ICM BOOKLET NO. 6
MANAGEMENT OF POLITICAL ECONOMY SYSTEM
CONTENTS
EDITORIAL
RESPONSES FROM READERS
STATE OF THE NATION
O V E R V I E W
M A L A I S E
THE FOUR COSTLY FAILURES
POLITICIANS ROLE
MALAISE IN LEGISLATURES -1
ADAPTED FROM AN ARTICLE IN THE INDIAN
EXPRESS – Opinion Page
ADAPTED FROM AN EDITORIAL
NEW CLASS CONFLICT?
AGRICULTURE: GREAT FAILURE OF INDIA
MALAISE OF THE MEDIA
D I A G N O S I S
VIOLATION OF DHARMA
INDIA AS AN EMERGING ECONOMIC POWER
P R E S C R I P T I O N
MANAGEMENT OF ECONOMY – PSYCHO SPIRITUAL
FOUNDATION
ANCIENT YET MODERN
INDIA’S POLITICAL ECONOMY
Electoral System
Electoral Reforms in Brief
Small States – City States, Linguistic states
Proposed State Reorganisation
Reforms in Professions
Law & Justice
Indian Railways
Bureaucracy
India-China Comparison
EDUCATION, LEADERSHIP & VISION OF A FREE INDIA
A NEW ROLE FOR GOVERNMENT
MANAGEMENT OF TRANSITION
MANAGING ECONOMIC CHANGE IN INDIA
P R O G N O S I S
REDISIGNING INDIA FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
LAW MAKING BY THE LAW-ABIDING
Editorial Photo of NSR
We are proud that ours is the 2nd largest democracy in the world. Our democratic system has been applauded by advanced industrialized countries. However, though there are many individual leaders of high competence and character, public perception of politics is becoming negative. This is not good for sustaining democracy. Therefore changes are required. This is reflected in the poem given below:
PUBLIC PERCEPTION OF POLITICS
Professionals, politicians, parties
propound perspectives and policies
Posing Populist postures,
Painting pretty pictures,
Preaching, Pontifying, pledging,
Projecting, predicting and promising
Plans, programmes and projects,
Packages, propositions, promulgations (on)
Podium, platform and Parliament,
Publicist posters and pamphlets.
Performance; partial and pathetic
Productivity; poor and palling;
Pretending piety and purity,
Pressing for protocol and priority.
Precepts and panaceas profound
Practice; perfunctory and perfidious,
Playing, plying, ploying,
Pushing, prodding, prompting,
Pre-empting pedestal and power
Plenitude, privy and piper;
Pomp, pageant and palace,
Parade peacock plumes
Proclaim platitude, posit peace,
Predicate and postulate precise,
Purveying pittance and privilege,
Peddling preferment and patronage,
Promote paupers and parasites,
Protect pests and Potentates.
Placate the Press and pundits,
Purchase and prostitute principles.
Pander to partisan and patron,
Pamper Plebian and Patrician;
Propitiate priest and prince,
Promote profanity and prejudice.
Preside over peanut parties,
Produce a plethora of problems.
Pale and passive; pensive and passé
Prehensive for posthumous Paradise;
Pan, peda and perfume,
Prayer, prasad and pranam .
Prowling for prey on plains,
Passion and pleasure in planes,
Preening for praise and Prize,
Pursuing power and paint;
Praising the precious past,
Pillaging, paralysing the present,
Punishing, plundering posterity,
Preclude progress and prosperity,
Preserving putative property
Perpetuate privation and poverty.
This poem is not an indictment or criticism of individual politicians, but it is a reflection of the system that encourages wrong kind of people getting into the political system. Good people cannot enter as long as the present system prevails.
Catalyst for growth:
This booklet deals with our proposals for reforming the Political Economy System, which we have been advocating for the last 40 years in our journals, articles and my public speeches. Politicians and intellectuals are unlikely to change the system on their own. The only segment, which has the resources to educate the public and to bring pressure on the politicians and government, is the Corporate Sector (Business & Industry (B&I) and the Media. The Primary beneficiary of a united India is the business and industry sector. This sector possesses the resources and the expertise to unite the country and make it a great entity. They ought to introduce this concept of a great and united India into their HRD programmes and social service missions. They will be the potential beneficiaries of such reforms. Therefore, they should take the initiative in establishing research institutions and organizations for campaigning for such reforms. Such reforms will lead to immediate benefits of growth and progress, as well as political stability and security for the assets of B&I and Media. Therefore, this issue is being sent to about 500 CEOs, B&I Chambers of Commerce and Industry` and Editors of major Electronic and Print media.
B&I sector is uniting India by their all India operations on a nonsectarian basis. But they have no programme to promote unity of the country. India’s unity is based on the culture of India which, in turn, is based on the four religions born in India. But a mistaken interpretation of secularism has made them reluctant to promote those elements of Hinduism, which are secular and would promote national unity. Even the Doordarshan Centres in State capitals have been appropriated by regional language groups. Though Mumbai and Bangalore have only 40% locals, the DD Kendras would not allow even one hour for the linguistic minorities. Such factors are dividing our country. Politicians will not talk about it as they wish to play safe. Sectarian politics, practiced by vested interests in Maharashtra and elsewhere, have the backing of ruling coalitions, which is harmful to the entire nation. Not even small discussions are allowed, since the issue has been excluded on the ground that it is a sensitive matter. We request the Corporate Sector to come forward and take the lead to change the political system. Fortunately, the mass media - both electronic and print - are in the hands of the B&I sector. They can influence the B&I Sector to promote programmes, which will unite India. In fact, Bollywood films and Cricket are uniting India, which shows the potential of the mass Media to promote the unity and culture of our nation. In none of the HRD programmes, there is a discussion on National Unity. The B&I sector has to organize a number of programmes all over the country to promote National Unity and Culture. At the moment, they are simply giving some donations to music and dance performances. They dare not open up the topic of unity, since they are afraid of regional interests opposing such moves. In Western Universities, Bhagavad Gita and Sanskrit are being taught, but not in India, which just shows how much we are afraid of taking initiative.
Stakeholders:
FICCI, ASSOCHAM, CII, Chambers of Commerce, Merchant Chambers and similar organizations, representing different sectors of B&I, should establish research centres for studying the political and socio economic issues of the country. Individually, and collectively, they should produce policy papers for wide circulation. They should come forward and organize Conferences and Seminars for evolving alternative political economy models, which would promote unity and all round development. The Government has no machinery to improve the present systems. The Administrative Reforms Commission is a part time body, where no serious proposals were evolved for changing the political or economic systems. Recently, 500 CEOs gathered at a Conference, organized by the Economic Times, and expressed their solidarity to bring out excellence in their sector. Their present thinking is based on western models, where the B&I sector is independent of the government. They should function without much interference. It may be recalled that Italy and France had political integrity for decades. But the economic development did not suffer. In our case, since government is formally and intrinsically linked to the industry, progress depends on government policies and actions. The moment government kept away from those sectors, they performed marvelously as was demonstrated in the case of IT, BT, automobile manufacture, Civil Aviation, Tele-Communication, etc. Even after seeing the obvious advantage of giving autonomy to B&I, the government is still clinging on to age-old controls. Reforms have been tardy, mainly because of lack of political will. The PM himself has conceded that it is difficult to accelerate reforms. However, the B&I sector can educate the public and facilitate the government to bring about rapid reforms. For instance, the government should give total freedom to Education system to expand, by extending appropriate concessions and subsidies. A major part of Railways can be privatized. Government can get out of many sectors, where private sector can do extremely well. There is no need to salvage Air India and Indian Airlines. The Government should disinvest its hold on them. Though political leaders accept these proposals in private, they are not able to implement it for fear of losing votes.
Mumbai – Classic Case
A classic case of lack of empowering the public through awareness programmes is that of Mumbai city. Even today, newspapers refuse to publish the economic structure of Mumbai city, where the whole of India contributes for its development and major beneficiaries of employment are the Maharashtrians. The fact is that RBI, LIC, NABARD, headquarters of two Railways, AEC, SIDBI, HQs of three Nationalised Banks are located in Mumbai and bulk of employment go to Maharashtrians. My first article on the subject was published by Blitz magazine in 1954. Though I wrote many articles, the Print media refused to publish them, since they are afraid of their Marathi readership. A million `booklets should be printed and distributed free to show how Mumbai’s development is contributed by way of raw materials, foreign exchange, investment etc from other parts of India, and Mumbai-based establishments enjoying all India market. Newspapers and TV should come forward to inform the public about such ground realities.
Newer laws and acts such as RTI, RTE, NREGA, NRHM, etc are focusing on the fringe aspects of the political economic development. Therefore, more serious measures are required as follows:
Twenty Point Agenda
• Electoral Reforms, where a single Political Party should be voted to power, instead of individuals; and proportionate representation, unlike the single member simple majority system, as at present.
• Constitution of Second State Reorganisation Commission; Splitting the 10 large States into 30 smaller ones; Converting the 6 Metros as City States as in the case of Delhi, which should become centres for national integration, instead of fragmentation of the country on the basis of language as at present. These Metros belong to the whole nation.
• Simplification of the present bureaucratic system. Obsolete rules and regulations should be eliminated. Procedures should be simplified. All archaic policy decisions based on precedence, file notings, etc should be abolished. Implement accountability and responsibility among politicians and bureaucrats.
• Constitution of an India Development Service (IDS), to which talented officers from the present IAS cadres with managerial abilities to be seconded. They would be in charge of developmental functions, leaving general administration to present IAS officers.
• Changing the system of recruitment to Civil Service cadre, where all candidates will answer the same questions rather than subjects of their choice. Appraisal to be done after the first year of performance.
• Government to concentrate on governance, leaving all possible development functions to private and/or joint sector under the PPP model.
• Centre to become powerful for governance and States to be allocated with required resources for development.
• Physical infrastructure, such as Railways, Ports, Roadways, etc., to be expanded and modernized with the active cooperation of the private sector,
• Capacity of the Education and Health and Cultural sectors to be doubled by encouraging private sector, giving them incentives by way of subsidized land and soft credit. These three sectors should become destination for tourism. Facilitate 60m PIOs and 6 m NRIs to be the ambassadors of India through these sectors.
• Government to make massive contribution for promotion of culture which is uniting the country.
• The present labour laws are benefiting only 10% of the work force, while 400 m workers in the unorganized sector are orphans who are suffering, while the well-off middle class people in organized sector are enjoying most of the fruits of development. Amend the Labour laws for inclusive growth of unorganized sector.
• Livestock contribute 7% of the GNP, while allocation of Plan fund is less than 1%. Appropriate technology and relevant management to be introduced to upgrade the unorganized livestock system. The Animal Power and Slaughter System to be modernized where nothing is being done now. The budget for Animal Welfare is only Rs. 10 crores while Livestock contributes Rs. 2 lakh crores worth of products.
• To change the legal and judiciary system, where justice can be obtained within a year rather than 20 years, as at present. All the 2 crore pending cases in the court should be disposed by the Courts on a time bound basis.
• Ethical and Moral Values to be an integral part of Education and Public Administration.
• Municipal services are totally inadequate and are in a deplorable condition. These are to be modernized and managerial system to be introduced with transparency, responsibility and accountability.
• All Doordarshan Stations should promote all languages rather than the local languages only as at present. There are sufficient private channels to take care of the regional needs.
• Special provision to be made to provide education facilities to Muslims all over the country so that the false propaganda against India by Pakistan could be counteracted.
• Resume dialogue with Pakistan on the J&K issue and border dispute with China and arrive at a settlement, even making concessions in fixing territory so that we can concentrate on development.
• India and China cooperation to be expanded and strengthened through exchanges programmes.
• 300 m poor and 400 m illiterates, 30 m handicapped, 300 m children who are malnourished and other oppressed sections to have special consideration by a system outside the Government so that they can be lifted out of this sad situation within the next 10 years.
N.S. Ramaswamy – Editor
Editorial Technical Support
Ramaswamy NS Gopalakrishnan TK Geetha NS
Menon KMP Sivarama Iyer Banumathi KSV
Kurup TNK Rajagopal S Santhosh AP
Ramalingam R Bamzai TN Hombalappa
Visweswara NH Nambissan PUK Suraj
Krishnamurthy V Balasubramanian KK Murthy
Venugopal R. Pillai AP Komala
RESPONSES FROM READERS
Jan 11,2010
The Editor, Heritage-Cartman, Koramangala, Bangalore-560095.
Dear Sir,
It is interesting to go through the January issue of Heritage-Cartman.The articles on Jesus and Environment, Ecology and Ethics are well set towards the need to have inter faith harmony and also to conserve the nature from the clutches of greediness of man. It is well known truth that the Big Brothers of the world have miserably failed to reach an accord to save the GLOBE and mankind from the impending disaster due to global warming.
The ecology is also under threat by the genetically modified crops. The global Scientists are of the views that these crops including the toxin carrying one go against the biodiversity and health of human beings in different habitats. The Native, sacred and living culture of India, the Brinjal is being threatened by the gene transfer technology. If it is not cared and prevented their entry by the learned people like you, spiritualists of different faiths, social workers, Indian industries and others the people will be forced to move away from vegetarianism. The undernourished one will be the most affected one in the country.
Respectful Regards
Sundaramurthy V.T
‘Sri Vaishnava Sri’, 23, Maniyakarar Street, Veerakeralam, Coimbatore-641 007., Tamil Nadu, India E- Mail :< vtsmurthycbe@yahoo.co.in > Phone: 0422-2473853 Top of Form 2473853
STATE OF THE NATION
Prof. N.S. Ramaswamy
India celebrated the Shashtiabdapoorthy of the Republic, which is certainly an occasion for rejoicing. In spite of tremendous internal problems and hostile actions by our neighbours, our unity and political stability were maintained. The UPA government deserves congratulations for leading a Coalition with different ideological backgrounds and maintaining good Centre-State relations with three major States ruled by BJP and four others by Regional Parties. It is extremely difficult to rule such a large country, seventh in size and second in diverse population, consisting of 22 major languages and hundreds of castes. Terrorism originating from Pakistan, separatist forces, Maoists and Naxalites unleashing violence, natural calamities of unprecedented proportion, etc tested the capacity of the government to govern and maintain peace, which the UPA government has managed fairly well. Unfortunately, all these negative destabilizing forces would continue to harass and hurt this young Republic for a long time.
India has done well on the economic front with high growth in spite of global recession. India has achieved maturity in the B&I sector. India has been recognized as a world power. Indian scientists, technologists, teachers, doctors, professionals and artists are bringing glory to India by performing well and earning a reputation for competence and character in European nations and United States. NRIs and thousands of students studying abroad are bringing laurels to India and are acting as our ambassadors. Our performance in IT/BT and manufacturing sector and as a reliable country for outsourcing have been recognized by advanced countries.
Our PM is the most respected Chief Executive in the world. He is endowed with exceptional competence, profound knowledge and natural humility. He is polite and soft spoken. He is also ably supported by matured and capable Cabinet Ministers. Sonia Gandhi, the Congress President, is rated as one of the most powerful women in the world, who displayed extraordinary ability to tackle the highly complex political situation. We congratulate both of them.
Billion Strong and Yet Poor
Despite these positive aspects, our poor performance in infrastructure and social services is obvious. 300 m are still poor, 400 m are illiterate. 50% have no sanitation facilities. Millions of children are stunted due to malnutrition. 40% of urban population still live in slums. 300 women die every day during delivery. Thousands of our schools have no blackboard or toilet or playground. The list of our poor performance is long. It would take us 20 to 30 years to erase this shame and malady.
The only other country with which we can compare ourselves is China, which started development along with India almost at the same time in 1950, when China was in ruins with no Central Government or currency, poor infrastructure and in ruines after 200 years of internal strife and external aggression. India adopted the British Political Economy Model, while China opted for a Communist system at the political level and a market economy system for development. China is now far ahead of India, may be 30 to 40 years. China has almost all the maladies which are afflicting India. While people below the poverty line form as much as 30% in India, it is less than 10% in China. China will become a super power, which can compete with the giants in the West, such as Europe and US, who are already concerned about the economic and military strength of China. China’s influence all over the world is far more substantial and tangible than that of India. The West admires India for its democracy and open society, while they applaud Chinese discipline, organizational efficiency and excellent performance in governance and development.
China conducted Olympiad with far more efficiency than any other earlier Olympiads. It was a marvel of organization, meticulous planning, superb efficiency and magnificent performance. China bagged the largest number of medals (including gold, silver, bronze). India could win only one gold medal and she was the lowest among the 180 nations which participated in the Olympics. This shows how we lag behind China in organizational and management functions.
China’s infrastructure is beyond imagination of India. China could run the fastest train in the world and can build railway tracks at 11,000 ft above sea level. India’s Railway system has almost stagnated since Independence. Chinese are even learning English, while we are trying to erase English and insisting on regional languages as the pride of the region. China is pragmatic. In a Conference of 200 top business schools in the world, the Deans openly declared that it was far more easy to deal with Chinese bureaucracy than India’s obscurantic and obsolete bureaucratic system, which is an obstruction to development. We have been rated as one of the most corrupt countries in the world, and the political system is the most corrupt which has made the people disillusioned with the system. China adopted liberalization of the economy 10 years ahead of India. And our progress has been slow or nil in many fronts. The biggest bottleneck in India is the most inappropriate political economy model we adopted, without reforming which we can never hope to retain our unity and political stability. Therefore, this issue of our Journal is entirely on Management of Political Economy System.
Parliamentary Democracy model is functioning well in European countries, USA and other industrially advanced nations, including Japan, since they are a mono society – with single religion, culture and language. Ours is a plural society, which is divided along religions, languages, castes and ethnicity. The single member simple majority system is dividing people along these divisive factors. Affiliation to different cultures is so strong that it overwhelms and overpowers national sentiments and unity. India adopted this system, as our leaders then were familiar with the Westminster model.
Even this system might have worked, if government functioned like western nations, where Government concentrates on governance, and economic and social development is left to the private sector. But Nehru opted for the Soviet with active participation by the Government in economic development and business industry, playing the role of an entrepreneur, manufacturer, banker, insurer, etc. In addition, Government has been a regulator and a controller. This has resulted in poor governance. Government system in business industry became a disaster. Out of 30 m employees in the organized sector (450 million workforce), 22 m are in government, which meant that the government has become the largest employer. 200 PSUs were established and 19 Banks were nationalized. Insurance, Railways, Road Transport, Electricity generation and distribution, postal and telecommunication, etc – all became government monopolies. Entire Municipal services and major part of Education and Health services are also looked after by government through direct participation. Government interferes in all economic and developmental activities, with the result that they rendered very poor service, which continues even today. These are in a deplorable condition.
Inappropriate Political Economy Model
Soon after Independence, JRD Tata, the most respected businessmen advised Nehru “Please govern the country and ensure security and internal peace. Leave the rest to the private sector”. Nehru did exactly the opposite by adopting the Russian model, which looked sensible then, since there was no private entrepreneurship to start industry, requiring large investment and long gestation periods for coming into operation. All these government and government controlled organisations adopted the government system of administration, rules, regulations and procedures, file notings, checks and balances, Central Audit, etc, leaving no room for dynamic management, which is so essential for performance efficiency. But China abandoned the Russian model and adopted market economy model in 1981, while India did it only in 1991, and that too since the political economy model had collapsed. China has gone far ahead in terms of liberalization, while India is stalling liberalization. China has reformed bureaucracy, while India has done practically nothing to remove bureaucratic controls, which pervade all activities in the country. Such monopology and government controls led to a situation of “Government in Business”. There is an old adage in India, which states “Yatha Raja Vyapari, Thatha Praja Bekhari”. That is, when Government becomes a businessman, people become pauper, which is precisely what has happened during the first 40 years of Independence. Though Government starting big industries had its own advantages then, it has no relevance now. Rajaji, who was one of the most brilliant among the Congress leaders, described the situation as “quota –permit-licence-inspector-raj system, which led to widespread corruption. Everything required government permits or approvals. During Morarji’s time, we had to get Reserve Bank approval to go abroad. Starting a factory required 50 licences and approval. At every point, corruption was inevitable.
More than corruption, political leaders became business managers. Getting into politics became a money making business, which continues even now. Scandals and scams involving hundreds of crores of rupees has become a regular feature now. Wrong kind of people are getting into politics. In order to get elected to Parliament, most aspirants had spent Rs. 5 to 10 crores, which has made it impossible for good people to enter politics. That situation continues even now. By becoming an MP and MLA, one could make hundreds of crores of rupees by manipulating the government machinery for resource allocation, granting permits and licence, etc. Populist measures were adopted for garnering votes, which ignored merit and economic criteria in investment. Plants were located to please political leaders. Thus investment went to wrong locations. The industrialized parts of India became more powerful, leaving vast areas poor, particularly in the Hindi belt without any industrialization. People with criminal records got into politics. Parliament and Assemblies have become arenas for fist fighting and shouting, rather than orderly debate and legislation.
