Cotton Quality in India...meaning of commonly referred principles of international environment law,...
Transcript of Cotton Quality in India...meaning of commonly referred principles of international environment law,...
Dissertation Abstracts
Post Graduate Programme in
Public Policy and Management
(PGPPM)
2002-04
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Examination of Chennai’s Water Problem: Possible Solutions and the Role of
Private Sector
Anand Balagopalan Chennai city has been facing drinking water problem for the past several decades,
with no permanent solution in sight. Unlike Delhi and Kolkata, which are served by
perennial rivers, and Mumbai, which is generously blessed by monsoon rains stored in lakes
at the foothills of Western Ghats, Chennai does not have any perennial source of water
nearby. As the city attracts more and more migrants from the rural hinterlands, the foremost
concern of the policy makers is to find a lasting solution for the water problem.
This dissertation is divided into seven chapters. The first chapter gives a general description
of Chennai, its topography, pattern of rainfall and the histroy of its water supply over the
years; introduces the drinking water problem and then states the research objectives. The
second chapter deals with review of literature on the subject of privatization of drinking
water supply. The view points of critics, for and against privatization, are discussed along
with privatization efforts in other part of the globe, notably in Israel, USA and Argentina.
The third chapter deals with the research methodology. The methodology adopted is
an exploratory analysis, largely based on information furnished by respondents to
questionnaires. One set of questionnaires were given to the Officials in CMWSSB to gauge
their attitude towards unaccounted for water; another questionnaire was given to private
players involved in water supply. I have also prepared a questionnaire for the consumers,
specifically regarding privatization of distribution, billing and collection. In addition, I have
made extensive use of secondary data from files, Annual Reports of CMWSSB, Master Plan
for Water Supply, Volumes I & II by Tata Consulting Engineers. I have also conducted in-
depth interviews with the policy elite in the Secretariat, CMWSSB, PWD and other offices.
Chapter four contains analyses of the information elicited from the questionnaires.
In this chapter I have attempted to arrive at the demand supply gap for water and given the
severity of water shortage, suggest suitable solutions, including the participation of the
private sector. My focus has been on how the private sector provides services; the quality of
their service; the constraints faced by the private sector in its operations and on how these
constraints can be overcome.
Chapter five contains policy suggestions and recommendations. The solutions
consist of augmentation measures, chiefly from the Telegu Ganga and the New Veeranam
Project; and water conservation measures such as rainwater harvesting and reduction of
unaccounted for water. Chapters six and seven contain the appendix and the bibliography
respectively. I have come to the conclusion that no single solution can solve the water
problem of Chennai and we need to have a basket of solutions.
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Designing a New Performance Evaluation System, based on Balanced Score Card for
Divisions of Indian Railways
Anil Sainani
“Measurement Matters” and “What is measured gets done” are two widely accepted
management principles. However, not all that matters can be measured and not all that is measured
really matters. This reality is perhaps what has made the task of performance measurement an
extremely difficult and challenging task.
The revolutionary concept of Balanced Score Card, developed by Robert S Kaplan
and David P Norton, represents a giant step forward in the field of performance evaluation.
The introduction of performance evaluation systems based on Balanced Score Card – both
in private and public enterprises, including Governments at all levels (Federal, State and
Country) in some of the developed countries like United States and United Kingdom have
yielded truly spectacular results. The concept of Balanced Score Card as a powerful tool for
productivity enhancement is fast gaining acceptability.
The tool holds tremendous promise for Indian Railways, an institution that is one
hundred and fifty year old and is one of the most important institutions of modern India.
Today, Indian Railways is in the midst of a watershed period of its history. It is delicately
poised and can either continue to play its role as an economic catalyst, while remaining
financially and operationally viable, or can accelerate its present decline to the ultimate
downfall.
To address the present woes of India Railways The Rakesh Mohan Committee (RMC),
appointed by Ministry of Railways, has recommended far reaching structural and policy
changes to improve and enhance rail business in this country. This dissertation presents an
alternate and yet compatible strategy that can work in tandem with the RMC
recommendations – to significantly enhance productivity levels of Indian Railways by
introducing a new performance evaluation system based on the concept of Balanced Score
Card for the Divisions – the front-end organizational tier of the Indian Railways.
Although it may be surprising to disbelievers, the present study amply demonstrates
the fact that railway employees – both officers and staff, have strongly voted for introducing
a new and effective performance evaluation system based on Balanced Score Card for the
Railway Divisions. An overwhelming majority of the railway employees have agreed that a
good performance evaluation system results in better performance and that the existing
performance evaluation system on the Indian Railways leaves a lot to be desired.
The introduction of a performance evaluation system based on Balanced Score Card
should ideally start from the top end of the organization, where the vision and the strategy
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for the organization as a whole is developed and finalized. Each subsequent tier of the
organization then derives its Score Card from the layer above. However, though it is
desirable to follow the top down approach, individual units can also build their Score Cards
on the basis of organization’s vision’s and strategy. What is perhaps indispensable is the
involvement of all key stakeholders in the development of individual objectives, measures,
targets and initiatives in the different perspectives of Score Card. Since the Balanced Score
Card developed in the present paper is directly based on the needs, ideas and perspectives of
two of the three most important stakeholders of Indian Railways – customers and
employees, it can be developed further and introduced directly in any Division of the Indian
Railways.
The data collected from Railways’ customers and employees have thrown up certain
important dimensions of rail business in three of the four perspectives of Balanced Score
Card. The individual objectives, measures, targets and initiatives, as developed in the four
perspectives of the proposed Balanced Card bring into focus the key drivers for enhanced
performance of Railway Divisions.
The adoption of the proposed Balanced Score Card by Railway Divisions holds
tremendous potential for performance enhancements. True, the road ahead is treacherous
and the journey is going to be difficult. There are a few significant obstacles, nay “challenges”,
on the way, such as – changing the entrenched bureaucratic culture, establishment of
systems for measurement of not so easily measurable indices like customer and employee
satisfaction, linking of incentives with performance and a fundamental shift in attitude from
internal focus to customer focus. Though these are mammoth tasks, they are mandatory for
the successful implementation of the proposed system.
But then as Stephen R Covey, one of the most influential management gurus of
modern times has aptly said in his landmark book “Seven Habits of Highly Successful
People” – “A thousand miles journey begins with the first step and can only be taken one at a time”. The
first step in the renewed journey aimed at significant and enhanced productivity of the
Indian Railways could start a debate for the introduction of “a new and effective
performance evaluation system”. This is the core issue of the present dissertation.
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Indian Environmental Diplomacy Focus and Framework
Arun Kumar Verma
Indian environmental diplomacy made a strong initial mark at the United Nations
Conference on Human Environment in Stockholm in 1972. Currently there are more than
200 environmental treaties and India has signed or ratified 74 of them.
Environmental issues are not merely scientific and technical subjects but are
intertwined with the central issues of world politics such as: international system of resource
production and use, principles of world trade, North-South relations, security concerns of
India and internal, social and political stability. Being a party to the international
environmental regime enjoins national responsibility and the outcomes affect common
people. It can also mean incurring higher costs of production, changing consumption
patterns, new priorities of investment, need for research and development, and even reforms
in governance. Debate over devising a principle for sharing the responsibility is intense and
negotiators need to take very informed and tactical positions. Thus, focused approach,
comprehensive perspective, and suitable structure of environmental diplomacy are the sine
qua non of present-day international relations. Greater responsibility is expected of the
policy framers in terms of managing national interests and at the same time protecting global
interests.
This study examines the adequacy of existing institutional structures and mechanisms
to transact environmental negotiation, inclusion of different stakeholders, and capability to
meet present or futuristic needs of multilateral environmental negotiations. It discusses the
present focus of Indian environmental diplomacy and suggests changes in the institutional
mechanism and principles to make environmental diplomacy more effective.
Indian environmental diplomacy has been characterized by concern for sovereignty;
equity, solidarity with the Third World, priority of development over environment, and a
high degree of self-esteem and concern for India’s international image. Environmental
diplomacy in India is conducted jointly by the Ministry of Environment and Forests
(MOEF) and the Ministry of External Affairs (MOEA). No environmental functionary
works in MOEA. There is no fixed method of coordinating with MOEF. MOEF brings
environmental issues into the picture, but the development aspects are taken care of by
MOEA. In MOEF, initially the International Cooperation (IC) division used to handle all
multilateral environmental agreements, but in the post-Rio scenario, specific conventions
and related activities are looked after by different divisions, normally headed by Joint
Secretaries (JS). The arrangement has intrinsic problems of lack of smooth coordination and
professional expertise, inadequate consultation, exclusion of stakeholders, missing people
connectivity, faulty and delayed choice of delegation, ineffective interaction with global
bureaucracy, and unprepared negotiations.
