KI

IWEPW July
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Notes by vineetpunnoose on www.kiwipaper.com
Content
The Fortaleza Twins 1
BRICS Bank Future Hinges on Governance 1
When the Government Leans on Judges 4
Scuttling Inconvenient Judicial Appointments 5
Once More in Gaza 7
India and the Israeli War on Palestine 8
Dispute Settlement in Bilateral Investment Agreements 9
End of the Planning Commission? 11
Neglect of the Working Emigrant 12
Why Women Need 498A 13
Could the Kingdom Still Be United? 14
Ad-hocism in the Decisions to Modify Labour Laws 14
Decentralised Energy Generation 16
Law Commission Report on 'Death Penalty' 20
Modi and Modified Crops 22
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The Fortaleza Twins
Sat, Jul 26, 2014
BRICS bank, Fortaleza, EPW, international, brics,
The sixth summit of the BRICS countries - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South
Africa - in the Brazilian city of Fortaleza on 14-16 July attracted a lot of attention for
two reasons - the agreement on the New Development Bank (NDB) and the treaty for
the establishment of a BRICS Contingency Reserve Arrangement (CRA). A number
of commentators have held that the establishment of the NDB and the CRA is an attempt
to replicate the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), with China
now in the lead at Fortaleza in July 2014 just as the United States (US) was at Bretton
Woods (New Hampshire) 70 years ago in July 1944.
the NDB was based on the principle of equality between the BRICS member-countries
and, moreover, the BRICS bank's presidency will be rotated among the five member
countries. This is, of course, most unlike the IMF and the World Bank, where, in the
case of the former, the president is chosen by the Europeans, and in the latter, the US
chooses who is to occupy the post.
The BRICS member countries, taken together, presently have a voting share of only
11% in the IMF even though their combined 2013 gross domestic product share in the
global economy is more than 20%. The Declaration calls for the implementation of
proposals to increase the voting power of the BRICS and other emerging/developing
member countries in the IMF, as also, a review of the shareholding at the World Bank.
Nevertheless, the tensions notwithstanding, there is a clear complementarity between
the CRA and the IMF, both of whom will be virtually coordinating their lending
arrangements for "Parties" facing actual or potential short-term balance of payments
pressures. In the
Interestingly, the NDB has already been endorsed by the president of the World Bank.
It will be providing finance for infrastructural investment and "sustainable development"
projects, both public and private ones, this through loans, guarantees, equity participation
and other financial instruments. The NDB's operations, it must be noted and this is
stressed in the "Agreement on the New Development Bank", will be based on "sound
banking principles". Will it then operate like the World Bank and the International
Finance Corporation? The question being asked, however, is whether the NDB's loans
will have neo-liberal conditions attached to them, like the World Bank's loans.
BRICS Bank Future Hinges on Governance
Sat, Jul 26, 2014
BRICS Bank, BRICS, EPW, international,
The New Development Bank (NDB), conveniently described as the BRICS bank, will
come into being two years after the idea was set in motion at the BRICS summit in
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India. For the bank to become operational will take another two years though.
This is not another regional development bank. It is a bank of economies that are seen
as becoming more important in the global economy in the years to come. Of the five
countries involved all but one are hungry for cash to finance growth. The one that has
cash to spare, China, is willing to spread it around in order to win friends and influence
people.
So the idea has plenty going for it. The mission - of financing infrastructure in the
BRICS and other developing economies to whom membership will be available down
the road - is laudable. How well the bank shapes up will hinge on whether it can get
its governance right.
One could say the same of the leading international organisations of the world as well
- the United Nations, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the
World Trade Organisation, etc. Nations come together under the banner of an institution
not because of a shared ideology, political structure or culture but because they have a
common interest in doing so.
However, the NDB is not just about inducing change at west-dominated international
institutions. It is, first, a serious opportunity to show the world that it is possible to run
a multilateral institution (whose members vary in their political and economic clout)
along egalitarian lines. Second, it has the potential to reduce, over time, the dependence
of the NDB's member countries on the IMF/World Bank as also western financial
markets.
On the first point, the bank has got off to a great start. A sticking point in the early
negotiations was China's seeming attempt to dominate the institution by contributing
the highest share of paid-up capital (something it can easily afford). This has been
resolved by the decision that all members will contribute an equal amount in capital,
$10 billion (bn) each. Of the $50 bn in initial capital, $10 bn will be in cash, to be paid
in instalments over seven years; the rest will be by way of guarantees.
The bank's capital will eventually go up to $100 bn. In addition to paid-up capital, the
NDB will have a Contingency Reserve Arrangement (CRA) of $100 bn intended to
help members tide over liquidity crises. China will contribute $41 bn, Brazil, India and
Russia $18 bn each and South Africa $5 bn.
Equally impressive are the compromises reached on the location of the bank and on
positions of leadership in the bank. India yielded to China's insistence on locating the
bank at Shanghai and, in return, gained the right to nominate the first president. (The
presidency will be for a term of five years and will rotate among the members.) A
Brazilian will chair the first board of directors and a Russian the board of governors.
In respect of the second point, the NDB's potential to reduce the developing world's
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dependence on the leading multilateral agencies and western markets, three questions
arise. One, in what way will the NDB meet the expectations of member countries? Two,
can it provide funds that are large enough to make a difference? Three, will the NDB
be a worthwhile alternative to the present sources of funds?
China is in the happy position of not requiring funds from the bank. It would be more
than happy to use the bank as a means of improving the returns on its surpluses that
are today overwhelmingly parked in US government securities. It will also be looking
for opportunities to promote yuan-denominated trade among the BRICS economies
and the broader developing world. Indeed, the other promoters too will want to facilitate
greater use of their currencies for trade. Although this possibility has not been flagged
at the moment, it could well become part of the bank's mandate.
India, Brazil and South Africa could use the funds available from the NDB to meet
their large requirement for infrastructure. Russia has its own compulsions. Given its
vulnerability to oil price fluctuations, it could use access to an alternative pool of
liquidity. In the near future, it would welcome any means available to offset the impact
of US sanctions imposed following Russia's annexation of Crimea and its intervention
in Ukraine. So, yes, the BRICS bank is well placed to cater to the differing needs of its
members.
One should not underestimate the potential for growth if the bank gets its act right. An
article in the Washington Post notes that CAF, a development bank promoted by Latin
American countries in order to bypass stringent rules on infrastructure lending, today
funds more infrastructure than the World Bank and the Inter-American Development
Bank together ("What the New Bank of BRICS Is All About", Raj M Desai and James
Raymond Vreeland, Washington Post, 17 July 2014).
