Vol-14 the Gist February 2014 - Www.upscportal.com

COURTESY:

♦ The Hindu

♦ The Yojana♦ Kurukshetra♦ Press Information Bureau♦ Science Reporter

ContentsTHE HINDU .......................................................................................................................... 2

Fixed Tenure for, Bureaucrats, SC Directed Centre & States ......................................................................................... 2Iran, Pakistan Gas Pipeline Project .................................................................................................................................. 2Currency Swap Pacts between Size Major Central Banks ............................................................................................. 3Civil Nuclear Agreement between India, Australia .......................................................................................................... 3Kosovo’s First Post-secession Civic Polls a Test for Ethnic Serbs ............................................................................... 4India’s Historic Mission to Mars .................................................................................................................................... 4India’s Stand on Climate Change ...................................................................................................................................... 5Centre to Challenge High Court Verdict on CBI Formation ....................................................................................... 6U.S. to Oppose Mechanism to Fund Climate Change Adaptation in Poor Nations .................................................... 6Saudis are World’s Biggest Tweeters, India at 21st Position .......................................................................................... 8Panchayat Raj Rule 4(2) not in Conformity with Act .................................................................................................. 10Montreal Protocol has Jurisdiction over HFC Gases: U.S. .......................................................................................... 12G77+China Group Walks out of Loss and Damage Talks ............................................................................................ 13Criminality in the Indian Political System ..................................................................................................................... 14Oil Exploration to Take Place in Undisputed Areas in South China Sea ..................................................................... 15India, France to Lead Study on Monsoon ..................................................................................................................... 15

YOJANA .............................................................................................................................. 17WATER CRISIS IN 21ST CENTURY & 12TH PLAN .............................................................................................. 17OIL ECONOMY INDIA & ENERGY SECURITY .................................................................................................... 18FUTURE OF GOVERNANCE E-GOVERNMENT ................................................................................................. 20OLD SOIL NEW BILL .................................................................................................................................................. 24Growth, More Employment & more Poverty .............................................................................................................. 27HISTORY OF EDUCATION IN INDIA ..................................................................................................................... 31

KURUKSHETRA................................................................................................................ 34Food Security Vs. Farmer Security ................................................................................................................................ 39Hurdles in Implementing Food Security Bill ............................................................................................................. 42Food Security – A Remedy for Malnutrition ................................................................................................................ 44Gene Revolution-Solution for Food Crisis ................................................................................................................ 46Measures to Eradicate Food Crisis ................................................................................................................................ 49

PRESS INFORMATION BUREAU .................................................................................. 51India and Vietnam Sign Treaty on Transfer of Sentenced Prisoners ........................................................................... 51India Declared Free From Bird Flu ............................................................................................................................... 52Sitanshu Kar from Sevmash Shipyard in Russia with inputs from Captain PV Satish in New Delhi ...................... 54

SCIENCE REPORTER ...................................................................................................... 58Icon of Indian Science ..................................................................................................................................................... 58Radar ................................................................................................................................................................................ 60

2 VOL–14 GIST OF THE HINDU

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⇒ FIXED TENURE FOR, BUREAUCRATS, SCDIRECTED CENTRE & STATES

To insulate the bureaucracy from politicalinterference and to put an end to frequent transfersof civil servants by political bosses, the SupremeCourt on Thursday directed the Centre and theStates to set up a Civil Services Board (CSB) for themanagement of transfers, postings, inquiries, processof promotion, reward, punishment and disciplinarymatters.

A Bench of Justices K.S. Radhakrishnan andPinaki Chandra Ghose, giving a series of directionswhile disposing of a public interest writ petition —filed by former Union Cabinet Secretary T.S.R.Subramanian; former CECs T.S. Krishnamurthy andN. Gopalaswami; former Indian Ambassador to theU.S. Abid Hussain; former CBI Director JoginderSingh; former Manipur Governor Ved PrakashMarwah and 77 others — also said bureaucratsshould not act on verbal orders given by politiciansand suggested a fixed tenure for them.

Writing the judgment, Mr. JusticeRadhakrishnan said “the CSB, consisting of highranking service officers, who are experts in theirrespective fields, with the Cabinet Secretary at theCentre and Chief Secretary at the State level, couldbe a better alternative (till the Parliament enacts alaw), to guide and advise the State government onall service matters, especially on transfers, postingsand disciplinary action, etc., though their views alsocould be overruled, by the political executive, but byrecording reasons, which would ensure goodgovernance, transparency and accountability ingovernmental functions.”

The Bench asked Parliament to enact a Civil

Services Act under Article 309 of the Constitutionsetting up a CSB, “which can guide and advise thepolitical executive transfer and postings, disciplinaryaction, etc.” The Bench directed the Centre, Stategovernments and the Union Territories to constitutesuch Boards “within three months, if not alreadyconstituted, till the Parliament brings in a properLegislation in setting up CSB.”

The Bench said “We notice, at present the civilservants are not having stability of tenure,particularly in the State governments wheretransfers and postings are made frequently, at thewhims and fancies of the executive head for politicaland other considerations and not in public interest.The necessity of minimum tenure has been endorsedand implemented by the Union Government. In fact,we notice, almost 13 States have accepted thenecessity of a minimum tenure for civil servants.Fixed minimum tenure would not only enable thecivil servants to achieve their professional targets, butalso help them to function as effective instrumentsof public policy.”

Deprecating repeated transfers, the Bench saidminimum assured tenure ensures efficient servicedelivery and also increased efficiency. The Benchdirected the Centre, States and Union Territories toissue appropriate directions to secure providing ofminimum tenure of service to various civil servants,within three months.

⇒ IRAN, PAKISTAN GAS PIPELINE PROJECTWhile Islamabad maintains that there is no

official word on this yet from Tehran, the project isalready in limbo since it does not have the $2 billionto complete its share.

Gist of

THE HINDU

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GIST OF THE HINDU VOL–14 3

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Earlier, in October, the government hadsought financial assistance from Iran as not manywere interested in backing the project given thethreat of U.S. sanctions.

However, official sources said the main issueswere financing and the agreement . The governmentat that time had not done its homework and whysuch a deal with high prices for gas and huge penaltyclauses was negotiated was not clear, the sourcespointed out. Iran had already offered $500 millionbut Islamabad says it would need $2 billion tocomplete its share of the project.

Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi saidthe project was going ahead and constructioncontracts were to be signed. He had also dismissedspeculation that U.S. sanctions would affect theproject. The pipeline was discussed with U.S.President Barack Obama during Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif ’s visit last week. Iran has alreadyconstructed more than 900 km (out of 1,100 km) ofthe pipeline on its territory at a cost of $700 million.

The agreement was slammed by a report bySustainable Policy Development Institute (SDPI),“Rethinking Pakistan’s Energy Equation: Iran-Pakistan Gas Pipeline.”

⇒ CURRENCY SWAP PACTSBETWEEN SIZE MAJOR CENTRAL BANKS

Six major central banks, said they would maketheir web of currency swap arrangementspermanent as a ‘prudent liquidity backstop’ in caseof future global financial strains.

The Bank of Japan, the U.S. Federal Reserve,the European Central Bank, the Bank of England andthe central banks of Canada and Switzerland willconvert their “temporary bilateral liquidity swaparrangements’’ into standing arrangements that “willremain in place until further notice.’’

“The existing temporary swap arrangementshave helped to ease strains in financial markets andmitigate their effects on economic conditions,’’ a co-ordinated statement from the central banks said.“The standing arrangements will continue to serve asa prudent liquidity backstop.’’

Global Credit Crunch• Currency swap lines were first introduced

nearly six years ago in response to a globalcredit crunch that starved banks of liquidityand threatened to gum up the entire financialsystem.

• They were an important part of the policyresponse to the 2007-09 financial crisis,keeping a lid on funding costs, which hadspiralled due to fear over counter-party risk.

• The arrangements were next due for reviewin February.

⇒ CIVIL NUCLEARAGREEMENT BETWEEN INDIA, AUSTRALIA

India moved a step closer to sourcing uraniumfrom Australia, the world’s biggest exporter of theradioactive mineral, with the Foreign Ministers ofboth countries agreeing to hold the third round oftalks on a bilateral civil nuclear agreement towardsthe end of this month.

External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid andhis Australian counterpart Julie Bishop reaffirmedthe commitment of both countries to finalise a CivilNuclear Cooperation Agreement to enable the saleof Australian uranium to India, and announced thatthe third round of negotiations would be held herein the last week of November. They met in Perth onthe margins of a multilateral conference.

The two Ministers also discussed energysecurity and the possibility of a ComprehensiveEconomic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) tostrengthen ties. Both sides have laid stress on thesecurity of sea lanes as India and Australia havesupplemented their coal-based energy ties with amultibillion dollar contract for sourcing Australiangas.

Having held one round of dialogue, the twocountries will be finalising dates for the secondinteraction on the subject, which will form thefulcrum of a strategic partnership with the imminentaddition of uranium to ties in coal and hydrocarbons.Energy security was also discussed during DefenceMinister A.K. Antony’s visit to Australia in June thisyear when it was decided to hold a bilateral maritimeexercise in 2015.

The two Foreign Ministers confirmed that theinaugural cybersecurity dialogue would be held inthe first half of 2014 and reiterated the two





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countries’ commitment to work together to addressthreats such as terrorism and transnational crime.

Australia also welcomed plans to hold a majorconference of persons of Indian origin, the PravasiBharatiya Divas, in the country in November. India isnow Australia’s largest source of skilled migrants andthe second largest source of international students.“Australia is pleased with that,” Ms. Bishop noted.

⇒ KOSOVO’S FIRST POST-SECESSION CIVICPOLLS A TEST FOR ETHNIC SERBS

• People in Kosovo choose Mayors and localCouncillors in an election that will test thecountry’s fragile relations with Serbia as bothcountries seek to move closer to theEuropean Union.

• Serbia has called on Kosovo’s Serb minorityto participate in the vote organised byPristina’s ethnic Albanian-dominatedauthorities.

• Serb participation in Kosovo’s political life,including elections, is one of the key elementsof an EU-brokered deal that seeks to settlethe dispute over Kosovo and unlock EUfunds.

• It is the first time that voters in all of Kosovowill choose local Councillors and Mayors sincethe country seceded from Serbia in 2008.Serbia rejects Kosovo’s independence, as domany Kosovo Serbs. The United States andmajority of the EU countries have recognisedthe new state.

• Kosovo’s Prime Minister said the vote wascrucial for the new country.

• In the areas in northern Kosovo, where Serbsconstitute a majority, tensions were highbetween Serbs boycotting the vote and thoseresponding to Belgrade’s call to participate.

• Milic was one of few Serb voters to vote earlyon Sunday despite warnings from hard-lineSerbs who fear that the vote will validateKosovo’s secession.

• Posters describing participation in electionsas treason have sprung up in the Serb-majority areas, and a number of bombattacks have targeted Serb politiciansrunning for office.

• Some 1.8 million voters are entitled to votein 39 municipalities and elect mayors andlocal councillors. — AP

⇒ INDIA’S HISTORIC MISSION TO MARSThe nation’s prestigious interplanetary mission

to Mars, 40 crore km away, got off to a flying starton Tuesday when the Indian Space ResearchOrganisation’s trusty Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle(PSLV-C25) roared off the first launch pad of thespaceport at Sriharikota at 2.38 p.m. and put theMars orbiter precisely into its earth-orbit about 44minutes later.

This was the first crucial and difficult step in theISRO’s Mars Orbiter Mission. However, the XLversion of the PSLV achieved it with aplomb. Theelliptical orbit achieved was so accurate that againstthe predicted perigee of 250 km and an apogee of23,500 km, it went into an orbit of 246.9 km x23,566 km.

The spacecraft first going into orbit around theearth signalled the start of its 300-day voyage to theRed Planet. If everything goes well during thiscomplex and challenging journey through deep space,it will be put into the Mars orbit on September 24,2014.

Mission HighlightsTwo mission highlights are: it was the longest

PSLV mission at 44 minutes — the previous missionslasted about 18 minutes, and this was the silverjubilee lift-off of the PSLV. Out of the 25 launches,24 had been successful in a row.

Suspense filled the newly-built Mission ControlCentre (MCC) when there was a long coasting phaseof 25 minutes between the PSLV’s third stageburnout and the fourth stage ignition.

Tension gripped the MCC again for about half-a-minute for it was only 37 seconds after the fourthstage burnout that the spacecraft was put into orbit.But all this was as planned.

⇒ CAIRN INDIA TORAMP UP INVESTMENTS IN KG BASIN

Cairn India is set to step up investment andactivities in Krishna-Godavari basin in a bid toreposition itself on the east coast.





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While the private oil and gas producer is topump in about Rs.500 crore in its offshore block,about $30 million has been planned for drilling deepexploration wells in Ravva JV field. Also, thecompany is expected to submit the commerciality ofan onshore well in KG basin this fiscal.

Though Cairn is looking for both oil and gaspotential in the KG basin, it primarily sees prospectsfor gas discovery.

In the KG offshore block, work on which washeld up pending clearance from the Defence Ministry,the company has been given nod to carry outexploration in 65 per cent of the block area while theremaining 35 per cent has been declared as ‘no goarea’. Planning and tendering for the acquisition of3D seismic data is underway.

High Risk, High ValueCairn India, along with its JV partners in

Ravva, is also working on a project to drill deeperwells for gas. Cairn has planned to drill two wells. Thedrilling for the first well is expected to begin in thenext few weeks. This drilling of “high risk, high value”exploration wells will entail an investment of about$80 million. In the JV, Cairn India holds 22.5 percent. The rest is held by Videocon and ONGC.

⇒ INDIA’S STAND ON CLIMATE CHANGEWhat are your thoughts on the view that

historical emissions should not play a role in decidingresponsibilities under the 2015 agreement?

India has consistently held the view thathistorical emissions are a very important pillar ofissues of equity under the United NationsFramework Convention on Climate Change(UNFCCC). Even today, those countries, which areresponsible for historical emissions, have not madeany attempt or are not even inclined to make anyattempt to cap their emissions. They only talk aboutthe world at large working towards the goal ofcapping the global temperature rise at two degreeCelsius. So yes, historical emissions and the principleof Common But Differentiated Responsibility(CBDR) are non-negotiable pillars of Indian strategy.

What outcome do you foresee from theWarsaw COP?

The most important milestone would be

climate finance and capitalisation of the GreenClimate Fund (GCF), which has not happened at all.Importantly, the linkage of the new agreement withthe 1992 UNFCCC is absolutely crucial. Along withG77+China and Like-Minded Developing Countries(LMDC), we have also been insisting that currentefforts, which are now underway, should not be anattempt to rewrite the framework convention but toforge an agreement under it.

Tell us about the role and fluid nature ofthe LMDC group

The flexibility of the group is the strength ofthe group. The fact that we are like-minded in termsof the needs of developing countries is importantand binds us together. I think the best group that willsurvive is a group that comes together on issues suchas CBDR, capitalisation of the GCF, no unilateraltrade measures or trade measures disguised asclimate change action, such as the aviation emissionsissue.

What are the complimentary andsupplementary actions outside the UNFCCC?

In the context of pre-2020 complimentary andsupplementary initiatives and actions, we are of thestrong view that any so-called complimentaryinitiative should be voluntary, based on countryspecific priorities and not prescriptive in any way.

Which brings us to HFCs. What is yourposition after the recently concluded MontrealProtocol meeting?

The UNFCCC is the forum whereHydroFlouroCarbons (HFCs) should be discussed.The attempt to take it to the Montreal Protocol issomething that has a long way to go because HFCsare not ozone depleting substances. Therefore evento talk about bringing it anywhere near the MontrealProtocol would involve amending the ViennaConvention at a Conference of Parties, which wouldonly happen next year. Secondly, once it’s taken up atthe Montreal Protocol, it can no longer be discussedat the UNFCCC, which would be very wrong as theissue of CBDR and equity would then immediatelycome into play because they are confined to theUNFCCC.

In the spirit of carrying forward the climatechange dialogue, we have agreed at the G20 todiscuss this in the task force with the U.S. and this also





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figured in the Prime Minister’s talks with PresidentObama. We have every intention of talking seriouslyabout this in a way that does not impact oureconomy and country. Nineteen countries, includingsome G20 countries, have opposed the U.S. andMicronesia proposal at the recent Montreal Protocolmeeting. These included China, Argentina Brazil,South Korea and Saudi Arabia. The BASIC too tookthe same view at its recent meeting in China.

There are countries that say nationalcircumstances and capabilities of countries havechanged since the UNFCCC was agreed upon and the2015 agreement should reflect this when it comes toapportioning responsibilities. What is your view onthis?

⇒ CENTRE TO CHALLENGEHIGH COURT VERDICT ON CBI FORMATION

• A day after the Gauhati High Court quashedthe Union Home Ministry’s resolution bywhich the Central Bureau of Investigationwas constituted in 1963, Union Law MinisterKapil Sibal said that the Central governmentwould file an appeal.

• Mr. Sibal told reporters here that theDepartment of Personnel and Training(DoPT) would move the Supreme Court. TheDepartment discussed the issue with him;thereafter the decision to appeal was made.

• The High Court held that the CBI was neitheran organ nor part of the Delhi Special PoliceEstablishment (DSPE), therefore it could notbe treated as a “police force” constitutedunder the DSPE Act.

• Several legal experts termed the ruling“hyper-technical.”

⇒ ASEM’STRADITIONAL FOCUS & INDIAN STAND

India is trying a new approach to reorient theAsia Europe Meeting (ASEM), whose ForeignMinisters will hold a two-day meeting at Gurgaonfrom Monday.

ASEM has traditionally focussed on politicaldialogue rather than on the other two pillars ofeconomic collaboration and socio-economiccooperation.

This resulted in mere reiteration of nationalpositions on many occasions. India’s attempt is tofocus on areas where real progress and actualdeliverables can be achieved. The areas ofcooperation identified by India and other membersare not generic but are relevant to specific needs andlook to build capacity in member-countries,according to official sources.

Next week’s meeting will be the biggestinternational gathering hosted by India this year with36 Foreign Ministers and 12 Deputy ForeignMinisters having confirmed their participation.

Bilateral TalksAs is the case with all multilateral conferences,

ASEM will also see several bilaterals on its margins.The first three major interactions from India’s pointof view will take place on Sunday.

These are a meeting of Foreign Ministers fromRussia, India and China (RIC) followed by separatemeetings between External Affairs Minister SalmanKhurshid and his Russian and Chinese counterparts,Sergei Lavrov and Wang Yi.

While the RIC interaction will see the Ministersexchanging notes on regional and internationaldevelopments, Mr. Khurshid’s separate interactionswill touch on the actionable areas identified duringPrime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Beijing lastmonth. The meeting with Mr. Lavrov had to becancelled due to a change in his flight timing.

⇒ U.S. TO OPPOSEMECHANISM TO FUND CLIMATECHANGE ADAPTATION IN POOR NATIONS

The U.S., according to the paper, wants a 2015climate agreement where no country is forced to takehigher emission reduction pledges than the ones theyinitially volunteer. It has informed its diplomats tokeep pushing the line with other countries that theU.S. was doing enough domestically on the climatechange front and these were priorities for PresidentBarack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry.

The cabled message, drafted by senior statedepartment officials, sets not only the content forwhat is to be done internally by the U.S. delegationat the U.N. Framework Convention on ClimateChange (UNFCCC) but also how the diplomats





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should posture publicly to help the delegation thatwould negotiate at Warsaw.

On setting the emission targets under the newagreement to be signed in 2015, the note informs,“In Warsaw we seek to establish an expectation thatparties will submit their commitments by early 2015so as to finalise an agreement in Paris [in 2015itself].”

Pushing PledgesUnder the 2015 agreement, to become

operational in 2020, the U.S. government has beenpushing that all countries volunteer to pledge theircommitments. The note says, “Specifically we areadvocating an approach under which countries —both developed and developing — will put forthnationally determined mitigation commitments,followed by a transparent consultative process thatwill give other countries and civil society theopportunity to analyse and comment upon suchcommitments.”

In a revealing line it adds, “The idea is thatsunshine will provide an incentive for countries toput forth ambitious commitments in the firstinstance and, even if not, there will be anopportunity for countries to decide to enhance theircommitments before they are finalised.”

The U.S. stance differs radically from thedemand of groups such as those of the small island-states, EU and others which require that thevolunteered targets be increased after a review to seeif they add up to the effort required to keep globaltemperatures under control.

That the U.S. sees climate change as anopportunity to also leverage and open economies ofdeveloping countries to clean-tech investments isalso revealed, “The work we have undertaken in 2013has begun to lay the groundwork for an ambitiousand wide-ranging efforts aimed at catalysing low-emission, climate resilient investment in developingcountries, though of course we recognise that muchwork remains to develop the tools necessary to shiftthe global economy in this direction.”

The poor countries have consistently warnedthat public investments can neither be adequate norpredictable and can work merely as a complementarysource of finance. They also warn that private

investment does not move towards the priority ofadaptation activities where the returns are negligiblebut the monies important to save lives. The U.N.climate convention imposes the obligation on thedeveloped world to provide funds and technologiesto the poor countries to ‘enable’ the latter toundertake climate action but the U.S. position in thebriefing paper talks of pushing in investmentsinstead.

The U.S. has said in public earlier that it seespublic funding in the climate change arena more asa tool to leverage private investments. Developingcountries have demanded that the U.S. and otherdeveloped countries put forth a clear timeline forwhen and how they shall provide for the $100-billionannual fund by 2020 they had earlier promised. Butthe briefing paper remains silent on the U.S.committing to any such time line in Warsaw. The talkof any scaling up funds between now and 2020 isignored.

Loss and DamageThe U.S. acknowledges in the cabled briefing to

its diplomats that “Finance is another contentiousissue, with many developing countries feeling thatthere is lack of clarity on climate finance betweennow and 2020”. But, in effect, the U.S .strategy is towork outside the UNFCCC to leverage private fundsand it plans to talk of this through the Warsaw talkstoo.

On the controversial issue of loss and damage,demand by developing nations that developedcountries pay compensation for damage to life andproperty that cannot be avoided despite the best ofadaptation and emission reduction efforts, the U.S.plans to not let the idea become a full-f ledgedseparate mechanism at Warsaw. After very stronglyopposing any such mechanism. the U.S. had to givein last year and allow talks.

