Issue 60 Vol III, March 31, 2008

F E A T U R E S

India largest recipient of remittances in 2007

INDIA received a whopping $ 27 billion in remittances, beating China and Mexico to become the top country for such inflows. According to a World Bank report the top five recipients of remittances in 2007 were India ($ 27 billion), China ($ 25.7 billion), Mexico ($ 25 billion), the Philippines ($ 17 billion), and France ($ 12.5 billion).

According to the report titled ‘Migration and Remittances Factbook 2008’, in many developing countries, remittances provide a life line for the poor and the needy. They are often an essential source of foreign exchange and a stabilising force for the economy in turbulent times.

Dilip Ratha, senior economist with the World Bank, and co-author of the report calculated  that the  inward remittances to India has more than doubled from around $ 12.89 billion in 2000 to $ 27 billion in 2007. In 2006, inward remittances were $ 25.43 billion, while the outward flow constituted around $ 1.58 billion.

Rich countries are still the main source of remittances with the United States leading the pack. “The United States is by far the largest, with $ 42 billion in recorded outward flows in 2006. Saudi Arabia ranks as the second largest, followed by Switzerland and Germany,” the Factbook added.

The US was also the top immigration country in 2005, with 38.4 million immigrants, followed by the Russian Federation (12.1 million), and Germany (10.1 million). Among low-income countries, India had the highest immigration volume of 5.7 million, followed by Pakistan (3.3 million).

In addition, millions of dollars reach India via hawala transactions. The Government of India or the Reserve Bank has little count of that. Going by the calculations of some experienced police officers in Punjab that money in Punjab is at least equal to legal transfers.

How the Indian government treats these earners of foreign exchange and money for millions of the poor back home is another story of neglect and harassment.

BACK

Travel bug bites Indians

Between 17 and 20 million Indians will be going abroad by 2020, outstripping by far the 8.9 million foreign tourists that are expected to visit the country. Though India is expecting 10 million foreign visitors a year by 2010, the target seems formidable. Despite riding its rapid economic growth, the country attracted only 6.9 million foreign travellers in 2007. This means India as yet not a destination of world tourists. Imagine a country of the size of Malaysia attracting 20 million visitors in 2007. Its population is a mere 27 million against India’s 1.1 billion.

Zubin Karkaria, Managing Director (India and South Asia), Kuoni estimates "We estimate India will have a total of 17-20 million outbound tourists by 2020. In his Kuoni Travel Report -- India 2007, he has based his estimate on a survey of 2,900 people in 18 Indian cities. About 6 million Indians spent $7.6 billion during their foreign travel in 2006. This is an unusual rise from $1 billion in 1995. Though 25 million Indians hold passports, only 6 million travelled abroad, the report points out.

Business visitors take the lion's share with 40 per cent of the spending, while tourists and visiting relatives spent 20 per cent each in 2006. Spending by tourists has grown from a meagre 6 per cent in 1995.

The rich traveller is expected to constitute 43 per cent (585 million) in 2025 from 5 per cent now, and is expected to boost the number of Indians traveling abroad three-fold in the next 13 years. This Kuoni report says that although the US and the UK remain the most preferred destinations for many Indians, Singapore and Malaysia are fast gaining prominence.

For these Indian travellers beaches, rejuvenation centres, amusement parks, hill resorts and historical places are attractions in that order. The wonders of the world like the pyramids bring up the rear in this list.

BACK

Second Freedom
Lekh Raj Nayyar

Battle for 'Doosri Azadi' must start earnestly and end all round corruption, repression, economic exploitation, social discrimination, communal conflicts and injustice through practical solutions. Here are some thoughts.

Eradication of corruption

The transparency international in its annual corrupt research index for 2007 has rated India at 72nd place out of a total 180 countries. India was awarded 3.5 marks for honesty. It says that politicians, police, judiciary and public services are the most corrupt in India. In fact, our own late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had admitted publicly that out of 1 rupee aid given by the government to poor only 15 paisa reaches the deserving.

Solution: Unconnected Decision Making System (UDMS)

The most important thing a country should do to curb corruption is to stop personal contact between government officials and service seekers. To eradicate corruption UDMS will be implemented at all levels of government functioning. It is like teachers evaluating University/Board exam papers, not knowing the name, etc. of the student.

Judicial Mess

(i) 3½ crore cases are pending in Indian courts.

(ii) Endless-fruitless litigation - sometimes 30 years.

(iii) Appalling conditions in courts for litigants.

(iv)  It would take 140 years to clear pending cases at the current rate of disposal.