The IMF and the World Bank enjoy the highest rating. The NDB's rating will be derived
from the five sovereigns that have promoted the bank and hence is likely to be lower
- at least until such time as the bank is able to build up assets of the highest quality
(also unlikely, given that emerging market risks are perceived to be intrinsically higher).
This does mean that NDB funds will be costlier than those of IMF/World Bank.
Which raises the question: what does the developing world have to gain from borrowing
from the NDB rather than from the World Bank or, for that matter, the international
capital markets? Well, for one thing, neither developing country sovereigns nor companies
enjoy ready access to the latter institutions and markets. It is not as if funds are available
from them on tap or in the amounts they would like.
Second, we do know that borrowing from the international agencies comes with strings
attached: it is linked to purchases made from or contracts given to western nations.
Once these costs are factored in, the lending rates of NDB may not compare unfavourably
with those of the international agencies. Third, financial markets may be cheaper but
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they often seize up. A BRICS bank could turn out to be a reliable provider of funds.
In sum, the NDB is an idea whose time has come. Its initial structure is promising and
refreshingly different from that of the IMF-World Bank. Whether it succeeds in the
long run hinges entirely on the quality of governance. Since the stakes are high - bringing
about a change in the international financial architecture, no less - the promoters have
every incentive to put their best foot forward.
When the Government Leans on Judges
Sat, Jul 12, 2014
EPW, polity, judiciary, supreme court,
Prior to 1993 the executive had the upper hand, with the requirement of consulting the
judiciary but not obliged to accept its views. The Second Judges Case virtually reversed
this position, and in the Presidential Reference of 1998 set down the details of the
collegium system. The names are to be put forth by a collegium consisting of the Chief
Justice of India (CJI) and his four senior-most colleagues. The government may return
a name with objections; but if the collegium still reiterates its choice, the appointment
must go through. The judiciary has the first, and last, word.
The 1993 decision itself was accepted without much protest by the political class, which
was surprising since it was a major constitutional shift achieved without amendment.
Over the years the executive has largely accepted the appointments proposed by the
Court. Where there was a difference, the judges prevailed.
Gopal Subramanium, however, was in a different category. He has never been a judge
before; he fell under another category envisioned in Article 124, viz, advocates. Since
Independence only a handful of judges have come from this source - notably Chief
Justice S M Sikri, Justices Kuldip Singh and Santosh Hegde.
The collegium system has been criticised by almost everyone but the collegium for
being opaque and non-transparent without giving even legitimate stakeholders like the
Bar a chance to scrutinise the proposed appointees. The judicial commission under
discussion contemplates members other than the CJI and two senior judges; the law
minister is on it, and the prime minister has a say in appointing two more. The judiciary
has been wary of sharing its turf, and has resisted this proposal. Given the recent
happenings, will it dig in even more? And will other players scent a warning in the
winds that blew last month? This government blocked an appointment without being
on the appointing body; what will happen when it is part of it?
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Scuttling Inconvenient Judicial Appointments
Sat, Jul 12, 2014
EPW, polity, judiciary, supreme court,
Consider the facts: four names including those of Gopal Subramanium (along with
another former solicitor general, Rohinton Nariman, and two high court chief justices,
Adarsh Goel and Arun Mishra) had been unanimously recommended for appointment
to the Supreme Court in early May by the five-member collegium headed by Chief
Justice of India R M Lodha.
The attempt to undermine the independence of the judiciary originated in 1973, after
the Kesavananda Bharati 5 judgment (which struck down some constitutional amendments
by saying that the basic structure of the Constitution could not be amended). At that
time, judges were appointed by the government in "consultation" with the Chief Justice
of India as provided for by the Constitution. The government then said that it was not
bound by the advice of the Chief Justice. Successive Congress governments thereafter,
especially during the tenure of law minister, H R Bharadwaj, appointed judges who
had proximity to the government. The subversion of the independence of the judiciary
by the appointment of convenient judges became a major issue, especially with increasing
corruption within the executive.
The issue of the manner of appointment of judges was first raised in S P Gupta's case
6 in 1981. The question was whether the government or the Chief Justice should have
primacy in the matter of appointment of judges, especially because the independence
of the judiciary had been declared a basic feature of the Constitution. In that case, the
majority held that primacy in judicial appointments was with the government and it
could disregard the opinion of the Chief Justice of India in the matter of appointments
and transfers of judges and chief justices. But as this led to more brazenly partisan
appointments, the issue was referred to a larger bench for reconsideration.
Finally in 1993, the view in S P Gupta's case was reversed by an innovative judgment
in the Supreme Court Advocates on Records case, 7 which wrested the control in the
matter of judicial appointments from the executive and vested it with the judiciary. The
words "in consultation with the chief justice" was interpreted to mean, "with the consent
of the chief justice". The meaning of chief justice was interpreted as a collegium of the
Chief Justice of India plus three senior judges of the Court. In fact, a new elaborate
procedure was laid out by the Court for appointment of judges, in which the role of the
government was reduced to returning a name recommended by the collegium for
reconsideration. If the collegium reiterated its recommendation, the President would
have no option but to go through with the appointment. High court appointments would
also go through a similar procedure, except that the recommendations there would
originate from the collegium of the high courts.
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In 1998, the Supreme Court further tweaked its judgment of 1993 in a Presidential
Reference on this issue. 8 The collegium was widened to five judges. Consultation with
other judges in the court who came from the same high court as the proposed nominee
was also provided for. But the control over the appointments continued to vest with the
judiciary.
This system of appointment of judges by the judiciary did lead to the depoliticisation
of the judiciary to a large extent and did substantially improve its independence. But
the process of appointments was still shrouded in secrecy and with the control over
appointments in the hands of sitting judges who had little free time in the midst of their
judicial work, coupled with the lack of transparency in such appointments, led to
nepotism and arbitrary appointments.
There were also serious voices like that of Justice Krishna Iyer who called this an
incestuous system and a snatching of appointments by abuse of judicial power. 9 Even
Justice J S Verma, the author of the original judgment, came to say that he did not
anticipate that his judgment would lead to such poor appointments by the judiciary. 10
The Committee on Judicial Accountability 11 (a voluntary body of senior lawyers and
retired judges) proposed a bill for the constitution of a full-time and independent body
called the Judicial Appointments Commission for the selection of judges to the high
courts and the Supreme Court It was proposed that such a body could be constituted
from among retired judges or other eminent persons who would be selected in the
following manner: The chairman to be selected by the collegium of all judges of the
Supreme Court. A second member by the collegium of all chief justices of the high
courts. A third member by the union cabinet. A fourth by collegium of the leaders of
opposition of the two houses of Parliament along with the Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
A fifth by a collegium of the chief election commissioner, the comptroller and auditor
general and the central vigilance commissioner. Each of these members of the Judicial
Appointments Commission would have a tenure of five years and would thus be
independent of the government as well as of the sitting judiciary.