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Two of the most important needs of Indian environmental diplomacy are -
mainstreaming with foreign policy and turning proactive. Consistency between multilateral
environmental agreements (MEA) and the related provision in other multilateral
arrangements; closer coordination between trade and environmental diplomacies;
reconsideration of Third World Solidarity; integration of China in WTO and MEAs,
unilateral policy of US; and Japan’s rising interest in the environment should define the
present focus of environmental diplomacy. India can play a role in developing new financial
sources by consolidating its old rhetoric of the Planet Protection Fund or advocacy for
creation of fund through tax on the flow of capital. India must lead nations in stabilizing the
meaning of commonly referred principles of international environment law, reviewing
existing treaties, leading new issues of biotechnological developments, and rekindling
international debate on production and consumption patterns. India can guide even capacity
building of G-77 as a group.
Strengthening the United Nations Environment and Science (UNES) division of
MOEA, designating Permanent Missions of India in New York and Geneva and embassies
in Bonn, Nairobi, Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo, Singapore and Canberra as regional centres for
environmental diplomacy, strengthening of the IC division of MOEF, constitution of an
Advisory Committee on International Environmental Issues, involvement of the Indian
National Science Academy to work on science and policy implications of environmental
issues, capacity building of state and non-state actors, and establishing a system of
environmental review of trade and investment agreements are recommended for improving
environmental diplomatic institutions.
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Analysis of the Existing Systems of Accountability in Panchayat Raj Institutions
(PRIs) of Karnataka
Bandla Srinivas
For increasing people’s participation at the grass roots level, India adopted
democratic decentralization by conferring constitutional status on local bodies in 1993.
Accordingly, the government of Karnataka passed the KPR Act, with the noble objective of
achieving economic development with social justice, and transferred functions, funds and
functionaries to the local bodies. However, various studies have indicated poor participation
of people in local governance and lack of transparency in decision-making by the Panchayat
Raj Institutions. The system has been plagued by poor accountability.
Literature indicates that proper accountability mechanisms are a must for the success
of PRIs. Involvement of citizens in policymaking and implementation, role of media and
civil societies and independent audit mechanisms ensure proper accountability of the PRI
functionaries to the people and to the government.
In the light of the above, it has been felt necessary to analyze the existing systems of
accountability for the public officials in the PRIs of Karnataka and to suggest necessary
improvements in the accountability mechanisms. The need for this study was felt, as a
comprehensive study of individual schemes at various levels of implementation within the
general administrative set-up is required. Accordingly, an effort was made to study the
decision-making processes involved in the selection and implementation of both community
works and individual beneficiary oriented schemes, implemented across various levels of
PRIs in the Bangalore Urban District. Further, there is an analysis of the general
accountability and functioning of bodies like the Grama Sabhas, conducting of Jamabandi,
the role of Lokayukta as a control mechanism to prevent abuse of power and that of CAG in
ensuring an independent and impartial audit mechanism. The Bangalore Urban district was
chosen on the assumption that the accountability systems in its PRIs would be well
developed because of its proximity to the capital city of the state.
The exploratory method and case study approach were followed in pursuing the
research objectives. Government reports, orders files of PRIs and line departments,
proceedings and minutes of the meetings of committees of various PRIs were scrutinized for
the research, apart from which in-depth discussions were held with citizens and personal
interviews were conducted with officers and elected representatives. Further, indicators of
accountability were evolved based on the literature review and an expert survey was
conducted to obtain the weightage assigned by the experts for each `accountability indicator’
relevant to the schemes studied. Percentage accountability of each scheme was worked out
after assigning values to each indicator based on the intensity of its adoption in each scheme.
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It was found that the schemes that were implemented fully at the lower tiers in the
decentralized machinery had more accountability than those implemented at the ZP level.
This means that decentralization works best when carried out to its logical conclusion.
Among the ills ailing the system, the primary cause for concern was the insensitivity
of the functionaries of the local bodies. Rational norms are conspicuous by their absence in
the decision-making processes. Collusion between officials and political functionaries has the
potential to derail the benefits of decentralization. Acquiring of interests by members of
PRIs in execution of works distorts investment decisions and dilutes quality of works.
Based on extensive research, this study proposes two sets of recommendations – the
first is to enhance people’s participation and the second is to improve administrative
procedures.
People’s participation can be encouraged by conducting awareness campaigns
regarding Grama Sabhas and Jamabandi. Infrastructure and demographic databases need to
be developed for identifying backwardness of the villages and the socio-economic burdens
of beneficiaries for implementing various schemes respectively; these databases have to be
whetted by the people. Empowering people in monitoring civil works by demystifying the
technicalities also aids public participation. A scorecard of performance appraisal of the PRI
functionaries has to be evolved by NGOs and the media can increase public awareness and
participation.
Justification memo for each action taken would reduce arbitrariness in decision
making. Subjecting funds spent by line departments, on behalf of ZPs to AG audit and
relieving the CAO from the control of PRI functionaries to maintain independence would
strengthen the audit function. Panchayat Jamabandi needs to be extended to Zilla and Taluk
Panchayats. Upa-Lokayukta’s reports need to be made public irrespective of the action taken
by the government. These administrative measures would go a long way in improving
accountability and bringing transparency to the system.
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Policy Intervention Needed for Achieving 10% Industrial Growth in Andhra Pradesh
J. S. Chandrashekar
Chapter I talks of how the researcher got interested in the topic, as a result of the
heavy criticism, on Government of Andhra Pradesh Vision 2020 statement, even by eminent
people who said that it was a ‘daydream’, and the goals stated there were ‘not attainable’. As
I had the personal experience of working for seven years in the Central Excise department at
Hyderabad, and having interacted with the industry I felt that there was a perceivable gap
between the goals stated in the policy and the rate of industrial growth.
Chapter II deals with literature review. To get an overview of the industrial growth, I
had to do a lot of literature review to gain special domain knowledge on the subject, and get
a feel of it before attempting any research. I had also written a policy paper on China’s
economic growth at Maxwell. My other assignments in course were also on related issues like
TRIMS, VAT, and Service Tax etc. to prepare myself for this research.
The literature provides an insight of industrial growth in India, especially in the
reform era. Except for three articles, which are specific to Andhra Pradesh, the rest are
reports suggesting what the Government should do and what the industry should be doing.
Literature clearly states that the future growth of industry in India is dependent on how the
industry copes with improving its productivity, skill levels and innovations to stay in the
market, and the role of any Government is to provide good governance and device policies
which do not act as bottle necks of growth, so that the industry thrives. Today there is a real
fear of Indian capital flying out of the country to places like China. So states within India are
not only competing amongst themselves but also with other nations, both for Indian capital
investment and FDI.
Chapter III states the research objectives, questions and methodology. The objective
was to primarily see whether 10% industrial growth is possible and whether sincere efforts
are being made to increase the growth rate from 5 to 10 percent. Another objective was to
see the acceptance level of policies being advocated. The next objective was to make
practical and useful policy suggestions after interacting with the industry in a different setting
of academic research. Questions to meet the objectives were designed in consultation with
my guide who gave me a more focused approach. The methodology adopted was both
quantitative and qualitative.
Chapter IV is devoted to research analysis and findings and has two components -
Quantitative findings, which are explained on the basis of data analyzed in the computer on
the SPSS Package; and Qualitative findings that are analyzed on the basis of opinions
gathered during interview sessions and discussed with other respondents to know their
viewpoint as well. However there is no attempt to correlate the qualitative and qualitative
research findings, as the objective of quantitative research was to ascertain all the objectives
set forth, and that of the qualitative research objective was to make policy suggestions.
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Chapter V analyses the findings made through both quantitative and qualitative
methods. The growth target of 10%, though achievable, has many hurdles to cross as many
policy issues have to be decided by the central government and Andhra Pradesh state can
only hope for the best. Finally, the conclusion is that the existing industry should be given
the maximum fillip, so that the growth objective can be achieved thus enabling them to
become global majors.
Annexure to this report gives all figures and tables.
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Enhancing Revenues of the Indian Railways through Commercial Advertising
Dhananjay Naik
This study explores the means of increasing revenues of the Indian Railways (IR)
through commercial advertising. IR’s current earnings from commercial advertising are
Rs.41 crores (i.e. Rs.410 million), against a target of Rs.100 crores (i.e. Rs.1 billion). The
attempt is to understand why Transit Advertising revenue is a meager 42% of the target. In
IR, advertising is generally considered as a peripheral activity. It is perceived to be of little
relevance to the Indian Railways, as in percentage terms it represents less than a quarter
percent of the total revenues. The poor state of finances of the Railways however implies
that every rupee counts. The Passenger – Railways interface has been mapped out in detail,
starting from the intention to buy a ticket and ending with the departure of the passenger
from the railway station on termination of journey. The opportunities for advertising are
primarily an outcome of this interface. At each stage of the Passenger-Railway interface an
opportunity has been identified, that could be used fruitfully for commercial advertising. An
endeavor has been made to quote an example from a different Railway or a different
organization that exploits such opportunity. The focus is primarily on the conventional
media that the Railways offer for advertising – hoardings, glow signs, posters etc.
Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has thrown up a whole range of new
options. The scope of profitably using these technologies has been studied.