The most serious damage done by the inappropriate political economy model is that the unity of the country has been severely affected. At the time of Independence, the Central Government and all the State governments were ruled by the Congress Party. Reorganization of the States, based on language was a fatal error. Language is the greatest divider of peoples all over the world. European nations, which are all Christians, were formed based on language. 2,000 years of continuous battles were fought between nations within Europe because of language affiliations and animosity. Even after 90 years of indoctrination, the Soviet Union could not stay as one nation. The moment freedom was given, USSR fragmented into several pieces, based on language, ethnicity, religion, etc; so too Yugoslavia. Even the strong bond of Islam could not keep Pakistan as one piece, which broke into Pakistan and Bangladesh. We should not have supported this. The problem with Sri Lanka is language based conflict. Canada has five times India’s space with only 30 m population. Even there, the French speaking are at logger heads with those speaking English. Thus the whole world knew that the language is the greatest divider of peoples. Even after knowing this, our leaders succumbed to pressure and formed States based on language. The result is rising power of regionalism and parochialism, based on language. Tamil Nadu took the lead in opposing Hindi, which was followed by Maharashtra. Shiva Sena unleashed terror to get South Indians out of the State. Now they are against Biharis and those from UP.
Undo the Regional Approach to National Governance:
The monolithic Congress Party, which ruled India, has split into 100 parts. Regional Parties are ruling the States. Fortunately, the Congress Party and the BJP have an all-India presence. The Communist Party has presence in Bengal and Kerala only. Tamil Nadu has been appropriated by Dravidian Parties. Regional leaders rule Orissa, UP, Punjab and other States. States have become powerful and they confront the Centre, which is a coalition of many Parties working together with the sole purpose of sharing power.
It is well known that it is easier to manage smaller States as has been proved in the case of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. It is also well documented that remote areas from the capital of the large States are neglected. When small States come into being, such regions will also have development. More cities would become important capitals, such as Nagpur, Pune, Trichi, Madurai, Jamnagar, etc. The Belgaum dispute will be confined to North Karnataka and South Maharashtra, and not between Kannadigas and Marathis. River Valley dispute will disappear, since it would be localized and will not rouse linguistic pride.
The Railway should be modernized, expanded and faster and long distance trains should be introduced so that people who work in other parts of India can go to their home States. People should be encouraged to emigrate so that all India population will be more homogenous representing all parts of India, as in the case of Bangalore, Bombay and Delhi. Railways can easily do this by increasing the fares and using the surplus for technological upgradation.
The reforms proposed will eliminate regional Parties, with standing only in their regions, instead of focusing on regional issues in the Parliament, at the expense of national consideration. We need an all India Party to emerge. At present, all regional Parties have come to power by appealing to local sentiments and confronting Centre for more resources from the Central kitty. Regional parties even oppose national policies to cater to local interests, as in the case of Tamil Nadu Government opposing disinvestment of NLC. Small States are now too weak to put pressure on Centre. For instance, Kerala earns Rs. 30,000 crores foreign exchange per year, which is mostly utilized in other States. It is almost impossible for the Congress Government to be totally impartial, since some States are ruled by regional Parties extending support at the Centre or opposition Parties. All these deficiencies will be eliminated, if the reforms proposed in this booklet are given serious consideration, for which public should be informed and educated by the Corporate Sector and Media, which, in turn, will embolden the Central Government to bring in reforms which are in the national interest.
Adoption of the proposal on voting Parties to power and government shedding economic responsibilities would remove money power in politics. The List system proposed would bring in genuine leaders in the political arena, which is impossible under the existing system. Casteism, communalism and linguism will lose its importance under the proposals on Electoral Reforms, liberalisation, privatization and formation of Small States.
According to Archaeological findings, Indian civilization is 10,000 years old, though Hindu scholars claim more antiquity. This is the only civilization which is living and vibrant, while 49 others have disappeared. India’s unity is also based on Indian Culture, which is mainly based on the four religions born in India. Indians are religious people with 80 m going to temples and pilgrimage. It is imperative that government and educational institutions should not be theocratic, but should be secular. However, the way secularism has been implemented in practice has gone against the culture, which unites India. The unity of the nation is not based on the Constitution or the Railways or the National Movement, but by nurturing the composite culture of the country.
Our Strength lies in our Culture:
The 300 Universities in India do not give any importance to the study of India’s ancient thought and civilization and its spiritual literature. Sanskrit should be brought back. More Sanskrit words should be introduced in Hindi and other language groups, which are willing to do so. Verses from the Vedas are being recited in the US Universities. Even legislatures in US start their sessions with recitation from Vedas. Bhagavad Gita is being taught in many US Universities. Research on Ramayana is going on in many US Universities. However, in India, no attention is being given to Sanskrit scholars and those who have studied our Vedas and Upanishads. These are our national assets. Even teaching of ethics and morals, which is the essence of education, has not been given any attention.
Education means character building. There is not even 5% of courses devoted to teach ethics and morals, which are entirely secular. They are kept aside on the ground that examples are taken from India’s spiritual and religious literature. Western scholars are now drawing heavily from India’s religious and spiritual literature, which we published in our earlier booklets. Over 200 discoveries by ancient Indians, are now ascribed to Western scientists. Not even one University or College is teaching the students about our scientific heritage. It is a taboo, since it belongs to ancient India, which is dubbed as Hindu or Buddhist. It maybe difficult for the government to support such centres. We pleads with the Corporate and Education sectors, founded and supported by the private sector, to establish centres for study of India’s ancient civilization, culture and philosophy. If the rules and procedures are liberalized and government control removed, a large number of philanthropists, businessmen, temples, Ashrams and others would start educational institutions, where India’s ancient civilization will give prime importance, which would, in turn, forge and strengthen India’s unity and culture. The Central Government Ministy of Culture has very small budget, which is used for teaching some folk arts and crafts. Indian classical musics are on devotional themes, and hence are not encouraged.
The Government system works on approved specified schemes, which is all right in general, but becomes rigid, leaving no freedom for innovation. But individual scholars, who have extraordinary ability and innovative ideas are not encouraged at all. Recently, I found a person, who had written 137 books in Sanskrit on ancient thought. He is not supported, since the subject content is on Vedas and Upanishads. Such a prejudice against our own civilization should go. But we cannot expect the government to do it as they are totally against any thing which have a remote link with Hinduism. But the private sector can come forward and fund such institutions and individuals, thus preserving our culture, which, in turn, will promote unity of our country. Therefore, this booklet pleads to the Corporate Sector to get together and support all individuals and institutions, which would support culture, as part of their social responsibility. This will be in their own interest, as they would promote unity, humanism, ethics, peace and harmony, which is essential for their survival and progress.
Elsewhere in this booklet, we have given a comparison between India and China, which shows that China is far ahead of India. Certainly, we cannot adopt the Chinese one-party political system. But there are many aspects, which we can emulate in order to accelerate development. Apart from Electoral Reforms, Small and City States, the bureaucracy has to be made supportive and not obstructive as at present. IAS officers are brilliant. Most of them are committed and hard working. But the system is the one which is coming in the way of their performance. It has been proved that they would do well when they are shifted to PSUs, where they get more autonomy. Further, when they take a position in the private sector, they do a brilliant job. It is the system that cripples them from performing well.
Our justification for poor performance, compared to China, is that we are a democracy, and China is a dictatorship. This view is not strictly correct. There is a lot of democracy in China at the grass root and unit level. The private sector there is given a great deal of support and respect, which our politicians do not give in India. Some of them talk as if PSUs are Navaratnas and angels, and private sector enterprises are exploiters and profiteers. This negative attitude to private sector should be changed. The scope for private sector participation and joint ventures should be widened. Much of government responsibilities in economic development should be delegated to the private sector to the extent possible by privatization, disinvestment, etc.
Faulty System of Governance
The present system of selection of our administrators is almost absurd. Selection of junior officials in the government or government controlled organizations goes through written tests and several levels of interviews. The Armed Forces spend five days to select the first level officers. In the case of choosing our MPs and MLAs, they are elected by masses, who are mostly illiterate and have no understanding of issues. Money and liquor play an important role. In addition, because of the money power vested in politicians and their parties, unscrupulous people get elected. Even those with criminal records have been elected. There was a time when leaders in jail used to get elected because of their reputation for service and integrity. It used to be said that even a lamp post can get elected with a Congress ticket. Now a Party ticket (Congress or BJP ), is sought after by 10 to 15 serious candidates, who are prepared to give the Party crores of rupees per ticket. Though truth is not known several MPs and MLAs change parties for plum posts or for other considerations. Not a single day passes without scams or sandals, involving crores of rupees. Therefore, there is nothing to feel proud of in the way we elect our leaders to Parliament and Assemblies. It is a pity that the lowest job in the country requires a great deal of merit and character, while somebody with no qualification or record of service, or reputation for integrity, gets elected using money and muscle power. Public perception of politicians has come to such a level that faith in democracy has waned.
There was a time when the Gandhi Cap or Khadar dress represented integrity, purity, selflessness and service consciousness. At present, the same symbols represent crookedness, corruption and criminality. Though there are a several good leaders, the general perception is that too many undesirable elements are getting into the legislatures.
We boast that our democracy gives freedom, which China does not give. This is true. But that freedom is utilized mainly by the middle and upper classes, who are the beneficiaries of development. Also, freedom has degenerated into Licence to flout rules, burn public property, resorting to violence, mobocracy, etc.
We talk of rights a great deal. The lower one third of Indians have no use of the freedom. It does not serve any purpose to protect the poor and deprived people, whose opinions are not recognized. Nor they can change the system. In sheer desperation, poor people resort violence and mobocracy, though it is not proper. The Maoist and Naxalite movements are an expression of such frustration and anger. While the government’s schemes are well meaning, the system is not capable of delivering development to needy. The so called Trade Union leaders help only the 30 m employees in the organized sector, leaving the 400 million in the unorganized sector in a wretched condition, who, with jobs, poor shape, who hardly get 10 per cent of what their counterparts get in the organized sector. Half of them are unemployed or underemployed. 50% still do not have potable water nor a toilet. Millions of women undergo untold suffering. 300 m women die every day during delivery. Suicides by farmers are common. Therefore, the inappropriate and indifferent government system is the one, which is coming in the way of giving them relief.
The so called ‘right’ is also not available to the lower one third, who require freedom from hunger, exploitation, poverty, unemployment, etc. These rights are not available to them. There are 200 schemes meant to provide 100 days of employment a year. It has been pointed out that at least 75% of thousands of crores of rupees allocated for relief to poor people are consumed by the delivery mechanism, which is most corrupt. We do not wish to belittle the efforts of the government. Nor we suspect their sincerity. All that we wish to point out in this booklet is that the government system is least equipped to govern and develop the country. And hence, we have suggested alternate methods, which are entirely democratic and secular, and which would bring relief to the poor millions and accelerate their development. But politicians do not have a mechanism to change the status quo, as their political base will be wiped out.
The solution lies in changing the structure and models of the system, and not the substance of democracy and secularism. We give feasible solutions to all these problems. Politicians would not care to listen to us.
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A N O V E R V I E W
K.M.P. Menon
Mr. Gurucharan Das in INDIA UNBOUND points out that “Indians are slowly realizing that economic reforms are not only about tariff levels, deregulation and structural adjustments. They are about a revolution in ideas which is changing the mind set of the people and leading to the commercialization of Indian Society”. In other words, Commercial Civilization (a phrase coined by Adam Smith) has finally come to India in its world-wide advance. This can be a good thing for the country. It can remove the benighted ignorance that enslaves our people. Today there are enclaves in society where religious bigotry or economic dogma or social insensibility victimize Indians. Any movement which tends to remove this would be welcome. There is a need to improve management within the firms but ‘management’ of systems. Not just macro-management of the economy (as done by say the Finance Ministry or the Reserve Bank) but of the Polity itself – of the constituent systems.
We have to re-structure the structure itself, make the systems function properly. We should be ready to repair or replace parts of the system when it malfunctions. Deng did it in China. Rajiv Gandhi started it in India but Narasimha Rao, Manmohan Singh and others re-oriented India; the work is not over, and nobody has all the answers. But this book has some pointers towards the right path.
Our vision is admittedly for the Future. Yet we should not disdain the past. Or else we fail to learn from History. From the British, we should have learnt that improvement of The Polity is possible without revolutionary bloodshed. Another danger is that even well intentioned leaders, like successful generals tend ‘to fight their last wars’. Circumstances would have altered drastically beyond their comprehension. For instance, today there are otherwise well-informed people who talk of government ‘holding the commanding heights’ to bring the prices down.
Those who ‘hold the commanding heights of, the economy today are the captains of industry and commerce. The larger their number, the better it is for the common man. They can, and only they can take the initiative in bringing about stability, development and prosperity for the country. It is in their interest to unify the country and put good systems in place. Above all only they have the vision and the resources. Above all they will do well to put a good educational system among other systems in place. They can also provide adequate funds for well-meaning N.G.Os like us, that is The India Century Mission, Cartman and the Indian Heritage Academy! This booklet is addressed mainly to leaders of the Corporate Sector. It is arranged in sections comprising (a) THE MALAISE (b) THE DIAGNOSIS (c) PRESCRIPTION (d) PROGNOSIS. Today there is no conflict of Interest between material aspirations on one hand and Religion and Spirituality as well as Ethics on the Other. Dharma and Artha are important goals of life. The Editor of the worldly wise Economist Magazine has written a best selling book about God being back. The Heads of Central Banks talk of ethical practices and Businesses with sound social consciences. This booklet gives due importance to the possible psycho-spiritual mooring only upon which real progress can unfold.
M A L A I S E
THE FOUR COSTLY FAILURES
Adapted from Nani Palkhivala
In the land of the Mahatma, violence is on the throne today. Its victims, among others, are helpless passengers in trains, loyal workers in strike-bound factories, and innocent citizens on riot-stricken roads when the Bandh-mongers claim the freedom of the city. Our militant trade union leaders are well qualified to adopt the words of Konrad Lorenz, the Nobel prize-winning naturalist, “I believe I have found the missing link between animals and civilized man-it is us”.
Or legal system has made life too easy for criminals and too difficult for law abiding citizens. A touch here and a push there, and India may become ungovernable under the present constitutional setup.
Unconcern for public good
We are as careless about public property as we are careful about our own property. Those who would not allow any trespass on their private estate are willing to contemplate, with total equanimity, encroachments on public property and destruction of public amenities. Bombay and other cities are in a state of galloping decay partly resulting from public property being encroached upon with impunity, with the misguided sympathy of a section of the citizens.
Humanitarianism must be distinguished from miscarriage of mercy.
Moral recession
Secondly, the alarming rise in the incidence of crime is partly due to the general lowering of standards in public and private life. The economic recession is, no doubt, disquieting, but infinitely worse is the moral and spiritual recession. The roots of disarray are in our minds and not in the price of fish or fowl. Inflation – the erosion of our currency – has been checked, but not erosion of national character.
The moral standards of our politicians, policemen and criminals are indistinguishable from one another. India today is a living example of the fact that cynicism corrupts and absolute cynicism corrupts absolutely.
Four Costly failures:
(1) Failure to maintain law and order. We have too much government and too little administration; too many public servants and too little public service; too many controls and and too little welfare; too many laws and too little justice.
(2) Failure to bring the unbounded economic potential of the country to fruition.
(3) Failure to make human investment – investment in education, family planning, nutrition and public health, in contradistinction to physical investment in factories and plants. Gross national happiness should have been given priority over gross national product.
(4) Failure to provide moral leadership. We do not live by bread alone, and we are greater than we know.
Mortgaged bedding
“His speech is of mortgaged bedding,
On his vine he borrows yet,
At his heart is his daughter’s wedding,
In his eye foreknowledge of debt.
He eats and hath indigestion,
He toils and he may not stop;
His life is a long-drawn question
Between a crop and a crop.”
Education :
Thomas Jefferson, one of the founders of the United States of America, remarked, “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, it expects what never was and never will be”. When a republic comes to birth, it is the leaders who produce the institutions. Later, it is the institutions which produce the leaders. The question- where are the leaders of tomorrow? – can only be answered by the other question – where are the nation-building institutions which can produce the leaders of tomorrow?
I am using the word “education” in its profound sense. Animals can be trained; only human beings can be educated. Education requires personal participation and transformation. It cannot be given to anyone; it must be inwardly appropriated. It involves cultivation of the mind, not merely with a view to offering it as a commodity for sale in the marketplace
“In ancient shadows and twilights
Where childhood had strayed,
The world’s great sorrows were born
And its heroes were made.
In the lost boyhood of Judas
Christ was betrayed.”
Leadership:
There are two basic lesson of Indian history. First, our people have always taken their moral standards from their rulers: the people have risen to great heights when they have basked in the glow of noble kings or leaders. Secondly, regimes and kingdoms have been destroyed not by adversity but by corruption. Corruption is the greatest solvent of public institutions; poverty poses a far smaller threat.
So far from giving the moral leadership which the people are yearning and waiting for, our politicians are only occupied in maintaining a system which is poisoned by collective bad faith and polluted by individual avarice. They are served by deception and craftiness, instead of vision and imagination. The caption of a famous cartoon, “The world is neither flat nor round – it is crooked”, aptly sumps up the world of Indian politics. In modern India, Machiavelli would have remained unemployed on account of his naivete.
Disenchantment
If we are asked what the six decades of self-government have taught us, we must admit ruefully in the words of T.S. Eliot, “We had the experience, but missed the meaning”.
Rajaji wrote as far back as 1926:
“Elections and their corruptions, injustice and the power and tyranny of wealth, and inefficiency of administration, will make a hell of life as soon as freedom is given to us. Men will look regretfully back to the old regime of comparative justice, and efficient, peaceful, more or less honest administration.
“The only thing gained will be that as a race we will be saved from dishonour and subordination.
“Hope lies only in universal education by which right conduct, fear of God and love will be developed among the citizens from childhood.
“It is only if we succeed in this that Swaraj will mean happiness. Otherwise it will mean the grinding injustices and tyranny of wealth. What a beautiful world it would be, if everybody were just and God-fearing and realized the happiness of loving others! Yet there is more practical hope for the ultimate consummation of this ideal in India than elsewhere.”
I n January 2010, we can see that Rajaji’s worst fear has come to pass.
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POLITICIANS’ ROLE
It is fashionable to blame politicians for all our ills now. The role of the politician was accurately analysed by Maurice Zinkin in the early fifties. The following adapted from Development for Free Asia By Maurice Zinkin makes this points clear.
“The situations the Asian politician faces are difficult. The attitudes which have to be got rid of, like the Indian worker’s desire to stick to his existing job, are so understandable, so easy to, sympathise with. The requirements of development, like the need to give a relatively low priority to housing that has to be subsidized, are often so harsh; they may be accepted in totalitarian countries; they are not so easy to put across a democracy’s electorates who are looking for an easing of their traditional hard lot, not a further tightening of their already slim belts. The politician who wants development has to have some economic understanding; but that is secondary. What is primary is the need for a vision to put before the people, a picture of the present and future in which they can be swept up and by which they can be inspired.
It is not an accident that the greatest of all the plans of underdeveloped countries, the Indian Five-Year Plans, owe much of their inspiration, and most of the public’s feelings that they are worth sacrificing for, to Pandit Nehru. Mr. Nehru was not a bureaucrat, and his statements of economic principle leave more than something to be desired. But he was the perfect politician. Through all he says and does pulses a passionate understanding that in India this is a time of transition, of change, of an old world crumbling and a new world about to be born. It is this passion, this understanding in its politicians which Asia must have, more than savings, more than foreign aid, more even than technicians, if it is ever to progress; for, if the passion and understanding are not there, the rest will turn to dust, the savings will be wasted, the foreign aid misappropriated, the technicians frustrated. For a society to develop, it must want to develop; for a society to want to develop, its politicians must dream dreams of development. If the politicians are bad, the economic development will not happen, as there is the whole history of Latin America to prove”
History is a harsh judge. The forty years of ‘mixed economy ‘and pseudo-socialism kept the economy all bound up by red-tape. Today, even Nehru is, despite all his good intentions alleged to have been a failure. Today’s common run of politicians are accused of many crimes. They range from subverting the pillars of state to corruption. Many also charged with murder.
THE ROLE OF THE BUREAUCRAT
BECAUSE the politician is so important in Asia, the next in importance is the bureaucrat. The politician must have the vision of change and the gift of making the people see his vision as he sees it; but it is bureaucrat who must bring the vision down to earth, who must formulate it in terms the administrative machine can carryout. And it is the bureaucrat again who, once the people have been made to see the light, must make the vision real in all the humdrumness of detail. In Asia, moreover, the bureaucrat has yet another importance. There has always in Asia, as in all peasant countries, been a great respect for the actual holders of power, a great willingness to accept them as leaders. Traditionally, these holders of power were not democratic politicians, but collectors and residents and governors of provinces. Some of the aura of the past still clings, so that it is often possible for the bureaucrat in Asia to fill the politician’s role of leadership as well as his own. It is, therefore, crucial to development that the many problems vital to the creation of a good bureaucracy should be solved. The right men must be recruited. They must have the right standards. They must have the right relations with the Politicians, a proper consideration for the public and an adequate sense of esprit de corps in their relations with their colleagues. In short, the whole of at least the upper bureaucracy of India needs to have standards and men like those which made the Indian Civil Service as important as the leaders of the Congress Party for Indian development.
