesses in Mumbai, Pune and
nearby areas. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has sought to dispel these impressions by
showcasing the growth in both indirect (14.2 per cent) and direct tax (14.4 per cent)
collections in December and in the April-to-December period to suggest that demonetisation
has not hurt the economy and that reports about job losses were anecdotal.
It is hard to ignore the fact that gross fixed capital formation has fallen by 0.2 per cent this
fiscal. Getting the sputtering engines of growth going and reviving the animal spirits of
Indian business are going to be a challenge given the limited leeway for public spending.
Patel has suggested that structural reforms and reorienting government expenditure towards
public expenditure are key for durable gains on the growth front. He also hinted how easy it
is to fritter away gains on macro economic stability and tough to regain them. Thats the task
for the government as it gears up to present the budget in early February.
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Reserved Bank of India

Demonetisation showed Indias central bank is too opaque. Its decision-making must be
open to scrutiny
Written by Ila Patnaik
The RBI boards decision to recommend withdrawal of legal tender of high denomination
notes after a short board meeting is seen as a loss of independence of the RBI. The
recommendation was based on advice by the government that the RBI Central Board should
consider such a decision. The RBI board was within its powers to turn it down. It could have
directed the management to give it a report on the costs and benefits involved and taken a
considered decision in its next meeting. Why did it not do so? Why could the government
take the RBI board for granted?
To figure this out, we need to look at how the RBI Central Board normally makes decisions.
As an example, we consider how the RBI Central Board decides the annual expenses of the
RBI; a relatively important decision about spending public money. The RBI annual report
shows the RBIs annual expenses in 2014-15 were Rs 13,356 crore. These are comparable to
the annual expenditure of many states in India, and many times bigger than that of most
central banks and regulators in India and abroad. Nearly a third, or more than Rs 4,000 crore,
is spent on RBI staff salaries, superannuation, housing, maintenance, directors fee and board
meeting expenses. Such a large use of public money requires adequate scrutiny.
The board would discuss and approve the expenses and fulfill its role of controlling excessive
expenditure by the management. However, there is no evidence available that the board even
discusses this enormous annual spend of the RBI. Further, there is no evidence that the board
looks after the publics interest in the event that there may be a conflict with the interests of
the management. This is something the Board would have been expected to do. The decision
seems to be taken mainly by the management without the scrutiny of the Board.
How could such an arrangement be possible in todays India? The answer lies in the text of
the RBI Act. In 1934, Indias British rulers did not see a role for defending public interest
which could be in conflict with the interests of the RBI management the sections of the
Act relating to the functioning of the Board have not been amended even after Independence.
Through regulations made by the Board (Regulation 15 of the RBI General Regulations), the
board created a Committee of the Central Board to which it delegated all its powers. The
management may invite a couple of directors to meetings of the Committee, based on
whichever directors happen to be in Mumbai at the time. This Committee can meet often and
take all decisions that are then approved by the Board in effect, the RBI Central Board has
abdicated its responsibilities to the people they were supposed to have oversight over, that is,
the management.
A normal governance practice is to create committees of a board with specific mandates and
come back to the board for decisions, rather than take decisions. All decisions are taken by
the board. In the case of the RBI, all the general powers of the Central Board have been
delegated to the Committee of the Central Board the Committee of the Central Board
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virtually can do everything that the Central Board can, under the RBI Act. This defeats the
spirit of collective decision-making at the Central Board-level and circumvents the necessity
of obtaining votes of the majority of members of the Central Board. The minutes of the
Committee are placed before the Central Board; this serves little purpose as decisions are
already taken and members did not participate in them. The Central Board effectively
becomes responsible for all decisions of the Committee without deliberations while the
Committee has no accountability on how it discharges its duties.
The regulation that empowered this Committee to transact all the business of the Central
Board was made in 1949. For decades, the RBI board has functioned in a manner in which it
did not deliberate on the most important decisions of the functioning of the RBI. This suited
the management, which did not have public accountability in this unusual set-up. The
managements functioning has consequently become a black box with no scrutiny. The Board
functions in a manner that would not be acceptable even for a private company as it would
violate company law. Today, Parliament may find fault with the demonetisation decision and
blame the RBI for not asserting its powers or the governor for not doing his job properly. But
if the Board continues to function in this manner, the problem will remain.
A related issue is that of transparency. The RBI does not make the Board agenda or minutes
public. This lack of transparency is not just about this episode, when an RTI enquiry about
Board minutes was turned down. Even the minutes of Board meetings held five years ago are
not made public. If the Board was required to make its proceedings public, would it have
continued to behave in this manner or would public scrutiny have prevented such
functioning?
This takes us to the question of what is gained by transparency. Why are the agenda and
minutes for board meetings of regulators or central banks in India and abroad made public?
In the minutes, only a few specific decisions, such as those related to specific companies or
trade secrets that the law prevents regulators from revealing, are held back. The answer lies in
the understanding that along with transparency comes autonomy. When participants know
that discussions of the meeting will be made public, they, as well as those who may be
sending letters or advice to the Board, behave more responsibly. This reduces the chances of
the Board being pressured or taking hasty or irresponsible decisions.
Parliament must examine in detail the functioning of the RBI Central Board. The RBI must
be required to make public minutes of all past meetings of the Central Board. The agenda of
every meeting should henceforth be public. If there are to be any exceptions based on
national security, it is Parliament that should decide. The Board must not be allowed to
abdicate its responsibility. Unless Parliament amends the law and enforces a well-functioning
Board, the RBI will continue to be a weak institution and fertile ground for further
mistakes.
The writer is professor, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, Delhi
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On interest rates, Urjit Patel is bang on

Economic Times : January 12, 2017
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Urjit Patel did the nation, not to speak of his own
reputation, a major service by speaking up against large-scale lowering of interest rates by
means of subventions from the Union Budget and against credit guarantees.
In a well-functioning market, the interest rate offered to a particular enterprise includes,
besides the cost of money in general, a risk premium that is tailor-made for that enterprise in
its particular line of business, reflecting the likelihood of the said enterprise succeeding.
Distorting interest rates is likely to end up misallocating resources.
Money has alternative opportunities for deployment. If a risky venture could attract capital
because someone is willing to subsidise a part of its interest cost, it could, in the process,
deprive another venture that has lower risk but does not have anyone to subsidise its interest
cost, not just of capital, but also of land, workers, power, entrepreneurial energy of a
chance to form and get going.
The inherent risk, which cannot be mitigated by an interest subvention, might sink that
project that did get funded, and the result would leave society poorer for not having funded
the intrinsically less risky project in the first place.subvention, might sink that project that did
get funded, and the result would leave society poorer for not having funded the intrinsically
less risky project in the first place.
A similar logic applies to credit guarantees by the government. Tampering with the cost at
which capital is available to an enterprise is a recipe for misallocating and wasting resources,
lowering welfare in general.
Of course, interest subventions and credit guarantees are useful and necessary in small doses,
to compensate for risk perception arising from lack of information and large transaction costs
in resolution, in case of failure.
Coming, as the RBI governors warning does, in the wake of the prime minister announcing
significant interest subventions on housing and enhanced credit guarantees in his New Year
Eve address, it makes the point that fear of political displeasure will not prevent Patel from
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making public his professional views on vital matters. Giving that message is as vital as the
sense on interest rates, in the interest of the RBIs institutional image.
Public sector banks: Why large government ownership is a

capital idea
Banks today are flush with funds. Thanks to the deluge of deposits, post-demonetisation,
there is no dearth of lendable funds in the banking system, including the public sector banks
(PSBs). So, why is finance minister, ArunJaitley, going to great length to re-affirm that
governments bank recapitalisation plans for the current fiscal are on track?
Remember, the government has already committed R25,000crore each for FY16 and FY17,
and another R10,000 crore each for the next two financial years as equity infusion into PSBs.
However, as Reserve Bank of Indias (RBI) latest Financial Stability Report makes clear, the
steady deterioration in the health of PSBs means these amounts are bound to fall grossly short
of the recapitalisation needs of PSBs. If banks have enough and more funds to lend, why do
they need more capital from a resource-starved government that is struggling to allocate
scarce resources between multiple needs?
And, why is the government throwing away scarce resources into what seems to be a
bottomless pit? Is it only to ensure regulatory compliance under Basel III? Or is there more to
it?
Why is capital, and hence capital adequacy, so important for banks? Before one tries to
answer that question, take a step back and consider why is equity capital necessary for a
business. After all, businesses can be funded through equity or debt capital. Indeed, the wellknown Miller-Modigliani theorem says there is no difference between the two. So, can a
business be started or continue to be funded completely with debt?
The most common counter to this is that if an entrepreneur has no stake of her own, she will
not be able to attract debt capital since she has no incentive not to take excessive risk.
Economists call this moral hazard. But this need not always be true. In a non-corporate
entity, where the promoter has unlimited liability, there should be no scope for moral hazard.
Indeed, a capital structure that is 100% debt should encourage profit-maximisingbehaviour
since any surplus over the interest cost and debt repayment would accrue to the promoter.
Besides, the fact that creditors can lay claim to the promoters personal assets if the firms
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assets are inadequate to recover their dues in case of default should align the interests of both
parties.
So, is the worth of equity capital overstated? Not at all! Not in the context of limited liability
companies or partnerships where the danger of moral hazard behaviour by equity-holders is
both imminent and real. The reason is the call option they effectively hold on the assets of
the business. Thanks to the magic of limited liability, the greater the risk, the greater the
chance of an upside; but downside risk is limited only to the extent of loss of equity capital
invested. Debt-holders are in the exactly opposite position in this zero-sum game; as risk
increases, their holding loses value.
Any crisis, whether at a firm, industry or economy level, skews the asymmetry further. A fall
in operating profits is common in a crisis. At such times, losses could result in an erosion of
capital. You could have a situation where value of assets go below the face value of loaned
funds in the balance sheet. This means that if all balance-sheet assets are sold at their book
value, an unrealistic assumption to start with, it would not be sufficient to repay the creditors.
At such times, creditors might immediately panic and try to pull out their funds before the
situation deteriorates; in the process aggravating an-already precarious position. The only
thing that might prevent them from doing so is if they are certain there is an equity cushion
brought in by shareholders that will first absorb the losses, before the debt capital contributed
by them is impacted.
But in a scenario where an entitys shares are being beaten down by the market, sourcing
equity from the capital market will be difficult, if not impossible. At such times, capital
infusion by promoters would not only assuage creditors fears, but would also signal the
formers resilience and commitment to the business. This is what sets promoter-shareholders
apart from other shareholders and, in turn, sets corporates that survive troughs in business
cycles apart from those that fail!
If that is how it works with non-bank corporates, the owner-lender-asymmetry shifts to a
whole new level in the context of banks where the lenders are depositors who entrust their
hard-earned savings to the bank. This is because the core business model of traditional
banking is characterised by a misalignment of assumptions regarding risk and reward.
Depositors lend their money to banks in return for virtually risk-free returns; banks, in turn,
lend this debt capital to businesses (risky) in order to earn a spreadthe lifeline of the
business of banking.
But risk is an integral part of business and banks are no exception to this. Consequently, any
lending, despite the best due diligence and credit appraisal can, on occasion, become a nonperforming asset (NPA). So long as a banks NPAs are well below its profit, depositors might
not even be aware of its existence. However, in a scenario where there is greater competition
and the macroeconomic situation turns adverse, NPAs can increase dramatically, raising not
only the ratio of NPAs to profits, but also the quantum of provisions and write-offs. This
could dent the current year profits and worse, could eat into past year reserves.
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As long as the market and depositors see this as a temporary phenomenon, the cushion
provided by past profits will suffice and will not result in panic. But at the first overt sign of
trouble, depositors, especially CASA (current account and savings accounts) depositors, may
rush to withdraw their money, leading to a run on the bank. At such times, it is only the
comfort provided by large equity or owned funds that can quell the panic.
Today, the scale of provisioning and write-offs by Indian banks has eaten into past profits and
reduced the equity base of many banks to dangerously low levels, thereby endangering the
fine balance between the ratio of their debt and equity. The liquidity squeeze experienced by
many small and medium sized firms, following demonetisation is likely to result in an
increase in NPAs in this sector as well, skewing the ratio between banks debt and equity
capital even further. RBIs latest Financial Stability Report (December 2016) holds out the
grim prospect of NPAs rising to 9.8% and further to 10.1% by March 2018.
In such a scenario, the danger of a run on banks is never far from the surface. Today, the
government ownership of PSBs ensures depositors have faith in banks regardless of whether
their equity capital is eroded or not. Underlying this faith (misplaced) is the confidence that
government will make good any loss to depositors. But as the share of government
shareholding in PSBs comes downas it must in the coming yearsthis faith can no longer
be taken for granted. Equity infusion alone will prevent a panic and possible run on the
banking system.
A large deposit base will help banks increase their business. This only underlines the urgent
need for increased capital and the infusion of capital by the dominant shareholder, the
government.
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Black Money
Thriving on black money
Sudhanshu Ranjan,
FUNDING OF POLITICAL PARTIES : Police verification is a must for obtaining a

passport, but no such procedure is required for registering a political p
Samuel Johnsons immortal words, Politics is the last refuge of scoundrels, are being
vindicated in India. After demonetisation of big currency notes, many interesting revelations
have come to the fore. One of them is that there are many political parties which exist on
papers only.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has struck off 255 such political outfits. They do not
contest elections and even the addresses of some of these parties are fake. One such address
is 17, Akbar Road, New Delhi, which is the current residence of Union Home Minister
Rajnath Singh. This shows not only the extent of their audacity but also speaks volumes
about the way political parties are set up.
In a country where one has to produce so many documents for opening a simple bank
account, it is so easy to get a political party registered. Police verification is a must for getting
a passport, but nothing is required for registering a political party. No wonder, political
parties have a mushroom growth, and there is all likelihood that these parties are fronts for
money laundering as they are exempted from income tax. There are seven national parties, 48
regional parties and nearly 1,800 registered unrecognised parties.
The leviathan of black money cannot be exterminated without reforms in electoral and party
system. Even parties which are active in politics and win considerable number of seats and
even form governments at the central and state levels survive on black money.
According to their own returns filed before the IT and the ECI, about 80% of their total
donations comes in cash from individual donors who pay less than Rs 20,000 each. So, it is
unaccounted as donations below Rs 20,000 can be accepted in cash and there is no legal
obligation to reveal the source.
The ECI has made a very sensible suggestion to reduce the amount of cash donation from Rs
20,000 to Rs 2,000. Black money rules the roost during the elections and the ceiling imposed
on the expenses of individual candidates becomes something of a joke when the glory of
mammon is visible all around. It is legally possible to do it as there is no cap on the expenses
by the political parties which spend unlimited money on the campaign of their candidates.
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Most of the candidates lie on oath that they spent money within the permissible limit.
In the Lok Sabha elections of 2009, only four out of 6,753 candidates admitted that they
breached the ceiling, 34 candidates said that they spent between 90% and 95% of the
permissible limit while the rest 6,719 candidates claimed to have spent only between 45%
and 50% of the limit prescribed. Despite such claims, everyone bemoans that the ceiling
imposed by the Representation of People Act is impractical and it is not possible to contest
elections with such a meagre amount.
As of now, the permissible limit in the Lok Sabha elections is Rs 70 lakh for the big
constituency while it is Rs 54 lakh for the small constituency. But some candidates spend
several hundred crores of rupees. It is borne out by US diplomatic cables, leaked by
WikiLeaks. One of the cables quoted a confidante of a Union minister from Tamil Nadu
distributing up to Rs 5,000 per voter.
A big Lok Sabha constituency has 15 lakh voters. If he distributed this amount even to two
lakh voters, the total amount comes to Rs 100 crore. Obviously, the candidate must have
spent on general campaign also. One can only imagine how much did he spend.
The ECI set up the expenditure monitoring division in 2010 to counter the menace of money
power in elections. It has been successful and led to not only seizure of hundreds of crores of
rupees but also disqualified sitting MLA Umesh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh for improper
declaration of election expenses and paid news. The ECI also countermanded two elections to
Rajya Sabha in Jharkhand when it got credible reports of horse trading.
Cancelling elections
Recently, the ECI took the unprecedented step to cancel the elections in two Assembly
constituencies, namely Aravakuruchi and Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu, for the profligate use of
money.
It is heartening that the government as well as some other political parties have hailed the
ECIs move to stem the rot. The Supreme Court had correctly diagnosed in Kanwar lal Gupta
vs Amarnath Chawla (1975) that the people financing the candidates with big money are
rewarded post-election by the victorious ones and this plays havoc for the democracy which
gives an equal chance to those not privileged enough to have such affluent friends and
supporters.
So, the court ruled that the expenses incurred by the political party and friends of the
candidate would count for their expenses. However, Parliament nullified it by amending the
RP Act.
India can learn from the laudable work done in this regard by the Royal Commission on
Electoral Reform and Party Financing, appointed by the government of Canada in November
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1989. It recommended detailed legal requirements for registration of parties, their

constituency associations, and party foundations.
Each of these outfits is to be registered under Section 24 of the model Act on the condition
that they must have a constitution that shall promote democratic values and practices
consistent with the spirit and intent of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms; provide
clear and consistent rules on the selection of candidates, leaders, delegates, if any, and
officers; and provide that members of the party who select the partys candidates, select
delegates to a leadership convention or select a party leader must be voters.
This is the best time to overhaul the party system and make elections free from the canker of
black money.
Black money fight: Heres how to deal with tax evaders and
delinquent officials
You would either laugh or get enraged, pointed out the PM, if I were to tell you that only
24 lakh people in this country admit to earning more than Rs 10 lakh per month. He was
absolutely correct: 70 years after independence, when our economy grows at more than 7%
per annum even during a slowdown, only 1.53% of the population files returns and pays tax;
this figure includes corporate entities as well. For corruption, the position continues to be
equally bad. During 2014-15, Indias position improved from 85 to 76 in Transparency
International rankings.
That the PM invariably mentions both black money and corruption in the same breath is not
coincidental. It springs from an intuition that they are both somehow deeply inter-connected.
Both spring from the lack of honesty and trust; and both feed on each other.
In the past, governments have sought to tackle this twin menace with the help of draconian
legislation. The Income-tax Act for example is replete with provisions relating to powers of
search and seizure, surveys, stringent penalties and prosecutions. Similarly, to fight
corruption, the government created Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) and Central
Bureau of Investigation (CBI)in 1964, and enacted the Prevention of Corruption Act in 1988.
Both enactments turn conventional jurisprudence on its head. They reverse the burden of
proofrequiring the accused to prove her innocence; and treat even lapses with stringent
pecuniary penalties attached to them as civil rather than criminal or quasi-criminal offences.
CBIs conviction rate is less than 6%; and very few people file returns and pay tax.
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Even though it appears to have been sincere in its efforts, the present government appears to
be be carrying forward the earlier approach. Over the last two and half years, it has enacted
the Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets Act and the Benami Transactions Prohibition
(Amendment) Act. But finally, when all this did not yield results, it resorted to
demonetisation. Somewhere implicit in this whole approach lies the romantic hopeoften
nurtured by statists and leftist thinkers that tough laws and vast discretionary powers to
officials will deter people from acting dishonestly.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Government must realise that its current approach
has severe limitations: It has already put in place a decent legal infrastructure to deal with
these evils. This is as far as it needs to go. It need not try and reinvent the wheel. There is no
need, to encourage citizens to spy on fellow citizens and report instances of tax evasion and
corruption. This approach has been tried earlier and leads to a large number of frivolous
complaints. It is also reminiscent of the Emergency and a police state. Instead, a large body
of inter-disciplinary research, offers important lessons.
One, tax evaders and delinquent officials are more likely to be discouraged from abusing
their position if they feel that the chances of their being caught and quickly punished are
high. Thus, speed and certainty of action are better deterrents than quantum and severity of
penalty.
Two, when certain conduct is widespread and societal in nature, governments should think
many times before they criminalise it. Corruption in a culturebe it India, China, Russia,
South Korea, Bangladesh, Nepal or Pakistan is a reflection of a historical trajectory. People
do respond to incentives and disincentives within a system and when these change, behaviour
too undergoes a modification. South Korea, for example, successfully digitised commercial
transactions by offering suitable tax breaks. In our own country too, more could be done to
promote compliance with laws. The government could simplify and demystify laws and
procedure, provide better taxpayer services, introduce GST expeditiously, reduce litigation,
and curtail discretion of bureaucrats.
Three, what distinguishes developed from developing countries is the quality of their
institutions. In developed countries, institutions generally possess a higher degree of internal
accountability and are much more successful in delivering planned outcomes; in poor
countries, on the other hand, institutions often lack this capacity; and effective governance is
a scarce resource. Building institutional capability assumes importance.
Four, since there are very few quick solutions development seems to be one of the most
promising remedies to pursue. Per-capita income in a country offers one of the best
explanations for its level of corruption. Higher the per capita income, lower, generally is the
level of corruption. We should not forget that a country which sacrifices growth for revenue
gets neither growth nor revenue.
If voluntary compliance in your country is low, remarked my professor on fiscal
psychology at Bath University many years ago, perhaps you should be given less not more
powers. As in any country, more power to you will only result in abuse.
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Centre State Relation

Change at last?
The government of India is making tireless efforts to support those states who are doing well.
Written by Tavleen Singh |
Indian Express : January 8, 2017 1:40 am
PM Narendra Modi (File Photo)
In the 30 years that this column has existed, I have made a sincere attempt in the first column
of a new year to write about good news. This time the Prime Ministers determination to drag
India kicking, screaming and queuing into the digital age has made this quite hard. A surreal
quality has snuck into our lives. We see the Prime Minister give rousing speeches in pollbound states about our phones and thumbs replacing banks and currency. And on the same
day newspaper front pages report mass molestation of young women in our most digital city.
Add to this our daily dose of rape, brutality and stories of girls from Adivasi backwaters sold
into slavery in Indias capital, and it is difficult to come up with good cheer.
So it made me happy when a high official from the Ministry of Drinking Water and
Sanitation asked if we could meet so that he could correct my impressions of the Swachh
Bharat undertaking. In last weeks column I said that it seemed to be mostly just a good idea,
and this is what inspired the high official to invite me for a chat. He began by telling me that
the Prime Ministers heart was so much in this programme that he personally oversaw its
progress. He said I was wrong to believe nothing had been achieved. According to him, in the
past year, the number of villages where defecating in public has been stopped has gone up
from 20,000 to around 1,40,000.
This is no small achievement considering the size of the problem. As Vidia Naipaul once
cruelly pointed out, Indians defecate everywhere. They defecate, mostly, beside the railway
tracks. But they also defecate on the beaches; they defecate on the hills; they defecate on the
river banks; they defecate on the streets; they never look for cover. He wrote these words
more than 50 years ago in An Area of Darkness, and because those were Nehruvian days,
public opinion was leftist, hypersensitive and chippy. So instead of addressing the problem,
the general reaction of Indian intellectuals was to revile Naipaul. As someone who believes
that open defecation is directly responsible for the stunting and untimely deaths of millions of
Indian children, I have railed against it long before Narendra Modi made it a national
mission.
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So it pleased me to hear from the high official that rural sanitation is being treated with
urgency and by using digital mapping to identify the progress state governments are making.
The worst offenders show up red on the map and they are Bihar and Odisha. In the rest of the
country there are signs of hope and changing habits. The government of India is making
tireless efforts to support those states who are doing well. Also underway is a programme to
pay extra attention to villages and towns on the Ganga so that this helps purify our most
defiled and most sacred river.
At this point I reminded the high official that Benaras continues to be disgracefully filthy and
he agreed sheepishly that more needs to be done. He added, though, that one of the new
efforts being made by his ministry is a special programme for 100 iconic pilgrim towns.
Travellers to Amritsar report that the Golden Temple now glistens in hugely transformed
environs. The smelly bazaars with their open drains and hovel-like shops have disappeared,
or at least do not show up in the advertising blitzkrieg that the Punjab government has
launched on television. If the Prime Minister can inspire Indians to make sanitation and
public hygiene their own mission, it could end up solving more than 80 per cent of our health
problems.
The road ahead is filled with obstacles and the usual political and bureaucratic roadblocks.
On top of this there are ancient cultural and caste taboos to break through and the tendency of
most leftist political parties to excuse our filthy habits on poverty. So the task really is
monumental, but if Modi succeeds in really cleaning up India, it could be his most important
legacy.
More importantly, it is not possible to reconcile India in her present state with the digital
dreamland Modi promises to lead us to. As this newspaper reported last week on its front
page, officials charged with making India digital are already up to all sorts of tricks. So the
district collector of Malappuram in Kerala declared Nedumkayam as Indias first cashless
tribal village by transferring Rs 5 digitally into the accounts of 27 people. This was
technically enabled by providing WiFi facilities that later turned out to be ephemeral. This
digital dream village has neither water nor toilets. This is true of many of our 6,00,000
villages, so making Swachh Bharat a reality is a huge challenge. But it is good news that
someone up there is trying.
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Crime Against Women

Crazy Sumit, this time you havent pranked your mom to get away
with an apology
His latest prank, of kissing unsuspecting girls in public, obnoxious as it is, couldn't have
come at a worse time, when India is outraged by what happened in Bengaluru on New Years
night.
Written by Nandagopal Rajan
Sumit goes around calling himself a YouTuber, a good

enough reason for him to not have a clue about what is happening in the real world. (Source: YouTube screen grab)
Sumit is crazy. He goes around sleeping with people who are lying tired on city parks, he
snatches mobile phones of women walking down the streets, he pranks even his mother and
that too within the safe confines of her house. All for a few shares and views on his YouTube
channel. But this time Sumit has reached the summit of his craziness.
His latest prank, of kissing unsuspecting girls in public, obnoxious as it is, couldnt have
come at a worse time, when India is outraged by what happened in Bengaluru on New Years
night. Sumit goes around calling himself a YouTuber, a good enough reason for him to not
have a clue about what is happening in the real world. But I doubt this is the truth. Knowing
that this is a hot topic, he might well have optimised his next video so that he gets maximum
views and shares. Afterall that is the dope he thrives on.
There is a new cult of such youngsters across the globe who think YouTube is easy money.
Pranks are an easy way of making viral content as all of us will love watching it as long as we
are not the receiving end. Many of these videos are pushing the limits of legality, for in some
of these countries at least privacy is something that cannot be taken for granted. There is also
the fact that these videos end up humiliating the victims, that too on the largest video
platform in the world.
In one of his videos, Sumit apologises after making a fool of his own mother, sadly a repeat
victim of his shenanigans. He tells her it was just a prank. That excuse might not work with
the police who are investigating what happened with his latest video, apparently shot in
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Delhis central Connaught Place. While the video is no longer available online, it should not
take the police long to identify the victims, especially since this has become big news. The
victims should come out and register their complaint, if they have not done so already.
Sumits only defence could be saying that the entire gig was choreographed and just a show.
But then the police have an opportunity to take strict action to ensure that such acts are not
staged in future, especially at the expense of others and certainly not for some young kid to
increase his subscriber base on YouTube.
We will need to see how this story ends, but it seems Sumits mom had a good idea about the
direction her son was headed much before. In one of the pranks he plays on her, she is heard
saying: Tuh galat kaam kar raha hai Only if he had listened to her then.
More than outrage

Radical public policy reforms are necessary to end crimes against women
By: Editorial
(Representational Image)
Four years after the rape and murder of a young New Delhi resident supposedly transformed
our national consciousness, stories of Indias grim war against its women continue to be
reported with metronomic regularity: The assault on the streets of Bengaluru on the New
Years Eve is only the most recent. It should now be clear that outrage, high-sounding
speeches, or even the most perfect laws will not make Indian women safer in the absence of
thoroughgoing public policy reforms. The governments data speaks for itself. In 2013,
309,546 cases of crimes against women were reported to police, rising to 337,922 in 2014,
then falling to 327,394, suggesting that after an initial surge of hope, women were losing faith
in the legal system. The reasons for this arent hard to find. In 2013, 114,785 rape cases were
pending for trial. Of the 18,833 prosecutions that concluded, just 27 per cent ended in a
conviction. In 2015, despite new fast-track courts and new laws, 137,458 cases were pending
for trial, and convictions had risen only negligibly, to 29 per cent. The bleak truth is that for a
woman seeking justice for a gender-related crime, very little has changed.
The path forward is simple, provided the state and central governments have the will to take
it. The first step has to be making public spaces streets, bazaars, public transport safer.
There are many ways to do this, but the backbone has to be law enforcement: The greater
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deployment of police officers, backed by better training and lighting and surveillance tools.
India needs to take a hard look at whether it actually has the capacity to even begin to do this.
Just last week, police officers seeking to protect two Delhi women harassed by young men
were attacked by a mob. The country now has 144 police officers per 100,000 population,
down from 149 per 100,000 in 2013, and well below the UN norm, based on orderly
societies, of 220 per 100,000. It also needs more gender-equity: Only 122,912 of Indias
1,731,666 state police officers are women.
India cant, however, expect change, unless its willing to invest in it. Enhanced community
policing, for example, needs radical improvements in training and human resource standards;
constables hired and paid on scales for unskilled labour cannot be expected to deliver modern
policing standards. Forensics and investigation skills are, outside a handful of states,
conspicuous by their absence. Finally, deep institutional reforms are needed so police forces
become accountable to the communities they are meant to protect, to the law they serve, not
governments: Filing a complaint to its processing has to become easier and woman-friendly.
Most importantly, any crime against women and not just rape has to fetch severe
punishment.
Why Bengaluru isnt so cool

The idea that the city enjoys the reputation of being safe for women is a well-nourished urban
myth
Written by Janaki Nair
Illustration by C R Sasikumar
As post truths go, the purported safeness of Bengaluru for women must follow close on
the heels of the well-disguised benefits of demonetisation as among the most chanted
myths in recent times. In addition to the nationalisation of outrage over the incidents, in
which the monotonous TV loop has played no small part, there were several worthy citizens
who were haunted by the memory of better days. The politicians stoked the raging fires with
their statements. It is as if each new display of misogyny, harassment, molestation or attack
erases public memory in order to allow fresh paroxysms of anger.
The idea that Bengaluru enjoys the reputation of being safe for women is among those wellnourished urban myths that rank alongside the citys alleged cosmopolitanism. That
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overused term has only meant that millions (of particularly middle-class migrants) have felt
no obligation to learn the local language, Kannada. The concept was given a sobering knock
when thousands of Indians from the north east fled in terror following racist rumours and
attacks in August, 2012. Tamils (1991), Muslims (1994) and the poor (all the time) generally
have been targets of non-cosmopolitan violence.
In fact, this is a good time to remind those nostalgic for a non-existent past of Bengalurus
long acquaintance with ever newer forms of violence that accompanied each successive move
that women made into the public sphere. Its well-shaped misogyny may have been more
genteel in the time before democracy, but has adapted to all kinds of emerging social and
political developments.
Which female child growing up in the car-free streets of Bengaluru in the 1960s does not
recall the cycle-borne flashers and stalkers from whom she took to her heels? How many
college-goers in the 1970s will remember the warnings to women to be not only dressed in
Indian clothes but sit, as if they were among those who brought dishonour and impurity to
the classroom, on separate benches? And then, for female students to suffer loud comments
from the podium on the size and shape of their brains: All this, by men in three-piece suits
who built their reputations around such attitudes.
In the late 1970s and 1980s, women in Bengaluru were offered a new form of freedom and
mobility with the influx of the small two-wheelers. Getting to work or college in a city poorly
served by public transport was suddenly made easier by Lunas, Suvegas, Silverpluses. But
also much more dangerous: Hot rod Romeos, equally empowered by the two-wheeler
revolution, took to hitting women on their backs from behind to make them lose their balance
and fall off their mopeds. In the time before feminism and legal literacy, women usually put
up with torn kurtas, bruises and a brush with death.
One could go on, but we are ill-served by that other favourite word mindset to
explain away the sheer inventiveness and harshness of Indian misogyny. Women, who form
at least 30 per cent of the IT and ITeS economy and 90 per cent of the garment economy,
have to be on high alert while going to and returning from work on a daily basis. Their
economic independence has not translated into social and civic freedom in the least.
It is more useful to think about what has changed in the small town that became a metropolis
in the span of a few decades. How have the multitudes who flocked to the city partaken in
democratic life to pose a threat to, or be threatened by, those very spaces of new-found
freedom?
Bengaluru is host to one of the most spectacular public events every March-April, a civic
festival like no other. Lakhs of people descend from the peri-urban areas of Bengaluru to
participate in the Karaga festival. The narrow by-ways and cul-de- sacs of the 16th century
city are filled with crowds tracing the same sacred geography that the embodiment of
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Draupadi will course through on her journey after her emergence from the
Dharmanarayanaswamy temple. For some time now, the crowds are largely male, young and
bursting with both reverence and playfulness. Women and children usually flank this moving
river of people, content to watch from doorways and balconies, but when they do decide to
join the coursing, do not come out unscathed. Yet we have not heard public discussion of
molestation from this event.
Mahatma Gandhi Road and its half-kilometre surroundings are a completely different matter.
Here too, given the citys divided pasts, males of the other city have come, for several
decades, to indulge in their secret pleasures. This could range from the harmless coffee at
Koshys, with its accompanying chance of viewing women who also drink coffee, perhaps
alone, to a swig of stronger stuff in an area bristling with bars. On New Years eve, for
several generations, the MG Road whereabouts have been the destination of preference for
young males, putting some distance between themselves and oppressive family conditions.
The scale of such festivities has changed, with deeply ambiguous consequences for both men
and women. Democracy, and a completely altered economy, require large numbers of young
women and men to be on the streets at all hours of day and night. But while a female
presence must be purposive, preferably collective and invisibilised (an accompanying child is
like the Potterian cloak in such situations), no such restraints are placed on loitering men. Of
late, women too have begun to break free of their claustrophobic prohibitions, joining public
festivities in larger and larger numbers. This is, in part, a reflection of their earning capacity
(which the bars and restaurants in central Bengaluru certainly encourage) and the growing
democratisation of public life. For these pleasures, they have paid the price, too often without
media or police taking cognisance of the same.
For the first time, the omnipresent camera has come into its own, recording the molestation,
the pawing, the sheer ugliness of a testosterone-driven mob, and drawing national attention. It
should interest us that the women who were subjected to such harassment were reluctant to
come out to file FIRs, or complain to those who may well take the opportunity to let fly some
sexist/racist abuses of choice. By this reluctance, the women are not being evasive: They are
making the plea for a new kind of civility to emerge, one neither mandated by familial
constraints, nor legislative fiat.
The most amiable crowds that I have ever seen in India are during Durga Puja in Kolkata,
where millions of men and women course the streets through that week, patiently wait in
lines to view the pandals erected on tiny spaces on busy roads. One rarely hears
of molestation or abuse on those days. This is not the result of a feminist revolution, or even
a left-inspired one, but a consequence of a city made safe by terms of fictive kinship that
ensure women a familial relationship, in the best sense of that term. We could learn from
such older forms of civility while crafting new ones. Now can we stop speaking about
womens clothing and habits?
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The writer teaches history at the Centre for Historical Studies, JNU
Uphold the law