At Warsaw, the briefing paper shows, it plansto ensure that while the issue is called ‘loss anddamage’ it does not get a life of its own but isswallowed by the existing track which would ensurethe issues of ‘liability’ and ‘compensation’ are thrownout. The document says: “It’s our sense that thelonger countries look at issues like compensation andliability, the more they will realise this isn’t productive





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avenue for the UNFCCC to go down.” It adds, “Weare strongly in favour of creating an institutionalarrangement on loss and damage that is under theConvention’s adaptation track, rather than creatinga third stream of action that’s separate frommitigation and adaptation.”

⇒ SAUDIS ARE WORLD’S BIGGESTTWEETERS, INDIA AT 21ST POSITION

• In an unexpected finding, Saudis haveemerged as the world’s largest active Twitterusers, while Indians ranked among the lowesttweeters on the microblogging site,according to a new research.

• According to PeerReach, one-third or 32 percent of the Saudi’s online population areactive monthly Twitter users.

• However, countries such as India, Nigeriaand Germany seem to have very little totweet with only one per cent active Twitterusers in each nation.

• Interestingly, U.S ., the home ofmicroblogging platform, ranks eighth on thelist.

• The top five countries are non-Englishspeaking nations, with Saudi Arabia havingover 32 per cent active twitter users, PeerReach said on its website.

• Saudi and Indonesia are two countriesknown for the fact that most internet usersdon’t have a PC, but access the net throughmobile.

• China is not listed because Twitter is bannedfrom China and therefore the Chinesemicroblogging platform Weibo has nocompetition.

• “Twitter users are young, on an average 24years. The average male is 26-years-old, theaverage female 22-years-old.

• Teenagers dominate Twitter. Only 20 percent of the tweeps are older than 30,”according to the study.

• The top 10 countries with highest activemonthly users of Twitter are Saudi Arabia,Indonesia, Spain, Venezuela, Argentina, U.K.,Netherlands, U.S., Japan and Colombia,respectively. — PTI

⇒ INDIA AND CLIMATE TALKS IMPERATIVESBy all accounts, no dramatic developments are

to be expected from the 19th edition of theConference of Parties (COP) of the United NationsFramework Convention on Climate Change(UNFCCC) that started in Warsaw last week. But itis generally acknowledged that the key issue atWarsaw, even if there are many other significantsubjects on the agenda, centres around movingforward the negotiations on the Durban Platform forEnhanced Action (DPA) initiated at COP 17 two yearsago.

It is widely understood that the DurbanPlatform was a game-changer, setting the stage fordecisive climate action based on clear commitmentsto emissions reduction from all nations.Subsequently, the discussions in the Ad-Hoc WorkingGroup on the Durban Platform (ADP) have resultedin demanding timeline for achieving its aims,including a draft text to be produced by the COP in2014, a global meeting of heads of states of allnations to be convened by the United NationsSecretary General to push forward such anagreement, and a final agreement to be reached byCOP 21 in 2015.

While it is not a foregone conclusion that theDPA will achieve its stated goals by 2015, there arenow additional factors conducive to reaching a globalagreement. Even if no individual extreme climateevent can be attributed exclusively to increasedglobal warming, increasing awareness of the impactof climate-driven disasters, such as Typhoon Haiyanand the Uttarakhand flash floods, is contributing toa global recognition of the urgency of a climate deal,among governments as well as civil society.Significantly, the release of the Fifth AssessmentReport (AR5) of the Intergovernmental Panel onClimate Change (IPCC) over the next several months,culminating in the release of the final synthesisreport of all its findings next year, will add to thesense of urgency.

At the UNFCCC, the European Union has beenthe most active in pushing forward the agenda of theDurban Platform, laying out in increasing detail theframework and broad outlines of its content and amethodology for securing commitments that would





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ensure an effective treaty. It has been joined in thiseffort by many African nations, especially SouthAfrica, and have the strong support of the island-states of the world — support that was vociferouslyexpressed at Durban in 2011. The United States haspursued a two-track policy with respect to the DPA.On the one hand, the U.S. insists that it wouldundertake only such emissions reductions as itdeems feasible, a strategy that is referred to as the“bottom up” approach in the global climatediscourse. On the other hand, it has not hesitated tosupport the European Union, the Africa Group andthe Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) in theirefforts to have a binding climate agreement withassigned commitments to all nations, especiallywhen such commitments are to be imposed onChina and India.

India’s InterestsWhere do India’s interests lie in the matter of

a global climate agreement? There can be no doubtthat India needs an early climate agreement, for tworeasons. On the one hand, there is increasingevidence that unchecked global warming would leadto increasingly severe effects in several sectors,especially agriculture and water, apart from theincreased frequency of extreme climate events. Theenhanced climate variability that accompanies globalwarming will have serious impacts on Indian farmers,the bulk of whom are small-holders who even todaysuffer the consequences of weather and climateshocks, before the effects of global warming haverisen to more alarming levels. An early climateagreement with the potential to restrict globalaverage temperature rise to at least 2 degreesCentigrade, if not lower, is certainly a necessity. Anearly and effective limit on greenhouse gas emissionswill also contribute to lowering the need, andassociated costs, for climate change adaptation,which otherwise could be considerable.

At the same time, India needs adequateatmospheric “space” in terms of allowed carbonemissions to pursue its development. Even in ahighly optimistic scenario in which renewable energyrapidly takes up the bulk of the requirements forsectors such as domestic lighting and heating,agriculture, and all energy needs of small-scale

establishments, India will still need fossil fuels for aconsiderable time until reliable sources of cleanenergy become available for large-scale use in theexpansion of industry, transportation and the like, allof which are needed for development. Eveninfrastructure needs for adaptation will require suchemissions.

The IPCC’s AR5 report has brought to thecentre-stage of discussion the notion of a globalcarbon budget, referring to the cumulative carbondioxide emissions into the atmosphere, from thebeginning of the industrial era till the end of the 21stcentur y, that are permissible, if the globaltemperature rise is to be kept below 2 degrees C.For a 66 per cent probability of keeping the rise inglobal average temperature below this limit, theworld is allowed approximately 1000 billion tonnesof carbon emissions (taking account solely of carbondioxide). But the nub of the issue is the equitabledistribution of this space. In per capita terms, orindeed by several other measures of equitabledistribution as well, the developed countries havealready substantially exceeded their fair share of thisglobal budget. As a consequence, a large number ofdeveloping countries, including China but especiallyIndia, will have to make do with less than their fairshare of the global carbon space as their nationalcarbon budgets for the future, if indeed globalwarming has to be kept in check.

Top-down AgreementTo maximise the developing countries’ access

to the global carbon budget, an early “top-down”agreement to impose constraints on the developednations’ consumption of carbon “space” in theatmosphere is an obvious necessity. Even moreobviously, an approach based on “voluntar y”commitments to emissions reduction by developedand developing countries would not address India’sneeds.

In view of these considerations, it is surprisingthat New Delhi’s guidelines for its Warsaw delegationshould set aside India’s long-standing commitmentto treating the atmosphere as a global commons, tobe shared equitably by all nations, and instead backthe “voluntary commitments” approach. Predictably,even before this approach has been articulated, it has





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run into rough weather. The EU is of course fullyaware of the global carbon budget and hencedemands that the gap between the sum of allvoluntary commitments and the allowed globalbudget has to made up by further emissionsreductions that all nations have to agree to. Thisdemand, as well as India’s response that the gap mustbe made up by the developed nations based onhistorical responsibility for emissions, brings us backto what is indeed a “top-down” approach.

At the heart of the Government of India’scurrent confusion lies its unwillingness toacknowledge that in an eventual global agreement,all countries have to shoulder some part of theburden, even while any such burden-sharing must bebased on equity and climate justice in accordancewith the principle of common but differentiatedresponsibilities.

New Delhi’s view currently is that developingcountries will have no binding commitmentswhatsoever even into the future, a view that willincreasingly isolate India from even others in theranks of the G-77.

The inadequacy of official India’s unhappyapproach is brought out by the fact that it hasallowed the term “equity reference framework” inthe context of the ADP negotiations to be hijackedby other nations, including nations of the AfricanGroup as well as the EU. India and its like-mindedfriends are left in the unenviable position ofopposing this term, claiming that developing nationswill never undertake any binding commitment.

For too long, India’s official climate policy hasportrayed the absence of a proactive stance on aclimate agreement as a strategy to protect thecountry’s interests.

Climate science as well as good climate politicsdemand that India shift to making clear to the worldits commitment, in concrete terms, both to securingits developmental future as well as preserving theglobal environment.

⇒ PANCHAYAT RAJ RULE4(2) NOT IN CONFORMITY WITH ACT

The Karnataka High Court on Mondayquashed a rule that empowered regionalcommissioners to send a report to the State Election

Commission for disqualifying zilla panchayatmembers for their failure to declare details of assetsand liabilities within the stipulated period. JusticeH.G. Ramesh quashed Rule 4(2) of the KarnatakaPanchayat Raj (Declaration of Assets by ElectedMembers of Taluk and Zilla Panchayats) Rules 2010holding that it is not in conformity with theprovisions of the Karnataka Panchayat Raj Act.

The court passed the order while allowingpetitions filed by members of some zilla panchayats,led by Bangalore Urban Zilla Panchayat memberAshok K. and others, questioning the communicationof the Bangalore Division Regional Commissioner tothe State Election Commission declaring that 174members of the eight zilla panchayats in hisjurisdiction ceased to be members for not declaringtheir assets and liabilities within the prescribedperiod.

Mr. Ramesh upheld the petitioners’ contentionthat Rule 4(2) was contrary to the provisions of theAct as the Act recognises only the respective zillapanchayat as the competent authority to refer thematter of cessation of membership to the StateElection Commission on the failure of its membersto declare assets and the jurisdictional regionalcommissioners were only competent to receivedeclaration of assets.

The court also agreed with their argumentthat though the Act does not empower regionalcommissioners to either pass an order regardingcessation of membership or refer it to the StateElection Commission, Rule 4(2) empowered theregional commissioners to furnish the details to theState Election Commission.

Meanwhile, appearing for the Stategovernment, Advocate-General Ravivarma Kumarorally submitted to the court that the Rule 4(2) isnot in conformity with the provision of the Act. TheRule mandates every member of a taluk or a zillapanchayat to declare assets held by him and also hisfamily members within three months of assumingoffice/membership and also within a month of everycalendar year during his term of office.Disqualification comes into effect when the StateElection Commission issues notification based onrecommendation from a competent authority.





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30000/-

3500/-

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⇒ MONTREAL PROTOCOL HASJURISDICTION OVER HFC GASES: U.S.

Hydro fluorocarbons (HFCs) — a family ofgreenhouse gases used as refrigerants —can be andshould be handled right away under the MontrealProtocol, said the U.S. Special Envoy on ClimateChange, Todd Stern.

He suggested that countries were merelydelaying by talking of legal and other issues in movingthe refr igerant gas from the U.N. FrameworkConvention on Climate Change to the MontrealProtocol, which deals with ozone depletingsubstances. He said the protocol also dealt with anysubstitutes that were used in place of the ozonedepleting substances, such as HFCs.

“The institution that is born to do this [phasedown of refrigerant gases HFCs] and has jurisdictionover HFCs is the Montreal Protocol. Our view is: Letus not stand on ceremony. There are some countriesthat are to some extent standing on ceremony whenthey say ‘no, it should be done under UNFCCC whichdeals with greenhouse gases’.”

Legal IssuesHe was referring to India and China along with

several other G20 countries and other developingcountries which have pointed out at the Warsawtalks to legal issues about transporting the subject toanother convention and noted that the principles ofdifferentiation and equity apply here unlike in theMontreal Protocol. These principles ensure thatdeveloping countries can claim full costs for the phaseout of the refrigerant gases and not just incrementalcosts that the Montreal Protocol offers. Therefrigeration industry is growing at the highest ratesin India and China and promises to be a lucrativemarket for any alternative green technology which isin the hands of U.S.-based companies. But Mr. Sternnegated the Indian and Chinese position on thematter saying, “Montreal Protocol has built indifferentiation. It is not the same kind ofdifferentiation like it’s built in the UNFCCC but it hasgot differentiation built in.”

The decisions proposed as end results of theWarsaw meeting on paper have a paragraph on HFCstoo and is likely to be argued out over the next weekbefore a call is taken by consensus.

⇒ AT WARSAW, G77+CHINA SERVEULTIMATUM ON DEVELOPED COUNTRIES

The G77+China group has threatened to walkout of climate talks if developed countries did notstop blocking the issue of Loss and Damage. Theultimatum was delivered by G77+China negotiatorJuan Hoffmeister, who is leading the talks on theissue for the developing country block, at a closeddoor meeting on Saturday evening, raising the stakeshigher for all just before the ministerial round ofnegotiations begin this week in the Polish capital.

Australia and Canada, which form part of theumbrella group with the U.S. and Japan, havedemanded that the climate negotiations even discussthe issue while the U.S. has demanded that thesubject, which has the G77+China united in a rareshow of solidarity, be subjugated as just anotherstream of conversation under the existingadaptation track of the talks.

Loss and Damage refers to the demand of thedeveloping countries, especially the small and mostvulnerable ones, to be provided compensation forthe losses they suffer due to existing emission levelsand that any future emission reduction effort oradaptation to global warming cannot help.

The G77+China group has put forth acollective proposal on the negotiating table to set upa new mechanism under the U.N. climate talks thatwould carry out this task but the U.S. has blocked itdemanding that at best it be an extremely weakarrangement that continues to just study the issueunder the adaptation track where ‘compensation’ isnot used as an operative term.

The talks on the issue floundered all week,leading Mr. Hoffmeister to up the stakes for thedeveloped countries by warning that the developingcountries would not agree to the Warsaw meetingdelivering on other fronts in return for steppingdown on this demand.

Mr. Hoffmeister, when contacted by TheHindu , refused to comment on his statement in thecontact group on Saturday.

Another G77+China negotiator who dealsclosely with the Loss and Damage issue, wishing toremain anonymous, said, “This has to be adeliverable at Warsaw. There are no two ways aboutit. We had to convey that.”





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⇒ BAN PIRATES, U.N. TELLS SOMALIAThe U.N. Security Council on Monday

unanimously called on Somalia to pass laws banningseafaring pirates off its coasts and urged the eastAfrican nation to more aggressively combat themand the crime lords on land who finance andorganise their raids.

The council passed a resolution 15-0reauthorising foreign ships, including the EuropeanUnion Naval Force and African Union, Chinese andPakistani forces, to continue patrolling sea lanes offSomalia and protecting shipping in the Indian Ocean.

The resolution also told Somalia to step up itsefforts to arrest pirates and bring them to trial.Somali pirate cases are tried in other countrieswhose nationals have been held hostage or killed, orwhich own ships and cargos and claim jurisdiction,including the United States.

Attacks at their LowestThe council welcomed the news that pirate

attacks off Somalia have fallen to their lowest levelsince 2006.

Armed guards aboard cargo ships and aninternational naval armada complete with aircraftthat carry out onshore raids have put a huge dent inSomali piracy. Somali pirates hijacked 46 ships in2009 and 47 in 2010, according to the EU NavalForce. In 2011, pirates launched a record number ofattacks — 176. A report by Secretary-General Ban-Ki-moon says that there were only 17 pirate attacksin the first nine months of 2013, compared with 99attacks in the first nine months of 2012. The lastseizure of a major vessel was the MT Smyrni , takenfor ransom in May 2012.

The resolution encourages countries operatingin the high-risk sea lanes to allow “privatelycontracted armed security personnel” aboardcommercial ships to protect them. That issue wasdebated at the council last year, after Russian andItalian military crews assigned to merchant shipsfired on and killed fishermen off Somalia, mistakingthem for pirates.

The lingering threat to shipping, the councilresolution said, complicates U.N. and internationalefforts to ship food for famine relief to Somalia.

Somalia’s fragile central government doesn’tcontrol large sections of the country, much of whichis ruled by al-Shabab militants allied with al-Qaeda.An African Union military force is trying to help theSomali government extend control over moreterritory, and the Security Council last weekapproved a “surge” in resources from troop-contributing countries to try to break the stalematewith al-Shabab.

The new resolution “calls upon the Somaliauthorities to make all efforts to bring to justicethose who are using Somali territory to plan,facilitate, or undertake criminal acts of piracy andarmed robbery at sea.”

⇒ G77+CHINA GROUPWALKS OUT OF LOSS AND DAMAGE TALKS

The G77+China group of 134 countrieswalked out of negotiations on Loss and Damage inthe wee hours of Wednesday after the rich countriesrefused to budge from their position that the subjectshould be discussed only after 2015. The U.S.,Australia and Canada have been the most vocalagainst setting up a separate mechanism on Loss andDamage while the European Union (EU) has not onlybeen belligerent but also tried to make sure it did notmaterialise at the Warsaw meeting.

At a closed-door meeting of representatives ofvarious country blocks, called a ‘contact group on lossand damage,’ the developed countries continued todemand that the issue be discussed only after 2015.

The Hindu earlier reported that the G77+Chinagroup had warned the others that if the rich countries didnot relent, it would be forced to walk out of the talks —a rare event in climate talks, which happens only whenthere is absolute lack of trust between countries.

While several parallel streams of negotiations areon at the moment, including on finance for poorcountries and the basic elements of the 2015 agreement,a walkout from even one stream of talks in the U.N.Framework Convention on Climate Change threatens tobring all negotiations to a halt. “Everything clearstogether or nothing moves at all,” is how one G77delegate put it to The Hindu.

In a secret briefing paper prepared by U.S.secretary of State John Kerry, that The Hindu accessed,it had been advised that loss and damage should remain





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at worst another stream under the ‘adaptation’mechanisms and not be allowed to be a separateindependent system to pay compensation or reparationto poor countries. While poor countries look upon Lossand Damage reparation for the damage caused byinevitable climate change which any amount ofadaptation cannot avoid, the developed countries desirethat the issue be defanged from any kind of legal liabilityit may impose upon the key countries with highesthistoric emissions. At the time of writing this report, theG77+China group was holding its coordination meetingin which the walkout from Loss and Damage was likelyto be the key discussion. “U.S.A, EU, Australia andNorway remain blind to the climate reality that’s hittingus all and poor people and countries much harder. Theycontinue to derail negotiations in Warsaw that can createa new system to deal with new types of loss and damagesuch as sea level rise, loss of territory, biodiversity andother non-economic losses more systematically,” saidHarjeet Singh, International Coordinator — DisasterRisk Reduction & Climate Adaptation,ActionAidInternational.

⇒ CRIMINALITY IN THEINDIAN POLITICAL SYSTEM

Criminality in politics, or more pointedly,criminals sitting in our Parliament and legislatures, isan issue that has for long been debated in manyforums and has also been at the forefront of reformproposals sent by the Election Commission of India(ECI) to the government. With elections to fiveStates under way, and the 16th General Election dueto be completed before May 31, 2014, India is nowgripped by that special fever that besets us every fiveyears. Unexpectedly, part of the backdrop alreadystands influenced by a few recent decisions of theSupreme Court.

The Supreme Court has importantly passedthree orders that relate directly to the conduct ofelections. The first relates to the distribution of“freebies”, wherein the ECI has been asked to frameguidelines in consultation with political parties. Thesecond is directing the installation of the None-of-The-Above (NOTA) button in the Electronic VotingMachines, which has already been implemented inthe current round of Assembly elections. The third isthe court’s order of July 10, 2013 in the Lily Thomas

vs Union of India matter, wherein the Supreme Courthas declared unconstitutional Section 8 (4) of theRepresentation of the People Act, 1951. Theimportance of this order cannot be overemphasised.The position that prevailed before this order wasenacted was that all convicted MPs and MLAsenjoyed a three-month period in which to appealagainst their conviction, and during this period theycrucially retained their memberships in Parliament orlegislatures respectively.

Criminals among MPs, MLAsClose on the heels of this order, the nation

witnessed the jailing of Lalu Prasad, the president ofa once nationally recognised political party, the RJD,as well as Rasheed Masood, a former Minister andsitting MP of the Rajya Sabha. While both standdebarred from contesting elections for six years aftertheir jail terms are completed, in effect such a longbanishment might well put an end to their politicalcareers. For, as is well known, politics abhors avacuum. Is it any surprise then that studentaudiences inevitably ask what is the point of cleanelection processes if the end result is to elect taintedmen and women? When the government decided torush headlong into enacting an Ordinance to counterthe July 10, 2013 Order of the Supreme Court, thisresulted in a surge of public sentiment bordering onrevulsion, against what would arguably have been avery regressive step in the development of ourdemocratic institutions. The dramatic demise of theproposed Ordinance ironically became a criticallyimportant milestone in the strengthening of ourdemocratic edifice, which I think many of us realiseis still a work in progress.

Three IssuesIn the rash of commentaries that followed the

Supreme Court Order of July 10, followed in turn bythe legislative proposals sought to be placed beforethe winter session of Parliament and finally by theOrdinance that the Cabinet cleared, I would like tocomment on three issues. First, it is no secret thatmany politicians have their own criminal elements toprotect and whom they need to use in elections toround up voters. They spend clandestinely andsometimes devise mafia-like strategies to reinforcethe “winnability” concept that has now come to be





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the “mantra” which has displaced any trulydemocratic relationship between candidates and thepublic whom they seek to represent. Hence thepolitical establishment quickly closed ranks in favourof the Ordinance. The second issue to my mind waswhether the President (who called in seniorMinisters for consultation to raise questions andseek clarifications), would have signed this Ordinance,or whether he would have just let it asphyxiate itself.

The third issue is that it took Rahul Gandhi tospeak out and publicly criticise the Ordinance. In theaftermath of his intervention, the cacophony ofopinions on our news channels reached a crescendo.One of the few voices that I managed to hear overthe din of panellists and anchors, was that of TheHindu ’s N. Ram, who cut aside all rhetoric on thenon-use of parliamentary language by saying, “RahulGandhi single-handedly killed the wretchedOrdinance. Instead of acknowledging that, do weneed to make a fuss about the words he used?”

For what we must also recognise is that if thisOrdinance had been passed, it would have officiallyendorsed that criminality in parliamentary ranks wasperfectly acceptable. It would also have rendered ourelected representatives even more distant from ourpeople. Not only that, it would almost certainly haveput the Executive and the Supreme Court on acollision course, leading to unnecessarily troubledrelations between vital institutions. We have only tolook in our own neighbourhood to understand howsuch conflicts have in varying measure stunted thegrowth of democratic structures.

I read in the press with increasingdisappointment that many political leaders andparties including the Congress and the BJP have sincegiven the ticket in these elections to either criminalsor to their family members as proxies. This, sadly,concedes the “winnability” factor over “clean”politics.

