Issue 59 Vol III, March 15, 2008

C O M M E N T

World Bank and  India decide to fight corruption

IT looks odd indeed. World Bank, a major donor in social sector in India would help the Indian government fight corruption. It is odd as Indian government reeks with corruption at all levels and World Bank officials at times are hand in glove with the corrupt of the recipient countries.

Yet the World Bank and Indian government on March 14 agreed on steps to root out corruption after a World Bank probe uncovered "serious incidents" of fraud and corruption in India’s health projects the bank helped finance. This caused serious embarrassment to the Indian government.

The World Bank declared it would work with the Indian government to conduct independent procurement audits and performance reviews; strengthen bidding procedures and financial management in the health sector; increase community oversight, and improve supervision of equipment and pharmaceutical procurement practices. Five World Bank-supported projects, some dating back to 1997, for HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.

According to World Bank President Robert Zoellick, "Working with the Indian authorities, we will take action against those found responsible, including debarment and sanctions against firms and individuals from doing business with the bank, and disciplinary action against Bank staff if warranted. We will also apply the lessons learned to our projects around the world. Our focus is on ensuring that the people for whom these projects are designed receive the development benefits they deserve." Pious ideas indeed!

Since the probe ended in January, the World Bank had begun nine follow-up investigations related to the health projects. It had also referred three new cases to India's Criminal Bureau for Investigation. India has promised to act against those found guilty of fraud or corruption in the matter. The bank also acknowledged there were weaknesses within its own systems "that allowed possible indicators of wrongdoing to go unnoticed."

 The Bank has promised to  remain engaged in the health sector in India, to help strengthen health-care systems and meet critical public needs, provided future projects include mechanisms to counter the risks identified" in the probe. Hope something positive emerges from the exercise and both get cleaned up.

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Indians on the move, migration numbers rise

Indians are growing more mobile by the day; seeking better economic prospectus this fact can be observed in most parts of the country, particularly in states like Punjab, Kerala and Gujarat. What is true about people moving to foreign lands, any country across the globe, particularly the prosperous west, is true about migration within India?

Of the 3,000 employees surveyed by Kelly Services in India, around 79% were found willing to move to a different city for work while 78% were prepared to relocate to a different country to find work. About 55 % of respondents have already relocated to another city for work. Banking, finance, engineering emerge as the sectors where people are mobile than in other sectors both within the country and across countries. Indians have shown a tendency to migrate since a long time, which has been amplified by Kelly study now.  The BPO sector is also attracting migration from small towns. Strangely this study does not study the large scale migration of the poor farm workers from Bihar, eastern Uttar Pradesh to Punjab and Haryana. There are migrant labourers from Tamil Nadu working on road projects in many northern states, from Rajasthan working in the brick kilns and from Orissa and others doing other odd jobs.

"A process of counter migration has already begun. People from traditional metropolitan centres and outside are willing to move to satellite towns mainly because of lower cost of living. This growth of suburbs can be also attributed to expansion and employment generation happening there. People prefer to migrate to the satellite towns like Gurgaon, Noida instead of Delhi, Pune instead of Mumbai and Mysore to some extent instead of Bengaluru mainly also because the opportunities in metropolitan cities are largely saturated. But tier II cities have a long way before they can catch up with the traditional metropolitans.

People with up to five years experience have been found to be most migratory. Transition from joint family to nuclear family system in India has facilitated migration. People coming under the highest payroll, in the income bracket of Rs 24 lakh to Rs 4 crore per annum who are referred to as first category people are not averse to relocate provided they get a better package in terms of better growth opportunities that include responsibilities and fame".

In terms of region-wise migration people from Maharashtra are most willing to relocate within the country while people from Chennai offer most resistance to move out or at best agree to migrate to Bengaluru.

In spite of a higher migratory tendency demonstrated by Indians in the study, about 55% of those surveyed consider 'family' as a reason for not moving out. They consider this responsibility and pleasure of living together as more important factor in migration. Other factors cited  not to migrate include children's schooling', 'language barriers', 'property ownership' and  'tax complications.

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Wheat crop under new threat in Asia

THE New Scientist has claimed that a wheat fungus, which could potentially ravage global breadbaskets, may have already spread to Pakistan two years sooner than had been predicted. The deadly pathogen known as Ug99 is a form of black stem rust that inhibits the plant from extracting nutrients. It first emerged in Uganda in 1999, before spreading to Kenya and Ethiopia. In June 2007, cyclone Gonu dispersed the Ug99 spores over a wider region. It was soon found in Yemen and most recently, Iran.

It could attack India, Bangladesh and other countries too.

According to researchers, wheat strains from Asia, Africa, and China, has little resistance to the disease thus making them especially susceptible to diminished yields. This holds particularly true for Pakistani wheat germplasm which was tested in Kenya recently.

On a global level, research has been continuing at a breakneck pace to try to develop Ug99-resistant strains of wheat. However, scientists predict that it will take at least five years to develop such strains. AFP has reported that researchers met in Syria last week to work out emergency protocols with regards to detection and containment of the fungus.

According to the BBC, the United Nations’ World Food Programme has warned that the projected wheat shortage will aggravate the rise in basic food costs which rose by 40 per cent last year. This view has been confirmed by Rick Ward of the Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo  popularly known as CIMMYT, a prestigious crop research institute in Mexico. Speaking with regards to Pakistan and other affected countries; Ward warned that “people will start starving if Ug99 cuts harvests enough to push up grain prices.”

Meanwhile, in Pakistan, the government has contended that the 2008 wheat crop will not be adversely affected by Ug99. Pakistan’s Agricultural Research Council and national wheat programmes have been actively engaging in efforts to detect and contain the disease before it becomes widespread within the country. Their success will be imperative for the stabilisation of wheat prices within the country and the agricultural economy of Asia as a whole.

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