This body would be mandated to function transparently and would have to publish the
persons shortlisted for appointment for the information of and comments by the public
before the final selection was made. Being a full-time body, it would lay down the
criteria for selection and would be mandated to go about its task in a structured and
rational manner.
A National Judicial Commission Bill of 2013 12 was eventually introduced by the UPA
government, which sought to create an appointments commission in which the
appointments pie was sought to be divided almost equally between the judiciary and
the government. The proposed commission was supposed to have the three senior-most
judges of the Supreme Court along with the law minister and two eminent persons
nominated by a committee consisting of the prime minister, leader of opposition in the
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Lok Sabha and the Chief Justice of India. Thus, the commission was still conceived as
largely an ex officio body of people who would have little time to devote to appointments
and it also did not lay down any standards of transparency in making the appointments.
This bill too ran into a lot of criticism from various quarters, particularly from judges
and the legal community. It was therefore not taken further and has now lapsed with
the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha.
Once More in Gaza
Sat, Jul 19, 2014
gaza, EPW, international, Israel, Palestine,
The Government of Israel uses its propaganda machinery to manufacture "facts on the
ground" to justify its massacres, and it invites indignant reaction and largely harmless
retaliatory rocket strikes from the Hamas which controls Gaza.
In the western media, the current wave of bombing has been justified as retaliatory
following the abduction and killing of three Israeli youth in the West Bank in early
June. Defiant statements and minor actions by the Hamas are shown to be equivalent
to the Israeli bombings. But Hamas has always maintained that it did not violate a 2012
ceasefire before the latest bombings by Israel began. This has clearly ignored the fact
that Israel is internationally recognised as an occupying power in Palestine since 1967.
As an occupying power, Israel is bound by international conventions enunciated under
"Occupation Law" to use law and order measures to treat actions by the citizens of its
occupied territory.
In 2009, the United Nations Human Rights Council's Goldstone Commission had
clearly indicated that the Israeli actions in Gaza amounted to crimes against humanity.
This, however, led to no international sanction against Israel. The only meaningful
action therefore is to seek an end to the occupation of Palestine and to remedy its policy
of racial apartheid against the Arabs.
Manufacturing an "external threat" is a way to emphasise the need for a large military
budget. The military campaign in Gaza is also a response to the formation of a unity
government by the Hamas and Fatah after years of internecine conflict between the
two. The Hamas-Fatah reconciliation of April 2014 has reunited Gaza and West Bank
under a single political authority for the first time since 2007.
Israel's repeated and renewed acts of brutality in Gaza and the West Bank (in the latter
it continues to propel Jewish settlements) are being enabled by the US blocking all
demands in the UN Security Council for Israeli accountability. Meanwhile, the Indian
response to the bombings also alludes to the false equivalence between the Israel and
Hamas actions. There has been a steady dilution over the years in the Indian position
on the self-determination of the Palestinian people. The present response is in line with
this revisionism.
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India and the Israeli War on Palestine
Sat, Jul 19, 2014
palestine, EPW, international, israel,
On 8 July 2014, Israel launched what it termed "Operation Protective Edge" against
the Palestinian people living in the Gaza strip. The reason for this operation is contentious.
Israel claims it attacked Gaza because of the abduction and killing of three Israeli
teenagers by Hamas, and to end Hamas' ability to fire rockets into Israel. Hamas denies
that it had anything to do with the abduction and killing of the three teens, and says
that it had continued to honour the 2012 ceasefire Hamas says it fired its rockets after
Israel conducted major sweeps in the West Bank to arrest its supporters, and after
Israel's air strike on 7 July killed nine Palestinians. This is a case of two competing
narratives.
The facts, however, are clear. Israel has continued to build illegal settlements across
the West Bank, encaging the Palestinian population behind walls and battlements. The
teenagers who were killed lived in Gush Etzion, one of these settlements.
The sheer density of the attack on Gaza - with hundreds of tonnes of explosives dropped
on the 1.8 million people who live on 365 sq km - is bewildering. It is not the first time,
since Gaza is the favoured destination for Israeli aggression.
The United States (US), for instance, has decided that Israel has the right to "respond"
to Hamas - despite the evidence that it was Israel that was the one who started the
fighting here, that Hamas has denied that it was involved in the abduction and killing,
and that Israel has not bothered to prove any Hamas culpability. Israel, as an occupying
power over Palestinian lands, cannot claim that it has the right to self-defence under
international law against those whom it has occupied.
Jordan, unlike the US, is acutely aware that the region is on political tenterhooks - with
the arrival of the Islamic state in Iraq and Syria threatening the kingdom directly. 4 The
region cannot afford more instability - something that is guaranteed as Israel threatens
to continue the bombing of Gaza, and escalate this in the days and weeks to come. The
vocabulary of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) intervention in Libya -
humanitarian intervention, responsibility to protect (R2P), no fly zone - has no purchase
when it comes to Israel and the Palestinians.
Such disregard for the asymmetry of the conflict led the MEA to call "upon both sides
to exercise maximum restraint". But who are the "both sides"? There are the Israelis -
as the occupying power - which has now taken to massive bombing raids on Gaza; and
there are the Palestinians, among whom are a slew of militants whose resistance is
hardly of the same calibre as that of the occupying power.
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After Israel's "Operation Cast Lead" (2009), the UN Human Rights Commission formed
a special panel chaired by South African jurist Richard Goldstone to study accusations
of human rights violations by Israel. The report found that Israel's blockade of Gaza
is illegal, berated Israel for targeting civilians, and accused it of major violations of
international law for, among other things, using white phosphorus bombs (chemical
weapons).
India, Brazil and South Africa (the IBSA bloc) subsequently had an even stronger stance
against the Israeli war. It took the public demur of the Palestinian ambassador and a
forthright statement from Brazil and South Africa to move India to a more reasonable
position. India, which once led on this issue, is now either reticent or forced.
Israel acts against the Palestinians with impunity because it knows that it will be protected
by the US. There will be no serious investigation of Israeli action. India's acceptance
of the US-Israeli narrative suggests that it too will join in the immoral charade of making
noises about "both sides" and "at the same time" when it is clear by the facts that a
recognised occupying power has acted once more as the aggressor. "Operation Protection
Edge" will end soon. It will be followed by another operation, and then another. More
generations of Palestinians, with their eyes on the last sky, will wonder why the planet
has betrayed them.