Surely the time is finally here for all politicalparties to jointly agree to step away from sponsoringcriminal candidates. It would be in their long-terminterest to do so, because now some ground realitieshave changed, for upon conviction such candidateswould have to resign anyway and make way for by-elections. In the short-term, they may win anelection, but in the longer term they will, once again,

strike a blow to the development of a healthy,wholesome and robust democracy that our freedomfighters fought for, and our constitutional framershad envisaged.

⇒ OIL EXPLORATION TO TAKE PLACE INUNDISPUTED AREAS IN SOUTH CHINA SEA

• Vietnam’s offer to India for exploring gasand oil blocks in the South China Sea is inareas where there is no dispute oversovereignty.

• Vietnam’s offer for third country explorationpertains to a block in Uzbekistan – a countrywith which both New Delhi and Hanoi enjoyexcellent political ties, said official sources.

• PetroVietnam and PetroVietnamExploration Corporation have offered threeblocks each, while the seventh is the Kossorblock in Uzbekistan.

• ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) signed an MoUto this effect with the two Vietnamesecompanies, after delegation-level talksbetween Prime Minister Manmohan Singhand the country’s top leader Nguyen PhuTrong.

Free to Pick and Choose• OVL plans to study the data on the blocks

and has the option to pick and choose. It caneven take all or none of the blocks, said thesources.

• OVL will evaluate blocks 17, 41 and 43 on anexclusive basis in the next three months andin case commercial viability is found, it willprovide PetroVietnam with its proposal forentering into a production sharing contract(PSC). It will do the same with blocks 10&11-1 and 102&106/10 as well as the Kossorblock in Uzbekistan.

⇒ INDIA, FRANCE TOLEAD STUDY ON MONSOON

India and France will spearhead aninternational, 10-member country project to studythe impact of melting polar ice caps and glaciers onthe monsoon.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of an





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international workshop here on Thursday, Dr. S.S.C.Shenoi, director of the Indian National Centre forOcean Information Services (INCOIS), said thechanges in the polar region would affect circulationand temperature structure in the oceans, which inturn, impacts the Indian monsoon.

He said that a project had been formulatedand India and France would be leading the study. Theother countries in the project include the UnitedStates of America, the United Kingdom, Japan,South Africa, Brazil and Germany.

Secretary of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Dr.

Shailesh Nayak, said that climate change was playinga critical role in day-to-day life and weather advisorieswere being sent twice a week to 3.5 million farmersin the country. The aim was to provide them to 10crore farmers in the coming years.

Replying to a question on India joining ArcticCouncil as an observer, he said what happens inArctic directly affects weather and climate and Indiawas keen to take up studies in Iceland, Greenland,Canada and other areas in the region. He said thatdiscussions were on with those countries in thisregard.





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⇒ WATER CRISISIN 21ST CENTURY & 12TH PLAN

India or Faces a major crisis of water as wemove into the 21st century. This crisis threatens thebasic right to drinking water of our citizens; it alsoputs the livelihoods of millions at risk. The demandsof a rapidly industrialising economy and urbanizingsociety come at a time when the potential foraugmenting supply is limited, water tables are fallingand water quality issues have increasingly come tothe fore.

Limits to Large DamsRecent scholarship points to definite limits to

the role new large dam projects can play in providingeconomically viable additional water storage(Ackerman, 2011). The ambitious scheme forinterlinking of rivers also presents major problems.The comprehensive proposal to link Himalayan withthe Peninsular rivers for inter-basin transfer ofwater was estimated to cost around Rs. 5,60,000crores in 200 I. Land submergence and R&Rpackages would be additional to this cost. There areno firm estimates available for running costs of thescheme, such as the cost of power required to liftwater. There is also the problem that because of ourdependence on the monsoons, the periods whenrivers have “surplus” water are generallysynchronous across the subcontinent. A majorproblem in planning inter-basin transfers is how totake into account the reasonable needs of the basinstates, which will grow over time. Further, given thetopography of India and the way links are envisaged,they might totally bypass the core dryland areas ofCentral and Western India, which are located on

elevations of 300+ metres above MSL. It is alsofeared that linking rivers could affect the naturalsupply of nutrients through curtailing flooding of thedownstream areas. Along the east coast of India, allthe major peninsular rivers have extensive deltas.Damming the rivers for linking will cut down thesediment supply and cause coastal and delta erosion,destroying the fragile coastal eco-systems.

It has also been pointed out that the schemecould affect the monsoon system significantly(Rajamani et al, 2006). The presence of a low salinitylayer of water with low density is a reason formaintenance of high sea- surface temperatures(greater than 28 degrees C) in the Bay of Bengal,creating low pressure areas and intensification ofmonsoon activity. Rainfall over much of the sub-continent is controlled by this layer of low salinewater. A disruption in this layer could have seriouslong-term consequences for climate and rainfall inthe subcontinent, endangering the livelihoods of avast population.

The Crisis of GroundwaterThe relative ease and convenience of its

decentralised access has meant that groundwater isthe backbone of India’s agriculture and drinkingwater security. Groundwater is a Common-PoolResource (CPR), used by millions of farmers acrossthe country. Over the last four decades, around 84per cent of the total addition to the net irrigatedarea has come from groundwater. India is, by far, thelargest and fastest growing consumer ofgroundwater in the world. But groundwater is beingexploited beyond sustainable levels and with anestimated 30 million groundwater structures in play,India may be hurtling towards a serious crisis of

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groundwater over-extraction and qualitydeterioration.

Nearly 60 per cent of all districts in India haveproblems related to either the quantity or thequality of groundwater or both. According to theCentral Ground Water Board’s latest assessment(CGWB, 2009), at the all India level, the stage ofgroundwater development is now 61 per cent. InPunjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi, this level hascrossed 100 per cent, closely followed by Tamil Nadu(80 per cent) and UP (71 per cent).

Need for a Paradigm ShiftGiven this apparent emergence of limits to

further develop of water resources in large parts ofthe country, the 12th Plan faced a challenge of howto move forward. It was clear that business-as-usualwould not do. New ideas needed to be desperatelyput into place for which the best scholars andpractitioners had to come together. Thus, a newarchitecture of plan formulation was designed. TheWorking Groups for the 12th Plan in the water sectorwere, for the first time in the history of the PlanningCommission, all chaired by renowned experts fromoutside government. Over the course of severalmonths in 2011-12, a new path was charted out,giving rise to a ten-fold paradigm shift in waterresource management in India. This paper outlinesthe main features of this change. ·

⇒ OIL ECONOMY INDIA & ENERGY SECURITYSince the advent of industrial revolution,

energy has become the key to growth anddevelopment. Modern life is dependent onconsumption and use of energy so much that percapita energy consumption is directly proportional toper capita Gross Domestic Product of the country.The per capita primary energy consumption in Indiais about 1I3rd of the world average per capitaprimary commercial energy consumption. It is about1I20th of the per capita energy consumption ofUnited States of America, about 1I10th of the percapita energy consumption of Europe and about1I4th of the per capita energy consumption of China.Any policy and programme for growth anddevelopment in India will have to address the issuesof access of energy resources as well as harnessingthem for the benefit of the population.

While the world’s average per capita primaryenergy consumption divided among various energyresources is about 86 per cent in favour of fossil fuel,the proportion of fossil fuel in India’s energy basketis close to 94 per cent. In the energy basket of theworld as a whole, coal accounts for 30.3 per cent, oilfor 33 per cent and gas for 24 per cent. Among thenon fossil fuels, nuclear energy accounts for 4.7 percent, hydro energy accounts for 6.4 per cent andrenewable energy accounts for 1.5 per cent. Thus,the ratio for India is 54 per cent for coal, 3 I per centfor oil and 9 per cent for gas among the fossil fuels,with hydro 4 per cent, nuclear I per cent, andrenewable 1 per cent. In India, apart fromcommercial energy, non commercial sources like biomass, fire wood, cow dung, etc are also used to alarge extent and their percentage share to the totalconsumption has been decreasing steadily but isunlikely to go below 10 per cent by the year 2030-31.

The sectoral energy demand reflects theeconomic structure of a country and the powersector has been the primary force behind energydemand in India. The transport sector has also beenincreasing its share in energy consumption and 90per cent of transport energy consumption is likely tobe based on oil. Other sectors consuming energy aremainly industries using energy for heating, electricityand mechanical purposes and commercialestablishments and buildings for lighting, heating andcooling, etc. India’s demand will continue to growrapidly from the present energy demand level of lessthan 700 million tonnes of oil equivalent to over1500 million tonnes of oil equivalent by the year2030-31. This is estimated to be at a CompoundAnnual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 3.1 per cent which ismore than double of the CAGR of 1.3 per centestimated for the world energy demand.

India’s share in world energy demand is goingto expand from present less than 5.5 per cent to 8.6per cent in 2030- 31. The growth would come fromall fuels. While coal and oil demands are expected toincrease by CAGR of3.1 per cent, the growth fornatural gas, renewable energy and nuclear energy areexpected to be much higher. Since, the consumptionof fossil fuel is the main source of emission of Carbon




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Di Oxide (C02), India has now become the yd largestC02 emitter in the world, following China andUnited States of America. The global pressure will beon India, either to reduce consumption or to go forexpensive pollution control measures. In thisscenario, the comparatively less polluting energysources like natural gas and nuclear power would findfavour, but the availability of these resources willremain a question mark. Much of the growth policywill have to address these strategic questions. Indiapursues three key objectives in its energy policyaccess to resources, energy security and climatechange. It is necessary to understand the intertwineddynamics of energy stakeholders and multipleinterests.

As the growth in energy demand has outpacedthe domestic production, dependence on importedenergy resources has increased. India depends onenergy imports at the levelof35 per cent with 80 percent of crude oil demand and about 20 per cent ofnatural gas demand being imported. Due to lowproduction of coal, even about 20 per cent of thedemand for coal is also being met through imports.India’s domestic hydrocarbon production is relativelysmall, resulting in large dependence on imports.India is reported to be having only about 1 per centof global hydrocarbon resource, but, has, perhapsthe 3rd largest resource base in coal. Inspite of thelarge estimation of local coal resources, the actualaccessibility of some coal resource and technicalcapability of Coal India Limited which is a monopolydeveloper, to produce proven coal resources hasbeen suspected. As regards hydrocarbon, since theliberalization of the upstream sector and subsequentopening of the downstream sector, oil and gas sectoris more open and competitive. It is open to 100 percent Foreign Direct Investment. But inconsistentpolicies that put controls both in upstream anddownstream have led to distorted pricingmechanism, underutilization of resources and lack ofinvestment from major international companies.

Policies that seek to ensure that adequateenergy supplies are available to meet the growth indemand for energy at the national level and policiesthat seek to increase access to modern energyservices at the individual level seem to work at cross

purposes. The former requires a competitive marketbased structure while the latter requiresinterventions in the market structure to correct itsinherent failures. India’s energy security will dependon finding the right balance between competingneeds and more importantly between competingpolicy approaches to ensure that one is not achievedat the cost of other.

In 2012-13, India imported 185 million tonnesof crude oil and 16 milllion tonnes of product at acost of Rs. 8,53,949 crores. Due to excess refiningcapacity and presence of some world class refineries,it has become possible to export 63 million tonnesof product resulting in realization of Rs. 3,20,042crores. So the net outflow of Rs. 5,33,907 crores wasa big drain on our resources and partially responsiblefor Current Account Deficit and the weakening ofRupee. Due to Government policies of subsidizingdiesel, kerosene and LPG, the under recovery of Rs.1,61,029 crores in 2012-13, had to be met betweenthe budget resources of Central Government fromthe tax payers’ money, subsidy expropriated fromthe upstream companies like ONGC, OIL & GAIL andthe balance left for the refinery and marketingcompanies to fill. This has resulted in fiscal imbalancein the Central Government budget, inability ofupstream companies to invest for more explorationand production in domestic and overseas fields andruining the balance sheet of refinery and marketingcompanies who have Gross Turnover of over Rs. 8lakh crores and are unable to modernize anddiversify. The Central and State Governmentstogether, on the other hand, collected Rs. 2,45,000crores through taxes, duties, royalties, etc from thehydrocarbon sector. The State Governments’resources are to a very large extent, dependent onVAT whereas Central Government also’ recoversequal amount by way of excise, customs, other taxesand dividend, etc. Unless State Governments and theCentral Government are able to diversify their taxbasket and decrease dependence on petroleumproducts, the prices of these products wouldcontinue to be high in the scenario of high oil pricesand weak rupee.

The multifaceted energy problems are beingresolved to ensure efficient and sustainable use of





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energy. But, the long term challenges and goals haveto be tackled in an integrated and comprehensivemanner. India must pursue technologies thatmaximise energ y efficiency, demand sidemanagement and conservation. The IntegratedEnergy Policy Committee (IEPC) has given a longterm perspective which is still valid. The key toEnergy Security lies in greater exploration,production and utilization of domestic resourceswhich imply that coal and thorium-pased nuclearpower will be crucial for India’s development andsecurity. But, the policy can be as good as theimplementation. An integrated energy policy cannotbe effectively implemented by disconnectedMinistries. The first level of integration has to bebetween Ministries that deal with carbon andhydrocarbon. When carbon becomes hydrocarbon orvice versa, it cannot be controlled by different set ofMinistries.

It is anomalous that we invite the bestcompanies with most modern technologies andresources to the hydrocarbon sector when ourresource base is weak but deny access even totechnologically and resource rich State companies incoal sector where we have a much better resourcebase. Coal bed Methane, Underground CoalGasification and Surface Coal Gasification are alltechnologies to utilize coal for production of naturalgas and are being implemented in coal rich countrieslike China. If we have a common ministry and acommon legislation with a common regulator forexploration and production of coal as well as oil andgas, it should be possible to take up these projects inreal earnest and with success. We need to conserveuse of oil and gas in areas where coal can serveequally well.

While emphasis on domestic exploration andproduction of coal and gas should continue, we needto protect and conserve the resources of upstreamcompanies so as to direct them to acquirehydrocarbon assets abroad in countries that havemany times more resources than we have. Also, wecan’t have a distorted pricing mechanism wherepetrol, diesel and kerosene that come out from therefinery process almost jointly and have similarcosts, should sell domestically in the ratio of

7.5:5:1.2. Manipulating the techno economic realityand pricing is possible for a short period of time butis not sustainable over a long term. LPG is producedby secondary and tertiary refinery processes and thusis even costlier fuel. It cannot be subsidized to thelevel of 50 per cent of its cost for over several crorecustomers for an indefinite period.

Government should leave the pricing anddistribution to be regulated by Petroleum andNatural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) and decideupfront what subsidy is to be given from the budgetso that competition is generated between public andprivate sector refining and marketing companies tobring about more efficiency and transparency in thepricing of products.

We should be able to produce more natural gasand coal base methane to substitute LPG for use asdomestic fuel. The large rural area will have tocontinue to find fuel from social forestry, bio mass,and coal gas with necessary refinements to checkpollution. Such gasifiers need to be encouraged in thepresent situation.

While all efforts need be made to push therenewable energy programme, it seems unlikely thatin the absence of any major technologicalbreakthrough, it can take more than 5 per cent shareof India’s energy basket even by the year 2030-31.The nuclear energy programme has to beimplemented so that its share can go up to 4 - 5 percent by this period. Nuclear civil corporationagreements have to be used for improving the supplyand our domestic efforts in three stage thoriumbased nuclear plants need to be intensified.

The economics of oil dictates that we take anintegrated view of the energy situation and dovetailour policy programmes and implementationmechanisms accordingly.

⇒ FUTURE OFGOVERNANCE E-GOVERNMENT

E-Government (also known as electronicgovernment, online government and digitalgovernment) is one of the most significantdevelopments of recent times in terms oftransforming the delivery of public services tocitizens and other stakeholders. It generally refers to





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the utilisation of information and communicationtechnologies (ICTs) for delivering governmentinformation and services to citizens (G2C),businesses (G2B), employees (G2E), and governments(G2G) (Dwivedi et al. 2012a).Against this backdrop,

e-government is being considered as a technologicalenabler for the delivery of redesigned public servicesin order to eliminate inefficiency, corruption, andbureaucracy and to enhance effectiveness in servicedelivery.

Table 1: Key opportunities offered by e-government

Opportunity Comment Source (s)

Improved government services Bertot et al. (20 I 0), Increased effectiveness in terms of accomplishing Dwivedi et al. (2009, and efficiency the governments purpose and 20 12a), and Shareef et

functioning al. (2011) E-government can provide

Better services quick and timely services to Shareef et al. (2011) stakeholders The services are provided directly from the Bertot et al. (20 I 0)

Transparency government to recipients and Dwivedi et al. without any external (2009,2012b) interventions As e-government services

Accessible anytime and are provided through web-

anywhere enabled technology, they Shareef et al. (2011)

can be accessed anytime and

anywhere The services are primarily

User-centred ICT- intended for the use of citizens, Bertot et al. (2010) and enabled services businesses, and the government Dwivedi et al. (2012b)

itself

As the services are provided Dwivedi et al. (2012a,

Reduced cost and time through the internet, they are 20 12b) and Shareef et effective in terms of time and cost al. (2011)

E-government minimises

Reduced bureaucracy the hierarchy of authority Dwivedi et al.

for availing any government (2012a,2012b)

services Enhanced As automated services can communication be accessed by different Dwivedi et al. and coordination organisations, coordination and (2012b) between government further communication become organisations relatively simple





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In order to achieve the benefits of ICT and toensure the transparent, timely, and hassle-freedelivery of the citizen services, the Government ofIndia initiated an e-government programme duringthe late 1990s by adopting the InformationTechnology Act in 2000. The major aims of this Actwere to recognise electronic contracts, preventcomputer crimes, and make electronic filing possible.Later, in 2006, the government approved theNational e-Governance Plan (NeGP) to enhance e-government initiatives in India. It was launched withthe aim of improving the delivery of governmentservices to the common people in their localitiesthrough Common Service Centres (CSCs), which wereset up across the country. In February 2012, about97,159 CSCs were operational with different brandnames and they had started delivering services to thepeople (IDG, 2013).

Since then, the government has launched anumber of e-government initiatives, including e-filemanagement, e-Leave, e-Tour, Income Tax services,online passport services, pension services, e-Procurement, and Excise and Customs Services, toname a few Almost all State Governments and UnionTerritories have also implemented their own e-government services to serve their citizens andbusinesses. Some of the most prominent servicesinclude “Bhoomi” from Karnataka, “Gyandoot” fromMadhya Pradesh, “Smart Government” from AndhraPradesh, and “SARI” from Tamil Nadu. In addition,some e-government services have been implementedat both Central and State Government levels. E-government services such as grievance managementsystems, e-district systems, online electoral rolls, andbill payment systems are some examples of theseservices.

E-government offers a range of opportunities(as outlined in Table 1) to its stakeholders in termsof enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of thegovernment, providing better services, enablingtransparency, allowing access to government servicesanytime and anywhere, providing user-centric ICT-enabled services, reducing cost and time, reducingbureaucracy, and enhancing communication andcoordination between government organisations.

The implementation of e-government is an

essential component in the transformation of anygovernment towards improving transparency,developing accountability, empowering citizens,lowering costs and time for services, and providingbetter governance. E-government has helped thegovernment become more result oriented. India hasbeen harnessing the benefits provided bye-government by reaching out to citizens faster and byproviding efficient services and encouraging citizens’empowerment. The data emerging from thedifferent e-government initiatives in India indicatesthat it is beginning to transform the efficiency,effectiveness, transparency, and accountability of theinformational and transactional exchanges within thegovernment and between the government and theother stakeholders.

E-governance in India has steadily evolvedfrom the computerisation of departments toinitiatives that encapsulate the finer points of

governance, in order to improve aspects suchas citizen centricity, service orientation, andtransparency (NeGP, 2013). Although, both Centraland State Governments have been trying tocapitalise on the opportunity provided bye-government, its potential to end users can only betruly realised when government initiatives reach outto the masses and when citizens and businesses startleveraging such services. As the recent data availableon the website of India’s NeGP highlights, there arealmost 968 e-government websites available acrossthe various States and Union Territories of India.However, it is still lagging behind 125 countries interms of World E-Government DevelopmentRanking (UN e-Gov Survey, 2012). This indicates thateven if the government has been spending anexorbitant amount of money on the developmentand implementation of e-government, there arebarriers and challenges that need addressing in orderto bring India’s position at par with nations takingthe lead in this area (such as the Republic of Korea,the Netherlands, the UK, Denmark and the US). Inthis regard, the existing literature has identified anumber of such barriers and challenges (as outlinedin Table 2) to developing and realising successful e-government.





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Due to such barriers and challenges, theoverall level of e-government usage around theworld remains comparatively low, even though a largenumber of governments in developing countries havebeen putting large investments and efforts intoenhancing the usage of such services (UN e-GovSurvey, 2012). The challenges and barriers identifiedin the literature apply in the Indian context as well.These issues are technical, economical, and social

in nature. With the rapid evolution oftechnology and the high level of skill competenceavailable in India, technical challenges are less criticalfor the successful realisation of e-government.Contrastingly, the most severe challenges to e-government initiatives in India are social andeconomic in nature, such as lack of awareness, access,and use of e-government services by the larger

population living in rural India (Dwivedi et al., 2012a).The government has made considerable attempts inthe last few years to overcome these challenges,including its connectivity to a large proportion ofrural population. Furthermore, realising the need forsustainable growth, the government has announcedrural broadband connectivity for all 250,000Panchayats in three years to bridge the digital divide(UN e-Gov Survey, 2012).

This could be coupled with the development ofmobile-based applications. In order to resolve theissue of less literate citizens using e-government ormobile- based government services, it might beuseful to plan the development of voice-basedmobile applications so that the correspondinggovernment-based services can be made available toall segments of the society.

