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Importance of
Crop Diversification
Mahendra Devs article Water Management and Resilience in Agriculture (EPW, 20 February 2016) was very
interesting and informative as it dwelt
on the water management issue complete
with facts and figures. I agree with the
author while he writes, Water use efficiency can be increased significantly in
Indian agriculture.
However, its judicious use is also imperative. From my experience I wish to make
some suggestions. First, in the Bankura
District of West Bengal (this is a very backward district) under the Mahatma Gandhi
National Rural Employment Guarantee
Scheme (MGNREGS), a large number of
tanks were dug on the agricultural land
of marginal and small farmers locally
known as hapa. Each hapa is 604012
feet on an average. The farmers as per
their choice (participatory approach) select the site on their agricultural land
where the hapa is to be excavated absolutely free of cost. The soil on the four
sides adjoining it is used to grow seasonal
vegetables and the water of the hapa is
used for fish-rearing as well as irrigation.
According to my study, hundreds of
poor farmers have benefited from this.
Second, at the Annavasal village in the
Kodavasal block in Thiruvarur District of
Tamil Nadu, the waterbodies of the village had salinity and to neutralise it, 12
vol lI no 16
EPW
LETTERS
EPW
Errata
In Beyond Fiscal Prudence and Consolidation
by Pinaki Chakraborty and Lekha Chakraborty,
on page 29 of this issue in third column below
the equation, it should have been pd denotes
primary deficit. On the same page, the following is the correct sentence, During this entire
period, i consistently remained lower than
g. It was printed erroneously as higher.
In Evolving CentreState Financial Relations:
Role of the New Framework for Grants by
Pinaki Chakraborty and Manish Gupta, on
page 44 in third column second para, the reduced total number of Centrally Sponsored
Schemes was printed as 29, it should have
been 28. In the same article, on page 45 in column one first para, As a percentage of divisible pool should have read as As a percentage
of pool of grants.
The corrected version is on the EPW website.
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vol lI no 16
LETTERS
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vol lI no 16
EPW
EDITORIALS
A Disastrous Indifference
The apathy of citizens and officials towards fire safety norms must be tackled.
vol lI no 16
EPW
EPW
vol lI no 16
EDITORIALS
he moral police is on the prowl, working its confounding ways on dance bars yet again. While grudgingly
giving up on the ban of dance bars, legislators in Maharashtra have succeeded in creating yet another legislation
and how! The labels of obscene and immoral being
vol lI no 16
EPW
EDITORIALS
The Supreme Court in October 2015 had ruled that the ban on
dance bars cannot be upheld in law. On 2 March, the Court
rapped the state government, ordering it to grant licences to dance
bars by 15 March. It is more than a decade since the ban on
dance bars was first put in place in 2005. The Maharashtra legislature has since, and only at the behest of the judiciary, progressed to lifting the ban, and has now put in place the Maharashtra Prohibition of Obscene Dance in Hotels, Restaurants
and Bar Rooms and Protection of Dignity of Women (Working
Therein) Act, 2016. The act was passed by both houses of the
Maharashtra legislature on consecutive days, 11 and 12 April,
unanimously and without any debate whatsoever.
As reported by the news media, the Association of Hotels and
Restaurants (AHAR) is planning to challenge the impractical
conditions of the act at the Supreme Court hearing scheduled
on 18 April, claiming that the government did not consult them,
the stakeholders, before tabling the bill, which, having been
passed unexamined, is now an act. The rules and regulations
mandatory installation of CCTV cameras in the performing area,
clearance of performances to be obtained from the censor
board, the dance floor to be 5 ft from the audience with the
dancers enclosed by a 3 ft tall fence, liquor not allowed to be
served in the performing areas, dance bars not allowed within 1
km of educational and residential establishments, restricted operational timingshave the stakeholders in a bind over their
impracticality. Keeping in mind the experience of law enforcement in India, there is, after all, no guarantee that they will not
be harassed by the state machinery any less than they are now.
What is lost in more than a decade of back and forth between
the legislature and the judiciary is the very rationale behind the ban
and this grudging attempt by the legislature to comply with judicial orders: the pandering to and satisfaction of the moral appetite
of the nations collective conscience. The very terminology used
in the naming of the actprohibition, obscene, protection, dignityevokes the obscurantist 19th century colonial
idea of morality, which was appropriated by the upper castes/
classes, the sole members of the aforementioned collective.
There are interesting insights that can be drawn from the early
20th centurys anti-nautch movement and formulation of laws
regarding the devadasi tradition. Though the early devadasi laws
the Bombay (Protection) and Madras (Prevention of Dedication)
Actsdeemed the tradition unlawful stating prostitution as the
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reason, they did not moralise. The language of the later Andhra
Pradesh and Karnataka (Prohibition of Dedication) Acts was,
however, morality-laden. If its religious linkages could not help the
well-established and accepted devadasi dance tradition survive
the colonial, and later the Indian upper caste/class morality, bar
dancing would surely rank way below it on the morality scale.
The present act takes it up a notch with its Section 2.8, which,
apart from including the vaguely worded obscenity clauses of
Section 294 of the Indian Penal Code, defines obscene dance
as a dance (i) which is designed only to arouse the prurient interest of the audience; and (ii) which consists of a sexual act,
lascivious movements, gestures for the purpose of sexual propositioning or indicating the availability of sexual access to the
dancer, or in the course of which, the dancer exposes his or her
genitals or, if a female, is topless.
It is then the linking of prostitution, on the one hand, and the
linking of the idea that womens sexual autonomy, agency, desires
and sexual expression manifested by way of dancing (or any other
way, for that matter) is inherently immoral, on the other hand,
which is at the root of both, the anti-nautch movement that culminated in the elimination of much more than a dance tradition,
and the hankering for doing away with vulgar and obscene
dance by banning dance bars. In fact, the term immoral purpose has been mentioned in Section 8.2 of the act. Immoral is a
category that is open to interpretation, whereas illegal is a definite category. Why was illegal purpose not used here instead?
Instead of regularising the working conditions of bar dancers
for which just the enforcement of the extant labour laws and
regulations would suffice, why does the legislature insist on
passing yet another act? Especially when the act is one thatinstead of legislating about the Protection of Dignity of Women
who work as bar dancers, as it claims toends up conflating
morality with legality, as is the usual practice. If the state were
truly concerned about the welfare of bar dancers, how is it that
licences to operate were given to these bars in the first place, without ensuring that they adhere to labour laws and regulations? Are
dance bars not places of employment, and the dancers employees?
What some of our legislators consider Indian tradition and
nationalism is archaic and anachronistic, to say the least.
The chosen representatives of our collective conscience have
become a morally intoxicated lot passing bills as if they were
salt shakers being passed across the table.
EDITORIALS
april 1982
Crisis-Maker in Crisis
Romesh Thapar
Who told Indira Gandhi to hold a snap press
conference at Palam airport to denounce her
daughter-in-law? The same advice prevailed in
the hysterical activity at the house when the
daughter-in-law was told to get out. Surely,
Indira Gandhi could not have become so oblivious of her position as Prime Minister.
Economic & Political Weekly
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have not been updated and professionalised to become modern law enforcement agencies. Rather, they still seem to
see their primary task as one of maintaining order among a colonised populace,
rather than enforcing laws in a modern,
liberal democracy (Shahane 2015).
Belling the Cat
The issue of police reforms is one which
suffers from the belling the cat problemeveryone wants it to be done, but
no one is willing to do so on their own.
Public order and police being within
the lawmaking power of the state governments as mandated under the Constitution, the primary responsibility for
carrying out any police reform would lie
with the state governments. However,
despite multiple commissions and reports
suggesting such reforms, no serious
movement towards any police reform
was seen for a long time. The Supreme
Court of India stepped into the picture in
2006 with its order in a public interest
litigation filed by retired Indian Police
Services officer, Prakash Singh (Prakash
Singh and Others v Union of India and
Others 2006). Drawing upon various
report and studies by commissions set
up to suggest police reforms in India, the
Supreme Court distilled these into seven
binding directions to state governments
as measures to be undertaken to reform
the police at the state level. These directions relate to:
(i) Creation of a State Security Commission that would reduce the influence of
the state government on the police;
(ii) Minimum tenure of two years for the
director general of police, inspector
general and the other senior ranked
officers, to keep their tenure free from
government interference;
(iii) Separation of investigating police
from those tasked with maintaining law
and order;
(iv) Creation of a Police Establishment
Board, which will take decisions on all
service issues, such as for policemen;
(v) Creation of a police complaints authority to look into complaints against
police officers.
While these reforms are basic and just
about scratch the surface in addressing
the problems plaguing the police forces
Economic & Political Weekly
EPW
in India, these have not been implemented at all. Ten years after these directions
were issued by the Supreme Court, most
state governments have not implemented
them, seeking, on the other hand, modifications to these to suit their needs.
With contempt petitions and modification applications currently pending in
the Supreme Court, the enforcement of
even these limited directions looks like a
long and hard slog ahead.
Long-term Changes
Notes
1
2
3
4
References
CSCCL (2011): Study on Performance of Special
Courts Set Up under the SC ST Prevention of
Atrocity Act, Centre for Study of Casteism,
Communalism and Law, National Law School,
Bangalore, viewed on 11 April 2016, http://
idsn.org/wp-content/uploads/user_folder/pdf
/New_files/India/Performan_of_courts_SC
ST_act-_Study.pdf.
Kumar, Nithin et al (2014): Awareness and Attitudes Regarding Prenatal Sex Determination,
Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act (PCPNDTA) among Pregnant Women
in Southern India, Journal of Clinical & Diagnostic Research, Vol 8, No 10, pp JC09JC11,
viewed on 11 April 2016, http://www.ncbi.nlm.
nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4253190/.
Prakash Singh and Others v Union of India and
Others (2006): SCC, SC, 8, p 1.
Press Information Bureau (2014): Decline in Child
Sex Ratio, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, viewed on 11 April
2016, http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.
aspx?relid=103437.
Shahane, Girish (2015): Why Police in India Focus
on Maintaining Order and Not Upholding the
Law, 12 August, viewed on 11 April 2016,
http://scroll.in/article/747992/why-police-inindia-focus-on-maintaining-order-and-not-upholding-the-law.
Obituaries
The EPW has started a monthly section,
Obituaries, which will note the passing of
teachers and researchers in the social sciences and humanities, as also in other areas
of work.
The announcements will be in the nature of
short notices of approximately a hundred
words about the work and careers of those
who have passed away.
Readers could send brief obituaries to
edit@epw.in.
11
COMMENTARY
Stooping to Conquer
Jats and Reservations in Haryana
Radhika Kumar
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COMMENTARY
10% reservation for the economically backward.
The Haryana government already provides 27%
reservation to the OBCs as well as 20% to the
Scheduled Castes. Hence, the total would then
amount to 57% attracting the tag of illegality
as the Supreme Court had capped reservation
at 50%.
10 This move by the Hooda government was much
resented by the non-Jats. In an RTI filed by an
NGO, Janhit Social Welfare Society, it was
found that Jats held 61%, 34% and 29% of all
jobs in the police departments of the districts of
Rohtak, Faridabad and Mahendragarh (Dogra
2012). The K C Gupta Commission which was
set up by the Hooda government in April 2011
to look into the question of reservations for Jats
noted 17.82% representation in classes I and II
government jobs and 40%50% reservation in
the lower grades. Jat representation in institutions of higher education was 10.35% while
literacy amongst Jat males was 45%, amongst
females it was 30%. It is argued that average
landholding of Jats is 23 acres while just about
10% Jats are landless (Bhatia 2016).
References
Bhatia, V (2016): Backward March, Who Are the
Jats, What Do They Want? Indian Express,
February 22, Online at: http://indianexpress.
com/article/explained/backward-march-what-the-jats-want/, viewed on 27 February 2016.
Campbell, G (1869): On the Races of India as
Traced in Existing Tribes and Castes, The
Journal of the Ethnological Society of London
(18691870), Vol 1, No 2, pp 12840.
Datta, N (1999a): Forming an Identity: A Social History
of the Jats, New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
(1999b): Jats: Trading Caste Status for Empowerment, Economic & Political Weekly,
Vol 34, No 45, 6 November, p 3172.
With this, the EPWRF ITS now has 15 modules covering a range of macro-economic, nancial and social data.
vol lI no 16
EPW
COMMENTARY
Contested Spaces,
Democratic Rights
People and Forests Today
Ajay Dandekar
12
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it. The village forest rules however contain a provision that the gram sabha can
give away these crucial rights as well as
authority to manage and preserve the
community forest resource. As an act
enacted by the Parliament of the republic the rights recognised under the FRA
are sacrosanct and can only be taken
away by the Parliament and not by an
executive fiat. Thus the act does not provide for a unilateral surrender of rights
by the forest dwellers either voluntarily
or through the rules regime determined
by the executive. The village forest rules
however do provide for precisely such
eventualities that are specified under
certain contexts and conditions. The rules
for instance state that rights over bamboo
can be suspended and that the areas can
be reversed to the forest department for
restoration of normalcy that has to be
certified by the forest department official
as per rule 4(5). This is an obvious violation of both PESA and the FRA as withdrawal of rights is not envisaged in both
the legislations. As such the village
forest rules on this count alone are ultra
vires of the rules regime agreed and
enacted by an act of Parliament.
In other words, it completely overturns the hard-won rights of the communities as enshrined in the Scheduled
Tribes and Other Traditional Forest
Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights)
Act 2006 (Act No 2 of 2007 Panchayats
(Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act
1996 (Act No 40 of 1996) with impunity.
For instance, as per the rules the control
over minor forest produce, exercise of
the community rights over forest and
the reversal of the trajectory as envisaged in both the seminal legislation is
sought to be done away with. The implications of village forest rules are ominous for all the Schedule V areas as it has
the potential to destabilise the rights regime in the Adivasi areas post the FRA.
available at
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References
Bhuria, Dileep Singh (1995): Quoted in Sharma B D
Whither Tribal Areas: Constitutional Amendments and After, Sahyog Pustak Kutir, New
Delhi, p 8.
Government of Maharashtra (2014): Gazette Notification on Revenue and Forests, 13 May.
15
COMMENTARY
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COMMENTARY
Percentage of
Households
32.6
26.2
14.6
14.2
8.2
2
1.6
0.7
100
< 0.01
0.01 0.40
0.411.00
1.012.00
2.014.00
4.0110.00
10.00 +
All sizes
70.3
10
2.9
2
1.9
2
0.2
6.7
23.3
89.5
96.5
97.6
97.4
97.2
94.1
92.6
1.1
0.5
5
1
0.6
0.9
5.7
0.5
2.4
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.1
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
Operated Any
Agricultural Land
for Last 365 Days
(in %)
Having MGNREGA
Job Card
(in %)
46.6
94.8
99.4
99.6
99.8
99.6
97.5
96.6
38.3
45.3
46.3
43.8
41.4
36.1
29.3
44.4
22
EPW
COMMENTARY
References
Basole, Amit and Deepankar Basu (2011): Relations
of Production and Modes of Surplus Extraction
in India: Part IAgriculture, Economic &
Political Weekly, Vol 46, No 14, pp 4158.
Krishnaji (1990): Land and Labour in IndiaThe
Demographic Factor, Economic & Political
Weekly, Vol XXV, Nos 1819, pp 103842.