The malaise today is manifested in the way in which many bureaucrats are suspect. They are often alleged to be willing tools of corrupt politicians.
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MALAISE IN LEGISLATURES -1
By
Neerja Chowdhury
(neerja_chowdhury@yahoo.com)
Over the year, the number of parliamentary sittings has gone down, from an average of 140 a year, which was the norm for many years, to 102 in 1988 and to a miserable 74 sittings in 2004.
Neither Parliament nor the country had seen what happened last week – as many as 28 MPs absent on the day their questions were listed to come up. Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar read out name after name to find the MPs absent. This came as a shock to her and she adjourned Lok Sabha. The unprecedented situation provoked Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Bansal to remark that if the MPs did not want their questions answered, the government could consider dispensing with the Question Hour altogether. Five years ago every minute of Parliamentary functioning used to cost the taxpayer around Rs. 20,000 (this figure may be much more now), though our democracy cannot – and should not – be measured only in monetary terms.
Clearly this was a new low in the functioning of Indian Parliament. Earlier this year, soon after the new government had taken over, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi had exhorted MPs to take Parliament more seriously. But a day after her plea in July, the quorum – which requires the presence of 10 per cent of the full strength of the House – collapsed and the House had to be adjourned.
Last week, a day after the fracas over Question Hour, a grim looking Sonia Gandhi was seen sitting in the Lok Sabha in the afternoon, in an almost empty house. If the idea was to send a suitable signal to her party members, it did not lead to an improvement in the numbers present.
It goes without saying that Question Hour is the heartbeat of parliamentary functioning. Those of us who covered parliamentary proceedings in the Eighties remember how difficult it used to be to get an appointment with a minister who had to face Question Hour the next day. The morning of the Question Hour was sacrosanct because the minister was being given a detailed briefing by the bureaucrats on the supplementaries he might face.
Over the years, parliamentary non-attendance has become a problem. The number of sittings has gone down, from an average of almost 140 a year, which was the norm for many years, to 102 in 1988 and to a miserable 74 sittings in 2004. If important meetings are to be scheduled, the MPs will suggest they be slated for a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday because Mondays and Fridays are dicey, the first being a day after the weekend and the latter a day before it.
MPs will tell you that the constituents’ decision to favour a particular candidate is determined by what he or she has done for the voter personally. They are also not influenced by the larger development achievements of the candidate, how many roads he has built or school she has constructed.
The truth really is that MPs are increasingly being reduced to playing the role of municipal councilors.
LEGISLATURES - 2
Adapted from the New Indian Express
by B.G. Varghese.
The cameras continue to whirr and the media delights in reporting the disorderly scenes even if parts of the proceeding are expunged. This only whets the appetite of political goons masquerading as parliamentary lions. The situation in the state assemblies is, if anything, worse.
The reform of parliament’s time disposition and parliamentary etiquette is urgent. Important policy matters are simply not debated at all, and bills and motions are often but cursorily discussed. The time given to members to speak is grossly excessive and leads to long winded and repetitive and irrelevant discourse. Shorter time allocations would compel members to be more focused and precise. The US congress affords a good example of members being allocated barely three to five minutes on occasion and sharing this with party colleagues, and yet speaking to great effect. There is no interest in Private Members’ Bills and Resolutions.
Back benchers and independent members should be allotted more time to overcome the tyranny of party whips. The committee system could be used more effectively too by allocating more time for scrutiny and discussion of legislation and reports and by calling more expert witness to give evidence not only on Bills but on issues of national importance, many of them of great complexity where informed opinion would be invaluable. Those who disrupt the House must be expelled and denied their daily allowances for the period of expulsion.
Serious national issues are seldom discussed. The total emasculation of the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution, dealing with the Scheduled Tribes, has not attracted the slightest attention over decades. Annual Governor’s reports on the tribal condition are not written, as mandated, and if sent to Delhi are not discussed. The government shelters behind the shabby subterfuge that no report can be placed before the House without an Action Taken Report which is either never prepared or endlessly delayed with no consequences. This disgraceful dereliction constitutes a brazen violation of the social contract between the Indian state and the tribal people as enshrined in the 5th Schedule.
The same is true of the total contempt displayed towards the Commissioner for Scheduled Castes and its Reports—if they are produced and presented at all, who cares? Certainly not Parliament. It has no time for such trifles. And what is it that parliamentarians seek? An enhancement of their MP and MLAs have put these funds to good use, for all too any it is a source of patronage and makes for a cozy relationship with contractors and officials who for cabals and rule the roost.
Committee meetings away from Delhi have also become luxury tours with expenses on five-star hotels and cars billed to public sector undertakings on the pretext that State bhavans and guest houses are fully booked and not available.
And what could be more demeaning and illegal than to have the newly elected Congress chief minister of Maharashtra, Ashok Chavan, announce at a public meeting that he is awarding a cash prize of Rs.5 lakhs each to the three constituencies that gave him the highest votes to ensure his recent re-election.
Each party must be required to have ensure on third representation for women, whether through direct election or else through the List. This will not merely ensure the requisite women’s representation but also a better quality of (ethical and intellectual) membership, especially through the List. Such a reform would enhance the quality of debate and expertise available for governance and legislation in an increasingly complex world.
LEGISLATURES-3
Adapted from an Editorial by Dilip Thakore
If India’s Parliamentary Politicians renowned for their bad manners, blatant corruption and overweening pride rather than any discursive or debating skills are a national embarrassment, state-level politicians are worse. Products of the country’s heavily-subsidised B-grade schools and colleges, where academic and moral standards have continuously deteriorated in the past half century, politicians who trade insults in state legislative assemblies have rock-bottom standards and minimal understanding of the newly emergent global economy.
NEW CLASS CONFLICT?
As long as the brazen inequality between urban and rural India exists, there will be angry confrontations such as the ones witnessed recently in Delhi.
-- Bhaskar Ghose
Mahatma Gandhi wanted to start with our villages. We have started from the other end, looking at our villages from the outside and determining what is good for them. Perhaps, there was a very practical basis for Gandhi’s advocacy of the villages, which needs to permeate the thinking of our ruling elite and not be confined to the ritual adoption of an earnest demeanour and the delivery of noble speeches on October 2 every year.
The urban-rural dichotomy, if one can call it so, that exists in this country is not a recent development. It has been there for centuries, from the days when India was a number of kingdoms. We hear of the great cities of Ujjain, Kannauj, Hastinapur, Fatehpur Sikri, Agra, Hampi, Halebid and others. We know very little of the rural parts of the kingdoms or empires in which these great cities were located. Through the centuries the wealth generated in the countryside has flowed into cities, which have given little back to the countryside.
The change from monarchies to the new democracy that emerged in 1947 did little to alter a mindset that was shared by urban and rural India. The countryside had to give; the cities only took. Take just two examples that serve as metaphors of this mindset.
The document for the ownership of land is different in urban areas and in the countryside. In cities there is a deed of ownership registered with the relevant authorities. In rural Bengal – and there is no reason to suppose it is different in other parts of the country – the owner of land has a record of right (ROR), locally called a khatian, in which in column 2, the name of the absolute owner is always shown as the sovereign: it could be the emperor or, as it is now, the state. It is only in column 13 that the name of the actual owner is shown; technically, he holds the land under the sovereign.
The second example is of the very natural, almost instinctive, manner in which the state considers it legitimate, by passing appropriate legislation or orders, to force inhabitants of the countryside to sell a part of what they produce at a price that the state considers to be fair – be it rice, wheat, sugarcane or any other product. But the state would think it horrifying to require manufacturers of toilet soap and detergents or cars and machinery to sell a part of their total production to the state at a price the state fixes. For instance, would the state force General Motors to sell some of its Chevrolet Optras, priced at around Rs.8 lakh to Rs. 9 lakh, to the state for Rs.3 lakh?
Notice the difference in perception. This is what translates into the rage of the sugarcane growers at glamorous cities where glamorous people live.
As long as these conflicting assumptions persist, the divide – angry, confrontational – will continue. And the tragedy is that this happens in a democracy where the countryside sends its representatives to Parliament and to State Assemblies where they do not, or cannot, resolve these differing perceptions.
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AGRICULTURE: GREAT FAILURE OF INDIA
(Adapted from Dilip Thakore)
The effortless insouciance with which the establishment in the country and the state capitals is taking the unprecedented rise of food prices for granted – in November food prices rose by a never-before 4.78 percent,and over the past 12 months food prices as measured by the sectoral index within the Union government’s fudged wholesale prices index (fudged because the consumer doesn’t pay wholesale prices) is 19.95 percent higher than it was last year – deserves strong condemnation. As everybody and his uncle knows, inflation is a tax on the poor and the neglected majority at the base of India’s iniquitous social pyramid, and they suffer grievously when food prices in particular rise so sharply.
Yet notwithstanding the Arjun Sengupta Committee’s conclusion that over 800 million Indians eke out twilight live on a per capita income of Rs. 20 per day, it’s business as usual in the Delhi durbar and the state capitals across the country. It is festival season in the national capital, and stingingly expensive five-star hotels are chock-a-block; and in the state capitals ministers and bureaucrats practice brazen corruption when they are not spending public funds to refurbish palatial residential and office premises.
The consequence of this self-serving shameless indifference to corruption, misgovernance and grinding poverty of the poor majority is that institutions of governance designed by the founding fathers of the Constitution of India to promote justice and equality have collapsed, or at best are on oxygen. Parliament has little time for orderly and reasoned debate; the judicial system is overwhelmed by the weight of case arrears and shortage of judges; the law and orde4r maintenance machinery is on the point of breakdown, even as insurgencies are flaring up across the sub-continent.
Although it’s plain as a pikestaff that the unprecedented food price inflation which the nation is experiencing currently is intimately connected with widespread distress in rural India which hosts 67 percent of the population, the establishment seems to have little time or inclination to devise a coherent national agriculture policy which would give a fair deal to the country’s rural majority. Contrary to popular belief, the malaise of Indian agriculture is not rooted in production deficiencies but in abysmal rural infrastructure – poor road and rail connectivity, the near absence of warehousing and cold chain facilities, and continuous failure to develop a note-worthy downstream food processing industry. Within the merry-making establishment and great Indian middle class there’s a conspiracy of silence over the fact that over 10 percent of foodgrains, and more than 30 percent of the horticulture production of rural India valued at over Rs. 50,000 crore is wasted annually. The outcome of this unaddressed wastage is supply-side constraints and high food prices.
This diagnosis of the root cause of pervasive poverty in reportedly shining India is hardly novel. The great failure of the post-independence Delhi imperium has been chronic inability to write a logical prescription and follow it up with a consistent line of treatment.
MALAISE OF THE MEDIA
(Adapted from Dilip Thakore)
On December 22, 2009, the Editors Guild of India, which as the name implies, is an association of apex-level media high priests, constituted a special committee to investigate serious charges against some of the country’s most respected newspapers for selling advertising disguised as news.
The charge against them is that during the recent state legislative assembly elections in Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, their managements traded favourable news coverage and promotion of candidates for filthy lucre.
For the benefit of those who have been sleepwalking through life, one of the cardinal principles of ethical journalism is clear separation – indeed firewalling – of news and advertising. This has been traditionally regarded as necessary in the public interest so that readers are provided objective, unbiased news and editorial opinion. Blatant mixing of the two is – or was – heresy of the worst sort.
The wrath of the Editors Guild has also undoubtedly been aroused by the fact that there is no economic compulsion for these highly profitable and influential dailies to resort to such subterfuge.
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D I A G N O S I S
VIOLATION OF DHARMA
K.M.P. Menon
All the aspects which trouble India’s Body Politic are symptoms of one disease. It’s cause is the miscarriage of Dharma. When individuals act in violation of Dharma, it harms the moral order of the world and it rebounds on them. It is Adharma that is the root cause of all troubles of a person’s mind or body. So also is the case with the Body Politic.
For example, when caste was made hereditary and exclusive, it weakened the country’s strength. We are still suffering from its ill-effects.
When rituals were mistaken for the essentials, Religion goes berserk. Vivekananda saw Hinduism reduced to absurdity in Kerala and called the place a lunatic asylum. Whenever truth is twisted for the sake of expediency, it becomes a glaring Adharma! Ever so many examples can be given for Dharma is a dynamic concept. The practice of Sati in North India is another. Such practices have no religious sanction. Dharma is not a matter of religion alone. Nor is it confined to the East. When respected western banks passed off ‘toxic debts’ to other investors as attractive investments, they were indulging in Adharma – leading to eventual downfall!
Whenever one does to others what one would not do to oneself, there is Adharma.
No wonder it is said that ‘if you uphold Dharma, it will save you’. This is why Rajaji suggested a ‘Dharmic World Order where international trade is based not on ‘beggar my neighbour’, but mutual enrichment. In fact the basic impulse of Adam Smith in writing Wealth of Nations, was ‘ethical and moral’. The Corn Laws in the England of his day was unethical because it made rich land owners prosper at the cost of the poor people. Adam Smith wanted it to be repealed. Eventually it was done. His book helped to change public opinion. We can hope that in future, some such work can alter public opinion in such a way that reforms will be made to rid us of the plagues that afflict our Polity.
INDIA AS AN EMERGING ECONOMIC POWER
Adapted from
Nani A. Palkhivala
For the first forty years of India’s history as a republic, our so-called leaders suffocated and strangulated our people by state ownership and state control. During those lost decades, the pace of our economic growth was sedate, if not glacial.
Then came the economic transformation with a big bang. The period of collective insanity was over. In July 1991 came the biggest change in the economic climate with the coming of the New Industrial Policy. The world’s largest democracy reached a turning point in its history: for the first time it looked less like a tortoise and more like a tiger. The arthritic economy started performing like an athletic economy.
Liberalization and globalization are today part of the spirit of the times. Globalization is buzz word that has launched a thousand strategies. The borderless corporation is the new phenomenon of our times. The world today boasts of some 40,000 transnational corporations.
The New Industrial Policy fortunately has been continued by the new government. Recently, Lord Rees-Mogg came to India as a guest of the K.K. Birla Foundation, and delivered a lecture on the world outlook for the next century. In the article which he wrote in The Times (of London) on the 11th of March, 1996, he says, “Anyone who wants to understand the modern world must make a personal passage to India, which has the deepest and most resilient culture of the four likely economic superpowers of the next century, more stable and politically advanced than China, not yet denatured by the modernism of the United States and Europe. Indian civilization is a great lake into which the rivers of different cultures have flowed… each depositing a new layer…whatever government is elected in future, this liberalization will not be reversed because it is working… In India one can see the inevitability of Asian economic expansion despite the serious problem of population growth.”
In the Times of the 16th of March, 1996, a British correspondent, agreeing with Lord Rees-Mogg, said the following about the technological advance of India –
Lord Rees-Mogg “should know that when he books a seat on British Airways, the computer that handles his booking is in Delhi; that when he pays his British Telecom bill, their computer is in Bombay; that many of the operating systems for IBM’s computers are written by roomsful of well-dressed, polite, efficient, English-speaking young ladies, with mathematics degrees, working well-lit modern offices in Bangalore.”
The rest of the world takes the same view as Lord Rees-Mogg. US foreign direct investment in South Asia has touched a record $2 billion in 1995, with over $1.2 billion of this coming to India, which means that more than half has come to India.
To be globally competitive, a country must be blessed with two favourable factors – an unlimited reservoir of talented and skilled labour and an abundance of capital available for new projects. A World Bank report, published a few years ago, indicated that India had both these factors in abundance.
We have had 5000 years of civilization behind us – a civilization which reached the “summit of human thought” in the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Speaking quite dispassionately, the people of India inherited great skills and many-splendoured intelligence, since the genes had evolved over five luminous millennia. The trader’s instinct is innate in our ethos. I am never tired of repeating that an Indian can buy from a Jew and sell to a Scot and yet make a profit!
Giant multinational corporations are engaged in worldwide competition for the most scarce resource of all- talent. India has never been charged with an inadequate supply of this resource. Sir William Ryrie said, as the Executive Vice-President of the International Finance Corporation, that India has some of “the most creative entrepreneurs … the most dynamic business leaders … and the sharpest financial brains in the world’. Incidentally, IFC has invested nearly 650 million dollars in India’s private sector in fiscal 1994, raising this country to the status of Number One in its worldwide portfolio.
I should like to give you some figures which illustrate the sea change – revolutionary transformation which has been effected in the last four years. An annual average amount of just 900 million rupees was raised in the 1970’s in the primary market by promoters of new companies; while 276.2 billion rupees was raised in 1994-95 – an astonishing over 300 times upsurge! There has been a veritable investment explosion.
Coming to the secondary market, the number of listed companies has risen from less than 2,300 in 1980 to about 7,000 today. India is now in second position in the world next to the United States which had about 7,700 listed domestic companies at the end of 1994. No less than 500 new domestic companies are floated in India every twelve months.
For those of you who are still unconvinced that India has arrived, let me place before you a few more facts.
There are 23 stock exchanges in India and 30 mutual funds (public and private). Truly, India has now become a shareholding democracy. Among those who buy or subscribe for shares there are many who have no idea whether Wall Street is a thoroughfare or a new mouthwash. But they take the view that the stock exchange is the one place where you can get money without earning it. The number of shareholders in the country has increased from around 2 million in 1980-81 to 9 million in 1990-91 and further to an estimated 16 million in 1994-95. The number of investor accounts with Unit Trust of India and mutual funds has increased from over one million in 1980-81 to 12 million in 1990-91 and further to about 59 million in 1994-95.
Some decades ago, the weekly Punch, now defunct, came out with one word of advice to those about to get married – Don’t. Sir Thomas Bingham, the Master of the Rolls, gave the same advice the other day to those about to embark on litigation. Today, the opposite would be the advice to those about to invest in India – Do. Lord Keynes said that investment is not just a matter of cold calculation, but an act of faith on the part of risk-taking entrepreneurs.
A recent issue of Forbes, the American business magazine, says in its lead story, “India may be the best emerging market of all”. Forbes marshals facts in support of its view. There is twice as much American direct investment now going into India as into China. Unlike China, India operates within the rule of law. When you invest in India, you invest in democracy. India also has a much larger and far more capable infrastructure of local companies which serve as good partners and tough competitors. Forbes further added that unlike China, India had much more than cheap labour to offer. English is widely understood and extensively used in international contacts. Some years ago, when the Queen of England visited India, she was agreeably surprised to learn that our laws are passed in English, the arguments in the Supreme Court and in the High Courts are in English, and the judgments of those Courts are delivered in English. The nations of the European Union and the Middle East would find themselves quite at home in dealing with India.
On an objective appraisal of all the circumstances, Motorola is planning to make India what it calls a ‘brain centre’ for engineering and design work; and the Japanese subsidiary of Digital Equipment Corporation chose Indian software engineers, over its own Japanese employees, to write the tricky computer programmes that translate English code into Japanese characters.
The celebrated investment bank Merrill Lynch, has opined that liberalization in India had reached a point where it would be impossible to turn the clock back. In a recent report, Baring Securities mentions India as among the best emerging markets.
We have a population of 920 to 940 million – give or take the entire population of Canada! Compare this mass of humanity with the European Union which has a population of 380 million. India comprises 25 States under a Constitution which welds them into a quasi-federal entity, as against the European Union which today has 15 sovereign members. We have in India a larger variety of religions and a larger number of languages and dialects, than in the European Union. The Eighth Schedule to our Constitution lists 18 major languages and the number of dialects is estimated to be more than 300. In these circumstances, it is natural and inevitable that we would be faced with even more problems than Europe has to contend with, despite the fact that, like the people of the European Union the people of our 25 States are culturally akin, ethnically identical, linguistically knit, geographically close and historically related.
There is a debit side of the balance sheet which needs to be highlighted in fairness to foreign investors.
First, at present India is competing, with only half its manpower, with the rest of the world, - since half of the Indian population is literally illiterate. Quite frankly, the official figures of literacy are misleading. If a man is able to write his name, he is considered as literate! We have miserably failed to give education the priority of priorities. As Peter Drucker observed we are living in a new era which is both non-socialist and post-capitalist. Instead of capitalists and the working class, we are today having knowledge workers and service workers. Even in America, the Morgans, the Rockefellers, and the Carnegies, have been replaced by professional managers. The Indian government has yet to learn that investing in education is to the 1990’s what nationalization was to the 1940’s and privatization was to the 1980’s – the universal panacea of the day.
Secondly, we must privatize the public sector units. Privatization means that the majority of shares should be allowed to go into public hands, while the government may only retain a minority interest. In India, there is no political will to privatize any of the industries which are today in the public sector, - the utmost the government is willing to do is to offer a minority shareholding in public sector enterprises to private parties.