Barrier/Challenge Comment Source(s)Fragmentation of services

Fragmented/lack of offered Dwivedi et al. (20 12b) andintegration Duplication of Weerakkody et al. (2011)

applications- Ability to understand and Bertot et al. (2010), Dwivedi

Technology literacy use technologies et al. (2012b), Rana et al.and access - Availability of the internet (2013), and Shareef et al.

to each individual (2011)Technological challenges

ICT-related faced by the government in Rana et al. (2013) andchallenges designing and implementing Weerakkody et al. (2011)

e-governmentLack of trust Variance in the degree of Rana et al. (2013) and

reliance on e-govemrnent Weerakkody et al. (201])services

Privacy and security Lack of sense of safety and Rana et al. (2013) andconfidentiality Shareef et al. (2011)Inequality between people Dwivedi et al. (2009,

Digital divide in the social system in 2012b), Rana et al. (2013),having access to and use of and Shareef et al. (20 11)e-government services

The provision of a limited number of CSCs hasbeen an appropriate step towards making e-government services available to citizens. However,in order to create the critical mass of e-governmentusers that is essential for the widespread adoption ofsuch services, the number of CSCs should beincreased to reachable distances in all rural

communities. Failure to do so may lead to thecontinued usage of traditional channels as mediumsfor citizen interaction; hence, it may take a long timeto realise the expected benefits from the e-government development and implementation.Language acts as another barrier to accessing suchservices, so the core e-government services should be





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provided in regional languages along with Hindi andEnglish. Also, at the local level (i.e. Blocks and GramPanchayats), citizens with the adequate skills andcompetency needed to access and use e-governmentservices should be identified as catalytic social agents(i.e. champions) for influencing other citizens to usethe services, making them aware of the benefits andincreasing their trust by reducing security andprivacy concerns. Such social agents can also act as anaid for equipping citizens with the required skills andcompetency. Leading countries in terms of citizenparticipation in democratic processes using ICT-based systems (such as Kazakhstan) should bebenchmarked in order to learn and implementappropriate best practices and strategies in theIndian context.

A challenge that is more prevalent on thesupply side is the fragmentation of systems atdifferent levels (i.e. the Central and the State levels)and the lack of system integration. Analysis of the e-government services provided by the Central andState Governments have revealed that similar e-government systems are separately implementedacross various governments. This is simply a waste ofresources in terms of developing and maintainingthem separately; it also creates problems with dataduplication and errors. The governments at both thecentral and the state levels should implement anintegrated plan in such a way that the same e-government system developed at the centralgovernment level can incorporate individual modulesfor each state government or can simply offerdifferent levels of access at the central and statelevels. For existing systems, mapping is needed inorder to identify redundant systems. Also, theanalysis, mapping, and evaluation process shouldmake all efforts to identify any legacy systems (i.e. oldsystems that cannot be integrated with the othersystems) that exist. In brief, emerging systems needto be streamlined and the implementation of newtechnologies requires some legacy systems either tobe replaced with new systems or to be integrated, inorder to provide the intended solution.

Also, there is little evidence of the evaluationof the services that are already in place. Evaluation isessential in order to examine if the desired value is

being achieved and if there are any lessons that needto be learnt for the development of future electronicservices. Without effective evaluation, similarmistakes can be made again.

We conclude the above discussion with thefollowing thoughts. Even though the governments atthe central and the state levels have made largeinvestments in establishing some aspects of e-government infrastructure, they have not been ableto harness fully the opportunities it has provided.Furthermore, the expansion of e-governmentwebsites alone will not help unless cultural changeoccurs, in order to support transparency, minimisebureaucracy, and enhance citizen empowerment.After all, citizens will trust e-government only whenthey have trust in government and public agencies.In other words, India needs to move from e-government to e-governance. As far as the social andeconomic challenges and barriers to e-governmentare concerned, they mainly relate to reaching out tothe large number of rural citizens who are lesseducated and economically less able. The governmentinitiatives designed to cater to the needs of thispopulation have only proven to be an initial aid tothe problem; further progress still needs to be madeto overcome the complex socio-economic challengesto e-government usage in India. It is only if this isachieved that India could implement world-class e-government systems with the aim of creating anequitable information society.·

⇒ OLD SOIL NEW BILLThe Right to Fair Compensation and

Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation andResettlement (RTFCTLARR) Bill, 2013 is historic inthe mere fact that it ends 119 years of the coloniallegacy of the Land Acquisition Act (LAA) 1894 andbrings Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R&R) withinits purview. As the post independence history ofdevelopment-induced displacement stands witnessto over 60 million displaced (Fernandes 2008) withlittle let alone ‘just’ compensation, the recognitionthat land acquisition requires R&R for those who losetheir land and livelihoods is a much overduecorrective. However, the RTFCTLARR 2013 limitsthe recognition and redressal of the ‘grievance’





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suffered by those dispossessed to compensation andR&R. By leaving state-led acquisition out of thepurview of ‘prior informed consent’ and the ultimatedetermination of ‘public purpose’ by the same bodyrequisitioning acquisition in the first place—theappropriate government, it creates a blinkerededifice of justice and top-down development.Underlining the policy prerogatives ofindustrialization, development of infrastructuralfacilities and urbanization, it accordingly expands thedefinition and scope of ‘public purpose.’ In doing so,it reinforces the colonial doctrine of ‘eminentdomain,’ ignores the lessons from intensifyingconflicts over land acquisition and explicitly instatespolicy bias for capitalist growth over socialist anddemocratic development, indeed over sustainableand agrarian development. Consequently, it missesthe opportunity to set precedent to deependemocracy in India and continues uninhibitedly, thecolonial legacy of the LAA 1894. I discuss below someissues around eminent domain, public purpose,resistance to land acquisition, compensation and R&Rthat the RTFCTLARR throws up and argue forsafeguarding democratic and locally appropriatesustainable development through contextualizedrights to land- and resource-use for all.

Eminent Domain and Right to PropertyThe jurisprudence around eminent domain

(the doctrine that the state’s power for forcible landacquisition draws its legitimacy from) has alwaysrecognized the right to fair compensation of thosedispossessed for public purpose. While the power ofacquisition inheres in the principle of sovereignty, theright to compensation inheres in an individual’s rightto property. In a 1952 judgment upholding thepower of eminent domain for acquisition of landfrom big landlords for redistributive purposes, theSupreme

Court of India noted: “the concept ofacquisition and that of compensation are twodifferent notions having their origin in differentsources. One is found on the sovereign power of theState to take, the other is based on the natural rightof the person who is deprived of property to becompensated for his loss” (The State of Bihar vsKameshwar Singh 1952: 25). Implicit in the

jurisprudence over acquisition and compensationthus, is the recognition of a person’s right toproperty, an essential liberal tenet definingpersonhood through the ideology of possessiveindividualism. What is important to recognize forour purposes is that both the doctrine of eminentdomain and the right to property are British coloniallegacies specifically designed to meet the needs of thecolonial capitalist state. Given that British commonlaw legitimating forcible acquisition predates theIndian constitution and that the Indian constitutiondoes not draw upon natural law, the twin principlesof acquisition derived from sovereignty andcompensation from right to property animating thedoctrine of eminent domain have extra-constitutional and pre-democratic moorings in India.

Initially a fundamental right in the postindependence Indian Constitution, the right toproperty was soon perceived as a danger to the earlysocialist preoccupations of the Indian state andpoliticians. As landlords successfully challengedacquisition for land reforms in the courts on groundsof their fundamental right to property, Land Reformlaws pertaining to takeover of property by the statewere moved to the IXth schedule of the Constitutionfrom the First (Constitutional Amendment) Act 1951onwards. This insulated them from judicial challengeand invalidation. The insertion of Articles 31A-Cthrough the First Amendment and the Twenty-fifthAmendment saved certain laws related toacquisition from challenge under Articles 14 (equalitybefore law) and 19 (fundamental rights). Thiselevated eminent domain to a constitutionaldoctrine, although blanket protection from judicialchallenge under the IXth Schedule was laterconsidered untenable. The right to property waseventually removed from fundamental rightsthrough the 44th Constitutional Amendment Act in1978.

As large ‘development projects’ were designed,dalits, adivasis, poor peasants and the urban poorincreasingly bore the brunt of acquisition. Theconstitutional status of the doctrine of eminentdomain and the unqualified removal of the right toproperty as a fundamental right without attentionto existing social, political and economic inequalities





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resulted in the exercise of eminent domain againstthe most vulnerable populations. Ironically, a moreprogressive public purpose of equitableredistribution of land facilitated the dispossession ofalready economically, socially and politicallyvulnerable people.

Public Purpose in Aid of CapitalPublic purpose has increasingly promoted

capitalist interest directly from the mid 1990s. Evenas private infrastructure projects like the Hydro-Electric Project on the river Narmada met resistancein the mid 1990s, Special Economic Zones (SEZs)were announced in the mid 2000s as the new enginesof export-led growth, soon running aground fromresistance to land acquisition and ex post curtailmentof tax benefits. The Delhi Mumbai IndustrialCorridor (DMIC), the Arnritsar-Delhi-KolkataIndustrial Corridor and PPPs are since set to fostercapitalist growth in the economy, with the help of thestate. The Commerce and Industry Ministry’sNational Manufacturing Policy (NMP) 2011 envisagesNational Investment and Manufacturing Zones(NMIZs) of at least 250 square kilometers each withintegrated townships. The ambitious DMIC envisagesnine such NMIZs. The RTFCTLARR 2013 expandsthe scope of eminent domain unambiguously,including acquisition by appropriate government(state or central) for own use, hold and control(including Public Sector Undertakings); for strategicdefense purposes; infrastructure projects as notifiedby the centre; agriculture related projects; industrialcorridors, mining and NMIZs; water and sanitation,educational, sports, health-care, tourism,transportation and space programme relatedprojects; and housing and development plans ofvarious categories.

We must be clear that private entitiesundertake projects for private profit, while publicpurpose is to secure the development and welfare ofall citizens and particularly those deprived of accessto basic necessities like a regular livelihood, nutrition,housing, health and education. These essentiallydivergent motives are incommensurate and cannotbe conflated; least in a country where nearly 50 percent of the 1.2 billion plus population lives below oraround the poverty line and is heavily dependent on

the agrarian economy. The grounds fordeeming private investments in PPPs (that generallyenjoy an assured rate of return for private capital),industrial corridors, NMIZs or for that matter SEZsas public purpose are flimsy. The policy prerogativeof urbanization and integrated townships promotesreal estate investment in one of the most obscureand unregulated economies in the country with high

levels of corruption and ‘black money’. WhileSocial Impact Assessments in the RTFCTLARR arewelcome, their recommendations are non-bindingand the ultimate determination of legitimate publicpurpose lies with the appropriate government. Giventhe explicit and expanded scope conflating capitalistinterest with public purpose, the RTFCTLARRthreatens to engender large-scale capitalist“accumulation by dispossession” (Harvey 2005) byproviding outlets for domestic and foreign capital atthe expense of local populations and theirdevelopment. Intensifying popular resistance toacquisition then, seeks to counter the threat ofdispossession.

Resistance to Land AcquisitionSince the 1980s, the enforced displacement of

people for large development projects has beenfiercely contested. Anti-displacement movementshave raised critical questions regarding social andenvironmental costs, prior informed consent ofproject affected including landless people, their legalentitlements and livelihood security and democraticprocess and accountability of the state. In the wakeof the Narmada valley, Nandigram and Singur inWest Bengal, Raigad in Maharashtra, Mangalore inKarnataka, Jagatsinghpur in Orissa, Mundra andHansalpur in Gujarat, resistance in Goa, Haryana andU.P., the predominant conf lict over land andresources is not over compensation and R&R. Nor isit about compensation and R&R in Chhattisgarh. Itis the state’s presumption of public purpose that isbeing contested again and again through vitalquestions regarding the “development” itundertakes-for whom, at what cost and at whosecost. These are not just signal flashpoints of conflictover land and resources in the early 21 $I century;they are also conflicts over sovereignty and the rightto decision-making and determination of





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development trajectories as democratic polities cometo maturity. The RTFCTLARR 2013 however,attempts to side-step these fundamental issues byfocusing on compensation and R&R. While itmandates consent for private acquisition and PPPs,consent is only to be established from land owners.By leaving out the corpus of land acquisitionundertaken by the state from the purview ofconsent, it fails to develop a consent-baseddemocratic model of development. The broad scopeof acquisition in aid of capitalism will potentiallyresult in more and more of the same, intensifyingconflicts over land, resources, decision-making anddevelopment in the years to come. Let us considerbriefly the compensation and R&R that RTFCLARRpromises below.

Fair Compensation and R&RThe RTFCTL ARR 2013 leaves it to the

appropriate government to determine whethercompensation should be at market value of the landor twice that in rural areas, depending on distancefrom an urban area (it is unclear how or why thisdistinction is to be made). Land acquisition officersI have interviewed in the course of my research claimthat their goal is generally to get the ‘best price’ (readcheapest) of acquisition for the government. We cansafely presume this is true for private entities as well.With the addition of this clause of distance fromurban area determining the factor of multiplication,and given entrenched bureaucratic dispensation indealing with acquisition, it seems unlikely that thebest price will be determined in favor of those beingdispossessed. Compensation in urban areas remainsat market value. While compensation includes 100per cent solatium award plus 12 per cent interestuntil the date of award or acquisition, thedetermination of the market value is to be done bycalculating the average market value of landtransactions in the area for previous three yearsfrom half the highest sale transactions. Real estatedevelopers I have interviewed candidly disclose thatsale deeds never reflect the real sale price of any areaof land as the parties in transaction depress prices toavoid stamp duties. A significant amount of the priceis thus paid ‘under the table,’ contributing to theubiquitously unaccountable and obscure ‘black

economy’ of real estate. Besides, the significantescalation of land and property prices in affectedareas once a development project is announced isunaccounted for, as awards are to be determinedbased on prior rates. Despite espousal of outcomesthat ensure “affected persons become partners indevelopment leading to an improvement in theirpost acquisition social and economic status” (Gol2013) the RTFCTLARR will likely continue metingunjust compensation. Significantly, the coverage ofcompensation and R&R leaves out those dependenton land dependent communities who may not ownany land or work on it directly, like barbersironsmiths and other service providers.

⇒ GROWTH, MOREEMPLOYMENT & MORE POVERTY

The TFCTLARR extends the coverage of R&Rfor private purchase only above an area specified bythe appropriate government, or if the appropriategovernment is approached for land acquisition, tothe entire area. While this devolution of decision-making to appropriate government may ostensiblysafeguard federalism, competitive bidding by statesto attract investment can raise such limits arbitrarilyand create spiraling private concentration of land,exempting significant private purchase from R&Robligations. Moreover, with no ceilings on the extentof land that can be acquired for any project in acountry as densely populated, unfettered acquisitionwill intensify inequalities of ownership, access andwealth and exacerbate conflicts, unrest and distress.The tertiarisation process is possibly an outcome ofsluggish employment opportunities in the industrialsector, leading to a residual absorption of semi-skilled and unskilled labour in low productivityactivities. Such a pattern of economic change is lesslikely to have beneficial effect on labour withinadequate skill. The erosion of the industrial baseand the proliferation of the tertiary sector do poseserious challenges from the point of view of theproductive absorption of the unskilled and semi-skilled workers.

The technology used in the organizedManufacturing sector is largely imported fromabroad. It is not utilized adequately to derive the





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maximum possible gains primarily because ofinadequate skill base of the domestic labour. Thepolicy implications of the study can be drawn interms of skill up-gradation of labour and enhancedinvestment, encouraging research on labourintensive. technological progress. Besides, credit andmarketing assistance to workers in some of the pettyactivities is indeed important for improvements inproductivity and earnings. The poor skill base of theworkers in marginal activities is a matter of seriousconcern. As possibilities of upward mobility in suchactivities are highly limited, alternative avenues needto be created to offer them a gainful livelihood.Finally, the components which operate asinfrastructure base of the economy need to bestrengthened.

Though, the effects of the growth in highproductivity activities cannot be felt directly on thepoor, the indirect effects are not negligible either. Sothe whole question is how to evolve mechanismsthat can raise the pay-offs of the new features thatare arising in the process of growth, and how tomake these gains favourable to the poor as well. Thechallenge before the Indian economy is not to beselective; rather how best the newer trends can beturned to be beneficial, that is, faster growth withfaster reduction in poverty.

The sustainability of the services growthdepends on India’s ability to secure improved accessto foreign markets, create a more competitiveliberalized domestic economy, and developappropriate regulatory institutions. Commitment ofall WTO member countries for liberal cross-bordertrade in services rather than only in transport andfinancial services and liberal access for the strictlytemporary movement of skilled professionals aresome of the basic pre-conditions that need to be metfor enhancing India’s service revolution and makingthe contribution of the services sector to overallgrowth sustainable.

How to make the services sector moreresponsive to international trade is a pertinentquestion. Trade with developing countries willpossibly hold brighter prospects of growth inemployment intensive services activities. Second,several services, in which India has comparative

advantages over other countries, have to receivesupportive measures for their expansion so thatforeign demand and domestic demand do notconflict. For example, the health sector can bedeveloped extensively to tap the demand potentialfor such services from several developing as well asdeveloped countries. The price differences withrespect to the developed countries can attract a greatdeal of foreign demand for health services in India.However, supplies often are too scarce even to meetthe domestic demand. Similarly, in the educationsector, India has a great potentiality to attractforeign demand, particularly from South and EastAsia, given her comparative advantages in terms ofprice differentials and medium of instruction.

More reforms relating to the financialinstitutions can invite foreign savings and this mayresult in employment growth as management ofsuch savings will be employment intensive.Investment of such resources in productive activitieswill indeed open up new employment opportunities.The backward areas in India require massiveinfrastructural investment in order to get integratedwith the rest of the world. Activities like businessservices which have been India’s comparativeadvantages can expand further to createemployment opportunities on a large scale. Insteadof concentrating in a few million plus cities, foreigninvestment can then penetrate to other semi-urbanareas as well. Skill up-gradation and human capitalformation in the rural areas will enable the ruralyouth to take advantage of these new opportunitiesand thus, international trade in services can be madepro-growth as well as employment-intensive. Povertyalleviation would be a distant dream without theexpansion of social infrastructure (education, healthetc.) since the knowledge-intensive economy drivenby IT sector requires educated and skilled employees.

Labour market inequality spills over toinequality in education, health, political involvementand results in other demographic vulnerabilities. Onthe other hand, improvement in labour marketequality results in reduction in gender inequality inother areas by generating higher levels and betterquality of human capital endowment and byenhancing the productive capacity of women. Hence,





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an important linkage exists between labour marketand empowerment in terms of involvement in thedecision making process. On the other hand,reduction in gender inequality, particularly in thelabour market, results in higher economic growth aswomen’s contribution to the production processincreases with human capital formation. Thefeminisation of poverty and the ever-growingproportion of the female population working ascheap labour, growing unemployment, the decline inthe social power of labour and an increase intemporary, part-time, casual and home-based workare some of the outcomes of the changes that aretaking place in relation to globalization and economicreforms. A number of policy initiatives for reducinginequality in the labour market can be implementedto generate greater human capital formation, and toempower women’s participation in the decision-making process both at the macro and householdlevels.

Urban planning in developing countries needsto consider that urban areas will have to be gearedup to attract further investment and at the sametime enough capacity is created to accommodate theincreasing pressure in the cities. How the low incomehouseholds in the rural areas can also benefit in theprocess of urban-centric growth is another dimensionof the problem. What opportunities in terms ofinfrastructure have to be created and how theaccessibility of the poor to these opportunities canbe enhanced are some of the issues that need theattention of the policy planners.

Though, rural poverty and rural developmentprogrammes may acquire the top priority in thedevelopment strategy of a developing country, thecontribution that the urban areas are making to theoverall growth cannot be overlooked. If the overallgrowth has to be stepped up in the future years thenthere is no way how the urban areas contributioncan be underplayed. For this, more investment incities, for their residents and the poor who strivehard notwithstanding their contributions to city’sgrowth, are definitely required. Several countriesparticularly in the developing world usually follow animbalanced approach either by initiating majorinvestment projects in the large cities only or by

raising political slogans in favour of small towns andthe rural areas. These countries need to take morebalanced decisions so that the increase in theeconomic growth originating from the large urbansettlements benefits the poor across all regions.Besides, the medium sized and small towns need tobe kept ready for future productivity growth, oncethe possibility of reaping the benefits ofconcentration from the present set of large cities iscompletely exhausted. Strategic development of theurban centres can facilitate the rise in productivitygrowth in the rural areas as well. By directinginvestment projects in an urban settlement which issurrounded by rural areas, the benefits of growth canbe distributed more equitably. Some of these issuesare indeed of primary importance in urban planning.

Large cities are more productive andindustries in large urban centers are more efficientthan in smaller centers of human habitation. Moredemand-induced employment opportunities areavailable in large cities which possibly grow inresponse to large quantum of investmentundertaken therein. In terms of several socio-economic and demographic characteristics, largecities seem to be better off. However, this does notmean that poor are able to access an easy entry tothese cities. Land scarcity, legal restrictions on land,the politician-builder nexus and networks-basedmigration tend to reduce the accessibility of the poorto the labour market in large cities. As a result,urbanization in India does not seem to be inclusivein spite of the fact that the large cities account for avery large percentage of the total investment in all-urban areas.

The main policy focus needs to have threedifferent orientations. One is for the male migrantswho come to the city in search of jobs. Availability ofhigh productivity jobs in the rural areas can reducein-migration to the urban areas and on the otherhand productivity augmenting strategies need to beadopted for those who are engaged in lowproductivity jobs in the urban low productivityinformal sector. The other aspect of the policy has todeal with the job market prospects of women whoaccompany male migrants. In spite of the fact thatthey are engaged in residual activities they are the





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ones who actually meet the consumptionrequirements of the households. Hence, thesewomen earners need to be empowered to accessbetter job market opportunities, which they canpursue along with the household or domestic work.The third aspect concerns the single womenmigrants. Though they are guided by the economicfactors at the place of destination, their vulnerabilityin terms of social crime and housing uncertainty ismost serious and migration policy in developingcountries cannot afford to ignore this aspect, whichhas been gaining prominence in the recent years.

In reference to the question whether well-being improves with a rise in the duration ofmigration, findings tend to suggest that rural-to-urban migration has been somewhat beneficial forthe workers and any attempt to stop migration mayturn out to be counter- productive. On the otherhand, several of the long duration migrants and thenatives still correspond to a low level of well-beingand high incidence of poverty. Therefore,implementation of urban employment programmesis indeed important for reducing urban poverty.Since, many of the urban poor are not freshmigrants, rural development programmes alone willnot be adequate to reduce urban poverty. The otherpolicy dimensions relate to education and healthbecause these variables play an important role indetermining the well-being of the households.

The urban poverty policy in India, however,ignored many of these aspects. For a long time, itfocused only on basic amenities and public

distribution system. Even under the recent urbanrenewal mission (JNNURM), infrastructure andprovision of basic amenities to the urban poor getthe top priority in a handful of sixty-three cities.While investment in these areas is necessary, issuesrelating to livelihood, micro-credit, provision fortraining and skill up-gradation, institutional supportand health benefits to the workers from the lowincome households need immediate attention.