Lindberg, Staffan, Venkatesh B Athreya, Goran
Djurfeldt, A Rajagopal and R Vidyasagar (2014):
Progress over the Long Haul: Dynamics of
Agrarian Change in Kaveri Delta, Persistence of
Poverty in India, Nandini Gooptu and Jonathan
Parry (eds), New Delhi: Social Science Press.
Moyo, Sam, Praveen Jha and Paris Yeros (2013): The
Classical Agrarian Question: Myth, Reality and
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23
COMMENTARY
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In Ranade, Gandhi & Jinnah, address delivered on the 101st Birthday Celebration
of Mahadev Govind Ranade, held on 18 January 1943 in Gokhale Memorial Hall, Poona.
References
Keer, Dhananjay (2005): Dr Ambedkar: Life and
Mission, Mumbai: Popular Prakashan.
Ram, Kanshi (1982): The Chamcha Age (An Era of
the Stooges), published on 24 September 1982
on the occasion of 50th anniversary of the
Poona Pact, pamphlet, published by Kanshi
Ram, New Delhi.
25
BUDGET 201617
26
vol lI no 16
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BUDGET 201617
need to go in rearranging public expenditure in India. Thus, note for instance, that the expenditure on education and agriculture are a mere 5.8%
and 1.6% respectively, of that on subsidies.1 Of course, fertiliser subsidy ostensibly goes to agriculture; but the question is how much of it is accounted for by
the goal of assuring a minimum rate of
return to the fertiliser companies under
the retention price system. Given the
scale of the fertiliser subsidy, there is
surely a case for targeting it better.
Finally, while yet on the topic of the
pattern of public expenditure, it is difficult to accept a postal deficit twice that
of the total expenditure on agriculture
and more than half of that on education.
Why should postal services be subsidised at this stage of the countrys development? The real price of communication has declined very substantially and
mobile networks are being accessed by
every section of the population.
Allocation (` Crore)
Pensions
Defence
Police
Education
Postal deficit
Agriculture and allied services
Subsidies
1,23,368
2,49,099
59,796
14,551
8,416
4,016
2,50,433
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No Progress on Subsidies
The Modi government has shown itself
to be no less populist than the other
political parties of this country when it
repeats that it only aims to target subsidies better and not to eliminate them.
Actually, some subsidies need elimination if health and education are to be
better funded. This budget has not made
a move in this direction even as it has
raised hopes of greater social protection.
The scale of the problem of rearranging the pattern of public expenditure
is brought home when we compare
the allocation for subsidies (`2,50,433
crore) with that for capital formation
(`2,47,023 crore). There is something
seriously wrong with a countrys economic policy when subsidies exceed public investment. Clearly, there is a case for
zero-based budgeting when it comes to
non-plan expenditure where the template is not credible.
But the far greater shortcoming of this
budget is that it has not provided anything like the boost necessary to the
sluggish demand that it recognises as a
feature of the present macroeconomic
situation. The total allocation for capital
expenditure in the budget exceeds that
made in the last year by a mere 2.3%. It
vol lI no 16
BUDGET 201617
As subsidies are listed under non-plan expenditure, all other items in the table are of expenditure under non-plan. But it is not as if plan outlay on the latter is much higher in relation to
the subsidies bill. For instance, the plan outlay
on health and education amounts to less than
10% of subsidies in each case.
References
Delong, B and L Summers (2012): Fiscal Policy in a
Depressed Economy, Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Spring.
Economic Survey (2016): Economic Survey 201516,
Ministry of Finance, Government of India, New
Delhi.
Ministry of Finance (2016): Budget at a Glance:
Receipts, Ministry of Finance, Government of
India.
vol lI no 16
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BUDGET 201617
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BUDGET 201617
17.25
5.61
12.54
11.43
49.59
25.02
23.22
30.69
-2.78
31.66
38.99
9.50
11.73
9.04
18.10
9.79
12.15
10.00
4.38
24.88
27.99
4.66
46.38
14.17
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BUDGET 201617
Table 3: Effective Tax Rates of Corporate Sector, 201415
Sl No Profit before Taxes (`)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
0
0
2.73
6.76
9.17
5.16
15.55
60.63
100
0.58
6.54
3.38
7.54
9.08
5.01
14.56
53.31
100
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0.47
2.81
3.25
7.4
9.48
5.26
15.12
56.21
100
Ratio of Total
Effective Tax
Income to Profits
Rate (in %)
before Taxes (%) (Profit to Tax Ratio)
95.39
85.44
76.26
74.83
72
67.66
76.94
29.37
26.99
25.52
25.14
23.97
22.88
24.67
vol lI no 16
31
BUDGET 201617
32
vol lI no 16
EPW
BUDGET 201617
Change (%)
-32.78
-6.84
-5.29
-0.02
of 5%.
Table 4 provides details of the ministries
which we have clubbed under welfare.
The two extremes in Table 4 are housing and poverty alleviation with a fall
of -62% (from 51.7 billion to 19.6 billion)
and women and child development with
an increase of 69% (from 100.8 billion to
170.8 billion).
Finally, Table 5 presents details of ministries concerned with infrastructure.
The Railways have suffered a sharp
fall of -20% mainly on account of the
fact that investments have fallen from
Table 4: Welfare Budget and Revised Estimates
(201516)
Budget Head
Change
(%)
-62.16
-19.13
-8.51
-5.09
-4.08
0.26
8.39
69.32
Change
(%)
Railways
Shipping
Civil aviation
Power
Atomic energy
Road transport and highways
-20.00
-2.28
25.64
19.02
4.32
2.97
EPW
(` billion)
the budgeted level of Figure 1: Railways: Budgeted and Revised Expenditure
500
400 billion to 320 bil400
Budgeted
400
320
lion. This is a shocking 300
Revised
260 270 301 301
230 240 242.6
200
underachievement given 200
181.3
146 153.3 158.8
the National Democratic 100
0
Alliance (NDA) govern200910
201011 201112
201213
201314 201415 201516
ments emphasis on infrastructure. This shortfall does make the agriculture and allied activities from
proposed 450 billion capital expendi- 201112 till 201516 and projections
ture for 201617 highly suspect. The sig- beyond 201516.
The compounded annual growth rate
nificance of this shortfall in capital expenditures of the railways should not be of GDP from agriculture and allied actiunderestimated. It is quite unprecedent- vities has been less, 3.5% from 200001 to
201516, with the highest rate of growth
ed as Figure 1 shows.
Figure 1 shows that actual capital ex- being recorded in 201011 of 8.6%. The
penditure in railways has never fallen finance ministers announcement expects
short of the budgeted amount till 2015 the sector to grow 12.25% per year from
16. A question worth pondering over is 201617 till 202122, which is almost
whether capital expenditures on rail- triple the rate that has been achieved in
ways were sacrificed at
Figure 2: GDP from Agriculture and Allied Activities
the altar of fiscal disci340
320
pline, in order to meet the
300
target of gross fiscal defi285
cit to GDP ratio of 3.9%.
254
260
Evaluating Budget
201617
Billion
227
220
202
180
180
152
150
Agriculture: At a farm140
ers rally in Uttar Pradesh,
2011 2012
12
13
the Prime Minister announced that incomes of farmers would
be
doubled by 2022 (Indian Express 2016).
The finance minister gave expression to
this announcement of the Prime Minister with what is, essentially, a vacuous
statement in his budget speech. We call
it vacuous because it is not clear what
exactly is meant by farmers income: is it
real income or nominal income? (Desai
2016) Does one obtain it by dividing the
GDP produced in agriculture by the
number of persons employed in agriculture or number of persons dependent on
agriculture? The problem is that we
could not find a source which would give
information on farmers income. In what
we present below, we use GDP from agriculture and allied activities at 201112
prices. (Before the change in methodology
of computing GDP, it was possible to get
GDP from agriculture separately from GDP
from agriculture and allied activities,
but not anymore. See CSO 2016).
Figure 2 shows the data of GDP from
vol lI no 16
159
158
160
33
BUDGET 201617
Lacking in Substance
of Budget 201516 hides important differences across the ministries/budgetheads covered under each item. Table 2
gives details of the major items covered
under public goods.
32
Public goods
Education
Welfare
Infrastructure
Total
5,372.19
714.34
1,031.09
1,081.29
8,198.91
5,421.40
694.20
1,119.67
1,040.59
8,275.86
0.92
-2.82
8.59
-3.76
0.94
Change (%)
vol lI no 16
EPW
-13.57
-11.61
-8.39
-7.06
-6.33
-3.32
-3.03
-1.75
-0.18
0.14
1.99
6.14
12.26
66.16
74.74
133.77
BUDGET 201617
Change (%)
-32.78
-6.84
-5.29
-0.02
Change
(%)
-62.16
-19.13
-8.51
-5.09
-4.08
0.26
8.39
69.32
Change
(%)
Railways
Shipping
Civil aviation
Power
Atomic energy
Road transport and highways
-20.00
-2.28
25.64
19.02
4.32
2.97
EPW
(` billion)
of -62% (from 51.7 billion Figure 1: Railways: Budgeted and Revised Expenditure
500
to 19.6 billion) and women
400
Budgeted
400
320
and child development 300
Revised
260 270 301 301
230 240 242.6
200
with an increase of 69% 200
181.3
146 153.3 158.8
(from 100.8 billion to 100
0
170.8 billion).
200910
201011 201112
201213
201314 201415 201516
Finally, Table 5 presents
details of ministries concerned with in- information on farmers income. In what
we present below, we use GDP from agfrastructure.
The Railways have suffered a sharp riculture and allied activities at 201112
fall of -20% mainly on account of the prices. (Before the change in methodology
fact that investments have fallen from of computing GDP, it was possible to get
the budgeted level of 400 billion to GDP from agriculture separately from GDP
320 billion. This is a shocking under- from agriculture and allied activities,
achievement given the National Demo- but not anymore. See CSO 2016).
Figure 2 shows the data of GDP from
cratic Alliance (NDA) governments emphasis on infrastructure. This shortfall agriculture and allied activities from
does make the proposed 450 billion 201112 till 201516 and projections
capital expenditure for 201617 highly beyond 201516.
suspect. The significance
Figure 2: GDP from Agriculture and Allied Activities
of this shortfall in capital
340
320
expenditures of the rail300
ways should not be under285
estimated. It is quite un254
260
precedented as Figure 1
227
shows.
220
202
Figure 1 shows that ac180
180
tual capital expenditure in
160
158
159
152
150
railways has never fallen
140
short of the budgeted
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
amount till 201516. A
The compounded annual growth rate
question worth pondering over is whether
capital expenditures on railways were of GDP from agriculture and allied actisacrificed at the altar of fiscal discipline, vities has been less, 3.5% from 200001 to
in order to meet the target of gross fiscal 201516, with the highest rate of growth
deficit to GDP ratio of 3.9%.
being recorded in 201011 of 8.6%. The
finance ministers announcement expects
Evaluating Budget 201617
the sector to grow 12.25% per year from
201617 till 202122, which is almost
Agriculture: At a farmers rally in Uttar triple the rate that has been achieved in
Pradesh, the Prime Minister announced the last 15 years. One caveat to be borne
that incomes of farmers would be in mind while considering Figure 2 is
doubled by 2022 (Indian Express 2016). that it is possible that the number of
The finance minister gave expression to persons involved with agriculture would
this announcement of the Prime Minis- come down over the years and the douter with what is, essentially, a vacuous bling of per capita incomes might restatement in his budget speech. We call quire a slower rate of growth of GDP
it vacuous because it is not clear what from agriculture and allied activities.
exactly is meant by farmers income: is it Despite this caveat, the proposals spelt
real income or nominal income? (Desai out in the budget do not provide any
2016) Does one obtain it by dividing the confidence that the announcement of
GDP produced in agriculture by the doubling farmers incomes by 2022 is
number of persons employed in agricul- anything other than wishful thinking or,
ture or number of persons dependent on worse, it amounts to mere sloganeering,
agriculture? The problem is that we not unlike the Garibi Hatao slogans
could not find a source which would give during Indira Gandhis reign.
Billion
vol lI no 16
33
BUDGET 201617
Budget support
IEBR
Total
294.20
426.95
721.15
294.21
280.00
574.20
196.53
592.79
789.32
80
500
400
57.14%
Actual amount/
budgeted amount (%)
(right-hand side axis)
426.95
60
280
300
40
65.58%
33.33%
Actual amount raised ( billion)
80
90
Percentage
Demand No (Department)
201516
(BE)
201516
(RE)
201617
(BE)
75 (rural development)
716.95
777.00
860.55
of which
MGNREGS
346.99
369.67
385.00
76 (land records)
16.37
15.78
17.09
Total
733.32
792.78
877.65
Total expenditure
of government
17,774.77 17,853.91 19,780.60
Rural development as
% of total expenditure
4.1
4.4
4.4
20
vol lI no 16
EPW
BUDGET 201617
Figure 4: Disinvestment Performance
60
Development of
north-eastern region
New and renewable energy
Earth sciences
Agriculture research and education
Youth affairs and sports
-19.13
-13.57
-12.45
-11.61
-9.82
EPW
Summing Up
Budget 201617 was presented amid great
anticipation. It was expected that the
budget would boost the reforms process; it
would be path-breaking; and would put
forward a grand idea. We had far more
modest hopes: we were hoping for
a solid workmanlike budget which
would not try to play to the gallery, that
is, the stock market. We were hoping
that the budget would give agriculture
and rural distress the attention that was
so badly required. In the process, what
has emerged is a budget that is not
path-breaking, it does not put forward a
grand idea and it does not address the
crucial issues facing the country. As far
as agriculture, farmers welfare, rural
development and infrastructure are
concerned, the finance minister has
made all the right noises but the result
has been lacklustre. The political party
which came to power with promises of
rejuvenating the economy has, despite
its massive majority in Parliament, continued to exhibit surprising timidity in
economic matters.
References
Anand, K (2016): Game Changer or Not, Analysts
Give 4 Out of 5 to Arun Jaitleys Budget 2016,
Economic Times, 29 February, http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/gamechanger-or-not-analysts-give-4-out-of-5-toarun-jaitleys-budget-2016/articleshow/51195518.
cms.
Bera, S (2016): Budget 2016: Govt Raises Agriculture Spending to 36,000 crore, LiveMint,
30 March, http://www.livemint.com/Politics/
T3pDBIVQPF6Ri6MnyEEeBK/Union-Budget-%20
vol lI no 16
201617-Govt-gives-%E2%82%B936000-cr-tofarm-sector.html.
Choudhury, G (2016): Jaitleys Rural Mural: Budget
2016 Focusses on Agri, Social Sectors, Hindustan
Times, New Delhi, 1 March, http://www.hindustantimes.com/union-budget/arun-jaitleys-budget-2016-focuses-on-agriculture-socialsector/story-sqJUXM9pa0yPiuJc8XtXfJ.html.
CSO (2016): Advance Estimates of National Income
2015-16 and Quarterly Estimates of Gross
Domestic Product for the Third Quarter (Q3) of
201516, Central Statistical Organisation (CSO),
Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India, 8 February,
http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/upload/nad_
PR_8feb16.pdf
Deccan Chronicle (2016): U-turn: MGNREGA Gets
38,500 Crore in Budget 2016-17, Deccan
Chronicle, 1 March, http://www.deccanchronicle.
com/nation/current-affairs/010316/u-turnmgnrega-gets-rs-38-500-crore-in-budget-2016-17.
html.