This study is based largely on secondary data gathered from the Railways. In-depth
interviews have been conducted with leading advertising agencies to understand their
perceptions of the issue and to find out what they desire from the Railways if they are to buy
up the advertising opportunities on the IR and thus contribute to the Railway revenues. A
comparison of commercial advertising earnings of the three high earning Divisions of the
Indian Railways – Bombay Division, WR; Jaipur Division, WR/NWR; & Bangalore Division
SR/SWR has been made to highlight the best practices in this area. A structural flaw exists
in organizing this business on the IR. It has traditionally decentralized the entire business of
commercial advertising. This implies that if a particular company (desiring to launch a
product nationally) wants to buy up advertising opportunities (on the railway stations) in the
four metros and in the so-called mini metros, it cannot do so through a single tender. This
particular company would have to apply separate tenders to the different Divisions of
different Zonal Railways. This is probably the reason that none of the 10 big advertising
companies in India own a significant amount of space on the IR. It is clear that the business
needs to be restructured. This study recommends that IR segment their advertising
opportunities similar to their catering opportunities in terms of ‘Major Units and Others’.
Pantry Car Contracts and Food Plazas are awarded centrally while Divisions allot individual
stalls. This research suggests a scheme of segmentation for the advertising business based
on scale. A study has been made, based largely on secondary sources, of how Transit
Advertising business is conducted in the US. Some of their methods are relevant to the
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Indian Railways. A primary difference is in the manner in which their contracts are framed.
Their contracts have an inbuilt incentive for the Contractor to expand the area under display
and thereby maximize revenues for himself, as well as for the organization. The advertising
potential is hence exploited to the maximum extent. Our contracts on the IR are traditionally
restrictive in nature, in the sense that they circumscribe the area and the medium that can be
used for display - thus the potential cannot be exploited to the maximum. Contract clauses
containing these and other points that can be profit IR have been highlighted in the study.
The decision making process in the award of contracts has also been examined in detail and
improvements suggested. A list of recommendations has been drafted to augment revenues
in this area. The assumptions and conditions under which these recommendations will work
have also been clearly spelt out. The study explores the sanctity of the figure of Rs.1 billion
as the target. Estimated potential earnings are 0.8 billion, and the assumptions made to arrive
at this figure have been clearly spelt out.
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Transparency and Disclosure in Indian Capital Markets
S. Gopalakrishnan
Two significant features seen in capital markets are the existence of the principal –
agent problem and acute asymmetries of information. The shareholders (principals) entrust
the running of their company to the management (agent), which is to be monitored by the
Board. The company is also accountable to various other stakeholders. In the wake of
various scams and market abuses, it has been realized that better corporate governance
would help to avoid the recurrence of such incidents. A critical aspect of superior corporate
governance is Disclosure, which would cover the disclosures made by management to the
Board for better monitoring and the disclosures to be made by the company to regulators,
investors and the general public. Such disclosures could be mandated or voluntary. This
paper studies the disclosure scenario in the Indian context. It argues that the markets should
be allowed to gauge the disclosure practices of the companies and warns that stringent
mandates to effect disclosure may result in emphasis being placed more on the form at the
expense of the content. The regulators could play the role of informing the public about
what the firms have and have not disclosed. The regulators too have to improve their act
and play a pro-active role rather than reacting after the horse has bolted. Technological
advances such as XBRL need to be actively encouraged for adoption. With regard to forcing
the pace of such disclosure practices on Indian companies, the lead should come from the
financial institutions that have significant stakes in most large enterprises, but have so far
played a very passive role. Better disclosure and such other effective corporate governance
practices have become imperative in view of the following developments. More and more
investors are seeking to invest in the capital markets because of the reducing interest rates.
Foreign Institutional investors too are increasing their exposure due to the attractive returns
offered; and Indian companies may also prefer to raise cheaper capital from foreign markets.
To facilitate such developments, it is vital to have more effective disclosure practices.
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Antecedents and Consequences of Job Satisfaction of Government Employees in
India
Hasmukh Adhia
Motivation of government employees is the key to increasing overall productivity of
India. Employee motives represent what employees’ want and expect from their jobs, while
job satisfaction reflects the employees’ reactions to what they receive. In this research, an
attempt is made to measure job satisfaction, personality traits, organizational perceptions,
affective commitment and organizational citizenship behaviour of government employees in
India. Statistical analysis has been used to find the correlations among the three factors -
antecedent, job satisfaction and consequence.
The analysis finds that individual personality factors are not significant predictors of
job satisfaction, but the three organizational factors – distributive justice, procedural justice
and organizational politics are strong predictors of job satisfaction. The study also suggests
that higher job satisfaction can lead to better affective commitment, but not better
organizational citizenship behaviour. Significant difference is found between the job
satisfaction of the Central and State Government employees and male and female
employees; however there is no significant difference between job satisfaction of officers
and staff.
When asked to rank factors of motivation, the government employees voted
“Fairness in Job Allocation” as the most important and “Better Communication” as the
second most important factor for their motivation, even bypassing factors such as pay,
contingent rewards etc. The two factors which were ranked lowest are clarity of
organizational objectives and connection of their job with the process of achieving
organizational objectives.
The following specific suggestions are given for improving the job satisfaction of
government employees:
• Replacing the existing system of performance evaluation by a quantitatively measurable
system of performance evaluation.
• Conscious attempts by heads of offices and supervisors to be fair in job allocation and
watching the performance of less skilled workers as well.
• Using psycological techniques for appreciating good work and judicious punishment for
non-workers.
• Changing the structure of the government by having less number of class 3 and class 4 posts
and more number of officers.
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Evolving a Comprehensive Performance Measurement System for BSNL
Janaki Ananthakrishnan
This dissertation has been undertaken with a view to evolving a comprehensive
performance measurement system for my organization, that is, BSNL. As a newly
incorporated entity in a highly challenging business environment, BSNL is in need of a
forward looking performance measurement system that can provide reliable market signals,
both in the short as well as long term, for all the stakeholders concerned. My submission is
that the Balanced Scorecard fulfills all these various requirements. In order to design the
Balanced Scorecard, the methodology adopted was two-fold. Firstly, surveys were done,
using the questionnaire format, of both employees and customers (chosen randomly) of the
Tamil Nadu Telecom Circle. Secondly, in-depth discussions/brainstorming sessions were
conducted with certain officers and staff to elicit details of the elements constituting the
metrics of the Scorecard. These various inputs were analyzed to arrive at the basis of a
working Scorecard. Concurrently, the experiences of comparable Indian as well as foreign
service-sector companies regarding the implementation of the Balanced Scorecard were
studied to get further pointers. The latter part of the dissertation builds on the results and
conclusions of the field work and information from primary/secondary data sources, to
come up with a prototype Scorecard. In the present dynamic market scenario such a
Scorecard, if consistently maintained, will greatly help in the continuous improvement of the
performance of BSNL.
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Developing a Model of Total Quality Management for Primary School Education in
India
G. Kalpana
This paper examines the concept and strategies of Total Quality Management
(TQM), in order to develop a model of TQM - based school education for implementation
in primary education in India. It begins with a description of the challenges in the Indian
education sector. After defining the concept of TQM, a philosophy developed for the
industry by W. E. Deming and adapted to education, it examines its application in the U.S.A.
and U.K. A study of the differences between the two nations leads to the conclusion that
TQM succeeds best as a local school-based initiative. TQM is adaptable as a generic model
suitable to the diversity in Indian education. TQM is an attitude towards school
improvement, and is broad enough to encompass the multifarious needs for school reform
in India. The paper posits a model for TQM in schools, along with enabling conditions and
possible pitfalls. Based on research work in the primary schools of Karnataka, a detailed
blueprint for reform is evolved, which incorporates the TQM way of thinking with the major
requirements for school improvement. These include: systemic thinking with the school as
unit, a decentralized management structure, teacher development, teamwork and collegiality,
school-level leadership, involvement of the community, focus on the process of learning,
and non-threatening assessment.
TQM is a fairly well established strategy in industry, and has been adapted in many
schools in USA and other countries. The contribution of this paper is in weaving the strands
of TQM theory into the realities of the Indian school education system. By doing so, it is
able to provide a framework within which the largely dispersed individual initiatives in
schools can not only be understood but also replicated on a wider scale. The paper
concludes by recommending a mindset change that embraces diversity, consistency and
realism for success.
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Strategic Management of Medicinal Plants in Tamil Nadu with Special Reference to
Conservation of Threatened Medicinal Plants in KMTR (Kalakad Mundanthurai
Tiger Reserve), Tamil Nadu
Manoj Kumar Sarcar
Conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants can be done by taking up many
types of action. Some of these actions are undertaken directly at the places where the plants
grow naturally while others are ex-situ conservation and bio prospecting with a less `direct’
or passive role.