Dispute Settlement in Bilateral Investment Agreements
Sat, Jul 12, 2014
EPW, international, Bilateral Investment Agreements,
The investor-state dispute settlement provisions, which are generally part of bilateral
investment promotion and protection agreements, are increasingly being called into
question by governments of various nations, especially those in developing countries.
In the recent past, multinational corporations have begun using international arbitration
clauses in the ISDS to challenge governments in countries where they invest and operate,
thereby challenging national public policy decisions. With the global tide going against
ISDS provisions, can India find a more opportune moment than now to take a call on
this important issue
A bilateral investment promotion and protection agreement (BIPA) is a form of
international investment agreement (IIA) aimed at protecting foreign investment. The
first BIPA was signed way back in the 1950s. But the 1980s and 1990s were witness
to a dramatic proliferation in the BIPAs signed: from fewer than 200 in 1980, there
were almost 2,000 BIPAs by the end of the 1990s (UNCTAD 2000). Developing
countries, in particular, were under pressure to enter into BIPAs in order to remain
competitive as a destination for foreign investment and also to project themselves as
reform-minded economies
The most controversial aspects of IIA s , including BIPA s , are the investor-state dispute
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settlement (ISDS) provisions that allow investors to subject host foreign governments
to international arbitration if they believe that they have been subject to expropriation
or discriminatory treatment in that country, among other grounds. The ISDS mechanism
was origi- nally designed to depoliticise investment disputes and allow foreign investors
a fair hearing before an independent, neutral and qualified tribunal ( UNCTAD 2013a).
mechanism being widely criti- cised as unethical, unfair, undemocratic, unsustainable
and even unconstitutional, giving undue power and benefi t to multinational corporations
( MNC s ) over host governments and public policy, ISDS mechanism include lack of
legitimacy and transparency; contradictions between arbitral deci- sions; difficulties in
correcting errone- ous ar-bitral decisions; questions about the independence and
impartiality of the arbitrators; and costs and time of ar bitral procedures
the total number of ISDS cases stood at 514 Strikingly in 66% of the new cases in 2012
the respondents were developing or transition economies (UNCTAD 2013a), which
went up to 73% in 2013 (UNCTAD 2014).
foreign investors challenged a broad range of government measures, including changes
related to investment-incentive schemes, alleged breaches of contracts, alleged direct
or de facto expropriation, revocation of licences or permits, regulation of energy tariffs,
allegedly wrongful criminal prosecution, land-zoning decisions, invalidation of patents,
among others (UNCTAD 2014).
Coming to India, the country has already lost a case of international arbitration involving
White Industries of Australia in 2011. More recently, companies like Deutsche Telekom,
Vodafone, Sistema, among others have served notices to the Indian government under
various BIPAs currently in force The interpretative statement issued by the North
American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Free Trade Commission, clarifying among
other things, the "minimum standard of treatment" is an example of this approach.
However, in order to qualify as authoritative, the interpretative statement corresponding
to a BIPA needs to be endorsed not only by India but also by the partner country
concerned mportantly, even if India opts to terminate the existing BIPAs and renegotiate
them in line with the new model BIPA under preparation, under a "sunset clause" the
existing BIPAs will continue to apply for another 15-year period in respect of investments
made prior to the termination.
opportunities for India for reforming the BIPA regime by terminating the existing
agreements and renegotiating them as per the new model. While many of India's BIPAs
follow the more flexible "anytime termination" model, allowing India to terminate the
agreement unilaterally (after giving notice) once the initial period is over, some of the
existing BIPAs follow the "end-of-term" model.
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End of the Planning Commission?
Sat, Jul 19, 2014
planning commission, EPW, economics,
Some would answer this question by asserting that a Planning Commission simply
cannot have any role in a neo-liberal regime. The country has moved away from the
"Nehru-Mahalanobis strategy" 1 which visualised substantial public investment, and
hence the need for a "plan" to effect such investment. With the public sector displaced
from its leading role, any particular "public" engagement in development projects that
may still be required in a neo-liberal regime (through public-private partnerships for
instance) can be planned and executed by the concerned departments. There is no longer
any role for an overarching body like the Planning Commission.
even a government that lacks the will to take the country out of the vortex of globalisation,
and hence willy-nilly has to pursue a basically neo-liberal policy trajectory can still
have a national planning body that provides a counterpoint to neo-liberalism. Such a
Planning Commission can be concerned with working out ways of preserving what
remains of the public sector, with preventing the decimation of peasants and traditional
petty producers that neo-liberalism brings in its wake, and with providing amelioration,
by formulating welfare schemes, against the immiserisation of the people through
inflation and unemployment.
It signifies a change in the nature of the bourgeois nation state, from an entity apparently
standing above all classes and "looking after" the interests of all classes in varying
degrees, to one which is exclusively devoted to the interests of globalised corporate
capital on the grounds that what is good for it is good for all and vice versa.
Such a full-fledged neo-liberal state is characterised not just by a set of policies that
fall under the rubric of neo-liberalism. It has a set of specific institutional features as
well. These include: the "autonomy" of the central bank; the elevation of the Ministry
of Finance to the status of a super ministry dominating all others; the manning of the
central bank and of the finance ministry by ex-employees of the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, or of certain other global financial institutions (who
usually go back to their parent bodies at the end of their tenures with the government);
the organisation of training programmes for the bureaucracy, especially of the home-grown
segment of the financial bureaucracy, by these multinational institutions or by universities
in the metropolis acting on their behalf; and a general increase in the power of the
bureaucracy over the elected political representatives of the people on the grounds that
the latter are corrupt and cannot be trusted with key economic decision-making (which
is often enough true, except that the "corruption" itself is usually a consequence of the
privatisation spree unleashed by the neo-liberal regime, and tacitly acquiesced in by
the very members of the global financial community manning the government, who
then use it to discredit the "politicians").
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Neglect of the Working Emigrant
Sat, Jul 26, 2014
diaspora, social, EPW, Emigrant Indian,
India receives the largest amount of remittances in the world, an estimated $70 billion
in 2013, a large part of which is not from professionals but from semi-skilled and
unskilled migrants. Yet, the attention given to the issues experienced by Indian workers
abroad is woefully inadequate.