By: Editorial
The National Human Rights Commissions interim report confirming that 16 women were
prima facie victims of rape, sexual and physical assault by state police personnel in
Chhattisgarh in Bijapur and Sukma districts in October 2015 and January 2016 should serve
as a wake-up call to the state government. The report has also said that the state government
is vicariously liable for the rights violations of the victims. The commission has asked the
state government to record the statements of 20 other women, who its officials could not
meet. The state government must investigate the officials responsible for the outrage and
provide relief to the victims immediately.
The NHRC had investigated the rape claims after taking suo motu cognisance of a report in
this newspaper in November, 2015. According to the report, women from five villages of
Bijapur district Pegdapalli, Chinnagelur, Peddagellur, Gundam and Burgicheru had
alleged that Chhattisgarh police personnel sexually harassed and assaulted more than 40 of
them, and gang-raped at least two. Thereafter, the commission was intimated of more such
incidents by villagers in Bellam Lendra village, Bijapur district, Kunna village, Sukma
district, and Chotegadam village, Dantewada district. The commission has asked the state
government for a report on these incidents. The situation would not have come to such a pass
if the state government had been responsive to previous complaints against personnel of
security forces, including state police, and state-sponsored vigilante groups. Instead, it
attempted to paint all defenders of human rights as sympathisers of Maoists. Police, instead
of probing the complaints of rights violations, targeted the complainants. Emboldened by the
support of state institutions, vigilante groups hounded activists, academics, NGOs, legal aid
workers, even politicians like CPI leader Manish Kunjam, who were critical of police
highhandedness. The bizarre spectacle of police personnel burning effigies of activists after
the CBI chargesheeted former special police force officers for burning down a tribal village
revealed the blurring of lines between law enforcers and breakers. It was the reluctance of the
government to rein in unruly elements in worst cases, its complicity in encouraging them
that forced the Supreme Court and the NHRC to step in and remind the administration of
the primacy of rule of law.
The groundwork in the cases now under the NHRCs spotlight were done by voluntary
organisations like the WSS (Women Against Sexual Violence and State Repression) and
Jagdalpur Legal Aid Group. Instead of appreciating the effort to bring institutional justice to
the most vulnerable sections of the society, the Chhattisgarh state has been hostile to them.
The forced retreat of voluntary agencies and activists may help the government to hide its
failings, but it will hamper the deepening of democratic values and institutions.
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Defence
We often sleep empty stomach: BSF jawans video exposes the mess
caused by corruption
The videos expose the dismal state of affairs in the Armed force and the hardships our
soldiers face everyday due to the "corrupt practices" of their own officers.
Written by Nishant Shekhar
Army jawan alleges corruption by officers.
At a time when those complaining about standing in bank queues due to demonetisation are
being asked by the so called nationalists to compare their pain to that of the soldiers
standing at border, a BSF jawan has shared three videos which describe how our national
heroes are badly treated, while doing their duty, by none other than the administration. The
videos expose the dismal state of affairs in the Armed forces and the hardships our soldiers
face everyday due to the corrupt practices of their own officers. And there is nothing
nationalist about it. In fact, the videos, that have gone viral, may deter young aspirants from
joining the armed force.
The video suggests that our jawans are not just exposed to the security threat from across the
border and the elements, but are also subjected to humiliation and insult when it comes to
their daily meals which are both substandard and insufficient. In fact, they even sleep empty
stomach at times, the video reveals.
Army or paramilitary jawans usually dont speak against seniors fearing strict punishment.
However, Jawan Tej Bahadur of 29 battalion showed courage, may be because of his
desperation, to talk about that humiliation without caring about the consequences. While we
are told that Army provides best of food items to its jawans, the video of Bahadur presents a
different picture. Half-baked chapatis and inedible daal are what the jawans get in their lunch,
as shown in the video.
It must be looking very beautiful in the picture. But I want to tell you that our condition here
is very pathetic. In these difficult conditions, we are honestly doing our duty. But what we are
not getting sufficient food to eat. How can we do our duty then? Bahadur questions in the
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video. One can imagine what must be going through the minds of jawans while being served
such a distasteful meal.
Interestingly, Bahadur says that he doesnt blame the government for all this. Mai sarkar ko
dosh nahi deta. Sarkar humey sab kuch deti hai. Ye adhikari hain jo sab kuch bahar bech
detey hain. Iski jaanch honi chahiye, says the jawan, blaming the officers and not the
government, adding that his voice be heard by the media. Well, thanks to the power of the
internet, his appeal has been widely circulated wihtin a few hours.
BSF must focus on issues raised by Tej Bahadur Yadav, not his
troubled past
The BSF took offence to Tej Bahadur Yadav's claims and started victimising him by placing
his old records in public, something that he anticipated in the video.
Written by Nishant Shekhar
The shocking videos of BSF jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav alleging corruption by senior officers
and showing sub-standard food being served to the soldiers have triggered sharp reactions
from across the country. After the story was covered widely, the government initiated a probe
into the matter. Though Yadav has become a talking point on social media, the BSF has
countered his allegations by publicising his not-so-great service records, something Yadav
anticipated in the video.
According to BSF, Yadav is a repeated offender who had in the past indulged in indiscipline
and was even court martialed in 2010 on charges of aiming his gun at a senior officer.
Dismissing the allegations of corruption levelled by Yadav, the BSF also maintained that
food being served to the jawans are of good quality, though it might not taste good in winters
as they are tinned and dry. Well, it seems that senior BSF officers have not seen Yadavs
videos showing the burnt chapati and the inedible daal.
The BSF may be right in criticising Yadav for his shoddy track record, but their timing
appears inappropriate. One can imagine the toil our jawans go through while guarding our
border in chilling conditions. And the least they can expect is a good meal after long hours of
hard duty. Thats the least we can do.
What Yadav did will be considered gross insubordination by any establishment, Armed
forces in particular. But should a jawan always ponder about his past, and future, before
raising his voice against injustice? Well as an individual, Yadav was well within his rights to
flag whats wrong. There is good reason for his seniors to be irked, but they might be better
off turning their ire on on those responsibile for ensuring that the jawans are taken care of
wherever they are posted.
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The welfare of our soldiers guarding the borders should be paramount for the government.
And it must also protect their right to speak up against what is wrong, even within the forces.
The government has ordered a probe into Yadavs allegations. But strong action must also be
taken against those who are trying to use his service record to show he has no right to play
whistleblower and to divert attention from the core issue.
Criminal Diversion: Government must look into complaints of stealing

supplies meant for BSF and CRPF jawans
Times of India : January 13, 2017
Two videos posted by paramilitary jawans, complaining of lack of facilities, raise concerns
about corruption and poor leadership of Indias security forces. A few days ago BSF
constable, TejBahadurYadav, posted a video alleging substandard food being served to
soldiers serving in high altitude areas. On Thursday, CRPF constable Jeet Singh expressed
anguish over being treated as poor cousins of the armed forces. Reports of food and fuel
provisions being sold near camps of paramilitary forces in Srinagar have also come to light.
Government must order an independent probe specifically into allegations of diversion of
rations and supplies meant for troops to be sold for a profit by senior officers.
Corrupt officers who are found to sell daily-use items meant for troops on the black market
must be taken to task at the earliest. A zero tolerance approach is essential in such cases as
they amount not just to egregious corruption but also to poor leadership of men in uniform.
As constable Jeet pointed out paramilitary forces are deployed in border areas, serve in a
tense environment in Kashmir, counter Naxals in dense jungles of the red corridor, and
provide security during elections. Sometimes lack of supplies could be due to acts of
omission rather than commission, in which case the government must work on building a
better supply chain.
This malaise is also rooted in the deeper structural problem in central armed police forces like
BSF and CRPF, which are headed by IPS officers who come in and out unlike the army
where officers serve with their soldiers throughout their entire careers, creating a deeper
culture of bonding. This needs to be fixed, by finding ways of nurturing similar esprit de
corps in paramilitary units as well.
New Army chief

Preparing for short, intense wars
The Tribune : Jan 14, 2017
It was heartening to see Gen. BipinRawat focusing on the Indian Army's primary duty fighting wars - at his maiden press conference as the newly-appointed Indian Army Chief. As
is the norm, Gen Rawat had to wade through topical question before coming to the core
issues - counter insurgency and the future wars. The general sahib, given to garrulity, could
not put his best foot forward. His solution to stop jawans from airing their grievances on the
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social media was prosaic and well worn. The Army chief defended the existing grievance
redressal mechanism and, in an apparent play for the galleries, suggested they use the
suggestion boxes in army installations. Gen Rawat seems to miss the point. If a jawan risks
punishment and worse by taking it to the social media, it is obvious the regular channels are
not working.
But the Army chief was in his elements on Pakistan and fighting future wars. Gen Rawat was
confident that the surgical strikes have dimmed the Pakistani state's appetite for stirring up
trouble in Jammu & Kashmir. Although over 50 soldiers have been killed since the surgical
strikes took place, he repeated that if Pakistan did not accept India's commitment to peace
and tranquility, ``this [Surgical strike] method of operational execution will continue." In J &
K, as the ground situation indicates, the security forces appear to have regained control.
But Gen Rawat's emphasis, however, on Cold Start indicates that India has abandoned its
conventional approach for good in favour of keeping the adversary on tenterhooks with the
policy of offence is the best defence. India has a long way to go in terms of acquiring the
appropriate hardware for the task where the army will have to move fast and communications
between commanders has to be spot on. Moreover, the army will have to factor in Pakistan's
threat to deploy nuclear weapons in a conventional skirmish. As Gen Rawat tellingly added,``
weaknesses have to be overcome and this can only happen if you accept the strategy." The
nation - as also our adversaries - are yet to hear a definitive baptism to Cold Start - and, all
that follows from it.
Coded to kill: World must resist the military-industrial complexs

push for autonomous weapons
In what is being touted as a big step in the development of autonomous weapon systems, the
US Pentagon has announced the successful testing of a locust-like swarm of micro-drones
exhibiting behaviours such as collective decision-making and self-healing. The Perdix microdrones each measure six inches and are designed to overwhelm an opposition force through
greater numbers. But while the technology is indeed cutting edge, its implications can only be
described in one word horrific. Autonomous weapons can unleash a nightmare from which
the world may never recover.
Automated weapon systems are problematic on several levels. They desensitise people to the
horrors of war and make it easier to go to war. In 2014, more than 20 Nobel Peace Prize
laureates jointly endorsed a ban on killer robots. However, this appears to have had little
impact as more and more governments and militaries today seek autonomous weapons,
including under the auspices of another Nobel Peace winner, President Obama. Driving this
trend is a new global military-industrial complex comprising arms manufacturers, lobbyists,
contractors and researchers. As the world enters a phase of increasing conflicts, this militaryindustrial complex cares little about the human costs of war, or whether its weapons are used
by legitimate armies or terror groups. India, the developing worlds second largest importer
of arms at $34 billion worth between 2008 and 2015, is a darling of this military-industrial
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complex which will sell the same weapons indifferently to Indias enemies and profit out of
both.
But Americas political authorities must put a stop to the production of horrific weapons, just
because they can be produced. The question they need to ask themselves is: how will they
defend their country when such technology as drones that attack the enemy like artificial
locusts falls into the hand of terrorists, as inevitably it must.
Close The Chinks: Army report highlights 50 gaps in border security,

these must be addressed immediately
In a sign that 2017 is likely to witness a continuation of tensions at the India-Pakistan border,
terrorists killed three labourers when they attacked a General Engineering Reserve Force
camp near the Line of Control in Jammu & Kashmirs Akhnoor sector. The terrorists
reportedly three in number evaded security personnel and are believed to have fled back
across the LoC. Against the backdrop of such increasing cross-LoC terror strikes on military
units and related camps, a recent army report has identified at least 50 gaps in security that
pose a threat to soldiers lives.
The reported gaps include body armour, night-vision gear and flawed fuel storage. The latter
in particular was highlighted during the Uri terror attack last September where 19 soldiers
were killed at an army base. Fourteen of the troops were burnt alive in the attack as their tents
were pitched next to a fuel dump. One would have thought that insecure fuel storage at
forward military bases is a problem that the army wouldnt be seized of in this day and age.
That something so basic continues to be a challenge shows a lack of preparedness within the
military establishment.
It will be recalled that after the Pathankot airbase attack in January last year, a tri-services
committee had submitted a report with comprehensive recommendations to upgrade
perimeter security, detection systems and standard operating procedures at army units to
thwart terror strikes. Clearly there was little follow-up action, which is why Uri happened.
And while government and army took credit for the successful surgical strikes against terror
launch pads in PoK after Uri, such operations havent deterred terrorists from launching
cross-border attacks exemplified by the Nagrota attack in November where seven armymen
were killed.
In fact, with new army chief General BipinRawat not ruling out more cross-border surgical
strikes against terror camps, its all the more imperative that security at forward military
bases is upgraded. Offence as the best form of defence is a strategy that cannot be carried out
without getting the basics right first. This is especially true in light of Pakistans tactic of
using low-intensity conflict to exploit chinks in the Indian armed forces armour. Hence,
before politicians indulge in chest-thumping, they must facilitate and nudge the army into
strengthening security of forward bases through basic equipment such as smart vests, sniper
scopes and safer fuel storage.
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A jawan complains
Central forces need a closer look
Constable TejBahadurYadav of the Border Security Force has caused quite a sensation
despite his humble rank. The Union Home Minister was forced to take note and several of his
colleagues were compelled to swing into the damage control mode. But the superiors of the
humble constable, the backbone of the force guarding most of our frontiers, did not come
away smelling of roses. The response from the BSF was insensitive and tactless and it should
be hauled over the coals for suggesting that Yadav was a chronic trouble-maker. For good
measure, the BSF even labelled him an alcoholic. In the age of social media where there is a
level-playing field, the balance was clearly tilted in the complainants favour.
Yadav has infringed the set procedures in a uniformed force where adherence to the chain of
command is the sine qua non for its efficient functioning. He also does not have the
advantage of claiming protection under the Whistle Blower Protection Act for it prohibits the
reporting of a corruption-related disclosure if the subject concerns the security of India.
Yadav may yet escape the fate of other dissenters in a highly disciplined and authoritarian
institution because of the goodwill earned for his apparent sincerity. Whether Yadav had
breached discipline or had a bee in his bonnet, his allegations need to be thoroughly probed.
But this is also the occasion to cast the net wider and examine whether the BSF and the CRPF
are overstretched and if the strains are showing. The CRPF is often deployed frequently and
somewhat whimsically. An amendment to the BSF Act in 2011 extended its area of
operations and it is now on anti-insurgency duty as well. It also needs to be studied whether
staffing their top levels with IPS officers is part of the problem. A thorough examination has
become necessary after other BSF jawans spilt the beans about the poor clothing, housing and
deployment as well. Our soldiers and policemen deserve every bit of attention and comfort
we can provide them. Muzzling is no answer.
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Demonetisation
RBIs demonetisation cross: Unfortunate that the custodian of note ban
unable to exonerate itself
The sequence of events leading to the demonetisation move are becoming more convoluted
as more information is revealed. At this point, it is starting to resemble a comedy of errors at
best and an insidious plot at worst. We attempt to delineate the sequence of events that led to
November 8, 2016, and understand the role of one of Indias most credible institution,
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in the larger scheme of things.
The central bank has informed the Parliamentary Committee that it acted on the
governments advice on demonetisation. This is at odds with the minister of state of power,
coal, new and renewable energy, PiyushGoyals remarks in the RajyaSabha. He said that the
government merely approved the RBI Boards decision.
The RBI note to the Parliamentary Committee says that the introduction of new series of
notes could provide a very rare and profound opportunity to tackle all the three problems of
counterfeiting, terrorist financing and black money by demonetizing the banknotes in high
denominations Though no firm decision was taken initially, whether to demonetize or not,
preparations still went on for introduction of new series notes, as that was needed in any
case. RBI cannot make these claims with a straight face. First, it is evident that RBI was
grossly unprepared for the move. Second, all three above-stated reasons for demonetisation
have been proven false. RBI has itself stated that there are no additional security features in
the new notes; so, the problem of counterfeiting will persist. Finally, several people,
including terrorists, have already been caught possessing crores of new currency notes.
In a separate RTI response, RBI had stated that the decision to introduce new notes of R2,000
denomination was taken in a meeting on May 19, 2016. However, the minutes of the RBI
Board meeting only mention the design of the new notes. As per the RBI Act, it is mandated
to reveal the decision to introduce the new notes which it did not. Similarly, the government
waited till November 8 to notify the new notes.
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On November 8, the prime minister announced the demonetisation of the 500- and 1,000rupee bills. He also made certain announcements related to dates for exchange of currency
notes at banks (December 30, 2016), at RBI counters (March 31, 2016) and withdrawal limits
at ATMs/through cheques. Alongside, he mentioned the objectives of demonetisation and the
secrecy of the move. He also introduced the 2,000-rupee bill. Indians lauded as this a step
towards penalising the growing breed of corrupt and extinguishing the existing stock of black
cash in the economy. Consequences of sucking out 86% of the currency included long queues
at banks, malpractices at bank branches, and attenuated consumption, but the nation has stood
by the decision believing in the intent of the act.
Reserve Bank of India, as the issuer of currency, was responsible for replenishing currency in
the system. As days passed, RBI issued multiple notifications on how, why and who could
withdraw how much currency. At last count, in a 50-day period the RBI issued 74 such
notifications. This is astounding agility for any central bank and raises questions if RBI was
at all prepared for such an act? Or does it indicate that the RBI Board succumbed to external
pressures to approve demonetisation? If RBI is an independent regulator, insulated from all
political influence and could not see itself implementing the move, there is little reason why it
did not refuse to be an accomplice. And finally, if RBIs economic talent pool was on ground
with this, cognizant of leaving a nation with 15% of the currency in circulation, the citizens
have a right to know the reasoning.
The institution denied a RTI query on disclosure of minutes of the board meeting on the
demonetisation decision, citing exemption clause Section 8(1)(g), i.e., endanger(ing) the life
or physical safety of any person or identify(ing) the source of information or assistance given
in confidence for law enforcement or security purposes. While the intent of demonetisation
has been fluid beginning from targeting black money, and counterfeiting to digitising the
economy.
Post the demonetisation announcement, RBI disclosed data related to the receipt of old
currency on a daily basis. Regular reporting of data, in line with the ethos of the institution
was appreciated by the public. According to the last disclosure made on December 12, 2016,
RBI had received R12.44 lakh crore. However, it abruptly stopped sharing the data when it
seemed imminent that most of the approximately R15 lakh crore of demonetised notes will be
returned.
The increasing opacity of RBIs role in demonetisation goes against the global trend of
increasing monetary policy transparency. We should ask RBI to disclose detailed notes of the
minutes of its Board meeting. As of now, there is no clarity on the nature of background work
undertaken by RBI to assess the move and the institutions conviction to go ahead and
implement the same. It is unfortunate that the very custodian of demonetisation is unable to
exonerate itself by coming out with reliable facts, that would convince the common man and
investors alike, of its intentions and independence. If policymakers have decided to operate in
secret, then we should consider amending our Constitution to reflect that the government is
not responsible to the people.
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Demonetisation: Why NarendraModis note ban move was necessary

Demonetisation is a harsh measure that is expected to work as a double-edged sword, to

primarily kill two among the several demons plaguing the Indian economy. On the one hand,
demonetisation is an attempt to bring substantial amount of black money into the economy
with crackdown on corruption; and on the other, to disrupt the funding of terrorist activities
which have been surviving on counterfeit currency.
Since a lot is being written about the first aspect, we consciously begin with the second and
address the importance of mitigating conflicts and promoting peace. Data from South Asia
Terrorism Portal states that over 700 terror-related deaths (including civilians, security
personnel and terrorists) have occurred in India each year since 2014, of which a large
component is on account of either left-wing extremism or terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.
Until November 2016, 789 fatalities had taken place due to conflicts, of which 230 were in
J&K, and 386 because of Left-wing extremism. Of the 230 deaths in J&K, 11 were civilians,
73 security personnel, and 146 terrorists. Children missing schools, businesses remaining
closed, and governments allocating resources to less productive services such as defence,
impedes both the present and future growth potential of the region. Rightly, Collier in his
2007 book titled The Bottom Billion cited conflict trap as one of the four development
traps, besides natural resource trap, being landlocked with bad neighbours, and bad
governance. Conflicts have large economic costs, and the longer a country stays in a state of
conflict, the more these costs are. In 2007, cessation of violence was expected to generate a
peace dividend approximating 13% of the 2007 gross world product! The dynamic
component of the peace dividend comes from the total additional economic output likely to
occur due to the liberation of human, social and physical capital, which was suppressed by
violence. Static peace dividend, on the other hand, accrues from the economic activity that
would be transferred from violence-related industries to peace-related industries.
So, the question that arises is how can demonetisation bring peace? Two motivating factors
that in general make youth join anti-state organisations are greed and grievance. With legal
tender notes becoming worthless overnight, the power of anti-state elements to lure youth by
satisfying their greed is expected to get adversely impacted. Also, to the extent stability and
peace promotes employment and growth in erstwhile conflict affected areas, the grievance
factor that pushes the youth into terrorism gets impacted. As per World Banks Report on
Addressing Inequality in South Asia (2015), in India, the probability of a district being
affected by Naxalites (Maoist rebels) has been linked with its poverty incidence. Deprivation
and higher poverty intensifies the grievances felt by certain groups. It also reduces the
opportunity costs of initiating and joining a violent conflict. Further, according to the
Financial Action Task Force (FATF), counterfeit notes are the primary source of terrorist
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financing in India. Terrorist groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami

(HuJI), etc, pump counterfeit currency in India through various channels and international
routes and make decent profit out of it. Terror attacks have a counterfeit trading link as well.
The decision of demonetisation will be enough to cripple the terror activities of such groups,
which earlier used to thrive on the fake Indian currency. Undoubtedly, this shall be a major
win for the nation.Moving over to the economic aspect of demonetisation, while certain
segments have applauded the scheme, the measure has also raised apprehensions and
concerns in equal measure.
The shadow economy has flourished for years, negatively affecting government revenues.
The governments white paper on black money highlights various attempts at quantifying the
extent of black money prevalent in India. The National Institute of Public Finance and Policy
(NIPFP) conducted a study for the period 1975-1983 to estimate black economy. According
to the study, the black economy was 15-18% of the GDP for the year 1975, 18-21% of the
GDP for 1980-1981 and 19 to 21% of the GDP for 1985. The World Banks report on
Shadow Economy (2010), estimated the Indian shadow economy at over 25% of the GDP in
the year 2006. In 2011, Central Board of Direct Taxes assigned three institutesNCAER,
NIFM and NIPFPto provide an estimate of black money held by Indians. While the results
of the report are not yet disclosed, it is rumoured that NIPFP speculated Indias black money
to be up to 75% of the countrys GDP! While estimates vary, nevertheless it is clear that the
magnitude is large. In terms of corruption perception index, as well, India ranks low despite
an improvement in recent years. For instance, in 2015, it ranked 76 out of 168 countries,
while in 2011, it ranked 95 out of 183 countries. Tackling corruption, therefore, becomes
imperative and demonetisation is considered as the surgical strike on the same.
Few schemes adopted in the past to unearth black money have been raids and introducing
amnesty and Voluntary Income Disclosure Schemes. However, it is to be appreciated that
such steps have to be a part of reform package that include measures such as improving
institutional quality, rationalised government control on economic activities (such as tax
structure and duties), easing businesses, digitalisation, political will, effective governance and
trustworthy judiciary. While steps have been initiated, a lot more needs to be done.
To the extent that demonetisation will bring back the black money into the system, as also
reduce corruption, not to mention introducing a behavioural change towards cashless
transactions, it is a laudable scheme. On the fiscal front, the move is expected to raise
revenues for the government substantially. Demonetisation, hand in hand, with GST will help
in expanding the tax base and increasing efficiency and accountability in the taxation process.
It is expected to increase the tax-to-GDP ratio in the long term, which stands abysmally low
at 16.6% presently. Further, government will also earn revenues as seigniorage by printing
money of higher denomination, i.e, R2,000. Seigniorage is calculated as the notes in
circulation less the cost of printing and distributing them, multiplied by the market interest
rate. Printing higher denomination notes is cheaper than printing notes with lower
denominations. While the printing cost of R1,000, R500 and R10 notes is at 0.317%, 0.5%
and 9.6%, respectively of its face value, the printing cost of R2,000 notes will be much lower.
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On the downside, the costs of liquidity crunch faced by the common man, especially rural
households and businesses, small traders and retail outlets, especially without access to bank
branches have been enormous. Land/property sales by, in general, law abiding middle class
households have also felt the heat. Enormous opportunity costs are associated with public
wasting time in long queues at banks. However, that is not to say that corrupt rich are less
impacted. In fact, their pain shall continue much beyond the turbulence in the past few days,
especially so if their unaccounted wealth is more in the form of cash, and less in property or
bullion. Could the government have handled demonetisation alternatively remains debatable.
However, with demonetisation expected to hit the economy adversely in the next two
quarters, the governments must initiate expansionary policies, especially through
investment in infrastructure at the earliest. Given the expected revenue windfalls, this
should not be difficult. Also, lessons need to be learnt on governments revised role in a
cashless economy
Not RBIs job to oppose government

Many people have tended to read into the Reserve Bank of Indias statement that
demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes had been suggested to it by the government of
India implications that probably are not warranted.
The central bank has lost its autonomy and credibility affected, say some, including former
Reserve Bank of India governor YagaVenugopal Reddy. If the assumption is that the central
bank should have resisted the move to demonetise high-denomination notes, that assumption
is misplaced.
The Reserve Bank of India or any other central bank had the duty to carry out the will of the
sovereign, as articulated by the duly elected government of the day. Its job is to carry out that
mandate well, planning and implementing its execution in an optimal fashion.
In the democratic system of government, the people are the sovereign and Parliament their
representative forum.
Parliamentary majority throws up the political leadership of the executive.
As a political leadership that enjoys the confidence of the elected peoples representative
forum, it has the authority of the people to take decisions in their welfare and on their behalf.
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If the political leadership makes mistakes in their choice of action and policy, the people will
punish them.
The governments accountability is to the people. If the government of the day thinks certain
currencies have to be demonetised, it is not for an institution with a narrowly defined
mandate to thwart that policy choice.
This does not mean that the government can take decisions that violate the laws of the land:
the courts would step in, if laws are violated. That being the case, the questions to be asked
are different.
Did the central bank advise the government as to how to go about demonetising two widely
used notes in the least disruptive fashion?
Did it devise a plan of action that was optimal? Did it manage execution of the plan
efficiently and coherently? All these questions can be answered only in the negative.
So, it is inevitable that the Reserve Bank of India will face some flak. But it was not its job to
have resisted demonetisation.
Social cost of demonetisation: Challenge is to check a new black economy

With demonetisation coming to an end formally last month, it is compelling to evaluate the
costs which, though speculative in nature, would broadly indicate the value of benefits
required to recover them. If the perceived benefits are higher, then there is a net gain. The
approach must be different given it was an economic measure with high moral undertones.
Conjecturing the cost of this exercise is tricky as a large part of the perceived effects is not
transparent enough, given the discreetness required. The attempt here is more to lay a
framework to be used by the reader to plug in numbers and evaluate the same. Some of the
numbers derived are based on assumptions reached after speaking to bankers who were not
willing to talk on the specifics. The other imputations made are from a theoretical point of
view and, hence, subjective.
The costs are broadly the following. The first is the potential loss of GDP due to this exercise,
different analysts providing varying estimates. Conservatively, a drop of 0.5% has been
assumed. Second, the cost of printing new notes is assumed based on the o/s currency in 500and 1,000-rupee denominations being R7.8 lakh crore and R6.3 lakh crore as of March 2016.
This would amount to 2,200 pieces of currency. While all will not be reprinted, RBI has been
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printing more R100 notes. It is assumed that the same number would be printed at a cost of
R3.50 per note.
Third, 2.2 lakh ATMs have been calibrated at a cost of Rs 2,000 per machine. Fourth, with
around 1.3 lakh bank branches in the system, the minimum cost of overheads, on an
incremental basis, is taken to be R1,000 per branch and has been assumed to have been spent
on each of the 50 days of demonetisation. Fifth, the movement of currency to ATMs and
branches was spruced up. It is assumed that each van would be serving 15 touch-points and
the additional 15,000 trips a day would incur the cost of van, security and technical
personnel, estimated at R10,000 per day. Costs for multiple trips have been ignored for this
purpose. Sixth, movement of old notes to centralised bank location and subsequently to RBI
at different points of time has been reckoned for the 1.3 lakh branches @R10,000 a day. This
also includes the cost of destruction of old notes, eventually.
There are some interesting indirect costs, too. First, almost every household spent two days at
branches and ATMs during the period and hence 25 crore households have spent 50 crore
man-days. If the value of time is taken at the lower end of our per capita daily GDP, the
valuation would be R15,000crore. Second, banks have been working overtime these 50 days,
and with a conservative average of 2-3 hours a day, it works out to around 5 extra days. The
salary bill for a year has been scaled down to R425 crore a day which is imputed for this
purpose (annual bill of R1.18 lakh crore for around 280 working days).
Third, banks have gotten R15 lakh crore of deposits, and assuming 40% leaves in the form of
withdrawals, R9 lakh crore is to be invested in GSecs at 6%, while the average lending rate is
10%. The implicit opportunity cost of 4% is adjusted for four months, after which the funds
could return to normal lending. Fourth, the downturn in economic activity will definitely
mean an increase in NPAs. With o/s bank credit at around R73 lakh crore, it is assumed that
NPAs increase by just 0.1%, or R7,300crore.
Fifth, there have been significant waivers on electronic payments. Here, it is assumed that the
total volume of transactions would be twice the GDP which, for two months, would be
around R45 lakh crore. Assuming half was transacted, the opportunity loss for those who
would have received the fee such as card companies, banks, merchants, etc, has been
reckoned as 0.1% of total. Now, how does the complete picture look?
The total cost of this operation appears to be around R1.3 lakh crore on a very conservative
side. It is assumed that there are no imputations for job losses, deaths and injuries, costs for
government and RBI in implementation, cost of carrying out over 60 new directives over the
period of time, etc. Given that the main objective of this exercise was to curb black money,
the amount rooted out from the system would have been a measure of immediate success.
However, with there being another income disclosure scheme, logically all money should be
back into the system. Hence, the disappearance of money will not be appropriate for
caluclations. The amount of disclosed black money taxed at 50% or penalised if caught, at
85%, would be an objective gain for the system. As the first income disclosure scheme got
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declarations of just R60,000 crore, the possible amount this time could go up to R1 lakh crore
of which R50,000 crore will go back as tax collections. There would also be regular tax flows
in the coming years as undetected black money would enter the tax stream. But, one can
never tell.
The balance of R80,000 crore, or whatever the final number is, can be treated as the cost of
curbing terror funding, counterfeit currency and eliminating existing black money. The
challenge would be to prevent a new black economy, and for this, we need to spruce up our
systems and ensure there is less human interface when dealing with laws and regulation,
failing which, we will be back at the starting line.
Demonetisation impact on GDP: Heres why high tax mop up is critical

for India
Finance minister ArunJaitley has made light of the demonetisation impact on GDPHSBC
has just lowered its FY17 estimate to 6.3% as compared to FY16s 7.6% growthby
highlighting the fact that April to December tax collections at both the central and state
government levels have been quite robust. A report in The Times of India (ToI) suggests
VAT collections grew 26% in Maharashtra in November and 17% in Decemberonly 3 of
17 states for whom the data is available, ToI reported, showed a decline in VAT collections;
even West Bengal, which saw an 8% fall in December reported a 10.8% rise in November.
An official release shows April-December direct taxes for the Centre rose 12% and indirect
taxes 25%while direct taxes are in line with the FY17 budget targets, indirect taxes grew at
more than double the budgeted 10.8%. That is great news in an economy where a rise in
government spending is critical for making up for the continued slowing in investment
growthalso, there are going to be significant shortfalls in divestment and telecom revenues,
so a high tax mop-up is critical.
In the long run, Jaitley is right, there is a correlation between GDP growth and tax growth
between FY09 and FY17, GDP grew 2.72 times and central taxes 2.69 times. Even this,
though, may not hold if there is an increase in formalisation of the economy or a greater drive
to capture untapped sections. Which is why, in the 2000s, as more and more segments of the
economy were being made to pay service tax, the buoyancy was as high as 8.7 timesbut,
over time, this fell to 2.37 in the 2010s. In the case of corporate taxes, buoyancy has
plummeted from 2.96 to 0.69; but for excise, it has jumped from 0.25 to 1.37.
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In the short-run, the relationships fluctuate a lot more. Between FY01 and FY02, GDP
growth rose from 7.6% to 8.2% while personal income tax growth plunged from 23.8% to
0.8%; between FY08 and FY09, GDP growth slowed from 16.1% to 12.9% while personal
tax growth plunged from 36.7% to 3.3%neither of these are results you would expect in the
normal course. In the case of service taxes, when GDP growth fell from 12.2 in 1999-00 to
7.6% in FY01, growth in service tax collections almost trebled, from 8.7% to 22.8%; but
while GDP growth rose from 12.9% to 15.1% between FY09 and FY10, service tax growth
fell from 18.8% to minus 4.1%. This unpredictable pattern is also evident in the AprilDecember data put out by Jaitley, even though the overall number shows a buoyant trend. So,
while personal income tax grew 10.7% versus the FY17 budgets estimated 9%, excise duties
rose 43% versus the projected 12.2% and service taxes grew 23.9% versus the projected
10%surely a 43% hike in excise revenues, levied on the top-line of firms, is not in keeping
with corporate tax growth of a mere 10.7% even if you account for the impact of price
changes? While demonetisation clearly cannot be judged by what happens to taxes in the
short-run, its success has to be gauged over the medium term, and in terms of how many
more taxpayers are brought into the net and how fast tax-to-GDP level rises. Between 199091 and FY17, Indias tax-GDP ratio has risen only from 9.8 to 10.7, after falling to 8.4 in
1999-00for an economy where the share of the black economy has fallen dramatically,
thats a poor show and
Release The Data: If demonetisation is not going as envisaged, Centre must

take corrective action
It is over 10 days since the deadline for deposit of demonetised currency notes, but there is
still no official estimate of the amount returned. Over the last month, RBI and government
have choked the flow of information on important indicators of the demonetisation exercise.
That, in turn, has fuelled rumours and created a climate of economic uncertainty. Given that
everyone, RBI and government included, estimates GDP will slow down in the current
financial year, we can ill-afford uncertainty. It will be an obstacle to economic recovery.
Finance minister ArunJaitley has cited the robust pace of central tax collections between
April and December as a sign that demonetisation did not have an adverse effect on the
economy. For sure, growth rates of 12% in direct taxes and 25% in indirect taxes are
impressive. But these numbers should not mask reality. First, the extent of tax collection is
dependent on the level of economic activity. They cannot diverge for long. Second, the tax
collection pattern is disquieting. Taxes from corporate profits grew a mere 4.4% while excise
collection on manufacturing and petroleum products grew 43%. This skew suggests that more
regressive indirect taxes are the governments mainstay.
A secondary aim of the demonetisation exercise was the move to nudge Indians towards
cashless methods to transact. While intrinsically a good idea, it must be thought through as
digital transactions come at a cost. Fuel pumps threatening to refuse payment by card indicate
that unless the government has a clear plan, it is counterproductive to jump in head first and
push everyone into digital mode immediately.
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A monetary shock like demonetisation will have a short-term adverse impact on the
economy. It is therefore not wise to be complacent based on early data. The priority at this
moment should be to remonetise at the earliest. This, in turn, should be followed by reforms
to tax policy which reduces governments dependence on indirect taxes. A high incidence of
indirect taxes will hold back the level of consumption. The emphasis should now shift to
direct taxes where Jaitley should make good his promise to lower the rates but shut down
exemptions. This will not only widen the tax base but also make it fairer. Moreover data
should be freely available, else theres nothing stopping economic actors from assuming the
worst instead of rationally planning their actions.
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Drought
Surviving the drought
The Hindu : January 13, 2017
Tamil Nadus move to declare a drought, ironically on the eve of the harvest festival of
Pongal, is an important step to address the agrarian distress that is sweeping the State
following poor rainfall during the northeast monsoon. Even with relatively better governance
structures, desperation among farmers has resulted in a spate of suicides, particularly in the
Cauvery delta rice belt that has received little water from Karnataka in recent times. An
official declaration of drought brings relief: postponement of loan recovery, waiver of land
tax and alternative employment through schemes such as the Mahatma Gandhi National
Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. The challenge now is to infuse confidence among
farmers that the government is fully behind them. As agriculture scientist M.S. Swaminathan
has pointed out, there is a need to look ahead and institute reforms in drought management
for effective distress mitigation. These should be founded on a participatory approach, one
that intensively engages the farm community year-round. A monsoon management centre
drawing upon the expertise of multiple departments would, for instance, help use scarce
resources conservatively during a drought, and maximise their potential in good times. It is
also crucial to preserve the health of cattle and other livestock, as they tend to suffer
irreparable harm during drought, with cascading effects on their future productivity. The
Centre should provide all support to achieve this under the National Disaster Response Fund
and the Prime Ministers crop insurance scheme.
The importance of welfare support for small and marginal farmers cannot be overstated,
given the vagaries of the monsoon. More than a decade ago, the National Commission on
Farmers pointed out that successive droughts, illness, high expenditure on social obligations
and asset loss push farmers to the brink. Yet, not much has changed in the management of
drought from the low-budget practices of the colonial era, as the SwarajAbhiyan case in the
Supreme Court last year revealed. No more time can be lost in making the administrative
system for agriculture responsive to todays needs. The Centre has to ensure that the Drought
Management Manual is updated to reflect farmers concerns, chiefly, giving weightage to the
amount of rainfall deficit and declaring a drought without delay. In Tamil Nadu, excessive
reliance on water-intensive rice cultivation, and lower priority for hardy millets have raised
the risk for many farmers. Active recharging of groundwater and harvesting of surface water
are vital to meet the challenges.
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Economy, India
High costs, meagre gains
Far from curbing black money and corruption, demonetisation has disrupted the economy.
Written by Amartya Lahiri , Devashish Mitra
In terms of effectiveness, the move undoubtedly prevents further circulation of

existing counterfeit currency in the two demonetised denominations (Rs 500 and Rs 1,000). (Representational image)
On November 8, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced his ambitious demonetisation

policy initiative to attack the scourges of corruption, black money and fake currency. He also
spoke eloquently in his December 31 address about the need for purifying the nation of these
scourges. The desirability of this policy goal is well-understood and incontrovertible. How
effective has demonetisation, as a policy, been in achieving its stated goals? How efficiently
has it been implemented?
In terms of effectiveness, the move undoubtedly prevents further circulation of existing
counterfeit currency in the two demonetised denominations (Rs 500 and Rs 1,000). However,
it doesnt necessarily eradicate the problem since counterfeiters will be hard at work trying to
replicate the new notes, which, by all existing reports, are no less prone to counterfeiting.
More importantly, the size of this problem was small to start with (around 0.025 per cent of
all notes in circulation, according to recent Indian Statistical Institute estimates).
The move also doesnt do anything to punish the originators of fake money. How effective
has demonetisation been in dealing with black money and corruption? As pointed out by
many, both black money and corruption are flow concepts. The move does nothing directly to
the flow creation of black money and corruption, other than through its signaling of possible
future moves.
Black wealth is a stock that reflects all past creation of black money, cash being just one of
several ways of holding it. If 90 per cent of the demonetised cash is returned to banks, backof-the-envelope calculations suggest that the demonetisation will likely net about two per
cent of the black wealth stock or one per cent of GDP in government revenues. The revenue
gain
could
be
a
bit
higher
if
the
income tax department successfully performs the Herculean task of levying penalties on those
who laundered their black wealth held in cash by depositing it in banks. The Central Board of
Direct Taxes, with its chronic staff shortage, must now examine all cash deposits in excess of
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Rs 250,000 as well as examine cases with no returns filed. The reported depositing of large
cash holdings in many separate small parcels through paid intermediaries and the use of taxsheltered agricultural workers to launder undeclared cash makes matters more difficult.
On the cost side, anecdotal evidence suggests that the biggest negative output and
employment effects have been on the heavily cash-dependent informal sector which accounts
for 80 per cent of employment and 45 per cent of GDP. Studies have shown this sectors
strong linkages with the formal sector, which often outsources its tasks to the former to
reduce costs. According to a recent Washington Post article, the demonetisation exercise has
negatively impacted various small and medium-size industrial clusters, which, in total,
employ 80 million workers. For example, the cellphone manufacturing hub of Noida has
experienced a halving of output, with a quarter of employees sent back to their villages.
On balance, the costs (which the PM in his speech called sacrifices for a noble cause) are
very high in terms of output, employment and the disruption caused in the lives of lawabiding citizens, especially when compared to the rather meagre gains. With the costs already
being felt and benefits predicted for the future, there is much greater uncertainty about the
latter than the former.
Probably the biggest negative of demonetisation has been its implementation, as manifested
in the chronic shortages of new notes, their flawed composition with an under-supply of Rs
500 notes, the repeated changes in regulation on withdrawals and deposits, etc.
In our opinion, the best way to summarise the demonetisation move is through the insights
from the path-breaking work of Jagdish Bhagwati. In a piece on trade distortions Bhagwati
co-authored with V.K. Ramaswami (1963), he made the trenchant point that the optimal
intervention instrument attacks the source of the distortion directly. In the case of black
money, demonetisation attacks one of the many ways of storing it rather than attacking the
problem directly. At the same time, it creates other distortions in the form of costs mentioned
above. Consequently, it fails the Bhagwati test. Other policies, such as income tax audits
based on computerised algorithms, slashing stamp duty rates on real estate transactions and
raids based on information generated by suspicious transactions, are more direct policies
(closer to the targeted distortion) which dont create by-product distortions. These policies
would rank much higher than demonetisation by the direct application of the Bhagwati
criterion.
In the days since the demonetisation announcement, the narrative has subtly changed; the
goal is now to turn India into a cashless economy. Even here, demonetisation fails the
Bhagwati test of targeting the source of the problem directly. The low
usage of digital payment methods in India is largely because of widespread financial
exclusion and the absence of reliable digital infrastructure. An optimal approach to
encouraging digital payment methods would be to correct these issues directly.
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The Nobel laureate Jan Tinbergen demonstrated that policy success requires that policy
instruments are not outnumbered by targets. In trying to attack so many targets at once,
demonetisation fails the Tinbergen principle, also emphasised in the work of Bhagwati and
Ramaswami.
Last, but not the least, the increase in invasive babu power (for example, bank officials
interviewing depositors) will lead to serious inefficiencies, a prediction based on a
straightforward application of Bhagwatis seminal work on directly unproductive activities.
Lahiri is professor of economics and Royal Bank Faculty Research Professor at the
University of British Columbia, Canada. Mitra is professor of economics and Cramer
Professor of Global Affairs at Syracuse University, New York, USA
Across the aisle: Prepare for slow down India