Social capital, particularly in the context of thelow income households, is important in accessing thejob market. information. However, as regardsupward mobility, there is no strong evidence toconfirm possibilities of improving earnings throughnetworks. On the contrary, traditional networkstend to reduce the possibility of upward mobility bycreating information asymmetry and excess suppliesof labour in certain pockets and activities. Hence,government intervention is important from thelong-term developmental point of view. On thewhole, slum rehabilitation and livelihood issuescannot be treated separately and they need to beintegrated with the survival strategies that the lowincome households have developed on the basis ofsocial capital. Also, the political contacts are merelya transitory respite. Keeping in view their limitationsand the lesser applicability in other Asian countries,the role of political contact is seen as far inferior tothat of rational policies, which have widerapplicability across countries. Awareness among theresidents has to be created to counter the practice ofbeing used in exchange of short-term gains.

DO YOU KNOW?Shale gas is a natural gas. It is found trapped in shale formations. Shales are petroleum

resource rocks below the surface of earth. High heat and pressure converts the petroleum of theserocks into natural gas. Interest in exploration of this gas has been increasing worldwide.

It is thought that increased use of shale gas shall help reduce green house gas emissions.However, there is a disagreement on this issue. Some scientists have advised caution in extractingthis gas. There are fears of methane gas leak during the production of this gas.

Use of shale gas has been on the increase in the United States. China is estimated to havethe largest shale gas reserves. According to a report, there are 48 shale basins in 38 countries.

The shale gas discoveries in the United States have led to increase in its reserves. The economicsuccess of shale gas in US has increased interest in its exploration in Europe and Australia too.

India too has recently approved the shale gas and oil exploration policy. According to media





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⇒ HISTORY OF EDUCATION IN INDIAWe know that today in 2013, education for all

has still not been achieved in India. This is in acontinuum from over a century and a half ago, whenmodem education was first introduced throughWood’s Dispatch of 1835 and the Dispatch of 1854.I would like to present here a few salient pointsregarding the failure of the Indian effort to provideeducation for all, and to offer a major explanationfor the failure, from which arise the other conditionsalso producing and adding to the failure.

Beginning with the first major efforts ofChristian missionaries in the eighteenth century,modern education was characterized by a distaste forindigenous culture that could border on extremedenigration. Alexander Duff (1806-1878), whoarguably created the model for modem education inIndia, was one of the most vitriolic of all missionaries.

He made a case for the new education with theargument that the Indian mind, in learning a newlanguage (English) and a new set of concepts, wouldbe forced to un-learn its “pantheism, idolatry andsuperstition.”

This is what I read as the central disease ofIndian education, one that makes for failure both innumbers-India still does not have 100 per centliteracy-and in quality-India’s school-going childrenare learning below their class levels. I call it “thehome-school divide.” Indian schools, administrators,policy makers and teachers are pulling one way andthe children’s families and communities are pulling inanother. Teachers and curricula are also thus, divided.

I do not mean to belittle other problems inIndian education by emphasizing this one. I mean tosuggest that this formulation of the problem is theacutest way to gain a handle on the problem of the

reports, India is the world’s fourth largest consumer of energy, could be sitting on as much as (96)trillion cubic feet of recoverable shale gas reserves, equivalent to (26) years of the country’s demandas per the estimate of US energy information administration. India relies on import for much ofits energy needs. As per available data, six basins Cambay (in Gujarat) Assam- Arakam (in the NorthEast) Gondwana (in Central India) K.G. on shore (in Andhra Pradesh), Cauvery onshore, and Indo-Gangetic basin’s hold shale gas potential. Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGe) plans commercialproduction of shale gas next year.

ONGC and Oil India Ltd., have been allowed to tap shale resources in blocks allotted to themon nomination basis. Drilling of ten wells is planned for this year and commercial production maystart next year. ONGC is set to start drilling for unconventional shale hydrocarbon in Gujarat soon.Cambay in Gujarat is one of the basins which is expected to contain shale reserves. The extractionof shale gas uses hydraulic fracturing which involves blasting water, sand and chemicals undergroundto release tapped oil and gas. After the permission to state-owned firm, private companies may alsobe allowed to explore shale gas and oil from below the earth’s surface.

What is Escrow AccountEscrow account is an account in a bank which a third party holds during the process and period

of a transaction between two parties. It is a temporary account which lasts until the completionof transaction. This account is governed by the conditions agreed to, between the parties.

This account helps in case of any violation of terms of the contract by either party. As a thirdparty, banks keep the account in safe custody, in case of any non-fulfilment of condition from eitherside. The Bank ensures operation of account according to the terms set in the agreement.

Some banks keep it as a current account without cheque drawing facility or a fixed depositaccount. The banks run the account as per defined agreement. An escrow account may be used forlending arrangements, project financing, securitisation, buy back of shares, take overs, custody,litigation, sale and purchase of land, custody of software source code etc. The agreement reachedby the parties to open an escrow account in a bank needs bank’s approval.





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failure of Indian education which seems too slipperyto get a hold of otherwise. The economics ofeducation is important, for instance. Surely, theamount spent per head is responsible for the lack ofand poor quality of, educational resources. Thisturns upper and middle class families away fromgovernment schools and creates a market for betterequipped private schools. But, if the country had thewill to have a system of public schooling, theresources for public schools would be created ,orproduced. It is because the imagination of theeducated middle class fails to comprehend the wholeof the Indian citizen body as a unit whose needs maybe addressed together, that the will for improvingpublic schooling is so weak. The families of themasses are conceptualized as essentially different,with a string of characteristics we will discuss below,that distinguish them from the families and needs ofthe middle classes. Thus, there is no need to reformeducation with persistence and determination. Thereis no need to fight for resources. The shortfall ineducational funding is ultimately traceable to thehome-school divide. Similarly, we can agree that it ispoor management that is responsible for the poorfunctioning of schools. Even when the teachers aretrained, the school building natty, teaching resourcesavailable, and curricula imaginative, a principal willcomplain that he cannot make the school work.

Management in India is understood as thesuccessful control of production and delivery-if thepersonnel are ‘normal.’ But, my argument is, thedifference created by education between kinds ofIndians makes some behavior labelled as abnormaland impossible to deal with, even though it may beculturally appropriate. Thus, there is no ability onthe part of well educated managers to manage lesseducated or differently educated people in India.This management shortcoming may be traceable tothe home-school divide. Without going over otherproblems one by one, let us look at the schools intheir differences and then track the problemaccording to the kinds of schools.

Family Values and theHome-school Divide

The home is a particular site of politics.Parents and the older generation control younger

generations on principle, for utilitarian reasons, toreproduce themselves socially and culturally, andalso because that is the preferred politics rather thanage equality or the dominance of the youth. Careerchoices and choices of what to study are made byparents. Marriage choices are likewise made byparents. Sons and daughters-in-law may becontrolled well into their middle ages.

Apart from age politics, the family is rife withgender politics. Every Indian family is patriarchal.Senior men bond together to control younger menand all women. Age and gender power normscombine together to socialize girls and boysrespectively to assume feminine and masculine rolesso seamlessly that no authoritarian control is neededand men and women control themselves accordingto strict patriarchal norms through out their lives.

Then there is class, caste and sectarian politics.Each family maintains its distance from others onthese three lines, as well as on other grounds such aslanguage and region. In each case, there isseparation, hierarchy, stereotyping, sometimes moregently, sometimes aggressively. The school, bycontrast, is a modernizing and secularizing agencywhose mandate is to produce equality and topractice it. Through classroom procedures andregular rituals, children are taught in school thatIndia is a secular country, that all Indians are fellowcitizens, that the Constitution guarantees equality toall, meaning both men and women, both rich andpoor and all religious groups.

But is equality what schools actually practice?Is democratic citizenship what they actually succeedin dinning into students’ heads? There are numerousshortcomings to schools’ perfect adherence todemocratic, secular functioning. The first and themajor one is that schools themselves are divided upby class lines, if less now, by gender and sect. Thereare no integrated schools in India. There are schoolsfor the rich and schools for the poor and variousgradations in between. It is not a free and simplechoice that people make among schools. It is theirdestiny and their lives that they wager in choosing aschool. And they are at the mercy of the systembecause in fact they have no choice at all. Richchildren go to rich schools. Rich schools are rich in





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resources and management and personnel andconvey this air. Because of the social capital theyimpart, even the children who are not good learnerssucceed in getting some use out of their schools.Poor children go to poor schools. Poor schools arepoor in resources and teach poorly. Children maylabour very hard and learn something in theseschools, but the majority of them remain poorlyeducated. Some drop out because of the sheerpoverty of the programme in school.

The whole educational system in Indiafunctions on the premise that there are two kinds ofIndians, those who would naturally want to and beable to, pay for better schools for their children, andthose who would resort to free or subsidizedgovernment schools that are bad or average orunknown, but at any rate, not in the same league asprivate schools that can claim a quality that theycharge for. The curriculum of schools is based on thepremise that India is a secular, democratic countryand children should learn about themselves, theircountry and countrymen in modern, progressiveways. Almost all the curricula in Indian schools is“progressive.”

As it exists, the school is positioned to distanceitself from the family and whatever is eione is doneto them, at them, or in spite of them, never withthem. The heme-seheel divide is so ingrained inpeople’s minds that they cannot grapple with theproblem of uneducated, poor and working dassfamilies confronting a modern educational system.

Private English-medium schoolsMany parents who aspire to have their

children study are willing to pay for private schoolingwith the faith that these schools will teach Englishand give a competitive edge to their children. Theschools, in turn, again expect, indeed, demand, thatthe home does a large part of the teaching work.They give homework that needs adult help and theyfail children who cannot cope with it. Almost 100 percent of first generation, or even second generationschool goers go to a tutor to study after schoolhours. The curriculum of these schools is faulty inanother way as well. The teaching of English, Scienceand Social Studies, as well as sometimes Hindi and

Maths, is so non-progressive, non-interactive, andunimaginatively undertaken that children do notlearn well. They leave school ostensibly havingstudied these subjects for the duration of theirschool life but with a skill level in them so poor thatthey cannot use their education to provide the socialmobility they had dreamt of.

Private Indian-language schoolsThese are schools founded by the community,

often funded by the government, with low fees, oldbuildings, an Indian language as the medium ofinstruction and a consciousness of being more‘indigenous’ than private schools that are Englishmedium. These are closer to the homes of theirstudents in little ways such as the carelessness oftheir school uniform and the sitting on the floor inmadrasas. They also use the mother tongues of thechildren. But they are also curiously distanced fromthe homes of their students in their critique of thehome environments. Instead of attributing any faultin student learning to perhaps a shortcoming inteaching methods, the fault is always seen to lie in“the family.”An interesting instance is the madrasasattended by the children of weavers’ families that Ihave studied. Weavers’ sons often start sitting at theloom when nine or ten. Madrasas’ timings are fromearly morning to noon so they do not clash with this.But the discourse that has been built up is of strictlyeither studying or working. Any work that comesfrom the family is seen as a problem for the school.Although, these madrasas that are started by theweaving community are over a hundred years old, insome cases, this antagonism between the home andthe school has not worked out. There has not evenbeen an attempt to work it out.

The schools do not respond to the ambitionsof the students’ families either. Students and theirfamilies want high quality education to achievecompetitive success in the future. Almost all Indian-language medium schools aspire very low. Theirspaces and teaching methods are not ambitious inprogressivism or child friendliness. They do not planpedagogy or events or guidance for their studentsthat might make them successful in the modemworld.




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⇒ SUPPLY-SIDE CHALLENGES OF THENATIONAL FOOD SECURITY BILL

Removal of malnutrition and hunger from thecountry is not only socially desirable but alsonecessary for improving overall economicdevelopment, as healthy people contribute more tothe economy with their relatively higher level ofproductivity and efficiency. Hunger and malnutritionput enormous cost burden on the society. A WorldBank Report states that malnutrition brings downthree percent of country’s GDP annually. Varioussurvey reports indicate that in spite of relativelyhigher GDP growth achieved during the neo-liberalpolicy regime, hunger and malnutrition among amajority of Indian population still persists. NationalFamily Health Survey (2005-06) reveals that thepercentage of aneamic ever-married women in theage group 15-49 has increased from 53.9 in 1998-99 to 58.2 in 2005-06 in rural areas and from 45.7to 51.5 in urban area.

Similarly, percentage of aneamic children hasalso increased from 75.3 to 81.2 in rural areas and70.8 to 72.7 in urban area between the sameperiods. The International Food Policy ResearchInstitute (IFPRI) report on hunger ranks India at 67out of 81 countries, slightly above Bangladesh andbelow all other South Asian countries. In GlobalFood Security Index, India ranks 66 out of 105countries. It is in this context that the National FoodSecurity Bill (NFSB) assumes significance as it giveslegal right to subsidised food grain to 67% of India’spopulation (75% of rural and 50% of urbanhouseholds) and also makes provision for nutritiousmeal to pregnant and lactating mothers andchildren. Assuming no leakages in the distribution

system, we can argue that the demand-sideconstraints in the food accessibility of the intendedbeneficiaries would largely be removed after theexecution of the NFSB. However, supply-sideconstraints may have serious implications formaintaining the food security. This paper, therefore,focuses on the supply-side challenges of the NFSB.

An Overview of NFSBIn recent years, the Government of India has

taken several initiatives towards ensuring rights andentitlements of citizens of the country. The NFSB isone of them. Its objective is “to provide for food andnutritional security in human life cycle approach byensuring access to adequate quantity of quality food ataffordable prices to people to live a life with dignity”.

It provides legal guarantee to 75% of rural and50% of the urban population to get five kg foodgrains per month at Rs.3, Rs.2, Re1 per kg for rice,wheat and coarse grains, respectively. The poorest ofthe poor continue to be covered under AntyodayaAnna Yajana (AAY) and get 35 kgs food grains permonth. It also makes provision for pregnant womenand lactating mothers to get nutritious meals andmaternity benefit of at least Rs.6000 for six months.As per the NSSO survey 2009-10, monthly per capitaconsumption of cereals was about 11.35 kgs in ruraland 9.37 kgs in urban areas. Thus, the NFSB meetsapproximately 50 percent of cereal requirement ofeligible households. ‘

The bill also empowers women as it considersthe eldest woman in the household (18 years orabove) as the head of the household for the issue ofthe ration card. The state and district level redressmechanisms will also be put in place and provision ofsocial audit and vigilance committees will be made to

Gist of

KURUKSHETRA




GIST OF KURUKSHETRA VOL–14 35

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ensure accountability, transparency and quickredressal of grievances. The State Food Commissionwill also be set up. The Bill also stresses onrevitalization of agriculture and food production anduniversal access to safe drinking water andsanitation.

The Planning Commission of India hasestimated state-wise coverage of rural and urbanhouseholds under the NFSB. The percentage ofeligible households varies across states. For example,among the major states of India, the percentage ofrural households to be covered under the Bill ishighest in Jharkhand (86.48%), followed by Bihar(85.12%), Chhattisgarh (84.25%), Assam (84.17%)and Odisha (82.17). It is estimated to be lowest inKerala (52.63%), followed by Haryana (54.61%),Punjab (54.79%), Himachal Pradesh (56.23%) andTamil Nadu (62.55%). The percentage coverage ofurban households will be highest in Bihar (74.53%),distantly followed by Uttar Pradesh (64.43%),Madhya Pradesh (62.61%), Assam (60.35%),Jharkhand (60.20%), and Chhattisgarh (59.98%). Itwould be lowest in Himachal Pradesh (30.99%),followed by Tamil Nadu (37.79%), Kerala (39.50%),Haryana (41.05%) and Andhra Pradesh (41.14%).This clearly shows that relatively developed stateswould get less number of households covered underthe NFSB.

Current PDS in most of the states is not foundworking efficiently. Planning Commission estimatedthat about 45-55% of food grains under the PDS didnot reach to the intended beneficiaries. This Bill isexpected to seal leakages in the food delivery systemthrough technological and administrativeinterventions, such as, use of ‘Aadhaar Card’ andsetting up of new accountability, transparency andgrievance redressal system. Moreover, since morethan two-third of Indian population, including non-poor, get legal right to have cheap food grains fromthe PDS,

possibility of leakages and supply of poorquality of food grains may be minimized due to theircollective power and action. However, majorchallenge in the execution of the Bill seems to be theidentification of eligible households. Under the N FSB,responsibility of selection of beneficiaries is given to

the state governments which have to finalise the listof eligible households in each village and town. As hasbeen happened in the past, this time also, there maybe possibility of exclusion of eligible households orinclusion of non-eligible households. An ExpertGroup headed by N C Saxena estimated that 61% ofthe eligible population was excluded from the BPLlist, while 25% of APL households were included inthe list.

Approximately 62 million tonnes of cereals isrequired to implement the NFSB. In the currentfinancial year (2013-14), under the TPDS(AAY+BPL+APL) the government has allocated nearly50 million tonnes (MT) of cereals (rice and wheat).Out of the total annual allocation, 10.22 MT wasmade under AAY and 17.46 MT under BPL. Thus,under the current arrangement, only 27.68 MT ofcereals was distributed at the much subsidized rates.In 20013-14, economic cost of rice and wheat isestimated to be Rs.2643.61 and Rs.2010.22 perquintal, respectively. It means that the direct cost ofproviding one kg of rice and wheat under the TPDSto the government would be Rs.23.44 and Rs.18.10,respectively.

The additional procurement as a result of theNFSB will not only put enormous pressure on theexisting infrastructure of the FCI but also constantlyincrease the financial burden on the governmentexchequer.

Even if the quantity of food remains the sameeach year, the amount of food subsidy will increaseannually due to increase in the cost of foodproduction, distribution and management. Economiccost of food grains can be reduced if the TPDS isdecentralised and efficient, transparent and inclusivedelivery system is put in place.

One of the reasons for monthly distribution ofcereals under PDS was that poor households did nothave the sufficient purchasing power to buy cerealsfor the entire season. Therefore, under the currentPDS, food grains are released and distributed underthe PDS on monthly basis. Since, under the NFSB, theeligible households would get rice/wheat/ coarsecereals at the rate of Rs.3/2/1, respectively, therewould be no difficulty to them if they buy theirallotted quota six monthly. For example, if an eligible




36 VOL–14 GIST OF KURUKSHETRA

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household in North India purchases 150 kgs of wheat(its six month quota), only Rs. 300 will be paid. Thisamount can easily be earned through two daysmanual work. Problem of storing of huge quantity ofcereals by the Fel may be solved if food grains aredistributed under the TPDS twice in a year at thetime of Rabi and Kharif harvesting. One of the keyissues is that this Bill does not have exit-clause. Onlyissue prices are supposed to be revised after threeyears. Our past experiences show that if someone isused to enjoy the benefits of any scheme, it is hardto withdraw it.

The same argument may be valid for the NFSB.It would be difficult, if not impossible, to withdrawit even after hunger and malnutrition are completelyremoved from the country.

The implementation of the Bill may createmismatch between demand and supply of cereals inthe economy. Since more than one-fourth of totalcereals will be sold through the TPDS at thesubsidized rates, there would be possibility ofdiversion of cheap cereals towards cattle and poultryfeeds and thus can distorts the market. Moreover,small and marginal farmers may shift to non-cerealcrops as their requirement may be met from theNFSB.

It is also feared that agriculture would faceshortage of workers as the Bill may motivate theagricultural workers not to work as their foodrequirement will be easily met through TPDS. Insome regions, farmers have already feeling the heatof increasing real agricultural wages mainly due toimplementation of MGNREGS. Labour cost is one ofthe most important components of variable cost ofcultivation. In recent years, real wages in agriculturehas increased faster than the real growth in grossvalue added in agriculture. During the last five yearperiod (2007-11), real farm wages recorded anaverage annual growth rate of 6.8 percent, while realgrowth in agriculture was only 3.3 percent.

Supply-Side ChallengesThe NFSB has several challenges, such as,

identification of eligible households, huge subsidyburden on the government exchequer, and volatilityin food grains production and prices. Our focus here

is on the supply-side challenges of the NFSB. Asreported by the NSSO surveys, direct consumptionof cereals has declined over the period due tochanges in the dietary pattern of the people. With theincrease in income, people diversify theirconsumption towards high income elastic livestockand horticultural products. For instance, share offood grains in the total food expenditure has declinedfrom 47.4% in 1987-88 to 36% in 2009-10 in ruralareas and from 32.6% to 29% in urban areas,whereas, share of dairy products, eggs, meat, fish,and vegetables has increased from 26.7% to 34.1%in rural areas and from 32.6% to 36.4% in urbanareas during the same period. This makes a strongargument that the food security should not belimited to the accessibility of food grains but itshould be extended to the availability of livestockand horticultural commodities. In this regards, twopoints may be taken into consideration. First, poorhouseholds get more calories from cereals than non-cereal food items.

Table 1 shows that bottom 10 percent ruraland urban households in India in 2009-10 metrespectively 72.7 and 66.4 percent of their calorierequirement from cereals, while the correspondingpercentages for the top 10 percent households were47.4 and 34.6 respectively in rural and urban areas.The table shows that there is wide differencebetween rich and poor in regard of the per capitacalories consumption. For example, bottom 10%households in rural and urban areas consume only1619 and 1584 calories, respectively, while thecorresponding calories intakes in case of top 10percent households are 2473 and 2511, respectively.This implies that poor households consume much lesscalories than the minimum prescribed norms. Thismakes a strong case for the implementation of NFSB.Second, diversification of dietary pattern towardsmeat, poultry, milk and other livestock productswould increase the indirect demand for cereals forfeed grains.

Since over 67% of population will be coveredunder the TPDS, the direct or indirect consumptionof cereals may likely to increase in future, raisingfurther demand for cereals and consequently theirprices.