Among the millions of Indian migrants abroad, it is the unskilled and semi-skilled
workers in west Asia who work and live in the most difficult of situations. The Indian
missions in west Asia receive complaints every day about poor working conditions,
non-payment of wages and even of ill-treatment. At times the consequences of migration
are unimaginable. In 2012 The Guardian reported that 500 Indian workers employed
at construction sites preparing Qatar to host the 2022 Football World Cup had died,
deaths that were later confirmed by the Government of India. Workers in west Asia,
especially the construction and domestic personnel, have some common complaints:
the promised wages not paid, passports are confiscated by employers to prevent mobility
or departure from the country, work hours are very long, the living conditions are
abysmal and there is often a hostile working atmosphere. There is never any question
of these workers being covered by the labour laws of the host nation or having the right
to form unions. This state of affairs is worsened by visa "brokers" and unscrupulous
recruitment agents thanks to whom many of these workers find that they are "illegal"
entities in these foreign countries. In the periodic crackdown on such illegal workers,
thousands are forced to come back to India, turned overnight from economic providers
to burdens on their families. The government has often taken steps to deal with some
of these problems. However, given the complexity and the magnitude of the task, much
better planning and a more thought-out response are called for.
central trade unions in India point out that the fanfare about the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas
(PBD) is only about the better-off non-resident Indians (NRI), mostly professionals
working in the developed countries. They have for long advocated a migration policy
that will take care of the rights of Indian workers overseas, especially women, who are
the most vulnerable to discrimination and abuse. Kerala which sends the largest number
of workers abroad has a dedicated government department as well as facilitation centres
to deal with the problems faced by the workers. However, it is the centre that must take
the initiative on a number of crucial issues ranging from exploitation by recruitment
agents, the absence of reliable data on overseas Indian labour, and the need for education
of the prospective migrants about what to expect in the destination nations to larger
ones like negotiating labour agreements.
The Government of India signed a labour cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia in
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January this year that provides a number of safeguards for Indian domestic service
workers in that country. This month the two sides arrived at an agreement on the mode
of recruitment and payment, age limit and minimum salaries. It also provides for a joint
monitoring mechanism and the success of the agreement will depend on how far India
takes this aspect seriously. Such agreements with other countries employing Indian
labour and across all sectors, not just domestic service, would go a long way in providing
them with some support in what often are hostile conditions.
Why Women Need 498A
Sat, Jul 19, 2014
social, EPW, divorce, 498a,
By stressing on the "misuse" of this section, on the one hand, and insisting that the
police should not resort to automatically arresting those charged under this section, on
the other, the Court has unfortunately reinforced many negative and ill-informed views
about the value of this provision for women subjected to domestic violence.
When it became evident that these deaths were the result of concerted harassment of
these new brides for dowry, a specific provision that made such harassment a cognisable
and non-bailable offence was enacted into law. In addition, Section 304B introduced
in 1986 recognised "dowry deaths" as any unnatural death of a young woman within
the first seven years of marriage. These additional remedies were introduced to enhance
and strengthen the existing Dowry Act, 1961. Since then, women have used Section
498A not just in instances of cruelty relating to dowry but also to deal with other forms
of violence in their homes. Until 2005, when the Domestic Violence Act was enacted,
this was one of the remedies available to them.
Before a first information report (FIR) is registered, the police try and get the woman
to reconcile with her family rather than pursue the complaint. Only if she persists does
the question of arrest even arise. If a case is registered, proving "cruelty" and "mental
cruelty" is extremely difficult in a court of law where this must be established "beyond
reasonable doubt".
Supreme Court appear to have overlooked these realities as well as the fact that the
number of proven dowry deaths has steadily increased despite the law. Instead, they
mention the 2012 National Crimes Record Bureau data that establishes that although
93.6% of cases filed under 498A were charge-sheeted, there were only 15% convictions
What is disappointing about this particular ruling is that it has reinforced the negative
aspects of 498A that have been part of the campaign of groups like Save the Indian
Family without actually addressing either the infirmities in the law, such as the inadequate
definitions of "cruelty" and "mental cruelty" or the difficulties women face in going
through the process of proving their cases in courts of law. There is precious little
available to women who face cruelty inside their homes. Just because a law is ineffective,
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or even if it is sometimes misused, does not mean it is not needed.
Could the Kingdom Still Be United?
Sat, Jul 26, 2014
scotland, uk, EPW, international,
"Yes" or "no", the September vote on independence for Scotland will change the face
of the United Kingdom. A vote for separation will be the result of a peaceful and
democratic process, and it will pose questions for what will remain of the "United"
Kingdom.
A "yes" vote would not only see a new, small independent European country born out
of an impeccably democratic process but would trigger tough questions and debate in
England, Wales and Northern Ireland too, with international reverberations well beyond
that.
Whether from a "Unionist" or independence point of view, the referendum debate has
triggered a flowering of political, social and cultural dialogue and debate in Scotland,
with wide participation, intensity, passion, acrimony and argument.
Scotland has always retained a different legal and education system to the rest of the
UK. With devolution in 1999, its policies on health, universities, social policies and
more have tended in the direction of a much more mainstream European Social Democrat
and/or Christian Democrat mould than the neo-liberal policies of the current
Conservative-Lib-Dem coalition, or of their Thatcherite predecessors
Ad-hocism in the Decisions to Modify Labour Laws
Sat, Jul 26, 2014
msme, labour laws, EPW, economics,
The Government of India too has announced its decision to amend important legislations
and has called for public comments.
The history of Indian labour legislations shows that most of them were made due to
strong demands by the working class from the Bengal, Bombay, and Madras presidencies.
The state has made amendments to three central government labour legislations - the
Industrial Disputes Act (IDA), 1947, Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act
(CLRA), 1970, and the Factories Act, 1948 - in an attempt to liberate the corporate
sector from the stringent requirements of the law.
According to the changes proposed to the IDA, the government's prior permission will
not be required for effecting retrenchments in establishments engaging up to 300
workers.
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The amendments made by the state government have also increased the percentage of
workers needed for registration as a representative union from 15% to 30%. Today
many states do not have a law obliging employers to compulsorily recognise any trade
union for the purpose of collective bargaining.
Without following the provisions of the Act, the Supreme Court in the Steel Authority
of India's case (2001) rejected the claims of workers and virtually legalised outsourcing
of labour. It ruled that the
Hence no trade union seeks a government notification on abolishing contract labour as
it will eliminate the workforce in question by providing it no employment.
The removal of the ban on night shifts for women workers also raises considerable
concerns, even among women workers. The Factories Act prohibition on employing
women for work at night was struck down by the Madras High Court in R Vasantha's
case (2001). The state did not effectively challenge the judgment. The net result is that
female workers are employed in three shifts in Tamil Nadu, and have in a sense become
camp coolies, contrary to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) norms.