The single most important role for medicinal plants in biological conservation
appears to be their use to enable conservation of their natural habitat. It originates from the
special meaning the medicinal plants have to people, related to the major contributions that
they make to many people’s lives in terms of health support, financial income, cultural
identity and livelihood security. Under the appropriate circumstances, these values can be
transformed into incentive for conservation of the habitats in which the medicinal plants are
grown. Realization of this potential will depend greatly on the existence of assured rights of
access to, and use of, the plants by those members of communities whose lives are most
closely bound to them.
India is very rich in medicinal plants resource, which is complemented by a fairly
widespread traditional knowledge of medicine. With the onset of globalization, there has
been an upsurge in the production of plant based medicines, tonics and body care products
in the recent years. This has caused export acceleration of crude medicinal drugs in the
international market (China and India being the top two exporters), leading to a large
number of medicinal plants being placed in the threatened category of plants, as classified by
International Union for Nature Conservation (IUCN).
Further, in India forests are overwhelmingly State owned (97% of the total forest
area). About 85% of the increasing demand for medicinal plants is met through wild
collection, mainly from these forestlands. The present study identifies that more than 1000
species of Indian medicinal plants suffer from various degrees of threats, of which 172
plants need immediate attention of the government to protect them from further depletion.
Yet, peculiarly, the conservation and management of medicinal plants is not really seen as
the mandate of the Forest department. The Forest department – the custodian of the
medicinal plants and their natural habitat still has as its priority the protection and
conservation of wild fauna, but less or little emphasis is placed on wild flora, including the
medicinal plants, which are the critical ingredients of many life saving drugs.
There are several other government departments and NGOs, such as the Indian
Systems of Medicine of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, both at the Central and
State levels, that control the budget and programme for medicinal plants conservation. Of
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late there have been some attempts to involve the Forest departments in the conservation
and sustainable harvest of medicinal plants.
The problem appears to be lack of specific policies and legal provisions in tandem
with a management strategy for the conservation of medicinal plants by their custodian – the
Forest department which has the major shares of this resource. Thus, the objectives of this
study were: 1) To propose a policy framework with strategies for conservation and
sustainable utilization of medicinal plants 2) To propose augmentation of the existing legal
provisions of conservation to include conservation of threatened medicinal plants. 3) To
provide a conservation development model for prioritizing the management prescription of
medicinal plants 4) To provide species specific recommendations and action plan for select
medicinal plants in the study area, i.e. the Kalakad Mundandurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR) –
the 17th Tiger Reserve of the country located in Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari, the southern
most districts of Tamilnadu.
With the above objectives, the following research propositions were made: 1)
Medicinal Plants resources are getting depleted in their wild habitats. 2) Medicinal Plants do
not get the attention they deserve due to lack appreciation of their value, utility and survival
status by their custodian - the Forest department 3) The Forest department continues its
priority for, a) Protection and conservation of wild fauna but less or little emphasis is placed
on wild flora; and b) Promoting excellence of technicalities but placing less emphasis on
policy vision with skill competence. To prove the above propositions, systematic
methodology was followed by identifying and mapping the shares of various stakeholders of
medicinal plants for collection of data in the field by a questionnaire survey, conducting in-
depth interviews and a combination of both the questionnaireand interview methods. The
collected data from various methods and also from the literature survey and detailed analysis
were used to draw the findings of this study.
Based on the above findings, I have developed specific policy recommendations by
proposing strategic management for conservation and sustainable utilization of medicinal
plants. The recommendations encompass a few other important issues, which need the
immediate attention of the Forest department, so that further depletion of MPs can be
sealed and propagation starts. I have developed a conservation model for prioritizing the
stress level for a few select MPs of KMTR; made a few strategic prescriptions for them
along with the suggested action plan to implement a pilot study.
The findings of this study would help the government to frame policies and
implement them with clear objectives to stop further depletion of the endangered medicinal
plants of our country and to conserve them both for intra and inter generational equity.
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It is likely that a quarter of all species of Indian Plants may either be extinct or on the way to
extinction within the next 25 years, and a majority of the species present now are likely to be extinct within a
century if proper conservation efforts are not in place in time (Raven, 1990).
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Efficacy of Corporatisation in the Context of Indian Railways – A Study of Konkan
Railway Corporation Limited
Mudgerikar Shriniwas Chandrashekhar
The Indian Railways (IR) is going through a difficult financial situation with earnings
not keeping pace with the growing expenses. In the new economic context, the share of
budgetary support to IR is decreasing and the railways is under great pressure not only to
survive as an economically viable organisation, but also to play it’s expected role in the
growth and development of the economy. This phenomenon is not unique to Indian
Railways, as Railway systems the world over are passing through a phase of restructuring.
The privatisation experiences of British Rail (BR) and Japanese Rail (JR) have provided a
number of lessons for the Indian Railways. The BR privatisation, based on vertical
separation of activities and divided ownership with conflicting accountabilities has brought
out sharply the fact that railway operations is an integrated activity, and a difficult one to un-
bundle. However, the BR privatisation process, based on the principle of divided ownership
of track and trains has been able to bring in competition amongst the train operating
companies. The JR privatisation on the other hand, which is based on horizontal separation
(regional subdivision), functional distinction, and vertical integration, provides a successful
model for privatisation. But the JR privatisation process has been able to provide only
benchmark competition among the various area monopolies that are created by the
horizontal separation.
Corporatisation in terms of Indian Railways can be viewed in one of the three ways:
1) As a prelude to privatisation, 2) As a method to avoid or postpone privatization, or 3) As
a means of taking advantage of the decentralised working. IR has separated some of its non-
core activities into corporations like Rail India Technical and Economic Services Ltd
(RITES), Indian Railway Construction (IRCON), Indian Railway Finance Corporation Ltd
(IRFC), Container Corporation of India Ltd (CONCOR) and Indian Railway Catering and
Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC) etc, many of which are performing satisfactorily. The
present study on Konkan Railway Corporation tries to draw lessons from this experience on
the merits and demerits of corporation and its applicability to the rest of the Indian Railways.
Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL) formed under the Build, Operate, and Lease
Transfer (BOT) scheme was the first public sector company to actually run main line trains
carrying revenue earning passengers.
A comparison of the performance of KRCL with the departmental functioning of IR
reveals the fact that in spite of a difficult financial situation, KRCL has been able to perform
better than many of the IR zones in the following areas:
1. Better operating ration than IR
2. Better employee productivity
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3. Lesser spending on staff costs as % of total working expenses
4. Technological initiatives
5. Innovation in commercialisation of services
The negative features of the KRCL include, among others, recurring losses due to
inability to cover finance charges. The comparably better performance of KRCL can be
partially attributed to the higher passenger and freight rates that it is allowed to charge, at
least in some selected elastic markets, fetching more revenue; and also to its outsourcing of
many of the activities, thereby keeping the staff costs low. However, nobody can deny the
achievements of KRCL in terms of its new technological initiatives, and innovations in
commercialisation of services like RO-RO (Roll On-Roll Off).
There is a lot of scope in IR for corporatisation/privatisation of many of the non-
core activities like the running of hospitals, schools, security services, cleanliness services,
printing presses, and production units, where competition from the other sectors in the
market is possible. However, it is much more difficult to corporatise/privatise the core train
running activity of Indian Railways. One approach, as suggested by the Rakesh Mohan
Committee, is formation of an Indian Railway Corporation (IRC) managed by the Indian
Railway Executive Board (IREB), with the Government of India setting policy direction.
This approach to corporatisation suffers from the following drawbacks:
1. The IRC will be a large and unwieldy organization, tending towards bureaucratic
ways of functioning, as it happens with most of the large organizations even in the
private sector.
2. The aims of decentralized decision-making may not be achieved.
This study has revealed that there is another possible approach for the
corporatisation of IR which can provide for regional autonomy and decentralised decision-
making. This approach is to convert the existing zones into separate corporations based on
the KRCL model, with the Railway Board acting as the coordinator and regulator. The main
challenge in this approach will be to achieve coordination between the different zonal
corporations. But this challenge is not insurmountable as is evident from the smooth train
running operations on the Konkan Railway in coordination with the adjacent Zonal Railways
and the Railway Board. If this approach is adopted, then there has to be an effective strategy
regarding whether all the zones should be converted into corporations simultaneously, or in
a phased manner? And if they are to be converted in a phased manner, which zones should
be taken up first?
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Customer Orientation in Health Programmes – A study of the revised National
Tuberculosis control programme in Hyderabad and Medak Districts of Andhra
Pradesh
MVVS Murthy
Tuberculosis is a major public health problem in India. With annual figures of over
two million new cases and nearly 5 lakh deaths, it is a cause for enormous concern. All this is
entirely avoidable as TB can be easily cured with proper medicines that don’t cost much.
However, since TB usually affects the poorest people, and the treatment is prolonged, most
of the patients tend to discontinue treatment before they are completely cured of the disease.
Though 90% of the patients seek medical attention within one month of the onset of the
symptoms, the health systems, both in the public and the private sectors, are not able to
diagnose and start treatment immediately, even after considerable expenditure is incurred by
the patients.