Take for example the subject of life insurance and general insurance. The Finance Minister has done nothing up to now for the deregulation of the insurance sector. In his Budget Speech of 1993, Dr. Manmohan Singh had rightly referred to it as one of the urgent tasks of liberalization. The Malhotra Committee was appointed and it made a very balanced, well-thought-out report as one would expect from a man of the calibre of Mr. R.N. Malhotra. After that report, Dr. Manmohan Singh in his Budget Speech in 1994 again reiterated his proposal to deregulate the insurance sector and to create a competitive and financially strong insurance industry functioning under an independent regulatory authority. But in 1995, and in this year’s Budget, nothing has been done. Kingsley Amis was not wrong when he said, “There is always a gap between an idea and its execution, but in India it is the widest”.
Thirdly, India has vast infrastructural gaps. It has to add one lakh megawatts of power capacity in the next ten years. It has to upgrade, both quantitatively and qualitatively, telecommunications network. The state-run telephone monopoly took 110 years to install 8 million telephones, but it has taken private cable operators just three years to install 20 million satellite television hook-ups. About two-thirds of the country’s 500,000 villages still do not have telephone.
Fourthly, our tax system is a nightmare. Even the last five Budgets which changed the fiscal and economic laws beyond recognition were cluttered with about 600 footling amendments which served no purpose other than to create work for the legal and accountancy professions.
Fifthly, we should change our labour laws instead of aiming at populism all the time. Five years ago, the government promised an exit policy, but no action whatever has been taken in that direction. India will find it impossible to compete with the rest of the world so long as our law forbids even a humane exit policy and prohibits closure of sick unit without the government’s permission.
Sixthly, if there is any one political factor which is bound to impede the forward march of India, it is the resurgence of the age-old curse of casteism. In no other country in the contemporary world is there anything comparable to our casteism except perhaps tribalism in Africa. Reservations for the backward classes in different Indian States have resulted in the substandard replacing the standard, and the reins of power passing from meritocracy to mediocrity.
Casteism and religion are the two powerful divisive forces in India. Some critics have gone to the length of saying that the Indian people is not a nation but a collection of communities. Winston Churchill said in 1931, “India is a geographical term. It is no more a united nation than the equator”.
Under a democratic set-up like ours, there is no short-term solution whatever to the problem we are facing. The only solution is a long-term one. We have to educate our people on the essential unity of all religions, instead of letting them remain cultural illiterates.
In the fifty years of its independence, India has never had to face a crisis of the magnitude and far-reaching effect comparable to what it is facing today. We are a low-arousal people, but we must awake from our apathy and realize that there is a grave threat to the unity and integrity of the country – even to the very survival of our democratic system. All recorded history has one clear lesson to teach – freedom cannot last unless it is coupled with order. Order can exist without freedom, but freedom can never exist without order. Liberty without accountability is the freedom of the fool. That freedom and order may co-exist, it is essential that freedom should be exercised under authority and order should be enforced by authority. India is passing through a phase of disorder which makes you recall the pregnant words of Lord Wavell – “”India can be governed firmly, or not at all”.
Democracy if of three types. Democracy, as India knew it in the first fourteen years of its independence. Guided democracy as Singapore has known it since its inception under Lee Kuan Yew. And misguided democracy, of which India is the prime example today. We suffer acutely from four plagues – regionalism, communalism, casteism and total absence of moral leadership. These four plagues devour amity and national solidarity. It is these four plagues which have made it possible for self-seeking politicians to convert our democracy into a misguided democracy. We find ourselves rudderless in the absence of moral leadership. India produced Mahatma Gandhi, the greatest moral force of this century. But today it is pathetically lacking even in mediocre leadership.
The Hindus, the Sikhs, and the Muslims have lost sight of the essentials of their respective religions and are misled by bigots and fundamentalists whose activities represent the very antithesis of the true teaching of their religion.
Different segments of the Indian nation live in different centuries. It is the same nation but it lives in different eras. For instance, some 5,000 people watched a 19-year-old widow perform sati or self-immolation in 1987, in the village of Daurala in Rajasthan. The villagers said that she sat calmly, holding her dead husband’s head in her lap and chanting prayers, as flames consumed her. The police had charged the widow’s brother-in-law with lighting the pyre, and her father-in-law with forcing her to commit sati. The third defendant was another family member. But all the three accused were acquitted because the 37 witnesses who gave evidence turned hostile and did not say that the young widow had been compelled to commit sati. In Rajasthan, among many Rajputs, the warrior Hindu caste to which she belonged, sati is still regarded as a holy rite.
Seventhly, corruption is gnawing at the very vitals of our democracy. The tone of public life has reached an all-time low. We have democracy without meritocracy. Ignorance, incompetence and dishonesty are no disqualifications for high public office, either in the ministerial ranks or elsewhere.
Lastly, the government must make sure that the fruits of liberalization reach the masses, and the rate of inflation must be still brought down from 6 percent which is the prevailing rate today, specially in the prices of food articles of daily use which hit the masses the most. Those who live in India are extremely sceptical whether the rate of inflation is really as low as 6 per cent or whether the figure merely shows Indian skill in jugglery.
Having placed both sides of the balance sheet before you, may I say a word about the future prospects of India in a world which is becoming globally competitive?
The vitality of India is remarkable. The country does not have a powerful economy, but has all the raw materials to build one. The Indian economy is like a sleeping giant who, if awakened, could make a powerful impact on the global economy. It would not be mere chauvinism to say that India is a giant with a bad cold, not a pygmy with cancer.
The heart of the nation is sound and the human raw material is excellent. To a western mind, India’s inner strength and capacity for patient endurance are almost beyond belief. Hundreds of millions who have no standard of living, still have a standard of life. Ambassador John Kenneth Galbraith remarked that while he had seen poverty in many countries of the world, he found an uncommon attribute among the poor of India – a richness in their poverty. They do not count their wealth in money alone. A nation’s worth is not measured merely by its gross national product, any more than an individual’s worth is measured by his bank account.
The people of India are able to take in their stride situations which would spark a revolution in other countries. The ancient Indian civilization has survived and will survive when the raucous and fractious voices of today are lost in the silence of the centuries.
Credit should go to Dr.Manmohan Singh for his endeavour to introduce fruitful egalitarianism in place of sterile socialism. But in that direction we still have a long way to go. India still waits for the type of revolutionary turnaround effected by the Labour Party of Britain under John Smith, its great leader and one of the finest gentlemen of our times, who passed away recently. A short while before his death, John Smith said that he was relaunching the Labour Party as the party of the citizens and that he intended to chart a future in which the traditional associations of chart a future in which the traditional associations of the party with state ownership, high taxation and trade union power would be buried forever. In a reference to the Labour Party’s old attachment to public ownership of the commanding heights of the economy, John Smith said that the new commanding heights were education and training. He categorically said that there would be no commitment to renationalization in the next manifesto of the labour Party and that the most important priority would be to invest in people, to provide opportunities and skills that were the building blocks for individuals and national prosperity.
India purported to become a Socialist Republic by a constitutional amendment in 1976. The nation anxiously waits for the dawn of a new era when our politicians will, like John Smith and the present British Labour leader, Tony Blair, openly dissociate themselves from ideological socialism and espouse social justice which is ethical socialism.
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P R E S C R I P T I O N
MANAGEMENT OF ECONOMY – PSYCHO SPIRITUAL FOUNDATION
K.M.P. Menon
In the second decade of the twenty first century, many old words such as POLITY, ECONOMY and even MANAGEMENT have slightly different meanings from those of the past. However the ideas contained in Professor N.S.R’s book, The Management of Political Systems are as relevant and valuable as when they were written more that fifty years ago. His main appeal is for applying the management approach to solving the problems of public administration. By management we mean a rational approach, accountability, a cost benefit analysis as well as a clear understanding of objectives. However even today, our country suffers from several shortcomings in public policy which have remained for several ages. The villages are neglected, centre-state relations continue to be murky, regionalism is exploited and important matters are neglected. If N.S.R’s ideas had been implemented not only would several lives been saved but also a much better life would have been possible for millions of citizens. It is pointed out by recent scholars that India has the largest time-lag between a good idea and its implementation.
It is remarkable that Prof. N.S.R. has not pointed out a single shortcoming of our POLITY without offering a very sound and practicable solution. He is the founder of management education in India, the Founder Director of the IIM Bangalore and among many other firsts, the founder of the Computer Society of India. This booklet of the India Century Mission draws heavily upon the Professor’s book The Management of Political Systems. It also includes the views expressed with unmatched felicity by Mr. Nani Palkhivala and of other brilliant persons who are capable of looking at the contemporary scene and to “see it steady and see it whole”.
One such observer and critic is Mr. Vishal Mangalwadi. Though we cannot but agree with him upto a point The Indian people, majority of whom are Hindus do not suffer from any inherent deficiency in their cultural ethos. Where one agrees with him is the point that he makes, namely the fact that a spiritual, ethical, altruistic foundation, a strong moral sensibility, a profound social conscience is necessary for any society to progress. Its absence among the power brokers today is indeed the cause of the social malaise that we witness today.
About Independence for India, Macaulay wrote: Whenever it comes, it will be the proudest day in English History. To have found a great people sunk in the lowest depths of slavery and superstition, to have so rules them as to have made them desirous and capable of all the privileges of citizens, would indeed be a little of glory, all our own.
Thus Independence in 1947 was not only a victory for Mahatma Gandhi and the Freedom Fighters but also a triumph for …evangelical England.
The violent movements and the human rights violations of the 1970s, 80s and early 90s (and of today) raise serious doubts about whether or not human rights and freedoms will last for long in India. They cannot last if India chooses to forget the faith and spirit of her modernizers. “from the Legacy of William Carey by Vishal and Ruth Mangalwadi. Crossway Books 1993.
Rajaji anticipates every point of Mangalwadis criticism and has translated the epics in the modern idiom as well as explain Hinduism and Indian culture.
To discover the basic underpinning of Indian Social Conscience, it would be futile to, examine the ‘Hindutwa agenda’ or the manifesto of the Muslim league, nor indeed the Bishops’ Encyclical of any Indian Church. Look for it in the ethos of a large number of lower middle class or peasant families of any religious denomination of any part of the country. You will find the real India there, you will find it in their hopes and their aspirations. You will find it in their regard for their neighbors their courage, their endurance and their capacity for self sacrifice. You will find it in their respect for truth and their love of learning. Above all you will find it in the Fear of God which is the beginning of wisdom and the love of God which is the foundation of morality.
It is this treasure that lies beneath the surface that has to be retrieved. It is not noticed by the hacks of the media. Romain Rolland instantly found this; He found that this is what made Gandhi tick.
It has to be retrieved and disseminated widely. It is this profound moral sense that in the foundation which can support the social conscience necessary for the commercial civilization of the 21st century. It is the salt which savours the main lower and middle classes the median of Indian Society. It should be used as ‘the leaven to leaven’ the whole of India.
To put it in another way, there is a need to accept ‘Dharma’ as an ideal by itself. Even to many examples can be cited in support of this. The Mahabharata proclaims this. This is what, Saint Paul means in his celebrated letter to the Corinthians. Economic Success, material prosperity and all endeavour becomes pointless unless it be in pursuit of Dharma. All impulses, aspirations and activity becomes vanity unless if it be ‘informed’ by this. The most important need of the hour is to restructure our system based on this. If so, our polity that is now ailing shall not only be made whole but shall also serve as a beacon for the world.
The following needs to be done. Ways and means have to be devised for this purpose with extreme urgency. We look up to the Corporate Sector to take the lead in this.
1. The resuscitation of the fundamental values of Indian Culture in their pristine vigour. The re-integration of Indian Culture in the light of modern knowledge to suit our present day needs.
2. Creation of social conditions which permit a ‘dignity of man’ and all that implies.
3. Establish the harmony of individual effort and social relations, within the framework of a Moral Order.
4. Vedanta can create a conscience for social obligations – if we understand it rightly and disseminate this knowledge in society.
It is the absence of such a conscience that has plunged India into the present abysmal state of despair, and demoralization.
Inter faith harmony :
It is necessary for the benefit of India’s future that absolute religious harmony is maintained. Some pointers to this possibility are given in the passages that follow. We certainly cannot have religious bigotry in an inclusive new society. Shylock would trade with you but not eat with you or pray with you. Such bigotry can be eliminated by giving a chance to youngsters to mix socially.
In answer to Radhakrishnan’s question about what his religion was, Gandhiji replied:
“Of late instead of saying God is Truth, I have been saying Truth is God, in order more fully to define my religion. I used at one time to know by heart, the thousand names of God which a booklet on Hinduism gives in verse form. ‘But nowadays nothing so completely described my God as truth. Denial of God, we have known. Denial of Truth, we have not known.
The bearing of this religion on social life, is to be seen in one’s daily social contact. To be true to such religion, one has to lose oneself in continuous and continuing service of all life. Realization of truth is impossible without a complete merging of oneself in and identifying with this limitless ocean of life. Social life includes every department of life and action. In this scheme, there is nothing low, nothing high.
Everyone should cultivate personal, friendships with persons of religions other than one’s own. He should have the same regard for the other faiths as he has for his own”.
A great danger in the world today is to segregate and identify people on the basis of religion. The truth is that we have multiple identities. The use of religious identity alone as a rubber stamp is improper and dangerous.
There is no religion in the world that does not speak about Love, Compassion and Service to society. This is fundamental to all Religions. Let us hope that all great religious leaders of today shall impress upon their followers most emphatically this essential fundamentalism!
We celebrate 20th February every year as World Harmony Day. Panikkar’s COSMO-THEANDRIC views are worth spreading.
Raimondo Panikkar who is a Buddhist, Christian and a Hindu at the same time: Faith and Belief are separate things. Faith is a primal anthropological act, common to all human beings. Faith is not in a doctrine but in the ever inexhaustible mystery beyond the reach of objective knowledge. It corresponds to myth.
Theos : The Divine dimension of reality is not an object of human knowledge. True religiousness is not bound to Theism. The mystery of Divinity is: TRANSCEDENT, IMMANENT, INEFFABLE, IRREDUCIBLE, INEXHAUSTIBLE.
Anthropos : Consciousness is the human dimension of Reality. Everything that is CIT . Human experience is threefold: aesthetic, intellectual, mystical.
Cosmos :. There is no thought prayer or action that is not radically cosmic in its foundations. The world of matter, energy, space and time, is for better or for worse, our home. Science is discovering its interconnectedness as well as its sacred nature (there is something more than pure materiality in a simple stone). The wonder is that any stone may when it comes into contact with the right person turn into an Ahalya; or the Pygmalion story repeat itself. The ancients had an insight into the spirit of the universe that pervades the world – the anima mundi.
The world is beset with Radical Pluralism. No religion by itself has a solution to man’s perplexity. No dogma such as Marxism can offer solutions. It is possible that a cross religious inter faith dialogue can reconcile the original insights of the prophets and make the silenced voices of the Rishis – sing to us again.
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ANCIENT YET MODERN
(Adapted from Rajaji)
THE QUESTION may be asked, all this being accepted, what then? Is not the contradiction inevitable? It is true that religion or philosophy contrary to modern science is bound to become sham and hypocrisy, but is there any possibility of removing the maladjustment or averting the mischief? Can we offer to the world a new religion which is not contrary to science? While it may be true and may be accepted that to secure a firm basis for progress all disharmony between science and religion and between religion and statecraft must be removed, and an integrated and well-adjusted body of thought and feeling must be established, is there any hope, it may be asked, of finding a solution in that direction? Are we not leading to the position that religion must be given up altogether? Is it not obvious that the contradiction pointed out can only be removed by the total abandonment of religion? Is it possible, at this stage of human history, to build a religious fabric around scientific truth as it has evolved and is still evolving? - A foundation on which to build a social and moral conscience.
Vedanta is the answer. It is not necessary to build a new religion. In India, we have a religion, and a philosophy attached to it, as old as civilization itself which is remarkably consistent with science as well as politics.
The claim may to outsiders seem strange, especially to those whose knowledge of Hinduism has been derived from the information supplied by the Christian missionaries of an older generation. As we are not, however, living in the times of the proselytizing Christian missions whose one function was to show that Hinduism was good for nothing, it may be hoped that the claim made here will receive a fair examination at the hands of sincere thinkers. In any event, readers in India would stand to benefit by a reassessment of their own heritage in the light of modern conditions and requirements.
Put in precise words the claim is that a code of ethics and a system of values were evolved by Hindu philosophers out of the religious philosophy known as Vedanta, which is not only consistent with science, but is admirably suited to be a spiritual basis for the juster and more stable social organization that good people all over the world desire and are working for. The attempt everywhere has been to bring about economic and social reorganization on the strength only of State authority. It imposes a great strain on that authority, and is subject to inevitable flaws in execution. It has also this defect of all repressive State actions – that it is irksome to the citizen and creates a mental state unfavourable to cooperation, whereas the furnishing of a code of spiritual values through religious faith and practice would reduce the strain, minimize the flaws in execution and produce a happier integration of thought and action which by itself would be a priceless gain and a source of strength.
It goes without saying that spiritual values proposed as the basis of a sound social organization must not be an improvisation or an invention of expediency designed to further material interest by cloaking it with sanctity. A spurious scheme of so-called spiritual values to serve a sordid purpose would be a delusion if self-imposed, an imposture if offered for acceptance. Honesty is the best policy; but it is not as policy that honest conduct was made part or continues to be part of every religion. Similarly, Vedanta is bound to help a regulated economy but it is not for that reason that it was conceived or should be accepted as a faith. It claims to be accepted on its intrinsic appeal and worth. If accepted, it will serve also the other purpose. Truth, it may be repeated, is one and indivisible. Politics, religion and science cannot rest on mutually contrary axioms nor can the mere expediency of any of them enable it to pass for truth, unless it is true in the sense at least of its presenting no vulnerable point for attack by reason of inconsistency with established truths.
The Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita are two most important source-books of Vedanta. It is a remarkable achievement of intellectual imagination – it would not be incorrect to call it inspiration – that the rule of law in science was anticipated in the ancient Hindu scriptures. The God of Vedanta is not an anthropomorphic creation with human capriciousness and desire for power – a conception against which the veriest tyro in modern science can launch a successful attack. Divine sovereignty is explained in the Bhagavad Gita in language which anticipates and meets the difficulties that modern science raised against religious cosmology. According to the Bhagavad Gita, the sovereignty of God is exercised in and through the unchangeable law of cause and effect, that is, through what we call the laws of nature.
All this world is pervaded by Me in form unmanifest; all beings abide in Me, but I stand apart from them. And yet beings are not rooted in Me. Behold the scheme of My sovereignty, Myself the origin and the support of beings, yet standing apart from them! Using nature which is Mine own, I create again and again all this multitude of beings, keeping them dependent on nature. In the scheme of My sovereignty, nature brings forth the moving and the unmoving, and in consequence of this the world evolves.
This is what Bhagawaan says to Arjuna in the ninth chapter of the Gita.
All this world is pervaded by me in form unmanifest; all beings abide in Me, but I stand apart from them.
And yet beings are not rooted in Me. Behold the scheme of My sovereignty. Myself the origin and the support of beings, yet standing apart from them!
Using nature, which is Mine own, I create again and again all this multitude of beings, keeping them dependent on nature.
In the scheme of My sovereignty nature brings forth everything, moving and unmoving, and keeps the world going.
A study of the Upanishads will show that Vedanta postlates that the universe is the result of a gradual unfolding of the creative power inherent in the primordial substance. In fact, it may be said that the philosophy of Hinduism anticipated the basic theories of biology and physics. The very approach to things in the Upanishads, the insistence on adherence to truth and on tireless investigation, is remarkably in the nature of an anticipation of the methods of science.
Truth, penance, true understanding and purity of life are essential requisites for the revelation of the spirit within. When thus revealed, He shines spotless and resplendent within oneself. The seekers who have freed themselves from sin are vouchsafed the vision.
Victory is ever with truth. Untruth cannot win. The path to the Divine is through truth. The sages with desires quenched walk on that road to reach the Ultimate Being.
Francis Bacon who gave to modern science the method of experimentation and inductive reasoning wrote in one of his essays:
“I had rather believe all the fables (collected in books) than that this universal frame is without a Mind…………They that deny a God destroy a man’s mobility. For certainly man is of kin to the beasts by his body; and if he be not of kin to God by his spirit, he is a base and ignoble creature. It destroys……………..the incentive to the raising of human nature.”