The only engine that appeared to be running was government expenditure. In this
scenario, what can be expected regarding the growth rate in 2016-17?
Written by P Chidambaram
There is sufficient evidence that, postdemonetisation, the economy will slow down further. (Express Photo/Representational)
There are four engines of growth: government expenditure, private consumption, private
investment and exports. Two of the engines private investment and exports have
languished for many months. Private consumption was strong and kept the economy
humming. Since November 8, 2016, however, private consumption has taken a severe blow,
thanks to demonetisation. The only engine that appeared to be running was government
expenditure. In this scenario, what can be expected regarding the growth rate in 2016-17
Loss of Rs 1.5 lakh crore
The answer has been provided by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) of the government that
released the advance estimate of GDP for 2016-17. The estimate is based on data till October
2016, that is before demonetisation. The sobering conclusion is that the economy will slow
down from 7.56 per cent in 2015-16 to 7.09 in 2016-17. That is a hit of 0.5 per cent. The
conclusion is in line with other estimates, notably that of the RBI, which pegged the decline
at 0.5 per cent. There is sufficient evidence that, post-demonetisation, the economy will slow
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down further. I am afraid that my prediction that the GDP will take a hit of at least 1 per cent
in 2016-17 will come true. That is a loss to the economy of Rs 1,50,000 crore.
The CSO has covered its flanks by stating upfront that it has not taken into account the
impact of demonetisation. The Finance Minister alone believes that the economy has not
slowed down and that demonetisation will not affect growth in the current year (2016-17)!
In support of his claim, the Finance Minister cites the robust growth in tax revenues up to
December 43 per cent in excise, 23.6 per cent in service tax, 10.7 per cent in corporate tax
and 21.7 per cent in income tax. It is obvious that the Finance Minister is preparing the
ground for aggressive Revised Estimates (for 2016-17) in the Budget that he will present
shortly. It is also likely that he will present even more aggressive Budget Estimates for 201718. He is like the person who whistles when he has to walk alone in a dark alley! I shall
reserve my comment on the numbers until after the Budget.
Stalling engine
For the present, I would like to focus on one of the engines of growth and what the CSOs
estimate tells us about that engine. It is the engine of investment. The critical number is Gross
Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF), which is a measure of investments in the economy. The
CSO estimates that GFCF will decline by 0.2 per cent in 2016-17. Actually, the decline will
be steeper because, post-demonetisation, it is nobodys case that investment was stepped up
in November-December or is likely to gain momentum in January-March. (Incidentally, for
most of the years of the UPA government (2004-2014), GFCF grew by double digits.)
A close look at the CSOs estimates reveals that for three consecutive quarters the GFCF has
shrunk compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous year, and the rate of shrinkage
has accelerated:
2015 2016 (in percentage)
Jan-March
5.35
-1.90
Apr-June
7.11
-3.10
July-Sep 9.70 -5.59
We also have an estimate of investments by corporates. The data gives the change in net
fixed assets. The picture is quite bleak. In the half-year ending September 2016, net fixed
assets of corporates have shrunk across all major categories of sectors (see table).
Other dismal indicators
Both the government sector and the private sector announce new projects and the projected
investments in those projects are tallied every quarter. Between Oct-Dec 2015 quarter and
Oct-Dec 2016 quarter, the value of government sector projects that were announced declined
from Rs 256,669 crore to Rs 42,128 crore and the value of private sector projects declined
from Rs 119,475 crore to Rs 86,645 crore.
All other companion data confirm the slowdown in investment: Foreign Portfolio Investment
turned negative at the end of December 2016 and credit growth has plummeted to an all-time
low. One thing is abundantly clear: investments are dwindling in value. Besides, the rate of
decline is extremely worrying. In this terrible situation, demonetisation will make things
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worse. It is axiomatic that if there is a decline in investments, it will cause a decline in the
growth rate of the economy.
What this means for the common people is fewer jobs, more layoffs or retrenchment, low
growth in incomes, and fewer people lifted out of poverty. Acche din is not around the
corner, certainly not in 2017.
Website: pchidambaram.in@Pchidambaram_IN
Cashless economy: The transition may not be as easy as Narendra Modi

govt believes it to be
While the government is looking to stir-up the cashless economy, recent numbers from
consumer research firm PRICE show that India has a long way to go. Analysis of the
household survey data from 2015-16 shows that of the total households only 22% were
connected. Even of these the connectivity in rural areas was just 16%, not even half of that of
urban areas at 35%. But the really surprising data point is that even the top 1% of the
population had only 61% of the households connected.
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Moreover, another set of data shows that of the R65,686 billion spent on expenditure around
90% of the transactions were in cash, with only 10% of the population opting for non-cash
use. For a country, where there is no infrastructure and people still feel more comfortable
transacting in cash68% said that it was more convenient as against 47% claiming the same
for cards and walletsthe transition may not be as easy as the government is holding it out to
be.
When growth turns anaemic

When the Central Statistics Office (CSO) says that the rate of growth for the current financial
year is likely to dip to 7.1 per cent from the 7.6 per cent registered last fiscal, even without
taking into account the impact of demonetisation that commenced one month into the third
quarter (October-December), it means two things: growth is likely to dip below 7 per cent,
and do not blame just demonetisation for it.
In each of the current fiscals first two quarters, the growth rate turned out to be lower than
the growth rate in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Part of the blame might be
purely statistical. The global dip in commodity prices had flattened the wholesale price index
last fiscal, even as the consumer price index remained buoyant.
Some argued that the use of different price indices to deflate input and output prices resulted
in artificial exaggeration of the value added and, thus, of the growth rate.
The two indices are better aligned this fiscal, squeezing out the statistical element in the
growth rate. But it does not guarantee that there would be no surreal element in the growth
rate this fiscal either.
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Demonetisation persuaded many unlisted companies to bring their concealed incomes onto
their books, resulting in boosted sales and profits, also explaining, in part, the boost in tax
collections in November.
The CSO uses financial reporting of companies to estimate value added, for a first
approximation. This would lead it to register robust growth in Q3 this fiscal. But the lingering
effect of demonetisation in the January-March quarter is unlikely to be offset by financial
juggling, concealed incomes already having been reported in the third quarter.
That is likely to leave the combined growth of Q3 and Q4 to be sufficiently below 7 per cent
to drag the overall growth for the year below 7 per cent. Gross fixed capital formation as a
proportion of GDP has sunk to 26.6 per cent lower than in any year after 2004-05.
The key to revival of growth is clearing up bank books, enabling them to lend, and stepping
up public investment in the meantime. This is so, regardless of the effects of demonetisation.
How to boost the slowing Indian economy? Find out here

Finance minister ArunJaitley is probably not off the mark when he says the governments tax
revenues for the current fiscal will top estimates. The ministers optimism must stem from the
trends in the collections between April and November, which have surprised on the upside.
Excise duties, for instance, have jumped 46%, way above the targeted growth of 12% while
corporation taxes are up a good 21%, against a budgeted 9%. The mop-up from service tax
has been higher by as much as 27% against a conservative target of 10%. So, there is clearly
some cushioning to absorb the shock to the economy due the disruption caused by
demonetisation, which is expected to result in a fairly sharp slowdown across sectors in the
second half of the year, shaving off anywhere between 150-200 basis points from the GDP
for this period.
High frequency indicatorssales of CVs and two-wheelers, truck rentals and loan growth
show there may have been a fair bit of damage done by the acute shortage of currency in
circulation. However, the government is probably betting on a revival in consumption
demand in the last three months of the year once theres more cash available with households,
and also on the manufacturing sector regaining some of the lost momentum. In addition, a
whole host of companies that were under-declaring their revenues are expected to report
higher turnovers, though it is difficult to quantify how much this could fetch the government
in terms of taxes. With the Income Disclosure Scheme-1 (IDS-1) netting around R15,0008-15 January, 2017
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20,000 crore of taxes, the Rs 16.3 lakh crore target should not be hard to meet. Whats
worrying, though, is that there will be a shortfall in the planned Rs 56,500 crore mop-up from
disinvestments since just R23,529crore has been raised so far, and there is a large shortfall in
telecom receipts as well.
It is critical the government is able to mobilise revenues because it needs to spend to keep the
economy goingthe extra revenues from IDS-2, and a possible demonetisation bonanza from RBI
will help get extra revenues in FY18. It is now abundantly clear the economy had started slowing
down even before the demonetisation exercise startedthe advance CSO estimates peg the GDP
growth for FY17 at 7.1% lower than the 7.6% in FY16, and this is based on data before
demonetisation took place. The economy is being dragged down mainly by the manufacturing sector
which has been under-performing for nearly two years now. In particular, gross fixed capital
formation has been falling as a share of GDP, from an already low 28.3% in Q1FY17it was 36.2%
in Q2FY12to 27.1% in Q2FY17. In the absence of spends by the private sector, the government
must step on the accelerator. And its finances must allow it to spend without impinging on the deficit
target. While total spends so far, at Rs 12.8 lakh crore of the budgeted Rs 19.8 lakh crore are
reasonable, those on the capital account are less than 60%, and are undershooting targets. Given the
budgeted expenditure on the capital account for 2016-17 was just 4% higher than that in FY16, the
pace of spending needed to be stepped up meaningfully. Specifically, there needs to be a focus on
execution with the government helping companies with permissions and clearances, so that projects
get off the ground. Without a big pick-up in investments, the economy runs the risk of losing lot more
momentum.
The slowing economy

That Indias economic momentum has slowed down is now beyond doubt. Advance GDP estimates
and gross value added (GVA) for the current fiscal year from the Central Statistics Office clearly
reveal the extent of the slowdown. While GDP growth is now pegged at 7.1 per cent, compared with a
7.6 per cent pace in 2015-16, GVA is forecast to expand at 7 per cent this year, easing from the 7.2
per cent posted 12 months earlier. And as the Chief Statistician emphasised, these projections were
based solely on data from the first seven months through October and do not factor in the impact from
the withdrawal of high-value banknotes and the consequent cash crunch. A closer look at the sectoral
GVA projections throws into relief the areas of concern: Mining and quarrying is estimated to shrink
1.8 per cent this year after expanding 7.4 per cent a year earlier, while electricity, gas, water supply
and other utility services collectively an indicator of broader economic activity is slowing to 6.5
per cent from 6.6 per cent. More worryingly, the seven-month numbers establish that two key engines
of the economy, manufacturing and services, are losing momentum faster than was anticipated, and
this could spell trouble for the coming quarters. This is especially so when seen in the backdrop of
demonetisation and what the Reserve Bank of India referred to as the short-run disruptions in
economic activity in cash-intensive sectors such as retail trade, hotels & restaurants and
transportation, and in the unorganised sector and aggregate demand compression associated with
adverse wealth effects.
There is a silver lining in the CSO data, though. Finance Minister ArunJaitley in April projected that
growth could accelerate this year to 8 per cent to 8.5 per cent subject to a normal monsoon. The
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improvement in rainfall has manifested both in the CSOs projection for the agriculture, forestry and
fishing sector, which is estimated to expand 4.1 per cent this fiscal compared with the previous
periods 1.2 per cent, and in rabi sowing data from the Ministry of Agriculture. Preliminary reports
from the States show the total area sown under the rabi crop as on January 6 stood at 602.75 lakh ha,
up 6.5 per cent from last year. If farmers countrywide can tide over the acute cash shortage resulting
from demonetisation and ensure that the sowing translates to strong growth in output, we could see
rural consumption provide some cushioning from the slowdown. Nonetheless, in the Union budget
due next month, the Centre will have to work in a substantial fiscal fillip to help rekindle economic
momentum.
Half-truth about growth

GDP data without note ban effect of little use
Even though it points to a slowdown, the latest GDP growth figure of 7.1 per cent should suit
the government since it comes before the state elections and does not reflect the extensive
setback the economy has suffered due to a severe cash crunch. Since the government has
advanced the budget to February 1 and the GDP data reflecting demonetisation consequences
will come on February 28 Finance Minister Jaitleys budget will not be able to factor in the
real state of the economy. For instance, the latest GDP data projects a robust farm sector
growth of 4.1 per cent but it ignores farm losses after demonetisation.
Similarly official statistics do not reflect the correct picture of small businesses. It is well
accepted that the informal sector, where cash transactions are maximum, has been the worst
affected by demonetisation. For GDP calculations the performance of the informal and
formal sectors is assessed by sales tax collections and corporate revenue figures. The present
GDP figures are based on a survey of informal businesses done in 2011. Thus the job and
production losses suffered during the third and fourth quarters will not be accurately reflected
in the budget estimates for the coming financial year. "We all are working with patchy data",
complains an economist in the private sector. The government believes the demonetisation
pain is short term, whereas private economists think it can stretch up to a year. Nongovernment economists do not trust the government growth figures for the current financial
year and their own projections vary between 6.5 and 7 per cent.
Instead of acknowledging the present grim reality of growth slowdown happening, Union
Government spokespersons try to paint a rosy picture of the future. The ground reality is that
manufacturing, construction and services have contracted. Corporate earnings are set to fall.
In the absence of private investments, government spending is driving up growth. Demand
can pick up only if the government leaves more cash in the hands of people and the RBI
lowers interest rates. The economy will perk up when corporate India and the middle class
start spending.
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Education
Black mask, white face
SOAS students unions demand to remove western philosophers is misplaced. The push
ought to be for diversity.
By: Editorial
A small part of Rene Descartes would, perhaps, approve of the demand for the removal of his
work from the curriculum of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London.
The French philosophers (ironically dubious) exhortation to doubt everything ought not to
be taught, or failing that, should be taught only critically according to the SOAS students
union. Descartes, along with other stalwarts of western thought like Kant, Plato, Locke and
Hume are simply too white and form part of the colonial architecture of the university
system. That students at a university, particularly of a college that focuses on Africa and
Asia, are doubtful and critical of the received wisdom of western civilisation shows that they
are being trained well. Their argument, however, shows they still have some way to go.
One of the things the old white men, among others, have taught the world is how to
construct and attack arguments. And one of the most basic fallacies is ad hominem
attacking the person making the argument than the argument itself. For instance, was Kant a
product of his circumstances, his moral universalism merely an extension of his sociogeographical location? These questions, as well as more political ones, can be answered if
one follows the contours of their writing, not with notions of an inherited morality.
The SOAS students union is not wrong when it claims that much of academia, both in the
West and their erstwhile colonies carries the imprint of colonialism and imperialism. That
tragedy of history, however, is very much at play in the world today. From bureaucracies, to
trade imbalances, and yes, even syllabi the legacy by old white men surrounds us. The
oriental in SOAS, after all, is a term that Europeans invented for the east it is not a self
description. The answer to these injustices, however, must be critical engagement and a push
for diversity. It cannot be another whitewash.
No pass marks
Restoring Class X exams will lead to exclusion of disadvantaged sections from higher
education
Written by Anil Sadgopal
About seven years ago when the then HRD Minister Kapil Sibal announced his decision to
make the Class X board examination optional, I wrote a criticism. In spite of my consistent
opposition to the colonial legacy of passing or failing children, my reasons for opposing
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Sibals move were multiple. First, making Class X board exams optional does not eliminate
tension at all as the child still faces the same at Class XII board exams. In most private
schools, this tension begins with the pre-board exams. Also, this move did not take into
account the malaise of competitive exams which push coaching downward to KG, ruining
childhood and parenting alike. In 2009, two-thirds of the high schools did not continue till
Class XII, compelling children to either quit education after Class X or undertake the uphill
task of seeking admission in a senior secondary school. In either case, a Class X board exam
certificate opens the gate for a childs future education. The vast majority of children in this
category would belong to the oppressed classes and castes, particularly girls. In this sense, the
decision was primarily anti-SC/ST/OBC (and, as per the Sachar Committee Report, Muslims
too).
Third, the decision camouflaged the states abdication of its constitutional obligation to
ensure education of equitable quality to all children, irrespective of their class, caste, religion,
sex, language, locale or disability. This rising level of abdication, exacerbated due to the postglobalisation structural adjustment imposed by the IMF-World Bank, has been the hallmark
of all governments at the Centre or in the states to date, their political orientation
notwithstanding. Yet, the move won kudos from the middle class and the elite who were not
adversely affected by any of the three reasons. They were confident of buying their entry into
higher education through coaching or otherwise or, if missing the entrance test merit list,
even going abroad to study in second-rate universities. The corporate-controlled media and
many intellectuals chimed in, citing evidence from educational philosophy, psychology and
pedagogic theories. Yet, none of their otherwise valid arguments would resolve the issues
that concerned the aspirations of Indias Eklavyas and Shambuks, who have no option but to
study in inferior quality schools.
Let us now examine the implications of the recent reversal of the 2009 decision by the CBSE,
making Class X Board exams mandatory. CBSE affiliated schools constitute no more than
0.07 per cent of secondary and higher secondary schools. Yet, CBSE cant be ignored as it
exercises a hegemonic sway on the mindset of the policymakers, educationists and the media,
apart from the public at large. Does the CBSEs reversal of the 2009 decision undo the
injustice of the earlier decision? It does not, since the very concept of examination as a socioeconomic and cultural filter (not necessarily based on merit) is a double-edged sword. Yes,
the children of the vast majority of the oppressed and deprived would now at least regain the
opportunity to obtain a high school certificate and aspire to seek new careers outside their
parental caste-based occupations. It is a different matter that, given the neoliberal
development model of jobless economic growth, the opportunities the youth look for stand
considerably restricted. Yet, for this small mercy, the children can thank the new
dispensation.
How would this decision help the children of more than 80 per cent of Indias much
acclaimed demographic dividend comprising mainly SCs/STs/OBCs/Muslims as long as
the multi-layered education system from KG to PG continues to deny education? The
situation is bound to worsen in view of the emergent National Policy on Education, 2016.
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Although the policy seems to be trapped in the HRD ministrys confusion, its basic
coordinates have become well-known. The new policy is determined to reduce education to
skills. It is nobodys case that skills should not be part of education. Education is incomplete
without interweaving knowledge and values organically with skills. But education should not
be replaced by imparting skills, which is precisely what the new policy is being designed for.
The new policy takes (mis)advantage of another parallel discourse on examinations the socalled No Detention Policy of the RTE Act, 2009. Combined with the provision of
Comprehensive and Continuous Evaluation (CCE), the provision of not detaining/expelling
any child from school till Class VIII is probably the only advanced concept of education in
the otherwise neoliberal Act. We opposed this act since it is aimed at demolishing publicfunded elementary education and expediting privatisation and commercialisation through
PPP. In this objective, the act has unfortunately succeeded. This is also the reason that an
advanced concept of not failing children but improving education through the CCE
collapsed entirely, giving its detractors an opportunity to attack the idea itself.
The new policy will restore examination at Class V and, after giving the children a couple of
opportunities to pass, push them to skill shops. The twin decisions to restore exams both after
Class V and Class X have an uncanny similarity of purpose excluding children of the
oppressed sections and pushing them to skill shops. At Class X, it would be achieved by
splitting the board exam in part A and part B the former primarily for the upper classes
and castes on their onward march to higher education and part B for the bahujans who are
destined to be excluded and pushed out to skill shops. Those shunted to skill shops will join
the low-wage semi-skilled but compliant foot soldiers of the global capital. Those from the
upper classes and castes will be enabled by the examination system to become eligible for
seven or eight digit packages but will still be serving the global capital. This is how the
exams as filter in the education act like a double-edged sword. The only way out is for the
people to struggle for an education system that excludes, not children, but disparity and
includes diversities.
The writer is member, presidium, India Forum for Right to Education and former dean, Faculty
of Education, Delhi University
Put the onus on teachers

Over the same period, the number of tiny public schools those with a total
enrollment of 20 or fewer students rose sharply.
Written by Geeta Gandhi Kingdon
One is apt to get inured to the routine harrowing statistics on the condition of education in the
country, from pitiably low and falling learning achievement levels of school children,
to mass cheating in board exams to high teacher-absence rates. However, analysis of the
District Information System on Education (DISE) data reveals a hitherto unknown tragedy
which should prompt a determined policy response. Analysis of the raw DISE data for 21
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states shows that in the four-year period after the implementation of the RTE Act, between
2010 and 2014, despite the number of public schools increasing by 13,498 in the country,
total enrollment in such schools fell by 1.13 crore, and enrollment in private schools rose by
1.85 crore.
Over the same period, the number of tiny public schools those with a total enrollment of
20 or fewer students rose sharply. In 2014-15, these nearly one lakh tiny public schools
had an average enrollment of only 12.7 students per school, a pupil-teacher ratio of only 6.7
students per teacher, a per-pupil teacher-salary expense of just under Rs 80,000 per student
per year, and a staggering teacher salary bill of Rs 9,440 crore. The number of public schools
with only 50 or fewer students rose even more dramatically to 3.7 lakh small schools, that
is, to 36 per cent of the total 10.2 lakh public elementary schools in the country by 2014-15.
These 3.7 lakh small public schools had, on average, only 29 students per school, a pupilteacher ratio of only 12.7 pupils per teacher, a per-pupil-teacher-salary expense of Rs 40,800
per year per child, and a monumental teacher salary bill of Rs 41,630 crore in 2014-15 a
grotesque squandering of tax-payers resources on pedagogically unviable public schools.
Why are public schools sick and emptying? A high teacher absence rate of 25 per cent
nationally, low time-on-teaching even when teachers are in school (identified in the PROBE2 Report) and the inability of education officials to implement the sanctions, specified in the
rules, against erring teachers, because teachers are supported by powerful unions and
sheltered by teacher-MLAs/MLCs, are the chief reasons. The truancy of public school
teachers is also not because they are low-paid; they are significantly better-paid than private
school teachers, and also better-paid than teachers in other countries: As per a NUEPA study,
their average salary was Rs 4.8 lakh in 2014, which was more than seven times the per capita
income of India. Compare this with China, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia, where
teacher salaries are less than two times the per capita incomes.
The formulation of the National Education Policy (NEP) provides a once-in-a-generation
opportunity to cure the sickness. Education policymakers in India have historically prescribed
the wrong medicine. While inputs-based policies are largely discredited internationally, in
India, inputs-enhancing policies that neglect accountability have sadly been given legislative
force under the Right to Education Act 2009. For starters, the draft NEP needs to adopt
increase of accountability as its central organising theme. The government must also
embrace proven policies that have worked elsewhere to raise accountability.
Per-student funding, used in educationally advanced countries, is the single most powerful
way of improving school/teacher accountability and teachers who slacken in effort stand
to lose out financially under this scheme. Further, instead of giving per-student funding to
schools directly, giving it to schools indirectly via a school voucher to parents (Direct Benefit
Transfer or DBT) empowers parents. Where teachers are lax, parents withdraw their children,
taking their voucher with them (to another school), thus lowering the government grant
receivable by that school. This ability of parents to impose a financial penalty ensures that
schools and teachers remain accountable, even to poor and uneducated parents
accountability structures are inherent and inbuilt within per-student DBT funding.
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DBT voucher schemes can improve equity, compared to the counterfactual (current)
situation, by entitling every BPL child in the country to attend a private school of their
choice, or at least, to fill 25 per cent seats of private schools under the RTE Act 2009 since
there is no lobby to oppose this DBT way of reimbursing private unaided schools. In due
course, this could be extended to public and aided schools.
The shambolic accountability system governing publicly-funded schools requires that the
NEP includes even more far-reaching and courageous political economy and governance
reform. It requires amendment of Article 171 (3c) of the Constitution that guarantees teachers
representation in the state legislatures; this has turned many teachers into politicians (for
example, 17 per cent of all MLCs in the UP Upper House are teachers); it requires that
publicly paid teachers in aided schools be recognised as holding an office of profit under the
government, thus debarring them from contesting elections. This will dismantle the culture of
political activism which diverts teachers attention from teaching; this also requires the
Election Commission to reduce the proportion of teachers in the official team manning
polling booths during election time.
The NEP must steer the education system away from being run for the promotion of teachers
interests, towards being run for improving childrens outcomes. This requires the government
to take a firm and principled rather than an expedient stancewith DBT school voucher
funding and governance reform. The children of India deserve it.
The writer is chair of Education Economics and International Development, University
College, London and the president of City Montessori School, Lucknow.
Better education: Not by money alone

Expenditure on education as share of GDP has fluctuated between 3.55 per cent and 4 per
cent, falling short of the 6 per cent of GDP promised by successive governments.
Nonetheless, over the last decade, education has accounted for nearly 50 per cent of total
social services spending. Despite the increased funding, poor learning outcomes mark the
education system, irrespective of the schools ownership.
Assessments by private/non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and government agencies
find at least a third of students failing to meet the required minimum learning levels in
mathematics and reading comprehension.
Improving learning outcomes will require looking beyond funding to the central component
of an effective education system: the teacher.
Despite better pay and job security, government school teachers tend to perform poorly
compared to their private counterparts. Remedying this requires that teachers have greater
autonomy, assessment and accountability.
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Teachers must have the freedom to devise the curriculum in a manner suited to their
classroom, going beyond the textbook to design of lessons tailored to the students rather than
a mythical matrix.
The Economic Survey 2016 reports that only 79 per cent of teachers are professionally
qualified. More important is a system that assesses teachers regularly not just on their
knowledge but also methods.
Training that is in sync with the realities of their schools and classrooms to help teachers be
the best they can be. Finally, teachers must be held accountable, not by a faraway centralised
system but at the local level to the school administration and school management committees.
A system that rewards performers, helps laggards improve, and punishes the habitual poor
performers is essential.
Schools, particularly in the government system, need to participate in international
assessments like PISA and TIMSS. More money for education is welcome and necessary but
it is not everything.
Fixing our schools requires optimum leveraging of existing funding, and systemic changes to
achieve both empowerment and accountability.
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Election
Long poll process unwarranted
The long poll schedule extending for over a month, announced by the Election Commission
for the five states of Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Manipur, does not
strengthen the idea of keeping elections lean and clean. In the past also, the commission has
stretched the election process for long periods when there was no clear and justifiable need
for it. The polling exercise will now start with single day elections in Punjab, Uttarakhand
and Goa on February 4 and go through two phases in Manipur and seven phases in UP. After
the last phase concludes on March 8, results for all states will be announced on March 11. All
those who are involved in the elections like the candidates, party workers and others are put
to great difficulty when the poll process is long and arduous. The physical, mental
and economic impact is very high and unwarranted.
The main reason given for holding polling in many phases is that security can better be
ensured in polling booths with adequate deployment of central forces. This argument is not as
strong as it was once, because violence and disruption of polling have come down in most
areas of the country in recent times. Even if it is conceded that there should not be any
complacency in the matter, too many phases are not needed when only a few states go to the
polls. It may be necessary to stagger polling over a period when elections are held in the
whole country and security forces have to be moved from region to region. With
communication facilities and logistics much better than in the past, deployment of adequate
forces for one-day or two-day polling is not difficult even in a large state like UP.
It is also more economical. The advantages of a short duration poll process and campaign are
many. It will help reduce spending on elections and also avoid waste of time, energy and
other resources. It is unfair to keep voters and candidates waiting for results for a long period.
It is over a month for the states that go to the polls on the first day. The Commission has to
ensure for a long period that the model code of conduct is not violated. The voting machines
have to be kept in safe custody for many weeks. Since the code of conduct is in operation for
many weeks, the normal functioning of the government stops during that period. This is being
unfair to the people. The Commission should have considered all these and decided on a
shorter poll schedule for the five states.
View From The Right: Critical Polls

Commenting on the significance of these polls, the editorial says that this is the first ever
round of major elections after the daring and system-shattering decision like demonetisation
The editorial in the Organiser quotes sangh icon Deendayal Upadhyaya and urges voters to
elect representatives by giving prominence to principles of governance. The voter should
see that he votes for a principle and not for a party, that he votes for a party and not for a
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personality, that he votes for a person and not for the purse, it says quoting Upadhyaya, who
said that the voter should go with the worthy rather than with the winner. Commenting on
the significance of these polls, the editorial says that this is the first ever round of major
elections after the daring and system-shattering decision like demonetisation. Many would
like to play it as a mandate on the all-pervasive pronouncement of demonetisation. As
electoral water is untested in Uttar Pradesh after the splendid performance by the Bharatiya
Janata Party during the 2014 General elections, how much of that ground is still retained is a
matter of curiosity for everyone, it notes. Underlining the recent decision of the SC, that
termed the elections as a secular activity and therefore banned the use of caste, religion,
language and creed for seeking votes, it says how the order will be implemented and in turn
affect the electioneering and final outcome is still unclear.
Politics over budget
The editorial in Panchjanya slams the Oppositions demand to postpone the announcement of
the Union budget after March 8 as it can affect elections. But then, why only the budget?
it asks, adding that certain other things could also have been postponed. For instance, the
foreign holiday of the prince of the countrys oldest party. Rahul might be a political
novice, but havent the many political parties in the country lost the faith of their workers
and their intellectual capital (if they ever possessed it)? Is it not a matter of concern that
various parties, who are involved in fostering regional separatism, get their political
nourishment by opposing a political party? Such a fall in politics lends a severe blow to
democracy and the nation. If Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal, who are chirping on social
media platforms over notebandi, had spared time to tweet even once to criticise Dhulagarh
riots then they would have held their credibility among their workers.
Cricket in Crisis
An article in the Organiser comments on the recent Supreme Court verdict on the BCCI and
says that the very sport in which India could claim to be the global superpower is facing the
huge crisis of credibility. Will Indian cricket transform itself for transparency and still
realise its full potential? it asks. It notes that the final chapters of the unfolding saga on
Indian cricket are yet to be written. If Indian sports are compared to a whole body, cricket
looks to be the healthiest organ of this body, it says, and asks what was ailing this
seemingly healthiest organ? The article notes that how following the 1983 world cup victory
and the advent of global icon Tendulkar, cricket administrators like Jagmohan Dalmiya,
I.S. Bindra, A.C. Muthaih made Indian cricket commercially viable. They changed the
center of cricket from London to Eden Gardens/Wankhede Stadium, it says, adding that
India became crickets financial super power and subsequently its world leader. It
underlines that emergence of the Indian Premier League, which soon grew into one of the
wealthiest sports leagues of the world. This brought in new set of challenges, but
unfortunately, the approach and the structure to manage these challenges failed to evolve
with the changing times.
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Compiled by Ashutosh Bhardwaj
How the times are changing

The information revolution is radically altering voters expectations. Political parties can
ignore this only at their own peril.
Written by Rwitwika Bhattacharya
We recently surveyed a small village, Khaati, tucked away in a corner of Uttarakhand. It

takes two days to get to Khaati from Delhi; electricity is yet to see any light here. When we
asked residents what they most wanted, one of the top desires mentioned was television.
We were surprised. We want to be a part of the world, one villager explained. The desire
for television marks not just a need for entertainment, but also a demand to be part of the
information age. We live in times when news about whats happening in other parts of the
world is accessible and connectivity is possible. Little wonder then that the information age is
influencing everything, including politics.
Consider how the average voter today has terrific amounts of information through phones,
television and radio. This flood of information is changing how voters think and make
decisions. And politicians and political parties are facing the effects of this changing thought
process through unexpected election results, shifts in governance priorities and the rise of
collective movements. Recent years have seen a particularly strong increase in such voter
responses intelligent parties should study these closely.
In Delhi, we saw the rise of a new party that had a non-political class of people. The Aam
Aadmi Partys leader is an ex-bureaucrat whose strength was his non-political, corruptionfree background. He brought in members who shared his vision. The first time AAP came to
power, it was evident that people wanted a change from politics as usual but the extent
to which the voter has changed was truly reflected when Kejriwal was elected a second time,
even though he had abruptly ended his first term. In choosing him again, the voter
demonstrated that the way she thinks about politics and politicians had changed.
Delhi is not the only example. In Bihar, we saw the unexpected alliance of two arch rivals
being accepted by voters, Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad joining forces in the last election.
And finally, in his bid for national power, Narendra Modi was able to run a presidential-style
campaign never seen before in India, and convince an overwhelming number of voters to
support him, again, in a way we havent seen in Indian history.
These surprising results point to a larger, deeper trend amongst voters. With the deluge of
information, voters are challenging status quo models of leadership and seeking alternatives.
This is impacting governance as well. The central government is demonstrating that vividly.
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The unexpected announcement of demonetisation has shaken up India. During a time of

relative economic calm, the decision to pull back notes in order to fight corruption is jolting.
And while there are questions around the implementation of the programme, there is also
unanimous agreement that this is a bold decision taken by the prime minister, following his
surgical strikes on Pakistan, another decision applauded by most voters.
In fact, PM Modi is rapidly reforming the style of governance. He has introduced a series of
major programmes, coupling these by asking voters to do their bit. For example, Modi has
directly appealed to citizens to keep their communities clean and pay applicable taxes. This
has resonated with voters. As BJP continues to win state elections, it is evident that the PM is
echoing the sentiment of the people. Other parties, like AAP, are also taking up a similar
model of governance, focusing on change by making previously unacknowledged sectors like
education a priority.
Parties which are changing the way they offer policies clearly recognise that voters are no
longer interested in business as usual instead, they are looking for an active government,
visibly working to improve their lives. And if parties fail to offer or implement this, voters
wont hesitate to express their discontent.
In fact, when the public feels discontented now, people take to the streets. From the Anna
Hazare movement to the Hardik Patel campaign to the JNU protests, people have been
unafraid to express their anger. Social media and communication tools (such as WhatsApp)
have empowered people with the capacity to organise and unite quickly. The information age
has instilled a fierce confidence and sense of equality as people learn about their own world
and the one beyond. And in a more connected India, this will only increase with time.
Political parties that see these changes in voting patterns, in the push for new policies and
increased protest movements are changing their own campaign and governance styles
quickly. They are realising that voters are changing and television is exposing them to a
world beyond their households. However, those who continue on the same path of caste
politics, disregarding how the world around them is changing, are doomed to struggle and
possible failure.
Bhattacharya works with parliamentarians and is also writing a book about how young people
can enter Indian politics
Congress release Punjab manifesto, eyes water to sail through poll