By the amendments proposed to the Apprentices Act, 1961,the state government will
be sharing the cost of apprenticeship. If a company having less than 250 workers hires
apprentices, the state will absorb half the cost, and if it has above this number, the state
government will absorb a fourth of the cost. Under the Act, in no case have employers
absorbed trained apprentices as regular workmen. After the successful completion of
training, apprentices are left high and dry.
proposed major amendments will include relaxing restrictions on night duty for women
in factories, subject to certain conditions, and increasing the limit of overtime to 100
hours (now 50 hours) in a quarter.
Before tinkering with the existing labour laws, one must know their history. The colonial
government never wanted to extend labour legislations that existed in the UK in the
early years of the 20th century. After the first world war, colonial India was dubiously
made a member of the ILO. After lot of hue and cry, a Royal Commission of Labour,
which came to India, observed in its report (1929),
Its opinion was that the unionisation of workers alone would improve their economic
conditions. Therefore, the first phase of labour legislations introduced (1923-45) were
merely regulatory. In the second phase, after the second world war, a nationalist
government began making laws that affected the relationship between capital and labour
(1946-51). After the Constitution of India was enacted and the state was obliged to
make laws in terms of the directive principles of state policy, a number of welfare
legislations were enacted in the third phase (1952-86). The legislations made during
the second phase show that most of them were as a result of unionisation in a particular
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sector. They covered an identifiable group. The government made sector-wise and
segment-oriented laws relating to plantation labour, mine workers, beedi and cigar
workers, motor transport workers, and so on. Each of them had their own peculiarity
and the service conditions for each industry were unique.
The economic reforms and the dilution of labour legislations have brought unprecedented
misery to the working masses in our country. Ever rising prices have eroded the real
value of their wages, which have put their health in jeopardy. Fast shrinking public
health services and the lack of medical insurance for the poor have added to their
problems. There are no jobs that provide a sustainable income for workers. Whatever
is on offer is contractual or casual in nature with long hours, terrible work conditions,
and no security. To top it all, the fundamental right to organise and agitate for better
wages, better working conditions, and a better life is being crushed systematically. The
working class certainly did not bargain for this parivartan (change) from the new
government.
Decentralised Energy Generation
Sat, Jul 19, 2014
Decentralised Energy Generation, EPW, power, electricity, economics, energy,
New technological and financial solutions have made decentralised distributed generation
more viable and sustainable. However, the energy delivered is still very expensive in
the absence of financial subsidies, and it is the mechanism of the subsidy and not the
quantum that is the issue.
Hundreds of off-grid communities, particularly in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in India, as
in other developing countries, are getting clean reliable electricity for the first time.
Much of this is from the decentralised generation based on renewable energy sources
Entrepreneurs with varying business models are finding ways to reach electricity to
far-flung villages and communities. While many of the entrepreneurial solutions are at
market rates, there are several that depend on grants and loans to help with the steep
capital costs
The implications of this are enormous: the universal access to clean energy for lighting
that has been elusive for decades might be finally available for many and is perhaps
cheaper than kerosene that they are now dependent on. The off-grid solutions,
predominantly based on solar photovoltaic (PV) lighting, are meeting the meagre
demand of these households, by supplying safe and reliable electricity. government.
Hence, it has to ensure that these energy solutions are sustainable, affordable and
equitable However, as the cost of generation from decentralised generation is higher,
for every unit of electricity consumed these new consumers are paying a higher tariff
than their grid-connected fellow citizens.
As the numbers go, worldwide there are around 1.3 billion people without a reliable
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clean energy source for lighting; India alone has over 400 million. Add to this the
hundreds of millions who face blackouts and brownouts, and, according to affordability,
depend on kerosene for lighting or use diesel as a backup for grid According to the
Ministry of Power almost all of the 6,00,000 villages have been electrified or grid
connected. But, alas, reliable electricity is unlikely to be available to many of these
communities anytime soon.
For decades, decentralised generation at the household level has been primarily based
on solar PV solutions. However, at the community level, it has been decentralised
micro-grids which can be based on any combination of locally available resources such
as - solar, hydro, wind, and biomass. The recent plunge in the price of solar PV panels,
60% to 80% in five years, has made PV-based solutions more affordable for electrification.
In turn this has made the rural lighting market an attractive sector for entrepreneurs.
Solar PV solutions for decentralised generation come in three sizes - (i) solar lanterns,
in terms of luminosity, a perfect substitute for a kerosene lamp, (ii) solar home lighting
systems that can take bigger loads, and (iii) a micro-grid to power a village or a
community. The first two options, based on direct current (DC), are for households,
and the choice and configuration are decided by households depending on their need
and economics. The third option can be based on DC or alternate current (AC) depending
on the load. The advantage of a micro-grid, particularly based on solar PV, is that as
demand increases, additional PV panels can be easily installed. Moreover, when reliable
grid does arrive to the village, micro-grids can be integrated and can continue to augment
or abate the grid.
The only big drawback of solar-based generation is that while the electricity is generated
during the day, most of the demand for lighting is after sunset. This makes it necessary
to have a battery bank. Batteries are expensive and need to be replaced, at least a couple
of times during the 25-year life of the PV panels.
A smaller battery can be planned if the micro-grid is hybridised with another locally
available renewable energy source, such as biomass. The recent switch by solar lighting
developers to adopt light emitting diode (LED) has helped in further lowering the
lighting load. For the same lumen, the wattage of an LED light is about half that of a
compact fluorescent light (CFL) and almost one-eighth of that of an incandescent light.
This has meant, for an equivalent demand, the use of LED lights implies a smaller PV
panel and battery size, and lowered cost. Further, the reduction in size has aided modular
designs that are more amenable to plug and play.
Today's solar lanterns are nifty and come in several sizes and configurations. Typically
a lantern is provided with one LED-based bulb, ranging from a fraction of a watt to
couple of watts, along with an outlet to charge a cell phone. The PV panel and battery
are sized according to the hours of operations guaranteed by the product. A two-Watt
LED light and a simple cell phone charger ("not the smart one"), operating for five-six
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hours a day, will only consume a very small fraction of a unit (kWh) of electricity.
The home lighting systems are designed to meet more diverse and larger loads, anywhere
from 20 watts to a few kilowatts (kWs) - a few lights, an outlet to charge a cell phone
and perhaps even an appliance or two. These in principle, can be customer designed to
fit the demand. The service providers offer products of varying quality and quantity of
lights and include options for additional loads for households or small businesses. Many
living in the sweltering heat could use a fan. A radio or a television is not quite a luxury,
but do add to the load. For a few hours of usage, this profile will work out to be at the
most 1 kWh per day.