Just as Vedanta appears to have anticipated science and prepared the ground for meeting the contradictions that were to appear between science and religion, so also the code of conduct and the spiritual values that were developed by Hindu seers on the basis of Vedantic philosophy seem to have fully anticipated the socio-economic problems that civilization has had subsequently to face. The profit-motive and the civic right of private competition were definitely asked to stand back in favour of a rule that everyone should work for social welfare, as clearly set out in the Bhagavad Gita. We are now told by social and economic reformers that the State should see to it that men and women work without aiming only at personal gain but with an eye also to the welfare of the community. And this is just what the Bhagavad Gita laid down. The way of life taught in this living spring of Hindu ethics is based expressly on the equal dignity and sacredness of every form of labour that falls to one’s lot. All work, it reiterates with solemn emphasis, should be done honestly and disinterestedly for lokasangraha - welfare of the community – and not for the satisfaction of personal desires. Indeed, the Gita lays down in a unique manner the whole socialist doctrine by characterizing work as a religious offering in the truest sense. The performance of one’s allotted task is specifically described in the Gita as an authorized and accepted form of worship:
If a man is devoted to his particular duties and performs them, he wins beatitude. When a man performs his proper duty, he worships Him from Whom the world has issued and by Whom all that we see is pervaded, and thereby he attains beatitude. It is better for one to do even imperfectly the duties that fall to one’s lot, than to do those of others perfectly. If a man does the work that comes to him by birth, no blemish will attach to it, whatever kind of work it may be. One should not abandon one’s natural duty, even if evils attach thereto: every human activity involves some evil as fire carries smoke. He whose mind is in every way detached, whose self is conquered, who has freed himself from selfish longings, attains by dint of that detachment the attributes attached to worklessness.
The very definite form in which the doctrine is enunciated that the proper performance of one’s allotted task is an act of worship in the most religious sense of the term is worthy of note.
INDIA’S POLITICAL ECONOMY
Prof. N.S. Ramaswamy
The article “State of the Nation” written by me in the earlier part of this journal has brought out the damages done due to the inappropriate political model adopted by us after Independence. In this article, the following reforms are proposed to remove part of the ill-effects of the present system:
• Electoral System
• Reorganisation of the States within the Republic of India
• Reforms in Professions.
• Media
• Law and Judiciary
• Indian Railways
• Bureaucratic Systems
ELECTORAL SYSTEM
The Electoral system should be changed to:
• Party to be voted on, and not individuals, as at present.
• Each Party can nominate upto three names for each constituency, which for the whole country would form the LIST for the Party.
• People to vote for the LIST as a whole of each Party.
• Proportionate representation.
• Depending on the percentage of votes obtained, each Party can nominate as many to the Parliament from the LIST.
• To begin with, this system may be tried only for the Lok Sabha.
• The PM to be elected by the majority Party.
THE ELECTORAL REFORM IN BRIEF
The changes proposed in the existing system may be summed up as follows – at the risk of nominal repetition.
(i) It is a party that would be voted to power rather than individuals as at present.
(ii) Each party will nominate five persons per constituency instead of only one as at present. All the candidates found in the consolidated list would together constitute the National Congress of that party.
(iii) Out of the five, three will be chosen for political reasons, and two will be professionals and specialists.
(iv) The number of seats in Parliament/Assembly won by a party will be proportional to the votes polled by it in the aggregate. Parties which get less than five per cent of the votes will be denied representation altogether.
(v) Voters will indicate the party of their second preference, and the second preference vote will be taken note of and distributed if the first preference party does not qualify, that is to say, if does not poll the minimum of five per cent votes necessary.
(vi) Professionals should be found a place in the second tier of the Central and State Cabinets. They could be appointed as Ministers of State and Deputy Ministers.
In the six paragraphs that follow, these changes have been further elaborated. Each party should nominate five persons to a constituency instead of one as at present. The procedure for electing 500 members to Parliament (this figure is being assumed for the sake of simplicity of calculation) can be explained. For the five persons contesting from each constituency, three are drawn from the political cadre for considerations, such as caste, community, linguistic group, charisma, popularity, money power, the need for providing representation to minorities, etc., and the remaining two drawn from among professionals. While the political nominees could be denizens of the constituency, the professionals could hail from anywhere in India. Only, they should be intimately related to the constituency by specified qualifications, such as brief residence, interest and work.
Thus each party will nominate 2,500 persons for the whole of India, 1500 from the political cadre and the remaining 1,000 drawn from functional and sectoral specialists. Engineers, doctors, lawyers, teachers, architects and scientists would belong to the functional specialties. The sectoral cadre would consist of eminent persons drawn from business, industry, commence, banking transport, energy, health, agriculture, education, housing and so on.
Each party will adumbrate its policies and programmes and announce its list of 2,500 persons, naming five persons for each of the 500 constituencies we started off with. Lest the system pose too complex for the illiterate voters, it may be necessary to combine the party symbol with a device added to identify each candidate. Also, it may be necessary to get the functional and sectoral specialists to address their electorate in popular fashion. Only those sectoral and functional specialists would be chosen who can rise above their narrow specialisation and can develop a larger appreciation of regional and national interests and problems. If they are not already well versed in the techniques of mass contact, they would be required to cultivate this capability.
Since every voter will have to state the party of his second choice on the ballot paper, each party must announce another like-minded party which could, in the event of the failure of the first to secure an absolute majority, be depended upon to fulfill its programme and the promises contained in its manifesto. Each party would, therefore, be required to name a second party with which it could be said to have formed a limited alliance which could take effect after the elections are over.
In effect, the voter will be free and indeed required to state a first and a second preference. He will vote for a party rather than a person. The first choice will be of a political party which he wants to vote to power and his second preference could be transferred in case the party of his first choice polls less than five per cent of the aggregate votes. The vote, however, will not be invalid if the voter does not exercise a second choice.
The number of seats to be allotted to a party will be in proportion to the number of votes polled by it. The procedure proposed here resembles the proportional representation system in the West except that the parties would be allotted seats in the legislature according to the proportion of the votes they have polled in the aggregate.
Each party will nominate candidates to Parliament from its lists of 2,500 – according to the number of places it has won.
SMALL STATES
India can be compared to Europe in size and population. Our large States are as big, or bigger than European nations, such as Britain, France, Germany and Italy. UP, with a population of 166 m is the 7th largest entity in the world. 90 nations in the world have less than four million population, while many of our 540 districts have the same population. Our Districts are governed by a Collector or a Deputy Commissioner from the Civil Service, with 3 to 4 years of experience. New Zealand, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Albania and 50 others are administered by a Prime Minister, supported by a Cabinet. Moreover, in most of the nations of the world, except Communist countries, economic and social development is carried out by the private sector, while the Government is mainly concerned only with Foreign Affairs, Defence, Public Administration, Finance and some regulatory activities. In India, however, the Centre and the States are involved in almost every economic activity, which imposes a heavy burden on the Government.
Conflicts
Further, we are still economically and socially backward, with one third the population poor and 40% illiterate. They have to be brought up, which is another burden on the Government. Private sector will not be able to deliver services to them, as they are not profitable ventures. In addition, conflicts based on religion, caste and language cause law and order problems. Also, insurgency and separatist movements are a source of tension for the Centre. Pakistan, Bangladesh, Ayodhya and such other conflict areas require attention. Government cannot handle such complex problems easily, if the Centre has to shoulder Development responsibilities on such large proportion.
Size of States
Such inequality in size, population and development levels means greater the difficulty for the Central Government. UP and Bihar, with 140 MPs, have been dominating the political central stage. Though the Constitution is federal in spirit and structure, in practice, it is more unitary. The Centre allocates bulk of development funds to the States. Equitable distribution of funds is not that easy, particularly when the political party ruling at the Centre will be different from those ruling the States.
Nation State
Though India was a cultural entity for 5000 years, it was the British conquest and rule that enabled India to become a modern nation State. As a nation, we are still young, compared to the European nations. Therefore, we have to foster unity through an appropriate political economy system.
Linguistic Parochialism and Unity
Unfortunately, after Independence, Indian States were reorganized on linguistic basis. Language is the greatest divider of peoples all over the world. Language is highly emotive, which brings in conflicts and confrontation. European nations were formed on language basis, though they are all Christians. Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and Pakistan broke on the basis of language cum other divisive lines. In order to gain popularity, Indian politicians whip up parochial feelings among their followers, based on language. This is a potential danger to India‘s unity.
Split the 10 large States
It is proposed that the ten large States be split into 27 smaller States, all uni-lingual, with 15 to 30 m population each. Such a division may entail large direct administrative expenditure. But that is nothing compared to enormous benefits that would accrue. BJP has all along been in favour of smaller States; so too the Congress. Smaller States are easier to govern and to develop, as has been proved by Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. The proposed set-up is given in the end.
Decentralised Development
One major advantage would be that Central Government, which is heavily burdened now with developmental responsibilities, can decentralise most development work to the States, by giving autonomy to the States for development. Centre can retain those functions which are inter-State in character. At the moment, it is not prudent to decentralise, because the large States, such as Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Maharashtra, led by local leadership, may not listen to the sage advice of the Centre. A stage may come when some of the States may refuse to attend NDC meetings or implement what the Centre wants. At present, they are dependent on the Centre for development funds, and therefore they toe the line.
Centre-State relations
It is also difficult for the Central Government under one Party to maintain good relations with those States, which are ruled by other political parties. The natural tendency of the States is to plead for more money and to blame the Centre all the time for their poor development.
Inter-State disputes
Another advantage would be that inter-State disputes, such as Belgaum, would be between South Maharashtra and Northern Karnataka. Cauvery dispute will be between Tamil Nadu-B and Karnataka-B and not between Tamilians and Kannadigas.
City States
Disputes would transcend linguistic barriers. Also, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai should be made City States, adding on to them the surrounding areas. These metro cities have been developed with resources from the whole nation. The present tendency of the local people claiming all the benefits may lead to tension, as it happened in 1969, when Shiva Sena resented the presence of south Indians in Maharashtra.
After leaving responsibilities to the States, Centre can concentrate on governance of the country, which is not receiving sufficient attention now due to preoccupation with development problems. One third of India is still very backward. When Telengana and Vidarbha are formed, they will have more motivation in developing their States.
Inequality in size of States will only bring tension, particularly in respect of Centre-State and Inter-state relationships. One major reason for the backwardness of some districts is that development effort does not reach areas far off from the capital. In erstwhile Madras and Bombay Provinces, backward districts were those which were away from the State capitals. Smaller States will ensure more equitable development. They can be better managed too.
Sub-regional Loyalties
Smaller States would satisfy sub-State regional aspirations, as in Telengana and Vidarbha. Linguistic parochialism will be reduced. Small States can be easily disciplined by the Centre, which would become a real arbitrator in Inter-State disputes. Centre-State relations will be smoother. Development responsibility can be decentralised to States, and Centre can concentrate on governance in the core areas.. There will be room for 20 more Chief Ministers. Twenty more capitals will come into being, thus reducing congestion in the present capitals reducing migration from villages to cities and towns. Legislatures will be more compact. The extra cost of administration will be more than offset by the enormous economic and social benefits. Finally, India’s unity will be strengthened.
Both BJP and Congress have accepted this idea in principle. A new Commission has to be constituted to make recommendations.
PROPOSED STATE REORGANISATION
The 10 large States are to be split into 27 smaller States, taking into account sub regional identity and aspirations, such as Telangana, Vidarbha, Marathwada, Magadha, Mithila, Mahakosal etc. Present population (in millions), number of States proposed and the average population (in millions) of the split States are given below:
A.P 76 3 = 26 Bihar 83 3 = 28
Gujarat 51 2 = 26 Karnataka 52 2 = 26
M.P 50 2 = 25 Maharashtra 97 3 = 32
Rajasthan 57 2 = 29 Tamil Nadu 62 2 = 31
U.P 166 5 = 33 West Bengal 80 3 = 27
There will be no change in the other 18 States and 3 Union Territories. Population (in millions) is given below:
Haryana ………. 21 Chatisgarh ………. 21 Nagaland .………. 2
Jharkhand ………. 27 Delhi ………. 14 Meghalaya ………. 2
Orissa ………. 37 J&K .………. 10 Manipur .………. 2
Assam ………. 27 Uttarkhand ………. 8 Mizoram ………. 1
Kerala ………. 32 H.P ………. 6 Arunachal ………. 1
Punjab ………. 24 Tripura ………. 3 Sikkim .………. 1
Pondicherry (U.T) …. 1 And’n & Nic’r (U.T) Lakshadweep (U.T)
Thus we will have 34 States with population ranging between 21 and 37 million, which together would form 80% of the total population of 1014 million. The rest 9 and 3 U.T’s will have a population of 20%.
India’s Political Map
In a situation where the States are formed on linguistic basis, strong regional leaders do not accept the decision of the Central Government, there will be great embarrassment. In the present Lok Sabha, Congress has only 206 seats. Others have as many seats, which make them so powerful that they dictate terms regarding cabinet berths and other financial allocation. The Centre will be a hostage to such regional parties, which will create continuous tension and instability. This is dangerous for unity and stability. Even theoretically, it is not easily possible for the Central Government to make equitable distribution of resources and projects, since considerations are numerous, which cannot be optimised. In this sort of situation, regional Satraps make hay, success depending on their ability to muster support, organise violent agitation, bully the Centre, etc.
REFORMS IN PROFESSIONS
The Medical Profession
The Government spends lakhs of rupees on the education and training of doctors; but benefits do not flow to the target beneficiaries commensurately. While many of our doctors migrate to foreign pastures, the majority of them who stay behind confine their work to the urban areas. There is evidence, however, that the doctors themselves have since taken the problem in hand and now endeavour jointly to migrate to rural areas, motivate the rural population and generate conditions necessary for the responsive reception of health care services and benefits; but what is happening is not enough. An orientation is necessary to match the financial outlays.
The masses will, over a period of time, need comprehensive medical care and attention in times of sickness. They should be cared for in their own surroundings. The programme for the health care of adults is, however, depend hopelessly on other programmes for nutrition, child care and pre-and post-natal care of mothers. The tasks of pubic health, which should precede any comprehensive programme of health care, are stupendous and still remain to be addressed. Even the treatment of minor illnesses cannot be attempted without comprehensive solutions for the problem of rural water supply and sanitation. While we deplore the non-availability of doctors to man the rural hospitals, doctors who have settled to work in the villages complain about inadequate facilities and supplies. Their hospital training and education has not been sufficiently community-based, and they are not thus equipped to deal with patients who are unmotivated and in whom far-reaching attitudinal changes are called for before they can benefit from such care. There are also a large number of unemployed doctors willing to go to the villages and the systemic organization necessary to enable them to do so has not been forthcoming. A successful rural health service would also entail the legitimation of indigenous systems of medicine which are already in use and are less expensive and less complicated. The management of rural health calls for an inter-disciplinary approach. Doctors, and paramedical and public health, personnel, too, need reorientation if they are to face up to the problems peculiar to rural environment. The establishment of additional hospitals deploying more doctors are not likely to change the present situation substantially, This is an instance where the professionals should venture out in new directions in order to make their services more meaningful to growing numbers of people
The Legal Profession
The Institution of suitable laws as part of a larger legal code, their acceptance by the people and the efficiency with which they are enforced are all indications of the progress of a society. Our country can be legitimately proud of its legal institutions. Yet law and justice are so expensive in this country putting them out of reach to the common man who, when he is aggrieved, cannot have ready recourse to it. Prohibitive costs, inordinate delays at the courts of original jurisdiction and at the appellate courts and the complexity of the legal structure combine to deny the advantages of the fundamental laws, directive principles and enabling legislation generally to the large majority of common men. Some way has to be found by the profession itself through its voluntary labours to carry the benefit of positive laws to the people for whom they are purposively directed. There is a need to simplify the existing laws for the convenience of unlettered people and others who are ignorant of the legal system. The relation between the work of the village panchayats and other courts of the republic will have to be worked out so that simple village folk enjoy both the negative protection of the law as well the positive benefits that a welfare state seeks to confer on them. What is that a welfare state seeks to confer on them? What is called for is not any codification of laws for that has been achieved with great merit and in notable fashion in the Hindu Code Bill, by the law reform commissions appointed by the Union Government and through the work of the Administrative Reforms Commission. What is required is simple education of rural folk, on whom State Development work has an intimate bearing on their rights and responsibilities. (The Khadi and Village Industries Commission as part of its Functional Literacy Programme are already undertaking this work in some measure). Those laws which are of great relevance to large groups of people both in the cities and the villages should be codified (it is important to note that such work is not really intended to be original or authoritative) and the documentation should include associated case law, precedents and legislation through Government rules in order to simplify the work of lower courts as well as that of the village panchayats and tribunals. In their non-formal function in and conciliation procedures, they should not lose touch with the law of the land.
The Engineering Profession
We may well be proud of our highly developed scientific and technological institutions and the large number of well-differentiated and competent scientific and technological manpower (which incidentally is the third largest in the world). However, except perhaps in Civil Engineering, the country is still dependent on designs patented abroad and imported turn-key technology generally. Our engineers and scientists have yet to find adequate solutions for the problems of social engineering arising from rural development and from the implementation of anti-poverty programmes. A modern design for the bullock-cart is a case in point. It is astonishing how the fact that this ancient mode of transport still commands an important place n the economy and in the lives of whole masses of people in the rural areas have been overlooked. Other examples of indigenous technology that need to be improved and stabilized are the methods of drawing water from wells by animals; the hand-pushed carts; the plough used by bullock-power; the hazardous kerosene stoves and hurricane lamps, etc. Similarly, the various tools and equipments used everyday in households and on the farms by a large number of people would have become more serviceable and productive if the most rudimentary changes of design and materials were effected. They will also, in the process, become better adapted to local conditions and use. I feel that the leeway to be made up by engineers and metallurgists in the matters of their obvious social responsibility is greater than the corresponding omissions by other professionals. The point must, therefore, be made that the social relevance of the engineering education and of the profession itself is at the moment rather low. The remedy must evidently begin with curriculum formation.
Management
We in India have excellent facilities for management training and development, and our arrangements compare favourably with those of advanced countries; but the benefit accrues to less than 10 per cent of the economy, which is the proportion that the business and manufacturing industry account for in the total. Most of the other sectors, more socially vital, such as agriculture, irrigation, power, transportation, health and public utilities, do not receive the benefit of modern management, organization and systems. The social relevance of these professions has accordingly tended to be low. Management techniques and principles are equally applicable to such programmes and projects. Since management is a vital resource which mobilizes and utilizes all other resources, it should be orientated as to foster and develop entrepreneurial and productive attitudes among the people who are the users of these services. These professions are at present limited, because they are service-oriented to a fault.
The Banking Profession
Banking in our country has traditionally been an urban activity for the most part, and it still continues to be so. A number of recent studies have shown that the vast majority of the rural people still depend upon non-institutional sources for their credit needs, while large chunks of banks credit are advanced to firms and units in the organized sector. This benefits large-scale industries and perhaps even small-scale units in the urban areas, but only a comparatively paltry sum of money goes to the villagers. It is estimated that, out of an aggregate of Rs.10,000 crores advanced as bank credit last year, nearly Rs.6,000 crores went to the organized industries, while the share of the village industries was hardly Rs.25 crores. In spite of the special priority accounted through government directives for agriculturists, artisans and craftsmen, the work culture of the banks is yet to establish its social relevance. It lies within the power of engineers, scientists and technologists to ensure that increasing numbers of ventures of the enterprising men in the towns and the villages qualify for bank credit.
The Teaching Profession
Teaching is by far the largest of the professions, and one that is traditionally recognized for its dedication and service to mankind. It is a sad commentary on our contemporary system that we now find our teachers becoming more remote from social reality. To induct too much social reality into education, still non-applied, may not perhaps be a good thing. As against that, Indian education has traditionally been inclined towards the ivory tower, but realities like poverty and unemployment cannot be shut out from our lives. Teachers lack adequate awareness of social problems peculiar to an emerging society. They are probably unable rather that unwilling to undertake socially relevant studies and research. It is not that they grudge the effort; the village teacher is notoriously overloaded with extra work during census and the government’s survey operations and in connection with the family planning and rural savings campaigns. What is involved here is more than willingness. A high degree of social consciousness is inherent in the teaching profession; but the attempts of teachers to readjust themselves in a rapidly changing environment needs to be better addressed by techniques and systems.
The Educational System
Our education system has admittedly undergone enormous changes since the day of Independence. This is all to the good. But we have to go a very long way yet to make sure that the systems really become productive and useful to the community as intended. Vocationalization, job orientation, preparing children for a socially conscious and productive life, analytical and problem solving skills, on-the-job training for the work force, functional literacy, adult education, non-formal education for two or three more age-groups are only some of the avowed objectives of education that have still to be meaningfully transformed into reality at project level.
While substantial subsidies are paid in the service of general and higher education, very little is done to finance the acquisition of skills, such as motor-car driving, tailoring, the repair and maintenance of numerous urban, domestic tools and appliances and rural agricultural equipment. Such policies would go a long way towards improving employment opportunities and in enabling the common man to make both ends meet. Our formal system of education is woefully ill equipped to meet the needs of the vast non-organized sector in the matter of skill formation. The educational system could perhaps increase its social relevance by meeting these needs by enlisting the assistance of a large number of voluntary organizations all over the country.
Mass Media
Professionals in charge of the mass media have a special social responsibility. Next only to religion and caste they mould and shape the opinions of producers, consumers, the citizenry and large groups and the masses of people generally. They influence the views of children and grown-ups alike. How far have the mass media been able to fulfill the noble mission with which they have been entrusted? This sector propounds a management view of sectors of activity which are proximate to political systems; and the following section deals with mass media in more extended fashion in view of their importance according to this reckoning. It is in the interests of freedom that newspapers, journals, films, etc. function in the private sector of enterprise.