Written by Kanishka Singh
The Congress has readied a sharp attack on Punjabs ruling BJP-SAD combine using the
issue of water sharing as the state goes to polls. The Congress Party released its manifesto for
the upcoming Punjab Assembly elections on Monday and it seems water sharing issue,
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primarily relating to Sultlej-Yamuna link, will be the centre of the partys election campaign.
The party also seems to be taking a leaf from former Tamil Nadu Chief
Minister Jayalalithaas books by resorting to the politics of freebies to woo Punjabi voters.
The Sutlej-Yamuna-Link (SYL) was expected to heat up the election battle and the Congress
party has listed it as their top agenda in their manifesto. Captain Amarinder resigned last year
from Lok Sabha along with 42 MLAs of the Punjab Congress legislature party in protest of a
Supreme Court verdict that quashed a legislation that allowed Punjab to wriggle out of its
responsibility to build the SYL canal calling it unconstitutional.
Punjab Da Paani, Punjab Vaaste (Punjabs water is for its people only) is the call given out
by Congress to woo voters of the great agrarian state that thrives on agriculture supported by
the five rivers that flow through it.
Apart from water sharing, the manifesto promises loan waivers and free power to farmers. It
promises eradication of drug trade from the state. Contradicting its promise to provide
employment in every household, it also promises 2,500 stipend to unemployed youths along
with the increasingly popular poll promisefree mobile phones. The freebie promises also
extend to Dalits as Congress has promised free houses to homeless Dalits, SCs and OBCs
apart from the promise of one job per family.
At the outset, Amarinders promise to generate 2.5 million jobs in the state over five years
seems outlandish. The scale of job he has promised to achieve is mammoth and it seems they
didnt do much calculation before coming to that figure. According to National Sample
Survey Office, an organisation under the Union Ministry of Statistics, the Congress-led UPA
government at the Centre could only create 15 million jobs from 2004-2012 in the entire
country.
While neither the party nor the manifesto declares Captain Amarinder Singh as the chief
ministerial candidate, chapters like Captains Punjab, Captain de naun nukte and others
indicate that the party is pipping him for the top post. It is an uphill task for the Congress
which has lost its mandate massively over the last decade. However, the ruling party is not in
a good shape as well. Captain Amarinder has served as chief minister before and is no
stranger to the states politics or its ground issues.
Nonetheless, the party finds itself in a weak situation and it seems it has decided to rake up
contentious issues like water sharing and drugs trade to corner the ruling parties and at the
same time attempt at appeasing the masses through freebie politics.
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Will Navjot Singh Sidhu prove to be the trump card for Congress in
Punjab polls?
Due to his celebrity image, Sidhu enjoys significant popularity among voters in the state.
Also, the party Congress will seek to consolidate the anti-Akali Sikh vote as Akalis suffer
massive anti-incumbency.
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and Navjot Singh Sidhu (right).
Navjot Singh Sidhus induction into the Congress fold before the Punjab Assembly election
will give a much needed fillip to the partys prospects going into polls in March this year.
Over the past couple of months, Aam Aadmi Party has lost a lot of ground that it had gained
over the Congress in the state. Though opinion polls show Congress has a slight lead over
AAP now, it is clear that the AAP and Congress are neck and neck at the moment.
Due to his celebrity image, Sidhu enjoys significant popularity among voters in the state.
Also, the party Congress will seek to consolidate the anti-Akali Sikh vote as Akalis suffer
massive anti-incumbency. AAP seems to have suffered setback after its conflicting
statements over the partys face in the elections.
After leaving the BJP last year, Sidhu has played hard to get and the Congress has
continuously tried to woo him to join them. His induction may prove to be the trump card for
Congress in the elections.
The Congress has already put out a list of 110 candidates for the 117 seat Assembly polls. It
is believed that Sidhu and some of his associates from his Awaaz-e-Punjab will be offered
rest of the seats for the polls.
The partys manifesto indicates that former Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh
will be the partys chief minister candidate this time as well. The party, however, is yet to
make the formal announcement. Sidhu will, meanwhile, play the role of the star campaigner.
Congress has been reduced to a handful of states in the country. Realistically, this is the best bet
the party has to win back its standing in the political space. Sidhu, who was otherwise swept
away from the picture, is back in the picture and may prove to be a strong factor to drive
Amarinders wagon forward.
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Inside track: From BJP confident of winning UP polls to Lalu Prasad still
upset over having to sit on ground
Since the BJP will not be in a position to ensure a win for a candidate of its choice for the
next president of India, it will have to settle for a consensus candidate. (AP)
Consensus choice
On the basis of its internal surveys, the BJP believes that it will be the single largest party in
Uttar Pradesh after the Assembly elections, with the BSP in second place. However, even if
this rosy picture was to prove correct, the NDA would still need an additional 10% of the
total votes to win the elections for President of India in July. To make up the shortfall, it will
have to depend on support from parties such as the JD(U), AIADMK and the BJD. Since the
BJP will not be in a position to ensure a win for a candidate of its choice, it will have to settle
for a consensus candidate. Some in President Pranab Mukherjees office are hopeful that this
could mean a second term for him.
No advice, no dissent
Those upset with demonetisation and NarendraModis unilateral decisions hint that
Margdarshak LK Advani has become a rallying point for dissidents in the BJP. They cite
the fact that Advani was reluctant to sit on the stage and left the dais after lighting the lamp at
the BJP national executive in Delhi earlier this month. But BJP office-bearers maintain that
the media is trying to spin a story out of a non-event. They say that Advani left the stage for
10 minutes after lighting the lamp because he felt unwell and ArunJaitley accompanied him
to the restroom. He returned subsequently and remained seated on the dais throughout. The
leader who is, in fact, sulking is Yogi Adityanath. He did not show up for the meeting
reportedly because he was not included in the Uttar Pradesh ticket selection committee. A
journalist who asked BJP president Amit Shah whether the party was apprehensive that it
would lose its core constituency because of demonetisation was told to ignore the core vote
and concentrate on the larger picture. The Modi-Amit Shah duo have clearly shifted their
focus from Hindutva and vikas to garibihatao through demonetisation.
Leaps and bounds
TMC leader Mamata Banerjees commitment to simple living and austerity has been dented
by the ostentatious lifestyle of her nephew Abhishek Banerjee, who is viewed as her heir
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apparent. While Banerjee continues to live at her old family house in Kalighat, the nephew
has built himself a three-storey house a short distance away. The recent birthday party of his
daughter was a lavish affair. Apart from being a politician, Abhishek is also a businessman
who owns a company, Leaps and Bounds, which, as its name suggests, has grown
phenomenally in recent years. TMC members were taken aback when, after the arrest of
TMC MP SudipBandyopadhyay by the CBI in the Rose Valley chit fund scam, Banerjee
announced that her source in the CBI had informed her that her nephew might be the next
target. She seemed far more concerned about Abhishek than her other MPs. Incidentally, the
TMCs latest dharna against demonetisation was a flop show, at least in the capital. Two
dozen TMC MPs sat in the sun outside their government bungalows in South Avenue and
occasionally made speeches, but there was no one to listen apart from a few stray journalists
from the Bengal media.
Chain reaction
RJD chief LaluYadav is still smarting from the insult of having to sit on the ground at the
function to celebrate the 350th birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh at the Gandhi Maidan
in Patna, while chief minister Nitish Kumar and Prime Minister NarendraModi sat on the
dais. Lalu, who as chief minister often occupied the only chair at meetings with his party
men, is not willing to swallow the humiliation. The deteriorating relationship between Nitish
and Lalu is because the Bihar chief minister is no longer willing to accede to the RJD chiefs
many demands, particularly on transfers and postings. Lalus choices for the DM of Patna
and the director general of Police were thwarted. Nitish can afford to cross Lalu since he
knows that the BJP will only be happy to extend outside support. When Nitish declared that
his party would organise a human chain on January 21 in support of his prohibition policy,
the BJP quickly announced that its workers would join.
Strange snub
The snub to the BJPs senior-most chief minister was apparent at the BJP national executive
in Delhi this month. When Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan spoke on
agriculture, a sector in which his state has made rapid strides, party president Amit Shah
thrice chided him for not sticking to the point and straying into other areas.
Kejriwals Dilemma: To be or not to be Punjab CM candidate, that is the

question
A day after Delhi deputy CM Manish Sisodia created a stir by urging the people of Punjab to
vote as if ArvindKejriwal would be their chief minister after the Punjab assembly polls,
Kejriwal himself refuted the notion. Clarifying that he neither intended to quit his position as
Delhi CM nor move to Punjab if his AamAadmi Party formed the next government in the
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state, Kejriwal instead sought to project the buzz around him as a sign of nervousness within
Congress and Akali Dal camps.
Such mixed messaging could be a consequence of the dilemma that Kejriwal faces. He is
looking for a breakthrough in Punjab and Goa, given that as chief minister of Delhi he is
hemmed in at every step by the Centre, BJP and Delhi lieutenant governor. If he were to
become CM of Punjab, he would have the powers of a full-fledged chief minister. While that
must be sorely tempting, a declaration to this effect now would undermine his position in
Delhi when at this point there is no guarantee AAP will win Punjab.
There are other advantages of ambiguity as well. In a high voltage campaign such as Punjab
both Congress and Akalis could highlight the fact that he is not only not Sikh but not even a
Punjabi, and target him as an outsider. When politicians across the board are playing the
Punjab vs Haryana card, AAPs CM candidate being Haryanvi can be a liability. What could
work for Kejriwal, though, is that cutting across such sectarian politics is the elite-subaltern
divide, and AAP has been good at mobilising subaltern groups. Given that Punjab has the
largest share of Dalits in its population with no clear political force to represent their
interests, this is one segment that AAP will be targeting.
It is not essential that every party declares a CM candidate; for instance, BJP has not done so
in UP. Moreover, as we have seen in these post-truth times, election statements and promises
do not matter once elections have been won. Should AAP take Punjab, Kejriwal may well
shift to Chandigarh leaving Sisodia in charge in Delhi. At that point Kejriwal could well say
that professions of not leaving Delhi had been a jumla (idiom), as Amit Shah did on BJPs
pre-election promise to repatriate black money and refund Rs 15 lakh to every Indian.
Cholikepeecheykyahai effect: If photos of netas are covered up in pollbound states, might that increase netas allure?
Election season is also cover-up season. If you are the ruling party you try to patch over your
broken promises with some even wilder vows. Its a chancy thing, like using heavy duty
concealer to hide under-eye circles and look like a diva, but risking looking even more like a
raccoon.
Another seasonal ritual is covering all the walls of the poll-bound state with hoardings, in
which both the opposition and ruling party participate enthusiastically. Adding excitement to
it all is the Election Commission, which when the parties are done covering the walls
demands a further coat over their artwork, blanking it out.
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EC says all publicly financed ads and hoardings which project the achievements of any living
political functionary or political party and which carry their photos or name or symbol should
be forthwith removed or put under suitable cover. This is heartening relief for the taxpayer
and may provide a fig leaf to cover over naked ambition. But it sure poses a problem for
politicians, especially ruling ones.
So spare a tear for the agony in the NetaNarcissusphere. Unstained by failures and scandals,
in these hoardings they are always in a state of grace, wooing voters with somehow unsullied
hope. This is to be distinguished from mere egomania. Netas may well feel like the women
students of Delhis prestigious Miranda House, some of whom were warned by authorities
that such activities as clicking selfies or modelling were prohibited while they are on campus.
It was thought that if they were to put up these photos publicly, people would get the
erroneous impression that no serious studies take place in Miranda House. That does ring a
bell, as many are also under the impression that no serious work takes place in our Houses of
Parliament.
It was also argued that students perch dangerously on parapet walls to take selfies but
netas easily take bigger risks during elections as some of them will surely go over the edge. It
may be recalled that during 2014 LokSabha elections, NarendraModi too was strictured by
EC for clicking a selfie with lotus in hand near an election booth. He too took the risk and
won big to become prime minister of India.
So, how will the cover-up that EC has mandated impact elections? In 2012, when EC sent
Mayawati scrambling to tarp over statues of herself and elephants, BSP workers complained
that the bicycle, lotus and hand had been left to roam scot-free. Still they hoped for tailwinds
from the cholikepeecheykyahai effect, where what is conspicuously hidden becomes
alluring. Alas, that didnt happen. All netas now worry, out of sight is out of mind.
A poll laced with shoes

Punjab deserves a better discourse
Yet another shoe has been hurled. Unlike on most previous occasions, this time it hit the
target, and it was none less than the Chief Minister of Punjab. This is an abominable act that
goes not only against all norms of civilisedbehaviour, but also, in the political context, is a
direct assault on certain firm assumptions in a democracy. No matter what the provocation,
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no one may in an ordered society take recourse to violence real or symbolic to convey
his anger, frustration or set right any injustice. For any immediate cause, there is the recourse
of the police and courts. For anger against an elected government, there is the ballot, the
ultimate weapon in the hands of even the least empowered.
Punjab is going through an extremely impassioned election. Up against Parkash Singh Badal
is an AAP candidate who came into the limelight only after having himself hurled a shoe at a
Union minister. That act of gross misbehaviour was applauded in certain political quarters;
the AAP even rewarded him with a nomination. Over the past few days, AAP MP Bhagwant
Mann has referred to a possibility of people stoning SAD leaders. After the shoe incident
SAD MP HarsimratKaur has mentioned how AAP workers may come to harm in case Akali
workers turned violent. This is messaging of the worst kind. There have been incidents of
party workers clashing, villagers acting hostile towards leaders, or candidates themselves
using intemperate language. It is very unfortunate that top party leaders have not condemned
such incidents in the strong terms expected of them.
The Election Commission is now in charge of law and order in the state. It must respond to
all such incidents with such alacrity and severity that political parties and their workers may
not find it profitable to incite anyone to violence. The parties too need to reconcile what they
do in the heat of the moment. They will have to live with the consequences for themselves
as well as the state once the elections are over. No one would want a disturbed state to
take over.
Kejriwal in Punjab
That Delhi was meant only as a springboard for the AamAadmi Party was clear even before
ArvindKejriwal was sworn in as Chief Minister in 2013. From the start, the AAP envisaged
itself as a nationwide movement against corruption and for good governance. Even as he was
talking of Delhis problems with water, power and so on, Mr. Kejriwal saw himself as
rivalling Rahul Gandhi and NarendraModi, fighting corruption and communalism. But those
who thought the partys rout in the 2014 LokSabha polls would dispirit its tenacious leader
were wrong. True, scaling up from Delhi might not have happened the way he imagined; but
instead of setting his sights lower, Mr. Kejriwal merely decided to take the stairs instead of
the elevator. The AAPs bid for power in Punjab is more an extension of its plan of action in
Delhi, and not akin to the flight of fancy Mr. Kejriwal indulged in while contesting from
Varanasi against Mr. Modi. A shot of realism was what the AAP needed, and it came in the
form of the results of the 2014 LokSabha election when it did poorly outside Delhi, Punjab
and Chandigarh. The party won all its four seats from Punjab; the decision to focus on these
core support areas, instead of spreading itself thin, thus made sense.
Its proximity to Delhi was not the only reason the AAP found a resonance in Punjab. The
AAP could position itself as an alternative to both the ShiromaniAkali Dal and the Congress;
it took the focus away from the identity politics of SAD, but spoke up for the Sikh victims of
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the 1984 riots in Delhi under Congress watch. The agrarian crisis, the drug mafia, jobs and
development issues are in the forefront of the AAPs campaign. But the party has been
handicapped by its failure to groom a regional leader in Punjab. Mr. Kejriwals autocratic
style of functioning appears to have put off many in his party, as it did Navjot Singh Sidhu,
the former BJP MP who at one point seemed inclined to join forces with the AAP. While
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia asked voters at an election rally to vote as if Mr.
Kejriwal were the chief ministerial candidate, Mr. Kejriwal himself has been wary of
projecting himself thus. The AAP would have liked to showcase its two years in government
in Delhi as a model, but the frequent run-ins with the Lt. Governor over powers and
jurisdiction did not present a pretty picture. And while Punjab might be important for the
AAPs national goals, voters are unlikely to look beyond their immediate life and livelihood
concerns in making their choice. The AAP needs Punjab more than Punjab needs the AAP.
Advantage BJP: SP infighting and other parties weakness put BJP in

drivers seat for UP election
Recent developments in Uttar Pradesh appear to have catapulted BJP into pole position,
ahead of principal rivals Samajwadi Party (SP) and BahujanSamaj Party (BSP) as the election
campaign goes into overdrive with polls scheduled from February 11. This is a poll for BJP
to lose and if it will fails to win a majority, that has to be seen as a vote against
demonetisation which has caused job losses in UP. If that happens it augurs badly for BJP in
the rest of the country, as it suggests demonetisation is being badly received.
There is no sign of the feud within SPs first family being settled, as Mulayam Singh Yadav
is adamant on keeping control over the party despite the majority of its cadre appearing to
side with chief minister AkhileshYadav. Despite several rounds of meetings, father and son
have been unable to patch up their differences. The electoral promise of Congress itself a
fringe player in UP aligning with SP and consolidating minority votes is neutralised if SP is
split down the middle.
BSP is betting heavily on its old formula of social engineering. This was reflected in ticket
distribution where BSP has fielded 97 Muslim candidates as compared to 87 Dalit candidates.
Mayawati is also betting that Dalits have bitter memories of the RohithVemula suicide case
where BJP leaders were blamed for precipitating the crisis, as well as the public flogging of
Dalits in BJP-governed Gujarat over allegedly skinning a cow. But a number of her followers
have switched to BJP, perhaps sensing which way political winds are blowing.
In the last LokSabha election, BJP wiped the floor with other parties by winning 71 out of 80
seats in UP. It was helped then by the oratorical and crowd pulling power of NarendraModi,
who broke the stereotype of BJP being a party of upper castes as OBCs and Dalits embraced
the lotus. That fire power will be working for BJP again, as Modi will now be campaigning
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as PM. At the moment, Modi is projecting demonetisation as a war on corruption where he is

crusading on behalf of the poor. This is a double-edged sword which could either prevail over
caste calculations or take the sheen off Modis aura of invincibility.
Family In The Way: An Akhilesh-Mulayam patch-up looks remote as

warring Yadavs knock on ECs doors
The long-drawn battle within the Yadav clan refuses to die down, as prospects of
rapprochement between Samajwadi Party (SP) patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav and Uttar
Pradesh chief minister AkhileshYadav appear faint at present. This portends the undoing of
SP, which had gained some popularity on the back of the development oriented agenda
pursued by Akhilesh. Though Mulayam still claims that he will be able to resolve differences
within the family, there is confusion among party rank and file before the seven-phase
assembly election that kicks off this time next month.
Mulayam claims he is still the national president of SP and declared the January 1 convention
called by his cousin Ram Gopal Yadav illegal. The convention was attended by the majority
of SP MLAs, MPs and office bearers, and Akhilesh was crowned the new national president
while Mulayam was elevated to the position of margdarshak. Even though Akhileshs camp
has claimed support from 220 out of 229 party MLAs, the possibility of SPs symbol cycle
being frozen by the Election Commission (EC) cannot be ruled out. A few months ago EC
froze Apna Dals party symbol after a similar feud erupted between Union minister Anupriya
Patel and her mother Krishna Patel.
If EC does freeze the symbol, it could open a new phase in Akhileshs political career. He
can opt for a new symbol like a motorcycle which reflects an upgrade from the Mulayam
style: from identity-based to aspirational politics. Yet the best option would still be a
compromise formula between the two groups. The old guard led by ShivpalYadav and Amar
Singh should accept the leadership of Akhilesh and let him lead the campaign, while they
focus their energies on strengthening the party organisation.
New Leaders & Hope: Tamil Nadu political stage is transformed with the
rise of Sasikala and Stalin
Suddenly the political stage in Tamil Nadu has changed. With AIADMK leader J
Jayalalithaas death on December 5, 2016, and the creation of the post of DMK working
president on January 4, 2017, VK Sasikala and MK Stalin have become the prime players in
the Dravidian heartland. And this can be an opportunity for the state to change its political
culture too.
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For close to three decades, two giants M Karunanidhi and J Jayalalithaa dominated the
states political landscape. So bitter were they towards each other that they never saw eye to
eye after the March 25, 1989 fracas in the assembly where Jayalalithaa accused DMK
legislators of manhandling her. She left the House with dishevelled hair, promising to return
only as the chief minister. She kept her promise and unleashed vengeance. What followed
was politics of vendetta. In the late 1990s, the ruling DMK filed corruption cases by the
dozen against Jayalalithaa; after returning to power she ordered the infamous midnight arrest
of Karunanidhion June 30, 2001. They alternated between the treasury benches and the
opposition, but they were seldom seen in the assembly at the same time. Through statements
they poured scorn at each other.
Within a month, Jayalalithaas death and Karunanidhis failing health have put Sasikala and
Stalin at the helm. Stalin has been showing signs of a mature politician eager to deviate from
his fathers style. He attended the swearing-in ceremony of Jayalalithaa in May and promised
his party would remain a constructive opposition. When Jayalalithaa was ailing, Stalin visited
the hospital; after her death, he paid respects to her mortal remains.
Sasikalas ascension was quick, Stalins was long pending. With Karunanidhi refusing to
relinquish the post of the party president, DMK had to create the post of working president to
install the new commander. The changes also signify if one discounts Stalins unremarkable
tryst with a few movies the end of film personalities as party heads. As Sasikala emerges
from Jayalalithaas shadow where she remained for more than three decades it would be
better if she doesnt inherit her vituperative politics. A collaborative spirit between the ruling
party and the opposition would improve the steering of Tamil Nadu. For a state that has
slowed down in the past 10 years after 15 years of industrialisation and infrastructure
development, a course correction is imperative.
Battleground Punjab: This time around Congress has a real edge but
factionalism is blunting it
Setting up the contest for the upcoming assembly elections in Punjab, a recent opinion poll
has predicted a Congress win. It says Congress is slated to win 56-62 seats in the 117member assembly, making a comeback in Punjab after 10 years. Correspondingly, it predicts
a massive slide for the two-term SAD-BJP ruling combine, putting it in the third spot behind
AAP. Granted the fallibility of polls and also how much things can change in the weeks up to
polling on February 4, its clear that Congress is experiencing tailwinds in Punjab.
Theres a sense that the people of the state want a change from the current SAD-BJP regime.
The latter has come to be associated with various corruption scandals and the widespread
drug problem in the state. Plus, the Badal first family with its myriad business interests has
come to be accused of monopolistic commercial practices. All of this seems to have given
Congress the edge in these elections. That said, it would be ill-advised for Congress to count
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its chickens before they hatch. Hitherto the partys ticket distribution has been tricky
business. This has been primarily because of factionalism with several contenders for each
seat.
The problem has been exacerbated further with leaders of other parties joining Congress at
least 28 leaders from SAD, 11 from AAP and 6 from BJP. While all of them cant be
accommodated with tickets, they can certainly subvert the selected candidates from within.
Plus, Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh might be an old war-horse, but he also has an
image problem of being an aloof maharaja. Despite all this, Congress can take back Punjab
by mounting a cohesive campaign and keepings its flock together
BJP on the front foot

The Delhi conclave lustily cheers the government
Meeting on the eve of the assembly elections in five states, the BJP national executive was
designed primarily to be a we-are-going-to-be-doing-well morale-boosting exercise. To that
extent the conclave in New Delhi last weekend served its purpose. Notwithstanding the largescale disruption in the economy caused by the November 8 demonetisation, the party's top
leadership is inclined to play on the front foot. At the Delhi meeting, the party president,
Amit Shah, appropriated for his party the pro-poor plank that once belonged to the
Congress. Applauding the Prime Minister's activist leadership, the BJP president argued that
the government was determined to make a decisive change in the lives of the poor and the
disadvantaged.
Predictably, the Prime Minister and his government received a ringing endorsement from the
party for their performance. Such an organised praise had become rather necessary in the
wake of demonetisation; the party's rank and file activists do not share the official enthusiasm
and confidence. The party had to be made to be seen standing solidly behind the government.
Besides the "note-bandi", the surgical strikes against terror camps along the Line of Control
came in for applause and approval. And, again, predictably, the Opposition was castigated for
being anti-poor and anti-democracy. Such demonstrations of support and approval are
familiar chores that any ruling party has to organise from time to time. The cheer-leading at
the national executive was as per the customary protocol.
For all its public show of confidence and conviction, the BJP leadership cannot be unaware of
the dire necessity for the party to perform reasonably well in the five states, especially Uttar
Pradesh. Given the fact that the BJP had won as many as 73 LokSabha seats in Uttar Pradesh
in 2014, any failure to win the commensurate number of assembly seats in 2017 would
naturally be seen as a reflection on the government and the Prime Minister. The party is in a
bind. It will have to depend on NarendraModi's charisma and popularity to win in the states.
The dependence on the Prime Minister has now been elevated as an inspired electoral
strategy, but it also carries with it grave risks for the government and the leadership.
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Its bad economics

Congress promises more than it can deliver
Punjab is set to suffer the onslaught of politics of freebies. Welfare limited to the needy is
welcome but the delivery should be without leakages. Like other parties, the Congress tries to
appease the voter with this or that promise. That Punjab is financially in dire straits is no
concern of any political party. Freebies can be funded either by raising taxes or through debt.
The Congress manifesto talks of cutting government expenditure, though none of its leaders
have remotely ever alluded to making sacrifices the manifesto calls upon them to do like
giving up foreign trips, escort vehicles or the use of helicopter. Proposals on the table are not
backed by the Congress governments track record.
There are contradictions too. CaptAmarinder Singh has promised party rebels posts in boards
and corporations, which Manpreet Singh Badal hopes to wind up. After debt servicing,
paying salaries, pensions and subsidies is a problem and, then if the new pay report is
implemented, Punjabs finances would be totally unsettled. And yet the Congress plans to
create more government jobs regardless of their need or viability since it promises one
job per family. The manifesto seems to be oblivious of the state's dismal situation. For want
of funds Punjabs education and health have been outsourced to the private sector. Industry
and agriculture have lagged as state investment is minimal. Lack of affordable, quality
education and healthcare has let down the deprived making efforts to climb out of poverty.
Preserving, rejuvenating and cleaning up water resources is not a priority for the party, nor is
it forthcoming on discontinuing free power or restricting it to the needy; instead it has
extended the subsidy to industry as well.
Then there are governance issues. The Captain claims he would end the drug menace, but
recently he embraced drug-tainted leaders. Congress leaders business interests are known.
Interestingly, the party hopes to pass a law to check conflict-of-interest situations. The
manifesto carries the Manpreet stamp on scrapping VIP culture but Congress leaders are yet
to make it an election issue. The manifesto is far from exciting. It remains to be seen if the
Congressmen themselves feel excited and guided by it.
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Enemy Property ordinances

The ordinance overreach
Enemy Property ordinances subvert both the primacy of the legislature and the spirit of the
Constitution
Written by Aadil Boparai
Raja of Mahmudabads property. (Express Photo: Vishal Srivastav)
The Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court, in Krishna Kumar Singhs case, has reiterated
the principle that re-promulgation of ordinances is a fraud on the Constitution and a
subversion of the democratic legislative processes. The raison dtre for this dictum is that repromulgation represents an effort to overreach the legislative process which is the primary
source of law-making in a parliamentary democracy. The Enemy Property (Amendment and
Validation) Ordinance was first promulgated on January 7, 2016, with the ostensible
objective of plugging loopholes in the principal act and to ensure that the enemy properties
worth thousands of crore do not revert to the legal heirs. A concomitant effort has been made
to frustrate the judgment of the Supreme Court in the case of Raja Amir Mohammad Khan of
Mahmudabad who won a long and arduous legal battle for his properties.
An ordinance under Article 123 of the Constitution shall cease to operate at the expiry of six
weeks from the reassembly of the Parliament. It may also cease to operate before the expiry
of the period of six weeks if a resolution disapproving it is passed by Parliament. The fifth
Enemy Property ordinance has been promulgated on the December 22, 2016, to give
continued effect to the provisions of the fourth ordinance. The said ordinance has inserted a
saving provision vide Section 22(2) of the fifth ordinance to ensure continuity. The aspect
that requires thoughtful consideration is an attempt by the government to nullify the
judgment, decree or order of any Court by inserting Section 8A (1) in the ordinance. Section
8A (1) empowers the custodian to dispose of enemy properties whether by sale or
otherwise notwithstanding any judgment, decree or order of any court, tribunal or authority.
The failure of the government to ensure the passing of the Enemy Property Bill, 2016 and
using the back door of re-promulgation is a practice emphatically deprecated by the Supreme
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Court. Re-promulgation is fundamentally at odds with the principal of parliamentary

supremacy. Article 123 of the Constitution spells out requirements before resorting to the
extraordinary measure of promulgating an ordinance. The government, by re-promulgating
the Enemy Property ordinance for a record fifth time, has converted the emergent power
under Article 123 into a source of parallel law-making that is antithetical to the scheme of the
Constitution.
The fifth Enemy Property ordinance substitutes the word an enemy subject with an enemy
subject including his legal heir and successor whether or not a citizen of India or the citizen
of a country which is not an enemy or the enemy, enemy subject or his legal heir and
successor who has changed his nationality. It is imperative to highlight that the Supreme
Court, in Union of India and Anr. v. Raja Mohd. Amir Mohd. Khan had held that, the
Respondent who was born in India and his Indian citizenship not being in question cannot by
any stretch of imagination be held to be an enemy or enemy subject.. The ordinance
removes the substratum of the judgment of the Supreme Court which is binding law under
Article 141 of the Constitution. Though it is not illegal per se to remove the basis or the
foundation of a judgment by a subsequent enactment that uniformly applies to a class of
persons, however, the same will be tested on the touchstone of Article 14 of the Constitution.
This clear attempt by the government to first nullify a judgment and, thereafter, repromulgate ordinances in the absence of parliamentary approval, is contrary to the intent of
our founding fathers and the mandate of the Constitution. The founding fathers were
cognisant that the ordinance making power is a negation of the rule of law and envisaged
that the aid of Article 123 and 213 of the Constitution will be taken in emergent
circumstances when the legislature is not in session and extraordinary circumstances warrant
the exercise of authority in order to avoid a situation of constitutional vacuum.
The Constituent Assembly debates leave no manner of doubt that the said power ought not to
be exercised merely to circumvent a failure to muster support in the legislature. The
satisfaction of the president at the time of the promulgation of an ordinance is within the
purview of judicial review. The government will have to satisfy the Court about whether the
satisfaction for re-promulgation was based on some relevant material. In the meantime, it
would augur well for the government to strictly abide by the Supreme Courts ruling in
Krishna Kumars case or else will run the vice of unconstitutionality. Parliamentary
supremacy and the power of judicial review are the cornerstone of our democratic republic.
The Constitution Bench judgment of the Supreme Court is a vindication of the supremacy of
Parliament and a reminder to the executive about the threat posed to the sovereignty of the
Parliament by re-promulgation of ordinances.
The writer is an advocate, Supreme Court of India
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Foods, India
Masala in the dosa
A traditional dish gets a new take, with invention spicing up modern cooking
By: Editorial
As a multinational fast-food chain announces it will soon launch a masala dosa burger,
Indian foodies are clutching their foreheads and stomachs in shock, despairing over too much
culinary mixing ruining the broth or here, the burger bun/dosa batter. But why this tangy
chutney of indignation at the innovation? The masala dosa, after all, is a many-splendoured
thing, one of Indias most inventive dishes, always metamorphosing into delicious new
forms.
Unlike, say, rice and daal, the masala dosa comes cloaked in the glamour of a thousand
rumours. One urban legend says the masala dosa wasnt created in cosy homesteads at all but
actually dished up in Udupi restaurants, where clever cooks used spare potato bhaji, folding
this in a light, crisp, savoury crepe. This masala dosa was a huge hit; but it didnt stop at
one chewy avataar. Constantly innovating, the masala dosa features in hundreds of variants,
localising, specialising and targeting individual customers well before multinationals learnt
how to spell idli; versions include the paneer dosa, khakhra dosa, cheese spread dosa, even
mutton-fry masala dosas. There are ragi and oat dosas for health nuts and there are pizza
dosas for those who prefer taste over waist.
Why be mealy-mouthed over meals evolving anyway? Modern gastronomy means mixing,
blending, breaking rules and combining cuisines, dishing up a brave new world of food, from
bacon ice-cream to vegetarian chicken, foie gras falafel to charcoal chocolate. The West may
be loving fusion cooking now but India has been a master-chef at this for decades.
Remember, we invented the dhokla pizza, tandoori momo, paneer enchilada, masala omlette
sushi and that most brilliant of culinary creations, which even slides cheekily past a stony
Great Wall gobi Manchurian. A masala dosa makeover is just a cute starter for us.
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Freedom of Speech
Stuck between 4 and 3
The SC verdict on the RPA is about reasonable restrictions on free speech. But appeals to
identity by persecuted groups should not be seen as a violation of the principles of secularism
Written by Indira Jaising
Illustration by C R Sasikumar
At the heart of the case relating to the interpretation of Section 123 of the Representation of
Peoples Act, 1951 (Act), is the issue of free speech. Section 123 does impose restrictions on
speech and hence it is necessary to understand the limits of those restrictions and the purpose
of the law. The Act is intended to ensure free and fair elections in a democracy where
universal adult franchise is guaranteed by Articles 325 and 326 of the Indian Constitution.
Universal adult franchise itself is based on our citizenship and hence, when we vote, we vote
as citizens.
The Act has several provisions to guarantee free and fair elections, giving a constitutional
status to the Election Commission of India. Certain practices were categorised as corrupt
practices under Section 123 of the Act, one of them being appeal by candidates for votes on
the grounds of religion, race, caste, community or language or the use of, or appeal to
religious symbols. A corrupt practice, if proved, would entail to a declaration of the election
of such candidate to be void under Section 100 of the Act.
The Constitution Bench delivered the judgment in the much-awaited Hindutva case on
January 2 through a majority of 4:3. On the face of it, the entire judgment turns on a semantic
issue, namely what is the meaning to be given to the expression his religion used in Section
123. Does it mean that only an appeal by the candidate himself or herself based on the
religion of the candidate is a corrupt practice? Or would an appeal made by a third party, say,
a party leader, at an election rally based on any religion also amount to a corrupt practice?
The issue was seminal since the Supreme Court itself, in previous judgments, has held, for
example, that only appeals based on his religion that is the religion of the candidate,
including the rival candidate would amount to corrupt practice (Prabhoo case: 1996 (1)
SCC 130). The absurd consequence of such an interpretation would be that the candidate
could not make such an appeal but a party leader could at his election rally. Apart from the
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absurd consequence that would follow, the critical issue was this would leave political parties
free to canvass for a theocratic state through their manifestos and election speeches. Using a
purposive interpretation, the majority held that the expression his religion refers to the
religion of (i) any candidate or (ii) his agent or (iii) any other person making the appeal with
the consent of the candidate or (iv) the elector and this interpretation is in consonance with
the purpose of the Act that is maintaining the purity of the electoral process and not vitiating
it. Former chief justice, T.S. Thakur, went a step further and justified the purposive
interpretation in the secular framework of India that acts as a limitation on free political
speech when he noted that in interpreting Section 123 (3) of the Act which one of the two
interpretations ought to be preferred by the Court keeping in view the constitutional ethos and
the secular character of our polity.
Does this prevent social mobilisation as suggested by the minority judgment in the following
words: Social mobilisation is an integral element of the search for authority and legitimacy.
Hence, it would be far-fetched to assume that in legislating to adopt Section 123(3),
Parliament intended to obliterate or outlaw references to religion, caste, race, community or
language in the hurly burly of the great festival of democracy.
The majority judgment nowhere suggested that all references in electoral speeches to religion
or caste etc would amount to a corrupt practice. In fact, during the arguments it was
specifically suggested that if the appeal was intended to correct a historical or constitutional
wrong or was intended to preserve and protect fundamental entitlements under the Indian
Constitution, it would not be a corrupt practice. This is what the precedents of the Supreme
Court itself have indicated.
The problems arose when the SC held that an electoral speech by a party leader stating that
elections were being fought in the name of the Hindu religion and Hindutva was not a corrupt
practice as consent of the electoral candidate to the speeches of the party leader was not
proved (Manohar Joshi case: 1996 1 SCC 169). The court stated that what is relevant is the
candidate and not the plank of the political party, requisite consent of the returned
candidate or his election agent which is a constituent part of the corrupt practices under subsections (3) and (3A) of Section 123, and an ingredient of the ground under Section 100(1)(b)
has nowhere been pleaded in the election petition either in connection with the allegations
based on the speeches and a mere statement that the first Hindu State will be established in
Maharashtra is by itself not an appeal for votes on the ground of his religion but the
expression, at best, of such a hope. However, despicable be such a statement, it cannot be
said to amount to an appeal for votes on the ground of his religion.
This is what gave rise to two grave concerns, can a political party in its manifesto depart from
the secular foundations of the Constitution and claim to set up a Hindu, Muslim or Christian
state? It is this question that Justice Thakur attempted to answer when he insists that the
secular foundations of the Constitution are not negotiable, whether by a candidate or by a
third party.
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While Pratap Bhanu Mehta (High principle, dubious law, IE, January 4) mentions that
respect for precedent gives legitimacy to our judges, he forgets that the minority judgment
does not refer to a host of precedents which were cited to point out legitimate references to
religion and caste and illegitimate references in political speeches. It is painful to see the use
of the language of the oppressed and historically discriminated to justify illegitimate
references to religion, caste, etc.
Speech that is protected and will not be a corrupt practice is the one anchored in the goalpost
of the Indian Constitution, that is secularism. India is a secular state, no matter what
understanding one may have of what is secular at the very least, it is not theocratic. During
arguments, precedents illustrative of permissible and impermissible references to religion,
caste etc., were brought to the notice of the SC. An attempt was made to distinguish between
permissible speech and impermissible speech and it was submitted before the court that: Not
all reference to religion, race, caste, or language in an election speech is corrupt practice. A
reference to a group dicriminated on the ground of religion, race, caste, or language coupled
with the promises to remove the discrimination and correct an imbalance will not be an
appeal on the ground of religion since the thrust of the speech will be to promote secularism.
Hence, an appeal on the grounds of religion, race, caste, or language can legitimately be
made on behalf of a discriminated group whether based on religion, race, caste, language or
sex, coupled with the promise to reverse the discrimination. Hence, when the appeal is
contextualised in a rights framework, in particular fundamental rights, and for the reversal
and redressal of constitutional wrongs it would not fall under the meaning of corrupt practice
within S.123(3). Similarily, an appeal to protect and promote the rights of a persecuted group
would not be an appeal on the grounds of religion, race or caste.
Neither the majority nor the minority made any effort to deal with this issue or record these
submissions. Indeed, it appears that the majority and the minority were not speaking to each
other and who knows, this could be because of the limitation of time and the fact that the CJI
was due to retire on January 3, the judgment being delivered one day before his retirement in
haste by all the judges. Neither made an effort to convince the other of their point of view.
If the case was seen for what it was, one about free speech, both the minority and majority
would have been compelled to address the legitimate limits of free speech for indeed, the
Constitution does impose limits that have consequences for the secular fabric of the country.
The writer is former additional solicitor general of India. She was an intervener in the case on
behalf of Teesta Setalvad and others
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Editing freedom
Supreme Court does well to underline again: prior restraint on media violates
Constitutional guarantee of free speech
By: Editorial
It is a truth universally acknowledged that prior permission constrains the constitutional ideal
of free speech. The principle was established in case law in 1950, when the Supreme Courts
ruling in Brij Bhushan and Another vs State of Delhi rubbished the idea of pre-censorship.
There should have been no need for the court to lay down the law again 67 years later. But
then, there is no harm in driving the point home, at a time when bullying has become a
feature of public discussion and debate. To that extent, it was good that Prashant Bhushan
and Common Cause took the matter to court, as part of a clutch of public interest matters.
The Supreme Court is the most reliable custodian of citizens freedoms. There are indeed
other guardians, most significantly, online activists, pressure groups and other elements of
civil society. However, each has a specific agenda and considers the matter of freedom
through the lens of its own interest. Only the Supreme Court has the independence and the
stature to guard free speech in the abstract, in its entirety.
While Bhushan had argued for a regulatory body for media content, the Supreme Court bench
led by the Chief Justice of India has clarified that neither the judiciary, nor the executive
could have oversight of media content. Courts can be approached only after telecast or
publication, by parties who may feel injured. There is a common sense basis to this argument.
The law intervenes in other matters on the basis of a complaint about an offence having been
cmmitted. There is no reason why speech acts should be treated differently.
Demands for the regulation of content are logically absurd because self-regulation is the only
practical strategy, a position which the central government and the News Broadcasters
Association have supported. Reporters, newsroom staff and their editors should be trusted to
do their job until and unless they breach that trust. If that happens, internal mechanisms
should suffice to address the issue. At the next level, there are
industry bodies which can exert real pressure on errant members. While the government has
claimed the ability to monitor 1,500 news channels in real time by the end of the year, it
should limit itself to the observers role. Intervention in the absence of a complaint would
amount to impugning Article 19 of the Constitution, as the Supreme Court had explained way
back in 1950.
Freedom of Press Index: Last thing Indian media needs is more regulation
India ranks an abysmal 133rd among 180 countries in the Freedom of Press Index. Moreover,
a 2011 survey by a Hong Kong based research firm had said that India is the most overregulated country in the world. But all this has not quelled the call for more regulation. The
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Supreme Court on Thursday did well to strike down one such request calling for regulation of
media content. According to The Indian Express, Chief Justice of India JS Khehar, replying
to a plea filed by NGO Common Cause, said that pre-broadcast or pre-publication censorship
was not the area of the court. Representing the NGO, advocate PrashantBhushan said that
self-regulation has not worked for media the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, as
content regulator, has failed completely in protecting the interests and basic rights of the
audience. The SC highlighted that neither the court nor a government department could deal
with this.
The idea of objectionable content itself is quite arbitrarywhat can be objectionable for one
person might not be so for the other. To say that rules have not worked would not be right as
well, as the government has banned channel like AXN in the past for indecent programming
content. While it is true that self-regulation has not worked the way people would have
wanted it to, one has to realise that freedom cant be curbed in the name of regulation. In any
case, over-regulation cannot be the answer to everything.
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Fundamental Rights
What we need to guard
Fundamental rights are no gifts of the state, the Constitution only confirms their existence.
Written by Soli J. Sorabjee
Our Supreme Court has also deduced fundamental