The National Tuberculosis Programme (NTP), which has existed since 1962 has
been plagued with several problems. The estimated is that on an average NTP has diagnosed
that 30% of the patients examined suffer from TB, and completely cured about 30% of the
cases registered with the programme. Most of the patients typically approach one of India’s
10 million private doctors as a first choice. However, private doctors usually rely on chest x-
ray which is not a reliable tool of diagnosis vis-à-vis the sputum microscopy, and prescribe
inappropriate and expensive medicines. They have no mechanism to observe treatment; do
not feel that it is their duty to educate patients and do not maintain any records. As a result,
it is impossible to say how many TB patients actually complete their treatment with the
private doctors. It is in this back ground that the Revised National Tuberculosis Control
Programme was launched in India on a pilot basis in the year 1993 and beginning from 1998
the Programme has expanded rapidly to cover 60% of the population by January 2003, and it
is proposed to cover the entire country by 2005. The new Programme follows the principles
of DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment-Sort Course Chemotherapy), which have proved
effective in controlling TB in many countries across the world.
For my dissertation, I have chosen to study the performance of the DOTS system
being implemented in the Hyderabad and Medak districts of Andhra Pradesh for the past
seven years. The main findings of the study are: Even though the DOTS programme is in
operation in both these districts for a considerable period of time, they have not achieved
the targets set, both in terms of cure of 85% of the new sputum positive cases and detection
of 70% of the new sputum cases. Relatively speaking, the cure target is much closer to
achievement (around 80%) than the detection target, which is only around 60% of the target.
The programme managers should take immediate steps to find out ways to achieve both the
targets, as failure to do so will result in continuation of the infection in the community and
will result in the spread of multi-drug resistant strains of TB, which will be impossible to
control even if unlimited resources are spent on it. Effective TB control is also imperative in
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view of the HIV epidemic, which has already spread to more than 4 million people in the
country who stand much greater chances of developing active tuberculosis disease.
Other findings of the study are as follows: All the 84 patients surveyed in the sample
are satisfied with the supply of medicines, more than 98% of the patients have said that they
are satisfied with the DOTS system of treatment of TB. 98% of the Hyderabad patients’
treatment during the intensive period is directly observed whereas only 70% of the Medak
patients’ treatment is directly observed. Television is the preferred medium of TB patients as
70% of the urban sample and 30% of the rural sample have television sets, but barely 3% of
them have seen any message regarding TB on television – this indicates the total lack of
Information, Education and Communication (IEC) activities in NTP.
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Financing of Higher Education in India: Issues and Prospects
Pranav Khullar
In India, there has been a phenomenal increase in enrolment in colleges and
universities over the last several decades. In fact, the number of universities has taken a
quantum jump from 28 in 1950-51 to 245 in 2002, including 17 central universities and 47
deemed universities; colleges from 695 to 12,342 including 176 state universities during the
same period. The student population increased from 2.5 lakhs to over 75 lakhs, while the
number of teachers increased from 12,000 to 3.95 lakhs. It is however interesting to note
that while India has the second largest system of higher education, next only to the U.S, the
total number of students hardly represent 6 percent of the relevant age group of 18 and 23
years, which is much below the average of developed countries (47 percent), and less than
even that of developing countries, which is 7 percent.
Not only are the challenges and constraints severe with respect to the management
of higher education institutions, but a major problem is the inadequate provision of
budgetary resources to face these challenges. “Since budget resources are limited, and such
resources as are available, need to be allocated to expanding primary education, it is
important that the universities must make greater efforts to supplement resources from the
government” (Draft Approach Paper to the Tenth Five Year Plan). The bulk of the funds
received by both central and state universities are from public sources. Private contribution
to education in the form of donations and endowments, which were the hallmarks of the
pre-Independence period, has dwindled. The internal resources of universities, as a
percentage of their annual maintenance expenditure, have been dwindling. Investment in
higher education is far too inadequate. Cost recovery from students has not kept pace with
the requirements. Most of the expenditure is on salaries, especially of the non-teaching staff,
which in some universities number five times the teaching staff. Salaries and perquisites have
grown precipitously with no corresponding reduction in numbers.
Faced with financial crises coupled with competing demands for funds for different
sectors of the economy, the state and central governments have not been able to allocate
adequate resources for higher education. India is far behind the target of spending 6 percent
of the GDP on education as recommended by the Kothari Education Commission (1964-
66), and in the recent years the relative share of higher education in the allocation of funds
has also declined, primarily due to resource constraints. Although, the overall government
contribution has been increasing throughout the plan periods, it has not kept pace with the
rapid rise in enrolment and escalation in prices. Often inadequacy of financial resources leads
to poor infrastructure and physical facilities and low investment in research and
development, which has an adverse impact on the quality of the higher education system.
This study intends to articulate a rationale for diversifying funding in higher education and to
redefine the role of the government in this sector.
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Performance Measurement System & Transfer Price Model for Manufacture of Cast
Wheels, Rail Wheel Factory, Indian Railways
B.M. Prasad
The primary objective of this dissertation is to arrive at a Performance Measurement
System for the Wheel Shop of the railroad cast wheel manufacturing unit called the Rail
Wheel Factory (RWF); Bangalore. RWF is under the administrative control of the Ministry
of Railways, India. The paper details the manufacturing process in the Wheel Shop and the
existing scheme of performance cost measurement of wheel production. Apportioning of
labor, material overheads and depreciation to the unit wheel manufacturing cost, is a
historical allocation of costs to the finished product on an average cost-plus basis. This is
demonstrated as inadequate to uncover the inefficiencies in the production process at this
plant.
The research hypothesis is that the cost plus model of performance measurement
fails to evaluate the contribution of various manufacturing costs towards the unit total cost
of the wheel in a process-based plant. The hypothesis is validated by analysis of the cost
sheets of production performance for cast wheels of BOXN wagons, which form the bulk
of the production of the Wheel Shop of the RWF. The inadequacy of the cost plus model is
highlighted through regression analysis of the independent variables affecting unit total cost
of wheel production. The output indicates the maximum significance of material and
administrative overhead costs towards unit total manufacturing costs without specifying the
precise activities in wheel production that contributes to the higher manufacturing cost.
Detailed review of contemporary literature on performance measurement, including
activity based costing and perspectives on the Balanced Scorecard for manufacturing plants
is used to postulate the framework of an alternative model of performance measurement for
wheel production. The increase in costs is captured by mapping activities involved in
production process focused on the activity cost driver in each sub shop of the Wheel Shop.
This is based on the Quality Policy to produce low cost quality cast wheels. The research
elicited the views of the stakeholders of the plant on the efficacy of cost competitive
measures in the production processes at the plant, both from the field and at the
administrative office of Ministry of Railways headquartered at New Delhi, India. This led to
evolution of a transfer price mechanism to track the cost of the product in the intermediate
to final stages of manufacture. The inefficiencies in the manufacturing process, as the
product is passed from the upstream to downstream shops, are effectively highlighted in this
model. The internal transfer price model is an opportunity for the RWF management to
introduce a robust performance based incentive bonus scheme for the Wheel Shop
employees. This is based on a two-part (fixed/variable rate) mechanism, based on higher
premium for process improvements in the respective sub shops rather than a single incentive
piece rate per finished good wheel, as at present.
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The performance measurement and revised incentive bonus scheme should be very
effective in the Wheel Shop as research findings corroborate the high levels of employee
motivation and learning potential in this shop. The evaluation of the stakeholders’ responses
to the questionnaires and interviews confirm the need to adopt a proactive strategy in
vendor and cost management issues. Respondents believe that long-term vendor
relationships will contribute to value creation in supply management. The importance of
performance measurement of the process cycle needs wider dissemination in the
organization. A significant percentage (57%) of the stakeholders are satisfied with the
internal business processes of the Wheel Shop, but could not confirm the plant’s
performance status in comparison to similar plants.
This is the challenge to the plant management to reaffirm that performance measures
for wheel production at RWF conform to international benchmarks as such specialized
plants are few world wide. The collaboration route with reputed credible manufacturers of
similar cast wheels or Joint ventures with global railroad equipment manufacturers is
suggested as a method to penetrate the competitive international export market of railroad
consumables. Control over wheel manufacturing costs through activity based cost
measurement and internal transfer price mechanism with a tie up to a reputed international
collaborator will enable the translation of the plant mission to be a world class producer and
exporter of cast railroad wheels. The paper has suggested the adoption of Balanced
Scorecard for the Wheel Shop with regard to Internal Business processes and Learning &
growth Perspectives to enable improvements in the manufacturing processes and enhance
employee satisfaction to make the cast wheel product cost competitive.
The research findings of high employee productivity and propensity for growth
indicate that even in the existing structure, the introduction of the Performance
measurement system and transfer price model for the Wheel Shop, Rail Wheel Factory,
India, will be effective to reward employees, control costs and improve the quality of the
product. The paper recommends the restructuring of the Rail Wheel Factory, as an
autonomous corporate entity or Public Limited Corporation listed on the stock exchanges, with
introduction of employee stock options, as the best method to fully maximize the effectiveness
of the activity based performance measurement system.