Desai, A (2016): Budget 2016: Jaitleys Promise to
Double FarmersIncome in 5 Years Is Next to
Impossible, Firstpost, 2 March, http://www.
firstpost.com/business/budget-2016-jaitleyspromise-of-double-income-for-farmers-in-fiveyears-is-next-to-impossible-2651358.html.
Indian Express (2016): PM Modi: Target to Double
Farmers Income by 2022, 28 February, http://
indianexpress.com/article/india/india-newsindia/farmers-rally-bareilly-target-to-doublefarmers-income-by-2022/.
Modi, Narendra (2015): PMs Remarks at the
Launch of Skill India, narendramodi.in,
15 July, http://www.narendramodi.in/pm-sremarks-at-the-launch-of-skill-india--206106.
Mukherjee, S (2016): 10 Years of MGNREGA: How
the Modi Government Was Forced to Adopt
the Scheme, Business Standard, 2 February,
http://www.business-standard.com/article/
opinion/10-years-of-mgnrega-how-the-modigovernment-was-forced-to-adopt-thescheme-116020200266_1.html.
NSDC (nd): Our Role, National Skill Development Corporation, viewed on 6 April 2016,
http://www.nsdcindia.org/our-role.
Pandey, P (2016): Infrastructure Gets the Much
Needed Push, Hindu, 1 March, http://www.
thehindu.com/business/budget/union-budget-2016-infrastructure-gets-the-much-neededpush/article8297228.ece.
Planning Commission (2006): Report of the Working Group on Centres Financial Resources for
the Eleventh Plan (20072012), Planning Commission, Government of India, http://planningcommission.nic.in/aboutus/committee/
wrkgrp11/wg11_frcg.pdf.
PTI (2016): Modi Government Praises UPAs
MGNREGA as Scheme Completes 10 Years
Tomorrow, Economic Times, 1 February, http://
articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/201602-01/news/70252564_1_mgnrega-wage-payments-workers.
Shetty, S L (2016): Budget 2016: Continuation of
Under-taxation and Under-spending, Economic
& Political Weekly, Vol 51, No 12, pp 1518.
Tewari, R (2015): Despite Narendra Modis Criticism of Scheme, Rural Ministry lists NREGAs
Success Stories, Indian Express, 10 May,
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/indiaothers/despite-narendra-modis-criticism-ofscheme-rural-ministry-lists-nregas-successstories/#sthash.flc3PZmm.dpuf.
World Bank (2013): World Development Report:
Risk and OpportunityManaging Risk for Development, World Bank, Washington DC.
35
BUDGET 201617
36
Exaggerated Claims
The response of the finance minister in
his Budget Speech bordered on hyperbole of doubling the farm income in
seven years to exaggerated claims of
expenditure commitments. However,
the reality as reflected in budget documents confirmed the fear that the government has once again missed the opportunity to do something for the rural
economy. The claims of increased spending not only involved reclassification of
vol lI no 16
EPW
BUDGET 201617
EPW
BUDGET 201617
had started to witness a process of nonfarm diversification, even though in lowproductivity sectors such as construction, since 200405. This process was
aided not only by an above-average
growth of the agricultural sector and the
favourable shift of terms of trade in
favour of agriculture, but also due to increased spending by the government.
Given that the agricultural sector is
suffering from the twin shocks of international price shocks and the monsoon
failure, the revival of the rural economy
depended crucially on government intervention in the form of increased spending,
but also through creation of alternative
employment opportunities elsewhere in
the economy. Given that the manufacturing sector was already suffering from
lack of demand, both domestically as well
as internationally, the increase in spending in rural areas is not just important
for reviving the rural economy but also
for the economy as a whole.
At a time when the stress in the banking sector has further aggravated the
declining private investment in the
economy, prudent fiscal policy required
using public investment and expenditure
Userfriendly
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38
vol lI no 16
EPW
BUDGET 201617
T Sundararaman (sundararaman.t@gmail.com)
teaches at the School of Health Systems Studies,
Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.
Indranil Mukhopadhyay (indranil.m@phfi.org)
is with Public Health Foundation of India, New
Delhi. V R Muraleedharan (vrm@iitm.ac.in) at
the Department of Humanities and Social
Sciences and Centre for Technology and Policy,
Indian Institute of Technology (Madras),
Chennai.
Economic & Political Weekly
EPW
200506
200607
200708
200809
200910
201011
201112
201213
201314
201415
201516
201617
Allocations
Current Prices
Revised
Estimate
Actual
Expenditure
% Difference
between
Allocation and
Expenditure
10,687
12,994
15,855
18,123
22,641
25,154
30,456
34,488
37,330
37,930
32,742
39,531
10,040
11,758
14,974
18,476
21,680
25,055
28,353
29,273
30,847
31,038
34,956
-
9,650
10,948
15,048
17,661
20,982
24,450
27,199
27,885
30,135
32,154
9.7
15.7
5.1
2.5
7.3
2.8
10.7
19.1
19.3
15.2
10,253
11,675
13,389
14,037
15,600
15,695
17,541
18,016
18,071
17,247
14,068
16,505
9,632
10,564
12,645
14,311
14,938
15,633
16,330
15,291
14,933
14,113
15,019
9,259
9,837
12,707
13,680
14,457
15,256
15,665
14,567
14,588
14,620
Source: Expenditure Budget, Vol 2; Union Budget, various years, www.indiabudget.nic.in, viewed on 25 March 2016;
All India Average Consumer Price Index (industrial workers), Labour Bureau, http://labourbureau.nic.in/indexes.htm,
viewed on 25 March 2016; price base: 2001.
vol lI no 16
39
BUDGET 201617
Figure 1: Allocations and Expenditure on Health by Union Government (Constant 200405 Prices)
20,000
18,000
` crore
16,000
14,000
12,000
Expenditure
Allocation
10,000
8,000
200506 20007
Source: Same as Table 1.
201112
201213
Figure 2: CAGR of Allocation and Expenditure, Current and Constant Prices (200414 prices)
14
12.99
200506 to 200910 Real
12
10.78
9.86
10
8.61
8
201011 to 201415 Real
6
4
3.50
-0.31
0
Union Budget
-2
Union Budget
Union Actual
State Actual
Union Actual
State Actual
Source: Authors calculation based on union and state government data; Expenditure Budget,Vol 2; Union Budget, various years,
www.indiabudget.nic.in; viewed on 25 March 2016; State Finances: A Study of Budgets, Reserve Bank of India; various years.
Figure 3: Union and State Government Expenditure on Health as % of GDP and SGDP
1.10
% of GDP
0.90
0.70
States
0.50
Centre
0.30
0.10
200506 20007 200708 200809 200910 201011 201112 201213 201314 201415 201516 201617
Sources: GDP, Government of India (2016): Economic Survey of India 201516, Expenditure Budget, Vol 2; Union Budget,
various years, www.indiabudget.nic.in, viewed on 25 March 2016; State Finances: A Study of Budgets, Reserve Bank of India;
various years.
vol lI no 16
EPW
BUDGET 201617
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vol lI no 16
BUDGET 201617
vol lI no 16
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BUDGET 201617
Evolving CentreState
Financial Relations
Role of the New Framework for Grants
EPW
BUDGET 201617
( crore)
201213
201314
201415
201516 BE
201516 RE
201617 BE
( crore)
201415 Actuals
201516 BE
201516 RE
201617 BE
44,193.86
1,37,567.04
872.80
1,82,633.70
1.45
27.10
50,261.61
1,17,113.83
990.00
1,68,365.44
1.23
20.05
50,222.42
1,21,159.36
1008.64
1,72,390.42
1.26
21.07
54,636.76
1,46,810.74
1282.75
2,02,730.25
1.34
22.08
24.20
75.32
0.48
100.00
29.85
69.56
0.59
100.00
29.13
70.28
0.59
100.00
26.95
72.42
0.63
100.00
44
vol lI no 16
EPW
BUDGET 201617
EPW
( crore)
201112
201213
201314
201415
201516 BE
201516 RE
201617 BE
1,17,399 1,35,800
11.33
11.93
1,79,643
14.43
1,90,684
13.16
2,43,727
16.70
2,60,927
16.00
vol lI no 16
45
BUDGET 201617
5
6
The following sectors form the national development agenda: poverty eliminationlivelihoods, jobs and skill development; drinking
water and swachh bharat mission; rural
connectivity: electricity; access roads and communication; agriculture, including animal husbandry, fisheries integrated watershed management and irrigation; education, including
mid-day meal; health, nutrition, women and
children; housing for all: rural and urban; urban
transformation; law and order, justice delivery;
and others which may include wildlife conservation and greening. Schemes in these sectors
would be given priority.
In case a scheme/sub-scheme has a central
funding pattern of less than 60:40, the existing
funding pattern will continue.
There are six Core of the Core schemes, 19 Core
schemes and three Optional schemes.
Tax devolution was 32% of the divisible pool
(DP) for the period 201112 to 201415 and 42%
for 201526 and 201617. For 201112 to 2014
15, DP was calculated as DP = [States share of
taxes & duties*100/32], and for 201516 and
201617 it was calculated as DP = [States
share of taxes & duties*100/42].
Thirteen cesses levied by various ministries/
departments and administered by the Department of Revenue, where the revenue collection
from each of them is less than 50 crore in
a year has been abolished (Budget Speech,
Budget 201617).
References
Chakraborty, Pinaki (2015): Finance Commissions
Recommendations and Restructured Fiscal
Space, Economic & Political Weekly, Vol 50,
No 12, pp 3335.
(2016): Restructuring of Central Grants:
Balancing Fiscal Autonomy and Fiscal Space,
Economic & Political Weekly, Vol 51, No 6,
pp 1519.
Government of India (2011): Report of the High
Level Expert Committee on Efficient Management
of Public Expenditure, Planning Commission,
New Delhi, July.
Kotasthane, P and V K Ramachandra (2015): Impact
of Fourteenth Finance Commission: Karnataka
Budget, 201516, Economic & Political Weekly,
Vol 50, No 4647, pp 1620.
NITI Aayog (2015): Report of the Sub-Group of Chief
Ministers on Rationalisation of Centrally Sponsored Schemes, New Delhi, October.
Odisha Budget and Accountability Centre (2015):
Implication of 14th Finance Commission on
Social Sector Budgeting in India, http://www.
obac.in/Implication%20%20of%2014%20Finance%20Commission%20on%20Social%20
Sector%20Budgeting%20in%20Odisha.pdf.
Reddy, G R (2015a): Finance Commission Proposes,
the Union Disposes, Economic & Political
Weekly, Vol 50, No 2627, pp 2730.
Reddy, Y V (2015b): A Tale of Two Commissions
and the Missing Links, Economic & Political
Weekly, Vol 50, No 4, pp 3238.
Notes
1
available at
Gyan Deep
Near Firayalal, H. B. Road
Ranchi 834 001
Jharkhand
Ph: 0651-2205640
vol lI no 16
EPW
BUDGET 201617
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BUDGET 201617
sustained use of LPG. Currently, LPG subsidies are around `95 per cylinder. If
this has to be increased to, say, `350 per
cylinder for the first seven cylinders in a
year, the additional annual subsidy for
the five crore BPL consumers would be a
maximum of about `9,000 crore. The
decision to stop subsidies for all those
reporting incomes over `10 lakh per
annum can help in reducing this subsidy
burden. It can be further reduced through
other subsidy-exclusion methods based
on factors such as asset ownership3 and
providing graded subsidies to consumers
in the intermediate income bracket (say,
incomes between `6 lakh and `10 lakh
per annum).
Cash flow is also an issue which affects
affordability, given the lumpy nature of
payments for 14.2 kg cylinders, unlike for
biomass or kerosene (Nayak, Werthmann
and Aggarwal 2015). In this regard, proposals to use smaller (5 kg) cylinders
and accepting payments for connections
in instalments are welcome measures.
Effective Subsidy Transfer: With PAHAL
(Direct Benefit Transfer for LPG) scheme,
LPG fuel subsidies are being directly
transferred to the bank accounts of beneficiaries to reduce leakages and inefficiencies. For this to extend to rural (BPL)
households, much deeper financial inclusion and effective provision of banking services is critical to enable smooth
transfer of subsidies to beneficiaries in
rural areas. Beneficiaries should be able
to access the subsidy easily once a bank
account is opened. Though the penetration of financial services has been improving of late, reports have shown that
awareness of financial services and use
of bank accounts, especially in rural
areas, is dismal (Yadav 2015). The acute
gender disparity with respect to access
and use of financial services as shown by
the committee on financial inclusion
chaired by Deepak Mohanty can be
detrimental to the scheme as the LPG
connection and subsidy provision would
be in the womans name (RBI 2015). These
problems need to be addressed to ensure
that the uptake of LPG is sustained.
Going beyond BPL: There are known
problems of exclusion in identifying BPL
vol lI no 16
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BUDGET 201617
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BUDGET 201617
References
Desai, Sonalde and Reeve Vanneman (2011): India
Human Development Survey-I (IHDS-I), 2004-05,
Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for
Political and Social Research: ICPSR36151-v2.
EPW (2015): Limits of the SECC Data, Economic &
Political Weekly, Vol 50, No 29, 28 July.
IHME (2015): GBD Compare, Institute for Health
Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington, viewed on 28 March 2016, http://vizhub.
healthdata.org/gbd-compare/.
IRADE (2014): Report on Evaluation of the Scheme
for Kerosene Free Delhi, Integrated Research
and Action for Development, New Delhi: International Institute for Sustainable Development.
Jain, Abhishek, Shalu Agarwal and Karthik Ganesan
(2014): Rationalising Subsidies, Reaching the
Underserved, New Delhi: Council on Energy,
Environment and Water.
Jindal, Ashutosh (2016): Pradhan Mantri UJJWALA
Yojana and Other LPG Initiatives, March,
viewed on 24 March 2016, http://petroleum.nic.
in/docs/PM_UJJAWALA_AND_OTHER.pdf.
Josey, A and N Sreekumar (2015): Power for All: Is
Anything Being Learnt from Past Programmes?,
Economic & Political Weekly, Vol 50, No 41.
Kishore, Avinash and Dean Spears (2014): Having
a Son Promotes Clean Cooking Fuel Use in
Urban India: Womens Status and Son Preference,
Economic Development and Cultural Change,
Vol 62, No 4, pp 67399.
50
Missed Goals
Prasenjit Bose
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Transforming India by Dwaipayan Bhattacharyya,
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References
AM (2006): Suffrage in West Bengal, Economic &
Political Weekly, Vol 41, Issue No 21, 27 May.
Laclau, Ernesto (2007): On Populist Reason, London:
Verso.
Patnaik, Prabhat (2006): Left in Government,
Frontline, Vol 23, Issue 10, 20 May2 June;
available at: http://www.frontline.in/static/html/fl2310/stories/20060602002702300.htm.
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Mediterranean Graveyard
Disgrace of Clandestine Migration
Suraj Yengde
54
Puertolas draws heavily from participant observation and provides an onthe-ground view of everyday border
scenes in Europe and North Africa. He
offers an adventurous critique of the
conditions of migrants like the North
Africans who are trying to enter the
United Kingdom (UK), the land of prosperity, via the Spanish and French borders, while hiding inside transport
trucks. Ajatshatru finds his way into one
of these trucks trapped in an Ikea wardrobe, which is being transported to
the UK.