Solution: Short Service Judicial Commission

A Short Service Judicial Commission on the lines of the Short Service Army Commission (recruiting army officers for about six years) constituted during the 1962 Indo-China War.

Our nation is full of law graduates/practitioners who can help meet this challenge. Why continuing suffering despite a flood of talent? Give the youth jobs for 5-10 years & get the entire backlog of cases cleared.

Police Repression

Hundreds of custodial deaths are reported and a large number go unreported. According to many Supreme Court judgements, torture in any form is unlawful. Therefore, third degree treatment/torture is an illegal activity of the police. The forced 'admissions' of the accused extracted through torture are useless because court of law does not accept the same.

Solution: "Lie Detection Test Centers (LDC)"

Establish scientific "Lie Detection Test Centers" at each District. Head quarters/Tehsil-level (run by doctors/ technicians). An accused can opt for his 'right' to be examined at 'LDC' and would be arrested/detained in lock up only upon failing that test. The police can investigate even those who 'clear' the LDC test but without arresting him. Torture frightens only the common people. Hardened criminals are not worried about it.

Law and Order Problems

Economic progress minus a secure law and order environment is not going to take us very far. An unsafe India can cost us deeply.

Prevention of crime through rewards

If we lack the courage to intervene, the least we can do is to reward those who dare to risk their own safety for unknown fellow citizens. We could announce a reward scheme for such bravery.

Assurance against open crime

No government can practically claim of eliminating crime in totality. However, we should not fail upon the issue of open crimes – which re-occur often. Like regular collection of Hafta from slum dwellers or such unfortunate people who out of their sheer penury have to sleep on road payments or from beggars

Quality Education

Public at large is kept away from the real knowledge; the most powerful and central driving force of a socio-economic system. Our education system is painfully discriminatory and the downtrodden will remain permanent slaves of poverty if this education policy continues. There cannot be any equality in society without equality in education and knowledge.

Solution: Three tier education system

A three tier education system will be established all over India of international standard with common and uniform syllabus for all students. (i) Primary Education Board. (ii) High Education Board and (iii) University Education Commission.

All fundamental subjects will have same syllabus in the whole country except regional languages and culture. The government will take the responsibility of educating each and every child born in India up to his/her matriculation. Higher education will be subsidized for SCs, STs and economically weaker section.

National education cum employment programme

Regional registers for illiterates. Domestic-level (Home Teaching) education imparted by local village talent to be encouraged. Education dept. would conduct annual exams for home tutored students and for each success the teacher would be paid Rs. 2000/- per annum.

Agriculture Reforms

A large section of country's population is dependent on agriculture. This sector contributes to 30% of our Gross National Product .After exhausting all, just and unjust, methods of cultivation are failing to make both ends meet. Now more than 30% of the farmers are preparing to leave farming and a large number of them are already out of their parental profession.

Solution: Direct cash to farmers

Existing mode of giving subsidy be stopped immediately and aid be directly provided to farmers in cash (at specified amount of rate per acre per year) to encourage them into organic farming , with special stress on the farmers owning up to 5 acres of land. Marketing of their produce and crop insurance has to be ensured.

Industry and Trade

India has already entered the club of developed nations as far as industry and trade are concerned. Service industry is also in its full swing. Any how uncontrolled greed for profit is wiping out small and medium size industry and snatching away livelihood from crores of families.

Solution: The Chinese way

Here we should learn from China as to how big and small scale industry can co-exist to help each other. To create self employment, small traders will be facilitated to create retail trade market complexes.

Power Generation

To continue the pace of economic development India will need 5, 50,000 MWT. electricity in the next 20 years. So far we have been producing 1, 37,000 MWT. Through all sources including 3,430 MWT from nuclear resources.

Solution: Renewable energy

India has vast resources of bio-mass energy, solar energy, wind energy and byproduct of crops etc. which should be utilized to their full capacity. Mini projects are to be established along with mega plants.

Repressed Women

Equality is still a dream for the Indian woman. House-wives are still prone to atrocities, more than working women.

Solution: Emancipation of women

The government should adopt all girl children to eliminate female foeticide and crime against women. The Government will bear all her expenses, including education, till marriage.

Senior Citizens

There are nearly 20 crore senior citizens in our country and the government has no definite policy to take care of them. Though the Government has a policy of paying paltry pension to senior citizens of particular category but it takes them years to prove that they have reached the age of senior citizenship

Solution: Up to date records

Each and every senior citizen deserves pension. The Department of Birth and Death to be made responsible for keeping up to date records. Only those receiving pension from other sources to be excluded.

Scheduled Castes and Tribes

Reservation has not served its purpose to solve the problems of scheduled castes, schedule tribes and backward classes.