rights which are not specifically mentioned in the Chapter on Fundamental Rights on the principle that certain
unarticulated rights are implicit in the enumerated guarantees. (Representational image)
Our freedom fighters and members of the Constituent Assembly who drafted free Indias
Constitution attached great importance to fundamental rights. They did not subscribe to the
fallacy that fundamental rights are a gift from the state to its citizens. They rightly believed
that individuals possess basic human rights independently of any Constitution by reason of
the fact that they are members of the human family. A Constitution does not confer
fundamental rights. It confirms their existence and accords them protection. That is the
rationale of fundamental rights.
A controversial issue is whether a court can deduce additional fundamental rights which are
not expressly set out in the Constitution. The US Supreme Court has deduced rights of
privacy and parenthood on the reasoning that the specific guarantees in the Bill of Rights
have penumbras formed by emanations from those guarantees that help give them life and
substance. A similar approach has been adopted by Irish courts in the Republic of Ireland.
Our Supreme Court has also deduced fundamental rights which are not specifically
mentioned in the Chapter on Fundamental Rights on the principle that certain unarticulated
rights are implicit in the enumerated guarantees. For example, freedom of the press has been
deduced on the ground that it is implicit in the guarantee of freedom of speech and
expression. The right to travel abroad and return to ones country has been spelt out from the
expression personal liberty in Article 21 of the Constitution. The Court has also ruled that
right to education until the age of 14 is a fundamental right emanating from the all pervasive
Article 21.
No fundamental right is or can be absolute. Every Constitution provides for restriction of
fundamental rights in general public interest.
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However, the restriction imposed should not be excessive or disproportionate. In determining

this issue, judicial subjectivity is likely to play a part. But that is no ground for declining
judicial review. The Supreme Court, in the celebrated State of Madras v. V.G. Rao decided in
March 1952, acknowledged that it is inevitable that the social philosophy and the scale of
values of the judges participating in the decision would play an important part, but
emphasised that if the impugned legislation violated a fundamental right it would have to be
struck down because as regards fundamental rights, the Court has been assigned the role of
a sentinel on the qui vive.
A well settled principle of constitutional adjudication is to construe a statute in a manner that
will obviate constitutional challenge. Courts in the US have acted on this principle. Our
Supreme Court has also adopted the same principle and, in order to sustain the
constitutionality of a statute, adopted the judicial technique of reading down or reading into
the impugned provision certain words.
Utmost judicial vigilance is necessary with regard to restraints on the fundamental right of
freedom of expression and personal liberty, which are the favourite targets of attack by
authoritarian regimes because their suppression enables the regime to neutralise the dissenter,
jettison accountability and ensure its continuance.
Serious violations of fundamental rights occur during emergencies. The usual facile excuse
offered is that fundamental rights are required to be suspended temporarily in order that the
nation may survive. Actual experience establishes that those to whom supreme authority has
been conferred are reluctant to give it up. Temporary dictatorship often becomes permanent
tyranny because when the safeguards of the Constitution are surrendered to the rulers the
means of getting them back also get surrendered.
A mere declaration of invalidity of a detention order or seizure of the press or revocation of a
licence to carry on a business would not provide a meaningful remedy to a person whose
fundamental rights have been violated without issuing appropriate directions for
compensation for breach of constitutional safeguard.
A notable achievement in the protection and promotion of fundamental rights has been by
development of Public Interest Litigation (PIL).
Thanks to PIL, enjoyment of fundamental rights has become a living reality, to some extent,
for at least some illiterate, indigent and exploited segments in our society. Numerous
prisoners languishing in jails inordinately awaiting trial have been released; persons treated
like serfs and held in bondage have secured freedom and have been rehabilitated;
conditions of inmates in care homes and in asylums for the insane; and of workers in stone
quarries and brick kilns, have been ameliorated. Judicial review in PIL is a delicate exercise
and can also cause problems and a cynic may well question its utility. The answer is that it
has a salutary effect on administration which knows that it has to conform to the discipline of
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fundamental rights. Above all, the fundamental rights part in the Constitution is a salutary
reminder that the powers of the state are not unlimited and that human personality is
priceless. We need these reminders constantly.
The writer is a former attorney general for India
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GDP
CSO data on GDP lacks authenticity
Deccan Herald : Jan 10 , 2017
The advance estimate of 7.1% growth in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the current
financial year ending in March 2017 looks good on the face of it, but clearly defies ground
reality a subdued consumer demand and confidence, distressed trade, tentative corporate
performance and rural dismay. While releasing the data for the full year with more than a
quarter to go, the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) did give a disclaimer about not
incorporating the impact of demonetisation in its projections about the countrys growth. The
deceleration to 7.1% from 7.6% in the previous fiscal has come about on the back of
considerations like global headwinds, retaining Indias status among the fastest-growing
economies of the world. But such self-congratulatory report card carries no credibility when
vast segments of the economy are in a state of disarray.
In the initial days of the note-scrapping exercise, unprecedented anywhere on this scale,
Indias micro-small industries reported 35% job losses and 50% dip in revenue, according to
a study by the All India Manufacturers Organisation (AIMO). Job losses may go up to 60%
and revenue loss to 55% before March 31, the AIMO study further projected. Certain vital
sectors of the economy, which are among the largest employment generators, have come to a
standstill even as they battle the image of being the parking lot for black money and
corruption. Real estate and jewellery industries are almost shut, while tourism, infrastructure,
automobile, media, fast-moving consumer goods, transportation, among others are in the grip
of a slowdown. Agriculture sector and the entire rural landscape which had a godly
opportunity of rewarding farmers and farm workers, courtesy good monsoon seem to be
squandering away prospective gains as distress sales of onion, tomato, potato and several
other crops are being reported from a large number of states following the note ban.
The CSO may have managed to give flattering data by some technical and financial jugglery,
but the GDP numbers without factoring in the impact of demonetisation are meaningless and
are being taken so by the markets and independent analysts. The Finance Ministry, which is
busy making the Budget to be presented a month ahead of the conventional last day of
February, would do well not to rely too much on the CSO advance estimates while projecting
the revenue and expenditure figures for the fiscal 2017-18. With Prime Minister Narendra
Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley admitting visible impact of the invalidation of Rs
500 and Rs 1,000 notes on the economy, an ear to the ground policy would serve better.
Fiscal discipline: States must raise more of their own taxes

It is not enough to focus on just the central governments fiscal deficit. The states count, too.
RBI governor Urjit Patel has rightly cautioned that high borrowings by the Centre and states
block Indias ability to improve its credit rating. Successive finance commissions have
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recommended greater discipline: lowering the debt to GDP ratio for the Centre and states
combined, zero-revenue deficit and emergence of revenue surplus.
The combined debt to GDP ratio of about 66% in 2014-15. Official data comes with a huge
lag. Last year, rating agency Moodys forecast combined fiscal deficit of the Centre and
states at 7.2% in 2015-16. This is well above the combined yearly limit of 6% recommended
by the 14th Finance Commission for the period 2015-16 to 2019-20. Aspecial report by IndRa on the budget performance of 23 states has estimated that budgetary targets are likely to
be missed in FY17. Only 12 states had a revenue surplus in FY16 and qualify for additional
borrowings.
At an aggregate level, states are likely to have had a revenue deficit for a third consecutive
year in FY16. This is disconcerting. States have their own resources: the value-added tax on
petroleum, a money spinner, accounting for nearly 18% of their revenues. States share of tax
devolution too rose to 42% from 32% of the divisible pool, based on the 14th FC
recommendation. However, central transfers (share in central taxes plus grants-in aid)
declined by 0.3% of GDP in 2015-16, as many centrally schemes were withdrawn. The states
and the Centre must adopt the Goods and Services Tax at the earliest to boost revenues.
Once adopted, GST will put paid to luring investment via tax concessions. Better governance
and infrastructure would become the differentiating factors. In order to raise resources on
their own, the states need to improve their credit rating. And greater fiscal discipline is the
key to better ratings. For their own sake and for the sake of the nations overall
macroeconomic health, the states must put their fiscal house in order.
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Handicapped
Step up efforts to prevent blindness
The World Braille Day which was observed last week was an opportunity for the world to
focus its attention on the condition of blind people and to spread awareness about their needs.
The day commemorates the birthday of Louis Braille who invented the system that enables
the blind and partially blind people to read and write. More than any other facility, it is the
Braille language which has helped millions of blind people to access and understand the
world through education. It has empowered and enabled them to cope with the challenges of
life which are much more difficult for them than for others. Blindness is more debilitating
than any other physical disability and almost always makes people dependent on others. The
original Braille system has been improved much since it was invented and has many more
practical uses and applications now.
The day is of special significance to India as the country has the largest population of blind
people in the world. It has over 15 million of the worlds 37 million blind people. The blind
do not receive the consideration and treatment they deserve in the country. The problem of
blindness has to be tackled at three levels. One is to provide the necessary facilities for blind
people to go about their lives. This will include effective implementation of the laws that are
intended for the support and welfare of the differently-abled and creation of suitable public
infrastructure for their use. However, even provisions for reservations are not effectively
implemented. The second is to empower them through education and help them live their
lives independently with dignity and self-respect. Routine announcements are made in this
respect on Braille Day and on other occasions, but the promises are not kept. For example,
the 350 special schools in the country are far too inadequate for the two million blind
children.
The third and, perhaps, the most important need is to prevent blindness and help blind people
gain or regain their eye sight. It is estimated that 75% of the cases of blindness in India are
preventable. But adequate medical facilities do not exist. There is not even the awareness that
most cases of eye impairment can be successfully treated. The number of optometrists and
ophthalmologists is far less than required. About 25% of the blind people suffer from corneal
blindness. But only a few thousands of corneal transplants are done every year. It is necessary
to exponentially increase the number of eye donations. All these should receive a greater
attention from the government, society and individuals.
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International Relations
Next Door Nepal: Being with the force
Cordial relations with Nepals army is crucial to Indian and Chinese diplomacy.
Written by Yubaraj Ghimire
India, the bulk supplier of arms and ammunition to the Nepal army, was yet to
resume supplies it had stopped in February 2005 after King Gyanendra took over.(Source: Google Map)
Chinas pledge for a grant of one billion RMB for post-earthquake reconstruction and border
road construction last month came as a new year gift to Nepal. It was a message that Chinas
involvement in Nepal will grow. The deal signed in Beijing between Nepals ambassador to
China and Chinas vice minister for commerce coincided with a significant announcement by
the spokesperson of the Chinese defence ministry. He said that Nepal and China will conduct
a joint military training soon, something that may not be taken very kindly in India.
Many think the joint exercise that will focus on counter-terrorism and disaster
management will mark the beginning of a long-term formal cooperation between the two
neighbours. The two armies have quietly undertaken confidence building measures,
especially after 2008, when China solicited the help of Nepals army to keep a vigil on the
Nepal-China border. It feared that pro-Tibet human rights groups might disturb the Beijing
Olympics.
Nepal was going through sweeping radical political changes then. With the monarchy, its
constitutional and traditional patron, gone, the army faced multiple crises. India, the bulk
supplier of arms and ammunition to the Nepal army, was yet to resume supplies it had
stopped in February 2005 after King Gyanendra took over. The United Mission to Nepal and
several international agencies monitoring the peace process treated Nepals army on par with
the Maoists two sides of the decade-long conflict. They began lobbying for its downsizing
and democratisation. When the Maoists joined Nepals politics, the army was not in the
new dispensations trust zone. So, the much-vilified Nepalese army saw Chinas request for
help in 2008 as recognition and readily accepted it.
In March 2011, when India and the western diplomatic community were more interested in
influencing Nepals peace, constitution-making and political processes, China sent the chief
of its Peoples Liberation Army, Chen Bingde, to explore army-to-army relations with Nepal.
China was worried about prolonged political instability in Nepal. The rapidly eroding
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authority of the Nepali state and the visible nexus between India and the western countries in
dictating Nepals political agenda was detrimental to Chinese interest. The joint military
event announced recently is another attempt to strengthen trust between the two countries.
Indias minister of state for external affairs, V.K. Singh, a former chief of army staff, has
tried to play down the event. Since the military relations between Nepal and India are
unique, a military exercise with China would not create problems in the military relations
between the two countries, he said.
Relations between the two armies have remained unique from 1947 their heads have been
conferred the status of honorary general in the other country since 1965. Indias then-army
chief, Dalbir Singh Suhag, is believed to have played a crucial behind-the-scenes role in
February last year in persuading his government to end the five-month-long economic
blockade of Nepal. Nepali authorities believe the Indian army was not comfortable with the
Ministry of External Affairs radical shift in Nepal policy during the UPA rule. This shift
entailed isolating the monarchy, improving relations with the Maoists and stopping the
supply of arms and ammunition to the Nepal army in 2005 There are speculations that Suhag,
who retired recently, could be Indias envoy to Nepal.
Will that help in mending bilateral relations? The latest report of the Delhi-based Observer
Research Foundation infers that Chinas influence has increased in the SAARC region,
notably Nepal. But only India can assess the damage to its credibility in Nepal as a result of
its support to radical forces in the country, including the Maoists incidentally, India
considers the Maoists in its own territory its biggest security threat. China, in contrast, has
said it respects Nepals sovereignty and it will not interfere in Nepals internal affairs. But
Chinese President Xi Jinpings much-awaited visit to Nepal in October did not take place;
some believe the new government led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal gave priority to the visit of the
Indian president in early November.
However, China has invested heavily in Nepal, so the countrys engagement at the higher
political and institutional levels in Nepal is inevitable. As Nepal continues to be in disarray
and with its one-year-old constitution proving hard to implement, the army has regained
credibility. So, maintaining cordial relations with the army seems an essential part of
diplomacy for Nepals two neighbours.
yubaraj.ghimire@expressindia.com
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Donald Trump set to turn campaign trail promises into policies; Mexico,
China in cross-hairs
Mexico and China figured prominently in the new US president Donald Trumps election
campaign. Mexico was singled out for taking away manufacturing jobs from the US. Trump
also identified Mexico as one of the largest sources of illegal immigrants into the US. China,
apart from being labelled a currency manipulator, was blamed for severely damaging the US
economy by running a huge trade surplus and dumping cheap imports into the American
economy.
The slant of Trumps electoral campaign generated apprehensions that under his presidency,
the US would follow distinct anti-Mexico and anti-China policies. With Trump about to
move into office in a few days, there are signals of the fears coming true.
Mexico has been a major beneficiary of the North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) between the US, Canada and Mexico enacted in 1993. Several US companies,
particularly automakers, have relocated parts of production to Mexico for utilising cheap
labour and lower material costs. These companies take advantage of zero tariffs under
NAFTA to export cheaper cars made in Mexico to the US. While US consumers benefit by
getting access to cheaper automobiles, shelving of domestic operations of many US auto
companies have led to loss of American jobs. Trumps goal is to retain American jobs. He
has argued for renegotiating NAFTA and imposing a border tax as high as 35%, making
exports from Mexico to the US expensive and discouraging US producers from relocating to
Mexico.
Business reactions appear to indicate that Trumps threat of American companies facing
consequences for shifting jobs out of the US is working. The Carrier was among the first to
announce retention of around 800 jobs in the US that were slated to move to Mexico. Ford
has recently decided to scrap plans for building a new facility at Mexico and has instead
planned to add more jobs in its Michigan operations in the US. The largest American
automobile company, General Motors, has been at the receiving end of Trumps attention for
shifting production and jobs to Mexico. Several US companies with plans for expanding
business in Mexico have put them on hold and decided to wait and watch.
Observers are also detecting signals on Trumps strategy towards China. This is particularly
with respect to US-China trade relations where Trump is determined to correct the imbalance
and reduce Americas dependence on Chinese products. The appointment of Peter Navarro,
author of Death by China and The Coming China Wars, as head of the White House National
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Trade Council, complements appointments of Robert Lighthizer as USTR and Wilbur Ross
as commerce secretary. All three are known for their critical views on China. Trumps much
discussed telephone conversation with Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-Wen soon after
assuming officethe first between the Taiwanese and US presidents since 1979did not fail
to send the message to China. President Tsai is opposed to the One China Policy and is a
supporter of stronger US-Taiwan ties. If these developments are any indication then Trump is
likely to assume aggressive postures against China on both trade and strategic fronts.
The specifics of Trumps policies towards Mexico and China will become clearer once he
and his team are in place. But early indications as mentioned above point to introduction of
policies that reflect Trumps views on jobs and trade articulated during his high-pitch election
campaign. The implications of these policies will be significant.
A border tax on exports to US from Mexico would cripple one of the worlds most active and
economic activity-inducing FTAs. The NAFTA has worked well for its members. It has also
worked well for countries entering into bilateral FTAs with NAFTA members such as the US
or Canada. Access to either of the latter markets provides FTA partners additional access to
most of the consolidated North American market, as exports originating from NAFTA
members move tariff-free within the common market. This would have been an external
benefit for Indian exporters under the India-Canada FTA being negotiated. A border tax
would change all these. It would also work opposite to the key rationale of FTAs. Countries
enter into FTAs for eliminating tariffs and lowering cost of trade. A border tax and
withdrawal of incentives for producing and exporting from FTA partner countries makes
cross-border trade an expensive proposition.
Trump might resort to similar trade actions against China. High tariffs on Chinese exports to
the US would affect Sino-US trade, as China is likely to retaliate. Initiating measures for
establishing China a currency manipulator would complicate global financial transactions
given the yuans acceptance as a global currency. From a larger global trade liberalisation
perspective, the actions would militate against the agenda and principle of the WTO, which
has been striving for years to move towards a tariff-free world.
Trumps views on trade as an unfair and discriminatory economic process are well known. If
these get spelt out in specific actions, the effects on global trade would be significant.
Coercing US companies to not go out and Make in America would require significant
changes in domestic tax structures for offsetting higher costs of producing from home. That
again might have implications for revenues and Trumps grand infrastructure investment
plans. The long-term impact of these policies for the US economy therefore is uncertain. But
like in the US elections, Trump might end up producing surprises and doing for the US what
most dont bargain for. Watch would reveal this once wait ends on January 20.
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Strategic partnership.Really?
Bilateral relations coast on diplomatic niceties and joint statements invariably use flowery
language to describe relationships in the best possible terms. Nevertheless, Indias decisions
over the past two decades to upgrade more than 30 of its bilateral relationships to strategic
partnerships is excessive. While there may be many ways to parse the term, its usage in
international diplomacy is fairly clear: it defines a bilateral relationship more important than
others, but stops short of an actual alliance. The term strategic further implies a future
convergence of interests in areas that are vital: security, defence and investment. If that is the
case, Indias latest strategic partnership signed with the east African country of Rwanda, after
Prime Minister NarendraModi met Rwandan President Paul Kagame in Gandhinagar this
week, warrants further study. Rwanda is a land-locked country with 90 per cent of its
population engaged in subsistence agriculture. It is also still recovering from the mass murder
of large sections of its Hutu population in 1994, though the country has registered remarkable
progress and growth in the last few years. While it may therefore be an important destination
for Indias development assistance, it is difficult to see how it qualifies as a strategic
partner, particularly given that India is yet to set up a full diplomatic mission in the country;
the last time New Delhi even sent a delegation to Kigali was in 2012. Given all of this, it
would seem that the governments move was more about window-dressing the relationship
than imbuing it with any meaningful substance.
Mr. Modis is not the first government to use the term strategic partnership lightly. Since
1998, when India announced its first strategic partnership with France, successive
governments have signed such partnerships with dozens of countries. While relations with
each of these are important, they are not vital to Indias interests. The nomenclature also begs
a question: if all the countries on the list are strategically important, what does this mean for
countries on the UN Security Council such as the U.S., the U.K., France, Russia and China,
or others such as Japan, Australia, and some of the neighbours who genuinely contribute to
Indias security and economic interests and who have also signed strategic-partnership
agreements with New Delhi? Clearly, a more cogent policy with clear-cut criteria for
strategic partnerships must be considered by the Ministry of External Affairs, with the focus
on countries with which there is a long-term vision on securing Indias needs, coupled with a
convergence of strategic interests.
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Lt. Governor
Bedi should desist from taking on govt
An unseemly confrontation is developing bet-ween Kiran Bedi, Lt Governor of Puducherry,

and the state cabinet headed by Chief Minister V Narayanasamy. Puducherry is a Union
Territory with an elected assembly and a representative government, like Delhi, and unlike
five other UTs where assemblies do not exist. The LG of Delhi enjoys a special position
which limits the powers of the elected government, as made clear by recent court judgements.
In spite of these judgements, the desirability of giving overriding powers to an appointed
authority is still a matter of debate. Puducherry, however, has no claim to a special status as
the national capital region has, and so the government arrangement there cannot be
considered similar to Delhi. But Kiran Bedi thinks she has more powers than governors of
states because she is the administrator of a Union Territory. The UTs are directly under the
central government for specific historical reasons. That does not mean that the Lt Governor
has more powers than the elected government. In that case, there is no need for a government
formed on the basis of elections.
Bedi has insisted that she should have the last word on all policy matters. She says her office
is not a post office, and that she will have a decisive say in the budget. She also says she may
overlook the legislature if it becomes necessary. She has established direct communication
lines with bureaucrats through platforms like WhatsApp groups and has ignored the chief
ministers request that ministers should not be bypassed. There is no rationale and
justification for her overreach which is against precedent and constitutional norms. The
Constitution does not envisage a subordinate role for an elected government even in a UT,
and the legislature cannot be reduced to an irrelevant body. It is against basic democratic
norms for an LG to claim powers to make or alter the budget. The power to raise revenue and
spend it lies entirely with the legislature in a democracy.
It is clear that Bedi is driven by political considerations. It is a Congress-DMK coalition that
rules Puducherry, and Bedis loyalty is to the central government which chose her for her
position. Ideally, it should be to the Constitution, but long years in public service and life
have unfortunately not taught her that. Her relationship with the UT government would have
been different if it was friendly with the NDA. The
situation in Puducherry is becoming similar to the one that existed in Delhi when Najeeb
Jung was the LG there. Bedi should desist from her course which upsets the balance of
powers envisaged by the Constitution.
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Jung 2.0
Bedi has some good ideas about governance. She undermines them by painting government
as adversary, herself as saviour.
By: Editorial
Lieutenant governor of Puducherry, Kiran Bedi, has told this newspaper that she does not
plan to run her office as a post-office.
Pointing to the powers the Constitution has bestowed on the office of the LG, Bedi also said
she may chose to overlook the legislature if the situation is compelling and will have a say in
the state budget. The LG, according to the Constitution, is the administrator of the Union
Territory and she governs as representative of the President. Bedi thinks Puducherry, a UT,
needs to be administered by her even if it has a legislative assembly, a council of ministers
and a chief minister. She has cited Puducherrys debt burden, the imbalance in the
allocations of funds to rural and urban areas and so on to justify her intervention in
governance.
But Bedis activism some of her ideas on civic amenities are compelling begs the
question: Why must she make Raj Bhavan seem an active power centre? To say, as she has,
that she may or may not consult the legislature shows a contempt for the Constitutional red
lines between an Assembly and a Raj Bhavan. Surely, it makes no sense to have a legislature
and a council of ministers if these are to be overruled by a hyper-active LG. If Bedi is to run
the administration she has designed an executive rule for herself and has ignored the chief
ministers plea that ministers not be bypassed to communicate directly with bureaucrats,
especially through WhatsApp groups the council of ministers will be reduced to a
ceremonial institution feeding on public funds with no administrative role. This certainly
could not be the role the Constitution envisaged for the legislature, even in a UT. Bedis
approach, eerily similar to that former LG of Delhi, Najeeb Jung, took against the AAP
government causing acrimony, is tantamount to overriding the public mandate and upsetting
the balance of powers that the Constitution envisages between the LG and the legislature.
Bedis concern for governance in Puducherry is understandable but she ought to restrict her
role to that of an advisor to the elected government. Her capabilities and enthusiasm will be
better appreciated if they are directed to guide the administration than to appropriate the role
of the chief minister and his council of ministers. Propriety and custom insist that the LG
allows primacy in administration to the elected government.
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The Dignity of her Office

Kiran Bedis talent could be Puducherrys gain, but she needs to tone her language
Written by Bhopinder Singh
Lt Governor of Puducherry Kiran Bedi (File Photo)
The larger point in the LG-CM tussle in Puducherry is not on the use of social media
platforms, possible security issues therein, or even, the impact of technology on governance
everyone agrees that speed is the leitmotif of modern governance. The issue is one of
persevering with the constitutional spirit that necessitates gubernatorial actions reflect
contextual sobriety. This does not debar action-oriented measures, but mandates a certain
tone and demands the governor to be the benevolent elder, who could legitimately rein in
the government of the day, even though it represents the larger will of the electorate, when a
constitutional crisis looms. What constitutes a crisis to warrant a public dissent is subjective,
but the phraseology and text of the gubernatorial reprimand, is not.
The Indian Constitution has chiseled an active and executive role for the prime minister and
chief ministers, and more conservative and overlooking responsibilities for the President
and those holding gubernatorial positions. The means, methods and implied perceptions
emanating from such gubernatorial intervention hold the key to this delicate system. The
morality and dignity of the chair cannot be lowered to meet the mainstream temptations of
action-orientedness.
It is true that the LGs office is relatively more administrative than a conventional
governors. If a state or UT has the benefit of an LG with skills and accomplishments in a
certain domain, as indeed Puducherry does with Kiran Bedi, the same ought to be used for the
benefit of the state and its people. Unlike inter-party or intra-party rivals, the LG and CM do
not compete with each other for electoral gains. In fact, Bedis claim to fame is due to her
professional accomplishments, and herein lies an invaluable opportunity to redefine
cooperative federalism.
Beyond the technicalities of being bound by the advice of the council of ministers, the
governor has to finally render his/her advice only after ensuring its constitutional
compliance from a prism of non-partisanship. Else, the import of punishing the government
with a return or review of a file can only be explained in the calculus of morality. The
brilliance of constitutional intervention in the democratic framework was exemplified by the
late President K.R. Narayanan, who personified constitutional propriety in the most dignified,
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revolutionary, yet reformatory way. From returning for reconsideration, the files pertaining
to the imposition of Presidents rule (and succeeding in protecting the federal instincts),
standing in line to exercise his franchise, to deftly working on presidential drafts and
articulating views that often reflected opinions different from that of the elected government,
Narayanan was constitutionally protectionist, reformist and action-oriented at the same time
this, without lowering the collective dignity of the will of the people that was manifested
in the elected government of the day.
Certain genuinely apolitical interventions by the constitutional heads do run the risk of
acquiring a political colour, given the different political dispensations in the state/UT and the
Centre. However, commenting on the incumbent chief minister in one of her write-ups Bedi
noted, and here comes the chief minister of Puducherry who decides to put a ban on use
of social media in all official communications. He even threatens officers with departmental
action if they do not drop out of the groups. The point is beyond the inelegance of
expression or the public mainstreaming of dissent that is the individuals prerogative.
However, the tone and its public mainstreaming militates against reconciliatory options in a
more civil, discreet and mature way. Such public grandstanding could potentially discolour
even the genuine points of gubernatorial displeasure.
Bedis gubernatorial assignment requires her to adapt to the role in a manner that is less
confrontational, and still not a rubber-stamp in Indian democracy, the opposite of
confrontational need not be conformist. In an era of extreme societal polarisation,
divisiveness and vitriolic politics, there is a need to soothe the frayed nerves of the electorate.
Such a healing touch can only come from the conscience-keeper of a state/UT, who is
above the humdrum of political intransigence. Bedi has the intent, capabilities and options to
deliver her stated promise to the citizens, and to her own talent, as long as she overcomes her
own instincts.
The writer is former Lt Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Puducherry
KiranBedi should back off gracefully

Kiran Bedi, the lieutenant governor of Puducherry, insists on having the last word in most
policy matters. Her latest remark, that she will have final say over proposals in the state
budget, irrespective of what the state cabinet decides, has created a confrontation with chief
minister V Narayanasamy.
As LG, Bedi represents the interests of the central government in New Delhi, period.
Domestic policy matters are to be decided by the government elected by the people, which in
this case is a coalition, where the Congress has 15 members, exactly half the strength of the
30-member assembly.
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Its ally, the DMK, has two seats. It is this government, elected by the people and presumably
acting in their best interests, which must make policy. Bedi, whose role is to act as New
Delhis eyes and ears, should stick to her remit and stop meddling in governance.
Puducherry was merged into India in 1962, after its French colonisers left. One year later, the
government passed legislation creating Union territories (UTs), which were directly under
central rule.
There were originally 18 UTs, whose number has steadily come down to seven, today. Of
these, Puducherry and the National Capital Region, centred on Delhi, have elected
governments.
A third, Chandigarh, serves as the capital of Haryana and Punjab. Puducherry has had elected
governments since 1963. Bedi, whose career has been dogged by controversy, has now
created another unnecessary one.
Bedi must see sense and back off from her presumptuous claims on power. Otherwise,
Puducherry will witness the same tension between LG and CM that Delhi saw between exLG Najeeb Jung and chief minister ArvindKejriwal.
That ended with Jungs recent resignation. Bedi must realise peoples sympathies are with
elected representatives; not administrators flown out of Delhi.
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NRIs
At Pravasi Diwas, PM Modi seeks to deepen engagement with NRIs
PM Modi highlighted the massive contributions of the diaspora community to India and its
economy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modis popularity is not restricted to the Indian borders and cuts
across borders to much of the 30 million Indian diaspora. He enjoys celebrity status in the
diaspora community and it is fitting that the contributions of these Indians is recognised by
the PM as well. One of the major points the PM highlighted in his address at the Pravasi
Bharatiya Diwas celebrations on Sunday, is reducing brain drain.
At the Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas which was inaugurated in Bengaluru, a first for the Karnataka
capital, PM Modi highlighted the massive contributions of the diaspora community to India
and its economy.
He highlighted that Indian diaspora contributes around $69 billion a year in the form of
remittances to India and hence the key role it plays in Indias development, even when it
stays far from Indias shores.
There is nothing wrong if an individual sees an opportunity and seeks to grab it abroad. To a
great extent, it is also the countrys loss if a capable Indian leaves for shores abroad to find a
successful life with the skills he has attained here. But the contributions of the diaspora to
Indian has been regular. It is time for India to acknowledge their work to promote Indias
intellectual prowess and soft powers on the global stage.
The governments approach to the issue of brain drain has been pragmatic. Instead of creating
hurdles for people seeking to study or get work abroad and settle there, it has proposed skill
development plans for Indians seeking work abroad and the diaspora as flag bearers of Indian
culture, values and ethos. The Pravasi Kaushal Vikas Yojana is one such skill development
plan announced by the PM. It seems the PM sees it as an opportunity for the diaspora to
engage with India on a more personal and increased level.
The Indian Express Online Media Pvt Ltd
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Diaspora: Beyond blood and treasure