The printed word is somehow more credible. Children try to emulate the manners, trends and ideas they perceive on the screen. Mohabat and violence are said to interest most people – even the many educated in an audience. We see frivolous and spurious plots treated with disproportionate importance; but the more socially relevant information affecting the problems and living conditions of common people are never dwelt upon. The love-life of the bullock-cart driver makes good scenario, but not the obsolescent cart, the ill-treated bullock or the frugal and brutish lives of man or animal. The movie-makers generate illusions which are a far cry from the culture of the classes and the masses as well as from the freedoms that they really can give rise to. Such films corrupt the values and morals of the young and the impressionable. The social relevance of the mass media is, in conclusion, really quite low. Good writing and art draw nurture from common life for their tragedy, humour, pathos and for all entertainment in short. Will the situation improve unless mass media are freed from the overriding constraint of the private view and private profit? That the public view and public philosophy are lost sight of both in the matter of the choice of theme and the profit motive, only betokens a failure of sensibility.
Trade Unions
There is a certain anomaly in discussing trade unions here under a separate heading. Professional organizations, it was earlier argued, are close to social institutions, such as the guild, trade union or caste. For, this whole chapter is devoted to a discussion of certain professions which are close to the political processes. The power and influence certain professions wield in society and politics are undoubtedly due to the size and quality of their professional organizations. These constitute the sociological basis of their political power. They also owe their importance to economic factors, such as the importance to the economy of their service and physical product and to the resulting crucial relationship with the rest of society. This is the economic basis of their power. Trade unions in India have, through the collective bargaining machinery, undoubtedly improved the terms and working conditions of organized labour in India. The working class in India is heir and legatee to the valuable rights won through the endeavours of trade unions in the most industrialized countries. The two large federations of trade unions in India also succeeded in linking themselves to the two major political parties, the Congress and the Communist Parties. They associated themselves thereby with the freedom movement and its objectives and sentiment. In the result, a minimum charter of rights came to be worked into the Statute-book and even the constitution. The rights so won were a well-meaning gift and not the spoils of war.
LAW AND JUSTICE
One of the three main institutions of democracy is the Judiciary, the other two being the Legislature and the Executive. Compared to others, India’s Judiciary is less corrupt and more reliable. But slowly, there is fear that corruption and nepotism are slowly creeping into Judiciary sector. The system is being politicized to some extent. The caste and communal politics have also affected Judiciary. Abiding by the rule of law is the manifestation of a civilized society. Here also, India is slowly slipping into chaos.
Breaking of law has been legitimized by vested interests. Every other day we read in the papers about mobs taking over law into their hands. This is a dangerous sign. Respect for law is coming down. Thousands of illegal structures have been put up all over the country, which are now being demolished. In Munnar, Kerala, a large number of Villas and Hotels, put up for tourism, are being demolished. Assets created are being destroyed. How such a large number of buildings came into existences flouting the law is to be looked into.
In the US, even at midnight, in isolated junctions, people stop if there is ‘Stop” sign. In Singapore, nobody breaks the law there, since their licence will be cancelled for ever, or a heavy fine imposed. Unless laws are enforced, people will slowly lose respect for law. But police are overworked. And the numbers available are not adequate. Also, a large part of police force is being utilized for bandobust duties, taking prisoners to the court, accompanying VIPs etc. The normal civil police should not be misutilised for such routine jobs. Retired army personnel should be recruited, trained and given this responsibility, thus saving the time of civil police.
Meanwhile, it has been estimated that 30 million cases are pending in the lower and higher courts. This means one in ten families in India is a litigant. Transparency International estimates that corruption in the judicial system may be of the order of Rs. 5000 crores per year, mostly at lower levels of judges and staff. Our judiciary requires drastic reform to simplify laws and procedures. I recall reading Jack Bell, a book on China. Soon after their revolution, the Communist Party established courts for every village, street and city. All minor offences were dealt with by these courts. It takes years in India to get a case finalized in the courts.
In 1950, a car was involved in an accident as it hit a lamp post. Nobody was there. The car was taken to workshop. The Insurance Company agreed to get it repaired or pay Rs. 6000 to the owner. The workshop caught fire and the car was destroyed. The owner filed a suit against the Insurance Company. The case went on for 40 years. Finally, the Supreme Court ordered that the Insurance Company should pay Rs. 6000 plus interest plus cost. But the Insurance Company itself had disappeared by that time. A lawyer was there to represent that Insurance Company. The owner of the car went to him to check to whom he represented. He said that he was simply arguing the complaint and that he had no client. Justice Krishna Iyer often repeats that case to show how absurd the whole system is. No serious attempt has been made so far to simplify the judiciary and the paraphernalia of our legal system. The UPA may constitute a committee.
From the beginning of civilization, corruption has existed. 100 million go to temples in India. Thousands are teaching ethics and morals. Satyameva Jayathe is our motto. Yet we are one of the most corrupt countries in the world. But in one Scandinavian country, Church attendance is low; still it is the least corrupt. In fact, some temples are not free from corruption. Hindus cannot even manage temple administration, and hence government manages Hindu temples, which shows degeneration of values.
Recently, our PM spoke about the widespread corruption, which was responsible for the poor quality of roads and government buildings. But corruption is maximum at the political level and contractors have to keep our democratic system going. Government is corrupt, largely because they are involved in business. Government’s main duty is governance. At present, government is deeply involved in business, which should be reduced to the essentials.
It is not as if Indians are corrupt per se. When Indians are in Europe, USA or Singapore, they are not that corrupt. They also work hard. Keralites would shirk work, but work diligently in Gulf countries. All this shows that what is wrong in India is poor management and systems. In the same city, workers’ productivity is high in one, and low in another. The Government systems, which employ 20 m, is the most corrupt and least efficient. Other countries in SE and Far East are ahead of us due to our poor management. But 1200 management schools are training graduates who enter the private sector only, employing 10 m. The vast 360 m in the unorganized sector is languishing due to poor systems and nil management.
INDIAN RAILWAYS (IR)
Thanks to British foresight, India inherited an excellent railway system. But India has utterly neglected to expand and modernise the IR system. Instead, the portfolio was consistently given to individuals, most of whom had no genuine interest in making it better. They were by and large political appointments, and the office was invariably used, to serve their own or party interests. An imaginary incident was reported in the Press 30 years back. The Chairman of the IR Board was introducing his colleagues to the new Minister, who did not show any interest in the procedure. After they left his chambers, he told the Chairman “ Chairman sahib, Aap isko chhodoh. Contractor log ko bulavo”
I have been associated with the Railways in some form or other. For a few years, during the Seventies, I was Advisor to the Parliamentary Committee on Railway Facilities and passenger amenities. Since I failed to influence the IR Board, I wish to relate here a rather funny incident. A meeting of top officials of Western and Central Railways was convened to listen to their views. I requested the GM of Central Railways to start an additional train from Mumbai to Chennai, since the waiting list was two months. The GM said that it was impossible, since there was no platform in VT to accommodate another train. I was in a relaxed mood, and said “Sir, our forefathers in south were monkeys. We shall jump into the train. We do not need platforms. We want more trains. Start a train from Kurla where there must be a free platform”. The Chairman, an MP then warned me that I should use better language. To my surprise, the GM started an additional train, and called it Kurla Express. Even such an elementary thinking would not occur to the IR managers, since they are in-bred, and cannot accept suggestions from outside.
In the late fifties, I had the opportunity to travel abroad to UK and US as a member of a Productivity Study team of 11 experts drawn from various sectors. Two were from IR. They showed no interest in the Training. They expressed openly that they had nothing to learn from US and UK, and that they knew much more. They returned after a few weeks. We spent a year in the study team. During the Seventies, I suggested a Forty point Expansion cum Modernisation program to the Minister. He was convinced, but asked me to convince the IR Board. A meeting was called immediately which was attended by the IR Board and 50 senior officials. After my 40 minute presentation, the Minister asked the members whether they agreed to my suggestions. One senior member of the Board said “Sir, We totally agree to all the ideas presented. Not only that, these ideas are ours and the Professor has only repeated what we have been proposing for long”. The Minister then asked them “Why can’t you implement them?” Their candid reply was that it was difficult to implement any modernisation programmes in IR due to constraints, that outsiders do not know and should not know. The situation is the same today. Lalu ji increased revenues. But the system did not expand or improve. Long distance movement of passenger traffic is far more than the capacity, and hence passengers are put to great hardship to get berths in overcrowded trains. Waiting List is long. Even now, between Bangalore and Kerala and Chennai etc. 150 buses are plying, which is equal to three train loads. Yet IR would not increase trains. Meanwhile, people are burning trains, and culprits are not punished. We have a weak State.
There is scope for doubling the number of Express trains and their speeds, which is essential for protecting and promoting the Unity and Culture of our country. The new Minister may kindly consider innovative ways of expanding and modernisation of IR. Ideas are known, and they are feasible to implement. Funds can be raised by increasing fares and borrowing. But the present focus is on populist policies for favouring areas, giving jobs, garnering popularity etc. IR should be corporatised. Railways should concentrate on owning the railway track and infra structure. The Private sector should be given a large responsibility of running trains, maintenance, repairs, manufacturing rolling stock, publicity etc.
Progress of IR during the last 50 years has been at turtle speed. IR is the life line of India – not only for development and security but also for preserving and promoting the Culture and Unity of the country. These should be the Missions of IR.
A unique feature of Hindu India is the large number of religious festivals and celebrations. Indian culture has nourished family relationships. So much so, people wish to visit relatives, attend marriages and death ceremonies, take care of relatives when they are sick etc. IR is not able to provide trains for easy and fast movement. Thirupathi attracts a lakh of devotees per day. During the season, Sabarimala is visited by five millions. During the forthcoming Kumbha Mela, 70 million would attend. Varanasi and Rishikesh attract a lakh of people per day.
IR can raise fares since people are prepared to pay for their beliefs and customs and traditions. Lalu did not increase fares so that he could become popular, and hence he has been punished for his neglect of the people’s concerns. He was admired by IIMs. But people would not forgive him for not improving capacity and amenities. Incidentally, he gave a free hand to the IR managers, and wanted only credit. But he insisted that fares should not be increased. IR is short of funds for expansion and modernization. He was indifferent to this important factor.
If fast trains of 200 km speed are to be introduced. People can then settle down where jobs are available, and then go to their home states once a year. We should encourage people to settle down in different parts of the country other than their home states. This is required for the long term homogenisation of India. At present, there is too much of regional feelings, at the expense of national consciousness.
IR should concentrate on Long distance fast Express trains, and leave slow passenger traffic to the road transport. IR itself proclaims that railways are six times more efficient than road transport in fuel consumption. So it is absurd that people should use bus transport to travel 1000 kms by buses. They would gladly go by train if seats are available. The quota and scarcity situation exists in IR. Telephones, transport and industry have been liberated, and hence they are efficient. IR is a monopoly, which should be dismantled. Managerial culture should be introduced. HRD training should be increased many fold. Private sector should be given a larger share of operations. More trains should be introduced. IR changed the name of VT to CST for political reasons. Why not build another big station and name it as CST.
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BUREAUCRACY
The British designed the Public Administrative System (PAS), primarily intended for governance. Elaborate rules, regulations and procedures are part of the bureaucracy, all of which is sacrosanct. The idea also was to reduce administrative expenses. The basic premise of bureaucracy is that nobody can be trusted. Therefore, it was expected that officers should go strictly by laws and regulations. There was no scope for discretion, flexibility and autonomy for meeting desired goals. The hierarchy is strictly observed. The file became the scripture on every issue. The whole system is totally impersonal. These aspects are entirely opposed to managerial system and culture, where merit of the issue, personalities involved, criticality of the situation, trustworthiness of persons concerned, risk taking, judgement of the outcome, etc are taken into account in deciding issues. For the last sixty years, attempts were made to change the bureaucratic system and attitude. There is no progress in reforms, except that some restrictions have been removed. It is a pity that government is unable to de-bureaucratize.
The problem has become acute because government is in business, which requires a managerial system and culture. Though a few have overcome the constraints and limitations of the system and have produced results, most officials go strictly by the written words in the file. A few years ago, a countrywide survey was done in the US to choose the best companies by assessing their success based on certain criteria. Initially, 100 were selected, from which the best ten were identified. It was found that there was a direct correlation between the success of the companies and their management culture. It revealed that the better managed companies had the least amount of paper work and maximum amount of personal touch and judgement. The opposite is in India. In government and government controlled organizations, paper work is the main activity and last word. The book on “Yes Minister” showed how government functions. Arun Shourie has vividly brought out in his book how government functioning is simply disgusting. The process frustrates and defeats honest people who wish to accomplish some goals. MNCs have pointed out that it is much easier to deal with China than India. This observation is shared by everybody, including political leaders. Though officials style themselves as servants, they have scant regard for citizens. Letters are not acknowledged. It is difficult to get officers on the phone. Most officials are arrogant and rude and/or indifferent. Therefore, the system needs review not by Administrative Reforms Commissions but by Management Consultancy firms.
With great foresight and wisdom, the British constituted the ICS cadre for Public Administration as well as specialized cadres for Foreign affairs, Police, Postal, Customs, Audit and Accounts, Forests, Railways etc. Thus they had realized the importance of specialized services. But the government is utilizing IAS officials for all sectors that have emerged after independence. When government started PSUs, a new cadre, called Industrial Management Pool (IMP) was constituted. But that was discontinued after a couple of years, and IAS officers were assigned the responsibility of managing PSUs. In view of the need for high degree of knowledge in specializations, it is essential to develop specialists with expertise in environment, rural development, commerce and industry etc. It may be difficult to start new cadres for all these sectors.
What can be done, as an interim measure, is to constitute an India Development Service (IDS). During the first 10 years of service, all those IAS officers, who have a flair for managerial competence, should develop expertise in one or two specializations, such as Agriculture and Rural Development, Environment and Forests, Industries and Commerce, Transport and Civil aviation, Public works and Urban Development, Education and Technology, Travel and Tourism, Public Health etc. Those who acquire such knowledge and skills can be seconded to the IDS with specific specializations. Thereafter, they could be given charge of Ministries in which they have developed skills. Others should remain in the IAS. But they can be seconded to IDS if they subsequently develop expertise. An incentive could be given to IDS so as to encourage them to acquire knowledge and skills.
The IAS and other specialized services are oriented to Administrative skills, where they ensure that rules, regulations, policies, control measures etc are observed. These persons have very little of managerial knowledge and skills. Therefore, all services should be given comprehensive HRD training in Management. This input can start at the beginning itself, with a number of courses on organization, management, communication, leadership, decision making etc. Later on, more advanced management development programmes could be organized for them. The syllabus and examination should contain inputs on management subjects.
The other reform that would be useful is in the syllable and examination system. At present, candidates can take optional subjects of their choice. In such a situation, it is difficult to compare relative performance in tests. Therefore, everybody should take the same course and examination. Subjects to be included are: Constitution, History, Public Administration, Culture, Development, Transportation and communication, Management etc. This would ensure that all are appraised on the same subjects. At present candidates are studying subjects based on past question papers and reproducing the information gathered from books. Officials should develop analytical skills, comprehension of the country’s problems etc., which requires a managerial system.
The ranking should be only after an examination is held at the end of the training. In order to develop them fully, batches of 50 should spend at least two weeks in the cities where IIMs and Development institutes are located, such as NIAS, IISc, TIFR, CDS etc. In each location, trainees should listen to eminent scholars and leaders in various fields. They should also learn the culture of our country in the regions, and thus develop an all India outlook. At present, candidates have no idea about India’s glorious heritage in art, literature, science, technology, philosophy culture, values etc. These subjects should become an integral part of training and assessment.
Even after such changes, results cannot come unless the bureaucratic system is drastically changed. For the PA function, what is required is simplification, elimination of obsolete rules and procedures etc. For the IDS division, the system should be managerial in design and culture with emphasis on entrepreneurship, flexibility, responsibility and power, autonomy etc. At present, even the best of IAS person cannot do much as the system blocks initiative and innovation.
Administrative Reforms Commissions have made many suggestions. But they have not been implemented. Also, the system has not been looked into from a management perspective. Files on every subject start from the bottom, with notings by the Desk Clerk or Case worker. Then the file moves up and down with notings at every stage. Most of them have no clue about the subject matter in the case of development issues. For the PA function, this may be OK.
IDS officers should be given autonomy and power to make use of consultants and specialists. Hundreds of letters come every day, and it is practically impossible to deal with them. Officers are changed every few months. Each person is new to the subject. A great deal of harm is being done to the country and to the citizens involved in development. Everybody condemns the bureaucracy. But nobody has dared to change this system, which is inappropriate.
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CHINA – INDIA COMPARISON
ECONOMIC and SOCIAL INDICES
No. Economic or Social factor Unit of measurement China India
1 Steel Production M tons/year 163 29
2 Cement Production M tons/year 650 109
3 Food grain M tons/year 418 210
4 Crude oil production M tons/year 160 40
5 Coal production M tons/year 1300 300
6 Electrical Generation Megawatts – Lac 2.58 89
7 Electricity Generated B - Killowatts 1,166 417
8 Transmission & Distribution losses as % of
total power 6.8 23.4
9 Electricity Tariff $ / 100 k w 4.3 7.53
10 Cost of commercial Borrowing as % interest
/ year 6 - 7 9 – 18
11 Telephones lines M 240 43
12 TV sets M 400 75
13 Mobile phones M 205 29
14 Internet M 45 9
15 Foreign Trade $ B per year 551 115
16 Bicyles M per year 55 8
17 Exports $ B per year 430 52
18 Tourist Arrivals M per year 87 2.5
19 FDI inflow $ B per year 106 3.80
20 FDI from Non-residents $ B per year 70 0.2
21 Forex Reserves $ B 452 105
22 GDP $ B 1121 460
23 Population M 1260 1060
24 Population increase M per year 10 19
25 Birth rate Per 1000 8.8 27
26 Per Capita income $ per year 1060 480
27 Life expectancy Years 73 62
28 Poverty line % of total
population 3 30
29 Infant mortality Rate per Lac 31 72
30 Maternal mortality Rate per Lac 42 410
31 Malnutrition % of children 10 30
1 Lac = 1,00,000, 1 million (M) = 10 lacs, 1 billion (B) = 1000 million, $ = US $.
EDUCATION, LEADERSHIP AND VISION
OF A FREE INDIA
Adapted from Nani A. Palkhivala
Education & Moral Leadership
The teachers of our country trim the silver lamp of knowledge and keep its sacred flame bright from generation to generation. They expend their lives on significant but unadvertised work. Quite a few of them plough the lonely furrow of scholarship. Their dedication bears witness to the selflessness of the human spirit.
Nani Palkhivala puts it thus: I am proud to say that during my days as a student, our teachers and professors used education as the technique of transmitting civilization. The education we receive help us to enlighten our understanding and enrich our character. If I may speak in a lighter vein, the greatest lesson taught to us was that a formal education at a university cannot do you much harm provided you start learning thereafter!
I am using the word “education’ in its profound sense. Animals can be trained; only human beings can be educated. Education requires personal participation and transformation. It cannot be given to anyone; it must be inwardly appropriated.
In ancient India, kings and emperors thought it a privilege to sit at the feet of men of learning. Intellectuals and men of knowledge were given the highest honour in society. Kind Janaka, himself a philosopher, journeyed on foot into the jungle to discourse with Yajnavalkya on high matters of state. In the eighth century, Sankaracharya traveled on foot from Kerala to Kashmir and from Dwarka in the west to Puri in the east. He could not have changed men’s minds and established centres of learning in the far-flung corners of India but for the great esteem and reverence which intellectuals enjoyed.
Thomas Jefferson, one of the founders of the United States of America, remarked, “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, it expects what never was and never will be.” When a republic comes to birth, it is the leaders who produce the institutions. Later, it is the institutions which produce the leaders. The question – where are the leaders of tomorrow? - can only be answered by the other question – where are the nation-building institutions which can produce the leaders of tomorrow.
Do we have educational institutions which aim at generating excellence? - institutions which are equipped to produce “movers of people, mobilizers of opinion” – integrated personalities whose minds, hearts and character have been developed in the noble traditions of our invaluable heritage?
Education today is in total disarray in our country. The ministry of education is considered a minor cabinet post which reflects a serious misunderstanding of the pivotal role of “human” capital in taking a nation to great heights. We have failed in imparting value-based education to our youth which I was fortunate in receiving both as a student and in the home. The result is that India which “should have led the world in life-nurturing ideas, is being led by the crass materialism of others”.
We are quite right in making constant endeavours to raise the standard of living of our people. But the standard of life is even more significant than the standard of living. If we lose our sensitivity towards the quality of life, it can only mean that while our knowledge increases, our ignorance does not diminish.
What we need today more than anything else is moral leadership at all levels. It is particularly essential in the field of education – moral leadership founded on courage, intellectual integrity and a sense of values.