Solution: Inclusive growth

Comprehensive measures will be taken to eradicate social inequality and to create economically equal citizens. Since they do not own agricultural land, there fore they have to be equipped with quality and technical education, so that they are able to absorb themselves in service sector and in self employment through easy finances provided by banks and financial institutions.

Conclusion

Development is a progressive movement and it is based on peace, social stability and a realistic economic nexus between income and expenditure. Pre requisite of development should be starting with drinking water, food, electricity, public health, basic education, village roads and basic infrastructure for general public utility and then should move outwards. [Ends]

BACK

Why other martyrs ignored?

WAS Sukhdev’s birth centenary sacrificed at the altar communalism?

Gurpreet Singh asks this inconvenient question from Vancouver. Has the Akali BJP government any answer .Last year was not the centenary of Bhagat Singh alone. His comrade Sukhdev was also born exactly 100 years ago, yet his birth centenary was virtually ignored by the Punjab government. Why?

While the state government celebrated the 100th birth anniversary of Bhagat Singh on September 28 last at a grand scale, Sukhdev’s 100th birthday was given a step motherly treatment. Interestingly, the three revolutionaries - Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were hanged together on March 23, 1931. All three belonged to the same age group. While Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev were 1907 born, Rajguru was born a year later, which means his birth centenary falls this year.

Although Bhagat Singh was an atheist, the Punjab government had emphasized too much on the religion of his family. Since he was born in a Sikh family the government of the Sikh dominated state took pride in holding his birth centennial for obvious reasons.

Though Sukhdev was a Punjabi too, his birth centenary on 15 May passed like any other day. His nephew, Bharat Bhushan Thapar and niece, Sunita Vasudev says that the state government should not have ignored his birth centenary either. "The trio cannot be separated under any circumstances as they died for a joint cause’’, Sunita observed.

Thapar feels that his uncle’s 100th birthday might have been ignored because he was not a Sikh. "In Punjab, whoever carry the name Singh becomes important’’. Thapar recalled that when the Punjab government was planning to install a single statue of Bhagat Singh in Ludhiana, the city Sukhdev belongs to his family had strongly intervened. "As a result, the government had to install the statues of Sukhdev and Rajguru alongside’’.

Sunita had raised this objection too on a number of occasions. "I had attended a series of events last year that were held to commemorate these heroes. However, wherever I went only Bhagat Singh’s name was highlighted’’.

Both Thapar and Sunita clarified that they have nothing against Bhagat Singh. "Though he deserves special respect, but he was not alone in the struggle for freedom’’.

Since the three men were hanged on the soil of Punjab, the state government commemorates their martyrdom day every year. The state government should celebrate Rajguru’s birth centenary in August this year to prove its secular credentials. Although the state celebrations to mark the birth anniversaries of revolutionaries are tokenistic gestures and the bourgeois governments cannot be expected to follow their ways, still the government should try to accord an equal respect to them without any prejudice.

BACK

Why Central Status for Panjab University
Prof. Manjit Singh

THE history of Panjab University is intertwined with the history of Punjab. The Panjab University was founded in Lahore in 1882 along with other three federal universities of India, namely, Bombay, Calcutta and Madras. Panjab University has endured upheavals of political turmoil in the region over its long life span of 125 years, and today it epitomizes Punjabi pride and regional socio-cultural heritage. The roots of educational history of each of us can be traced, through our past generations, to the origin of Panjab University. It is a mother institution to all the other institutions we now witness around in the North West India. By virtue of its age, experience, achievements and philosophy, the Panjab University has emerged as a University of national stature, and precisely for this reason people are surprised to know that it has yet to be accorded the status of a central university. The fact that it is named Panjab University, upholding the glorious academic history of the region, it has emerged as an Ambassador of Panjab not only for the rest of India, but also for the entire globe.

Back in history, after the partition in 1947, the University was constrained to function for almost a decade without having a campus of its own. The administrative office was located at Solan and the teaching departments functioned from Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Delhi and Amritsar. It was in 1956 that the University was relocated at Chandigarh. Its red sandstone campus, designed by renowned French architects, came up within a few years. Pierre Jeanerette designed the University campus under the general guidance of the legendary Le Corbusier.

Till the re-organisation of Punjab in 1966, the University had its regional centers at Rohtak, Shimla, Jalandhar and its affiliated colleges were located in the state of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and U.T. of Chandigarh. After reorganization, the University became an Inter-State Body Corporate catering to the newly organised states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and U.T. of Chandigarh. Gradually, the colleges of Himachal and Haryana were affiliated to the universities in their respective states and the Panjab University was left with the affiliated colleges in U.T. of Chandigarh and some parts of Punjab. Consequently, at present U.T. administration of Chandigarh and the state Govt. of Punjab share the maintenance deficit of the University in the ratio of 60:40, respectively.