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Table 1: MPCE Decile Class-wise per capitacalories intake and share of cereal in total

calorie intake in India in 2009-10

MPCE Decile Class

Per Capita Calorie Intake Share of Cereals in Calorie Intake (%)

Rural Urban Rural Urban

1. 1619 1584 72.7 66.4 2. 1795 1773 68.6 61.6 3. 1901 1872 66.5 58.3 4. 1994 1964 65.1 56.2 5. 2072 2029 62.5 53.8 6 . 2131 2134 61.4 51.8 7 . 2247 2195 59.5 48 8 . 2315 2311 57.3 46.2 9 . 2473 2511 54.4 41.7 10. 2922 2855 47.4 34.6

Source: NSSO 66th Round 2009-10There are several supply-side bottlenecks in

the food security of the country. First is declining theproductivity of land and rising input cost inagriculture. The chemicalization of agriculture hasnot only degraded the precious land and waterresources, but also affected the land productivity andquality of agricultural products. There is increasingtendency of abandoning of agriculture by farmers asit is no longer considered to be a profitable andrespectable occupation. Agricultural workforce hasbeen becoming more ageing and more feminized.How to attract educated youths (both males andfemales) in farming activities, especially in doinginnovations in agricultural practices needed forraising productivity per unit of labour, land, waterand other inputs, is a major supply-side concern. Dueto knowledge-deficit in agriculture, there is a hugeproductivity gap between what the technologist getsin the experimental farm and what a farmer gets onhis farm. Therefore, price policy driven agriculturalgrowth may not be sustainable if it is not properlyintegrated with technological breakthrough.

The NFSB ensures quality food to the eligiblehouseholds. Quality food cannot be possible throughthe on-going process of chemicalization ofagriculture. We have to promote organic farming notonly to provide safe and quality food but also tomaintain soil fertility, water quality, and reduce non-

point sources of pollution of water bodies. Organicfarming could be a viable option if governmentsupports farmers by protecting their farm income,developing marketing infrastructure, putting in placethe institution of certification, quality checking, andbranding, and training. Agriculture is getting hugeamount of direct or indirect subsidies. At least one-third of these subsidies can be directed towardspromotion of organic farming. Keeping in view thenegative externalities that the conventional farminghas generated in terms of soil and water pollutionand public health cost, the organic farming would bemore cost-effective than the conventional farming.

Another critical issue in food security isincreasing use of land and water resources for non-agricultural purposes. During the last two decades,area under non-agricultural purposes has increasedfrom 21.087 million hectares (Mha) in 1990-91 to26.513 Mha in 2010-11, a net increase of 5.42 Mha.Contrary to this, net cultivated area (NCA) hasdeclined from 143.999 Mha to 141.579 Mha duringthe same period. Similarly, the share of non-agricultural sector in the total water use hasincreased from about 6 percent during 1983-87 toabout 9.6 percent during 2008-12. In future, due tofast urbanisation and industrialization, there wouldbe more demand for land and water for non-agricultural uses, thus having serious implications forfuture food security. Moreover, regional disparity inthe availability of land and water resources is also anissue in this context. Water and land both are the keydrivers of agricultural growth. These two inputs areunevenly distributed across states. In some states,there is sufficient area of arable land but there isacute shortage of water (for instance western region)and therefore per hectare productivity is quite low.On the other hand, in some part of the country,there is sufficient quantity of water, but size ofoperational holding is too small to introduce modernfarm practices (for example eastern region).Government of India has special focus on agriculturaldevelopment of eastern states and wants to makethis region as a future “food bowl” of the country.There is no physical scarcity of water in this region;however economic scarcity of water along withnatural factors, such as, flood limits the scope of





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potential increase in food production. On the otherhand, in northern state like Punjab, which suppliesboth wheat and rice to national pool, water hasbecome a scarce input due to its overexploitation.Punjab transfers huge quantity of virtual water toothers states by supplying cereals to the central pool.

In recent years, food prices have significantlyincreased, making food items unaffordable to poorhouseholds, and at the same times, agriculturalincome has not increased in commensurate with theincrease in the cost of cultivation, consequentlyincreasing distress among farmers. Increasing energyprices have made agricultural production moreexpensive via raising the production andtransportation costs. Agricultural diversification andrising energy prices have significant impact on thefood security. A high growth in horticulture andlivestock products may not improve nutritionalstatus of the common masses as they have little orno access to fruits and livestock products. Secondly,increasing consumption of highly income-elastic foodproducts such as meat and dairy products alsoincreases the demand for cereals for feed-grains andthus cereals prices, affecting the poor households. Ifmore quantity of grains is diverted towardsproduction of meat and dairy products, less quantitywould be available for common masses for directconsumption. The NFSB is likely to increase bothdirect and indirect demands for cereals.

Increasing energy prices would also affect thefood security. Energy prices affected the food pricesin two ways: First, rising prices of petroleumproducts motivates the government and corporatesector to go for producing bio-fuels. Although, inIndia, grains are not being used to produce ethanol,however, its possibility in future cannot be ruled out.If you look at the trends in developed countries, youwill find that indirect demand for cereals (feed-grainsand fuel-grains) is much higher than the directdemand. The increasing production of bio-fuelreduces the global availability of food grains forconsumption and thus raises the food prices. Second,increasing energy prices makes agriculturalproduction more expensive via raising the cost ofmechanical cultivation, inputs like fertilizers andpesticides, and transportation of inputs and outputs.

It may be relevant to note that the share ofmechanical and electrical power in the total powerconsumption has significantly increased from 39.63%in 972-73 to 86.6% in 2005-06, while correspondingshare human and animal power has come down from60.37% to 13.4% during the same period. Energyintensification in agriculture has increased theexternal cost of agricultural production.

Another most critical issue in context of foodsecurity is diversion of cultivated land towards woodfarming. High GDP growth is leading to increaseconsumption of wood and wood products likefurniture, timber, pulp & paper. Recently, somefarmers of Punjab, Haryana, Western Uttar Pradesh,Himachal Pradesh, and plains of Uttarakhand havebeen gradually shifting towards cultivation of poplartrees which is turned out to be more remunerativethan the crop husbandry. It is expected that in futuremore land would be brought under cultivation ofpoplar trees due to various reasons, including labourshortage, low profitability in crop husbandry, andincreasing absentee land owners. Increasing indirectdemand for cereals and declining areas undercultivation may create mismatch between supply anddemand and generate inflationary pressure andconsequently the fiscal burden on the government.

Volatility in food systems due to exogenousshocks from weather related events or instability ininternational markets may compromise our foodsecurity. If India decides to enter in the world marketas a bulk importer of food, international prices wouldincrease to a greater extent, thus jeopardizing ourfood security.

Summing UpGiven the current trend in the productivity

levels with growing pressure on water and land, itwould be a difficult proposition for the publicagencies to ensure food security on sustainable basis.Among others, there are three key supply-sidechallenges in regard of food security. First is a tradeoff between food and fuel. Rising energy prices in theworld market may motivate the corporate sector toproduce bio-fuels from cereals. The second trade offis between food and feed. Increasing demand forhigh-income elastic dairy, poultry and meat productsmay increase cereal demand for livestock feed and as





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a result, would affect the food security of poorpeople who cannot afford to buy costly dairy andmeat products. However, small and marginalfarmers and landless workers, who supplement theirincome from livestock activities, may gain from thisdiversification. Third challenge is the trade offbetween food and wood.

As discussed above, farmers in the northregion have been gradually sifting towardscultivation of poplar trees as it has emerged moreremunerative than crop husbandry. This may havesome impact on the food security. Apart from thesechallenges, increasing land demand for non-agricultural uses and near stagnant or decline inproductivity of land, water and other resources areother supply-side challenges which are to be properlyaddressed. Since possibility of bringing additionalarea under cultivation is quite limited, future demandfor agricultural products, including food, can only bemet by enhancing productivity and efficiency ofagricultural resources. As, food security is not lessthan the national security; food security systemcannot be made vulnerable to the production andprice volatilities of global food market. Therefore,policy focus must be on removing the supply-sidebottlenecks by raising investment in agriculturalinfrastructure, R&D, human capital, roads, markets,storage, and processing, along with support toorganic farming and reform in tenancy and leaselaws.

⇒ FOOD SECURITY VS. FARMER SECURITYWilliam Paddocks and Paul Erlich in their

books in seventies had wrote that India along withEgypt and Haiti would be declared, ‘Cannot be saved’and ‘left to starve’ because the amount of aidneeded to bailout their malnourished millions wouldbe so great so as to leave little for everyone else.Commenting on the state of agriculture productionin India, the writers further said that Gambia andLibya would be able to survive without immediateaid and Pakistan and Tunisia would be the beneficiaryof US food aid only because they made some effortto implement population control campaigns andhave a sufficient robust political structure to makethem worthy of aid. Although they knew that knew

of the wheat varieties development work of Dr.Norman, but still they believed that even the greenrevolution would not be able to save India Egypt,Haiti and Philippines from the impending crisis.

Definitely proving them wrong theGovernment of India came out the Right to Food byenacting ‘Food security act’ that entitles food toabout two third of the population at an affordablecost so as to ensure that all Indians “live a life withdignity”. The act passed by the parliament isdefinitely a “landmark social legislation” muchimportant for fighting against hunger. No othercountry has such a provision. The act marks a shiftin approach to the problem of food security; fromthe current ‘welfare paradigm’ to a ‘rights-basedapproach’. The legislation confers eligible beneficiariesthe legal right to receive grain at highly subsidizedprices. For a country like India where about 250million people still are in the grip of hunger andmalnourishment, the recommendations of the Foodsecurity act will definitely go a long way in achievingfood security for all. The act however puts the limiton the food grain quota to five kilogram per personper family subject to a maximum of 25 kg per family.The right to food campaigns had demanded 35kilograms per family.

The act brings under its purview 75% of ruralhouseholds and 50% of urban households. Thebeneficiaries would receive five kilograms ofsubsidized food grains at the rate of rupees three perkilogram for rice, Wheat for rupees two per kilogramand coarse cereals for rupees one per kilogram.Besides this, the law also entitles every pregnantwoman and lactating mother to meal free of costduring pregnancy and six months after child birth.The act also provides for a maternity benefit of Rs.1,000 a month for six months. Every child up to theage of fourteen shall have entitlement to nutritionalneeds. For children between six months and six years,appropriate meal would be provided free of chargethrough the local Anganwadi to meet nutritionalstandards. For children in the 6-14 age group, onemid-day meal would be given free of charge everyday, except during holidays, in all schools run by localbodies, and government and government-aidedschools up to class eighth.





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Without food all the components of socialjustice are meaningless. Manjeet Singh Kang formerVice-chancellor of Punjab Agriculture University,Ludhiana says that the act has adopted a life cycleapproach as it provides a nutritious diet from prebirth to death. It has expanded the food basket byincluding in addition to rice and wheat health ornutria foods such as Maize, Jowar, Bajra and Ragi. TheRight to food will also confer legal rights on women,children and other special groups destitute, thehomeless, disaster-and-emergency-affected personsand persons living in starvation to receive meals freeor at an affordable price.

Jean Ziegler, a member of the UN HumanRights Council’s Advisory Committee, working as anexpert on economic, social and cultural rights,including the Right to Food once remarked that “Ina world overflowing with riches, it is an outrageousscandal that more than 1 billion people suffer fromhunger and malnutrition and that every year over 6million children die of starvation and related causes.We must take urgent action now.” This is despite thefact that the United Nations considers the right tofood as an individual right. The United Nationscommittee on Economic Social and Cultural rightsdefines the Right to Food as the right of every men,women and child alone and in community withothers to have physical and economic access at alltimes to adequate food or means for itsprocurement in ways consistent with human dignity.In 1996 world leaders from 185 countries gottogether at the world food summit and reaffirmedthe right of every individual to safe and nutritiousfood. The government of India from time to timehas taken various steps to feed the peoples throughvarious safety net programmes and various policy aswell as institutional reforms. To fulfill the right tofood the Government must provide an enablingenvironment for the people to feed themselves. Italso implies three types of obligations of the state viz.i. Respect of the existing access and the state not totake any measures that can result in preventing suchaccess, ii. Protect i.e. states to ensure that noenterprise or individual deprives human of the accessto adequate food and iii. Fulfill i.e. state to activelyengage in activities intended to strengthen the

people access to and utilization of resources andmeans to ensure their livelihood.

A growing world population and the escalatinghunger and malnutrition demand immediate publicintervention. The Right to Food is not just related topoverty, it is a much broader than poverty. Poor doget two square miles a day but what matters is thequality of food. In fact Right to Food equals foodsovereignty. Food sovereignty is the right of peoplesto safe nutritious and culturally appropriate food.Article 25(1) of the universal declaration of humanrights of 1948 states that everyone has the right toa standard of living adequate for the health and wellbeing of himself and his family, including food. Foodand nutritious rights were subsequently reaffirmedin two major binding international agreements.Article 11 of the international covenant on Economic,Social and Cultural rights (lCESR) binds the statespresent at the covenant to recognize the rights ofeveryone to an adequate standard of living forhimself and his family and also recognizes thefundamental right of everyone to be free fromhunger. India is a state party to ICESCR. Hence thereis an obligation to respect, protect and fulfill theright of food of every citizen of the country.

Farmer security: Where do we stand?Dang Kim Son, Director General of the

Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agricultural andRural Development (IPSARD) has rightly said thatfood security in a country starts with the farmer whoprovides the food. Today we talk of making tall claimsabout record food grain production and providingthem to the peoples at an affordable cost but thereis another side of the coin too. Those facts and figurescannot be ignored also. To what Prime minister ofIndia described as a national shame, the findings ofHUNGaMA (Hunger and Malnutrition) SurveyReport 2011, which said that in 100 focus districtslocated in six states, 42 per cent of children under fiveare underweight and 59 per cent are stunted .Thereport of National Crime records bureau 2009 alsocame out with a shocking revelation. It put thenumber of suicides in the year 2009 at 17,368(Kumar, N, 2011). The report further said that thesuicides are not region specific but are spread acrossIndia. 46 farmers commit suicide every day even as





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the packages are rolled out in a bid to bail out thedebt ridden community from the crisis. The NutritionBarometer Launched by two NGO’s ‘World visionand Save the Children’ that assess the government’spolitical legal and financial commitments towardstackling the scourge in 36 countries which are hometo 90% of world’s malnourished children says that inIndia every day 5000 children die largely due tocauses that are preventable like malnutrition andlack of a proper diet. The same farmer which onceduring the green revolution era appearedenthusiastic and determined irrespective of age nowis willing to leave this profession.

Even in agriculturally progressive state likePunjab 37% of farmers wants to quit agriculture.Definitely the percentage must have risen high now.95% of farming community has no access tomicrofinance and insurance. 56% still borrow frominformal sources and 70% has no deposit account inBanks. Crop insurance also covers only 4-6% offarmers. Youths are not interested in agriculture. ADecember 2012 report of the Institute of AppliedManpower Research (IAMR), a part of the planningcommission said that on an average 2,035 farmersare losing main cultivators statuses every single dayfor the last 20 years. Isn’t this shocking? Isn’t itridiculous to talk of providing food security when wecannot provide security to the farmers who provideus food?

Projections say that by 2050 we would haveforty per cent more population than it is now. Indianpopulation grows at 15 million in two years i.e. apopulation equivalent to Malaysia. With the foodsecurity act in place can India produce the requiredamount of food grains in the backdrop of such a largenumber of farmers leaving farming? The answer is abig ‘No’. Without farmers security being an inbuiltmechanisim in any food security programme wecannot achieve our target. Now the biggest questionis how to make our farmers secure.

For this we have to plug the loopholes in ourexisting agricultural production and distributionsystem. Agriculture has to be revamped. Lakhs oftonnes of food grains spoil every year due to lack ofadequate storage facilities. Scientific grain storageand modern storage structures should be

constructed in higher production areas. Properstorage structures can stop the rotting of foodgrains. An effective delivery mechanism to reduce thepilferage of food grains is also essential. Similarlyvalue addition and food processing facilities have tobe provided to raise the farm income of small andmarginal farmers and ultimate reduction of theirdependence on food grain subsidies. The real problemwith the Indian agriculture is that of low productivity.More than 80% of the farmers are small andmarginal. The small size of farms along with lack ofquality inputs lead to low production. All this forcesthe small farmers to depend on subsidized foodgrains as their own productivity is low. Theproductivity of the small farms has to be improvedby suitable technological interventions. Suitablefarming system models should be developed fordifferent agro-climatic zones. Farmers need to bemotivated for diversification. A large of investmentis required for increasing the area under irrigation. Asper estimates a sum of roughly Rs 1,11,000 crorewould be required to boost farm output with grainrequirement increasing, on account of thisintervention, from 55 million tonne to 61 milliontonne annually. For this we have to invest inagriculture to boost production in a big way. Creditis also an important requirement in the agriculturalproduction process.

Although the government has started a lot ofprogrammes for the financial inclusion of farmersbut all those schemes are beyond the reach offarmers. Hassle free and timely availability of creditshould be made available to the farmers so that theydoes not fall in the hands of money lenders whocharge huge rate of interests from them ultimatelyforcing them the consume their lives. Climate changeis another threat that can severely reduce our yields.Suitable drought resistant varieties should bedeveloped and provided to the farmers. Farmersneed to be made aware of the mitigation andadoption strategies. Agriculture insurance is anotherarea which needs to be looked upon immediately.Indian agriculture is said to be the gamble ofmonsoons. The whole agriculture production processis subjected to the vagaries of monsoons. Agricultureinsurance should be provided to the farmers for





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their crops. At the same time suitable infrastructurehas to be created at the gross root level. Foodsecurity through increased productivity along withwise and judicious use of our natural resources is thealso need of the hour. At the same time theagricultural scientists have to come out withpractical solutions to the problems faced by thefarming community.

The more the secure a farmer; the more is theagriculture production which ultimately ensures foodsecurity for all. If we are able to make a farmersecure, only then we can hope that the food isavailable to the aged, the infirm, the disabled, thepregnant and lactating women and to all those whodo n have the financial resources to get sufficientfood.

⇒ HURDLES INIMPLEMENTING FOOD SECURITY BILL

India’s Food Security Bill 2013 is considered asa landmark bill to make the right to food a legalentitlement. Ideally, the bill will be able to protecteveryone from hunger and can make a Significantcontribution to the elimination of under nutrition inthe country. As the bill proposes to provide food ata subsidised rate to nearly two-thirds of thecountry’s population; but ending under nutritionrequires many other interventions related to healthcare, safe water, and sanitation. Nevertheless, someprovisions of the bill will have a significant nutritionalimpact, like, children’s entitlements to nutritiousfood. Other provisions, such as those relating to thePDS, are better seen as a form of social security thanas a nutritional intervention specifically. However,the fundamental problems of India’s malnutrition,visa-viz, 61 million children being chronicallyundernourished, 8 million children suffering fromsevere acute malnutrition; thus, the focus needs tobe on the right to adequate nutrition, beyond theright to food - as the bill indicates.

In recent years despite ensuring ampleavailability of food, existence of food insecurity at themicro-level in the country has remained a formidablechallenge for India. In this context the recentlyintroduced National Food Security Bill (NFSB) aims toaddress this and marks a paradigm shift in addressingthe problem of food security-from the current

welfare approach to a right based approach. Thecentral pivot of the Bill is large-scale subsidized graindistribution to almost 1.2 billion country ’spopulation to achieve food and nutritional security.It implies a massive procurement of food grains anda very large distribution network entailing hugefinancial expenditure. But the long-term feasibility ofthe envisaged strategy under NFSB need an adoptionof holistic approach to point out the major laps andhurdles in achiving the hunger free society. This willpossibly cover the entire system of food production,food procurement and distribution network existingfor achieving food security on sustainable basis.

As the Bill in its present form throws up majoroperational and financial challenges, obviously it hasenormous ramifications on the cereal economymarkets of Indian agriculture. It is important toensure adequate availability of grain with the publicauthorities to fulfill the underlying obligation in theBill. However, given the current trends and volatilityin rates of growth in foodgrain production and yields,the growing pressures on land & water in the wakeof climate change, dependence on monsoon rainsneeds lot of government intervention to augmentproduction further, enhance procurement, and stocklarge amounts of grains to meet the commitmentsof food distribution through public food deliverysystem. To fulfil these, the machanism of ensuringadequate possible foodgrain availability onsustainable and stable basis needs to be exploredother than what exists now.

Inadequacies in the BillFarmers’ bodies in India fear that the bill

would lead to making the government the biggestbuyer, hoarder and seller of foodgrains. There is aclear feeling that this would distort the marketmechanism and reduce the bargaining power offarmers. Besides the bill also makes no provisions forproduction of food or for support of small andmarginal farmers who are food producers; of course,a single bill cannot address all food related issues.Small and marginal farmers have certainly been leftbehind in the growth process, and need various kindsof public support, related, for instance to powersupply, economic infrastructure, credit facilities, landrights, and environmental protection. The main





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objection to the bill is that it does not specify anytime frame for the rolling out of the entitlements.

The country continues with a targeted PDS,excluding 33% of the population from accessing it asa right, giving scope to large exclusion of the poor inthe country as a whole. The improved framework ofsingle pricing in the present bill over the dual pricingunder the existing ‘above poverty line - belowpoverty line: system is undermined by the exclusiohof a third of the country. While the Indian Council forMedical Research recommends that an adult requires14kg of food grains per month and children 7kg; thebill provides entitlements to kg per person permonth, thus ensuring only 166g of cereal per personper day. Also, the bill provides only for cereals withno entitlements to basic food necessities such aspulses and edible oil required to combatmalnutrition. The bill allows the entry of privatecontractors and commercial interests in the supplyof food in the integrated child development schemeand it also tying maternal entitlements to conditions(like two-child norm) discriminates mothers whohave more children.

Concerns remain over PDS that it will intensifycorruption. The government should focus onproductivity enhancement rather than on subsidisingfood at the expense of taxpayers. There have beenmany positive experiences of PDS reform during thelast few years in specific states like Tamil Nadu,Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Odishaamong others. These experiences provide areasonably clear road map for PDS reform across thecountry. Some elements of that road map areincluded in the bill like inclusive coverage, clearentitlements, deprivatisation of ration shops,computerisation of records, among others. Beyondthat it is best to leave it to the states to reform thePDS in their own way, instead of centralising PDSmanagement. However, although the f laweddistribution system has made matters worse, but,the purpose of the bill is to correct deliverymechansim. This is one of the many reasons thathave led to malnourishment among women andchildren. Most social security schemes meant forthem are either not reaching them or gettingseverely diluted due to leaks in the system.

On the whole, the Food Security Bill suffersfrom few drawbacks:

Firstly, it does not specify/identify who willcome in the excluded category. In other words, unlessit decides clearly who will not get subsidised foodgrain; there is the need to wait for more time toidentify.

Secondly, NFSB specify that 67% or 75% %population of rural areas should get subsidised food

grain. But, the question of majority ofpopulation in rural areas remains being as farmers,crop sharers, agricultural labours etc already havemore than 600 kgs of wheat or rice for consumptionfor whole of the year in their houses after the periodof harvesting is over, then such people are beingcovered for subsidised food grains; thus benefitsagain reach to those already entitled to benefit.