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A comparison of the Customs procedures of India, United States of America and
Singapore
Rajesh Nandan Srivastava
International trade has assumed great significance in the globalized world of today.
The growth and development of a nation has come to be linked with the extent of trade that
it is able to carry out in the international arena. Thus, trade facilitation has become the key to
a country’s success in the global arena.
A vital component of trade facilitation is reducing the incidence of transaction costs
in imports and exports. Several times, the extent of transaction costs itself determines the
industries’ competitiveness in the international market. What is more, high transaction costs
are a deterrent to foreign investment coming into the country.
In India, compliance with Customs formalities contributes a large proportion of the
transaction costs for importers and exporters. Available literature points out that despite
liberalization, Indian industry still faces high transaction costs on account of Customs
clearances. These costs arise due to delays in Customs clearances caused by complicated
procedures that lead to involvement of considerable time and effort to comply with the
Customs formalities.
This study is an attempt to gauge the efficiency of the Indian Customs procedures
with respect to service delivery to the trade as well as effectiveness in safeguarding
Government revenue. A comparison is also made with the Customs functioning of two of
the large trading nations of the world equipped with modern facilities – USA and Singapore,
and to see whether Indian Customs can draw lessons from them. Whether the procedures
act as a deterrent to FDI is also examined in this study.
The findings of the study indicate that the Custom Houses vary in performance.
Bombay and Nhava Sheva Customs take 8-9 days for clearing the import document (the bill
of entry), whereas the figure for Chennai is 5.5 days and that for Bangalore is 2.1 days.
Further, filing of the Import General Manifest (1GM), is an extremely time consuming
activity in each of the ports. Each bill of entry is assessed and the goods covered by the
same, physically examined. In the journey of the bill of entry, it is the process of assessment
and not, as widely believed the physical examination of goods, which takes the maximum
time. In the case of exports as well, there is variation in performance, ranging from less than
12 hours in Bangalore to 2 days in Chennai and 3-4 days in Mumbai and Nhava Sheva. The
sanction of drawback takes anywhere between 10 to 18 days at various ports after the
Export General manifest (EGM) has been filed. The filing of EGM, however, like the filing
of the IGM, is a time consuming activity (17-29 days on average at the sea ports). The
performance was found to be much lower than the performance standard which the Central
Board of Excise and Customs has set, as evident from the Citizen’s Charter. This adds to the
transaction cost of the imports as well as exports.
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However, an important finding of the study is that while much is made of the delay
in import clearance formalities by Customs, it is actually the importer himself who is
responsible for nearly a third of the time taken in such clearance because of delay in duty
payments.
The study also revealed that the procedures regarding the safeguarding of revenue
are inadequate. Results also indicate that the perception of high transaction and `hidden’
costs do deter foreign investors from investing in India. The survey also revealed that the
Trade believes that there is significant scope for improvement of Customs procedures.
The study of US customs and that of Singapore reveal that these countries rely
heavily on technology to enable electronic filing and system appraisal of entries. Further,
information is sought for well in advance and fed in the tracking and analyzing systems to
assess the chances of a consignment carrying contraband or evading on duty. Only such
shipments that are thus identified are examined or subjected to thorough scrutiny. Further,
there are strong deterrents against customs related offences and justice is quick. Of course,
the reliance on customs for revenue in these countries is minimal but they have their own
threats – the US in respect of drugs and terrorists and Singapore too from drugs.
Based on the international best practices and the realities of the Indian situation, this
study suggests the use of risk assessment techniques by Indian customs to identify risky
consignments in advance. Only those consignments should be checked and the remaining
allowed to be self assessed by the importers. A profiling of importers should be used to
further segregate the risky and risk-less or less risky imports. Selective audit of the self-
assessed entries should be done to check against abuse of the scheme. Any evasion detected
post-audit should be dealt with firmly with exemplary punishment. The study also evaluates
the working of such a scheme implemented on a test basis in select Customs formations.
Greater reliance on tools of Information Technology and electronic filing of entries
would bring about greater transparency in the system and is also likely to reduce the chances
of corruption, thereby reducing the element of hidden transaction costs.
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Poverty Alleviation Schemes in Madhya Pradesh and their impact on Empowerment
of Women
Rashmi Arun Shami
The paper looks at the functioning of two Anti-poverty schemes, the Swarnajayanti
Gram Swarozgar Yojana and the District Poverty Initiatives Project, in Madhya Pradesh, and
tries to assess the impact of the two schemes on women’s empowerment. It looks at the
assumption that access to financial resources will automatically lead to empowerment of
women. Both the schemes being implemented in Madhya Pradesh are working on the
assumption that women should be targeted because they are poorer and because they tend to
spend more on household well-being than men. Therefore any increase in the incomes of
women will lead to improved spending on household well-being and a rise in the income of
the family will lead to poverty alleviation. The paper concludes that the Swarnajayanti Gram
Swarozgar Yojana needs to be implemented in a more focused manner to significantly
impact poverty alleviation. Inadequate budgetary allocation, over emphasis on targets and
lack of capacity building of the implementing staff, may lead to results that may be far below
the desired level. As far as empowerment of women is concerned, there is evidence that
women who are members of self help groups, believe that they have more self confidence,
and are better able to talk to outsiders. They also reported an improvement in mobility. In
some cases, the behaviour of the family, especially that of the husband has improved. Thus,
the study concludes that in the case of Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana, vibrant, well
performing groups are showing progress in the social and psychological empowerment of
women.
In the case of District Poverty Initiatives Project, the Common Interest Groups of
women seem to be utilizing the grant given to them with care and frugality. The focused
approach of looking at only some clusters of villages, lack of targets, flexibility in choice of
economic activity and capacity building of staff, is leading to effective implementation of the
programme. So far, no evidence of misuse of grant was found. As far as empowerment of
women is concerned, the members of the Common Interest Groups also reported an
increase in self-confidence, and the ability to talk to outsiders. However, the confidence was
less visible in the case of these women. In some cases, the women reported that the
behaviour of family members and husbands was improving. However, the male members of
the family were controlling the activities taken up by the women. In an attempt to benefit
the household as a whole, the Project seems to be careful not to upset the equations inside
the family. Therefore, economic empowerment of women is taking place only in a limited
sense.
This is an exploratory study based on a survey conducted on women belonging to
Self Help Groups and Common Interest Groups, in three Blocks of Guna District and three
Blocks of Dewas district in Madhya Pradesh. The data collected was analyzed using simple
descriptive statistics.
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Vehicular Pollution Control Strategies for Urban Areas: A Case of Ahmedabad City
Samiullah Ansari
Air pollution has posed a major health hazard to the urban population across the
world. Rapid urbanization and linear growth of vehicular population has resulted in fast
deterioration of the urban air quality. WHO estimates 3 million deaths every year due to air
pollution, accounting for 5% of total annual deaths occurring in the world. Billions of dollars
are being spent on air pollution related health issues and the social and environmental cost
burden of air pollution is beyond fathom.
Many big Indian cities are on the threshold of a major environmental crisis due to
uncontrolled urbanisation and rapid growth of vehicular population. Policy Intervention
began in India with the first emission norms for new petrol vehicles in 1991. Emission
norms gradually became stringent and other measures were also started, but the air quality in
many Indian cities has not improved, possibly because of the ineffective enforcement of
abatement measures and incapability of policy interventions to maintain the pace with
massive growth of motor vehicles.
Ahmedabad, a medium size city with over 45 lakh population and 12.5 lakh motor
vehicles is one of the most polluted major cities in India, with the highest level of annual
rSPM concentration level. Abatement measures have not made any significant difference
because the level of Nox has doubled in the last 8 years and the annual mean concentration
level of RSPM is now four times higher than the limits prescribed by WHO and USEPA. It
is necessary to mention that RSPM is the pollutant responsible for a high level of premature
deaths and morbidity in Indian and Asian cities.
This study has attempted to understand the nature and scope of the problem of
vehicular pollution and analyse the policy instruments applied in India and Ahmedabad. The
main purpose of the study is to suggest alternative strategies for vehicular pollution
mitigation. Policy framework and strategies are based on learnings from international
experiences and understanding the problems in the Indian context in general and
Ahmedabad in particular. Feasibility of all instruments in the Indian context, requirements of
minimum cost and immediate impact are the main guiding principals for selecting policy
instruments and recommending strategies.
The goal of improving air quality of Ahmedabad and other Indian cities can only be
achieved by combining all aspects of vehicular pollution management. Fuel quality and
vehicle technology improvement may not work if the numbers of vehicles keep on
increasing at the current rate, and a large number of old vehicles with high level of emission
are permitted to continue on the roads. The policy has to focus on controlling the growth
rate of motor vehicles and reducing the total travelled kilometres and emission of every
vehicle per kilometre. This requires a combination of fuel and vehicular technology
improvement, inspection and maintenance of in-use vehicles, efficient public transport
30 | P a g e
system, selected travel demand management measures, traffic management improvements,
proper land use, transport management co-ordination and an effective mechanism to
implement the policies in combination with abatement measures. Some hard steps have to
be taken to identify the gross polluting vehicles and taking them off the roads or convert
them to alternative fuels. Lack of immediate and effective policy interventions will soon
result into an unmanageable scenario.