In a solar PV-based micro-grid, PV panels are set up in a community land and low
tension transmission cables carry power to load centres. These power plants can be
efficiently sized and designed to power households, community and commercial loads.
A 50 kW PV system will approximately suffice to provide basic amenities (under 1
kWh per day per household) for around 150 households in addition to supporting a
modest community load (street lights, drinking water pumps and couple of buildings).
hough the PV prices have fallen, adding the costs of balance of systems including
batteries, smart meters and transmission cables the overall systems cost is still expensive.
The advantage here is that the installation costs can be distributed across the community
and the beneficiaries of the power from the plant can jointly take responsibility for the
operations of the plant. Even so, historically, micro-grids have not been successful
largely due to inadequate support systems - high capital costs, financing difficulty,
poor service and maintenance and, finally, difficulty in collecting tariffs from end-users.
At the household level, smart meters ensure end-users do not overdraw electricity and
increase their load. When deployed in several strategic points in the grid, these meters
can be programmed to detect theft and provide mechanisms for system operators to cut
off delinquent customers or clients who play foul. Finally, the cellular phones are used
by customers to transfer funds to pay for the system. The advances in metering techniques
and the near ubiquitous distribution of cell phones have enabled these new business
models to succeed.
Last mile challenges contribute heavily to the costs as do battery banks to power
households after sunset. As a result the cost of generation, even if spread across the
households, is typically very high. It has been established that households are more
than willing to pay for reliable electricity, particularly when it is cheaper than kerosene.
However, this does not seem to be a level playing field, when the poor have to pay a
higher price for a unit of electricity they consume.
Though technology is simple and these micro-grids can take on additional community
loads such as street lights, drinking water pumps, health centres and schools, it is unclear
who will foot the expensive community bill. There are solutions, where an anchor
commercial client, such as a cell tower or a shopping complex, pays a higher tariff
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bringing down or "socialising" the costs to the community. Today the cost of generation
from diesel is more expensive than that from solar. With the gradual removal of diesel
subsidy in India, the economics of solar looks more favourable.
All said, the micro-grids have several difficulties to surmount. The first challenge is
the upfront high capital needed to set up. The next is the financing difficulties, which
are seen as a major bottleneck for overall scaling up of generation from renewable
energy. Once the plant is set up, a business model is needed to support an entrepreneur
to stay and operate. The final challenge is to collect tariffs from the users who are
economically strapped.
The new financial innovation powered by the internet, crowd funding or crowd-sourced
funding has enabled a wide pool of small investors, dispersed around the world, to
provide equity to fund a project anywhere in the world.
Next is the financial innovation for the end-users. With smart meters operating wirelessly
and cash transfer with the touch of a cell phone, pay-as-you-go models have emerged
to enable end-users to decide when they want energy and how much they want. There
are prepaid models where the smart meter is tripped and power supply is shut off when
the money runs out much like the prepaid cell phone's talktime.
Historically, utility scale generation plants based on fossil fuels and other conventional
energy have enjoyed financial subsidies and tax write-offs for years. Moreover, the
infrastructure is often built by public works. Furthermore, transmission and distribution
losses are substantial in utility scale generation and distribution. In India, the utilities
lose around 25% of electricity due to technical and commercial (theft) losses, and this
results in loss of revenue. In the case of micro-grids, technical and distribution losses
are minimal. Similarly, loss due to theft can be closely monitored and prevented.
The new technological and financial solutions have made decentralised distributed
generation more viable and sustainable for the long run. However, the energy delivered
from the distributed decentralised plants is still very expensive in the absence of financial
subsidies. Typically while most grid-connected households pay somewhere around Rs
4 per unit (kWh) of electricity delivered (cost is even lower for the lowest tariff slab
where most of these consumers will fall), the rural poor pay typically well over Rs 10
per kWh depending on the service and the business model they have been provided.
Against this backdrop, renewable energy generation receiving subsidies today should
not and cannot be disputed. Several governments like with India's Ministry of New
and Renewable Energy (MNRE) do offer financial incentives for decentralised distribution.
The problem is not even with the quantum of subsidy, it is often the mechanism of the
subsidy that is the issue. Traditionally, governments have offered capital subsidies for
decentralised generation and feed-in-tariff for utility scale generation. It has been
well-established that capital subsidies as well as donor-based programmes impede the
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sustainable operations of the plants. With the capital subsidy, substandard equipment
can be set up, and, with no incentive for operators to continue to generate energy, these
plants soon stop generating electricity. On the government's part, so far the reasoning
has been that it was hard to monitor the quantum of generation from these far out small
decentralised plants. This is no longer an issue as smart meters along with global
positioning systems (GPS) can be the enablers transmitting generation data from remote
locations to centralised computer servers.
While crowd funding can help with equity and debt financing for the developer,
generation-based tariff from the government can help keep the tariffs low for households.
The generation-based tariff should be in line with utility scale generation. Rural banks
that have a local presence can easily channel government tariffs to the micro-grid
operators. It is after all the rural banks that have traditionally lent to households to
purchase solar lighting systems.
The current high tariffs the bottom of the pyramid pays are unquestionably unreasonable
if we want the poor to get out of the poverty trap. Access to even small amounts of
clean energy can help households climb up the socio-economic ladder; not if they have
to shoulder an unreasonable burden.
In India, for off-grid solutions, the MNRE has periodically revised the incentive structure
and each revision is an improvement over the last. But when the policies are always
playing catch up, the citizens suffer. The government has to react more quickly and
ensure financial incentives do not stifle growth and innovation that is going on. At the
same time, it has to be ensured that the quality of the energy service is reasonable and
the price fair.
The entrepreneurs are doing their share. The governments and multilateral institutions
should step in to truly level the playing field for the poor. In India, it is time for the
governments to revise the tariff structure from capital-based subsidy to generation-based
tariff for micro-grids. Technology is now available to monitor and regional rural banks
can enable the transactions. The poor should not be unnecessarily burdened for simply
getting access to what most have taken for granted. After all, for inclusive growth,
energy access and pricing have to be equitable.
Law Commission Report on 'Death Penalty'
Sat, Jul 19, 2014
Law Commission Report, death penalty, EPW, polity,
t ran counter, Sinha noted, to the diktats of Bachan Singh vs State of Punjab , 4 which
remains the central law governing capital punishment in India. Here, the Supreme Court
had ruled that
The consequences of Ravji were disastrous. At least 15 criminals had been sentenced
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to death as a result of the decision, and for two of them - Rao and Ram - the Supreme
Court's admission of its own error had come too late.
the court pointed out that even after its declaration that Ravji had been erroneously
decided, it had continued to render irrelevant a criminal's socio-economic background
in determining the sentences of numerous convicts.