The Pravasi Bharatiya Divas must not be dismissed as a three-day jamboree or a side show
for Indians living abroad and people of Indian origin. Instead, it is an opportunity for
engagement.
The present governments approach in this regard is most welcome. Nearly 16 million people
born in India now live elsewhere, according the United Nations International Migration
Report.
The World Bank estimated that remittance flow to India in 2015 was to the tune of $72
billion. The pravasi Indian is an important resource, and occasions like the PravasiBharatiya
Divas should yield partnerships to aid the social and economic transformation of the country.
Across the world today, Indians NRIs and persons of Indian origin are in leadership
positions in businesses, academia and policymaking. The overseas Indian should be seen as
more than a potential investor.
Given their location in the mainstream of their adopted countries or their sheer numbers, the
overseas Indian can play an important role in presenting a more realistic assessment of India.
Governments and institutions need to make provisions that will allow for such partnerships to
be more than good intentions. As the government crafts its engagement with overseas
Indians, it needs to augment its outreach services for expats, especially as the Gulf countries
such as UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and several African states have emerged as
important destinations for emigrating Indians, besides the US, UK and Canada.
Given Indias ambitions as a global power, the diaspora provides an important entry point for
India to work with countries across the world big and small. The governments outreach to
the expat Indian community needs to be more than pomp and show.
Neither should the size and volume of investments become the only measure of success of
this partnership.
Instead, the expat should be a resource that can be drawn on. That requires work from all
stakeholders. It also requires a vital and transparent adjustment of expectations that
stakeholders have of each other.
8-15 January, 2017
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Issue No. 2
Parliament
An endless decline
Afroz Alam
Deccan Herald : Jan 10 , 2017,
The 2016 winter session has been the least productive one for both the Rajya Sabha and the
Lok Sabha in the last 15 years.
We were under the impression that Indian Parliament will regain its glory during the
present NDA regime. We did notice certain visible improvements in its working in the
past two years in terms of its productivity, passing of bills, attendance and
participations of MPs in parliamentary proceedings. But our impression got shattered
when we observed that the 2016 winter session has been the least productive session for
both the Houses in the last 15 years.
Looking at the data provided by PRS Legislative Research, we can safely argue that all
improvements made in the working of our parliament before this session is proved a mere
aberration. Parliamentary disruptions continued over non-legislative issues like
demonetisation and delay in landing of an aircraft carrying a chief minister due to air traffic
issues.
While Lok Sabha lost 107 hours of scheduled time to disruptions, Rajya Sabha lost 101
hours. Out of the eight legislative bills introduced during this session, only two were passed Taxation Laws (Second Amendment) Bill, 2016 and Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill,
2014. In total, LS worked for 15% of the scheduled hours and RS for 18%. Further, only two
of the 330 listed questions in RS could be answered orally. In LS, 11% of the questions could
be answered orally. This has also been one of the least productive question hour sessions for
both RS and LS.
It is now amply clear that whichever party forms the government with whatever majority, the
pivotal position of parliament will continue to deteriorate. In fact, the poor narrative of the
working of parliament does not suitably fit the patterns during the first one and half decades
of Indian democracy. The achievements of the Nehru era have been extraordinary by any
standard.
Despite the scale of his parliamentary majorities, Nehru emerged as a genuine
parliamentarian as he showed great deference and sensitivity to parliament. He sought to
create an atmosphere of trust and consultation with the opposition. For him, parliament was
not only a moral institution but also an emblem of Indias modernity. Both parliament and
parliamentarians were working with dignity and authority. Records also indicate that the MPs
attended the parliamentary sessions well-prepared and were heard with rapt attention.
Outstanding debates were common and functioning of the executive was criticised and
debated by the ruling party itself. While analysing the story of Indian Parliament, MorrisJones found Nehru as the reason behind its successful working while arguing that Perhaps
India, without Nehru's leadership, might not so firmly have acquired this political system,
(and) might not have been able so quickly to let it take clear shape.
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Nevertheless, a careful analysis of the parliamentary proceedings over the last three decades
indicates a painful transition from a remarkable deference to the growing insensitivity of our
parliamentarians towards not only the parliamentary decorum and decency but the institution
as a whole. It might sound strange but the mystery of parliamentary rot is much deeper that
one can perceive.
The frequency of parliamentary disruptions through walkouts has become the norm. The
quality time of parliament is wasted in trivial political controversies, rowdiness, disorder and
theatrics. The parliamentary perversion could also be seen not only in the falling standard of
the parliamentarians but also in their marriage with crime, money, scams and demagoguery.
Are we living in the final fading years of parliamentary glory? Is parliamentary decorum and
decency no more a priority in contemporary age? In this regard, five preliminary observations
on the possible reason for institutional dec-line of parliament call for special attention. First,
there is a serious absence of genuine will among parliamentarians to inculcate parliamentary
values in their personality. Their personal gain is prioritised over the parliamentary image and
values as they use parliament as a `taken-for-granted institution.
Second, the democratic paradox of first-past-the post system lies in the opportunity for every
non-serious candidate with muscular and economic strength having strong probabilities of
winning the parliamentary seat. This is evident from the criminal records of the most of the
parliamentarians and their complex nexus with corporate world. Thus, expecting civil
behaviour from them is little too much an expectation.
Third, there is the aspect of digitisation of parliamentary records and televising of
parliamentary proceedings. Most of the parliamentary disruptions, walkouts, protests and
trivial hungama by our parliamentarians are due to the chance of being seen on TV and the
consequent publicity among the electorates of their respective constituencies.
Multi-party framework
Fourth, while the multi-party framework has helped parliament emerge as platform to debate
and discuss the diverse issues and interests, it has also, most of the time, been trivial in
character and electoral in intent. In doing so, matters of high national and political importance
are sidelined.
Fifth, there is a shift in the ownership of our parliament from the people to a few entrenched
dynastic oligarchs. Parliamentary hall is treated as drawing room of these oligarchs where
everything is taken for granted without any code of conduct. The issues of parliamentary
accountability, decency and decorum, debate and discussions are easily sidelined as if these
are small inner house family matters.
Last, there is the growing indifference among the people towards the working of Indian
Parliament. While wealth, crime and political power have always colluded to some degree,
there comes to a point where apathy, pseudo tolerance and indifference binds the will of the
people to a fanatical idea that brings total loss of faith in the efficiency and transparency of
their own institution. Our parliamentarians are taking advantage of this growing indifference
as their rampant un-parliamentary behaviour going unchecked.
If we are not able to draw serious attention on reforming the parliamentary system, the time is
not far off when our parliament will only be treated as a gossip centre like a paan shop where
self-styled politicians discuss political issues with no policy or legislative outcomes.
8-15 January, 2017
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Issue No. 2
Political Reform
Let down by apex court
A chance to clean up stinking political system wasted
Indias democracy has been smeared by corruption and black money, and the Supreme Court
has just missed a chance to do a bit of clean-up. In two separate orders the court has taken a
politically correct line, shying away from contributing to probity in public life. By dismissing
documents and diaries recovered in income tax-CBI raids on the Birla-Sahara groups as
loose sheets inadmissible as evidence, a bench of Justices Arun Mishra and Amitava Roy
has ruled out a probe, saying no democracy can function if investigation is set in motion
against high constitutional functionaries without cogent material. The apex court appears to
be reviving the jurisprudential thrust imparted by Justice JS Verma in the Jain hawala case.
Already constitutional functionaries facing charges manage to escape conviction by
influencing the process of investigation. Those with experience in under-hand deals leave no
evidence of wrongdoing. If somehow some proof of corruption still emerges now and then,
the apex courts latest order will ensure that it is not relied upon even for further
investigation. Computer entries, diaries, emails and excel sheets may not meet the
requirements of the Evidence Act but why these should not prompt a further probe to help the
dignitary come clean or face the law is not clear. Cogent material can be collected only
after and not before an investigation since bribe givers are not expected to maintain
books of account on a regular basis.
A bench of Chief Justice JS Khehar and Justice DY Chandrachud has held that there is no
illegality in the income tax exemption granted to political parties. This is very technical
reading of the law. An exemption of income tax is normally available to those individuals,
corporate and other entities which maintain proper records of income and expenditure audited
by independent auditors. Sources of political funding are non-transparent. The government
and the Election Commission have accepted that a large number of political parties are
inactive and exist just to launder black money. There is a move to de-register them. The court
had an opportunity to force political parties to disclose sources of all money received. The
Supreme Courts status-quoist, play-safe and timid approach in both cases is a
disappointment.
8-15 January, 2017
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Politics
Punish BJP's Sakshi Maharaj for remarks
BJP MP Sakshi Maharajs offensive comments about Muslims are an obvious attempt at
communal polarisation of the electorate before the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections slated
for February and March. Though he did not name the community, it is clear that he meant the
Muslim community when he said last week at a religious function in Meerut that the
population boom in the country was not because of Hindus but because of those who support
the concept of four wives and 40 children. The police have filed an FIR against the MP and
the Election Commission has slapped a notice on him saying that he has prima facie violated
the model code of conduct. Provocative comments with communal intent and overtones are
routinely made before elections, and they are part of the electoral plans in sensitive states like
UP. It is Hindutva leaders who are mostly seen to be indulging in this.
The BJP has tried to distance itself from the statement with a junior Union minister, Mukhtar
Abbas Naqvi, saying that the statement does not represent the governments or the partys
views. But such denials do not carry credibility. Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has
refused to comment on the matter. Neither Prime Minister Narendra Modi nor party president
Amit Shah has made the governments and the partys views clear on it. It has always been
the BJPs strategy to blame fringe elements in the party for such provocative statements and
to claim that these are their personal views. This is a clever and convenient ruse. The
mischief has its impact and the party gets its political or electoral mileage from it without
being held responsible for it and being spared of legal or other consequences, if any. No
action is taken against those who make such statements. No warnings or even show-cause
notices are issued to them. That shows how sincere the party is in its denials.
Sakshi Maharajs statement should invite action under the Supreme Courts recent judgement
which held that an appeal in the name of religion would amount to electoral malpractice.
After the court judgement, the BJP had said that it would not practise the politics of religious
polarisation and blamed other parties for it. But is well known that it is the BJP which has
misused religion the most for its politics. The matter goes beyond the rights and wrongs about
elections. The party does not realise the damage being done to society by outrageous
statements like those being made by Sakshi Maharaj and other rabid elements in its ranks and
by its own double talk about them, which actually amounts to approval.
Out of my mind: SC order incomprehensible

Secularism may be the constitutional position, but politics has ignored it
Written by Meghnad Desai
The first Monday of the new year opened with a flurry of decisions by the Supreme Court. It
is the decision that caste, religion, race, community or language cannot be used as grounds to
seek votes which should concern us most.
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Thinking as hard as I can, I find this decision incomprehensible if the history of Indian
elections has any relevance. The roots of this judgment are in the Representation of the
People Act, Section 123. The broader issue is that India being a secular state, any exploitation
of religion would amount to corrupt practice. For good measure, caste, language, race and
community were added.
Which country can this decision relate to? I live in the UK which is not a secular state since
the head of State is also the head of the Anglican Church. But since the country is a secular
society, where religion has lost any salience, no one worries about such issues. India may be
a secular State, but it is an intensely religious society. The largest community, the Hindus,
characterise themselves by their caste and jati identity. Indeed the SC/ST reservations cannot
be understood outside that context nor can the recommendations of the Mandal Commission.
The Fifties were spent creating linguistic states, which could not have been done without
using language as an election issue.
One can argue that the depth and durability of Indias democracy are precisely because issues
of religion, caste, language, all of which touch peoples daily lives, can be deployed in
elections and have been. The entire politics of OBC and Dalit empowerment during the 1990s
and later would have been impossible had this decision been given then. Brahmins in power
for ever would have been the result.
Partition was a deep wound at Independence. This has resulted in a phobia about the
discussion of religion for the fear that Muslims as a religious minority may suffer reprisals. In
polite circles, we do not use the M word; just speak of the minority community. All other
minority religions are thereby put at a disadvantage. Communal riots are Hindu-Muslim, so
1984 was not a communal riot. When Y S Rajasekhara Reddy died, no English newspaper (I
read seven everyday) mentioned that he was a Christian, as if it was a shameful thing to
admit. Rajiv Gandhi kept his Parsi origins unmentioned.
The reality is that rather than suppressing religion in the electoral contests, many ways have
been found to signal religion, caste, language etc. There is a healthy competition between
parties for votes and this leads them to resist any one party monopolising any of these
semiotic devices. This means that all the hangups, doubts, even hatreds, are fully displayed.
Castes and jatis are used as recruiting devices by political parties. Not to do so would distort
reality. India can work out its million mutinies more or less peacefully only because these
issues are aired openly. Suppress that and see India break up.
Yet India, one of the most religious societies, acts as if to admit religion as a fact of political
life would lead to disaster. Just as the British were frightened off by 1857, independent India
has been wounded by 1947. Secularism may be the constitutional position, but politics has
ignored it. That has saved India from falling apart.
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SC ban on use of religion in polls tough to implement thanks to

motormouths like Sakshi Maharaj
Uttar Pradesh politics is heavily beset with religion and caste. And Sakshi Maharajs remarks
in this election season are not completely out of place. Whether it is the BJP or the BSP, SP,
Congress, or AIMIM, religion and caste issues have been used in elections by every party.
BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj.
In a remarkable order recently, the Supreme Court banned the use of religion and caste for
electoral gains. Coming just days ahead of assembly elections in four states, including Uttar
Pradesh, the SC order was widely hailed. But it seems Bharatiya Janata Party MP Sakshi
Maharaj has become the first offender of this order. At a meeting, the controversial leader
raked up the issue of population explosion and blamed a particular community for this.
Uttar Pradesh politics is heavily beset with religion and caste. And Sakshi Maharajs remarks
in this election season are not completely out of place. Whether it is the BJP or the BSP, SP,
Congress, or AIMIM, religion and caste issues have been used in elections by every party.
Elections are supposed to be and expected to be a secular exercise. But that is in an ideal
world. In our world, parties remain unaccountable to the actions of their MPs and wash their
hands off with a simple its their personal view and not the same as the party.
Political parties have to take strong steps in such cases if they are in fact committed to the
welfare of citizens and not just their vote bank. Despite the imposition of model code of
conduct and Supreme Courts orders prohibiting seeking votes on these lines in direct or
indirect manner, there are clearly loopholes people like Sakshi Maharaj are using to invoke
religion into the elections.
Sakshi Maharaj received a notice from the Election Commission for making distasteful
comments about a certain religious community on January 7 this year. Even though the
commission asked for his reply, the MP has apparently maintained that he did nothing wrong.
While its no surprise that such words have come out of Sakshi Maharaj, it is disappointing
that again the BJP has remained silent and not pulled him up for targeting a religious
community.
The Indian Express Online Media Pvt Ltd
8-15 January, 2017
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Issue No. 2
Building the bahujan

Mayawati fears that if the BSP is portrayed as an exclusively Dalit party, she might lose the
votes of other castes
Written by Badri Narayan
BSP chief Mayawati (Source: File)
The dates of the Vidhan Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh have been announced. All the
parties are readying themselves for the upcoming elections. The BJP and Congress will soon
announce their list of candidates. The Samajwadi Party has already released two sets of lists
one comprises candidates belonging to Akhileshs group and the second list has names of
candidates in the Mulayam faction. A majority of the candidates are common to both the lists,
the tussle is only over a few seats.
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) had begun preparing the list of its candidates soon after the
2014 general elections. The party had also announced the names of most of its candidates
some time ago; these candidates are already active in their respective constituencies.
Mayawati categorised her partys candidates on the basis of caste and religious identity by
clearly stating her social engineering strategy. In a press conference, she stated that out of the
403 assembly seats, the SC candidates, Muslim community, OBCs and savarna candidates
have been allotted 87, 97, 106 and 113 seats respectively. An analysis of her strategy reveals
that the BSP has given the most number of tickets to Muslim candidates, compared to the
other parties. During the 2012 elections, the BSP had given tickets to only 85 Muslim
candidates. This time the number has increased by 12. This provides a clear picture: The
Dalit-Muslim alliance forms the base of Mayawatis social engineering strategy in the
forthcoming elections. Though there are 85 reserved seats for the Dalits in UP, they also have
been given two more tickets in the current elections. The BSP has faith in its Dalit base, with
which it wants to associate the votes of the Muslim groups.
The BSP has given tickets to 106 OBC castes, while in the 2012 elections it had given tickets
to 113 OBC candidates. This time the tickets to savarna candidates have been reduced to 113
from 117 tickets in 2012. The data shows that the party has increased the tickets only of the
Muslim candidates and that there has been a reduction in the tickets to other social groups.
In 2012, the BSP gave tickets to 74 Brahmin candidates, illustrating its faith in the social
engineering strategy of a Dalit-Brahmin alliance. The fact that the number of Brahmin
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candidates in the upcoming elections has been reduced to 66 clearly shows that Mayawati is
now focusing on the Dalit-Muslim alliance. In addition, during her numerous rallies and
meetings, Mayawati has also appealed to Muslim groups to vote in favour of the BSP.
The BSP holds the view that the creation of a sarvajan society can be made possible only by
providing political participation to all its castes. When Mayawati and the BSP talk about
society, it seems like a confederation of castes. In fact, she adds society as a suffix to all the
caste names, such as Brahmin society, Dalit society etc. It is evident that Indian society is
divided on caste and religious lines. We just have to watch how the BSP and other parties
respond to the recently passed verdict of the Supreme Court on not using caste and religion to
garner votes during elections.
Kanshi Ram was of the view that casteism can be eradicated from society only when people
make use of their caste. Mayawati, influenced by his ideology, walked on the path set by
Kanshi Ram. She wants to prove that the BSP is not merely a party of the Dalits. It is
interested in providing political rights and representation to all castes. Mayawati fears that if
the BSP is portrayed as an exclusively Dalit party, she might lose the votes of other castes.
While declaring the list of its candidates for the 2017 assembly elections, Mayawati said,
once again, that the BSP is a sarvajan party and not a caste-based outfit. Its antagonists
accuse it of being casteist so that the groups other than Dalits do not associate with it. We
have to see how much success Mayawati attains in her strategy of forging a Dalit-Muslim
alliance.
Some leaders of Muslim groups are supportive of the SP and form a large base for the party.
However, due to the Muzaffarnagar riots and internal clashes, these Muslim groups are
somewhat disenchanted with the SP and are showing their support for the BSP. The BSP also
laid emphasis on the Muslim community in its bhaichara meetings. In the last few months,
the BSP is also rapidly organising the Backward Classes in bhaichara meetings at the block
level.
Dalits and Muslims are associated with the BSP, but it will benefit the party if it can also
attract Backward and savarna votes. The next two months will decide the form of this social
and caste-based polarisation. The days to come will prove how successful Mayawati has been
in her social engineering policy.
Narayan is a social scientist and author. His latest book, Fractured Tales: Invisibles in Indian
Democracy, is published by Oxford University Press
8-15 January, 2017
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Issue No. 2
Why Kejriwal cant afford to leave Delhi for Punjab

Kejriwals credibility as a leader strongly depends on his commitment to the citizens of
Delhi. No matter how beneficial Kejriwal may prove to be in Punjab elections for AAP, it
would be self-destructing to lose Delhis faith for Punjab.
AAP chief and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal addressing at a party

rally in Rohtak (PTI Photo)
A day after Manish Sisodia hinted that Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal may fight
elections in Punjab, the Delhi Chief Minister ruled out any such move. The clarification from
the Aam Aadmi Party convenor just days ahead of the elections shows that Kejriwal cannot
afford to leave Delhi and take a position in another state till he sees out his tenure as Delhi
CM.
The manner in which his first government came to power was unprecedented. AAP was still
in its nascent stage and the people of Delhi put their faith in Kejriwal and his party members
for a clean government. Kejriwals first government resigned within a matter of 47 days
after he failed to introduce the Lokpal Bill in the Delhi Assembly in 2013.
Their resignation drew massive backlash from the public as the capital was pushed into
presidents rule and people felt cheated as their elected government didnt stand up to the
difficulties they were facing. Kejriwal and his AAP quickly attained the reputation of
runaways.
Those incidents came to haunt them back again when Kejriwal forayed into national politics.
His party fought the Lok Sabha elections in over 400 seats. The party could only win 4 seats
including defeats in all seven seats in Delhi to the BJP. This was one of the most humiliating
defeats for Kejriwal and one that he would not have expected. After all, he was pitching
himself as the PM candidate in 2014.
Kejriwal, however, soon realised that his party still stands a chance in Delhi. Exactly a year
after his first minority government had resigned, AAP fought the elections and won with a
massive mandate. He took oath on February 14, 2015. The promise this time was he will not
desert the citizens of Delhi like before. He accepted his mistake publicly and got support of
the Delhi voters.
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Kejriwals credibility as a leader strongly depends on his commitment to the citizens of

Delhi. No matter how beneficial Kejriwal may prove to be in Punjab elections for AAP, it
would be self-destructing to lose Delhis faith for Punjab. Citizens feeling betrayed by
political parties of the day found a choice in Kejriwals alternative politics. He has to
maintain that faith if the AAP wants to establish a national imprint.
The party will fight elections in many more states and will look to expand its reach to the
farthest possible points in the country. But, to gain ground, AAP must groom leaders from the
ground and not depend on Kejriwal to act as the CM candidate to have any chance at
winning the election. It is not a matter of electoral victory for Kejriwal. He finds himself in a
fight for his reputation, threat of being called a runaway again and struggle to maintain his
credibility.
Another important aspect for Kejriwal to consider is that his presence in Delhi allows him to
be in the forefront of any agitation against the Central government. His political maneuvering
in the Capital keeps him in the public eye.
Kejriwal is not eyeing the chief ministers post in Punjab, heres why
It was only on late Wednesday afternoon, that Delhis CM cleared the air at a rally in Patiala,
saying that if AAP wins in Punjab, it will have a CM who is from Punjab and not from
Pakistan or London.
Written by Sweta Dutta
Indian Express ::January 12, 2017
Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal during an

election campaign rally in support of party candidate Palwinder Kaur at Badshahpur in Patiala on Wednesday. (Source:
PTI Photo)
It is pertinent to note that Aam Aadmi Party chief, Arvind Kejriwal took a good 24 hours to
deny that he had ambitions to become Punjabs chief minister. Usually, Kejriwal responds
within minutes on social media to bouquets and brickbats alike. Minutes after Delhi Deputy
CM Manish Sisodia told a gathering in Mohali on Tuesday that people should vote for AAP
assuming that Kejriwal will be CM, the SAD-BJP and Congress in Punjab accused Kejriwal
of wanting to desert Delhi for his personal ambitions in Punjab.
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However, Sisodia, who usually weighs his words carefully and has rarely made an out-of-turn
statement in the party, clarified on Tuesday that regardless of who became CM, Kejriwal
will be responsible for fulfilling all the promises of the party in Punjab.
It was only on late Wednesday afternoon, that Delhis CM cleared the air at a rally in Patiala,
saying that if AAP wins in Punjab, it will have a CM who is from Punjab and not from
Pakistan or London. Kejriwal, it appears, wanted his political opponents to level as many
allegations against him and be able to disprove them at a public platform.
While it is evident that AAP does not want to upset the caste equations or fuel an internal
feud among key Sikh leaders in Punjab by announcing a CM candidate, several top AAP
leaders have argued over the past 24 hours that Kejriwal had never been keen on being CM in
Punjab. Lobbyists in the party might have misled the media into thinking that Kejriwal was
best suited for the post and to run the government of a full state unlike in Delhi where he has
been caught in an endless game of back and forth with the Lieutenant Governor, but Kejriwal
himself has never fancied the post.
Leaders close to Kejriwal give several reasons why he has never considered taking up the
CMs post in Punjab. Punjab has not seen a non-Sikh CM in the last five decades. To begin
with, Punjab CM should ideally be a Sikh and there is no dearth of strong Sikh faces in the
party. Secondly, it has been decided that AAP will contest Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh in
December. Then there are the municipal polls in Delhi around May this year. How will
Kejriwal go to the electorate and seek votes if he keeps switching as CM from one state to
another? asks a top party functionary.
Sonia Gandhi has been far more powerful as the party chief than Dr Manmohan Singh as the
Prime Minister. So if AAP wins in Goa and Punjab, Kejriwal will have two CMs reporting to
him. As the party goes to polls in both the states, Kejriwal is the undisputed face of the
party, explained another senior party leader.
Party leaders maintain that Kejriwal is unlikely to give up the CMs post in Delhi which
keeps him at the centre of national politics. As long as he is Delhi CM, he is in direct
interface with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Be it the anti-demonetisation campaign or any
of the serious allegations against the BJP-led Centre, Kejriwal has been at the forefront each
time. AAP singlehandedly took on Modi over demonetisation, particularly at a time when the
Congresss campaign fizzled out as it failed to bring the Opposition together. If Kejriwal
manages to keep the ball rolling, he could well emerge as the face of the Opposition in the
2019 general elections, said a close Kejriwal aide.
So it seems as if Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh and the SAD-BJP leaders in Punjab
who hurled allegations against Kejriwal, repeatedly tagging him on Twitter, have jumped the
gun. After setting the record straight in Patiala, it looked like Kejriwal had the last laugh, at
least this time.
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In the name of JP
Why does Lalu need a pension? Surely, the Sarvodaya leader would have disapproved
By: Editorial
RJD chief Lalu Prasad owes his political career to the JP Movement. The JP Movement,
which started as a students agitation in Bihar in the early 1970s, evolved into a mass
agitation against the Emergency after Jayaprakash Narayan took over its leadership and
paved the ground for the Janata win in the 1977 general election. Lalu too rode the Janata
wave and established himself as a frontline politician. So, its understandable that he wants to
be associated with an initiative meant to recognise the contribution of those who were a part
of the JP Movement. What is unacceptable, however, is for a former chief minister, who also
receives the emoluments given to ex-legislators, to seek a monthly pension under the JP
Senani Samman pension. It raises questions of propriety: Should politicians who have an
independent source of income, especially on account of their public service, seek another
pension for their contribution in politics? Jayaprakash Narayan, who put a premium on ethics
and probity in public life, would certainly not have approved of his followers seeking gains
for serving a prison term in their fight against the Emergency.
The JP Senani Samman pension was established by Bihar government in 2009 to recognise
the contribution of those from the state who fought the Emergency. Those who served more
than six months in prison under the draconian MISA between March 18, 1974 and March 21,
1977 are allowed a monthly pension of Rs 10,000 and those who were in jail for less than six
months are provided Rs 5,000. Lalu, of course, is only a recent entrant into the scheme
over 2,500 persons, including well-established politicians, avail of this pension. Many
consider the anti-Emergency movement a second freedom struggle and have pleaded that the
people who participated in it be recognised the way the freedom fighters were, including with
pension. States like Haryana also recognise anti-Emergency activists worthy of a pension.
The decision to provide pension for freedom fighters was prompted by the fact that many
among of those who spent the prime years of their lives in British prisons did not have any
source of income and needed to be supported. Many deserving of the pension refused:
Fighting for the nations independence was a call for which they could not accept a monetary
reward.
The JP Senani Samman is hardly a burden on Bihar exchequer, even if the pension amounts
are significant considering the wages in the state. But the purpose of the scheme is defeated if
it is meant to serve the likes of Lalu.
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Poverty
Poverty, glorious poverty
The question we should all really be asking is why India remains one of the poorest
countries in the world with such a profusion of leaders who love poor people.
Written by Tavleen Singh
India has more pro-poor political leaders than any other country. They have been very
visible since the cash crisis hit us, competing raucously to prove that they are more pro-poor
than all the others. The Prime Minister noticed that his own credentials were being
questioned and joined the competition instead of dismissing the anti-poor charges flung his
way as rubbish. In every speech he makes these days, he reminds us in thunderous tones that
he did what he did for the poor.
The question we should all really be asking is why India remains one of the poorest countries
in the world with such a profusion of leaders who love poor people. Could it be that the
answer to this apparent conundrum is that Indian politicians have a vested interest in ensuring
that poverty never disappears? Could it be that this vested interest was created from even
before India gained independence from our colonial rulers?
Can we trace this passion for poverty to the Mahatma himself? It is usually unwise to find
flaws in a political leader once he has become a Mahatma, but in seeking out the origins of
poverty worship in our political class, I found myself dwelling on Gandhijis determined
efforts to appear to be very poor. In those times it was perhaps a clever way to appeal to the
vast majority of Indians who were indeed desperately poor. But, is the glorification of
poverty useful any more? In imitation of the Mahatma, todays political leaders continue to
wear khadi, but have they noticed that most voters these days wear jeans? Have they noticed
that those Indians who continue to be mired in poverty aspire only to escape it and become
middle class?
The Prime Minister appears to have forgotten that the reason why aspirational young Indians
gave him the first full majority in 30 years was because he promised prosperity instead of
banging on like his opponents did about the poor. He also seems to have forgotten that he
once told a gathering of investors in Washington that he saw no reason for India to continue
to be a poor country. As a responsible political commentator, I feel duty bound to remind him
why.
If millions of Indians live in horrendous poverty, it is because they have been deprived of the
tools that would help them escape it. These tools are proper schools, decent healthcare and
sanitary living conditions which thereby would give them an equal chance in the job market.
Our pro-poor political leaders have denied them these vital tools, choosing instead to throw
scraps of charity (like MNREGA) in their direction. These schemes have served mostly to
keep them in poverty. If the huge sums spent on this leaky and very expensive rural dole had
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been spent instead on improving our truly awful government schools and rural health centres,
India would perhaps today be in a better position to end her shameful poverty.
Why is it that a Prime Minister who once publicly reviled MNREGA now embraces it with
open arms? Has he discovered the benefits of glorifying poverty? Absurd though this may
sound, there are huge benefits in keeping poverty alive. Very poor people ask no questions.
Not even when they see their poverty-loving leaders strive to become very rich as soon as
they enter public life. They see that elected officials who once could barely afford a bicycle
start zooming around in convoys of foreign SUVs. They see them migrate from windowless
hovels to splendid mansions. They see them mysteriously begin to live like millionaires.
They see all these things but they rarely object because poverty deprives them of the energy
to do much more than stay alive.
What your humble, poverty-hating columnist would like to remind our pro-poor political
leaders is that no country that glorified poverty ever grew rich and nor will India. The choice
really is between investing in prosperity and investing in poverty. And it is very unfortunate
that across India, in state after state, our chief ministers appear to see the benefits only of
investment in poverty. It is a good investment and can often win elections because people
who live below our pathetic poverty line are easily fooled by pro-poor rhetoric. But India
will only be rid of her poverty when we start investing in prosperity.
As long as political leaders wear their pro-poor credentials as if they were badges of honour
instead of badges of shame, we can be sure that India will remain a poor country. Of course,
if the Prime Ministers digital dreams are transformed magically into reality, it might make us
the worlds only digitally enabled desperately poor country. The one benefit of digital
dreaming is that electricity and the Internet will have to become much more reliable than they
currently are in vast swathes of rural India.
Follow Tavleen Singh on Twitter @ tavleen_singh
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President
Inside track: Consensus choice
Since the BJP will not be in a position to ensure a win for a Presidential candidate of its
choice, it will have to settle for a consensus candidate.
Written by Coomi Kapoor
The Modi-Amit Shah duo have clearly shifted their focus from
Hindutva and vikas to garibi hatao through demonetisation.
On the basis of its internal surveys, the BJP believes that it will be the single largest party in
Uttar Pradesh after the Assembly elections, with the BSP in second place. However, even if
this rosy picture was to prove correct, the NDA would still need an additional 10 per cent of
the total votes to win the elections for President of India in July. To make up the shortfall, it
will have to depend on support from parties such as the JD(U), AIADMK and the BJD. Since
the BJP will not be in a position to ensure a win for a candidate of its choice, it will have to
settle for a consensus candidate. Some in President Pranab Mukherjees office are hopeful
that this could mean a second term for him.
No advice, no dissent
Those upset with demonetisation and Narendra Modis unilateral decisions hint that
Margdarshak L K Advani has become a rallying point for dissidents in the BJP. They cite
the fact that Advani was reluctant to sit on the stage and left the dais after lighting the lamp at
the BJP national executive in Delhi earlier this month. But BJP office-bearers maintain that
the media is trying to spin a story out of a non-event. They say that Advani left the stage for
10 minutes after lighting the lamp because he felt unwell and Arun Jaitley accompanied him
to the restroom. He returned subsequently and remained seated on the dais throughout. The
leader who is, in fact, sulking is Yogi Adityanath. He did not show up for the meeting
reportedly because he was not included in the Uttar Pradesh ticket selection committee. A
journalist who asked BJP president Amit Shah whether the party was apprehensive that it
would lose its core constituency because of demonetisation was told to ignore the core vote
and concentrate on the larger picture. The Modi-Amit Shah duo have clearly shifted their
focus from Hindutva and vikas to garibi hatao through demonetisation.
Leaps and bounds
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TMC leader Mamata Banerjees commitment to simple living and austerity has been dented
by the ostentatious lifestyle of her nephew Abhishek Banerjee, who is viewed as her heir
apparent. While Banerjee continues to live at her old family house in Kalighat, the nephew
has built himself a three-storey house a short distance away. The recent birthday party of his
daughter was a lavish affair. Apart from being a politician, Abhishek is also a businessman
who owns a company, Leaps and Bounds, which, as its name suggests, has grown
phenomenally in recent years. TMC members were taken aback when, after the arrest of
TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay by the CBI in the Rose Valley chit fund scam, Banerjee
announced that her source in the CBI had informed her that her nephew might be the next
target. She seemed far more concerned about Abhishek than her other MPs. Incidentally, the
TMCs latest dharna against demonetisation was a flop show, at least in the Capital. Two
dozen TMC MPs sat in the sun outside their government bungalows in South Avenue and
occasionally made speeches, but there was no one to listen apart from a few stray journalists
from the Bengal media.
Chain Reaction
RJD chief Lalu Yadav is still smarting from the insult of having to sit on the ground at the
function to celebrate the 350th birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh at the Gandhi Maidan
in Patna, while Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi sat on the
dais. Lalu, who as chief minister often occupied the only chair at meetings with his party
men, is not willing to swallow the humiliation. The deteriorating relationship between Nitish
and Lalu is because the Bihar Chief Minister is no longer willing to accede to the RJD chiefs
many demands, particularly on transfers and postings. Lalus choices for the DM of Patna
and the Director General of Police were thwarted. Nitish can afford to cross Lalu since he
knows that the BJP will only be happy to extend outside support. When Nitish declared that
his party would organise a human chain on January 21 in support of his prohibition policy,
the BJP quickly announced that its workers would join.
Strange snub
The snub to the BJPs senior-most chief minister was apparent at the BJP national executive
in Delhi this month. When Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan spoke on
agriculture, a sector in which his state has made rapid strides, party president Amit Shah
thrice chided him for not sticking to the point and straying into other areas.
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Religion & Festivals

Tamil Nadu stand on Jallikattu wrong
The Central government should not cave in to Tamil Nadus demands for an ordinance
permitting the practice of Jallikattu during Pongal this year. Its practice was banned by the
Supreme Court in 2014 for a good reason. An ordinance lifting this ban would amount to
subverting a well-considered decision of the apex court, even undermining its stature. In his
letter to the Centre, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Paneerselvam has justified the need for
such an ordinance because it enjoys a groundswell of sentiment and support. Indeed,
Jallikattu is a popular sport in Tamil Nadu. Many support its practice on the ground that it is
an age-old Tamil tradition that must be upheld, one that is an inherent part of Pongal
festivities.
However, Jallikattu, which is a form of bull fight, is a bloody and brutal practice. In the past,
it was a way of taming a wild bull. It was a contest between a single man and a single bull. In
more recent decades, it has become a blood sport, where scores of men wrestle down a single
bull and thousands of others cheer the torture. Prizes are tied to the bulls horns and tail. Men
are known to tear off the bulls body parts in their bid to win the prize and use sticks and
cleavers to tame the animal. Chilli powder is often sprayed on the bull to enrage it in order
to improve the entertainment value of the sport. Jallikattu celebrates violence, even sadism
of the worst kind. The apex court did well to end its practice. It must ensure that governments
at the Centre and state enforce the ban. In the run-up to Pongal last year, the Narendra Modi
government issued a notification reversing the Supreme Court ban. With Assembly elections
looming and given the fact that all political parties in Tamil Nadu backed Jallikattu, the BJPled government at the Centre did not want to draw voters ire in Tamil Nadu; hence, the
decision to issue a notification allowing Jallikattu. Fortunately, the court overturned that
notification. Hopefully, the Modi government will not go down that path this year too.
Upholding tradition is fine so long as it does not harm anyone. Clearly, Jallikattu does not fall
in that category. It brings out the worst in us, forces us to act in ways that are barbaric,
beastly and at best sub-human. Rather than bat for revival of its practice, the Tamil Nadu
government should be acting to enforce the Supreme Court ban. It should be educating the
masses to create awareness on the barbarity of jallikattu. There can be no room for torture,
whether of humans or animals in a civilised society.
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Religion & Politics

The Urdu Press: Religion and politics
Following the SC judgment in 1995 declaring Hindutva a way of life, the pro-Hindutva
forces have exploited this judgment to an extent that has no precedent.
According to the SC, under the Representation of Peoples Act,