Trafficking as Trade
As one continues to read about border
policing, the narration shifts to exploitation by monstrous traffickers, who for a
petty sum of 2,000 to 10,000, go to
the extent of trafficking migrants in fuel
trucks or on boatsall life-threatening
journeys. Assefa, a Sudanese, who continues to attempt to enter the promised
landEnglanddescribes an incident
where police had found Chinese people
piled ten high in the seven-square-foot false
ceiling of a bus, all of them wearing incontinence nappies to piss in. And some Eritreans who had been forced to call the police
themselves with a mobile phone because
they were suffocating inside a truck, having
been locked in there by a human trafficker
(p 258).
Incidents like this happen in the Mediterranean almost every day. The idea
of a border is that of increasingly a
failed apparatus of state protection. Outdated border protection mechanisms
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are something that are failing the human rights ideals of the Northern states.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO) invasions into Southern spaces
have put sovereign countries economic
and social condition into disarray, forcing citizens to find an alternative life for
their children and themselves.
Host of People, Fears and Hopes
Aseefa perseveres in his attempts to
enter England; making him a burden on
the host state that keeps packing him off
to various countries in Europe. Ajatshatru is struck by the regularity of such
clandestine journeys in the African
migrants life. The struggle of the Africans keeps haunting him through his
journey in Europe. Puertolas, in thinking
through Ajatshatru, wants to offer critical notes on the overwhelmingly insensitive system of border policing.
One has to only imagine Aseefas desperation to cross through Libya; to make
it through the seathe graveyardto the
prosperous side. Border protection has
defied the norms of interaction of similar species. Borders are human-made
` 1,250
Artefacts of History
A
Archaeology,
Historiography and
Indian Pasts
Upinder Singh
Sudeshna Guha
www.sagepub.in
Economic & Political Weekly
EPW
55
PERSPECTIVES
Dreaming in English
Challenges of Nationhood and Democracy
Gyanendra Pandey
56
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Much the same kind of political impulse lies behind the Dalit espousal of
English in colonial and postcolonial
India. The rewards that came with
knowledge of the English language were
applauded by Dalit spokespersons in the
late 19th and the 20th centuries. The advocates of the English mother-goddess
idea cite a poem by Savitribai Phule, an
early advocate of education and advancement for the lower castes, and
especially lower-caste women: Come
Mother English, this is your hour./ Throw
off the yoke of redundant belief/Break
open the door, walk out in relief. Babasaheb Ambedkar, the outstanding Dalit
leader of the 20th century, is said to have
compared knowledge of the language to
the milk of a lioness. If your child learns
English, the activist Chandrabhan Prasad
declares in 2010, its as if he or she has
inherited 100 acres of land. He makes
the point more strongly: the same privileged people who snigger at this move to
claim English as a Dalit mother-goddess
have in their own cases move[d] heaven
and earth to ensure that their children
go to the best English schools.7
If humanity needs English, subordinated, marginalised and stigmatised
groups like the Dalits need it all the
more. This is why, says Chandrabhan
Prasad, Macaulays birthday, 25 October,
should be celebrated as English Day, and
temples erected to [the] Dalit Goddess
English, symbol of a Dalit renaissance.
Images of the new mother-goddess will
be modelled after the statue of liberty.
Here is Prasads summary of the main
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of received historical conditions, contexts and beliefs. Every subjectaccomplishes its freedom only by perpetual surpassing toward other freedoms, as de
Beauvoir put it. Every time transcendence lapses into immanence, there is
degradation of existence into in-itself, of
freedom into facticity12
With that critique in place, let me turn
to two other significant examples of
dreaming in Englishdreams of equal
rights, which take the form of a struggle
over sameness and differencein India
and the US.
In Search of a National Language
I begin with Mohandas Karamchand
Gandhis thoughts on the use of English
in colonial India. When he returned to
the country in 1915, after his long sojourn in South Africa, he found that all
the proceedings of the most advanced
political gatherings, including the leading nationalist association, the Indian
National Congress, were conducted in
English. The language of the rulers had
attained such a dominant position that it
had become the medium not only of
higher education, but of social intercourse among the educated classes, who
considered it a mark of honour and distinction to speak in English only on all
occasions.13 Gandhis autobiography records the shame he felt at the response to
his intervention at a World War I recruitment meeting called by the Viceroy in
1917. He agreed to attend the meeting on
condition that he be allowed to speak in
Hindi-Hindustani. The Viceroy consented, provided Gandhi translated what he
said into English as well. Gandhi made
no speech; he spoke one sentence in
support of the recruitment resolution.
However:
Many congratulated me. That was, they
said, the first instance within living memory
of anyone having spoken in Hindustani at
such a meeting. The congratulationshurt
my national pride. I felt like shrinking into
myself. What a tragedy that the language
of the country should be taboo in meetings
held in the country, for work relating to the
country, and that a speech in Hindustani by
a stray individual like myself should be a
matter for congratulation!14
Two years later, when he turned towards non-cooperation with the British
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and had already led a countrywide agitation against the Rowlatt Act that
extended war-time regulations in India
after the war, Gandhi delivered another
significant speech in Hindi-Urdu-Hindustani at a meeting of Hindu and Muslim
political leaders called to discuss the
question of British treatment of the
Turkish Khalifa (Caliph) after the Allied
victory. Among the resolutions at the
conference was one that called for an
oath of commitment to swadeshi (Indian
manufactures) and the boycott of foreign goods. The militant Muslim leaders
present supported the resolution, but
said it did not go far enough. Maulana
Hasrat Mohani, who addressed the gathering immediately before Gandhi, declared that the country needed action
that would have more immediate effect.
His speech drew thunderous applause.
Even as he wondered how he would follow in the wake of such oratory, Gandhi
was persuaded that something new,
over and above boycott of foreign cloth,
was needed. But he was still unclear
what that might be.
Gandhi writes of his anxiety, when it
came to his turn to speak, that his inadequate knowledge of Hindi/Urdu would
seriously handicap his ability to make a
persuasive speech on such a difficult
matter. He had spoken in Urdu at a Muslim League meeting in Calcutta some
time before this, but only for a few minutes, and only to make an emotional
appeal to the audience. In Delhi, the assembly included many learned scholars
who expressed themselves in the chaste
tongue of the North Indian elite. As he
recalls it, Gandhi had to cast aside his
shyness: I was not there to deliver and
address in the faultless, polished Urdu of
the Delhi Muslims, but to place before
the gathering my views in such broken
Hindi as I could command. And in this I
was successful.15
The Mahatma proposed a new idea
and programme, one for which he could
not readily identify a suitable Hindi or
Urdu word. In the end, he says, he used
the word non-cooperation (asahyog),
arguing that in the event that the peace
terms were unacceptable to the Muslims,
they should withdraw all cooperation
from the government. If Government
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62
NE
The Economic and Political Weekly Research Foundation (EPWRF) has added state-wise
data to the existing Banking Statistics module of its online India Time Series (ITS)
database.
State-wise and region-wise (north, north-east, east, central, west and south) time series
data are provided for deposits, credit (sanction and utilisation), credit-deposit (CD) ratio,
and number of bank offices and employees.
Data on bank credit are given for a wide range of sectors and sub-sectors (occupation)
such as agriculture, industry, transport operators, professional services, personal loans
(housing, vehicle, education, etc), trade and finance. These state-wise data are also
presented by bank group and by population group (rural, semi-urban, urban and
metropolitan).
The data series are available from December 1972; half-yearly basis till June 1989 and
annual basis thereafter. These data have been sourced from the Reserve Bank of Indias
publication, Basic Statistical Returns of Scheduled Commercial Banks in India.
Including the Banking Statistics module, the EPWRF ITS has 15 modules covering a
range of macroeconomic and financial data on the Indian economy. For more details,
visit www.epwrfits.in or e-mail to: its@epwrf.in
APRIL 16, 2016
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CSO
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CPI (Urban/Rural/
Combined)
CPI
(Industrial Workers)
Labour
Bureau
CPI (Agricultural
Labour
Labour/Rural Labour) Bureau
Uses
2012
Measurement of inflation,
national accounts deflator, etc
2001
Determination of dearness
allowance for organised sector,
fixation and revision of
minimum wages in schedule
employment, etc
198687 Revision and fixation of
minimum wages in agriculture
occupations under Minimum
Wages Act, 1948; revision of
wages under MNREGA; rural
poverty estimation; updation
of cooking cost under mid-day
meal scheme; fixation of
procurement/support prices
of agricultural crops by
Commission for Agricultural
Costs and Prices, etc
SPECIAL ARTICLE
Figure 1: Typical Aggregation Structure
Overall Index
Group Index
Elementary Indices
Individual Price
Observations
Weights
index from these state price relatives is worked out by using the
Laspeyres base weighted formula and the all-India index is
worked out as a weighted average of the indices of 20 states,
weights being the estimated consumption expenditure of all
rural and agricultural labour households in each state as a proportion of corresponding expenditure for all India. All-India
group indices are also compiled by using the state weights in the
particular group, derived as a proportion of corresponding
expenditure at the all-India level.
The debate on the best formula for estimating an item index
concerning CPI is classic and dates back to Fisher (1922:
2930) who seems to have been the first to establish the
upward bias of the Carli price index and made the following
observations on its use:
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each item class (for which expenditure weights can be obtained) has only one representative specification in it where
prices are collected, then the Dutot index will work in a satisfactory manner.
Table 3: Behavioural Aspects of Different Formulas
Panel 1: Dutot Formula Depends on the Price Level in the Price Reference Period
Description
Product A
Product B
Product C
Average
Dutot index
Carli index
Jevons index
Base Prices #
Current Prices
Price Relative #
50
45
60
60
200
240
103.3
115.0
(115/103.3)*100 =
(0.9+1+1.2/3)*100 =
Geomean (50+60+200)/
Geomean (45+60+240)*100 =
Index
0.9
1
1.2
1.033
111.3
103.3
97.5
Product A
Product B
Product C
Sum
Dutot index-->
Base Prices #
Price Weight
50
60
200
310
(Price Weight *
Price Relative)-->
Price Relative #
16.13
0.9
19.35
1
64.52
1.2
100.00
(16.13*.9 + 19.35*1 +
64.52*1.2) =
Index
111.3
Panel 3: Upward Bias in Carli (Prices in Base and Current Period Are Reversed,
However Carli Reports an Increase)
Description
Product A
Product B
Product C
Carli index
Dutot index
Jevons index
Base Prices
Current Prices
Price Relative
50
60
40
40
60
50
0.8
1.0
1.3
Index
101.7
100
100
Product A
Product B
Carli index
Dutot index
Jevons index
Base Prices
Current Prices
Price Relative
100
100
120
80
1.2
0.8
Index
100
100
102.1
Carli and Dutot keeps the implicit quantities constant. Jevons allows some substitution
households consume more of B and less of A.
The test approach clearly approves of the Jevons index. Unlike the Carli index which gives more weight to price increases
than to decreases (see Panel 3 of Table 3), the Jevons index
gives equal weight to upward and downward movements
within the elementary aggregate. For example, in an aggregate with five prices doubling and five prices halving, the geometric mean will equal 100. Thus the Jevons index being a
function of price changes overcomes the limitation of Carli
index which can be sensitive to situations where individual
goods see large price changes such as when a sale on an item
ends. To conclude, since Jevons index satisfies more desirable
properties than competing elementary indices, it seems to be a
reasonable choice as an elementary index.
Economic Approach: The conceptual starting point for measuring consumer prices, in many countries, is the Laspeyres
index (not the cost-of-living index). In the economic approach,
65
SPECIAL ARTICLE
the objective is to estimate an economic index, that is, a costof-living index for the elementary aggregate. A cost-of-living
index measures the minimum amount by which consumers
would have to change their expenditures in order to keep their
utility level unchanged, allowing consumers to make substitutions between the items in response to changes in the relative
prices of items. It is reasonable to expect that behavioural
hypothesis of item substitution for a representative/typical
consumer does hold since when we move down the product
hierarchy to more detailed levels we find closer substitutes at
the lower levels than at the higher.
There are two special cases of some interest. The first case
is when consumers continue to consume the same relative
quantities whatever the relative prices. Consumers prefer not
to make any substitutions in response to changes in relative
prices. The cross-elasticities of demand are zero. The underlying preferences are described in the economics literature as
Leontief. With these preferences, a Laspeyres index would
provide an exact measure of the cost-of-living index. In this
first case, the Carli index calculated for a random sample
would provide an estimate of the cost-of-living index provided
that the items are selected with probabilities proportional to
the population expenditure shares. If the items were selected
with probabilities proportional to the population quantity
shares (assuming the quantities are additive, that is, all items
in the elementary stratum are homogeneous/have the same
units), the sample Dutot would provide an estimate of the
population Laspeyres.
The second case occurs when consumers are assumed to
vary the quantities they consume in inverse proportion to the
changes in relative prices. The cross-elasticities of demand
between the different items are all unity, the expenditure
shares being the same in both periods. The underlying preferences are described as Cobb-Douglas. With these preferences,
the geometric Laspeyres would provide an exact measure of
the cost-of-living index. The geometric Laspeyres is a weighted
geometric average of the price relatives, using the expenditure
shares in the earlier period as weights (the expenditure shares
in the second period would be the same in the particular case
under consideration). In this second case, the Jevons index
calculated for a random sample would provide an unbiased
estimate of the cost-of-living index, provided that the items
are selected with probabilities proportional to the population
expenditure shares.
Thus, the choice of formula apparently rests on the degree
of substitutability that exists between items within an elementary aggregate. In practice, the cross-elasticities could
take on any value often above unity for brands in competitive
product areas and may also range up to plus infinity for an
elementary aggregate consisting of a set of strictly homogeneous items, that is, perfect substitutes. Therefore, unitary price
elasticity seems the best approximation and most reasonable
for items within an elementary stratum, because it at least
acknowledges that change in prices such as special promotion
or sales prices are intended to change (increase) the quantity
sold. It follows that in contrast to Carli and Dutot which keep
66
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also the sample structure is in coherence with current economic realities as it includes more choices as available to all
segments of population.
Important for Other Indices
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1 Introduction
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Since nationalisation of the banking sector in 1969, employment has expanded rapidly with the opening of many new
bank branches. However, recruitment of employees was
stopped after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) saw signs of
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notes. The constituent unions hold further internal negotiations with the respective bank managements for the remaining aspects of service conditions. Workers negotiate as per Section 2(p) and Section 18(1) of the IDA, 1947 read with Rule 58 of
the Industrial Disputes (Central) Rules, 1957. The job of unions
as institutions is to represent the interests of their members, be
it wages, job profile or mobility. Unions in the banking sector
have also been known to oppose hiring by organisations outside their membership, and hence resist any outsourcing of
work even if it is non-core.
The most important reason for this is the wide disparity in
payments, which results in compromising the interests of their
members in the long run; leading to the conflict of interests of
unions and cost cutting intent of firms while achieving internal and external flexibility. The major cost cutting measures
are technology (Paul et al 2008) and flexibilisation. The latter
is rendered possible due to the lack of choices and reduced
forms of security. Outsourcing serves as a mechanism to maximise flexibility. The income inequality between the regular
and outsourced employees for work of a similar nature is as
high as 4:1; moreover, regulation is nearly nil (Bhowmik
2009). In the process of rendering such rigidities, unions have
been accused of fostering a labour aristocracy (Tzannatos
and Aidt 2006). Yet the concern is that these negotiations
impact fewer and fewer people who are engaged in banking
work because many banks that can opt out of these negotiations
do not send their mandate to the IBA. As such, there is evidence
that bank unions are losing their grounds as managements
have been overriding them in many instances (Khandelwal
2011: 364). In addition, outsourcing is on the rise in the banking sector; this outsourced workforce is seldom represented by
a trade union.