In a letter dated 1 July 2012, the group implored the government to commute the
sentences of 13 persons in seven different cases to life imprisonment. Capital punishment
in each of their cases, the retired judges pointed out, had been awarded based on a
now-admittedly flawed application of the law. "This matter goes to the very heart of
our Constitution and the system of democratic government", they wrote, "because it
involves the taking of lives by the state on the basis of judgments admitted to be
erroneous by the Supreme Court."
Recently, the Supreme Court had to intervene to commute to life imprisonment the
sentences of 15 convicts on the death row. In Shatrughan Chauhan vs Union of India
9 the Court ruled that an unreasonable delay in disposing a mercy petition filed by a
person on the death row was tantamount to torture, and was valid ground for commuting
his or her death sentence. 10 For instance, in the case of Gurmeet Singh, one of the
petitioners before the Supreme Court, there had been a delay of more than seven years
in the disposal of his mercy petition by the governor and the president. As a result,
Singh had spent 26 years in custody - more than double what most convicts sentenced
to life imprisonment undergo.
There is, the commission believes, a woeful lack of research on the issue of death
penalty in India in spite of the glaring iniquities highlighted in the Supreme Court's
jurisprudence.
The challenges in Bachan Singh were made on three primary grounds. First, the death
penalty infracted the six freedoms comprised in Article 19(1) of the Constitution. Since
capital punishment served no clearly identifiable social purpose, and since its deterrent
effects were unproven, at best, it was argued that it could not represent a reasonable
restriction on the right to human dignity of an individual. Second, it was contended by
the petitioners that capital punishment contravened the right to life and personal liberty
guaranteed by Article 21. Post Maneka Gandhi vs Union of India , 13 the procedure
established by law through which the right to life and personal liberty could be curtailed
had to be just, fair and reasonable. In other words, our Constitution, according to the
Supreme Court, guaranteed not merely procedural but also substantive due process.
And the death penalty, the petitioners in Bachan Singh argued, was opposed to the
fundamental tenets of due process - which required the state to treat each person's life
with equal importance. Third, and finally, it was argued that the vice of arbitrariness
permeated the law of capital punishment in India. In bestowing the court an unhindered
discretion in determining when to grant the ultimate sentence, the law, according to the
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petitioners, violated Article 14 and its guarantee of equality.
The majority of judges in Bachan Singh , however, rejected each of these submissions.
14 Curiously, the Court concluded that penal laws could almost never infract the rights
mentioned in Article 19(1). As Justice Sarkaria wrote,
Second, the Court held that neither Section 302 of the IPC, which allowed courts to
sentence people to death for committing murder, nor Section 354(3) of the CrPC,
violated Article 21. Therefore, even if the death penalty violated a person's right to
life, it would be justified so long as the procedure fixing such punishment was just, fair
and reasonable, in accordance with Article 21
However, with a view to guiding the sentencing process, the majority in Bachan Singh
further ruled that in cases of murder, the death penalty ought to be the exception as
opposed to the rule. Capital punishment, according to the Court, could be inflicted only
in the gravest cases of extreme culpability, and in making the choice of the sentence,
in addition to the circumstances of the offence, due regard must be paid to the circumstances
of the offender, also.
In Machhi Singh vs State of Punjab , 18 a three-judge bench of the Court fell into a
trap that the majority in Bachan Singh had been careful to avoid. It sought to define a
"rarest of rare" case by providing concrete examples of different categories of cases
where the community's "collective conscience is so shocked that it will expect the
holders of the judicial power centre to inflict death penalty". Consequently, as opposed
to the death sentence being awarded only in cases where the alternative option was
foreclosed by a supposed inability to reform the offender, capital punishment was
considered the appropriate penalty for murder purely on the basis of the nature and
characteristic of the crime.
Modi and Modified Crops
Sat, Jul 26, 2014
environment, EPW, GM crops, transgenic crops, Genetic Engineering Approval
Committee,
It is curious that the GEAC has chosen to clear the way for some 15 GM food and other
crops to undergo controlled field trials. These include rice, mustard, chickpea, cotton
and brinjal. The introduction of GM mustard was strongly opposed several years back
and the field trials were cancelled. Bt brinjal was also cleared for trials but withdrawn
in the face of objections from the Ministry of Environment and Forests based on the
views of farmers at a series of public hearings around India. Despite this, and the fact
that the Supreme Court is currently hearing arguments against field trials of GM crops
in the absence of adequate regulatory systems, the GEAC has chosen to go ahead. In
fact, the Technical Expert Committee (TEC) set up by the Supreme Court to look into
this issue has recommended a moratorium on field trials because it believes the regulatory
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system is inadequate.
One camp argues that the technology, which involves introducing a "foreign" gene, is
dangerous because once introduced, it is irreversible. In other words, once you have a
GM crop, you cannot reverse the process if you find that it is causing harm. These
groups have also questioned whether GM technology does, in fact, increase productivity
as is claimed by the promoters of the technology. They also point out that the environmental
costs might outweigh any benefits that the introduction of such a technology brings.
The other argument revolves around food security. In India, as in many other parts of
the world, a few multinational corporations, principally Monsanto, have a virtual
monopoly on the GM technology. If a country's food production becomes overly
dependent on seeds and other inputs from a handful of such companies, will it not
compromise its food security?
The third argument is about the suitability of GM food crops for a country like India
where the majority of farmers own small plots of land. To make them dependent on a
technology with high initial costs, and without an assurance that it will guarantee higher
yields, is placing them at a great risk. This has already been evident in the spate of
farmers' suicides witnessed in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra in the course of the
last decade where farmers fell for the hard-sell of Bt cotton and got entrapped in a
debilitating debt cycle due to higher costs without commensurate returns.
And the clinching argument is the absence of adequate regulatory and monitoring
mechanisms to ensure that the field trials are conducted following safety protocols and
that they do not infect surrounding areas. The record in this regard has been less than
satisfactory in India. In fact, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture
(PSCA) had called for a ban on field trials precisely for this reason. The basic norm to
be followed includes ensuring that there is a 20% non-Bt refuge area around the trial
area. Yet, field trials of Bt cotton demonstrated the absence of adequate monitoring of
compliance of such rules.
Another important criticism of the entire process of field trials is the absence of an
independent authority to assess safety and suitability as well as a liability regime that
can fix responsibility for damage. The GEAC tends to rely on data from those very
private companies whose products it is supposed to assess. Surely credible field trials
needed to assess the safety of GM crops are not possible under these conditions. Finally,
labelling and public awareness about GM crops are particularly poor and will allow
private companies to mislead people.