The annual budget estimates of the University amounted to Rs.131.79 crores for 2006-2007, out of which more than half of the amount is generated from the own resources of the University.

The trouble started with the onset of financial crunch in Punjab Government during the last one decade that started overshadowing the financial health of the University. Initially the Punjab Government took recourse to deferred payment of its share of 40 per cent. And now, instead of 40 per cent share, Punjab Government has frozen its share to the maximum of Rs.16 crore and that too in practice turns out to be notional, and not real. When the delegation of teachers requested to the Education Minister, Punjab to help out of the current financial mess, she rebounded by asking ‘do we have any “say” in Punjab University! For what should we pay Rs. 16 crore?’ This is the crux of the problem. When the U.T. Administration noticed that Punjab Government is refusing to pay its due share of 40 per cent, it too froze annual enhancement of 8 per cent in its share for the University budget. In order to stem over the financial crunch, university resorted to NRI quota of students by which it could mobilize funds to the tune of Rs. 22 crore every year. However, the High Court ordered last year to stop this practice plunging the University into serious financial crisis.

In order to cope up with the crisis, University resorted to self- financing courses with the annual fee in the range of Rs. 70 thousand to more than Rs.100 thousand and also put a stop over recruitment of teaching and non-teaching staff. Many of the teachers whose salaries are charged from the parent department are teaching additional courses in the newly opened centers/ departments. Consequently, teachers are over-worked for no extra-payment but at a cost of suffering their research work. All such measures still fail to make up the financial deficit and the University resort to squeezing students by enhancing 10 per cent fee every year. Usually the students’ protests go unheard; resulting into the closing of University doors on many those who desperately need higher education in order to combat their marginality.

The crisis within, coupled with the ‘globalisation’ and privatization of higher education outside, is resulting into the desertion of many of the best brains from the University. The research instruments/ labs on the campus worth crores of rupees are of no use if there is no money for their working and maintenance. Old buildings are in need of urgent repair but University cannot afford, resulting into the severe damage to some of the labs, class rooms, houses and hostels. If not checked at this stage, we will allow this premier institute to die an unnatural death, and along with that curtain will be pulled down on the whole regional socio-cultural history over which every Punjabi take a pride.

Panjab University is not a small ordinary institution. With its nearly 50 teaching and research departments besides 10 Centers/Chairs for teaching and research on the main campus located at Chandigarh, it has 175 affiliated colleges spread over Punjab and Chandigarh, Regional Centers at Muktsar, Ludhiana, Hoshiarpur and Department of Vishweshavaranand Vishva Bandhu Institute of Sanskrit and Indological Studies (VVBIS&IS) at Hoshiarpur.

In the administrative and financial matters, the University has to secure consent both from the Punjab Government and U.T. Administration. Since the Punjab Government also looks after other universities of Punjab, the decisions taken for Panjab University by the representatives of Punjab Government are linked with the other universities of Punjab. For instance the Senate and Syndicate of P.U. adopted the U.G.C. Notification of 1998 in Toto but Punjab Government never gave consent, effecting the teaching and research adversely. In the background of above financial crunch of the Punjab Government, the dual regulation over the administration and financial matters of the University has ended up becoming a bane, instead of boon.

A series of public protests, jointly by the students and teachers, seeking  central university status for P.U. in no way is an attempt to weaken claims of Punjab over P.U. How can a University that is named after the name of the state of PANJAB, can afford to divorce itself from its rich heritage? Nearly two-third of the total number of 8000 students on the campus hail from Punjab and, if the financial health of the University improves, the proportion is expected to increase to 75 per cent in a short span of time. Neither the students nor teachers are asking to give a shake up to the present administration. We are simply asking that, under the present circumstances, if Ministry of Human Resource Development is ready to take over full financial liability what objection Punjab Government have to such a stance of the MHRD. In fact, ever since MHRD has given this offer since July 2007, Punjab Government is tight lipped and maintains a rather intriguing silence. In case the Punjab Government smacks of some untended adverse fall out it can always either give a conditional acceptance to the offer of full financing of PU by MHRD or it can always be sorted out with the collective wisdom of all the political parties of Punjab for which the onus of initiative falls on the ruling party. However, given the dicey condition of the UPA government at the Centre, Punjab government has to act immediately to save this Mother University.