Although the unions claim that there is no political party
affiliation, some linkages are explicit (even today) such as the
Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI) with the Communist Party of India (Marxist)CPI(M), the Indian National
Bank Employees Congress (INBEC) with the Congress Party
(Mankidy 1997). However, there is no clear indication whether
these political linkages have resulted in sharpening the bargaining power of trade unions; instead, there are cases of splits
within trade unions along political lines (Bhowmik 2009).
Also, given that unions have not got representation in policymaking bodies (Bhowmik 2009), we can broadly say that the
union movement has not been strong.12
Firms have also been increasingly wary of workers rights,
specially the right to collective action because it amounts to
having a parallel power structure and restricts management
decision-making. There is no compulsion for the employers to
enter into collective bargaining. Only 46 of the 89 banks participated in the ninth bipartite settlement (IBA 2010).
subject entails complex social phenomena that are best articulated by using multiple cases, as cases are best suited for
exploratory studies wherein the phenomena being studied are
contemporary and with no control exercised (Yin 2003) as in
that of the present research situation in which there are many
more variables of interest than prefixed data points.
The multiple phenomena being studied are as follows: Trade
unions and their impact on aspects, namely, employment
security, wages, gender and caste-based discrimination, and
organisational efficiencies. For data collection, a triangulation
framework13 was used, as discussed by Creswell (2007) and
reiterated by Tracy (2010) and Denzin (2012). Here, triangulation seeks an in-depth understanding of the facts though
whilst bearing in mind that objective reality is never evident.
Accordingly, multiple people in contrasting positions were
interviewed, and documentary evidence was gathered with
respect to the same aspect/story so as to garner an unbiased
and factual picture of the truth.
Collection and analysis of data were performed in line with
the recommendations of Yin (2003). Data were organised and
categorised based on themes. The validity of the content analysis
was ensured by using the six step process of Neuendorf (2002).
Ethical principles were employed in data collection. Requests were sent to respective people in advance, and their
co-operation for the study was sought. The nature and purpose of study was clearly indicated in all communication.
Meetings were held with prior appointments after assuring the
respondents that all forms of data would be used purely for
academic purposes. Also, the names of individuals and of
organisations were masked to maintain confidentiality wherever the content is not in the public domain. Accordingly, the
transcripts were shown to the respondents for reconfirmation
before arriving at the final compilation.
3 Research Design
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Taking cues from Oswald (1982), the likelihood of a strong union movement or employee collectives in the banking industry
is bleak as the degree of risk aversion for workers and junior
management is high, financial products are now very price
sensitive, there is surplus labour supply and purely technologydriven processes. On the other hand, there has been a long
period of union activism in the banking industry. Olson (1971)
suggests that groups in non-market situations are inclusive
groups whose supply of collective goods would increase with
group expansion. If we consider labour unions as non-market
groups, then it follows that the veteran bank unions which still
exist in the nationalised banks and some old foreign and
Indian private banks, should expand their membership to
maximise collective benefits. This phenomenon was observed
in the following theme.
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Taking cues from Olson (1971), we may consider employee collectives as inclusive groups within which there exist exclusive
groups who try to maximise their benefits by alienating others. But, this is the reverse of the strategies propounded for
successful organising; on the lines of representation and participation of members (Bronfenbrenner and Warren 2007). In
this theme, the caste based rift within and in between the
Indian banking trade unions and other employee collectives;
as well as how the divide serves as an impediment to collective
good, is highlighted.
In 1995, Kanha Gedam joined the Collective Bank (an old
PSB) as a clerk and participated actively in the trade union
Economic & Political Weekly
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% for SC
% for ST
% for SEBC*
(wef 1993)
15
7 1/2
27
16 2/3
7 1/2
26 5/6
15
7 1/2
Nil
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from a higher component of fi xed pay to incentive-based pay (in the BFSI sector, the proportion of fixed to variable component of pay is
60:40) and temporal flexibility through a higher number of working hours. Numerical flexibility is exercised through mechanisms such as
outsourcing of work defined as non-core activities or unskilled repetitive work is prevalent in
the banking sector since 2004 when the
Reserve Bank of India issued permission and
guidelines for the same. Functional flexibility
is positively co-related with the firm performance, but numerical flexibility has a negative
impact on performance (Arvanitis 2005: 997).
The skill-bias hypothesis states that a more
rapid pace of technological change in a sector
generates a greater demand for education and
training of the sectoral workforce (Mincer
1996).
Retention cost is the sum total of many expenses like training and skill upgradation, annual
increments and promotions, financing long
leaves like sabbaticals, maternity leave in case
of women (there is a verbal understanding that
it would not be claimed before the expiry of a
certain period after joining; generally two
years), statutory social security benefits (for
examplegratuity, which has to be given to an
employee if he/she has served for more than
five years), etc.
Here new banks implies banks established
after 1991the time of the issue of fresh bank
licences. Accordingly, Old banks implies
banks established before 1966the time of the
first industrywide bipartite settlement. No banks
were established between 1966 and 1991.
The consolidated figures for all nationalised
banks reflect that there was only one woman in
Scale VIII and Scale IX put together and mere
175 women were heads of functional departments (Treasury, Risk Management, etc). Assessing the percentage of women for different
cadres, we understand that it is highest for
clerks (29%). In the officers category, the percentage of women is highest for Scale I (20%)
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11
12
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3, Dinshaw Vacha Road
Mumbai 400 020
Ph: 66364477
77
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oneunion density as understood by OECD,
that is, the percentage of union members in the
wage/salaried workforce. Twounion influence on socio-economic issues like inequality,
inflation and unemployment. The Indian union
movement is not strong on both counts with
union density at 1% and having had no pro-labour influnce on socio-economic factors like
informalisation, privatisation, etc.
13 Triangulating data sourcesa means for
seeking convergence across qualitative and
quantitative methodswas born (Jick 1979).
By the early 1990s, the idea of mixing moved
from seeking convergence to actually integrating or connecting the quantitative and
qualitative data (Creswell 2009: 14).
Triangulation in qualitative research assumes
that if two or more sources of data, theoretical
frameworks, types of data collected or researchers converge on the same conclusion,
then the conclusion is more credible. Put another way, findings may be judged valid when
different and contrasting methods of data collection yield identical findings on the same research subjects; a case of replication within the
same setting. The concept of triangulation
emerged within realist paradigms that aimed
to rid research of subjective bias. The concept
assumes a single reality (or point on the map)
to be known (Tracy 2010: 843).
...qualitative research is inherently multimethod in focus. In its original forms, triangulation referred only to the use of multiple forms
of qualitative research methods, not the combination of quantitative and qualitative methods.... The use of multiple methods, or triangulation, reflects an attempt to secure an in-depth
understanding of the phenomenon in question.... Triangulation is not a tool or a strategy
14
15
16
17
union elections in Indus absence. A male counterpart, also a management favourite; hurled a
volley of abuses on them. The women filed a
written complaint against this man. An officer
had witnessed the incident and recounted the
same to the management. The management immediately got this witness transferred to another city on an increment. In the absence of
the witness, the women were asked not only to
withdraw their complaint but to give in writing
that no such incident had taken place. This
critically assesses managements anti-labour
and anti-women practices.
18 Scavenging here implies cleaning urine pots
and wash basins. In India, this job is done only
by SCs and STs. On record, there are internal
agreements between banks and unions to provide wages for such work on a minimal piece
rate basis. In many bank branches, a couple of
generations have continued in the same trade
with no upward, social or economic mobility.
19 These welfare associations were motivated
by the Dalit Panther movement initiated by
writer and human rights activist, Namdeo
Dhasal. In turn, this movement was inspired
by the Black Panther, Afro-American movement in the United States. Raja Dhale and
Arun Kamble were other prominent Dalit
Panther leaders. This movement comprised
young SC men. Dalit Panther was regarded
close to a revolution as it was different from
the previous dalit movements and was hard
lined and aggressive. But the movement began to fragment in the early 1980s on idelogical and political lines, and hence could not be
widened.
20 Pay scales of officers in PSBs are given in slabs
designated as Scale I (junior-most) to Scale VII
(senior-most), beyond scale VII are executives.
CONTEMPORARY ISSUES
Alok Sheel
T T Ram Mohan
Dilip M Nachane
Rohit Azad
Vineet Kohli
Calm before the Storm?: Indias Relative Stability amidst Emerging Market Turmoil
Capital Account Management in India
Parthapratim Pal
Abhijit Sen Gupta, Rajeswari Sengupta
ISSUES IN BANKING
Amaresh Samantaraya
Mandira Sarma, Anjali Prashad
Saibal Ghosh, D Vinod
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21 Upper castes in India are predominantly vegetarians, and even if they consume non-vegetarian food, it is not common knowledge, mainly
because of religious reasons.
22 There have been countrywide developments
on reservation in selection-based promotions.
In 1992, the Supreme Court held that reservations in promotions were unconstitutional, in
the case of Indira Sawhney v Union of India. In
1995, Article 16(4A) was inserted in the Constitution, which limited reservation in promotion
to the subjective view of the state on adequacy
of representation. In 2006, the Supreme Court
upheld the constitutional validity of the
amendment vide the case of M Nagraj v Union
of India subjected to the following:
(i) Backwardness of the SCST group
(ii) Inadequacy of representation and
(iii) Efficiency of administration.
In 2012, the central government introduced a
bill to declare that all SC and ST groups notified
in the Constitution shall be deemed to be backward. The provision of this bill also overrides the
parameter of efficiency in administration. As of
February 2015, this bill (177th amendment to the
Constitution) has been passed in the Rajya Sabha and awaits approval in the Lok Sabha.
23 In times of crises, the entities of the finance
industry plummet faster as compared to those
in other corporates as their value creation and
value destruction are much more rapid (Rajan
and Zingales, The Dark Side of Finance, 2014,
p 94). Also, it is well known that banks are vital
in any economy.
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It has been observed that the RSS typically makes entry into a
new region with the help of local notables (Jaffrelot 1996;
Kanungo 2003). In their attempt at spreading the influence of
Hindutva, the pracharaks took the help of several local Assamese
intellectuals and notables. One of them was Kamakhyaram
Barua, a judge of the Guwahati High Court. Another local
notable who actively supported the Sangh activities in its initial
days in Assam was Radhikamohan Goswami of Nowgown. He
became the editor of a local Assamese weekly bulletin, Aalok,
run by swayamsevaks. Similarly, Giridhar Sharma, a professor
and principal of Arya College Guwahati, introduced important
members of the RSS to the Assamese elite circle.6 Sharma was
later appointed as the prant sanghchalak in 1974.
The association with these Assamese notables helped the
swayamsevaks when it was struggling to gain a foothold.
Thakur Ramsingh, the prant pracharak, actively built liaisons
with the Assamese notables and Marwari businessmen and
toured extensively to set up new shakhas. He strategically
positioned an army of non-Assamese, mainly Maharashtrian,
pracharaks in different parts of the North East. Among these
pracharaks were Omprakash Trehan, Madhukar Limaye,
Madhavrao Mahedale, Pajhakar Wajhe, Sudhakar Deshpande,
Appa Kulkarni and Vinayak Limaye. Swayamsevaks of the
Assam unit regularly invited senior leaders such as Golwalkar
and organised public functions to propagate their ideology
and encourage new recruits.7
The Assam Earthquake, 1950
In July 1949, the ban on the RSS was lifted. It must be noted
here that as a matter of organisational strategy, M S Golwalkar, had sought to recast the organisation in a new mould
in response to the ban in 1948 and consciously tried to shed the
image of the RSS as an upper caste, communal movement
by prioritising seva (service). It was during this phase that the
RSS accelerated its humanitarian activities such as the provision of relief during disasters and provided targeted service to
marginalised groups such as women, tribals and Hindu lower
castes. Apart from consolidating these groups under the overarching Hindu identity, the seva activities of the Sangh affiliates performed (and continue to perform) specific political
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Samir Kumar Das (2004: 246) has argued that religious radicalism in the North East India is embedded in ethnicity and
does not exactly manifest itself in the way it does in other
parts of the country. Religious radicalism here, according to
him, situates itself within an ethnic matrix and assumes a
highly complex character. An analysis of the spread of Hindutva
in Assam demonstrates that the movement recognises the complex ways in which ethnicity and religion are intertwined in
this terrain. For one thing, a significant portion of the population in the North East happens to be of tribal origin, for whom
the ideology of Hindutva does not have much appeal as it has
for Hindus of northern India. For another, even the Hindus living in the region for historical reasons have been and are by
and large free from many of its orthodox ingredients. The
spread of Vaishnavism particularly in the valley areas contributed enormously to the softening, and in many cases, obliteration of many inegalitarian social practices, rituals, orthodoxies and dogmas prototypical of Hindu caste system. As a result,
Assam was and to some extent is by and large free from the
maladies of communalism and casteism.
Hindutva activists have therefore, from the very beginning,
adopted novel strategies for navigating through the complex
particularities of this region in order to establish itself in the
cultural and political imagination of the people. Moving away
from its standard techniques of mobilising support through
the invocation of Hindu stereotypes like Ram or Ayodhya,
it instead focuses on adapting local cults and symbols such as
those associated with Kamakhya and SankardevSattra
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traditions. Coupled with this, it also consolidates support by providing welfare services in the realm of education, health and
cultural development, through a range of affiliate bodies.
Further the presence of a considerably large population of
Muslims in the state, and the consistent apprehension of the
natives about the accelerating influx of the Bangladeshis,
have worked to the advantage of the RSS in the region. Alignment
with regional groups who led mass political movements in
order to drive out the Bengali Muslims have obviously benefited the RSS and BJP camp. Further, the proselytising
Notes
1 It should be noted that contrary to the
ideologues of Hindutva, a group of scholars
have termed the process of Hinduisation as
an invasion which actively led to the extinction of the Tai religious traditions and
de-tribalisation of the formerly tribal people
in this region.
2 Source: http://www.hindubooks.org/temples/
assam/introduction/page12.htm, accessed on
8 August 2012.
3 Source: Vidya Bharati website: http://www.
vbassam.org/docs/schools/List%20of%20
Schools.pdf, accessed on 30 October 2015.
4 The Marwaris in Assam, though numerically
small, are highly influential in the realm of
trade and commerce since colonial times. With
their links to the Hindu heartland, they provide a natural support base for the RSS.
5 Interview with Dayal Krishna Borah (Senior
Pracharak, RSS), Keshav Dham, Guwahati, Assam, 28 November 2006.
6 Interview with Dayal Krishna Borah (Senior
Pracharak, RSS), Keshav Dham, Guwahati,
Assam, 28 November 2006.
7 Interview with Madhukar Limaye (Senior
Pracharak, RSS), Keshav Dham, Guwahati,
Assam, 28 June 2006.
8 Interview with Madhukar Limaye (Senior
Pracharak, RSS), Keshav Dham, Guwahati,
Assam, 28 June 2006.
9 Source: VHP website: http://www.vhpsewa.
org/, accessed on 6 November 2015.