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A NEW ROLE FOR GOVERNMENT
Adapted from Deepak Parekh
There is broad consensus today that it is no longer important, or even desirable, for government to promote and support forays into either breadmaking or the manufacture of bicycles.
Similarly, the role of the civil services must evolve from the erstwhile framework of patron, licenser and enforcer of rules to one that is more attuned to the emerging society of the next millennium. In essence, this is as much a shift of an era from an industrial age, when licenses were key and information sacred, to an information age that is far more open. As information becomes available freely, bureaucracy must shift its focus from dissemination and intermediation, to one where government is a partner and a facilitator.
A Broader Perspective
At one level, we need to balance the impact of global changes, and at a second level, there is a need to look at local issues and concerns, which are more real to the immediate citizen. In effect, therefore, a leader would need to think global while acting local.
The best description would be the way Singapore has evolved into Singapore Inc. The head of that nation state makes an annual address to the nation, which is more in the nature of a chairman’s statement and a directors’ report. In effect, it provides to the nation, a balance sheet of the year gone by, and the direction to be pursued in the future, both in the near and medium term. The civil services, is then empowered to work in tandem with the private sector to provide a unified face of Singapore Inc. This partnership approach is best emphasized in the fostering of bi-lateral country to country frameworks by the ministry, where the private sector collaborates under an umbrella framework for the creation of real projects on the ground.
It is this fundamental shift that is the litmus test on which we must assess the growth of private-public partnership. It is here that we must recognize the need for the managerial and leadership role for the bureaucracy. Thus, just in the way that CEOs evolve from managers to leaders, so also bureaucracy must shift its focus from administration first to pro-active management, and then to leadership. Working with private sector, they are best positioned to evolve the contours of a policy that can then be a subject of legislative debate and enactment.
Lalit understood this process well. His last trip focused on enhancing the investment flows to Maharashtra through the creation of greater interest and awareness amongst collaborators abroad. He was also amongst the pioneers in involving the Indian private sector through road shows in countries abroad, conforming closely to the manner in which we market our goods and services, or even our financial offerings.
As we completed 50 years of our independence, and move into the next millennium, it is this approach that we must bring to bear under a collaborative framework.
The Emerging Role of the Administrator
Coming to the emerging role of the administrator, it is important to understand the differing expectations of the concerned counter-parties. At one level, there is the inter-action with the common citizen for whom the emphasis remains the effective delivery of personal infrastructure services in his local area. The common man is not concerned with, nor enamored, by buoyant statistics on forex reserves or the last quarter’s GDP growth. Their focus necessarily relates to local concerns, and hence the aspirations and requirements relate to regulations that result in the effective delivery of services, be it in the local school networks or in the drainage system or in the provision of potable drinking water. At a second level, their concern relates to the transparency of the process through which they can access the required services from local government.
Thus to be local, the bureaucracy must necessarily provide an inter-face that has an accent on local concerns. I have always found that it is this point of inter-face, be it the local district collector or the local administrator, who makes the most lasting impression in the local community. As we move forward with local reform, the efficacy of the local interface would become increasingly critical.
Similarly, the corporate sector has different concerns in so far as the expectations for the future are concerned. As global economies become integrated, there is a need to remain competitive and flexible if we are to play any meaningful role in world trade and commerce. The corporate sector therefore needs to be pro-active rather than re-active, and it is here that there are changing expectations from the administrative services. The emphasis is on a bureaucracy that is transparent, and a facilitator. The role of ministries at the central level has been increasingly becoming one of a partnership, combined with the role of a regulator. Infrastructure sector, such an evolution can easily be undertaken in the ministry of surface transport (most). With the creation of the NHAI, (National Highways Authority of India), and with substantive allocations made to them through the budget, the NHAI will increasingly take on the role of project development and execution. It would then be incumbent for most to redefine its role to that of a regulator to ensure uniformity of process between NHAI and the private sector. Such an evolution is also taking place in other infrastructure sectors. We recently saw the impact of the TRAI (Telephone Regulatory Authority of India) in quickly resolving the dispute between the DOT (Department of Telecommunications) and cellular operators.
Corporate Governance
Just as we expect transparency in the regulatory process, corporates will need to increasingly demonstrate a similar approach in their internal functioning. Increasingly, it will be imperative for senior management to spend more time on issues in relation to best practices, compliance, reporting and accountability.
Earlier, when information flows were slow or limited, such issues were seldom at the forefront of debate. However, we have today a situation where events unfold in real time across the globe. Corporates are increasingly coming under the microscope given their increasing dominance, economic power and impact on a society. Good leadership therefore will be predicated on the premise that corporate leaders of tomorrow spend more time on self regulation, as this is in their own long term interest.
The Governance of Government
It is fashionable today to talk of issues relating to corporate governance. Over the past few months, there have been any number of seminars on this subject, and the government itself has been pro-active in leading a discussion on all aspects of corporate governance.
Our current pre-occupation on this subject is timely, and highly desirable. We simply cannot afford to continue a corporate culture where family management shows scant regard for both institutional investors as well as shareholdings from the general public. In addition, succession of management in family dominated enterprises is seldom an optional solution over multiple generations.
Ironically, most of the ingredients of good corporate governance in the private sector are already in place. They need to be strengthened. Shareholders are no longer a silent inactive lot but take great interest in corporate affairs as most Annual General Meetings (AGMs) would indicate. With a rising class of professional investment analysts constantly analyzing corporate balance sheets and meeting with senior corporate leaders, very little that might affect corporate performance escapes attention. With the rise of financial journalism, the press has been a major player in ensuring corporate compliance with regulatory and legal frameworks. The real problem seems to lie in public sector corporate governance where shareholders being the public at large through the taxes they pay have almost no say in the management or the activities of Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs). PSU boards are subservient to their respective ministries and are generally constituted with government nominees with little independent representation.
The managements of PSUs, as a consequence, have little autonomy and in many cases are encouraged to maintain the status quo in business strategy rather than to risk change. Major decisions are delayed or not taken at all which includes the appointment of Chief Executive Officers. In other words, almost all the basic ingredients for good governance are missing – clarity or responsibility, transparency, checks and balances and thus accountability Corporate governance does not seem to exist at all.
Corporate conduct is a function of the environment it finds itself under; it follows, more or less the standards society imposes on itself. In India we have chosen to surround ourselves with peculiarly complex legal, fiscal and regulatory environments which constrains rather than facilitates; regulates rather than supervises; complicates rather than clarifies, produces opacity rather than transparency; and encourages rule bound behaviour rather than policy directed behaviour.
Good governance at any level – corporate or governmental – will crucially depend on greater simplicity in the process of governance combined with much stronger checks and balances, clarity of roles, the assignment of responsibilities and obligations which will enhance accountability where it is due. Complexity generates its own price, which is none other than a corruption tax which accrues to others rather than the exchequer.
To my mind, it is equally important at this juncture to look at the other side of the coin. And by this I mean, the process of governance within the government itself. There are two primary issues that need to be addressed:
(1) The environment has changed radically over the past few years as a result of the new economic policies enunciated and implemented by successive governments. Today, the allocation of responsibility between the state and the centre is vastly different from the allocation that existed when the present systems of governance were first formulated and put in place.
In the private sector, we continually re-engineer our corporation, effect changes to the organization structure, and frequently overhaul entire methods of production and delivery. It is high time that the government work up to its responsibility of similarly re-engineering its own processes. To my mind, this is the single causal factor for the visible lack of success we have had in moving projects forward expeditiously, and in a cost effective manner.
We are all familiar with the famous and useful filing system of government, whereby the remarks of all the officials from the section officer to the secretary are laboriously noted and preserved for posterity. The creation of durable archives was perhaps an end in itself when the system was first invented. The system has worked well for perhaps a century and served the purpose for which it was created – i.e., the framework of governance for implementing defined rules, procedures and for oversight of public expenditure.
Somewhat ludicrously, we are attempting to use the same system of governance for delivering projects under a private public partnership. By definition, each project or initiative has its own peculiarities, and the requirement of specific solutions mocks at the efforts of governance predicated on a uniformity of rules and regulations. It is the nature of the beast that all projects would have areas where a judgement call would need to be made. These judgement calls are made without much ado everyday or even several times a day in the private sector. And it is here that our famous filing system breaks down completely, producing a seemingly unending bureaucratic impasse.
(2) The situation is significantly aggravated by the second issue I refer to, which is another peculiar feature of governance in the government sector. And here, I am referring to the somewhat unfortunate practice of filling the highest slots in the bureaucracy with individuals who have a residual tenure of service of a few months. No CEO can successfully lead the fortunes of a corporation it he has to work within a time horizon of a few months. It is scarcely surprising then that management will and vision at the top of the bureaucracy ladder is sometimes found wanting.
The Re-engineering of Government Procedures
Over the past seven years, it is fact that we have made notable progress in carrying through our program of economic reform. By definition, commercially sponsored projects appear to be more expensive, given incremental costs on account of insurance, interest in the construction period, and at times, improved designs. As you know, government does not take recourse to insurance and until relatively recently, I have found individuals who are otherwise quite savvy, to not fully appreciate costs where the payment of interest is concerned. This is course, is not too surprising, as the governance of government usually proceeds at a leisurely pace, without ascribing value to the passage of time.
Today, we have come to a stage when it is no longer a question of cheap money versus expensive money. With the progressive dis-mantling of subsidies, the choice today is clearly between dear money and no money. In addition, the policy framework is largely in place in almost all sectors, with perhaps the singular exception of the civil aviation sector. The gyrations of public policy in this sector are well known and to a dis-interested spectator, it has all the ingredients of a soap opera. But, by and large, policies have been formulated and statutes have been changed where necessary, given our somewhat archaic system of legal jurisprudence that was first enacted in the mid 19th century. In addition to the enactment of statutes, frameworks have been laid with attendant operating guidelines.
What has been achieved to date is very valuable, but is must be seen as only a prelude to a concerted re-engineering exercise of governance within the government. There is no other way in which our administrators can become encouraged to be managers. We are today an economy that is in transition. As part of a global economy, it is also buffeted on an on-going basis by changes taking place in external markets. Progressively, there would be less for government to administer, and we already have a back-log of issues that government needs to manage. If we are to progress further and address ambitious goals, including aspirations to be part of APEC, our governance systems must also have the capacity to throw up leaders who not only have the ability to manage and re-act, but who have the vision to look ahead and the charisma to attract their own following.
The need for specialization
If we look at the corporate sector, we can readily discern certain areas that have evolved as specialized functions. Thus, while most corporates groom general management skills, there has been the realization of the need for the specialist to co-exist side by side in the corporate sector. I believe it is also appropriate to develop such specialists within the civil services. If we look at some of the state governments, there are some isolated precedents in this regard. For eg., the secretary, PWD, is not ordinarily from the IAS cadre. He is a specialist in civil engineering and road construction technology. I believe that if we are to be effective, there is a need for such specialists in other spheres as well. For eg., trade, commerce and investments have become increasingly inter-related. These are complex fields and the use of specialist mind could be invaluable.
In IL & FS, we have had the fortune and the ability to attract talented IAS officers who have been assigned responsibilities attuned to their special skills. We have gained immeasurably from the output of these individuals. I suspect that government would not be a loser if its doors were opened consciously and systematically to talent from the private sector.
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The Need for Prioritizing Our Developmental Concerns
Expansion of basic human capabilities, including such freedoms as the ability to live long, to read and write, to escape preventable illnesses, to work outside the family irrespective of gender, and to participate in collaborative as well as adversarial politics, not only influence the quality of life that the Indian people can enjoy, but also affect the real opportunities they have to participate in economic expansion…
… (In India) so much energy and wrath have been spent on attacking or defending liberalization and deregulation that the monumental neglect of social inequalities and deprivations in public policy has received astonishingly little attention in these debates. The issues underlying liberalization are not, of course, trivial, but engagement on these matters – in opposition or in defence – cannot justify the conformist tranquility on the neglected provisions of public education, health care, and other direct means of promoting basic human capabilities. In fact, sometimes contentious regulational matters seem to get astonishing priority in political discussions over more foundational concerns related directly to the well-being and freedom of the mass of Indian citizens. Debates on such questions as the details of tax concessions to be given to multinationals, or whether Indians should drink Coca Cola, or whether the private sector should be allowed to operate city buses, tend to ‘crowd-out’ the time that is left to discuss the abysmal situation of basic education and elementary health care, or the persistence of debilitating social inequalities, or other issues that have a crucial bearing on the well-being and freedom of the population. In a multi-party democracy, there is scope for influencing the agenda of the government through systematic opposition, and the need to examine the priorities of public criticism is as strong as is the necessity that the government should scrutinize its own relative weights and concerns.
- Jean Dreze and Amartya Sen
Swami Vivekananda’s Economic Thought
Swami Vivekananda was not a specialist economist, but he understood well the roots of India’s economic problems. Once he spoke on a purely economic subject, ‘The Use of Silver in India’, and participated in a debate on ‘Bimetallism’ at the annual convention of the American Social Science Association on 6 September 1893. According to a report published the next day in the Daily Saratogian, ‘Money was the subject’ and ‘addresses and papers all pertained to finance. This incident suggests that Swamiji possessed a general knowledge about economics, otherwise he would not have considered it prudent to speak before a knowledgeable assembly.
Unlike other thinkers Swamiji had a first-hand experience of India’s economic problems, as he had traversed through the length and breadth of the country on foot. And while traveling he had come in close contact with farmers, artisans, traders, tribals, and people from other walks of life, sharing with them – irrespective of their caste, creed, religion, and gender – their privation, hunger, and misery, and learning about the reasons for these. He also came across the emerging proletariat working under pitiable conditions in factories and workshops. He was tormented to see the oppression common people were suffering at the hands of upper-class elites, zamindars, priests, and the imperialist foreign rulers – and his mind brooded over the solutions that would improve the lot of the common masses.
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MANAGEMENT OF TRANSITION
Adapted from
Viren J. Shah, M.P.
‘DEMOCRACY’ AND ‘ECONOMIC GROWTH’ MAY APPEAR INCOMPATIBLE IN THE SHORT RUN – BUT IN THE LONG RUN – THEY WILL DISCOVER THAT THEY ARE ‘MADE FOR EACH OTHER’
URGENT TASKS :
1. Fix the goals
We launched a reform program nearly twelve years ago yet I am not sure whether we have defined our goals and the time-frames to achieve those goals. We now need to develop a document that lists with clarity the goals and when they will be achieved. This is particularly important when we are pursuing structural adjustment.
2. Forge a Domestic political consensus
Instead of ramming through policy initiatives, experts suggest unequivocally that debate, discussion and consensus are the vehicles which will ensure the success of the program. This directly translates into concretising reform proposals by legislative action rather than bureaucratic command.
3. Carry the message to the people
Positive results from the reform process will only accrue over the medium-term. Any short-term expectations of the public will only succeed in building opposition to the program. Therefore the Government must undertake a multi-media communication exercise that not only explains the goals but also the time-frame and reasoning behind it. This will also demonstrate the Government’s commitment to reform and build credibility.
4. Manage the budget prudently
The best indicator of prudent fiscal management is the level of inflation in the economy. Fiscal and macro-economic imbalances cause inflation to be out of control. Therefore structural adjustment may be necessary when inflation rises to two-digit figures. Control measures will include wage-price freezes but these serve only to temporarily stem the tide. Our real worry is public spending and this must be slashed to reduce our budget deficit. The thousands of crores that we pour into subsidies and the public sector has to be put to better use perhaps on infrastructure like roads and telecommunications. The Cavallo Plan which cut public spending enabled Argentina to control hyperinflation.
5. Let convertibility of the national currency
boost competitiveness
Exchange rates signal the economy’s external competitiveness. Inflation tends to overrule the currency which in turn cause an increase in the trade deficit. Full convertibility on trade account will serve to improve the competitiveness of exports. It will also force discipline on imports.
6. Liberalise trade
India’s average tariff rate has been reduced from around 150% to approximately 80%. This is still an unconscionably high level which serves to keep out international competition. A reduction of this average rate to around 50-60% over the next twelve months will serve to dramatically increase competition in our domestic market. While this will put pressure on inefficient companies, quality and productivity across the economy will improve. Also we must try and eliminate non-tariff barriers within a year or so. Our trade policies must permit full ingress and egress at internationally comparable tariff rates and conditions.
7. Invite foreign investment
India’s approach to foreign investment has traditionally been to ‘prevent’. We now have no choice but to invite. As I have often done in the past, I suggest that FERA be abolished. In its place, we must introduce foreign investment incentive programs like Costa Rica and Mexico have done. Foreign investment contributes to total investment in the economy which in turn encourages growth in employment and income.
8. Create supportive environment
Our economic environment must be supportive of business and industry. To this end, our policy towards private property rights must be such that owners of such property are protected from loss. In particular, our commercial law system must be made more enforceable and timely. Professor C.K.Prahalad of the University of Michigan refers to what he calls ‘transaction governance capacity’ and characterizes it as one of the two dimensions of the transition process, the other being change in political ideology. Our policy towards infrastructure must be pragmatic – to let private investors into areas where public resources are either not available or inefficient, subject to stringent quality, cost and time standards. Especially in the areas of telecommunications, transport, power and construction, our policies must ‘invite’ foreign investment.
9. Privatise and downsize
We have to reduce the size of our Government and spin-off the public sector. We must draw up a time-table for privatization and vigorously implement the programme. We must also draw up and put into effect a plan to drastically downsize the Governmental structure itself.
10. Cost effective social safety nets
In every country, economic reform has entailed high social costs. These translates into extreme hardship not only for the poorest of the poor but also for people in the lower – middle income group. Though we have been talking of the National Renewal Fund, it is hardly a net that cushions all the disenfranchised sections of our population. We must now design a national safety net that provides our people with at least subsistence-level nutrition, basic health care, shelter and literacy. This will no doubt require vast resources. However I have no doubt at all that this money can be found by privatizing, downsizing, creating a National Safety Net Fund (tax-deductible) and by seeking better tax compliance by reducing tax-rates.
Wanted : An Office of Economic Transition (OET)
The transition has to be managed professionally. The implementation of the process cannot be left to the whims of a few politicians and bureaucrats who have had a lifetime of experience in creating the licence-permit raj. As I mentioned earlier, reform has to be a carefully planned program in which expertise in a host of areas is vital. Today, we just do not have such expertise within the Government. Besides, our efforts at reform have been piecemeal and fragmented. For the program to be effective, the process must be planned holistically. To ensure that we move in a deliberate, well-planned and irrevocable manner, the Parliament must consider enacting a Law of Economic Transition. The law should lay down the objectives of Economic Transition, the policy prescriptions (privatization, downsizing, exchange-rate, fiscal balance, etc.) and the time-frames for key result areas. It should also specify the rights and duties of the Union and the States in this process.
It may be a good idea to create an Office of Economic Transition (OET) with statutory powers and obligations to pursue the reform process. The OET has to be given adequate budgetary support and provided with the widest and deepest professional expertise available. Foreign experts, and consulting firms – foreign and domestic – can be invited to provide additional support to the OET in areas like privatization. The OET will be the agency responsible for framing the law on Economic Transition within a specified period, say 24 months. The law itself can be visualized in parts or phases so that as soon as OET designs the particular phase, it can be enacted by the Parliament. The OET will monitor continually the progress of the reform as designed.
Conclusion:
The reform process will be effective only to the extent we accept the values it is founded on, only if we pursue it with conviction – not as an escape from a choiceless predicament – and with clarity on the goals ahead. Also we must recognize the vital interconnection among economic reform, the bureaucratic – administrative as well as the legal and judicial system, and the political processes. Basic changes in one domain cannot be effective without requisite or consequential changes in the others. In short, the reform process must proceed on a broad front. We have no doubt made some progress if we measure it against our own past but in comparison with other countries several of which lack many of our advantages, our progress has been too slow – speed is of the essence. A large part of our administrative system and practices are attuned to other purposes and needs to be jettisoned. Finally transition is not a painless process and a national consensus on how the pains of change are to be borne can be forged only through a massive effort at educating the public at large in the value of the transition as something good in itself.
MANAGING ECONOMIC CHANGE IN INDIA
Adapted from Dr. A.S. Ganguly
Management of change is the essence of life; both of conscious changes in technology, communication and way of life ushered in by advances in science, behavioural as well as attitudinal corollaries. With a vast amount of capability at our disposal through the advances in Science and Technology, and the power and ability to control his own destiny, it is still necessary for man to continue wooing Nature if he wants to ensure a better quality of life and sustained development and progress for the future generations. The resources of the land have to be used judiciously and with care, so that we hand it down to our successors more enriched than what we inherited. This would require a more sensitive, perceptive and caring management of change by Government and industry alike in the years ahead.
The Indian manager is unique in seeking opportunities and succeeding in accomplishing difficult goals notwithstanding the vicissitudes and vagaries of the environment. He has generated flexible skills to match unforeseeable problems. Further, this quality has been nurtured in an environment of uncompromising professionalism. The confidence is planning for the future springs from a demanding environment and a belief that the country’s economic propensity will provide the forward thrust needed for a host of activities; raising the standard and quality of life of a generation which has more young people than ever before; to purposefully tackle the problems of poverty; and take part aggressively in international trade and commerce as befits a country of our size and competence.