[The writer is Secretary, Panjab University Teachers Association]

BACK

Agriculture: no policy ought to be good policy

THE United Progressive Alliance government’s policy for agriculture has a misplaced emphasis on reducing people's dependence on agriculture and encouraging corporate farming. This was once the panacea recommended by the World Bank, notorious for erroneous policies in most developing world, Africa, Asia and Latin America. Fiasco of these policies is seen to be believed and the World Bank has now returned to the help to the small and marginal farmers, it claims.

Farmers should not accept any direct income support apart from half hearted loan relief.  Revival of indigenous and sustainable farming practices would also receive no subsidy support from the government.  Experts through out India have condemned government policy which allowed large scale transfer of agricultural land to corporates in the name of development. Also, its lopsided policies making farmers pay for consumers.

Apart from policy issues, farmers clearly shall have to find their own ways to survive and also to find their way back to sustainable and farmer-friendly farming practices destroyed by mechanisation and modernization of farming.  In one word, commercial farming, a costly practice leading to debt trap for millions of farmers.

There is an unashamed emphasis on moving people out of the agriculture sector in the name of reducing dependency on agriculture. It simply showed that the government was playing into the hands of financial manipulators like the World Bank, who wish to destroy India's agriculture.

 Former finance secretary and convener of the Indian People's Campaign Against WTO, S P Shukla feels, "The policy does not even talk about the 10,00,000 hectares of land that is being transferred for non-agriculture purposes every decade. It does not talk about the suicides happening in the farming community as a result of land loss. Instead, it talks about shifting a 240 million strong work-force to urban sectors, which at the present rural to urban migration rate of 6 lakh people per year, will take 384 years. You call that planning?" Shukla was finance secretary during prime minister V P Singh's tenure and commerce secretary during Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar's tenure.

Devinder Sharma, a well-known journalist on agriculture issues, has questioned this lack of policy. He asked how the policy-makers could hope to shift 60 crore people out of the agriculture sector in any sustainable fashion in an era of jobless growth. "No country can dream of driving people out of any sector on such a stupendous scale.”

Sharma also cautioned about the need for direct income support, such support being provided to farmers in the USA simply showed that the mechanised and chemical input-intensive agricultural model is a failure, and the long-term solution lies in returning to well tested and improved indigenous farming practices.

Economist Jaya Mehta feels that the policy did talk about moving people out of agriculture, it did not specify as to where these people were to be moved. She asked, "Where can you rehabilitate 59 per cent of the population? Given the growing unprofitability of farming, would these people not have moved out on their own if there were space for them to move out at all?"

Experts are also criticising the government for its relentless 'go west' policy, which encouraged chemical-intensive and unsustainable farming practices, causing permanent damage to Indian soils and natural resources.  They argued that if the government is still committed to this model of agriculture, they should not just take half-measures, but go the whole way by also providing sufficient farm subsidies and direct income support - which is now the done thing in the West.

N D Patil, leader of the Shetkari Kamgar Paksha says, "Whenever the issue of financial relief to farmers is brought up, politicians think only in terms of loan relief. Why don't they talk about production-cost based price? In the US, they pay farmers compensation for even leaving their lands fallow, so why, in India should farmers not be paid for the work of producing food for the people and inputs for industry?"

R L Pitale, former member of the National Farmers Commission, said that even a small amount like Rs.25 per farmer household per day would go a long way in ensuring financial stability and prevent suicides.

Most experts felt that the direct income support option should be used to encourage farmers to return to sustainable farm practices. Pitale pointed out that in the UK, 33 lakh hectares of land were brought back under organic farming by providing direct income support to farmers continuously for three years.

Balkrishna Renake, chairman of the National Commission for Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic tribes "Enriching the land, generating fertile soil, regenerating natural soil fauna, conserving natural resources, harnessing surface water, conserving indigenous seed, and other practices related to sustainable farming are not just farming practices, but also important jobs that add to the country's assets. Why farmers should not be paid a salary for performing this all important work?"

Subhash Lombte, activist of Rashtriya Gramin Shekkari Shetmajoor Abhiyan, opined that the Employment Guarantee provisions can be used to provide support to the entire agricultural economy. "If rural labourers are paid under NREGA for working on farmers' lands, both farmers and labourers will benefit and the entire farm economy will be revived. Lombte also suggested that a demand should be made with the Maharashtra government to provide Rs.1, 000 subsidies per acre to farmers for planting jowar, the staple millet. He said that with the rise in acreage under jowar, which also yields good quality fodder, farmers will be able to add to their cattle wealth and go for organic farming.

The policy emphasis on corporate farming came under unanimous and severe attack from all sides. Speakers literally tore the official argument that corporate farming will benefit farmers to pieces with piercing logic.

BACK