10 The AIUDF (originally known as the Assam
United Democratic Front) is a political party
formed in Assam in 2005 under the leadership
of Badruddin Ajmal, a perfume merchant, who
drew the support of a majority of Bengali Muslims in the state.
11 Data sourced from Shankar Das (Senior
Pracharak), Keshav Dham, Guwahati, October
2014.
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87
NOTES
88
Hindus
Muslims
Christians
Others
1961
1971
1991
2001
2011
69.75
71.00
67.13
64.89
61.46
24.70
24.03
28.43
30.92
34.22
4.45
4.46
3.32
3.09
3.78
1.10
0.51
1.12
1.10
0.54
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vol lI no 16
NOTES
as All Assam Students Union (AASU) repeatedly demanded repeal of the act.
This polarisation helped the Congress
Party to keep its Muslim vote bank intact.
The repeal of IM(DT) Act generated
fear among immigrant Muslims in Assam.
Minority organisations, led by a section
of Muslims, began to blame the Congress governments at the centre and in
Assam for their inactivity in the Supreme
Court to stop the repeal of the act. Since
the repeal of the law, the Jamiat came
forward to address the fear of the Muslims. The president of the state unit of
the Jamiat, Badruddin Ajmal, took the
lead to form a new political outfit. His
intention was to teach the Congress Party
a lesson which had, according to him,
betrayed the Muslims of Assam. In October 2005, 13 Muslim minority organisations came together and formed a new
regional political party, the AUDF. The
state president of the Jamiat, Badruddin
Ajmal, became its president.
For the first time in the politics of
India, Jamiat actively involved itself in
the formation of a political party. In
2000, the Shahi Imam of the Jama Masjid,
Syed Ahmed Bukhari, announced that he
would play a direct role to set up a political party for Muslims to ensure that the
lost rights of the minorities are regained
(Engineer 2003). He blessed Badruddin
Ajmal for forming the AUDF. In this
respect, the AUDF can be seen as a new
experiment by Indian Muslim leaders to
form a political party for Muslims
(Bhaumik 2009). After three years of
formation, in February 2009, the AUDF
relaunched itself as a national party
under the name of All India United Democratic Front. However, its activities have
remained confined to Assam.
In the 2006 assembly elections, AUDF
won 10 seats by securing 9.03% of the
vote. Compared to this, the UMF had
done better in 1985 when it got 17 seats
and 10.85% of the vote. However, AIUDF
continued its success in the 2011 assembly elections by securing 18 seats and
12% of the vote. As a result, it became
the main opposition party in the Assam
Legislative Assembly.
Although both the UMF and the AIUDF
were created to safeguard the interests
of the minorities, between the two it is
90
% of Total No of Seat
Vote Polled
Won
31.08
20.39
3.72
11.98
9.03
23.80
100.00
53
24
11
10
10
18
126
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NOTES
% of Total No of Seats
Vote Polled
Won
39.39
78
16.29
10
BPF (H)
06.13
12
11.47
05
12.57
18
Others
14.15
03
100.00
126
Total
EPW
In the 2011 assembly elections, Congress gained 39% of the total vote polled
and won 78 seats as against 31% of the
vote and 53 seats in the 2006 assembly
elections. The vote share and total seats
won by the AGP declined from 20.39%
and 24 seats in the 2006 elections to
16% and 10 seats in the 2011 elections.
The BJPs vote share remained almost
the same in the 2006 and 2011 elections
(11%). However, the number of seats it
won fell from 10 in 2006 to five in the
2011 elections. The AIUDF increased its
vote share from 9% in 2006 to 12% in
the 2011 elections. The number of seats it
won increased from 10 in 2006 to 18 in
the 2011 elections.
2014 Lok Sabha Elections
The 2014 Lok Sabha elections showed a
clear religious polarisation in the whole
country. Although Narendra Modi led
the BJP campaign on the agenda of
development, the communal ideology of
the party also influenced voters. Incidentally, Sarbananda Sonowal, who
became a hero among the indigenous
Assamese population because of the
repeal of the IM(DT) Act, joined BJP after
the 2011 assembly elections and became
the president of the Assam BJP a year
before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
Sonowal was previously the president of
AASU. Because of the Assam movement,
AASU leaders are not accepted by immigrant Muslims. However, Sonowal, because of his active role in the Lok Sabha
during 200409 and his role in the
IM(DT) Act repeal, has emerged as a
strong ethnic leader among the indigenous communities of Assam. He belongs
to Sonowal Kachari community, a ST
(Plains) community. Because of his tribal
status, he has a better appeal among the
tribal communities of the state than other
non-tribal leaders. The Narendra Modi
Sarbananda Sonowal combination has
brought a new Hindutva-regionalism
formula for the BJP in Assam. This combination worked very well for the BJP in
Assam in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
In 2014, AIUDF faced a huge challenge
from the BJP. To counter it, the AIUDF
started communal politics on an unprecedented scale. For example, on 22 March
2014, after returning from Mecca, AIUDF
vol lI no 16
2009
2014
% of Vote Seats % of Vote Seats
Polled Won Polled Won
07 29.90 03
04 36.86 07
O1 3.87 00
01 14.98
01 14.39
14
100
03
01
14
NOTES
vol lI no 16
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NOTES
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Dev, B J and D K Lahiri (1985): Assam Muslims:
Politics and Cohesion, Delhi: Mittal Publications,
pp 3, 1011.
Election Department Reports, Government of Assam.
L
Pr ow
ice
s
EPW has a few complete sets of the journal for 2004 and 2011 that are available at
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vol lI no 16
93
DISCUSSION
Gujarat Riots
Determining Perception from
Opinion Polls
Gautam Pingle
94
unit of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies provide us with some
data on the reactions of Gujaratis to the
2002 Godhra train burning and the communal riots that followed. The Lokniti
(2007) and (2012) are available on the
Lokniti website, but the 2002 report2 is
unfortunately not available.
Though the Lokniti studies did not
distinguish between the Hindu and Muslim respondents in their studies, Pooja
Bakshi (Communal Riots in Gujarat:
Examining State Power and Production
of Marginality in the Attempt to Constitute the Past, EPW, 19 December 2015)
seems to have had access to the raw
data. She has reclassified the responses
to draw some conclusions about perceptions of Hindu versus Muslim respondents as a proxy for general Gujarati
Hindu and Muslim views. However, her
treatment of the data raises serious
analytical issues.
For a start, in such surveys, much depends on the way the questions were
framed and how the interviewees interpreted them before responding. Further,
changing perceptions can only be measured, if at all, if the questions and statements offered for responses are the
same across surveys. This manifestly is
not the case with these Lokniti surveys
with changes, deletions and additions
being made over time. More importantly, the problem with these perception
surveys is not so much the responses, as
the non-responses or negative responses
of the interviewees to the necessarily
leading questions or statements. Lastly,
the analysis of the responses depends on
the analysts approach to the subject.
Methodological Infirmities
These surveys were based on statistically
representative samples drawn from only
60 out of the 182 assembly constituencies in Gujarat. The sample is then representative of only one-third of the Gujarat
population3this must be borne in
mind during the discussion. Even so, any
extraction of subgroups from the sample
does not mean the data relating to these
subgroups will be representative of the
subgroup population as a whole. Thus,
vol lI no 16
EPW
DISCUSSION
EPW
Biju Mathew
Sheela Prasad,
Kapil Kumar Gavsker
Swastik Harish
Matt Birkinshaw
vol lI no 16
95
DISCUSSION
know the views of the Hindu and Muslim respondents separately to come to
any conclusion, however tentative.
Thus, Bakshis statement that the
people of Gujarat condemned the riots,
is subject to that fact that a quarter of
the people of Gujarat in 2002 did not
agree to the statement that the riots
were absolutely wrong or avoided
res
ponding to this leading statement.
Jandhyala B G Tilak
India has a large network of universities and colleges with a massive geographical reach and the facilities for higher
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Drawn from writings spanning almost four decades in the EPW, the articles in this volume discuss, among other things,
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of the educated young.
Authors: Andr Bteille Shiv Visvanathan Suma Chitnis Satish Deshpande K Sundaram Rakesh Basant, Gitanjali Sen Jayati Ghosh
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96
DISCUSSION
EPW
An Odd Question
Notes
vol lI no 16
7
8
References
Government of Gujarat (2008): Report by the
Commission of Inquiry consisting of Justices
G T Nanavati and Akshay H Mehta, Ahmedabad: Government of Gujarat, 18 September.
Gribble, J D B (2002): History of the Deccan, New
Delhi: Rupa Publications.
Lokniti (2007): Pre-Poll Survey of Gujarat Assembly Elections Report, prepared by LoknitiCentre for the Study of Developing Societies,
New Delhi, available at: http://www.lokniti.
org/ pdfs_dataunit/Questionairs/ Gujarat%20
pre%20poll%202007-report.pdf, accessed on
25 December 2015.
(2012): Pre-Poll Survey of Gujarat Assembly
Elections Report, 2012, prepared by LoknitiCentre for the Study of Developing Societies,
New Delhi, available at: http://www.lokniti.
org/pdfs_dataunit/Questionairs/gujarat-prepoll-2012-survey-fi ndings.pdf, accessed on 25
December 2015.
Pingle, G (2014): Hindu-Muslim Rural Household
Income Comparisons, Journal of Indian School
of Political Economy, Vol 26, Nos 14.
97
CURRENT STATISTICS
Foreign TradeMerchandise
The year-on-year (y-o-y) inflation rate based on WPI dropped for the 16th month
in a row to -0.9% in February 2016, compared to -2.2% in February 2015. The
index for primary articles inched up by 1.6% in February 2016 against 1% in
February 2015, but the inflation rate for food articles was 3.4% compared to
7.8% last year. The index for fuel and power fell by (-)6.4% in February 2016
compared to -14.8% a year ago, whereas for manufactured products it declined
by (-)0.6% in February 2016 against a moderate increase of 0.3% in February
last year.
The merchandise trade deficit narrowed to $6.5 billion (bn) in February 2016
from $7.6 bn in January 2016 and $6.7 bn, a year ago. Exports dipped for the
15th month in a row in February 2016 by (-)5.7% to $20.7 bn from $22 bn in
February 2015, while imports shrank by (-)5% to $27.3 bn from $28.7 bn. Oil
and non-oil imports stood at $4.8 bn and $22.5 bn in February 2016 compared
to $6.1 bn and $22.6 bn a year ago. During AprilFebruary 201516, the
trade deficit narrowed to $113.4 bn from $126.3 bn during the same period
last year.
The CPI inflation rate stood at a four-month low of 5.2% in February 2016
against 5.7% in January 2016 as the consumer food price index was lower at
5.3% compared to 6.9% a month ago. The CPI-rural inflation rate decreased to
6% in February 2016 compared to 6.5% in January 2016. The CPI-urban inflation
rate was down to 4.3% in February 2016 against 4.8% in the last month. As per
Labour Bureau data, CPI inflation for agricultural labourers increased to 5% in
February 2016 against 5.6% in January 2016, and industrial workers recorded
5.5% February 2016 compared to 5.9% in January 2016.
The y-o-y growth rate in IIP dipped to -1.5% in January 2016 compared to 2.8% in
January 2015, with manufacturing segment of IIP contracting by (-)2.8% against 3.4%
a year ago. The IIP for mining registered moderate growth of 1.2% in January 2016
compared to (-)1.8% in January 2015, and for electricity generation grew by 6.6%
against 3.3% last year. As per use-based classification, the IIP for capital goods declined
substantially by (-)20.4% in January 2016 against 12.4% in January 2015. Consumer
durable goods grew by 5.8% in January 2016 compared to (-)5.7% in January 2015
and growth of consumer non-durable goods fell by 3.1% against 0.3% a year ago.
Year-on-Year in %
February 2016
($ bn)
Exports
Imports
Trade deficit
Over Month
(%)
20.7
27.3
6.5
Over Year
(%)
-1.6
-5.0
-14.4
(AprilFebruary)
(201516 over 201415) (%)
-5.7
-5.0
-3.0
-16.7
-14.7
-10.2
290
$286 billion
Exports
-2.17%
-3
$238 billion
-6
April
May
June
July
* Data is provisional.
$126 billion
Trade Deficit
All commodities
Primary articles
Food articles
Fuel and power
Manufactured products
Over Month
100
20.1
14.3
14.9
65.0
Over Year
-1.0
-3.4
-3.2
-1.2
0.3
-0.9
1.6
3.4
-6.4
-0.6
7.4
9.8
9.9
10.3
5.4
$78 billion
$113 billion
$131 billion
Oil Imports
6.0
9.8
12.8
10.2
3.0
2.0
3.0
6.1
-0.9
2.4
-290
$274 billion
$282 billion
Non-oil Imports
Oil refers to crude petroleum and petroleum products, while non-oil refers to all other commodities.
Year-on-Year in %
12
Year-on-Year in %
8
Consumer Food
2.8%
6
5.3%
5.2%
4.4%
CPI
3
-1.5%
-4
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November December
January *
Miscellaneous
0
April M
2014
Jan F
2015
D Jan* F*
2016
* Data is provisional.
Source: Central Statistics Office (CSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Base: 2012=100.
Over
Month
Over
Year
Rural (2012=100)
127.8
-0.2
6.0
9.6
6.2
Urban (2012=100)
123.8
-0.3
4.3
9.2
5.7
CPI: Occupation-wise
Industrial workers (2001=100)
267
-0.7
5.5
9.7
6.3
843
-0.7
5.0
11.6
6.6
* Provisional. Source: CSO (rural and urban), Labour Bureau (IW and AL).
Weights
Over
Month
100
14.2
75.5
10.3
1.4
0.9
1.3
2.8
-1.5
1.2
-2.8
6.6
-0.1
-0.6
-0.8
6.1
2.8
1.4
2.3
8.4
45.7
8.8
15.7
29.8
8.5
21.3
1.7
-1.3
0.9
2.1
7.7
-0.9
1.8
-20.4
2.7
0.0
5.8
-3.1
2.1
-3.6
3.1
-2.8
-12.2
4.8
7.0
6.4
1.7
-3.4
-12.6
2.8
General index
Mining
Manufacturing
Electricity
Over Year
* January 2016 are quick estimates; Base: 200405=100; Source: Central Statistics Office.
Comprehensive current economic statistics with regular weekly updates are available at: http://www.epwrf.in/currentstat.aspx.