The manufacturing industry which has survived protection and restrictions is now being urged to grow, and encouraged to modernize, generate more employment, spread to backward regions and reduce cost. In a country where resources are limited and where pressures of diverse demands increase, management of opportunities is acquiring a wholly new dimension.
Under these circumstances, the responsibility of the agents of change, such as managers, is heightened manifold. This includes more public and lateral accountability, social responsibility, environmental concern, and judicious investment in scientific research. Much will depend upon how we modernize our training and development programme for all sections of our employees to meet the needs of the future. The young worker and manager of today have a far greater burden both in the company and in society for his actions as well as the contributions he will need to make. In some issues the effects of one’s actions are more dependent upon one’s competence and commitment to inner imperatives rather than external controls. In place of its traditional adversariness of stance with Government, business may soon find a new and unaccustomed role: of moving shoulder to shoulder to convert opportunities into economic realities for a better future. If this has to be brought about and fostered both training and change of approach must reach far beyond, and not just be confined to those engaged in Government or in industry. It must be integrated with education and training in schools, colleges and vocational institutes for creating effective managers, scientists and administrators of the future.
But what about the future? The Indian economy has attained a critical mass. There is a pervasive feeling of confidence in the people’s abilities and their sights about the nation’s future. Poverty alleviation, a core issue, now seems closer to solution as also illiteracy and communicable diseases. Ecological dysgeny and the burgeoning population problems, however, appear to be more formidable. But in spite of this, there is an ambience of buoyancy, a confidence built upon an edifice of self-reliance, high national savings and an awareness of the need for social justice.
P R O G N O S I S
REDESIGNING INDIA FOR THE 21ST CENTURY*
(Adapted from Nani A.Palkhivala)
“Redesigning India For The 21st Century” is a vast subject which has to be looked at politically, socially and economically. To deal with it in a brief article is like trying to see the Himalayas in a flash of lightning. All that is possible is to cast a quick glance at which I may call “the seven pillars of redesigned India”. They are considered below, not necessarily in the order of importance.
National Identity
The first and the foremost of the seven pillars is a sense of national identity. We have not found it even after 60 years of independence. We have millions of Bengalis, millions of Maharashtrians, millions of Tamils – but very few Indians.
Parochial loyalties and communal fanaticism are the order of the day. They are a sure prescription for national disintegration.
The greatest enemy of India today is not Pakistan or China, but Indians themselves. No enemy can possibly weaken the country so effectively as Indians can. The defences of our democracy may be impregnable from without, but they are vulnerable from within. Let us never forget the dictum of Pogo, the cartoonist, “We have met the enemy, and it is we.” When Indians were indulging in the glib diatribe against the British that they followed the policy of divide and rule, a perceptive Indian thinker observed, “It is we who divide, and they rule.”
Let us celebrate the 15th August this year, not as the Day of Independence, but as the Day of Dependence – the dependence of the 22 states upon one another, the dependence of our manifold communities upon one another, the dependence of the numerous castes upon one another.
Maintenance of Law and Order
The second pillar is the maintenance of law and order which is the basic duty of every government. Law and order has broken down in most parts of India. The statistics given to Parliament last year showed that on an average the army was called out in India once every four days to do some job or the other. If you have to call out the army so often, you are likely to put ideas into the heads of the military officers, which ideas they had better be without. It is true that the Government is on the horns of a dilemma as in Greek tragedy – whichever way they decide, they would be wrong. If they do not call out the army, they would be unable to cope with disorder and bloodshed. If they do call out the army fairly frequently, the very survival of democracy would be endangered.
The essential point is that while we cannot avoid calling out the army, let us avoid the necessity of calling out the army. We could avoid the necessity, if we have an efficient and honest police force.
A professional and honorable police force is valuable in every society, but it is invaluable in a society like ours which is marked by three characteristics – divisiveness, indiscipline and non-cooperation.
Look at our divisiveness. One Indian is an intelligent human being; two Indians will form a party; and three Indians will form two parties. We must have something to divide us – religion, language, caste, or whatever. If we have nothing to divide us, we would invent something which can possibly feed our divisiveness.
Indiscipline is somehow ingrained in Indian character. We are all individuals, and not the citizens of a cohesive society. The way we behave with total carelessness about public property, the propensity to walk on the road rather than on the footpath, the motorist making the maximum noise with the horn in the silence zone – are some of the regular, maddening manifestations of our total lack of discipline.
Non-cooperation is the other distressing feature. People love not to cooperate with the forces of law and order. When we were fighting for our freedom, non-cooperation was a valuable weapon. But the persistence of this habit after we became a republic is most dangerous, whether it takes the form of non-payment or evasion of taxes or any other form.
In order to have an honest and efficient police force, it is imperative that it should be fully insulated from political influence. But in reality, in most States the professional autonomy of the police force has been completely destroyed by political directives, political influences and political interferences.
The only alternative is to make the police force as autonomous as the judiciary or the auditor-general. The Government cannot seek to influence, or give directives to, the High Courts or the Supreme Court, or the auditor-general, and the police are entitled to the same professional independence. Unless the politicization of the police is ended, the frequent resort to the army will be unavoidable.
Finish the work of Police Reform which have been on the anvil for too long.
Family Planning through Public Awareness
The third priority of a redesigned India has to be family planning. India can never make significant progress so long as the population keeps on increasing at the present rate. Every half an hour, the population increases by over 1000. In other words, not just the number of new births but the excess of new births over deaths is more than 2000 every hour.
It has been said that development is the best contraceptive. But development itself would not be possible if the present increase in numbers continues.
The rich get richer, and the poor get children which helps to keep them poor. More children does not mean more workers but more people without work. The World Bank’s latest World Development Report rightly suggests that population control is one of the first imperatives of development, since economic advance is so severely diluted by rapid population growth. It is not suggested that human beings should be treated like cattle and compulsorily sterilized. But there is no alternative to family planning at a human level without introducing an element of physical coericion. The choice is really between control of population and perpetuation of poverty. Anyone familiar with Indian conditions would have no doubt that the hope of our people would die in their hungry hutments unless population control is given the topmost priority.
Education
I come to the fourth pillar – education.
Article 45 of the Constitution enacts, “The State shall endeavour to provide, within a period of ten years from the commencement of this Constitution, for free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of fourteen years”. Even 60 years after the Constitution came into force, 66 per cent of our people are literally illiterate, making meaningful democracy impossible but making it easily possible for politicians to have a vested interest in illiteracy and public ignorance.
Thomas Jefferson, one of the founders of the United States of America, remarked, “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, it expects what never was and never will be”. When a republic comes to birth, it is the leaders who produce the institutions. Later, it is the institutions which produce the leaders. The question – where are the leaders of tomorrow? – can only be answered by the other question – where are the nation building institutions which can produce the leaders of tomorrow?
Do we have educational institutions which aim at generating excellence, and which are equipped to produce “moves of people, mobilizers of opinion”-integrated personalities whose minds, hearts and character have been developed in the noble traditions of our invaluable heritage?
I am using the word “education” in its profound sense. Animals can be trained; only human beings can be educated. Education requires personal participation and transformation. It cannot be given to anyone; it must be inwardly appropriated. It involves cultivation of the mind, not merely with a view to offering it as a commodity for sale in the marketplace.
H.G.Wells observed that human history is becoming more and more a race between education and catastrophe. This observation indicates what our people without education are heading for.
Constitutional Integrity
Constitutional integrity, which must be sharply distinguished from constitutional fundamentalism, may be named as the fifth pillar. While Pakistan has gone in for religious fundamentalism, India’s besetting sin is secular fundamentalism.
Fundamentalism is the triumph of the letter over the spirit. It spurns the lesson taught two thousand years ago that the letter killeth but the spirit giveth life. In our unwitting addiction to fundamentalism, we are fully supported by two defects in our national character – lack of a sense of fairness, and lack of a sense of moderation.
Constitutional fundamentalism has enabled the Union to rob the States of their constitutional right to deal with industries, by the simple expedient of Parliament irrationally declaring that control over them by the Union is “expedient in the public interest”. The letter of the Constitution is satisfied, while the spirit of the Constitution is buried fifty fathoms deep.
Similarly, the governments at the Centre and in the States bypass with impunity the legislature and promulgate a spate of Ordinances which are patently unconstitutional. An Ordinance can be promulgated only when necessity compels immediate action while the legislature is not in session (Articles 123, 213, and 2398), whereas Ordinances are being regularly promulgated in India just before the session of the legislature is to begin, so as to confront the legislature with an accomplished fact, or just after the session is over. All schemes of nationalization of individual undertakings or of entire industries are invariably kept back while the legislature is in session and are promulgated only in the form of Ordinances. The letter of the Constitution is satisfied by the President or the Governor making a declaration that while the legislature is not in session, “circumstances exist which render it necessary for him to take immediate action”. The President as well as Governors are bound to act on the advice of the Council of Ministers who are jubilantly aware that outraging the sanctity of the Constitution, however shamelessly, is not a punishable crime.
Again, an Ordinance which is intended to be a temporary law to meet an urgent crisis ceases to operate at the expiry of six weeks from the reassembly of the legislature. But by the plain device of repromulgating Ordinances again and again, they are kept indefinitely alive, while the assembly and prorogation of the legislature are merely interludes in the ordinance raj. As Dr.D.C.Wadhwa pointed out in his book Repromulgation of Ordinances: A Fraud on the Constitution of India published in 1983, in the Bihar State alone 256 Ordinances were kept alive for periods ranging from one to fourteen years.
The constitution is not a structure of fossils like a coral reef and is not intended merely to enable politicians to play their unending game of power. It is meant to hold the country together when the raucous and fractious voices of today are lost in the silence of the centuries.
Egalitarianism
The sixth column of a redesigned India should be egalitarianism. Fruitful egalitarianism is in glaring contrast to sterile socialism. I wish India would be the first country in the world to call itself not socialist but egalitarian. An egalitarian government does not aim at ideological socialism, i.e. State ownership and State control, but it aims at raising the level of the poor by efficacious means. Egalitarianism means the investment of human and material resources in an imaginatively planned manner which can contribute to the vitality and progress of the whole nation, keep it in the mainstream of self-generating growth and development, raise the standard of living of the masses, and enhance the quality of life. While ideological socialism is within the reach of any fifth-rate politician, the translation of egalitarianism into action demands intellect and knowledge, character and dedication, of the highest order.
In the field of economics we have the same phenomenon of fundamentalism as we have in our method of working the Constitution. In the past the Government respected the letter of socialism – State control and State ownership – while the spirit of social justice was left no chance of coming to life. The great merit of the new Government is that it is steering the country towards egalitarianism, in practice if not in name.
In many parts of the world, socialism is in retreat. Western Europe’s six socialist governments – Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain, France and Sweden – have swung noticeably to the right. It is the clash of socialist ideology with obstinate reality which has brought about the change. Jean Monnet said, “Men will only accept change in the face of necessity; and they see that necessity only when confronted by crisis.”
One of the few eternal verities of economics is that growth takes place fastest under conditions of economic freedom. West Germany and East Germany, South Korea and North Korea, are classic examples of how two segments of a single people, alike in every respect, reach vastly different levels of development when one operates under conditions of freedom and the other has a State-controlled economy.
Socially Responsible Business
“Socially responsible business” may be termed the seventh pillar of a redesigned India. What a transformation one could effect in this country if only business houses were socially responsible!
As Vinoba Bhave pointed out to a group of businessmen some years ago, in ancient Indian society the businessman was looked upon with respect for many centuries. He was considered to be next only to the king. The king was known as Shahenshah while the businessman was known as Shah. People confidently left their property with the businessman, when they went for a ‘yatra’. If they died, they were confident that the businessman would make a fair distribution among the heirs. If they returned, they were equally confident that the businessman could be trusted to return safely all their properties.
Today the malpractices of many businessmen have made society hostile to the class. Let the business community try to recapture that image of honour and integrity which made the trader the depository of implicit confidence in centuries past.
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LOOKING AHEAD
(Adapted from B G Verghese)
The past decade has created a base from which India can now leap forward. Growing empowerment and political consciousness has brought the revolution of rising expectations to the point where it simply cannot be denied.
The challenge ahead will be to manage hitherto latent but emerging diversities and social transitions. Identity, caste, community, region, language, residence and occupation increasingly manifest in upward mobility, internal migration, the retreat from farming, urbanization, industrialization and globalisation, all within a boisterous, democratic framework. Many changes have gradually attained critical mass and interlocked to create a new social and political matrix of which regionalism and coalition politics are two tendencies yet to exhaust themselves.
The answer is to reform and harness the change, which represents potential energy. Access and participation must be accommodated through decentralization (including smaller states and descending units of administration), governance that facilitates larger and more rapid employment and income generation through industrialization, from off farm processing and tiny to mega enterprises, and a range of services.
This in turn will mean rapid (nine per cent) growth. Investments in rural and national infrastructure, emphasis on HRD and R&D, health, sanitation and housing and things like land and labour reforms shall be rid of millstones. Climate change presents another challenge as much as an opportunity to fashion a new, low carbon growth path that emphasizes need more than greed, modestly comfortable lifestyles and safety nets for the underprivileged, aged and differently-abled.
By 2020, India should have put rank poverty behind it to become a middle income country and, given its size, an emerging global power with the fourth largest economy in the world. This will require a new political vocabulary and development paradigm devoted to performance rather than promise, and outcomes rather than procedures. There are some stirrings. Whatever their shortcomings, rights-based programmes like the right to work (NREGA), education, health, food, social security and so on are beginning to make a difference. NREGA, for instance, has forced up rural wages, reduced distress migration and is changing the face of rural banking. Initiatives like ITC’s e-chaupal are transforming rural minds and markets.
However, rank corruption, lawlessness by custodians of the law, breakdown of the criminal justice system, lingering feudalism, the criminalization of politics and politicization of crime, and systematic delays in decision making and programme implementation exemplify a continuing malaise. Fortunately, RTI and technology have paved the way for greater transparency. Jessica Lal, Ruchika and many others may not have died in vain if the new impulses to legal reform and justice make headway. The law and home ministries are working in tandem to accomplish this. No one, however powerful, moneyed or well-connected is or can be above the law. The move to streamline the nodal home ministry to rid it of extraneous or routine functions and to review the performance of all administrative cadre at age 50 is overdue so that mediocrity does not clutter the top by sheer efflux of time. With this, there must be greater delegation down the line, outsourcing of routine functions and restructuring of the administration for Fifth Schedule Areas with a dedicated cadre vested with single-window authority suited to the circumstances prevailing in the tribal outbacks.
The ensuing decade must see the registration of political parties with guidelines for ensuring internal democracy and public audit of their accounts. Parliament and the State Assemblies should be expanded by half, the additional members being returned through a partial PR or list system with a run off to ensure that no MP or MLA is elected with less than 50 per cent votes. Parties should be bound to nominate 33 per cent women and none with a criminal record.
Community relations are slow beginning to mend after much trauma. Reservations must steadily give way to affirmative action. An Equal Opportunity Act has been promised in 2010 for all minorities and disadvantaged groups. All commissions for human rights, women and children, SC&T, minorities, national integration and Centre-State relations must be strengthened and made truly autonomous. Governors too must be far better selected.
The current year should see the peace process in J&K and the Northeast, especially with the Naga factions, move forward dramatically. Greater autonomy and non-territorial arrangements for social and economic integration offer great possibilities, with the Manmohan-Musharraf package offering the best of all worlds to India, Pakistan and the people of J&K and PAK/Gilgit-Baltistan.
Domestic reform will need to be matched by a foreign policy. If India punched above its weight in earlier times it is now punching below its potential. The Congress and Left still have some outdated Nehruvian hangovers. America, Europe, Russia, ASEAN and Japan are obvious partners. China is fast becoming a global power with which we have every reason to build mutually beneficial relations. Brazil and South Africa are becoming important partners as well.
West Asia is in turmoil but India’s stakes do not permit it to stand aloof. It enjoys food relations with both the Arabs and Israel and must find ways to play a more significant role in conflict resolution in Palestine. None of this will be possible unless it bends to forge better neighbourhood relations in South Asia, including Afghanistan and Myanmar. Sheikh Hasina’s upcoming visit to Delhi could mark the beginning of new entente, as with Nepal which has to be assisted to steer a path out of its current crisis. Relations with the new democracies of Bhutan and the Maldives are developing steadily and Sri Lanka must be assisted to win the peace it seeks.
Central to this enterprise will be mending fences with Pakistan. India must help the emerging democratic forces so that it does not revert to military rule. One way of doing that would be to resume the peace process provided that agreements will only be implemented given satisfaction that terrorism is in fact being wound down and not being deliberately used as an instrument of state policy. There could be spoilers but no better alternative appears in sight.
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LAW MAKING BY THE LAW-ABIDING
K M P Menon
In the Parliamentary form of Government, important decisions are taken after debating issues. Laws are made after due consideration after legislators debate issues. The word ‘Parliament’ itself comes from the French word ‘Parle’ which means to talk. The debater always addresses the ‘Chairman’ who conducts the debate. In schools and colleges proper training was given to students in debating. After the debaters have their say, in an allotted time and a chance by each debater to rebut – for which also a few minutes are given, the Chairman puts the matter to vote. The voting is done by the audience. The subject is always put in such a way that a simple yes or no opinion is possible. If those in favour of the motion ‘yays’ are in a majority, the motion is ‘carried’ or passed. If on the contrary, the ‘nays’ are in a majority the motion is rejected. Each debater should have the ability to convince the listener and bring him round to ones point of view. All this requires self-control, persuasive power, knowledge of the subject and ability to express clearly. Above all there should be respect for truth and for the different points of view. Ironically, it is after independence that debating skills and practice have been neglected in our educational institutions.
Our country has been modeled on the ‘Mother of Parliaments’ – The House of Westminster Abbey in London, U.K. If democracy is to survive in India, knowledge and skills in debate should be stressed from an early age of students in schools and colleges. Our increasing number of T.V. channels could telecast Public Debates. The B.B.C does this and is considered a boon to the people.
Experience at Westminster shows that there is plenty of scope for humour in a good debate. At one time there was a strong move for introducing Prohibition in England. The matter was debated very seriously. Many members pointed out how prohibition was more harmful than beneficial in USA. In fact it was one of the causes for the growth of the Mafia. In the event prohibition was not introduced in England. During the debate Lord Hebert who was a good poet and writer read out his small poem which is reproduced here. In course of time such gentlemanly debate, common sense and good humour will become the norm in the Indian Legislatures also.
I disagree for Nature’s laws
Are generously sound,
And everywhere for some good cause
Some alcohol is found -
There’s alcohol in plant and trees
It must be nature’s plan
That there should be in fair degree
Some alcohol in Man.’
--- A. P. Herbert
BACK INNER COVER
LARGE SIZE PHOTO OF AMBEDKAR ON THE TOP
BELOW THE PHOTO
Dr. B.R.AMBEDKAR – BHARAT RATNA
(1891- 1956)
The drafting of the Constitution of the Republic of India was overseen by Dr. B.R.Ambedkar as the Chairman of the Drafting Committee set up after India’s independence. A few notable decisions incorporated in the Constitution are :
- Universal Adult franchise giving every adult Indian the right to vote irrespective of caste, community, religion, etc.
- A strong and Independent judiciary protected from Party Politics.
Supreme Court as guarantor of the Constitution.
- Bill of Rights for every citizen, including personal freedom, equality
before law, freedom of religion and abolition of untouchability.
He was one of the greatest social reformers of the twentieth Century.
BACK COVER TOP 3/4TH PORTION
PHOTO
OF DHIRUBHAI AMBANI
BOTTOM
ADDRESS BOX
REG No. RNP/KA/BGS/2020/20010/2012
RNI No: KARENG/2004/13400
BHISHMA
Bhishma’s life was motivated by duty to the State and characterized by detachment from personal reward. Details of one’s action from personal reward changes the quality of one’s action, as per the Bhagwat GITA. By acting in a selfless way one also achieves liberation from the consequences of one’s action. BHISHMA lived such a life.
VIDURA
Vidura the sane counsel of the blind king DHRITARASHTARA of Mahabbharata emphasized that the fate of an individual is a result on the consequences of his own action. He said
“To save the family abandon an individual, to save the village abandon a family, to save country abandon a village. To save the soul abandon the earth”.
MANU
Manu who gave the “Manusmriti” the classic text of laws says
“The root of Dharma is the entire Vedas, the tradition and customs of these who know Vedas, the conduct of the virtuous people and what is satisfactory to oneself.”
Prof. Ramaswamy Padma Bhushan & National Research Professor in Management , Founder Director IIM Bangalore, Director NITIE. Kindly become a Member of INDIAN HERITAGE ACADEMY (IHA) and give donation to IHA and support our Mission in order to protect India’s Unity and Culture Monthly Journal will be sent free. We welcome your Feedback/views/articles and we shall publish them.
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