Thirdly, a huge amount of cost oftransportation of food grains involved which is statedto be twice the amount of cost of procurement ofwheat, then, then the question of why in rural areasbeneficiaries are not given 600 kgs of wheat or riceby sarpanch or Patwari of a particular villagepanchayat; which will hopefully save the cost oftransporation, storage, commission, overheads,pilferage due to rains and rats.

In brief, the important inadequacy in theNFSB 2013 can be listed as:

Firstly, it does not specify any time framefor rolling out the entitlements and the grievanceredressal of the states in the Bill. In fact severalentitlements and redressal structure would requirestate legislatures to make adequate budgetaryallocations; hence, implementation of the Bill may beaffected if states do not pass requisite allocations intheir budgets or do not possess adequate funds.

Secondly, it continues with a Targeted PDS,hence the scope for exclusion of 33 % of the poorpopulation from accessing the PDS as a right coveringthe entire country as a whole.

Thirdly, although an adult requires 14kgs offood grains per month and children 7kgs; the Billprovides for reduced entitlements to Skgs per personper month, thus, there is an absence of entitlementsto pulses and oil in the PDS, so fails to address thewidespread problem of malnutrition.





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Fourthly, the Bill continues to allow for theentry of private contractors and commercialinterests in the supply of food in the ICDS byinsisting on specific norms related to Food SafetyActs and micronutrient norms. However, thesestandards can only be met through centralizedfactory based food production. In this regard, theSupreme Court has ordered to keep privatecontractors away from the food schemes forchildren, particularly in a take-home ration of ICDSscheme. Further, the role of self-helf groups andtheir effort to provide local food have also beenignored.

Fifthly, the Bill does not have an effectivegrievance redress mechanism. The Bill ignores theneeded food delivery supervisory role at localPanchayat or Gram Sabha level.

Finally, the Bill does not provide anyagriculture and production-related entitlements forfarmers in spite of the fact t at more than 60% of thepeople in this country are dependent on agriculturefor their livelihoods.

⇒ FOOD SECURITY –A REMEDY FOR MALNUTRITION

Food security refers to a household’s physicaland economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritiousfood that fulfills the dietary needs and foodpreferences of that household for living an active andhealthy life. Food security for a household meansaccess by all members at all times to enough food foran active, healthy life. Food security includes at aminimum (1) the ready availability of nutritionallyadequate and safe foods, and (2) an assured ability toacquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways(that is, without resorting to emergency foodsupplies, scavenging, stealing, or other copingstrategies) (USDA). The World Health Organizationdefines food security as having three facets: (ii) Foodavailability (ii) Food access and (iii) Food use. Foodavailability is having available sufficient quantities offood on a consistent basis. Food access is havingsufficient resources, both economic and physical, toobtain appropriate foods for a nutritious diet. Fooduse is the appropriate use based on knowledge ofbasic nutrition and care, as well as adequate waterand sanitation. The FAO adds a fourth facet: the

stability of the first three dimensions of foodsecurity over time.

Indicators to Measure Food SecurityFood self sufficiency, food security and

nutrition security are the essential components offood and nutrition security. Therefore, food securityshould ensure both adequate food availability anddesired nutrition. Food and nutrition security shouldgo hand in hand. Nutrition security can be defined asphysical and economic access to balanced nutritionand clean drinking water to all people at all time.Only when a country has achieved nutrition securityfor all its people will it have provided an opportunityfor every child and adult to express his or her innategenetic potential for physical and mentaldevelopment (Swaminathan 1986).

Food insecurity exists when people areundernourished as a result of the physicalunavailability of food, their lack of social or economicaccess to adequate food, and/or inadequate food use.Food- insecure people are those whose food intakefalls below their minimum calorie (energy)requirements, as well as those who exhibit physicalsymptoms caused by energy and nutrient deficienciesresulting from an inadequate or unbalanced diet orfrom the body’s inability to use food effectivelybecause of infection or disease. An alternative viewwould define the concept of food insecurity asreferring only to the consequence of inadequateconsumption of nutritious food, considering thephysiological use of food by the body as being withinthe domain of nutrition and health. Malnourishmentalso leads to poor health hence individuals fail toprovide for their families. If left unaddressed, hungersets in motion an array of outcomes that perpetuatemalnutrition, reduce the ability of adults to work andto give birth to healthy children, and erode children’sability to learn and lead productive, healthy, andhappy lives. This truncation of human developmentundermines a country’s potential for economicdevelopment for generations to come.

The Agriculture-Hunger-Poverty NexusThere are strong, direct relationships between

agricultural productivity, hunger, poverty, andsustainability. Hunger and poverty eradication





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requires an understanding of the interconnection ofthese two evils. If poverty exists, then hunger, andthe malnourishment both follow it. Poor healthcoupled with poor economy prevent poors to learn,work, and care for themselves and their familymembers. In developing countries, often 70% ormore of the population lives in rural areas. In thatcontext, agricultural development amongsmallholder farmers and landless people provides alivelihood for people allowing them the opportunityto stay in their communities. In many areas of theworld, land ownership is not available, thus, peoplewho want or need to farm to make a living have littleincentive to improve the land.

The Food Security Bill: Government’sFlagship Programme for Twelfth Plan

A huge percentage of the Indian populationlives below the poverty line where getting one squaremeal a day is a challenge. The food security bill aimsto satisfy this basic want and in that sense althoughit encourages welfare economics, the intention isnoble. This is what would need to be weighed againstother economic considerations.

The National Food Security Bill 2013 aims toprovide 5 kg of food grains per person per month atsubsidised prices from State Governments under thetargeted public distribution system. The eligiblehouseholds will be entitled to food grains at asubsidised price not exceeding Rs 3 per kg for rice; Rs2 per kg for wheat and Re 1 per kg for coarse grain.The programme when implemented will be thebiggest in the world with the government spendingestimated at Rs 1.3 lakh crore annually on supply ofabout 62 million tonnes of rice, wheat and coarsecereals to 67% of the population.

Implications of Food Security BillA huge percentage of the Indian population

lives below the poverty line where getting one squaremeal a day is a challenge. The food security bill aimsto satisfy this basic need and in that sense althoughit encourages welfare economics, the intention isnoble. This is what would need to be weighed againstother economic considerations.

Subsidy burden: To gain a perspective on thesubsidy portion, we should 100 k at the per kg price

of at least rice and wheat. As per today’s price ofGovernment current procurement price, the prices ofrice and wheat would be approximately Rs. 13.45 perKg and Rs. 12.85 per Kg, respectively and at this pricethe subsidy portion would be Rs. 10.45 per kg of riceand RS.10.85 per kg of wheat. Taking into accountthe total number of beneficiaries and the quantity offoodgrains to be distributed, the burden on theexchequer is projected at a whopping Rs. 1.3 lakhscrores per year and as such, the increase in subsidyburden would add to the current fiscal accountdeficit woes.

Inflationary pressures: Procurement of rice,wheat, and millets by the government of such hugequantities would result in less quantity available inthe open market, thereby pushing up foodgrainprices. As agriculture in India is a gamble of monsoonthe poor or excessive raifall in a particular year wouldnecessitate procurement through imports, which inturn will again enhance prices of the foodgrains andescalation.

Public distribution system and leakages:Twin Problem The current system of distributionthrough the approximately 5 lakh fair price shopsspread across the country suffers from logistics issueof picking up the food from the source, storage andonward transportation coupled with the leakages onaccount of pilferage, rotting of grains and logisticsinefficiencies accounting for nearly 40% to 50% ofthe total food stock. If this trend continues, thenation cannot afford the incremental losses onaccount of additional procurement envisaged underthe Bill.

Food security legislation to put pressureon public finances: FICCI: Implementation of foodsecurity legislation will impose pressure on publicfinances and push up the fiscal deficit to 5% of theGross Domestic Product in the current financial year,said a FICCI report. “…. it will impose an additionalpressure on the fiscal situation and would make fiscalsustainability plan of the country difficult to achieve. Asa result, the expected fiscal deficit to GDP ratio is 5 %for 2013-14, which is slightly above the budgeted 4.8%,”It said allocating food through public distributionsystem is plagued with inefficiencies and ensuringefficiency in the delivery system is required. Further,





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the survey said decline in industrial output, wideningcurrent account deficit and a depreciating rupee maydampen the growth prospects the country ifadequate supportive action is not taken.

Food security programme: A remedy formalnutrition? There are doubts on how effectivelythe legislation will tackle all factors perpetuatingmalnutrition in India. Though congress leaders haveofficially touted the ordinance as their chief means totackle malnutrition in the country, but data on thenutrition problem suggests that the legislation isinadequate to deal with certain facets of the issue.The ordinance currently stipulates five kg offoodgrain, classified as “coarse grain” (including rice,wheat, and millets) per person per month. However,Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) guidelinesstipulate at least 16 kg for adults and seven kg forchildren. The ordinance also fails to provide access tothe entire basket of nutrients necessary to effectivelyimprove the nutrition status of the targetpopulation.

The ordinance specifically provides for freemeals to pregnant and nursing women (six monthsafter childbirth) along with children up to 14 years,through local ‘angan wadis’ (primary healthcarecentres). These free meals can help pregnant womengain weight and maintain it as they nurse. It willconsequently increase weights at birth. More than afourth of all newborns are ‘low birth infants”weighing less than 2.5 kg, according to latest UNICEFdata. A healthy infant weight is around 3 kg at birth,according to UNICEF.

Free meals to children, especially adolescentgirls, can also increase their weight-for-age and allowthem to have healthy pregnancies and infants,according to Kadiyala. But the success of free ‘anganwadi’ meals is questionable especially after the deathsof 22 children in Bihar who consumed a mid-daymeal made headlines this week.

⇒ GENE REVOLUTION-SOLUTION FOR FOOD CRISIS

The first signs of slowdown in agriculture werevisible in the mid 1990s, mainly due to a decline, inpublic investment in agriculture. By the end of 1990s,the signs became ominous. The CAGR (compound

Annual Growth Rate) of food production has fallenfrom 2.9% during 1980s to 1.7% in the 1990s. Thegrowth rate in rice production in 1990’s has fallen toless than half of that in the 1980s while wheat faredonly slightly better. When we analyse the trend alittle closely, the food grain sector production wasfound much sharper after 1996-97. Almost all thecrops have shown a stagnant or decelerating growthrates during the period 1996-97 to 2004-05.Therefore, it is clear that the country started facingsevere supply side problems since the mid 90s, whichbecame acute by the turn of the century. In 1950,the world’s population was about 2.5 billion. In1999, it crossed the 6 billion mark. According theUnited Nations population Division, the worldpopulation would be somewhere between 8 and 11billion by 2050. These figures appear to suggest thatit may indeed be difficult to feed everybody in thefuture.

Table-l : World Population and Food GrainProduction

Year Population Production Availability (Billion) (Million Kg Per Tons) capita

1950 2.54 631 248

1960 3.03 824 272

1970 3.77 1079 286

1980 4.45 1429 321

1990 5.29 1768 334

2000 6.12 1843 301

2007 6.60 2075 314

Source- UN Population Division and FADIn 1950, world food grain production was 631

million tons. It increased about 3 times to 1843 MTby 2000 and further2075 MT in 2007. Thus between1950 and 2007, the population increase by about 2.6times but grain production jumped by 3.3 times. In1950, each person had 248 kilograms of grain. In2007, this increased to 314 kg. Similar increases haveoccurred in the whole range of food needed by





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humans - meat, dairy products, fruits, vegetables,sugar etc. According to UN estimates there will be atleast 800 million hungry people looking for the food.If the above food production figures remains truethan why there will be hunger? The simple answer isthat food is not available equally to all.

Limits of Population GrowthThere is a limit to how much the earth can

yield. There is a limit to cultivable land, which iscurrently 11% of the 13.2 billion hectares of thetotal land area of the planet, the rest being taken upby forests, settlements and grass lands etc. There isalso a limit to water. If everybody was to startconsuming as much as, say I the American consume,than obviously the earth will not be able to sustainit. At the current population of about 6.7 billionpeople, a US level per capita consumption of 1046 kgwould require world population of nearly 7 billiontonnes of food grain-three and half times the presentproduction. The earth would become a waste land by2050.now the question arises whether the earth feedan additional 3 billion people in the next 50 years?The answer is yes. The reason is that the fullpotential of agriculture is yet to be realised in mostparts of the world.

An OutlookFor example, in Africa, the total harvested area

under cereals is 98.7 million hectares, from whichabout 146 MT of cereals are produced. In NorthAmerica (US and Canada) the harvested area forcereals is 71 million hectares but the production is398 MT. They are producing 252 MT more despitecultivating 20 million hectares less land. So, it hasbeen evident that Africa has a vast potential toimprove its agricultural production. This discrepancycan be measured by checking out the yields perhectares of land as shown below in the table.

China produces 6,265 kg of rice, while Nigeriahas to make do with just 1440kg and India with3124kg. This is nothing but a division between richand poor Countries. Cereal yield per hectare is about4 tonnes in the developing world, while it is over 6tonnes in the advanced Countries. There is also avast difference in vegetable production. Vegetableproduction is just 10 tons in Africa and 9.6 tonnes in

South East Asia. But in North America, it is 26 tonsand in Europe it is nearly 21.21 tonnes.

Table-2: land Utilisation under Cereals

Name of the Area- Million Production Country Hectares (Million Tonnes)

Africa 99 146 North America 71 398 South East Asia 53 199 Europe 118 404 World 674 2221 Source- FAO

Table-3 : Yield Rate of Food Grains in DifferentCountries

Name of the Rice Wheat country

US 7694 2825 China 6265 4455 India 3124 2619

Nigeria 1440 1127 Source-FAO

The reason of this difference is that more andbetter resources have been available to the farmers.If same amount of resources are made available tothe farmers in India or Bangladesh no doubt theycan also produce more food products and the yieldrate will increase tremendously. It requires a shift ofthe method of cultivation both domestically andinternationally. In this connection Greg Wagner,Director of a grain trade consultancy in Chicago told“Global economy continuing to expand, the demandbase has been increasing the supply has beendecreasing. As a consequence price must go highenough to cut back on demand otherwise there willnot be any wheat left.”

From the following table it has been revealedthat there has been no remarkable increase in theyield rate of wheat, rice, corn, soyabean or sugarcanein any part of the world over last 10 years.Agricultural productivity has stagnatedinternationally, while the consumption of agriculturalproducts has steadily increased with the increase ofthe income levels and population growth.





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India’s average rice yield today is 2.9 tons perhectare. By comparison, China’s average rice yield,remained at 6.3 tons per hectare, is more thandouble that of India. South korea has achieved aneven higher rice yield i.e. 6.8 tons per hectare.Agricultural productivity has stagnated after thegreen revolution. What comes concern is that India’sagricultural productivity is even lower than that ofmany other countries. India has 170 million hectaresunder food grain cultivation, producing 220 milliontons of food grains in a year. China has only 60% ofthis arable land area but it is able to harvest twicethe quantity of food grains that India produces.

Sixty years after independence India produceson an average, only 14 kg of rice and wheat perperson per annum, just a little over one kilogram perperson over a month. Over 60% of India’s net shownarea still remains at the mercy of the monsoon.About 60% of our farmers own only 0.4 hectares ofland each. Another 20% of farmers hold an averageof 1.4 hectares each. Therefore 80% of our farmersare small and marginal farmers. Nearly 87,000farmers in India committed suicide between 2001and 2005, within a span of four years. The per capitaavailability of food grains in India has declined fromabout 500 grams per day per person to less than 400grams per day over the last two decades.

Since the mid 1960’s, the traditionalagricultural practices are gradually being replaced bymodern technology and farm practices in India anda veritable revolution took place in our Country. Thenew technology was tried in 1960-61 as pilot projectin seven Districts and was called IntensiveAgricultural District Programme (IADP) and laterHigh Yield verity Programme (HYVP) was added andwas extended to cover the entire country. Thisstrategy was popularly known as “Green revolution”.Now it is the time to lunch a “Gene Revolution”instead of “Green Revolution” to feed the world andmake Indian farmers rich.

A slowdown will have a serious effect on India’seconomy. Hence, we have no choice but to keep thegrowth story going, and to keep a check on inflation.The common man spends 50% of his income onfood. Therefore, food prices would have to top ourlong term approach to combating inflation. These

prices have risen as a result of rising population andfalling productivity.

Food security remains a global challenge todayand famine still threatens several parts of the Globe.There is an urgent need to develop new agriculturaltechnologies that will increase yields and eliminatecrop failures and famines. Many scientists believe thatnew plants developed using modern Bio-technologywill play an important role in increasing our ability toproduce enough food. Advancement of Bio-technology is having dramatic impacts on Globalagricultural production.

Bio-tech crops were planted on over 100million hectares in 2006 by 10 million farmers in 22countries and the results Rave been found well. In allcountries where farmers have access to bio-techcrops, yields are higher and production costs arelower, making farmers more efficient than everbefore. Since 2007, when bio-tech cotton wasintroduced India’s cotton output has almost doubledto 27 million bales weighing 170 kilograms each, andaverage yields are up around two-thirds, largelybecause of lower rates of pest infestation. Unlike theoriginal Green Revolution” which saw large increasein use of pesticides and fuel, the new bio-tech cropsof the II Gene Revolution” help reduce the use ofinputs like pesticides, fuel and water. EU economistsreported that biotech crops have been responsiblefor a decrease in pesticide use of over 200 million kgwhich has reduced the environmental impact bymore the 15%. Fewer pesticide applications meanless use of fuel and water on the farm. In India,pesticide use in Bt. Cotton has been reduced by halfand this has reduced the use of fuel and water as wellas reducing farmer exposure.

Agriculture is a contributor of green house gasand studies have shown that biotech crops helpdecrease these emissions. Scientists estimate thatbiotech crop planted in 2005 decreased globalemission of carbon dioxide by 20 billion pounds. Thisis the equivalent of removing 4 million cars from theroad for a whole year. These new crops are grown ina more sustainable manner, with less use ofpesticides, fuel and water and less impact on theenvironment. Improvements in agriculturaltechnology are a critical component of meeting this





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challenge and biotech crops are already making acombination. Insect protected crops and herbicidetolerant crops allow farmers to achieve high yieldseven while using fewer pesticides. New droughttolerant crops, which will grow and survive evenwhen rainfall is not optimal, are being developedthrough biotechnology.

Many Countries have tackled food scarcity inthe past with the introduction of conventially bread,although gene-altered high yielding crops. Scaling upthe genetic production potential of a crop throughtraditional plant breeding technologies is a longdrawn out process. The problems plaguing Indianagriculture call for quick solutions that onlymolecular breeding can bring about.

MEASURES TO ERADICATE FOOD CRISIS

(1) Development of a strong AgriculturalInfrastructure

Now there is an urgent need to developagricultural infrastructure to meet the rising demandin India for food grains and other Agri-products.Setting up storage facilities to processing facilities forour farm products is one big issue that needs to betackled by the policy makers in the country. Publicgoods, infrastructure, welfare imperatives otherregulatory needs and areas of market failure willcontinue to need government intervention. Now it isa matter of concern that Globally the investment inthe agricultural sector is shrinking. Building of ruralroads, rural telecom and rural electrification need tobe accelerated and coordinated. Farm subsidyamounts to about Rs. 1 I lac crore. The sector can bebetter off if this were to be spent as investmenttowards the development of infrastructure towardsagricultural sector.

(2) Restructuring the Agricultural sectorNow it is the time for re-establishing a trained

and dedicated cadre of agricultural extensionworkers. It is also necessary for strengthening ofagricultural research and technology developmentand institutional support system.

There is an urgent need for augmenting thephysical and economic connectivity of farm tomarket, post harvest operations including the role of

food processing industries and ultimately enhancingfarmers income, rural employment security andinclusiveness. Reform should be taken up toencourage private sector investment in agriculture.

(3) Approach towards Yield GapsLow yield areas are to be demarcated and an

analytical measurement should be taken up to findout the reasons of yield gap and low factorproductivity. Local farmers and private moneylenders should come forward and extend theircooperation with the government officials inconducting various surveys relating to the growth ofproduction in the agricultural sector.

(4) Creation of Advanced Laboratories atNational level

A national network of advanced soil testinglaboratories should be established to promotebalanced nutrient application and advise the micronutrient deficiencies. Farmers should be necessary toensure timely availability of quality seeds and agrochemicals to the farmers at the time of their need.Each farmer should be issued soil and water healthcards. Just like carbon credits, the farmers should begiven credit on the basis of the water used by him forthe production purpose. Special emphasis andtraining should be given to the small and marginalfarmers for the adoption of dry land farming in thecountry. Bio-diversity conservation and creation oflivestock heritage on farm Gene banks shouldbecome an integral part of developmentprogrammes.

(5) Organise Farmers into BodiesIndividual farmer has no bargaining power to

sell the farm produce at the reasonable price.Companies or Co-operatives are capable ofleveraging the opportunities afforded by the market.It is essential to encourage initiatives taken by lTC’sE-Choupal and OCM Shriram’s Haryali stores thatoffer farmers a host of inputs ranging from seed,fertiliser, tractor parts and disel for pump sets toagronomic advice and soil testing post harvestinfrastructure should be modernised.

(6) Institutional SupportThe flow of credit, particularly to small and





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marginal farmers should be made speedier andhassle free. Whether based insurance productsshould be promoted to increase the coverage whichis now at a nascent stage. SHGs (Self Help Groups)should play more pro active role in the process. Inpublic distribution system through SHGs microcredit should be opened to have an easy productdelivery system.

(7) Implementation ofMSP in a Massive Scale

In India, the farmer sells his produce for aboutone third the price the consumer pays. To increasethe benefit of rising food prices to the farmer and tominimise the cost to the consumer, this huge marginbetween the farm and the consumer prices mustshrink. For the removal of the gap the first step is toabolish the Mandi tax. Next step is to allow directsourcing of farm produce by agribusinesses andorganised retail and reduce several rounds oftransportation and loading and unloading costs etc.Appropriate policy interventions are needed totransfer the benefits of the rise to the farmers andat the same time to strengthen social safety

programmes to assure access to food on part of thepoor. The MSP must be fixed for all majorcommodities and implemented judiciouslythroughout the country.