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Improving Police Service Delivery: Human Resource Interventions
Sanjeev Shami
Police are the most powerful, most visible, and most feared agency of the
government. Police also have to act as agents of social change in modern times. The police
system that evolved during the late nineteenth century had the objective to serve the
interests of the colonial power rather than being responsive to the people. There has been
very little change in the mandate of the police since then.
The present study focuses on the majority constituents of the civil police i.e.,
constables and head constables (HCs) – approximately 70% and 18% of the civil police
respectively. The required education qualification is matriculate (class 10th) for constables
and HCs, who are referred to as other rank (OR). Accordingly, statutory responsibilities and
functions of the lowest order are assigned to them.
A survey, using a specially designed questionnaire was conducted, covering police
personnel posted at police stations in six districts of Madhya Pradesh – Gwalior, Indore,
Dewas, Jabalpur, Shivpuri, and Bhopal (N=1091). The main variables investigated in the
present study include: job satisfaction, job commitment, public service functions, and
demographic profiles such as age, length of service, and education. It was postulated that
• Higher education level would influence job satisfaction and job commitment.
• Job satisfaction would affect job commitment.
• Job commitment and public service functions would influence each other.
As constables and HCs are the majority constituents of the police force, the public
interacts mostly only with them. Generally this interaction is in non-criminal settings.
In the light of the findings of the study, suggestions were made to fine-tune the
policies of police administration. The study suggests organization-wide change interventions
focusing on nine-tenth of the civil police strength. These policy level changes are expected to
significantly improve the service delivery, which in turn will bring in transformation in the
image of the police personnel.
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Protected Area Management Potential of Eco-Tourism in Mudumalai Wild Life
Sanctuary and National Park
R Srinivas Reddy
Tourism has emerged as the largest industry in the world with annual revenue of
about $ 500 billion. Eco-tourism is of one of the fastest growing sectors in the tourism
industry at present. It has attracted increasing attention in recent years, not only as an
alternative to mass tourism, but also as a means of economic development and
environmental conservation. Eco-tourism was earlier equated with nature tourism or
adventure tourism. However, now the distinction is clear and eco-tourism is defined as
tourism that is linked to natural resource protection. This is in contrast to nature tourism
that involves exploitation of natural resources. True eco-tourism requires a proactive
approach that seeks to mitigate the negative and enhance the positive impacts of ‘nature
tourism’. Being a nature based tourism; it takes into account natural ecological attractions,
their conservation and development. Its main aim is to safeguard the environment, making it
beneficial to the local people by generating revenue, education and pleasure for the tourist.
Tourism activity in a national park or any other protected area can be self-financing
and so serve as a tool for conservation. India has a network of Protected Areas (P.A.s)
comprising 4.7% of the country’s geographical area, which are presently managed by the
Wildlife Wings of the State Forest Departments. India’s geographic diversity provides a
range of ecosystems that could potentially support eco-tourism activities. Further, successful
eco-tourism must benefit local populations economically and culturally to give them
incentives to protect the natural resources which create the attraction.
However, the main purpose of establishing Protected Areas was for protecting and
conserving fragile ecosystems, which were rich in wildlife. Hence, the conservation goal is
supreme while managing Protected Areas.
The increasing interest among the tourists to visit natural areas has put enormous
pressure on the Protected Areas. Unfettered eco-tourism has encouraged many large resorts
to come up, which pretended to follow eco-tourism policies in order to ensure high rent
capture. These resorts tend to cause wide scale ecological degradation, particularly in the
fragile habitats. The increasing number of tourists beyond the carrying capacities of the
parks has added to the problem. Tourism management in Protected Areas has not always
been a success; benefits have been gathered by a few, support services from the government
have been poor, often receiving inadequate funds, despite generating considerable funds for
the central treasuries. Local people have been adversely affected and relations with the
authorities have often been hostile. More than ever, it is now important that efforts to
manage tourism in the Protected Areas are coordinated and that participation by key
stakeholders takes place.
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The concept cannot work unless it has the support of all stakeholders and the
benefits are actually seen flowing to all these stakeholders. Among them, the role of the local
communities is critical. Their dependence on the Protected Areas is higher and hence their
cooperation can ensure that the eco-tourism policy would be a tool of conservation of the
Protected Areas.
The aim of the research is to formulate an eco-tourism policy for the Mudumalai
Wildlife Sanctuary of Tamilnadu by evolving the framework for an eco-tourism policy. The
aim is also to suggest workable institutional and regulatory mechanisms needed to
implement such a policy.
The sanctuary is a biodiversity rich area with easy accessibility and high tourist
visitation. It has a sizable human population, including tribals, in the fringes. There is also a
private sector initiative in nature tourism related ventures in the periphery of the sanctuary.
Any eco-tourism policy for Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary must have elements of
planning with community participation, monitoring and evaluation to gauge the degree of
impact of tourism, infrastructural and social capacity building, institutional development,
zoning and regulation to manage the tourism on sustainable lines and finally, elements of
financial sustainability and promotion. Local management committees need to be created
where participatory decision-making can take place. A state level advisory committee and a
local level advisory committee need to be constituted. These institutions would deliberate on
the institutional and regulatory mechanisms to carryout eco-tourism activities. For example,
there can be differential pricing of the park entrance fees, to augment resources for the
improvement of the park and may include the regulation of undesirable commercial growth
in the fringe areas of the park.
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Levels of Literacy in the Primary Schools of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra
Pradesh
Sumit Mullick
The importance of primary education in an individual’s development and in the
nation’s social and economic development is well known. It has been argued by several that
countries comparable with India, such as China and certain nations of S.E. Asia were able
make rapid progress in economic and health indicators because of their prior success in
providing universal primary education. This unfortunately has not occurred in India. Now,
however, to accelerate the spread of primary education, several initiatives have been taken
including the World Bank sponsored District Primary Education Program (DPEP). With the
increasing availability of infrastructure, this study emphasizes that it is now necessary to
concentrate on the quality of primary education.
It is well known that the quality of education in primary schools, particularly in the
rural areas, delivered by the public education system is low. What is not known however is to
what extent. This study attempts to quantify the scale of the problem. The issue of quality
has been analyzed in eight districts, six in Maharashtra, one in Karnataka and one in Andhra
Pradesh. Maharashtra, Karnataka as well as Andhra Pradesh are generally recognized as
being among the more progressive and better managed states. This study shows that even in
these states, if classroom literacy is as low as 3.95 percent (Kannada medium schools in three
blocks of Belgaum District, Karnataka), the official figure for India’s overall literacy rate of
around 66 percent (2001 census), is far removed from reality.
The second question that logically follows is that if classroom literacy is really so low,
then what are the measures that can be adopted to effect an improvement. In Amaravati
Division, Maharashtra, illiteracy had been substantially reduced by measures that emphasized
objectivity, accountability, continuity and replicability. This method, while fixing
accountability at all levels, also determined the precise areas that the individual student was
weak in, thereby allowing for customized remedial measures for individual students or
groups of students. Moreover, the method adopted did not require any additional finances,
manpower or changes in the statutes, making it eminently suited to serve as a model.
Lessons have been drawn from the role of public participation, the media and the
political classes. Issues like primary education which have a wide impact, and which seek to
change established systems, require correspondingly wide legitimacy and public support.
The overall malaise in the public education system which results in low literacy levels
has been examined. The long term effects of the lack of quality education at the primary
level have been shown in the survey of students at the SSC level in thirteen secondary
schools. The main conclusion here is that even with adequate resources and trained teachers,
the number of schemes to increase attendance and classroom literacy cannot be
implemented effectively unless there is a system in place which pinpoints the accountability
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of the teachers and the supervisory staff immediately, accurately, comprehensively and
continuously.
Three schools in Belgaum District, Karnataka have been analyzed in depth. This
serves to illustrate the nature and extent of the problem at the basic level of the student and
the classroom. It also shows that the recently completed DPEP in Belgaum and in Adilabad
(AP) has not appreciably increased the achievement level of the students. This observation is
reinforced by the evaluation of the achievement levels in Aurangabad District, Maharashtra,
which had also completed the DPEP.
A comparative analysis regarding educational standards has been provided between
the schools of Belgaum district which had a DPEP program and the schools of Amaravati
district, which did not.