98
vol LI no 16
EPW
CURRENT STATISTICS
Q1
Q2
1406817
294338
832420
48976
42871
-40831
620869
661700
-49687
2534903
(8.2)
(9.0)
(8.3)
(23.0)
(16.3)
1422029
322557
828754
48434
38194
-55355
625875
681230
-36835
2567778
(11.6)
(-0.6)
(7.5)
Q3
(9.2)
(15.4)
(2.2)
(20.6)
(0.3)
(1.1)
(4.6)
(8.3)
1495823
261886
843733
45077
37174
-45813
636468
682281
21305
2659185
Q4
(1.5)
(33.2)
(3.7)
(16.0)
(10.8)
1539614
223826
903344
52520
55036
-13989
625190
639179
29933
2790285
(2.0)
(5.7)
(6.6)
201516
Q2
Q1
(6.6)
(-3.3)
(5.4)
(21.6)
(32.2)
1496865
297285
875840
50641
47906
-43945
584770
628715
1870
2726461
(-6.3)
(-6.1)
(6.7)
(6.4)
(1.0)
(13.8)
(20.7)
(15.4)
1501895
336578
891606
50894
47703
-58970
598797
657767
-3536
2766170
(-2.0)
(-0.4)
(7.6)
Q3
(5.6)
(4.3)
(14.7)
(26.4)
(28.9)
1591508
274071
867229
48907
47749
-31889
576676
608565
54763
2852339
(-4.7)
(-4.8)
(7.8)
(6.4)
(4.7)
(9.8)
(30.5)
(32.6)
(-5.1)
(-6.1)
(6.9)
Q3
Current account
Merchandise
Invisibles
Services
of which: Software services
Transfers
of which: Private
Income
Capital Account
of which: Foreign investment
Overall Balance
-7721
-38635
30913
19982
17844
16428
16521
-5497
22864
13194
13182
Q1
-645
-31560
30916
20116
18625
16425
16600
-5625
30023
22993
30149
201516 ($ mn)
Q2
-6147
-34181
28035
17750
17556
16153
16267
-5868
18595
10308
11430
-8748
-37425
28677
17897
18029
16263
16421
-5483
8576
3198
-856
Q3
-7081
-34004
26923
18083
18418
15250
15305
-6409
10536
10576
4056
-478 [-1.5]
-2393
1915
1238
1105
1017
1023
-340
1416 [4.5]
817
816 [2.6]
Q1
-40 [-0.1]
-1964
1924
1252
1159
1022
1033
-350
1869 [5.6]
1431
1876 [5.7]
-390 [-1.2]
-2,170
1,779
1,127
1,114
1,025
1,033
-372
1,180 [3.7]
640
725 [2.3]
Q3
-568 [-1.7]
-2432
1863
1163
1171
1057
1067
-356
557 [1.7]
427
-56 [-0.2]
-467 [-1.3]
-2242
1775
1192
1214
1005
1009
-423
695 [2.0]
711
267 [0.8]
Rs crore
US $ mn
Variation
1 April
2016
3 April
2015
31 Mar
2016
2226250
337189
2018890
322664
2229020
337605
Over
Month
Over
Year
26180
8234
207360
14524
-2770
-417
Monetary Aggregates
Rs crore
Outstanding
2016
Over Month
11633540
52770 (0.5)
Over Year
201415
1089320 (10.3)
8490
1356
201112
201213
108086
-14361
82800
-485
Variation
Financial Year So Far
201516
1026840 (10.8)
201213
1087990 (10.3)
1024980 (13.9)
Financial Year
201314
251570
16769
201415
201516
322660
40486
218620
16297
Financial Year
201314
1127560 (13.4)
201415
1028170 (10.8)
1593900
997510
9028610
13520
35550
49070
-18240
-13610
(2.3)
(5.2)
(-0.2)
(-50.2)
207590
106010
771160
4550
(15.0)
(11.9)
(9.3)
(50.7)
140490
79520
799830
7000
(11.3)
(9.8)
(10.7)
(355.3)
207550
106770
774740
-1070
(15.0)
(12.0)
(9.4)
(-7.3)
118420
42240
863900
420
(11.6)
(5.9)
(15.3)
(14.9)
104760
58760
965330
-1270
(9.2)
(7.8)
(14.9)
(-39.2)
140530
78760
796250
12620
(11.3)
(9.7)
(10.7)
(640.6)
3233290
7803400
2486730
1911200
2181110
-91590
109210
-23920
-59070
117530
(-2.8)
(1.4)
(-1.0)
(-3.0)
(5.7)
226550
770380
254150
163640
349030
(7.5)
(11.0)
(11.4)
(9.4)
(19.1)
-38130
587730
308640
-166510
-96380
(-1.3)
(9.1)
(16.0)
(-8.7)
(-5.0)
227130
763820
236090
140930
370
(7.6)
(10.9)
(10.5)
(8.0)
(0.0)
337320
709420
92880
116530
217860
(14.2)
(14.3)
(6.0)
(7.7)
(14.4)
335850
777430
287280
275010
195710
(12.4)
(13.7)
(17.6)
(16.8)
(11.3)
-38710
594290
326700
-143800
252280
(-1.3)
(9.2)
(17.0)
(-7.5)
(13.1)
1663460
502560
15080
425330
425290
304540
2380710
21910
951380
28620 (1.8)
86690 (20.8)
2210 (17.2)
-99310
-99330
185080
26720
600
-4420
(-18.9)
(-18.9)
(154.9)
(1.1)
(2.8)
(-0.5)
214680 (14.8)
108540 (27.5)
25810 (-240.5)
47060
47000
203300
245090
2480
148890
(12.4)
(12.4)
(200.8)
(11.5)
(12.8)
(18.6)
470 (0.0)
-71540 (-15.4)
-25310 (-173.6)
13750
17250
-101270
8340
0
17210
(3.8)
(4.8)
(-50.0)
(0.4)
(0.0)
(2.2)
0 (0.0)
740 (0.1)
-370 (-2.4)
340
730
0
-2770
0
-2790
(0.1)
(0.2)
(0.0)
(-0.1)
(0.0)
(-0.3)
110090 (9.2)
109020 (34.0)
-1280 (-39.5)
147240 (11.3)
35860 (8.3)
12620 (643.9)
215150 (14.9)
36260 (7.8)
870 (6.0)
108120
107150
14070
244460
2000
150810
-334180
-336610
145030
324760
2090
-58040
60470
63520
102030
256200
2480
168890
(18.3)
(18.1)
(32.4)
(15.7)
(13.0)
(21.8)
(-47.8)
(-48.2)
(0.0)
(18.0)
(12.1)
(-6.9)
(16.6)
(17.6)
(0.0)
(12.0)
(12.8)
(21.5)
* The value of column 201516 correspond to 201617 and those of 201415 correspond to 201516, 201314 correspond to 201415 and 201213 to 201314.
Aggregate deposits
Demand
Time
Cash in hand
Balance with RBI
Investments
of which: Government securities
Bank credit
of which: Non-food credit
8 April
2016
24674
7668
3199
7555
166631
Over Year
201415
9378650
898440
8480220
57890
387440
2639890
2638400
7277650
7172400
Capital Markets
Variation
Over Month
(-14.1)
(-13.5)
(-12.2)
(-13.3)
(-1.1)
27400
48800
-21380
0
330
-77170
-76930
104910
107440
(0.3)
(5.7)
(-0.3)
(0.0)
(0.1)
(-2.8)
(-2.8)
(1.5)
(1.5)
Month
Ago
24659
7583
3153
7485
163692
845360
104410
740960
4530
14370
148070
148650
741230
730400
(9.9)
(13.1)
(9.6)
(8.5)
(3.9)
(5.9)
(6.0)
(11.3)
(11.3)
Year
Ago
28708
8862
3644
8714
168504
(26.5)
(30.1)
(33.9)
(28.2)
(11.9)
827730
80110
747620
7490
56730
279000
278560
542320
546350
(10.7)
(11.2)
(10.7)
(16.3)
(17.9)
(12.6)
(12.6)
(9.0)
(9.3)
845360
104410
740960
4530
14370
148070
148650
741230
730400
201213
(9.9)
(13.1)
(9.6)
(8.5)
(3.9)
(5.9)
(6.0)
(11.3)
(11.3)
201516
Trough
Peak
24674
7656
3193
7546
-
22952
7051
2938
6971
-
25400
7859
3271
7759
-
29044
8980
3691
8834
-
841360
36970
804400
4360
-41000
268320
268640
648610
633490
(14.2)
(5.9)
(15.2)
(12.1)
(-12.7)
(15.4)
(15.5)
(14.1)
(14.0)
201314
22386
6707
2681
6704
149745
(18.8)
(18.1)
(17.2)
(18.0)
(9.9)
Financial Year
201314
955110
51620
903480
5380
34080
206720
207540
733640
731610
(14.1)
(7.8)
(14.8)
(13.3)
(12.1)
(10.3)
(10.4)
(13.9)
(14.2)
27957
8607
3538
8491
168116
(24.9)
(28.3)
(31.9)
(26.7)
(12.3)
201415
827730
80110
747620
7490
56730
279000
278560
542320
546350
(10.7)
(11.2)
(10.7)
(16.3)
(17.9)
(12.6)
(12.6)
(9.0)
(9.3)
201516
25342
7835
3259
7738
166107
(-9.4)
(-9.0)
(-7.9)
(-8.9)
(-1.2)
* = Cumulative total since November 1992 until period end | Figures in brackets are percentage variations over the specified or over the comparable period of the previous year | (-) = not relevant | - = not available | NS = new series | PE = provisional estimates
Comprehensive current economic statistics with regular weekly updates are available at: http://www.epwrf.in/currentstat.aspx.
EPW
vol LI no 16
99
Mar 2016
Mar 2015
201516*
201415*
Outright
Repo
Volume
(Rs Cr)
Number
of Trades
Volume
(Rs Cr)
89747
67027
883167
977948
967140
747618
9728541
10156162
12964
9625
135623
109391
1478570
1360107
17249279
15735514
4487
3192
3665
4126
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
2033
2034
2035
2036
2037
2038
2039
2040
2041
2042
2043
2044
2045
2055
Total
Mar 2016
7291
9741
14278
35963
167733
7581
12705
61646
25367
78736
158633
12922
3428
133714
97491
0
3997
2157
6256
605
97
0
0
87
1704
1218
1982
2833
4863
3300
0
856328
201516*
53705
67668
70619
141427
1067139
56114
127163
745384
1635838
1734883
627060
96188
381777
253843
1145744
0
48377
61163
33843
2644
4767
0
0
128
15394
9233
19942
19624
58764
44793
1623
8524847
2 Netting Factor
Number
of Trades
48357
35601
40367
42853
589
418
490
381
67208
59135
62272
54828
a Securities
Net
Netting
(Rs Cr)
Factor (%)
Gross
(Rs Cr)
2445710
2107725
26977725
25891676
943950
932351
10438154
10026109
61.40
55.77
61.31
61.28
Gross
(Rs Cr)
b Funds
Net
(Rs Cr)
Netting
Factor (%)
2479913
2174359
27433525
26141572
401681
431825
4352880
4216733
83.80
80.14
84.13
83.87
17306
21889
10314
184966
954359
10196
250208
2420760
2174126
14402
209265
571746
1936526
0
104345
0
39490
16241
976
2105
4494
0
0
36
17034
12432
41029
56236
17365
0
0
9087846
< 5 Cr
% to Total
Trades
(0.19)
(0.24)
(0.11)
(2.04)
(10.50)
(0.11)
(2.75)
(26.64)
(23.92)
(0.16)
(2.30)
(6.29)
(21.31)
(0.00)
(1.15)
(0.00)
(0.43)
(0.18)
(0.01)
(0.02)
(0.05)
(0.00)
(0.00)
(0.00)
(0.19)
(0.14)
(0.45)
(0.62)
(0.19)
(0.00)
(0.00)
(100)
vol lI no 16
< 1 mn
Mar 2016
201516*
a Outright Trades
Treasury
Bills
856328
663521
8557672
9149608
63492
61952
854390
823470
Mar 2016
201516*
5.10
3.48
5 Cr
% to Total
Value
% to Total
Trades
% to Total
Value
0.66
0.43
59.65
60.18
27.67
27.32
> 5 Cr <=10 Cr
% to Total
% to Total
Trades
Value
19.22
20.28
>10 Cr<=20 Cr
% to Total
% to Total
Trades
Value
17.78
18.37
5.46
5.55
8.63
8.56
Category
Outright
Reverse Repo
(Funds Lending)
Cooperative Banks
Financial Institutions
Foreign Banks
Insurance Companies
Mutual Funds
Others
Primary Dealers
Private Sector Banks
Public Sector Banks
Total
3.80
0.13
27.65
2.03
9.86
3.07
11.81
17.07
24.59
100.00
0.39
1.10
27.88
9.69
35.58
0.00
4.98
12.06
8.31
100.00
Period
Buy
CBLO
Lending
Uncollateralised
Money Market
Lending@
Forex
31.97
7.02
0.04
17.32
43.66
100.00
0.32
0.00
41.05
24.60
34.03
100.00
2.98
3.32
4.44
15.46
56.98
7.04
0.15
3.09
6.55
100.00
Outright
Repo
3.87
1.54
0.18
0.00
25.71 20.81
1.38
0.16
11.89
0.14
2.65 16.44
12.66 31.06
14.46
16.16
27.20 13.69
100.00 100.00
OTC
Sell
CBLO
Borrowing
2.26
9.56
6.86
0.25
9.73
15.22
4.12
19.19
32.82
100.00
Trades
% Share
7422
5812
60560
8.44
8.59
6.86
% Share
Trades
20.56
22.08
19.42
80498
61847
822803
196615
165957
1891410
% Share
NDS-OM
Value (Rs Cr)
% Share
92
91
93
759500
585791
7846591
79.44
77.92
80.58
Period
Proprietary
Trades
Volume
Mar 2016
Mar 2015
201516*
74952
58474
786932
% to Total
Value
% to Total
Trades
35.52
33.13
5.38
5.03
39.71
42.61
% to Total
Value
13.35
14.63
793659
658318
8653526
> 1 mn <= 5 mn
% to Total
% to Total
Trades
Value
11.70
16.25
10.58
10.51
Trades
(Rs Cr)
Mar 2016
201516*
3017
29214
Tom
Value
(US $Mn)
552448
5512112
Repo
Constituent
Trades
Volume
Proprietary
Trades
Volume
Constituent
Trades
Volume
14795
8553
96235
6135
4540
65011
279
249
2825
173481
89300
1075014
9.63
17.33
> 5 mn <= 10 mn
% to Total
% to Total
Trades
Value
0.48
3.06
Trades
(Rs Cr)
Uncollateralised
Money Market
Borrowing@
Forex
0.82
13.57
23.23
35.29
27.09
100.00
0.30
0.00
41.52
24.67
33.50
100.00
Mar 2016
Mar 2015
Value
(US $ Mn)
Trades
201516*
201415*
Settlement Period
State
Govt
153117
253084
2248204
3259007
12266
10800
142765
144343
685442
639276
8167673
45023
37681
453992
1.16
10.01
> 10 mn <= 20 mn
% to Total
% to Total
Trades
Value
0.80
1.40
> 20 mn
% to Total
Trades
% to Total
Value
11.79
3.55
66.50
44.70
3.99
8.30
Forward
Value
Trades
(Rs Cr)
(US $ Mn)
1695492
17113232
252142
2613073
(Rs Cr)
Total
Value
(US $ Mn)
Trades
(Rs Cr)
Value
(US $ Mn)
Trades
Average
Value
(Rs Cr) (US $ Mn)
26810
23458
< 30 Days
% to Total
% to Total
Trades
Value
Mar 2016
Mar 2015
201516*
201415*
67.19
81.12
87.09
90.69
82.37
88.98
92.67
95.53
66.26
82.74
88.47
91.80
79.28
91.80
96.45
97.74
Mar 2016
Mar 2015
201516*
54.74
87.43
47.39
79.12
66.14
91.03
29.95
43.64
23.96
52.11
34.54
40.83
60.56
86.10
50.22
83.16
63.90
89.18
Cooperative Banks
Foreign Banks
Public Sector Banks
Private Sector Banks
Mutual Funds
Primary Dealers
Top 5
Top 10
Top 15
Top 20
Mar 2016
Mar 2015
201516*
201415*
29.49
45.20
55.27
62.12
29.76
46.65
57.18
65.48
32.08
48.64
58.60
65.67
31.06
46.52
56.59
64.50
Overnight
Number
Volume
of Trades
(Rs Crore)
Mar 2016
201516*
14484
184915
1241750
15480390
7.28% GS 2019
7.83% GS 2018
6.35% GS 2020
8.12% GS 2020
21/07/2016 Maturing 364 DTB
Term
Number
Volume
of Trades
(Rs Crore)
2867
30236
17351
215151
1447788
17833529
Value
Rate
Security
154
136
138
133
38
29436
29360
26522
13431
11329
7.03
7.02
7.04
7.03
6.80
7.72% GS 2025
7.59% GS 2026
7.88% GS 2030
8.27% GS 2020
7.68% GS 2023
Trades
Value
Rate
705
428
391
225
286
75798
46682
32804
20630
14659
6.73
6.96
6.69
6.95
6.79
Gross
(US $ Mn)
536206
5489286
24053
250784
95.51
95.43
Foreign Banks
Public Sector Banks
Private Sector Banks
Cooperative Banks
Financial Institutions
Cash
Tom
Spot
Forward
38.62
34.13
26.75
0.48
0.02
42.81
30.79
26.05
0.35
0.00
40.14
36.38
23.14
0.33
0.00
44.80
29.89
25.21
0.09
0.00
Total
Number
Volume
of Trades
(Rs Crore)
206038
2353139
Trades
Spot
565082
413073
6230697
4471896
b Repo
Treasury
Bills
> 1 Year
% to Total
% to Total
Trades
Value
Spot
Trades
Value
Daily Average
Trades
Value
Mar 2016
47541
25583
2377
1279
Top 5
29.27
28.95
29.29
29.05
Mar 2015
37270
20620
1775
982
Top 10
48.82
48.54
49.46
49.51
Mar 2016
18.51
24.97
20.48
26.25
13.10
12.10
44.13
32.74
3.78
3.94
201516*
453562 246902
1882
1024
Top 15
62.67
62.75
63.40
64.62
Mar 2015
16.22
23.98
16.39
17.49
15.50
13.74
48.27
40.97
3.61
3.81
201415*
335515 188421
1416
795
Top 20
72.97
73.69
73.98
74.95
201516*
15.85
23.40
18.62
21.88
14.23
11.94
48.11
40.06
3.18
2.73
* Data pertains to April 2015March 2016. @: Call and term money segment. (i) Figures in brackets are percentage to total, (ii) Tables 1 to 11 relate to Government Securities Market, (iii) Tables 12 to 14 relate to Money Market, and (iv) Tables 15 to 20 relate to Forex Market. Source: Clearing Corporation of India Limited (CCIL).