Article 123 (3), the use of religion is prohibited and election is a secular activity and appeals in the name of religion,
ethnicity, caste, community, etc., are unacceptable.
Commenting on the scenario after the Supreme Courts verdict that asking for votes in the
name of religion, caste, language, etc, is unlawful Jadeed Khabar, in a commentary on
January 8, writes: In this regard, the worst culprit is the BJP ruling at the Centre. The main
thrust of its politics is Hindutva. Following the SC judgment in 1995 declaring Hindutva
a way of life, the pro-Hindutva forces have exploited this judgment to an extent that has no
precedent. According to the SC, under the Representation of Peoples Act, Article 123 (3),
the use of religion is prohibited and election is a secular activity and appeals in the name of
religion, ethnicity, caste, community, etc., are unacceptable. But the judgement of the apex
court can be effective only if the court clarifies its 20-year-old judgment about Hindutva.
Rashtriya Sahara, in its editorial on January 9, writes: BJP MP Sakshi Maharajs recent
controversial statement directed against Muslims in Meerut is being considered as a violation
of the Supreme Courts verdict. The Election Commission, taking a serious note of this
statement,
has
asked
the
Meerut
district
administration
for
a
full
report on the matter. Along with the EC, the district authorities should also take serious
action to pre-empt any similar attempt to vitiate the environment.
Roznama Khabrein, in its editorial on January 9, writes: The time has come for the PM to
take some action to make people believe that he does not like elements that want to create
conflicts between communities. Deceptions in the name of sab ka saath, sab ka vikas are not
going to be of any help.
SP and secular vote
The daily Inquilab, in its commentary on January 8, writes: The tug-of-war in
the Samajwadi Party is a serious assault on secular politics in Uttar Pradesh. The secular vote
in the state is presently in a dilemma due to the war between the Mulayam Singh and
Akhilesh Yadav camps. The need of the moment was that the SP should have
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remained a unified unit taking along like-minded parties so that a Bihar-type front against
communal forces could emerge. But now that seems very difficult.
The editor of Roznama Khabrein, Qasim Syed, in a signed front page commentary on the
same day, writes: In case the SP is divided, there is every possibility that Muslim voters,
whose sole strategy is to defeat BJP, would move towards BSP which claims that its victory
will be ensured with 22 per cent Dalit and 20 per cent Muslim votes. Even if 50 per cent of
the Muslim vote goes over to the BSP, the BJPs castle in the air would fall to the ground.
Now, even an understanding between the two warring groups of the SP will prove the
oppositions allegation that it was a fixed match (noora kushti).
The daily Sahafat, in its front page lead on January 10, quotes an unnamed senior leader close
to Mulayam and Shivpal Yadav saying that in case the two groups of SP contest the election
separately, the Mulayam group is considering declaring Azam Khan its chief ministerial
candidate in an effort to attract Muslim votes.
Bengalurus shame
The editor of Inquilab, Shakeel Shamsi, in his signed column on January 6, writes:
Undoubtedly, Bengaluru is not unsafe for women like Delhi. Working women there come
out of their homes and return from office late at night. Girls from Muslim majority areas feel
quite safe. But the reports of mass molestation that came from Bengaluru on New Years eve
were not only surprising but proved to be a black spot on the face of the city. Despite heavy
police arrangements, when these reports of goondaism came to light, many odd and
objectionable statements were made by some politicians. One gentleman said that such
incidents do take place occasionally. Another said that such incidents are bound to take place
if girls wear provocative dresses. He also said that ants are bound to go where there is sugar
and fire would certainly spread if brought near petrol. Thus, they held girls themselves
responsible for the shameful treatment meted out to them. He should be asked what
provocative dress an 11-month-old child who was raped in Delhi a few days ago was
wearing.
Rashtriya Sahara, on January 10, in a strange tone, writes: Incidents ranging from the mass
molestation in Bengaluru to the many cases of indiscriminate killings reported daily are
giving a loud message that human society and governments are not capable of stopping them.
They can be stopped only by sincerely following the path shown by the creator of the
universe, who has fixed a day for judgement on all good deeds and misdeeds committed in
this world.
Compiled by Seema Chishti
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Road Safety
MPs, step on the gas for road safety
India has committed under the Brasilia Declaration and the Sustainable Development Goals
to halve the number of deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents by 2020.
However, progress on the ground is negligible. Of the 1.3 million traffic fatalities globally in
2015, India accounted for 1,48,707 persons; registering an increase of 5.1 per cent in accident
fatalities between 2014 and 2015.
Reducing road fatalities will require drastic action and concerted efforts. Every hour, there
are 53 road accidents, killing 17, 10.5 per cent of whom are children.
Improving road design and management with an emphasis on ensuring safety of the most
vulnerable users pedestrians and cyclists and improving road-user behaviour must form
the core of any effort to reduce road fatalities.
This will require sustained and enhanced public awareness and enforcement of laws.
Improving post-crash response will help reduced fatalities.
The amendments to the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill address many of these issues.
Despite the urgency of the issue, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport has
been reviewing the Bill for almost five months now.
It needs to speed up its efforts so that it can be taken up in the Budget session. It must suggest
provisions to address the Bills lacunae, especially on scientific investigation of accidents and
data collection, penalties for faulty road design and engineering and mandatory training for
all drivers.
The Bill is not sufficient to arrest the rising numbers of accidents and deaths. That calls for
political will to translate the provisions of the Bill on the ground, particularly at the level of
municipalities.
Urban development authorities must work with those in road safety to achieve town design
that prevents a mistake on the road from becoming a death sentence.
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Secularism
A monk's complex trajectory
Avijit Pathak,
VIVEKANANDA AND INDIAN SECULARISM : If his 'Hindu superiority' is seen as a

marker of our secularism, the fear is it will always remain paternalistic
It is not easy to engage with a saint-activist like Swami Vivekananda because from the
oceanic current of ideas he represented, we often choose a fragment of itand that too
according to our politico-historical convenience.
Not surprisingly, a charismatic figure like him with immense zeal and profound intelligence
is often reduced into stereotypes: a Hindu saint, an early ideologue of cultural nationalism;
a socialist wearing saffronan inspiration for the revolutionaries in colonial India, or an
icon for the youth; and an organisation man who put great emphasis on what these days
NGOs regard as social service.
True, stereotypes are not altogether unreal because they emerge out of some experience; yet,
all stereotypes are partial, narrow, fragmented because human figuresparticularly creative
personalitieslive with contradictions, ambiguities and multiple possibilities. It is really a
challenging task to have a nuanced engagement with Swami Vivekananda especially because
we live in a politically charged environment with strong emotive reactions. Yet, we ought to
try.
A section of the secular/liberal/left intelligentsia is not entirely wrong in pointing out some
elements in Vivekanandas otherwise syncretic thinking (recall his Chicago speech: As the
different streams having their sources in different places all mingle their water in the sea, so,
O lord, the different paths which men take through different tendencies, various though they
appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee.) that might have stimulated the Hindu Right to
appropriate him.
Take, for instance, his pride even though very subtle in Hindu superiority: why a
refined Hinduism, unlike other organised religions, is more accommodative, and why our
religion is truer than any other religion, because it never conquered, because it never shed
blood, because its mouth always shed on all, words of blessing, of peace, words of love and
sympathy. If this Hindu superiority is seen as a marker of our secularism, the fear is that it
will always remain paternalistic and hence problematic.
Likewise, in the context of colonial politics that degraded and stigmatised the colonised
Vivekananda needed a distinctive Indian nationalism which, unlike the economic nature of
British nationalism or the political character of French nationalism, would find its soul in its
religion. This is my method to show the Hindus that they have to give up nothing, but only
to move on in the line down by the sages and shake off their inertia, the result of centuries of
servitude, said the passionate monk.
The equation that he established between religion and nationalism was not something that
secular nationalists guided by the ethos of multiculturalism would plead for; instead, as the
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anxiety goes, it might have created the ground for the cultivation of the ideological roots of
Hindu nationalism. Not solely that.
Through this sort of nationalism, as social psychologist Ashis Nandy would suggest,
Vivekananda internalised the rationale of the intimate enemy, and sought to defeat the West
in its own game of hyper-masculinity through a man-making religion characterised by
muscles of iron and nerves of steel.
And even modern feminists would feel rather uneasy with Swamis idealisation of women
because in such idealisation they would see neither equality nor the spirit of autonomous selfdiscovery but the essentialisation of womanhood marking the moral character of the nation:
fearless womenwomen worthy to continue the traditions of Sanghamitra, Lila, Ahalya and
Mira Bai, women fit to be the mothers of heroes!
Yet, we would do injustice to Vivekananda if we refuse to see anything beyond this because
he was also the one who, like his master Ramakrishna, sought to go to the mosque of the
Mohammedan, enter the Christians Church and kneel before the crucifix, and visit the
Buddhist temple to take refuge in Buddha and his Law at his deep moment of longing and
prayer.
Moreover, to use Nehrus language, he wanted to transcend the dead weight of tradition
through Practical Vedanta a form of religiosity that finds itself beyond forests and
caves, sees beyond mindless ritualism and orthodoxies, and , instead, seeks to awaken the
innate potential in each of us.
Missionary zeal
Beneath our temporal/phenomenal/ embodied existence lies the eternal energythe allpervading Brahma; and its realisation makes one fearless because all the powers in the
universe are already ours, and gives one the immense energy to bloom like a flower.
Vivekanandas religiosity generated strength, not the fear caused by the priests. It was this
religiosity that inspired him to live like what Krishna in the Bhagavadgita pleaded for: an
engaged karmayogi. In a way, it was a meaningful answer to Max Webers somewhat
Eurocentric critique that, unlike Protestantism, Eastern religions are essentially otherworldly.
With his missionary zeal and action plan he could see the true affirmation of religiosity in
ones empathic understanding of peoples misery and suffering, in selfless work for the
liberation of the marginalised.
No wonder then, in his writings and speeches, his sensitivity to the coming age of socialism
was distinctively noticeable. Forget not, said Vivekananda at his most radical moment, that
the lower classes, the ignorant, the poor, the illiterate, the cobbler, the sweeper are thy flesh
and blood, thy brothers.
As we look at our times, we realise that Indian secularism is immensely vulnerable. If with a
mix of ahistorical positivism and reductionist Marxism it negates the living tradition of an old
civilisation, it would remain elitist confined to the charmed circle of the left/liberal
intelligentsia. However, if it becomes too indulgent with Hindu traditions, the result would
be disastrous: the revival of Savarkars militarised Hindutva or Jinnahs militant Islamic
separatism as a reactive gesture.
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No wonder, in post-partition India, Swami Vivekananda ought to be filtered and understood

with great care and alertness. Only when we take his libertarian theology and reconcile it with
Gandhis experimental Hinduism, cross religious conversation and spiritualised modernity
can we move towards the making of a compassionate society.
(The writer is a professor with Centre for the Study of Social Systems, Jawaharlal
Nehru University, New Delhi)
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Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment at work must end
The Central government has done well to take steps to provide victims of sexual harassment
with a protective net. The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has issued an order
calling on all ministries and government departments to ensure that a victim of sexual
harassment is not posted under the person accused of harassing her. The order makes it
mandatory for probes into sexual harassment cases to be completed within a month and
stresses that under no circumstances should an investigation exceed 90 days. It goes on to add
that in cases where sexual harassment has been proved, a watch must be kept on the victim
for a period of five years to ensure that her assailant does not subject her to any kind of
revenge for having complained against him. The guidelines are an outcome of a recent
interaction between the Ministry for Women and Child Development and the DoPT, where
the former raised concerns over the unduly long time that is taken for investigations into
sexual harassment allegations. The DoPT has done well to act on the issues raised by the
Ministry for Women and Child Development; generally such issues of concern that are raised
by another ministry or department end up gathering dust.
Although the Sexual Harassment at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act
came into force on April 23, 2013, sexual harassment persists at workplace. The number of
cases filed is increasing, reflecting not only persisting harassment but also greater awareness
of rights on the part of women. An important reason for continuing harassment of women at
workplace is that there is little support for women. A woman who raises the issue often finds
that not only is her fight for justice difficult, humiliating and long-drawn but also, it is a
lonely battle. It is often the victim, and not the person who harasses her who is forced to quit.
Worse, she rarely gets a job elsewhere as nobody wants to hire a troublemaker. Steps are
needed, therefore, to protect the victim from isolation at the workplace. Her fight for justice
must be supported by the workplaces human resources department.
Importantly, the Ministry for Women and Child Development and the DoPT must take steps
to ensure that victims of sexual harassment who file complaints are not subjected to
maligning by the accused. In many instances, the accused seeks to tarnish the reputation of
the complainant by posting offensive pictures or stories about the victim in a bid to weaken
her argument and position. In addition to keeping an eye on the victim in the office space to
ensure her wellbeing, the government should protect her in cyberspace as well.
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Sports
Dhoni gets his timing right again
Deccan Herald : Jan 10 , 2017
Timing, for a batsman, is everything. Even if he is a moment late or early into his shot, it can
result in his dismissal. Not unlike a batsman timing the ball well, exiting from the scene at the
right time is equally crucial. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who retired as the limited-overs captain
early last week, couldnt have timed his departure any better. The manner in which he broke
the news of his decision to step down as ODI and T20I skipper wasnt dissimilar to the one
when he relinquished Test captaincy towards the end of 2014 in Melbourne. On both
occasions, the cricketing world came to know about the surprise developments through
crisply worded BCCI emails. It was a quiet end to a great era in Indian cricket. Dhoni, despite
his modest cricketing background, managed to manufacture more success as captain than any
other Indian captain before him. He won all three ICC trophies, the only captain to
accomplish such a feat, and led India to No 1 ranking in Tests for the first time in 2009. He
was the master of all he surveyed and it would be fair to say that he had nothing much left to
achieve as a captain.
While Dhonis retirement from Tests, not just as a captain but a player as well, was a bolt
from the blue, his handing over of the limited-overs reins to Virat Kohli was less of a
surprise. When Dhoni quit playing Tests, he had no pressure to do so and Kohli had led India
in just one match prior to that. This time though, the situation was different. From time to
time, questions were raised about his continuance at the helm as India endured more losses
than wins in shorter versions post the 2015 World Cup. Personally, too, his batting had taken
some beating. On the other hand, Kohli has only grown from strength to strength. While he
presided over Indias rise to the top of the rankings in Tests, he remains Indias batting
fulcrum in all formats.
With the next World Cup less than three years away, it was only fair that Kohli got enough
time to build his team for the mega event. As Kohli pointed out in an interview recently, its a
win-win situation for him. While he is pumped up to take over the leadership in all three
formats, he will also have the services of Dhoni as a wicketkeeper-batsman. At 35, there are
few in the country who can challenge Dhoni for that spot. Free of his captaincy burden, one
can hope that the 35-year-old regains his old mojo with the bat.
A level playing field

The Lodha committee could break the hold of cricketing dynasties over the games
administration.
Written by Sandeep Dwivedi
Remember the Rungtas? They ruled Rajasthan cricket from 1972-2004. The Rajasthan
Cricket Association (RCA) office and the Rungta household were as far apart as a wicketkeeper and the extra-cover fielder on a cricket field. The men who tended their gardens,
served them food and drove their cars were RCA members. District votes were irrelevant as
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the family retinue kept their masters, the Rungtas, in power for decades. With the home front
secured, the Marwari businessmen from Jaipur outlived most in the BCCI. The father and son
went on to secure top positions in Indian cricket, hobnobbed with the powerful and possessed
the power to oblige the VVIPs in the cricket-crazy nation on match days.
It was only after a maverick businessman a close friend of the states powerful chief
minister hoodwinked the Rungtas, sneaked into a district cricket body and went on to bend
a few rules that the RCA got a new chief. It needed the combination of Lalit Modi a man
who later in life showed he had the potential, and the dirt, to even embarrass the government
of the day and Rajasthans most influential leader, Vasundhara Raje Scindia, to dismantle
a cricketing fiefdom. Despite the meeting of the high and mighty, the cricketing coup would
have failed, had the states assembly not passed the sports act that sent the gardener, driver
and cook back to jobs more suited to their skills and made the districts powerful.
Historically, breaking into a cricket body was never for the weak-willed, powerless and the
salaried class. Across India, minor rebellions have been ruthlessly quelled as cricketing
dynasties flourished. Cricket officials who had seen Sunil Gavaskars debut were also there
when Sachin Tendulkar retired, never leaving the members only hospitality section.
Justice R.M. Lodha has now driven a truck through the gates of crickets cosy club. While
many of Lodhas reforms reek of judicial overreach, the grounding of crickets ivory tower is
a much-awaited intervention. After the reforms, getting into a cricket association will become
as easy as it will be difficult to stay there endlessly. The SC order says every international
cricketer will automatically become a member of state bodies and the all-powerful apex body
both at the state and national level will have a couple of seats reserved for members of
the players association. Then, there are tenure and age caps, the clauses that would have
made the good old cricket administrators wistfully talk about the Rungta days.
On the day Anurag Thakur was asked to vacate the BCCI presidents chair, he sounded bitter.
If Supreme Court judges feel that BCCI could do better under retired judges, I wish them all
the best, said the man with 16 years of cricket administration behind him. In his statement,
he also boasted of the administrators building the best infrastructure and India having
more quality players than anywhere in the world.
Let us for a moment forget that Thakur is also part of the Indian Olympic Association and
lets not judge his administrative skills by the countrys abysmal two-medal show at Rio.
Lets even allow the administrators to take all the credit for making India the number one
cricketing nation. Even then, shouldnt the institutions they run be more inclusive, and thus,
more democratic? New members come with fresh ideas, different perspectives. Constant
changes of personnel keep decision-makers on their toes; it helps a sporting body to reinvent
itself, evolve and survive.
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Didnt Modi dream of IPL, the project so dear to BCCI, the big idea that swelled BCCIs
bank balance and subsequently made it a super power? Closed societies foster complacence,
compromises and coteries. Remember how no one objected when the constitution was
changed to let N. Srinivasan buy an IPL franchise? No one snitched, no one raised the red
flag, for they all went back a long way. Peter looked the other way when Paul stole, since
Peter knew that Paul will return the favour. Seniors were uncle for some juniors, who got
addressed as son. Cricket associations were family firms where names changed; the
surnames remained the same. Indiscretions were pushed under the carpet; all it needed was a
call to an uncle, father or father-in-law. Over the years, crickets ruling class got an
unbreakable aura.
When the reforms kick in and the weak read the players and the districts get
empowered, a class clash is expected. The cricketing czars would want status quo. They
would be ready to trade favours to have submissive subordinates who wouldnt ask questions.
They would want to rule by proxy. They would be ready to offer free lunches, foreign trips or
even ceremonial powerless positions for an arrangement of their convenience. It remains to
be seen if the newly appointed members would be happy to merely enter the club or if they
will aspire to occupy the chair.
In case they assert themselves, they shouldnt get delusional. Lodhas leap of faith giving
power to the players will be under scrutiny. The new administrators shouldnt make old
mistakes. Indian crickets biggest strength comes from the fans, not from the administrators.
Stadiums get built, quality players get world-class facilities because the supporters remain
glued to the sports channel for close to eight hours on match days. Cricket has grown because
of their patience. For decades, they endured sub-human facilities at stadiums, got over heartbreaking match-fixing scandals and quietly suffered corrupt officials governing the game.
Its easy to know who matters. Just watch Virat Kohli when he scores a hundred. Havent
seen him raise his bat to the suits in the stands.
sandeep.dwivedi@expressindia.com
This 18-year-old, New Delhi-based beginner aims to compete at the all

womens polo event this year
RIDING COMES naturally to 18-year-old AmeeraPasrich. This teenager from New Delhi
started riding when she was just three years old, having developed the love for Polo from her
father, Amir Singh Pasrich, who is a lawyer by profession, but loves playing the sport.
But what makes Pasrichs story more fascinating is the fact that it wasnt just her father who
inspired her to take up polo professionally. It was her horse Taqdeera Kathiawari polo
ponywho played a pivotal role as well. I met Taqdeer when I was volunteering with the
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Sanjay Gandhi Animal Care Centre in New Delhi two years back. He had been hit by a truck
and one of his legs was completely shattered. I told my father I wanted to adopt him, but he
said I could only bring him home if I could ride him, Pasrich recalls.
What followed was a long and arduous journey. Pasrich started looking after the animal,
which was so scared after the accident that it would run away even if anybody sneezed near
it. With no space in the rescue centre to ride, Pasrich took it for riding on roads. It took her
weeks, she says, to get the horse accustomed to riding. He threw me off a couple of times
and kicked me in the mouth, but more than anyone else, it was Taqdeer who inspired me to
play polo, she says. A lover of horses, Pasrich recalls how growing up, she would often
spend time immersed in horse encyclopedias and documentaries.
Also, Pasrich has not restricted herself to just polo. She recently completed a 40-km horse
riding endurance race in Jodhpur and has also taken part in the junior national event for
dressage and jumping along with polo. Her next aim is to compete at low-goal competitions,
as well as the all womens polo chukker in March this year.
Riding, she says, could become a rage in the country if there were better breeds of horses and
good trainers. Also, her initial experience of taking care of Taqdeer taught her something
else. Its important that animals are treated with care, she says. There should be strict laws
against people who mistreat animals because then they will never perform. In polo or riding,
its all about cooperation. You cant think of dominating the animal, she says.
Injuries and bruises are par for the course, says Pasrich, who has fractured her arm six times,
but cant imagine giving up the sport. In fact, she is now concentrating on building her core
strength. Polo is a great sport for women because men and women are given equal
weightage in it. Its a sport that is empowering women, she says, adding, Instead of looking
at images of dresses online, women should start looking at other women who play on the
field and take inspiration.
For this 42-year-old shoe designer, the passion for polo started six
years ago
THERE IS no age for learning something new. That was the mantra 42-year-old Rinaa Shah
followed when she set out to learn polo six years ago. Mumbai-based Shah has been a shoe
designer for the past 15 years, but her fascination with polo started when she attended a
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match in Mumbai. Shah was merely looking to take up a new sport to whet her appetite for
adventure. What she didnt know then was that the intensity and speed of polo would make
her fall in love with the game. I had never ridden before. The adrenaline rush and watching
the players on these majestic animals made me fall in love with the sport, says Shah.
Having no prior experience of riding, Shah was a rank outsider. So she decided to start from
scratch and spent almost two years learning the nuances of riding. She first went to an
amateur riders club in Mumbai and then to riding schools in Argentina and California, US, to
learn the basics of polo, finding not many schools in the country.
For two years, Shah put her work on hold and dedicated all her time to riding. I play decent
polo now, having participated in my first match in 2013. I havent reached the top level yet,
but I try and play whenever and wherever I can, says Shah.
When Shah started out, she was surprised at the dismal number of women polo players in
India. Most of them, she says, opt for dressage and jumping since polo is considered a rough
and dangerous sport. Her family was a little hesitant in the beginning as well owing to
injuries she sustained while training. It is not a developed sport But a lot of people are
now trying to bring about a change, she says.
Shah herself has taken her passion for the sport to another level by founding her own team,
Rinadli Polo, in March 2014 in Mumbai. The team, which has four members, has competed
in tournaments across India and even internationally, with the most recent being a tournament
in Santa Barbara, California.
Joining her in her pursuit to make the sport more popular in the country are Shahs four
horses: Moscow, Bella, Rock n Roll and Dolphina. Its a very personal game and you need
to train the horses according to your play. The game, after all, is about the horses and how
skillfully you can control them, says Shah, who also launched a collection of equestrian
fashion accessories and equipment in 2013 at the Lakm Fashion Week in Mumbai.
While Shah is doing her bit to take the sport to more people in India, she believes it is
extremely important that initiatives to promote polo are taken up across the country. Riding
clubs need to promote polo more. They should hire more professionals to teach the sport as
well, she feels.
A 24-year-old, New Delhi-based lawyer who cant let go of the polo stick
EVER SINCE she started riding from the age of four years, New Delhi-based Avshreya
Pratap Singh has had a taste of traditional and conventional equestrian sports like showjumping, tent-pegging and dressage. After taking a break from riding during her college
years, she returned to the sport in 2014. Singh joined the Remount Veterinary Corps (RVC),
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one of the oldest services of the Indian Army, to get back to riding, but was asked to try stickand-ball, or polo. The rest, as they say, is history.
Once she picked up the stick, Singh says, she couldnt let go of it. In fact, she believes
training and playing with RVC players has honed her skills, including hand-eye coordination
and brain applicationskills that are integral to polo. I realised that my style of riding was
not meant for dressage or show-jumping, says the 24-year-old, who is a lawyer by
profession.
Singh has been playing polo for more than two years now, but it wasnt always smooth
sailing. In the initial few months, she says, she wasnt taken seriously by other players. The
biggest issue was the mindset that shes a girl, shell miss the ball and stay behind. But
Singh never gave up. She did not hesitate from taking to the field with different people or
even learning from male players younger than her. The other players were so sure that I
would err. In a way, that really worked to my advantage because I would never miss the ball.
Then they started recognising that I could carry the ball forward and get into the game. The
struggles are still there, but players take me seriously now, says Singh.
Even though she does not own a horse currently, she has managed to strike a wonderful
partnership with the RVC horses. Singh, who often treats the horses to jaggery before riding
them, says its really important to treat the animal right since polo is a high-intensity sport.
People usually think a horse is just a machine..you just get on and off. But the better you
treat your horse, the better it performs, she says.
Although she hasnt played in too many tournaments so far, Singh says she will keep playing
in low-goal tournaments. The idea is to play as much as possible and get more exposure.
Singh recently participated in an all womenschukker in New Delhi. In her words, a lot of
women players still lack the confidence on the field. It is also perceived that its a dangerous
and injury-prone sport. Once women get the infrastructure to play, their numbers will surely
increase. We are trying to create more awareness by organising more chukkers, but women
still lack the confidence. That needs to change, Singh adds.
The reluctant protagonist: Japanese golfer Hideki Matsuyama is on course

to becoming the worlds first top-ranked golfer from Asia
Whether its deliberate and well-planned or just a manifestation of his reticent personality,
Hideki Matsuyamas meteoric rise in the world of golf in the past four months is only
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matched by the lack of profusion in the media about the Japanese golfers scintillating play.
Under the radar, so to speak, although, given the magnitude of his successesfour wins in
seven starts since September 2016 (and the three times he didnt win, he finished runner-up
twice and tied fifth once)and the stages on which theyve been accomplished (two victories
on the Japan Tour, two on the PGA Tour and a top-five in a MajorThe Tour
Championship), that phrase seems flawed in this context. Not only is the 25-year-old ranked
sixth in the world right now, he also leads the FedEx Cup Rankings for the 2017-18 season.
Even for someone like Matsuyamawho self-admittedly likes plying his trade quietly and as
unobtrusively as possiblethe stealth with which hes gone from the top-ranked amateur in
2013 to one of the top contenders for the numerouno spot in pro golf today is startling. Im
not gushing. Matsuyamas towering achievements only assume their full height when viewed
relatively: for the sake of this piece, lets compare him with an Indian contemporaryKhalin
Joshi. Joshi, one of the top amateurs in his class, represented India at the Asian Amateur
championship in 2010 and 2011, both editions of which were won by Matsuyama. Not only
did he win them, but Matsuyamas winning scores set recordsfor lowest-to-par, 18-under
2011 and lowest total score, 270 in 2010that stand to this day. While Joshi turned pro and
has strung together excellent performances on the PGTI, and now on the Asian Tour,
Matsuyama went straight to participating and winning on the Japan Golf Tour and getting his
PGA Tour card in 2013. Now, in a short span of three years as pro, the Japanese player has
notched up multiple wins on golfs premier tourincluding a path-breaking win in the World
Golf Championships, broken into the top-10 world ranking, and is now on the verge of
contending for the best player on the planet. That last bit, in itself, is a stupendous
achievement, but to do it in the short time that he has is literally mid-boggling. Now, if you
havent heard much about him then youll understand my wonder at his stealth.
The business of golf started looking east at the turn of the century, and now, close to two
decades on, the shift has been decisive, fuelled by the growth of the gameinfrastructure,
players, and popularityin countries like Thailand, Malaysia, China, India, Vietnam, among
others, and a negative corollary to that in the West. Asia, and the gulf nations are where the
money is. The one thing missing has been a profusion of Asian players in the top echelons of
the game that are still dominated by Americans and Europeans. The last, and possibly most
crucial piece of the puzzle, when it comes to growing the game, is the creation of heroes, of
brands. The soft-power and intangible effect of an Asian World number one cannot be
understated. For all his diffidence, Matsuyama might well go down in history as the biggest
hero for budding Asian golfers in the modern era.
Coming back to Matsuyamas low-key public profile, the one thing that has really worked in
favour of the reticent golfer has been the tall shadow cast by Ryo Ishikawa. At least when it
comes to Japan, the medias unconditional and blinding adoration of Ishikawa has allowed
Matsuyama a relatively pressure-free environment to hone his skills. Ishikawa with this
movie star looks and prescient talent, captured unprecedented national imagination in the
golf-crazy country when he burst on the scene a couple of years before Matsuyama. The fact
that he hasnt been able to translate his successes on the Japan Golf Tour to the global stage
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hasnt dimmed the adulation Ishikawa continues to receive in Japan. Matsuyama, on the other
hand, is a different animal altogether; reserved, mild-mannered, and given to understatement.
The kind of guy who really would prefer to keep his own counsel; who wouldnt even want
his play to do the talking because that implies that he wants to be talked about.
Funnily enough, he was able to have that cake and eat it too when he won the Hero World
Challenge in December last year: with the spotlight firmly on tournament host Tiger Woods
return to professional golf, Matsuyama was the side story. That deflection of attention suited
Matsuyama perfectly; he should savour that memory because his campaign for the top spot in
the world of golf is well and truly exposed. At this juncture he should probably consider
drawing inspiration and strength from popular success. Surely, all of Japan, and Asia too, will
be rooting for the crowning of the first Asian at the pinnacle of world golf. The traditional
Japanese work ethic is founded on humility and application; there could be no better model
for that than Hideki Matsuyamahes not the exception, and he proves the rule.
FIFA gives Africa, Asia a surprise soccer World Cup new year gift
Football is considered to be the most popular sport in the world. While the Fifa World Cup is
the most watched event across the worldover 3.2 billion watched the 2014 World Cup,
with over a billion people logging in for the finalparticipation is limited to just a few
countries. All that is expected to change in a decade from now.Fifa, on Monday, increased
participation in the 2026 world cup from 32 to 48. The last time it changed the format was
before the 1998 World Cup in France, where it increased the number of spots for the playoffs from 24 to 32.
While the sport will still be dominated by Europe and South Americathough Fifa has not
specified a format for its selectionone can certainly expect a greater participation from
African and Asian countries which are increasingly taking to football. In fact, even in the
1998 rejig Africa and Asia got a jump of as many berths for the qualifiers as Europe. But,
even after that, the selection format is heavily tilted to favour Europe and South America. Of
the 53 countries that play in Europe, 13 get selected, but Africa, which has the same number
of teams, gets just five spots. Similarly, South America and Asia both see four teams
qualifying for the World Cup, but there are 45 Asian countries vying for the berths compared
with 10 South Americans ones. This is not to say that the current system isnt fairEuropean
and South American teams are the best in the worldbut an expansion would allow the other
regions to have a shot which, hopefully, should aid the development of sport there. As for
India, it is ranked 135th globally and 22nd in Asiaa World Cup appearance is a long way
off.
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Suicide
B'luru, Chennai rate of suicide alarming
It is a matter of grave concern that Chennai and Bengaluru remain at the top of the list of
Indias metros with regard to the number of people who commit suicide. According to the
recently published Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India 2015, of the 19,665 people in 53
metro cities who committed suicide in 2015, a total of 2,274 were from Chennai and 1,855
from Bengaluru. The situation in Chennai is particularly worrying: not only did it register the
largest number of suicides in 2015 but also, suicides saw an increase from the previous year,
albeit a small one. The number of suicides in Bengaluru dipped by 2.7% over the previous
year, while that in Delhi and Mumbai fell by 16% and 6%, respectively. The number of
suicides in metro cities has been fluctuating in recent years; it rose sharply from 19,120 in
2012 to 21,313 in 2013, then declined to 19,597 in 2014 and rose again in 2015. The figures
indicate that family problems other than marriage-related issues accounted for 34% of those
who committed suicide in the metros. Marriage drove 5.2% of those who committed suicide
to take that extreme step. Suicide statistics for Mumbai and Bengaluru, which see high
migration from the rest of the country, indicate that unemployment drives many people to
take their lives. Millions escaping the agrarian crisis in rural India, debt burden, joblessness
in small towns, etc, arrive in Mumbai and Bengaluru with big dreams. But often, these
dreams are dashed pushing many over the brink and driving them to commit suicide.
Suicide is a major problem confronting India today. Its incidence can be expected to increase
in the coming years especially in the context of rising expectations, rapid social change,
mounting personal and professional stress, and erosion of traditional sources of support.
Unfortunately, there is very little understanding of the problem. Its symptoms often go
unnoticed. It is therefore important that the government and health care professionals work
together to create awareness of the problem, its symptoms and treatment.
Often people dismiss an attempted suicide as a failed stunt by an attention-seeking
individual. It is not. An attempted suicide is a cry for help that deserves immediate and
professional help. An important obstacle in the way of prevention of suicide is the social
stigma attached to it, which inhibits people from seeking treatment. While the
decriminalisation of suicide in India is an important step, it needs to be followed up with
better access to mental healthcare, inexpensive treatment, insurance facilities, etc. It is
possible to tackle the hopelessness that is driving urban Indians to take their lives. But a
comprehensive prevention strategy must be implemented.
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Tax & Taxation

Cess on top of GST is regressive
Any idea to slap cess on top of 28% Goods and Services Tax in the highest slab beyond the
four demerit items already deliberated would be regressive and contrary to the basic idea of a
simple tax regime which is easy to administer and fair to the producers and consumers of
goods and services. In the earlier rounds of meetings, the GST Council had agreed to fix four
tax slabs 5%, 12%, 18% and 28% while four of the so-called sin goods as luxury cars,
tobacco, pan masala and aerated drinks were to invite cess on top of the highest slab. This
cess was meant to compensate the states for the possible loss of revenue which may occur
following implementation of the GST, that now looks real but not before September this year.
The loss to be compensated was of the order of Rs 55,000 crore.
After this broad consensus among the Centre and the states, we saw a huge disruptor to the
economy in the form of demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes with Prime Minister
Narendra Modis avowed objective of cleansing the system of black money, corruption and
counterfeit currency. The November 8 announcement has hit almost all sectors of the
economy resulting in loss of revenue for the states which mainly depend on the sales tax or
value added tax that in turn is generated out of a dynamic growth engine of trade. However
much Finance Minister Arun Jaitley may dismiss the loss of economic activity as mere
anecdotal, an important revenue stream for the states has been disrupted.
But then, the answer does not lie in slapping cess over and above the GST rates, for one of
the main objectives of the GST is to subsume all the Central, state and local taxes and levies
into a single, uniform rate to be charged nationwide. The moment cess is accepted, it would
become the norm and the most resorted temptation for the government to raise revenue. Look
at the number of cesses the taxpayers have to pay every time they buy goods, get a service
done to their cars or eat in a restaurant. Thus, imposition of cess on more number of items
may be politically expedient to buy consensus on GST in a surcharged political atmosphere in
the middle of in five states being bitterly fought, it would be a disaster for those sectors of
the economy which would be subjected to additional levy. Let states be compensated from
the Central exchequer now that Jaitley says his tax revenues remain buoyant despite note ban.
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Making GST work

The onus is on the Centre to build a consensus on contentious issues with the states
By: Editorial
(Representational image)
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said last week that the government and states were
racing against time to meet the proposed April 1 deadline for the roll out of the Goods and
Services Tax (GST). His remarks reflected the challenges that have emerged over the past
few weeks. At the last meeting of the GST Council, 10 of the 11 chapters of the integrated
GST law were approved, but a binding solution to contentious issues such as dual control on
tax administration and cross empowerment and the issue of powers to levy taxes in territorial
waters proved to be elusive. In the absence of a consensus on these, it is virtually impossible
to implement the law.
Many states have been holding out on the issue of administrative control over taxpayers with
an annual turnover of less than Rs 1.5 lakh crore a threshold which accounts for the bulk
of the tax-payer base. The Union government has not ceded ground so far on this: It reckons
it would be left with a much lower tax-payer base. The industry is also queering the pitch,
pointing out that they will have to deal with dual authorities or agencies for firms and
businesses that have inter-state transactions and linkages. Financial services, especially
banking, telecom and the information technology sectors, are cases in point. For instance,
banks have indicated they may have to create profit and loss accounts state-wise in a regime
of dual control. States argue that their concerns are legitimate from a revenue perspective. On
the face of it, the statess claim for administrative control over taxpayers with a turnover of
below Rs 1.5 crore may not be unreasonable considering that the tax administration of states
may be better equipped to levy and collect taxes from this segment. The Narendra
Modi government could work out a grand bargain with the states: It could propose a central
registration for select sectors such as banking with the levy and collection being the
responsibility of the Centre, which then shares it with states. That may act as an incentive to
state governments, which are battling economic slowdown and the disruption caused by
demonetisation, to get the law going.
Jaitley has said the government will strive for a consensus: It has consciously avoided a
voting in the GST Council to build a healthy precedent. Thats welcome. But if India has to
make the transition towards a common market especially at a time of great economic
uncertainty, the Centre will need to be more magnanimous.
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No proof required: Towards an Income Tax Revolution