Belgaum, as per the DPEP norms has spent Rs.52.84 crores out of a sanctioned
Rs.57.84 crores. This strongly indicates that there is no direct correlation between additional
finances and literacy, if other factors are not in place. The DPEP is pumping in new
resources into the primary education sector - Rs.4885 crores so far and the possibility of
another 4000 crores in the future. This will add to the country’s already large public debt
burden. The money should be used judiciously. Returns can be assured only if the rate of
classroom literacy substantially rises, which is currently not the case. The DPEP approach
towards primary education and its lack of success in ensuring quality have been analyzed in
terms of the weakness in its evaluation and monitoring methods.
The policy recommendations in this study include the fundamental need to shift the
debate on primary education towards the maximization of resources already in place. This
maximization can be achieved by correctly evaluating classroom literacy levels and then
adopting suitable remedial methods. The entire gamut of schemes currently adopted by the
Education Department has to be re-examined to check their effectiveness in achieving the
basic objective of literacy. Moreover, universal literacy has to be achieved as quickly as
possible, otherwise in the globalized era the gap between India and other countries in the
world is bound to widen.
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Widening the Scope of Container Corporation – Indian Railway
Sunanda Arul
India’s transport system is one of the largest in the world. It covers a land area of
3.3 million sq.kms and a population of 1 billion. According to the Rakesh Mohan Committee
Report on Infrastructure (1996), the economic losses on account of congestion and poor
transport, works out to Rs.120 to Rs.3090 Billion in a year.
India has road network of 3.3 Million kms and a railway network of 63,140 route
kms. Only 3,000 kms of roads in India are 4 lane roads, which is just on-fifth of the same in
China. The average speed of road vehicles and freight trains is around 30 to 40 kms per
hour. This is only one-third of the speed levels in developed countries.
In this paper, I have brought out the need to go in for multi-model (Container)
transport. The Kyoto Conference of 1997 highlighted the need for cutting down on the
green house gas emission. From the public policy perspective, having a good transport
network is necessary both from the social and economic angle. We need to go in for a more
fuel-efficient transport system, which will also cut down our expenditure on fuel import.
Container Corporation (CONCOR) is a part of the Indian Railways and is into multi
model transport in a big way. They have the backing of the Indian Railways. Unfortunately,
of late, the freight earnings of both Indian Railways and CONCOR are on the decline. In
this study, I have tried to highlight the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for
CONCOR. I have also given some suggestions as to how they can overcome their
weaknesses.
International studies have confirmed that Rail Transport is not only cheaper but also
more fuel efficient and less polluting. Further, the numbers of train accidents are lesser than
road accidents. The maintenance cost of the railways is cheaper as compared to that of
roads. By changing the present strategy, both CONCOR and Indian Railways can not only
earn more revenue but also contribute to the development of the nation.
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Effectiveness of HIV/AIDS Policy and its Implementation in Karnataka
Suresh K Mohammed
HIV/AIDS is the greatest health crisis the world faces today. The HIV/AIDS
epidemic poses an unprecedented challenge to communities and nations, particularly those
in the developing world. Where the epidemic has spread unchecked, it is robbing countries
of their resources and capacities on which human security and development depend.
HIV/AIDS is thus today perceived as a developmental issue rather than as a mere public
health problem. With an estimated 4.5 million HIV infections in 2002, India has the second
highest number of HIV infections in the world. Since the detection of the first HIV positive
case in Chennai in 1986, the virus has spread rapidly and today AIDS has been reported
from all the states of the country.
Karnataka is today face-to-face with the toughest challenge of tackling an
HIV/AIDS epidemic that is spreading rapidly in the state. With adult HIV prevalence rates
increasing rapidly over the past three years the window of opportunity for bringing the
HIV/AIDS epidemic under control is narrowing day by day. This study assesses the
effectiveness of HIV/AIDS policy and its implementation in Karnataka and suggests
measures for improving it. The study takes the state of Tamilnadu, which has been
recognized as an effective model in combating HIV/AIDS, as a benchmark for comparing
the performance of Karnataka.
The study concludes that while implementation of policy in Karnataka is not
satisfactory, it is too early to call Tamilnadu’s model of handling the HIV/AIDS epidemic a
success. However, there are several noteworthy features in Tamilnadu’s response, which are
different from the response of other states and are worth replicating. The study thus draws
several strategic lessons for Karnataka, which like Tamilnadu needs to have visionary leaders
at the helm; has to adopt new strategies like enlisting the support of diverse NGOs for a
diverse population, should encourage a synergetic partnership with another major player, and
should build trust and mutual understanding between all the payers in the field. Several
policy recommendations are also made in the study.
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Anti-dumping as a Trade Remedy Measure: Evidence from Three Countries (US,
EU and India)
Susanta Sekhar Das
Regulation of foreign trade is one of the most important policy issues faced by
national governments. While trade policy regimes the world over have been witnessing
progressive liberalisation under multilateral arrangements, demand for trade remedy
regulations for protecting domestic producers from unfair competition has been increasing.
Anti-dumping, as one of these trade remedy instruments or contingent protection measures,
has occupied the center stage, as the instrument of first choice, due to inherent protectionist
elements in the GATT code and national regulations. Increasing use of this instrument by
both traditional and non-traditional users has been a matter of concern because of the trade
distorting effects of such actions.
This paper examines the evolution and spread of the instrument of anti-dumping
from economic, legal and political economy angles. It analyses the GATT code of anti-
dumping and the national regulation of the three most frequent users of this instrument, i.e.
the US, the EU and India. The paper observes that while it is essential to protect the
domestic industry from unfair trade practices, it is also important to determine how ‘unfair’
these unfair practices are. Any trade remedy law should separate and distinguish between
market distorting trade practices and monopolization attempts from normal price behaviour
and competitive advantage of the exporting firms. The paper concludes that while political
economy factors might have helped the evolution of this instrument, it is the lack of
economic tests for dumping and injury determination, and the in-built asymmetries and
discretionary elements in the GATT AD codes that are responsible for the growing use of
this instrument world over. The paper recommends major changes in the GATT code of
anti-dumping to bring in economic rationality and public interest tests into the code, in order
to prevent competition restricting practices under the garb of trade remedy actions.
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People Related Interventions in the Management of Change – A Case Study of the
BDA and the BCC
V. Vidyavathi
“He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution which
rejects progress is the cemetery”. - Harold Wilson.
Nothing sums up the criticality and inevitability of change better than this statement.
As societies and nations race towards their future, change has become an indispensable part
of life - something all of us need to initiate and grapple with.
Organizational change is a complex phenomenon. It can be the result, but it can also
cause turbulence and resistance. The question then becomes, how do we manage this
complexity? What are the interventions that need to be initiated by the change leadership if
positive changes are to be brought in and sustained? What human resource related
interventions are critical towards managing change?
These are some of the questions I have tried to address in this paper. To understand
the complexity and dynamics of change management, I have analyzed changes in two
organizations – the Bangalore City Corporation and the Bangalore Development Authority.
My research has thrown up certain key insights into the phenomenon of change in
government organizations.
Clarity of the objectives of the organization stands out as the critical first step. The
interventions in both the BCC and the BDA have emerged out of this understanding. Clarity
of objectives orients the organization towards a set of goals and helps initiating those
changes, which are a subset of these objectives. Once this is clear, the next step is to
prioritize. This would depend on the impact of change, the nature of resistance likely and a
host of other factors. Research has brought out the importance of a quick success even if it
is a limited one, as it gains followers and sets the tone for positive changes in the
organization. Another key learning has been the criticality of strategy, both in terms of
initiating as well as managing change in an organization. Communication and building
support constituencies make the change process smoother. It is also important to assess the
field for potential support or opposition, before initiating any change.
A key insight that has emerged out the research is the fact that human resource
interventions have to be a subset of policy and process changes. It is important to attempt a
systemic change rather than just tinkering on the periphery. HR interventions then become
tools for achieving the stated objectives of the organization. This also brings out the
importance of co-opting the employees in the process – through empowerment, training,
motivation etc.
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Another crucial learning has been the role played by the stakeholders. The proactive
and supportive role played by the stakeholder platform has served a threefold purpose – of
acting as a sounding board for new ideas; as a means of resource sharing in terms of skills
and expertise as well as being the forum of social audit. This makes the organization
accountable and responsive to the stakeholders- both internal and external.
Based on the key learnings of my research, I have attempted to analyze the
implications of these learnings on change management. This would involve policy changes in
terms of personnel, training, planning and resource allocation.
The government needs to seriously review the issue of the stability of tenure to the
top leadership, especially in organizations which deal with issues impacting a large section of
the citizenry. Similarly, the training policies of the government have to be attuned towards
imparting the skills of management of change across the leadership. Training has to be
purposeful and should reflect the felt needs of organization(s).
There is a need for government organizations to reorient their performance
indicators to be in tune with their mission and vision. This would mean attuning the
appraisal systems in terms of key deliverables of these stated objectives.
Documentation systems in government need to be strengthened, and there should be
a mechanism for collecting information on the best practices across the states/countries.
These should then be adapted to suit individual organizations.
Ultimately, all change is personal. A supportive environment with stress on
accountability would produce results, and it is important that the government harnesses the
potential of change leadership in the interest of the public.