EPW
Cash
47320
22145
316479
183083
Top 5
Top 10
Top 15
Top 20
45.25
45.32
15 Forex Settlement
Settlement Period
Central Govt
Dated
Period
1 mn
% to Total
Trades
> 20 Cr
% to Total
% to Total
Trades
Value
Mar 2016
Mar 2015
201516*
State
Govt
Settlement Period
Central Govt
Dated
201415*
(0.63)
(0.79)
(0.83)
(1.66)
(12.52)
(0.66)
(1.49)
(8.74)
(19.19)
(20.35)
(7.36)
(1.13)
(4.48)
(2.98)
(13.44)
(0.00)
(0.57)
(0.72)
(0.40)
(0.03)
(0.06)
(0.00)
(0.00)
(0.00)
(0.18)
(0.11)
(0.23)
(0.23)
(0.69)
(0.53)
(0.02)
(100)
CURRENT STATISTICS
100
Secondary Market Transactions in Government Securities, Forex Market and Money MarketMarch 2016
POSTSCRIPT
LANGUAGE
EPW
vol lI no 16
101
POSTSCRIPT
LANGUAGE | BOOKSHELVES
102
vol lI no 16
EPW
POSTSCRIPT
LANGUAGE | BOOKSHELVES
A Trophy Home
for Pages
Bookshelves, books and even the manner in which
they are arranged on the shelves can provide a
fairly accurate reading of our personalities and
literary sensibilities.
Divya N
A bookshelf is a biography written by others.
Kat Lehmann
ust and age carry history, imagination and reminiscences. Browsing through the old cleaned-up or
sandy bookshelves full of fiction, poetry and history
can be another journey in analysing the past of human existence, transcending the present and moving into the future.
The exercise can unfasten multiple sites of inquisitiveness
and imagination as poetic and fictive thoughts sprout from
the remote corners of the human psyche in acquaintance
with a seemingly dreamy and mythical world.
For many of us, the beginning of our acquaintance with
bookshelves can be traced to our homes and the neatly
archived book collections there. During the initial phase, the
inquisitiveness about the world of books would have definitely outdistanced our thoughts about the bookshelf. Later
familiarity with the fictive and non-fictive endeavours of
102
Village Society
Edited by SURINDER S JODHKA
The village is an important idea in the history of
post-Independence India. A collection of articles that
covers various features of village society: caste and
community, land and labour, migration, discrimination
and use of common property resources.
Pp x + 252 Rs 325
ISBN 978-81-250-4603-5
2012
vol lI no 16
EPW
POSTSCRIPT
BOOKSHELVES | POEM | TRAVEL
The sight of a bookshelf abounding with books communicates an emotional sensation of collective existence as
against the feeling of loneliness created by empty bookshelves. They remind us that intense and passionate reading
is always a solitary exercise.
Despite the expansion of e-books and e-bookshelves, most
bibliophiles still perceive the bookshelf as a physical entity, not
a virtual one. The empirical and intuitive experiencing of the
physical sensation evoked by the real presence of a bookshelf is invariably greater than its virtual counterparts.
Just as our choice of a book can articulate volumes about
ourselves, our arrangement of the bookshelf too can provide
a reading of our personalities, pointing to our comprehension, perception and literary sensibilities. By arranging
books title-wise and alphabetically we announce our desire
to explore and transcend the known and the unknown,
through the medium of the word. Our shelf consciousness
can denote our self-consciousness, as the bookshelves become repositories of both collective and individual memory.
Bookshelves continue to be symbols of prescience and foresight, carrying in their psychological womb generations of
history and experience.
Divya N (ndiv87@gmail.com), formerly a research scholar at the Centre for English
Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, is now Assistant Professor, Department
of English, Sree Kerala Varma College, Kerala.
EPW
vol lI no 16
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POSTSCRIPT
BOOKSHELVES | POEM | TRAVEL
Share This
Chalani Ranwala
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vol lI no 16
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BOOKSHELVES | POEM | TRAVEL
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vol lI no 16
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POSTSCRIPT
TRAVEL
vol lI no 16
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PULAPRE BALAKRISHNAN
After a boom in the early 21st century, India witnessed a macroeconomic reversal marked by a slowdown in growth
that has lasted a little longer than the boom. A fresh criterion of governance, namely inclusion, has emerged and
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Pulapre Balakrishnan Hans P Binswanger-Mkhize Bhupat M Desai Errol DSouza John W Mellor Vijay Paul Sharma Prabhakar Tamboli
Ramesh Chand Shinoj Parappurathu Sudip Chaudhuri Archana Aggarwal Aditya Mohan Jadhav V Nagi Reddy C Veeramani R H Patil
Indira Hirway Kirit S Parikh Probal P Ghosh Mukesh Eswaran Bharat Ramaswami Wilima Wadhwa Sukhadeo Thorat Amaresh Dubey
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An Ombudsman must be appointed for each university for redressal of grievances of students
as per the University Grants Commission (Grievance Redressal) Regulations, 2012.
We believe that this will help the campus communities and institutions address issues of prejudice
and discrimination, which otherwise have no dedicated forum to redress these kinds of grievances.
It is, we hope, understood that creating awareness about prejudiced practices, and acts of
discrimination will be one of the main roles of the CAPD. This is the only way that a dialogue about
prejudice and discrimination can be brought about in our educational institutions.
We hope that the heads of the higher educational institutions will act immediately on our proposal,
and help build prejudice- and discrimination-free campuses and institutions.
Tags:
Hyderabad
Rohith Vemula
Caste
Discrimination
then have to hand over their separated wet and dry waste to the vehicle doing the rounds. (In
Sangola for instance, the council went one step ahead and handed out separate bins for wet and
dry garbage in hundreds of homes.)
Into this new paradigm, the officials built in a self-correcting mechanism. Residents were enjoined
to inform the council in case the vehicle did not show up on a particular day. Offending contractors
would then not receive their wages. Toll free lines and complaint numbers were set up, including
the possibility as in Lonavla of complaining via Whatsapp.
In some cases the councils increased the number of collection vehicles if they could, but staff
numbers remained broadly the same.
Each of the garbage collection vehicles was also fitted with a global positioning system (GPS), to
ensure they went to the spot on time. If there was a complaint, payments would not be made. These
micro measures have gone a long way in impacting the cleanliness and culture of these towns by
ensuring accountability and resident-centric vigilance.
Dealing with Open Defecation
Each of these councils followed some core principles in their quest for cleaning up their towns. But
each also added its own ingenious twist to the proceedings. Public shaming was one device used to
try and root out the practice of open defecation. This was done by putting up names of the
offenders in the local square, or printing their name in the local newspapers. Ramakant Dake, chief
officer of Sangola, found these measures while somewhat effective were not good enough.
First they got the toilets cleaned every four hours in the morning. That did not work. Then they
brought regular water supply and extra bulbs into the public toilets. It still did not work. It was
about the mindset, he said. People would take their iPhones and get into their cars to go to
openly defecate.
Passive aggressive measures like distributing roses were tried but it seemed to be ineffective. Then
the officials innovated with a band. Every offender would be chased back home with karmcharis
playing and singing behind him, to inform the village of the shame. That too, was not enough. Then
Dake moved to file first information reports (FIRs)200 of themdetaining people at the police
station for a few hours. This largely did the trick. The cultural change trickled in.
This is the specific story of Sangola, but other officers narrated varying versions of similar stories.
In all councils, staff moved to build more public toilets and/or individual toilets in every home.
Lonavla for instance put in place 120 new public toilet seats whilst ensuring regular water supply
to the public toilets. Vengurla set up mobile toilets in public spaces. In Shirur, existing public
toilets were cleaned up and renovated following complaints that proper doors or regular water
supply was not there.
Councils were also quick to introduce elements of shamingeither by putting names of offenders
on posters, banners or in the local newspaper. Fining also helped, as did detaining people at the
police station.
Banning Plastic
One of the old villains that come in the way of clean up schemes is the seemingly innocuous but
totally potent plastic carry bag. Each of these councils banned plastic bags thinner than 50
microns.
At Umred for instance, in over a series of raids officers seized 79 kg of plastic from retailers and
sellers. Such people could, and were, fined. If we can control them, we realised we can control the
problem, said Vinod Jalak, chief officer of Deolali Pravara, where 41 people were made to pay a Rs
50 fine for the offence.
Those defecating, those using plastic carry bags, those failing to separate their garbageeach of
these acts could invite a fine. Using sections of their local municipal bye laws or the Bombay Police
Act, the councils found that legal action helped where awareness drives and public shaming failed
to do the job.
Incentivising Staff
In many of these councils, officers said the population had ballooned but commensurate staff
numbers had not increased over the years. One small step to start with was handing the existing
staff better equipmentgloves, mask and septic equipment. Another move was by offering them
medical insurance or medical check-ups. In Shirur, all pending arrears were paid off.
First we awakened our staff by capacity building, said Ramdas Kokare, chief officer of Vengurla.
We said, with door to door garbage collection, our work can be less.
As the culture of cleanliness has set in across these councils, work for the staff, which might have
required serious investment of energy and time at the start, has now a better payoff with residents
cooperating and easing their jobs in the long run. When the process started they thought there
work had increased, said Thorat. But when peoples attitudes changed, they realised their work
had actually decreased.
Other Innovations
Each of these councils followed a rough mix of most of these methods in terms of investing in new
toilets, regularising garbage collection and imposing fines. But each one also tried something
unique to itself to deal with its own circumstances and specific challenges. In Vengurla for
instance, a six-acre dumping ground normally strewn with rubbish was cleared up and converted
for most part into a playground and picnic spot. Only 10% of the spot is now a dumping ground,
while composting is done in one part and a green zone created, where cashews, mangoes and
coconuts have been planted. Not just that, the plastic waste is crushed and has been integrated into
road development as a material.
In Shirur, there is a new sewerage treatment plant which processes the water from the drains
before it is let out into the river. In Deolali Pravara, biogas is being generated from the waste
collected in two schools, and now hoteliers have also approached the council for such a facility.
In Sangola, those who owned pigs were enjoined to keep them separately and not let them roam
around, else they would be killed by council staff. After five pigs were killed, their owners realised
they meant business. But if the pigs were not allowed to roam around to forage for food, how would
they be maintained? Here the council hit upon an ideawhy not direct all the waste from hotels for
pig feed? This effectively helped link the hotel business with the owners, and deal with rubbish in a
unique manner.
Similarly, in Lonavla, a hill station which sees a large tourist influx, several hotels have now started
composting some of their own rubbish.
Role of the Leadership
For the councils, the political leadership was indifferent at first, to cleaning up. In some cases,
contracts were given out on the basis of political ties, considerably hampering a clean system and
clean town. In such cases contract clauses were created in such a manner as to disqualify those
errant contractors.
Politicians in any event, did not see how cleanliness was necessarily a political issue. Once the
local political leadership saw that the municipal staff was taking the initiative seriously, they joined
in and gave their wholehearted support, said Rajivlochan. When the initial results came in, they
realised that this would yield rich political dividends.
Council chiefs said that political support was now strong, with clear results to show. The chiefs
were themselves proactive, going on rounds from 6 am with various staff, personally crusading for
the cause. They also pointed out that Rajivlochans drive gave the movement some shape. Officers
said she was one of the first principal secretaries to actually come into the field and work from
there on.
Aside from this there were regular training programmes for chief officers and other levels of staff
members.
Looking Ahead
Residents have quickly realised the benefits of waste segregation and disposal. For instance, in
Umred, from 3,000 cases of water-borne diseases, the figure was down to 1,200 last year. Dengue
used to be a problem, but this year we didnt have a single case, said Vijay Sarnaik, the chief
officer.
Councils have made an effort to build the next generation of waste conscious residents through
extensive school-level education programmes as well. Students are asked to take pledges on
segregation and cleanliness. In several schools in Lonavla composting pits have been started. Our
target is that what we do should be sustainable, said Ganesh Shete, the chief officer of the council.
In other councils, more public toilets and individual toilets are in the process of being built, more
composting efforts are underway and more individual home bins being ordered. Although the fines
system is in place, the need for fining residents has come down as people increasingly toe the line.
The entire experiment has further shown that its the little things and not the big costs that can
effect change. Small things can make a difference, said Tejaswini Deshmukh, Buldwana
coordinator of Stree Mukti Sanghatana, who was a member of the evaluation committee that
prepared a report on these councils. Others can also be successful.
What these six have been able to achieve is now something that is sought to be repeated in other
places. Such things are not difficult to do, but require political will, said Rajivlochan. These six
have shown great results. Now we will try to replicate this and scale it up.
Tags:
Waste
Waste Disposal
Waste Segregation
Waste Separation
Sanitation
Swacch Bharat Abhiyan
Lonavla
Shirur
Sangola