The economy provides scope and demonetisation, the rationale for a flat income tax
rate and a negative income tax for the poor and the needy.
Written by Surjit S Bhalla , Arvind Virmani
The battle against black income has been an ongoing one. It was
included in the manifesto of the BJP government and has been on the agenda since it came to power in May, 2014.
Illustration: C R Sasikumar
In his December 31 speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a pointed reference to the
fact that in 2013-14, as per official Ministry of Finance data, there were only 2.4 million
individuals declaring incomes above Rs 10 lakh. As many have pointed out, no matter what
the indicator used (number of big houses, luxury cars, yachts, private planes, etc.) this is too
small a number for an economy the size and richness, of India. What this means is there is a
considerable amount of tax evasion a rough estimate of the order of magnitude is around
Rs 6 lakh crore to Rs 9 lakh crore. This may be a strange coincidence but this number
corresponds closely to our estimates of black cash in the Indian economy in 2016-17, or as of
November 8, 2016.
The battle against black income has been an ongoing one. It was included in the manifesto of
the BJP government and has been on the agenda since it came to power in May, 2014.
Besides the government and its supporters, opposition parties in Parliament have demanded
that black money held abroad be identified and brought back. Even the Supreme Court came
into the picture with the setting up of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) on black money
under its oversight/supervision. A number of acts have been passed by Parliament to tighten
the screws and make it more difficult to hold undeclared assets. And then, there was
demonetisation on November 8.
As the history of the license permit quota raj shows, unless the economic incentive favour
voluntary tax compliance and less political, bureaucratic and police corruption, any benefits
are soon frittered away and negative effects multiply over time. Consequently, institutional
reforms for minimising corruption and policy reforms for encouraging voluntary compliance
are very important. Something we outline below.
In the US, the IRS has been conducting an annual exercise since 2006, which attempts to
identify the tax losses which arise from income tax evasion. For personal income tax (PIT),
the concern of this article, the IRS estimates that of every $100 the US government does
collect, about $20 is missed. One of the authors (Surjit) had conducted a
detailed exercise on tax compliance in India in 2002; this report was conducted for the
Ministry of Finance under the supervision of Vijay Kelkar (Task Force on Direct and Indirect
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Taxes). The report found that income tax compliance in India, while varying across income
groups, was in the broad range of 10 per cent to 30 per cent.
Updating the method to the 2013-14 data (the same as used by Modi), we find that there
should be approximately 10 million taxpayers earning above Rs 10 lakh if the compliance
rate is to be taken as only 25 per cent. For all taxpayers, and an estimate comparable to the
IRS, we obtain the result that for every Rs 100 obtained in PIT in India, Rs 300 goes missing
on a very conservative basis, Rs 200 goes missing. Whether this is the largest in the world,
we do not know but it has to be close to the top.
This also puts into perspective Modis anti-black money (or black income) drive. We have
consistently argued that the largest low hanging fruit in the Indian economy is the level of tax
compliance and that one of the goals of demonetisation has to be a change in the tax regime,
a change that brings out an increase in tax compliance.
The Union budget for 2017-18 will be presented on February 1. We believe that
demonetisation has provided the government with the courage and the vision of a major
reform in direct income taxes. One version of this reform is a move to a flat income tax rate
of 12 per cent. Yes, that is the rate the average taxpayer actually paid in 2013-14!
But what about progressivity in the tax system? Shouldnt the rich be taxed more? We
strongly believe that questions of ethics, philosophy and false morality should be kept out of
the taxation system. Indeed, those who argue for higher tax rates are often those who have a
vested interest in keeping tax rates high in order that their own personal (black) incomes
increase if you think we are hinting at the Income Tax Authority, you are right.
This budget should be and we hope will be about reform of direct taxes. In previous
budgets, government has proposed reforms of the Corporate Income Tax (CIT). These
reforms are in the right direction, but have been carried out too slowly and must be
accelerated. The government is on track to introduce the GST by August 2017, given that the
Constitutional Amendment has been passed we hope administrative matters will soon be
sorted out. Less attention has been focused on reform of the personal income tax and importexport tariffs and duties.
We do believe that the rich, the well-off, should pay more in tax. Hence, this proposal focuses
on reform of the personal income tax and the related issue of Direct Cash Transfers
(DCT)/Net Income Transfers or Negative Income Tax (NIT). Note that an NIT policy was
first outlined by Milton Friedman in the late 1950s.
The table summarises the important parameters of income tax compliance and revenue
collection based on detailed Ministry of Finance data for 2013-14 (available
at http://www.incometaxindia.gov.in) and uses these data to make projections for 2016-17.
We want to be as close to revenue neutral as possible, and also provide for NIT.
In 2016-17, it is estimated that 62 per cent of the non-cultivator workforce in India earns
below Rs 2.5 lakh a year. That is 205 million earners. Our design of NIT is such that each
worker earning below Rs 2.5 lakh will obtain some income transfer. A person with no income
will receive Rs 30,000 and one who earns Rs 2.5 lakh will receive zero income transfer. The
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bill for NIT, for 2016-17, is estimated to be Rs 2.92 lakh crore. Where will this money come
from?
It will come from a minimum increase in tax compliance, which presently stands at 25 per
cent. The flat tax rate we propose is 12 per cent, the rate actually observed in 2013-14, and
very likely the tax rate estimated by the Ministry of Finance in making its revenue projections
for 2016-17! (Note that this average rate includes surcharge and cess).
A flat tax rate of 12 per cent, even for a tax-shy Indian, should be very appealing. We
estimate that the compliance rate will increase by eight percentage points to 33 per cent. This
increase in compliance will compensate for the extra revenue needed for the NIT proposal,
that is, 2.9 lakh crore. Incidentally, the tax revenue data for postdemonetisation November and December does suggest that an increase in tax compliance is
taking place.
So will the Union budget transform India into a moderately tax-compliant economy? The
budget provides an opportunity for the Modi government to unleash a big bang reform in
personal income taxation. The economy provides scope and demonetisation, the rationale for
a flat income tax rate and a negative income tax for the poor and the needy. Let not the
demonetisation pain be in vain.
Bhalla is contributing editor, The Indian Express, and senior India analyst at Observatory
Group, a New York-based macro policy advisory group. Virmani is chairman, Policy
Foundation. Views are personal
Income Tax revolution: Budget 2017 offers opportunity for a flat income
tax rate and negative one for poor
In his December 31 speech, prime ministerModi made a pointed reference to the fact that in
FY14, as per official ministry of finance data, there were only 2.4 million individuals
declaring incomes above Rs 10 lakh. As many have pointed out, no matter what the indicator
used (number of big houses, luxury cars, yachts, private planes, etc), this is too small a
number for an economy the size, and richness, of India. What this means is that there is a
considerable amount of tax evasiona rough estimate of the order of magnitude is around Rs
6-9 lakh crore on an annual basis. Maybe a strange coincidence, but this number corresponds
closely to our estimates of black cash in the Indian economy in FY17, or as of November 8,
2016.
The battle against black income has been an ongoing one. It was included in the manifesto of
the BJP government and has been on the agenda since it came to power in May 2014. Besides
the government and its supporters, opposition parties in Parliament have demanded that black
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money held abroad be identified and brought back. Even the Supreme Court came into the
picture with the setting up of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) on black money under its
oversight/supervision. A number of Acts have been passed by Parliament to tighten the
screws and to make it more difficult to hold undeclared assets. And then there was
demonetisation on November 8.
As the history of the License Permit Quota Raj shows, that unless the economic incentive
favour voluntary tax compliance and less political, bureaucratic and police corruption, any
benefits are soon frittered away and negative effects multiply over time. Consequently,
institutional reforms for minimising corruption and policy reforms for encouraging voluntary
compliance are very important. Something we outline below.
In the US, the IRS has been conducting an annual exercise since 2006, an exercise which
attempts to identify the tax losses which arise from income tax evasion. For personal income
tax (PIT), the concern of this article, the IRS estimates that of every $100 the US government
does collect, about $20 is missed. One of the authors (Surjit) had conducted a detailed
exercise on tax compliance in India in 2002; this report was conducted for the ministry of
finance under the supervision of Vijay Kelkar (Task Force on Direct and Indirect Taxes). The
report found that income tax compliance in India, while varying across income groups, was in
the broad range of 10-30%.
Updating the method to the FY14 data (the same as used by PM Modi), we find that there
should be approximately 10 million taxpayers earning above Rs 10 lakh, i.e., the compliance
rate is only 25%. For all taxpayers, and an estimate comparable to the IRS, we obtain the
result that for every Rs 100 obtained in PIT in India, Rs 300 goes missing; on a very
conservative basis, Rs 200 goes missing. Whether this is the largest in the world, we do not
knowbut it has to be close to the top (one area where India is tops!).
This also puts into perspective PM Modis anti-black money (or black income) drive. We
have consistently argued that the largest low-hanging fruit in the Indian economy is the level
of tax compliance. And that one of the goals of demonetisation has to be a change in the tax
regime, a change that brings out an increase in tax compliance.
The Union Budget for FY18 will be presented on February 1. We believe that demonetisation
has provided the government with the courage, and the vision, of a major reform in direct
income taxes. As shown below, we show that one version of this reform is a move to a flat
income tax rate of 12 %. Yes, that is the rate the average taxpayer actually paid in FY14!
But what about progressivity in the tax system? Shouldnt the rich be taxed more? We
strongly believe that questions of ethics, and philosophy, and false morality should be kept
out of the taxation system. Indeed, those who argue for higher tax rates are often those who
have a vested interest in keeping tax rates high in order that their own personal (black)
incomes increaseif you think we are hinting at the income tax authority, you are right.
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This Budget should be, and we hope will be, about reform of direct taxes. In previous budgets
government has proposed reforms of the Corporate Income Tax (CIT). These reforms are in
the right direction, but have been carried out too slowly and must be accelerated. The
government is on track to introduce GST by August 2017, given that the Constitutional
Amendment has been passedwe hope administrative matters will soon be sorted out. Less
attention has been focused on reform of the personal income tax and import-export tariffs and
duties.
We do believe that the rich, the well-off, should pay more in tax. Hence, this proposal focuses
on reform of the personal income tax and the related issue of Direct Cash Transfers
(DCT)/Net Income Transfers or Negative Income Tax (NIT). Note that an NIT policy was
first
outlined
by
Milton
Friedman
in
the
late
1950s.
The accompanying table summarises the important parameters of income tax compliance and
revenue collection based on detailed ministry of finance data for FY14 (available at
www.incometaxindia.gov.in) and uses these data to make projections for FY17. We want to
be as close to revenue neutral as possible, and also provide for NIT.
Some basic facts about I-T in India. In FY17, it is estimated that 62% of the non-cultivator
workforce in India earns below Rs 2.5 lakh p.a. That is 205 million earners. Our design of
NIT is such that each worker earning below Rs 2.5 lakh will obtain some income transfer. A
person with no income will receive Rs 30,000 and one who earns Rs 2.5 lakh, will receive
zero income transfer. The bill for NIT, for FY17, is estimated to be Rs 2.92 lakh crore. Where
will this money come from ?
From a minimum increase in tax compliance, which presently stands at 25%. The flat tax rate
we propose is 12%, the rate actually observed in FY14, and very likely the tax rate estimated
by the ministry of finance in making its revenue projections for FY17! (Note that this average
rate includes surcharge and cess.)
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A flat tax rate of 12 %, even for a tax-shy Indian, should be very appealing. We estimate that
at a minimum, the compliance rate will at a minimum increase by 8 percentage points to
33%. This increase in compliance will compensate for the extra revenue needed for the NIT
proposali.e., Rs 2.9 lakh crore. Incidentally, the tax revenue data for post-demonetisation
November and December does suggest that an increase in tax compliance is taking place.
So, will the Union Budget transform India into a moderately tax compliant economy? The
Union Budget provides an opportunity for the Modi government to unleash a Big-Bang
reform in personal income taxation. The economy provides the scope, and the demonetisation
the rationale, for a flat income tax rate and a negative income tax for the poor and the needy.
Let not the demonetisation pain be in vain.
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Union Budget 2017

Early Budget unfair, unethical
The code of conduct for elections has come into force in five states where Assembly elections
are to be held in February and March. The Election Commission of India (ECI) has
announced the poll schedule which will start on February 4. Parliaments Budget session is
set to start on January 31, and the Union Budget is scheduled to be presented on February 1,
just three days before the voting starts. The Opposition has approached the ECI seeking a
postponement of the presentation of the Budget. The oppositions argument is that the
government might use the Budget to offer sops to the voters and it will have an impact
because the proposals will be made just before the elections. The argument carries weight.
Budgets are not just financial documents. They are political statements, too. It will be wrong
and unethical for a government to use its power to present the budget to influence the voters
at a sensitive time before the elections. It will mean denial of a level playing field for the
opposition, which is a pre-condition for free and fair elections.
It is very likely that this years Budget will be populist and will offer many sops and reliefs to
voters to ease the pain of demonetisation. It is disingenuous to argue that the Budget
proposals are for the entire nation and there will not be any proposals specifically aimed at
the five states. The voters in the poll-bound states will also benefit from the sops. Both Prime
Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley have hinted at a reduction in
taxes. It is also not right to say that every year some election or the other takes place in the
country, and that last year, the Budget was presented before the elections. There is a more
relevant precedent of the UPA government postponing its Budget presentation to March 16
when Assembly elections were to be held in the same states in 2012.
This year, the Budget is being presented one month earlier than usual and, therefore, its
postponement to the first week of March will not do any harm. It will show that the
government is fair and reasonable and sensitive to the oppositions views. It is wrong for the
government or any party to have an unfair advantage in elections. Unfortunately, Jaitley has
said that there is no requirement for a delay. The ECI has sought the governments views
on the matter. The commission, which takes care to enforce the model code of conduct even
when minor issues are involved, should ensure that the government does not violate the code
on a major matter like this.
Budget 2017: Why do we need an institutional evaluation mechanism?

Successive governments have unveiled flagship programmes and schemes in the annual
Budget hoping to win popular support. But a holistic evaluation of outcomes achieved
through spending on these schemes has been missing. The government as the largest
spending unit the Centres budgeted expenditure is about Rs 18 lakh crore should
maximise bang for the buck.
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The outcome Budget, launched in 2005-06, was meant to track actual implementation of
schemes and fix accountability for lapses. However, ministries cobbled together unwieldy
documents that reflected poor understanding of the goal, raising doubts over its efficacy to
measure performance and improve service delivery, regrettably. Reportedly, ministries are
sending progress reports on programme implementation to the Prime Ministers Office.
We need a proper institutional mechanism to assesses flagship schemes to enhance the

quality of implementation and outcomes. Take the example of education. Merely spending
money or writing rules on primary education will not suffice. Learning outcomes should be
better and that, in turn, calls for both empowering and holding teachers to account. A robust
institutional mechanism can convert criticism into improvement.
Segregating expenditure as Plan and non-Plan blocks a holistic evaluation of outcomes. So, it
is welcome that the government wants to do away with the distinction in the coming Budget.
The Rangarajan committees recommendation earlier to shift to a multi-year time horizon and
shift to outcome-linked expenditure management makes sense. Budget outlays should be
based on detailed project reports that are absolutely clear on final targets, milestones and
precise funding requirement at every stage, be it building roads, schools or toilets.
Budget 2017: Arun Jaitley must draw fine balance between certainty and
steps to curb black money
The year 2016 witnessed key policy changes, such as demonetisation of high denomination
currency notes by the Union government, the income disclosure scheme to track black money
in the domestic economy, amendments to Indias tax treaties with Cyprus, Mauritius and
Singapore and introduction of the multilateral instrument by the OECD as part of the Base
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Erosion Profit Shifting (BEPS) project, which could affect the manner of doing business in
India. Here are some of the expectations of businesses that Budget 2017 may meet.
Giving a boost to start-ups
The road map to a reduced corporate tax rate was laid down by the finance minister (FM) in
the past, manifesting the governments intention to bring it down to 25% over a period of
four years while phasing out exemptions. Additionally, the government may consider
providing relief to start-ups from applicability of minimum alternate tax and dividend
distribution tax.
Relief for digital payments
In the backdrop of demonetisation, the focus of the government has been to move towards a
cashless economy. Having said that, one may expect special measures for payments through
digital modes.
Changes in capital gains tax on transfer of listed securities
In light of the statement made by the prime minister, that persons making monetary gains
from the financial market should make a fair contribution to nation-building through taxes,
changes to the capital gains tax regime cannot be ruled out. This could be in the following
forms:
*Increase in the period of holding for listed shares or debt instruments for qualifying them as
long term capital assets; or
*Increase in the rate of tax for short-term capital gains from transfer of listed securities from
the existing base rate of 15% to a higher rate; or *Restriction on ability to set off capital loss
from transfer of listed shares.
Capital gains tax on transfer of unlisted shares
In order to bring the domestic investors on a par with foreign investors, the government may
also extend the availability of the concessional base rate of tax of 10% on transfer of unlisted
shares to resident tax-payers as well.
Clarifications in respect of mergers and acquisitions
It would not be unreasonable to expect that the Budget provides clarity on the following
issues:
*Tax exemption upon conversion of one category of shares into another, and determination of
the period of holding of converted shares from date of allotment of original shares, as is the
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case for conversion of debenture or bonds into equity shares, as against the date of issue of
converted shares;
*Tax exemption from capital gains upon merger of a limited liability partnership firm into
another limited liability partnership firm;
* Tax exemption to shareholders of foreign amalgamating company on transfer of shares in
amalgamating company for exchange of shares in amalgamated foreign company. Especially,
this is relevant in the funds industry where there is multiple tax incidences (direct transfer of
shares of Indian companies at the fund level and indirect transfer at investor level) due to
layered fund structures created for commercial reasons and not for tax purposes. CBDTs
recent FAQs have not addressed these issues;
*Applicability of buy-back tax where the company undertakes capital reduction due to
existing tax treatment of capital reduction as deemed dividend and also capital gains in the
hands of the shareholders.
In addition to the above, one expects that the government takes measures to operationalise the
additional benches of the authority for advance ruling (AAR), given that AAR is widely
approached by foreign investors for seeking clarity on tax implications in India.
In order to establish an investor-friendly climate and provide tax certainty to foreign investors
without comprising with the tax base, the government could also consider providing a safe
harbour for applicability of the General Anti Avoidance Rule which will come into force
from April 1, 2017. One hopes that the Budget draws a fine balance between tax certainty,
ease of doing business in India and the measures to curb black money.
Budget 2017 and income tax rates: Why Arun Jaitley should cut rates
instead of hiking tax exemptions
Given the need to assuage demonetisation pains and the need to collect more taxes, finance
minister ArunJaitley is expected to cut tax rates on February 1, but he has to refrain from
populism while doing so. Keep in mind, as the Economic Survey pointed out this year,
Indias tax-to-GDP is 5.4 ppt below comparable countries and just 15% of national income is
reported to the tax authorities. In this context, while hiking tax-exempt income to, say, Rs 3
lakhor bringing back standard deduction as appears to have been recommended by the
Easwar panelwill be popular, this will remove 15-20 lakh taxfilers out of the 130 lakh there
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are today. The Survey points out that, had the limits not been raised from FY09, there would
have been 1.65 crore more returns and tax-GDP levels would have risen 0.32 ppt due to this
alone.
Apart from greater efficiency in bringing in lucrative sectors like real estate into the tax net,
the big challenge is the low compliance of those earning between Rs 10-15 lakhtax
compliance here is a mere 10% versus 20-25% in all other tax brackets, based on a
comparison of the tax data with a theoretical income distribution of the country for that year.
Since this is likely due to the fact that the top 30% tax bracket kicks in at a fairly modest level
of income, the solution is to, say, create another bracket of Rs 10-20 lakh and tax that at,
maybe, 20%. While this segment brings in around Rs 50,000 crore of taxesbased on data
for AY 2014-15the cut in rates will probably be more than made up by the impact of the
increased compliance. This will necessitate cuts in rates in the lower slabsin AY 2014-15,
the Rs 2.5-5 lakh income group brought in around a tenth of personal income tax collections,
so the loss in doing so may not be much while the move will be widely welcomed. Since the
government loses around Rs 55,000 crore on various tax exemptions like those on insurance,
it will be important to phase them outwhile this will hurt those in the upper-middle income
brackets, perhaps removing surcharges may neutralise the impact.
Though the tax-exemption limit has been overtaken by time, much of this was a
recommendation of the Direct Taxes Code in 2009 anywaythat recommended doing away
with all tax deductions and taxing incomes of Rs 1.6-10 lakh at 10%, Rs 10-25 lakh at 20%
and above that at 30%. The finance minister would do well to revisit that document.
Pay heed to Urjit Patel

Reserve Bank of India Governor Urjit Patels emphasis on the vital importance of protecting
domestic macroeconomic stability could not have come at a more crucial juncture. With the
Centre in the process of finalising the Union Budget, Dr. Patel has stressed the need to ensure
that it does not stray from the path of fiscal consolidation, at a time when the external
environment is already adverse and likely to remain uncertain for the foreseeable future. That
the clamour for a sizeable fiscal stimulus is likely to grow louder as budget day nears is a
certainty, given the signs that an incipient demand slowdown may have been exacerbated by
the cash crunch caused by the withdrawal of high-value banknotes. Within the government
too, the temptation to loosen the purse strings to assuage adverse reaction to the
demonetisation decision is likely to be high. It is in this context that the RBI chiefs reminder
to the Centre that borrowing even more and pre-empting resources from future generations
cannot be a short cut to achieving durable long-term higher growth is significant. With the
general government deficit among the highest in the G-20 economies, Dr. Patel reiterated
what several of his predecessors including Y.V. Reddy have harped on: high levels of
government borrowing tend to crowd out private investment and paper over the urgent need
for more abiding reforms.
Specifically, the RBI chief has suggested that government expenditure be ideally reoriented
towards creating more public infrastructure such as expanded railway networks and urban
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mass transit systems that would help boost productivity even as it leads to reductions in the
oil import bill and provides the collateral benefit of improved air quality. And in what could
be seen as an expression of assertion of the RBIs independence of thought, Dr. Patel spoke
of the risks that policy interventions in the form of government guarantees and interest rate
subventions pose. While not directly alluding to Prime Minister NarendraModis
announcements last month, which included a doubling in credit guarantees for micro, small
and medium enterprises, the RBI chief said that large credit guarantees also impede optimal
allocation of financial resources and increase moral hazard. With such guarantees only
adding to the governments liabilities and raising the risk premium on its borrowing, the
better solution, he suggested, would be to resolve constraints such as transaction costs related
to clearances and the taxation bureaucracy. As Dr. Patel said, it is easy and quick to fritter
away gains regarding macroeconomic stability. But, as he added, it would be hard and slow
to regain them.
Will Budget 2017 fulfill NarendraModis motto of reform, perform and

transform? Find out here
The Modi governments motto has been reform, perform and transform. The Union Budget
2017 will reflect the governments intention to take forward its reform agenda. While the
implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) will be the biggest tax reform in recent
years, given the recent impasse in the GST Council, the focus may now shift to other
proposals that would take the reform process ahead and resolve various issues that are
creating an inefficient and uncertain indirect tax structure for businesses.
One of the expectations on the rate front is that the government will maintain the existing
service tax and excise duty rates so that there are no significant changes as the industry
transitions to GST. However, sectors like e-commerce clearly require assistance on tax
matters plaguing the sector. Aggregators, for example, are growing at a rapid pace and are
also victims of tax inefficiency. While aggregators are required to deposit service tax on the
whole consideration received from users, they are barred from utilising their CENVAT credit
to discharge service tax liability on such consideration. CENVAT credit can be utilised only
for payment of service tax on the aggregators commission. Once the liability to pay tax shifts
from the actual service provider to the aggregator, no further restrictions should be imposed
on utilisation of credit to discharge this liability. The provisions could be amended to allow
the aggregators to utilise CENVAT credit balance against the entire liability (their own and as
an aggregator), as it would not only lead to efficient utilisation of credits by the aggregator,
but would also minimise cash flow.
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Another key topic is the dual levy of tax, which is a common issue in many transactions, such
as supply of software, works contract, delivery charges, e-books, etc. Specifically, the subject
of dual levy of tax on software has been much debated for many years, with no clarity
brought under the law so far. Dual levy of VAT and service tax on software increases the cost
to the end-customer and results in inefficiency in the business. The industry has been waiting
for clarity on this aspect for a long time.
Likewise, taxability on sale of electronic books (e-books) is also a grey area. First, there is
uncertainty in categorisation of the transaction between supply of goods or services. Second,
if such supply is treated as a supply of goods, there is lack of clarity on applicability of VAT
rate on e-books and the situs of sale. Under most VAT legislations, books are taxed at zero
rate of VAT. However, there is no clarity on whether e-books would qualify as books or as an
independent product. Clarity in this regard would definitely bring certainty in the tax position
on this matter.
Double taxation of works contract is another issue which adds to the inefficiency of the
indirect tax structure in case of turnkey contracts/ composite contracts. VAT is levied on 7075% of the contract value and service tax on 40-70%. This leads to double taxation of 4045% of the contract value. Appropriate amendment in the service tax provisions to either
provide for levy of service tax on such portion of the value of contract on which VAT is not
levied or deeming 30% of the contract value as service consideration may be considered to do
away with the inefficiency of double taxation.
With effect from December 1, 2016, taxation of digital supplies made by foreign service
providers to Indian customers (B2C transaction) has been introduced under the service tax
provisions. Consequently, foreign service providers are required to obtain registration and
undertake necessary compliances that are quite cumbersome. The same principles have also
been introduced under the Model GST law. While the timeline provided for implementation
of this provision was very short, many issues still persist in implementing this requirement.
Challenges persist like identifying whether the end-customer has a service tax registration
number, payment of tax through designated foreign bank accounts, non-availability of
CENVAT credit of service tax charged by certain Indian service providers, etc. While the
government had come out with a detailed set of guidelines, there are still many unresolved
issues.
While most of the above topics are likely to be clarified under the GST regime, in the current
scenario, it is imperative that the government resolves these issues, so that the issues do not
continue under GST as well.
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Budget 2017: A reduced dividend distribution tax rate would create

positive sentiment
Dividend Distribution Tax (DDT) levied under the Income Tax Act ,1961 is a tax levied on
any amount declared, distributed or paid by way of dividends by a company which is liable to
be taxed in the hands of the company at the basic rate of 15% plus applicable surcharge and
cess. As a corollary, such dividend income was till last year completely exempt from tax in
the hands of the shareholders.
The law around DDT has evolved over the recent years and key changes were made with an
intent to rationalise the provisions and provide a level playing ground. With the introduction
of the grossing up provisions in the law in 2014, the effective DDT cost on the amounts
distributed as dividend has increased from 16.995% to 20.36%. Further, last year the
government additionally introduced Section 115BBDA under the Act, which provides for an
additional taxation of 10% in respect of dividend receipts of resident individuals, Hindu
Undivided Family and firms (including Limited Liability Partnerships).
The recent changes coupled with 30% corporate tax rate (though the government has
promised to bring this down in a phased manner) makes doing business in India an expensive
proposition from a tax perspective. In fact, dividends distributed by foreign subsidiaries stand
on a more beneficial footing in view of the 15% tax rate in the law as compared to the
grossed up rate applicable for domestic companies.
Till 2008, DDT had a cascading impact on account of which the tax increased based on the
number of ownership layers. The government then brought in a key relaxation by way of
inserting a DDT exemption rule for layered holding structures wherein cascading impact of
DDT was sought to be mitigated. Further amendments were carried out to this provision in
2012, by way of permitting any company and not just the ultimate holding company to
reduce, from the dividend paid, the amount of dividend already subjected to DDT in the
hands of the subsidiary company.
Despite the above relaxations, there still exist certain ambiguities and practical challenges in
availment of the true benefit of these exemption provisions. Presently, Section 115-O of the
Act spares domestic companies from paying DDT to the extent of dividend received from the
subsidiary company on which the subsidiary company has already paid DDT. While the
amendments in 2012 were made with the intent of mitigating the cascading impact of DDT in
a multi-layer corporate structure; however, the law continues to provide that the same amount
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of DDT cannot be taken into account more than once for availing the benefit of this subsection. The industry has been demanding that the government delete the proviso such that
the dividend distribution from the same income does not suffer double taxation on account of
a multi-tier corporate holding structure which sometimes may have been created due to
commercial or regulatory requirements.
Another challenge is that cascading relief as provided in Section 115-O is restricted only to
those companies which hold more than half of the nominal value of equity share capital of the
dividend paying company; thereby leading to an unfavourable situation wherein the
investment holding companies holding less than half of the nominal equity share capital of
the operating company are unable to avail this relief. This is an apparent disparity in the law
which may need rationalisation.
It may also be noted that Section 115-O provides a condition around the timing of further
distribution of dividend in such multi-layer structures whereby the law has a restrictive
condition that such exemption is available only when the dividend is distributed in the same
financial year in which it was received by the holding company. Such a restriction leads to a
practical challenge, where for availing the exemption it becomes mandatory for the company
receiving dividend income to declare interim dividend in the financial year of receipt of such
dividend income. Payment of interim dividend is subject to certain restrictions in relation to
the rate of dividend and other compliances under the Companies Act, 2013 and leads to an
unintended consequence whereby on account of such restrictions in the company law, a
company may not be able to declare interim dividend and hence, lose the DDT exemption
allowable under the law.
Some of these issues need appropriate clarification or amendments in the law such that the
provisions and the DDT exemption can be implemented in their true spirit. Various industry
bodies in their reports to the government have also made recommendations to resolve some
of the above stated challenges.
The government may need to re-look at some of the above issues to make the DDT regime
more industry friendly. A reduced DDT rate with a complete pass through status for
dividends which have suffered DDT once, would go a long way in creating a positive
sentiment in the country.
Fiscal deficit fear: Why Arun Jaitley must do a fine balancing act to
power growth
Besides tax changes, one of the Budget features closely looked at is the difference between
the governments revenue and expenditure, excluding borrowings or the fiscal deficit. The
focus is on whether the government has been able to keep to its target targeted deficit cap or
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not. Since 1990-91, successive governments missed their targets, but the situation improved
after 2000-01. In fact, in only five of the last 16 years, the government missed its target.
This year, too, the government is expected to reach its target on the back of increased tax
collection. Data released on Monday shows that direct taxes for April-December period have
increased 12.01%, while indirect taxes have grown 25% over last years. Moreover, as per the
Controller General of Accounts data till November, fiscal deficit had reached 85.8% of the
target, as against 87% during the corresponding period last year.
But it is not this years fiscal deficit that is of as much importance as what finance minister
ArunJaitley plans to do in the upcoming Budget. Although the Fiscal Responsibility and
Budget Management Act, 2003, clearly lays down a medium-term path for fiscal deficit, a
3% target (till 2018-19) was announced in the Budget 2016. The government last year
appointed a committee under NK Singh to amend the provision to allow some flexibility in
the form of a range. More important, against the backdrop of demonetisation, low private
spending and sluggish growth, it remains to be seen whether FM Jaitley goes for further
relaxation or sticks to the FRBM targets. Given how the economy needs a boost, and
government spending can provide that push, he may be more inclined to move towards a
range-bound target.
It all depends, however, on what he does with the extra spending room. While economists
have differed on account of fixing of targets, there is a near consensus that the deficit should
be used to fund capital expenditure and not support revenue expenditure, as capital
expenditures have a stronger multiplier effect on output. With capex as a percentage of total
expenditure declining over the last few years and its utilisation lagging behind revenue
utilisation, the FM would do well to focus more on this. In the end, it has to be a balancing
act between the deficit and investment needs to boost growth.
Budget 2017: Digital economy set to get a boost

The Union Budget is preceded with a number of expectations of various stakeholders. The
expectations this year are even more given the temporary slowdown expected in the economy
on account of demonetisation. The governments stated policy objectives such as reducing
the corporate tax rates, bringing in certainty in tax law and a non-adversarial tax regime
further add to the expectations of the corporates.
Corporate tax rate
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Issue No. 2
One of the most anticipated announcement in the upcoming budget is the reduction in
corporate tax rate. In his previous budget speeches, the finance minister had clearly laid down
the governments vision to reduce corporate tax rates from 30% to 25% with a simultaneous
and phased withdrawal of various direct tax exemptions. In this direction, a lower corporate
tax rate of 25% was introduced for new manufacturing companies which are incorporated on
or after March 1, 2016, provided they do not claim other exemptions in the 2016 budget. The
corporate tax rate was also lowered to 29% for companies with turnover not exceeding R5
crore. However, the general corporate tax rate still remained same at 30%.
The finance minister may only bring down the corporate tax rate in the range of 27-28%,
even though the expectation of India Inc. would be to see a further lowering of rates at the
earliest possible. A lower tax rate would bring some cheer for India Inc as it would help
neutralise any short term slack in growth due to demonetisation. A lower tax rate would also
bridge the gap with the global norm for corporate tax rates in various countries and help make
the domestic industry more competitive.
India Inc would also like to see a reduction in Minimum Alternate Tax rate from the current
18.5% even though presently no road map has been provided by the government for such a
reduction.
Incentives to promote less cash/digital economy
The government is keen and determined to move the direction of the economy to a digital or
less cash economy. The demonetisation drive resulted in people trying the electronic payment
options. The Government looks resolute to leave a mark as it forges ahead with all measures
necessary to achieve a more transparent and digital economy. A robust tax policy including
tax incentives and exemptions to promote the cashless and electronic payments may prove to
be a milestone in achieving this vision. The government has already proposed to reduce the
deemed profit rate from 8% to 6%, with respect to total turnover or gross receipts received
through banking channel or digital means for the current financial year. This tax relief applies
to any individual, HUF (Hindu undivided family) or a partnership firm other than limited
liability partnerships (LLP) carrying on any business other than transportation, agency,
brokerage and commission and having a revenue of R2 crore or less. The necessary
legislative amendment in this regard shall be carried out through the Finance Bill, 2017. On
the same lines, some further incentives could be expected in the Budget to give an impetus to
digital economy.
Expansion of equalisation levy
Considering the potential of new digital economy and the rapidly evolving nature of business
operations, a new levy called Equalisation Levy was introduced with effect from 1 June
2016 @ 6 % of the amount of consideration for specified services received or receivable by a
non-resident not having permanent establishment (PE) in India, from a resident in India
who carries out business or profession, or from a non-resident having permanent
establishment in India. The aforesaid levy initially covered online advertisements and
provision of digital advertising space or facilities.
The finance minister, in his 2016 budget speech, had stated that the Equalisation Levy was
aimed at taxing Business to Business (B2B) e-commerce transactions. The Government may
expand the scope of the so-called equalisation levy in the upcoming Budget, seeking to bring
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January 2017
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Issue No. 2
more digital economy transactions under the tax net. The ambit of equalisation levy on ecommerce transactions could be expanded to include transactions such as downloading of
songs, movies and books, online consumption of news, software downloads and online sale
of goods and services.
Deferral of PoEM
It is desired that the Place of Effective Management (PoEM) provisions in respect of the
residency criteria of foreign companies should be deferred by at least one year. Ever since the
PoEM provisions were introduced by Finance Act, 2015, there has not been much clarity
relating to its applicability and criteria. The CBDT has also released draft guidelines for
determination of POEM in December 2015, though the same has not been finalised so far.
The Union Budget 2016 had extended the application of PoEM from April 1, 2017 onwards.
In absence of any final guidelines yet, Budget 2017 may further defer the applicability of
PoEM unless the government promptly issues the much delayed clarifications on PoEM.
Whereas the above are only few anticipated direct tax changes which the corporates expect
from the upcoming budget, the wish list of India Inc. as well as the common man is as high as
always in a budget season. The challenge for the government is to strike a balance between
the expectations of taxpayers as well as achieving its fiscal targets. One certain thing which
can be expected from the upcoming budget is that it is going to have a touch of prime
ministers vision of a digital economy, measures to promote it along with a stable and certain
tax policy environment.
8-15 January, 2017
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January 2017
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Issue No. 2
Urbanisation
Unclogging the cities
The move to make New Delhis iconic Connaught Place a pedestrian zone from February,
and keep out cars and other vehicles from its middle and inner circle roads, during a threemonth trial programme is an inspiring attempt to reconquer public space. Urban design in
India is the preserve of State governments and local bodies, which have failed spectacularly
to provide a safe, comfortable and accessible experience for walkers. The pilot project in the
national capital represents a refreshing change, taking a leaf out of the book of global cities
that have pedestrianised their landmarks, often in the face of conservative opposition.
Prominent examples are Times Square in New York and the route along the Seine in Paris,
and the curbs on cars in central avenue in Madrid. Contrary to apprehensions that restrictions
affect commercial activity, the experience around the world has been quite the opposite:
better walking and public transport infrastructure and availability of food plazas attract more
people, improving the local economy. In America, pedestrian injuries decreased after vehicles
were removed from Times Square, beginning seven years ago. Globally this has been the
trend too when cities curb car use and clean up the air. Such examples should convince the
Ministry of Urban Development that it is moving in the right direction, and if anything, this
needs to be extended to other cities.
Keeping powered vehicles out of core areas, expanding pavements for pedestrians and
facilitating the use of bicycles is today a high-priority goal for mayors and urban
governments the world over. In the intermediate phase, many cities find it rewarding to levy a
stiff congestion charge on personal vehicles entering designated areas. This is a mature idea
and needs to be trialled in India, under its ongoing smart cities programme. It should be
mandated by law that all proceeds would go towards funding walking, bicycling and
emissions-free public transport infrastructure. The importance of such a levy is evident from
a study by Transport for London in 2014-15, that found the British capital losing 5.5 billion
a year in financial costs arising from congestion. Measures to unclog cities are often posed,
wrongly, as detrimental to the economy and efficiency. While cars will continue to remain
relevant for longer-distance travel, dense urban areas need relief from excessive motorisation.
Union Minister for Urban Development M. Venkaiah Naidu has favoured people-centric
ideas for Connaught Place, including aesthetic features such as water fountains and areas for
relaxation. These are not expensive to put in, and State governments must extend the template
to all cities and towns, acknowledging the wider social benefits.
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Issue No. 2
Water
Colossal man-made disaster
Krishna Raj,
WATER SCARCE BENGALURU : Water woes persist as the city has lost its natural
watersheds and depends fully on Cauvery to meet its drinking water needs
Bengaluru is set to experience a serious drinking water crisis much before the onset of
the summer season.
The physical water scarcity is originated with the failure of the South-West monsoon
reflected in poor storage of water in the KRS dam and much worse is the release of scarce
water to Tamil Nadu on the directions of the Supreme Court.
Both natural and judicial factors were virtually not in anybodys control except managing
now the available scarce water to meet the citys drinking water needs for the next months till
the onset of monsoon in June.
Urban drinking water issues mainly concerned with spatial and temporal dynamics of water
demand, water supply and water prices indicate that the city faces serious water scarcity in
the absence of demand-side management (reduction in water demand), alternative sources of
water and efficient water pricing. The urban water policy of the BWSSB is highly twisted
towards supply enhancement of drinking water by laying additional pipelines which extract
water from the Cauvery river.
However, the demand side management consisting of efficient and equitable supply of water
by reducing water loss, theft and inefficient use of water has not been yielding good results.
The main reason is that the current drinking water pricing policy of BWSSB is based on
average cost of water supply rather than its marginal costs.
Further, water tariffs are subject to political consideration causing a huge difference between
the cost of water supply and revenue generated through water tariff. This has negatively
impacted on the performance of the BWSSB in terms of water supply efficiency and financial
sustainability.
Drinking water woes persist as Bengaluru continuously lost its natural watersheds and now
completely depends on Cauvery to meet its drinking water needs. Arkavathi has become a
dead river. The two water supply reservoirs, Hesaraghatta and T G Halli, reached dead
storage level caused by reduction in green belt areas and change in land use pattern in
catchment areas.
The economic cost of water is observed through vanishing of Arkavathi and huge investment
made on the Yettinahole water supply project to divert water from Western Ghats to the
plains.
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January 2017
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Issue No. 2
The city lakes and ponds have vanished because of rapid development, illegal encroachment
and increasing level of water pollution. The city receives 1,400 MLD (million litres per day)
of water through various stages of the Cauvery Water Supply Schemes.
Allocation of 19 TMC FT (thousand million cubic feet ) of water by the Cauvery Water
Dispute Tribunal for drinking water needs of Bengaluru has reached its maximum limit with
the implementation of the stage IV Phase II in 2012 having installed capacity of 500 MLD.
Meeting additional water needs for the starving city has either come from different water
source at high cost or reduction in the water demand in the city through rationing and
arresting unaccounted for water (UFW). About 48% of water is UFW which is the highest
among the Indian metropolitan cities.
Of the total 1,400 MLD water received, 700 MLD is UFW which needs to be treated as
colossal man-made disaster for Bengaluru. The current water availability at 1,400 MLD for
citys 8.5 million population is sufficient to meet the standard of 150 litres per capita daily
(LPCD) even if 10% of UFW is taken into consideration.
The economic consequence of the towering UFW is that the average per capita water
availability varies from 75 to 80 LPCD which is far less than the WHO stipulated 150 LPCD
for cities like Bengaluru. The 48% of UFW is lost during the supply of water to different
localities within the city causing a huge financial deficit for BWSSB as non-revenue water.
The water coverage in newly added BBMP areas is still a distant dream.
Per capita consumption
The data on ward-wise per capita consumption of water among BBMP wards shows that posh
areas like Jayanagar, Malleshwaram, Sadhashivanagar, Banashankari, HSR layout, Vasanth
Nagar, Gandhi Nagar receive more than 300 LPCD, whereas many wards on outski-rts of the
city receive less than 25 LPCD.
Water theft and unmetered connections are squarely blamed for this unequitable distribution
of water among various socio-economic groups in the city. This also indicates that the water
subsidy is enjoyed by the rich who consume more than 150 LPCD rather poor who hardly get
any water in their taps.
Of the total 5,81,341 water meter connections, 32.2% of connections consume less than 28
LPCD, whereas, 60% connections consume water between 129 and 287 LPCD and the
remaining 8% consume whopping more than 500 LPCD. This clearly indicates that crosssubsidisation is not really helping the poor rather the water tariff based on average cost of
water supply is enjoyed by the rich. Therefore, fixing of water tariff on marginal cost of water
supply for the consumers beyond 150 LPCD will help in improving the financial efficiency of
BWSSB.
Further, the demand side management of water by reducing water demand among high water
consuming households will help water availability in the water scarce zones or wards. The
water rationing and efficient water pricing will ensure efficient water management in terms of
reducing water scarcity and preventing potential water conflicts during the summer season.
The demand-side management of water policy has been successful in New York city with a
paradigm shift in production and consumption patterns.
The production system should use less water input for more output with the provision of
water recycling. Production of water-saving taps and toilets will help reduce water flow and
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January 2017
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Issue No. 2
save water. The consumption system should use products which consume less water
including less foam soaps.
Most importantly, change in behaviour of people towards water as economic and
conditionally renewable good will help people use water rationally through slowing the flow
of water in taps.
(The writer is Associate Professor and Head, Centre for Economic Studies and Policy,
Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bengaluru)
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