ConclusionToday’s paramount need is to improve

agricultural productivity across the Globe. Cropyields can be increased through the introduction oftechnologies such as drip irrigation or througheducation and training of farmers. If Countries likeIndia and China, which have large agricultural land,can boost their productivity to the levels attained bythe developed world, it will no doubt mitigate foodscarcity. From the first “Green Revolution” to thecurrent “Gene Revolution”, innovative newtechnologies have significantly improved our abilityto feed our people. Farmers in India and around theworld, who have pioneered the use of modernbiotechnology have seen their innovation rewardedin term of high production and lower environmentalimpacts. Further innovations like bio-fuels anddrought tolerant crops will further contribute tosustainable production efficiencies.




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INDIA AND VIETNAM SIGN TREATY ON TRANSFER

OF SENTENCED PRISONERS The Union Home Minister Shri Sushilkumar

Shinde and Minister of Public Security of VietnamMr. Tran Dai Quang signed here today a treaty ontransfer of sentenced prisoners. The Treaty will helpthe Indian prisoners imprisoned in Vietnam or vice-versa to be near their families for serving remainingpart of their sentence. This would facilitate theprocess of their social rehabilitation.

The Government of India has so far signedsuch Agreements with the Governments of U.K.,Mauritius, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Egypt, France,Bangladesh, Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Sri Lanka,UAE, Maldives, Thailand, Turkey, Italy, Bosnia andHerzegovina, Israel and Russia. Negotiations havealso been concluded with the Government ofCanada, Hong Kong, Brazil, and Spain. These treatieshave helped in repatriation of 43 Indian prisonersfrom Sri Lanka, Mauritius and UK. Similarly 7prisoners of UK and France where repatriated totheir respective countries.

The Seventh United Nations Congress on thePrevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offendersadopted the Model Agreement on the Transfer ofForeign Prisoners in 1985 and since then manycountries have arrived at bilateral and multilateraltreaties. The Repatriation of Prisoners Act, 2003was enacted for achieving the above purpose. Forachieving the objectives of the Act, a treaty isrequired to be signed with countries having mutualinterest on this matter.

In addition to the above, the two Ministersalso held bilateral talks on security matters, issues oftraining, capacity building, cyber security, cyber

crime, trans-national crime, terrorism and disastermanagement. They reiterated the resolve of boththe countries of working together on different issuesof mutual interest.

India and Japan have decided to furtherstrengthen their cooperation in the maritime sectoras a part of the overall robust bilateral relations. Thetwo countries agreed to enhance their interactionthrough the existing forums and through port-to-port exchanges.

These issues came up for a discussion betweenthe Union Minister of Shipping Shri G.K. Vasan, whois on an official visit to Japan and his Japanesecounterpart Shri Akihiro Ohta, Minister of land,Industries and Transport & Tourism, Government ofJapan.

Shri Vasan explained the developments thatwere taking place in India in the Ports sector andassured Shri Ohta that concerns regardinginfrastructure and connectivity of ports are beingaddressed expeditiously. In particular, he said thatthe ports in Ennore and Chennai are catering to theJapanese car exporters like Toyota and Nissan whohave so far exported about 42000 and 300000 carsrespectively from these ports.

During the talks, Shri Vasan thanked theJapanese government for its support to variousIndian Ports and infrastructure projects through theJapan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Healso mentioned the possibility of JICA assistance toVOC Port at Thoothukudi for the upcoming OuterHarbour Project.

Japanese Minister Shri Ohta, whileacknowledging the existing cordial relationshipbetween India and Japan, assured that Japan willcarry forward the momentum. He also thanked Shri

Gist of

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52 VOL–14 GIST OF PRESS INFORMATION BUREAU

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Vasan for his efforts in this direction and expressedJapan’s interest in shipbuilding and recyclingindustries in India.

Shri Vasan later visited the Yokohama portwhere he was received by Shri Nobuya Suzuki,Deputy Mayor of Yokohama city and Shri MasaharuIkegami, the Vice Director General of the Ministry ofLand, Industries and Transport & Tourism, (MLIT)Government of Japan.

INDIA DECLARED FREE FROM BIRD FLU India has declared itself free from Notifiable

Avian Influenza (H5N1), commonly called bird flu,and notified the same to World Organisation forAnimal Health (OIE). India notified outbreak of AvianInfluenza (H5N1) at Poultry Production Unit,College of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry,Anjora, Durg and Government Poultry Farm,Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh on 05th August, 2013.

The control measures adopted in the outbreakwere stamping out of entire poultry populationincluding destruction of eggs, feed, litters and otherinfected materials in the radius of 1 k.m. around theoutbreak location, restriction on movement ofpoultry, disinfection and cleaning up of infectedpremises and subsequently issuing of the PostOperation Surveillance Plan (POSP). The POSP wasissued on 12th August, 2013.

Even though India is free from bird flu, regularsurveillance to be continued throughout the countryespecially in the vulnerable areas bordering infectedcountries and in areas visited by migratory birds.

MP: SS: CP: bird flu (12.11.2013)

Bharat Ratna forProf CNR Rao and Sachin Tendulkar

The Government has decided to confer, theBharat Ratna, the highest civilian award on eminentscientist Prof C.N.R.Rao and cricket icon SachinTendulkar.

Prof. C.N.R. Rao is an eminent scientist and awell recognized international authority on solid stateand materials chemistry. He has published over1,400 research papers and 45 books. Prof. Rao‘scontributions have been recognized by most majorscientific academies around the world throughconferment of memberships and fellowships. He has

been honoured with several national andinternational awards. Shri Sachin Tendulkar isundoubtedly an outstanding cricketer - a livinglegend who has inspired millions across the globe.During the last 24 years, since the young age of 16years, Shri Tendulkar has played cricket across theworld and won laurels for our country. He has beena true ambassador of India in the world of sports. Hisachievements in cricket are unparalleled, the recordsset by him unmatched, and the spirit ofsportsmanship displayed by him exemplary. That hehas been honoured with several awards is testimonyto his extraordinary brilliance as a sportsman.

INS Vikramaditya Adds A New Dimensionto Navy’s Operational Capabilities:Antony INS Vikramaditya Commissionedin Indian Navy

Marking a new high in India-Russia strategiccooperation, the Defence Minister Shri AK Antonytoday commissioned the completely refurbished44,500 tonne carrier Admiral Gorshkov into theIndian Navy as INS Vikramaditya at an impressiveceremony at sub zero temperature in the wind- swept Sevmash Shipyard in the beautiful cityof Severodvinsk in Russia. Snow flakes kept falling asthe ceremony was held.

Speaking at the event, Shri Antony saidINS Vikramaditya would significantly enhance thereach and capability of the Indian Navy. He said, thecountry has a rich maritime history and the IndianOcean has guided our fate over the centuries. ”

India’s economic development is dependent on theseas and safeguarding the nation’s maritime interests iscentral to our national policy. Aircraft carriers have beenpart of the Indian Navy’s force structure since ourindependence and have effectively served the countryover the past five decades or so. The induction of‘Vikramaditya’ with its integral MiG29K fighters andKamov-31 helicopters, not only reinforces this centralpolicy, but also adds a new dimension to our Navy’soperational capabilities. The meaning of ‘Vikramaditya’,which literally translates into “Strong as the Sun” iscomplemented by the Ship’s motto –”Strike Far,Strike Sure”,he said.

Reflecting the mood at the ceremony, Shri





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Antony said, ‘the event realizes the vision ofcapability-based transformation of the Indian Navythat was conceived more than a decade ago’. Callingit a Red Letter Day in the history of India- Russiacooperation, Shri Antony said this relationshipremains a matter of the highest priority for bothnations for our mutual benefit and as a factor ofglobal peace and stability.”

The successful culmination of Project 11430 trulysymbolizes the time-tested Special and PrivilegedStrategic Partnership between our two greatnations. The Project has propelled the strategicpartnership between our nations to a new level. Therelationship between our two countries based on mutualtrust and belief has withstood the test of time and theresult is for the entire world to see in the form of‘Vikramaditya’. As the ship sails into its home waters inthe Indian Ocean Region, INS ‘Vikramaditya’ will be abefitting tribute to our long-standing relationship”, hesaid.

Describing the Project 11430 as a uniqueone, Shri Antony said, it was a challenging task forboth the Russian and the Indian sides andcongratulated the entire team for converting the‘Dream Project’ into a reality. “The transformationof INS ‘Vikramaditya’ is an engineering marvel, whichhas tested the professionalism, capability andperseverance of the Indian Navy and the Russianindustry, especially the Sevmash Shipyard”, he saidand expressed confidence that all possible supportwould be extended by Russia to ensure that the shipserves India effectively and efficiently for the durationof its expected operational life cycle.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chief of NavalStaff Admiral DK Joshi said the INS Vikramaditya willbridge the time-gap that may come up between theINS Viraat and the Indigenously built aircraftcarrier Vikrant.It will also help achieving our mediumterm goal of operating two aircraft carriers.

A large number of dignitaries including theDeputy Prime Minister of Russia Mr Dmitry Rogozinand Defence Minister Mr Shoigu, the Chief of NavalStaff Admiral DK Joshi, the Indian Ambassador toRussia Shri Ajay Malhotra, the Defence Secretary ShriRK Mathur, the DG Acquisition Shri SB Agnihotriwere present on the occasion.Mr Rogozin saidINS Vikramaditya symbolises the close friendship

between India and Russia and expressed confidencethat it will grow in the coming years.

About INS VikramadityaINS Vikramaditya, the floating airfield has an

overall length of about 284 meters and a maximumbeam of about 60 meters, stretching as much asthree football fields put together. Standing about 20storeys tall from keel to the highest point, the sheersight of this 44,500 tonne mega structure of steel isawe inspiring. The ship has a total of 22 decks.

With over 1,600 personnel on board,INS Vikramaditya is literally a ‘Floating City’. With acapacity of over 8,000 tonnes of LSHSD, she iscapable of operations up to a range of over 7,000nautical miles or 13000kms.

To enable this 44,500 tonnes floating steel cityto cut through the choppy seas with speeds of up to30 knots, she is powered by 08 new generationsteam boilers generating a total output power of180,000 SHP. These boilers power four enormouspropellers, each greater in diameter than twice theheight of an average male. Such a four propeller -four shaft configuration is another first in the IndianNavy.

The power generation capacity onboard isabout 18 megawatts enough to cater to the lightingrequirement of a mini city. An extensive revamp ofsensors including fitment of Long range AirSurveillance Radars, Advanced Electronic WarfareSuite makes the ship capable of maintaining asurveillance bubble of over 500 kms around the ship.

The ship has the ability to carry over 30aircraft comprising an assortment of MiG 29K/SeaHarrier,Kamov 31, Kamov 28, Sea King, ALH-Dhruv and Chetak helicopters. The MiG 29K swingrole fighter is the main offensive platform andprovides a quantum jump for the Indian Navy’smaritime strike capability. These fourth generationair superiority fighters provide a significant fillip forthe Indian Navy with a range of over 700 nm and anarray of weapons including anti-ship missiles, BeyondVisual Range air-to-air missiles, guided bombs androckets.

The ship is equipped with state of the artlaunch and recovery systems along with aids toenable smooth and efficient operation of ship borne





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aircraft. Major systems include the LUNA Landingsystem for MiGs, DAPS Landing system for SeaHarriers and Flight deck lighting systems.

The heart of the operational network thatinfuses life into the combat systems onboard the shipis the Computer aided Action InformationOrganisation (CAIO) system, LESORUB-E, with thecapability to gather data from ship’s sensors and datalinks and to process, collate and assemblecomprehensive tactical pictures. This state of the artsystem has been specifically designed keeping in mindthe essential requirement on the carrier for fightercontrol and direction. One of the most prominentequipment fitted on the super structure is theResistor-E radar complex. Resistor-E is theautomated system designed for providing air trafficcontrol, approach/landing and short rangenavigation for ship borne aircraft.

This complex along with its various sub-systems provides navigation and flight data to shipborne aircraft operating at extended ranges from themother ship. The precision approach guidancesystem aids the fighters on approach to be directeddown to a distance of 30 meters short of flight deck.INS Vikramaditya also boasts of a very moderncommunication complex, CCS MK II, to meet herexternal communication requirement. Installation ofLink II tactical data system allows her to be fullyintegrated with the Indian Navy’s network centricoperations.

SITANSHU KAR FROM SEVMASH SHIPYARD INRUSSIA WITH INPUTS FROM CAPTAIN

PV SATISH IN NEW DELHI

A Curtain Raiser onInland Waterways Project

The Minister of Shipping Shri G.K. Vasan wouldinaugurate a Transport terminal of the InlandWaterways Authority of India (IWAI) at a function atGarden Reach Jetty-2 in Kolkatta Port Trust areatomorrow.

Kolkata being a transportation hub on theGanga, the new terminal would serve states of UttarPradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and the North-EasternRegion. The construction of this RCC Inland

Waterways Terminal (IWT) terminal was taken up ata cost of Rs. 38.47 crore and it will give a fillip toinland navigation in the region.

Shri G.K. Vasan would also flag off coal bargesof 2100 DWT (Deadweight tonnage) of Jindal ITFLtd, to formally launch the recently startedmovement of imported coal on National Waterway-1 (the Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly River System) byinland vessels from Sandheads in Bay of Bengal toFarakka Thermal Power Plant of NTPC Ltd. in DistrictMurshidabad, West Bengal.

This coal movement has started under aTripartite Agreement among Inland WaterwaysAuthority of India, NTPC Ltd. and Jindal ITF Ltd. inAugust, 2011. Under it, Jindal ITF Ltd has investedabout Rs. 500 crore for transshipper at Sandheads,coal carrying barges, inland water terminal at Farakkawith state-of-art coal unloading cranes and conveyorsystem. The operator, Jindal ITF Ltd. will transportminimum three (3) million tonnes of coal per annumfor seven years. NTPC can also receive additional coalfor the Kahalgaon Thermal Power Plant through thisoperation. This additional supply of coal throughinland waterways, an eco-friendly, economical andfuel efficient mode of transport, will augment coalsupply to NTPC Power Plant at Farakka enablingincreased power generation.

This is the first project for bulk movement ofcoal through National Waterways and also when aprivate entrepreneur has made a substantiateinvestment in the IWT development for the first timein the country. A conveyor belt system from the jettyon National Waterway-1 to the coal stockyard ofNTPC power plant was also set up at Farak‘ka.

The Inland Water Transport is economical,environmental friendly and is most suitable for bulkcargo movement. IWAI is developing first 3 NationalWaterways namely NW-1 (on the Ganga), NW-2(Brahmaputra) and NW-3 (on the West Coast Canalsystem) for shipping and navigation by providingnavigational channel with targeted depth and widthfor most part of the year. Intermodal connectivitywith rail and road has also been planned for selectedlocations depending on the hinterland cargoprojections. The infrastructure so far created will befurther developed if any other specific projects





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targeting large quantity of bulk goods like coal,fertilizers, and foodgrains etc. are identified andcommitted for transportation on NationalWaterways.

At present 10 Thermal Power Stations areoperational in the proximity of National Waterway –1. Another 11 are expected to come up along theNW-1 in the next 5 to 8 years with the total installedcapacity of 15000 MW. National Waterway – 1 is fullyready to cater to the transportation needs of NTPC,and other industrial units for transportation of bulkcargo required for the plants located on the banks ofthe Ganga. Inland Waterways also has potential tocreate of employment opportunities for people inthe vicinity of waterways

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairshas approved amendments to the scheme forFinancial Restructuring of State distributioncompanies which had been approved by the CCEAon 24th September 2012 to enable the financialturnaround of the State distribution companies fortheir long term viability.

The Central Government had notified theFinancial Restructuring Plan (FRP) for State owneddistribution companies vide OM dated 05.10.2012.The scheme is under implementation in Tamil Nadu,Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and HimachalPradesh. Utilities of Jharkhand, Bihar and AndhraPradesh which were facing financial difficulties andwere keen to participate in the scheme could not doso due to practical difficulties in meeting certainrequirements of the FRP scheme. Therefore, toenable these three States for participation under thescheme, the cutoff date for reckoning the eligibleamount of short term liabilities for issuance ofbonds / reschedulement by lenders is now shifted to31.03.2013 from 31.03.2012 (for these three Statesonly). The scheme will be available to these Statesupto 31 December 2013 unless extended byGovernment of India.

The expected outcomes from implementationof the scheme in these three States would be:

• Providing comfort to lenders by securingState takeover of and guarantee for debt.

• Bringing about financial discipline in thedistribution sector in the State.

• Providing a commercial orientation to thefunctioning of distribution companies.

• Casting responsibility on the StateGovernment to ensure a steady flow ofrevenue to the distribution companies byimproving efficiency of their operations.

• Accelerate the AT&C loss reduction effort ofDISCOMs, through additional incentive fromthe Central Government.

• Ensure regular rationalization of tariff tocover cost of service.

• Ensure timely audit of DISCOM accounts.• Gradual elimination of the gap between ACS

and ARR.• Improve the financial health of distribution

utilities to enable them to procure moreelectricity for meeting growing demand.

Policy on Foreign Direct Investment inthe Pharmaceutical Sector

The Cabinet considered the proposal of theMinistry of Commerce and Industry, for review of thepolicy on foreign direct investment in thepharmaceutical sector.

The Cabinet decided that the current policy inbrownfield and greenfield projects in thepharmaceutical sector will continue subject to theadditional condition that in all cases of FDI inbrownfield pharma, there will not be any non-compete clause in any of the inter se agreements.

4th Annual Lecture Series on Governance& Public Services

Following is the text of the Union Minister ofState in the Prime Minister’s Office and Ministry ofPersonnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Shri V.Narayanasamy on the occasion of the 4th AnnualLecture Series of UPSC on “Governance and PublicServices” here today: ”

I feel privileged and honoured to extend mywarm welcome to Hon’ble President of India to thisfunction. Hon’ble President has unparallel experienceand eminence in governance and public service, in hislong standing public life spanning several decades. Itis, therefore, quite appropriate that Hon’blePresident is delivering lecture today. We are all eagerto hear the Hon’ble President on the subject of





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Governance and get enlightened. Hon’ble Presidentof India during his visit to Lal Bahadur ShastriNational Academy of Administration (LBSNAA),Mussoorie on 18th October, 2013 spoke at length onthe need and importance of good governance andpublic service. I had the opportunity of listening tothe passionate speech of Hon’ble President inMussoorie.

Hon’ble President, in his speech stressed onthe critical need to observe political neutrality for thegovernment servants and to accord high priority toachieving the government’s objective of inclusivenesswhich can be accomplished through the determinedimplementation of the programmes to promotegender equality, education, health, ruraldevelopment, social welfare, etc.

Hon’ble President also stated in Mussooriethat the goal of inclusiveness demands the adoptionof a grassroot approach and that would enable trueinvolvement of the people in formulating andimplementing development plans that will shapetheir future. Sir, we look forward to your words ofwisdom and guidance in public service.

For any Government, ensuring proper andefficient delivery of public services to the targetpopulation is the hallmark of efficiency. And issues ofgovernance play a major role in this efficient delivery.

This essentially boils down to proper humanresource management, namely, recruitment ofappropriate personnel in adequate number atappropriate time. Post recruitment training, trainingduring service career and maintaining disciplineincluding recognizing good work is also important. Inall these important areas, the contribution of UnionPublic Service Commission cannot be overemphasized.

The Recruitment Rules of Group A & B servicesare framed and finalized in consultation with UPSC.To match with the changing time, the amendment ofrecruitment rules has also been undertaken inconsultation with UPSC efficiently. The UPSC hasbeen mandated for recruitment of Group A officersthrough competitive exams. I am proud to say thatthey have been doing a wonderful job in effectinghuge recruitment for the Central Governmentincluding the premium All India Service. UPSC enjoys

great credibility and trust of the masses and isrecognised for its fair, just and impartial selectionprocess.

Another important contribution of UPSC hasbeen in undertaking selection by promotion. Byintroducing various innovative measures like thesingle window mechanism the time taken forprocessing of promotion cases has reducedconsiderably. This single window system has alsoreduced the average time taken for giving advice inmany disciplinary cases.

UPSC’s contribution in bringing about reformsin Civil Services Examination is also noteworthy. TheGovernment after considering the recommendationsof the UPSC has accepted many importantrecommendations which have also been notified andapplied to Civil Service Examinations in recent years.I would like to emphasise here that in terms of coursecontents, a full paper on ethics and integrity hasbeen included in the Civil Service (Main)Examination.

We are witnessing a lot of activity in ourgovernance system today for tackling corruption. Iam sure introducing this subject at the time ofrecruitment through competitive examinationwould sensitize the new recruits and thereby theentire Government in mitigating this problem. Wehave also introduced capsules on anti-corruptionmeasures in the training for Civil Service officers. Wehave also requested the State Governments toinclude course on anti-corruption during the trainingof Government officers. We have initiated action tostrengthen our anti-corruption laws and takenseveral administrative measures to tacklecorruption.

When it comes to public service delivery,another important area is in making the wholeprocess as transparent as possible along withaccountability. We have introduced ‘Right of Citizensfor time-bound delivery of Goods and Services andRedressal of their Grievances Bill’, 2011’ in the LokSabha and the Standing Committee has given itsrecommendation. We expect that the Bill will bepassed in the Parliament soon. In today’s world, thecitizens of our country are very much knowledgeableand aware of the functioning of the Government,





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thanks to the RTI – and also the age of internet. Aslightest glitch somewhere or the smallest mistake inthe process of service delivery is going to be noticedand voiced very strongly.

Hence, the Central Government is promotinghigher and higher use of technology in the routinefunctioning of the Government. E-governance is oneof our priority and we have started ‘e-office’ in theDepartment of Personnel & Training.

I am happy to bring to the attention ofHon’ble President that DOPT had a retreat recentlywhere senior officers of the Department spent somequality time in brainstorming. This has thrown upmany new ideas for improving the role andfunctioning of the Department for increasing thesatisfaction of all its stakeholders.

I am sure thoughts and ideas expressed by thelearned dignitaries in the lecture series on

‘Governance and Public Service’ would provideopportunity to assimilate these new ideals toprepare a road map and create a vision for bringingabout contemporary reforms in variousmethodologies in bringing Good Governance andPublic Service delivery.

Today, we are honoured that the President ofIndia Shri Pranab Mukherjee is gracing this occasionand has spared time from his ever-busy schedule todeliver a lecture on this subject which is very close tohis heart. I am sure that all of us will be extremelybenefitted by the invaluable new ideas, thoughts tobe expressed by a Statesman and multi-facetedpersonality of his stature having a vast and variedexperience as an able Administrator, Diplomat andFinance wizard. I wish this event a grand success. Ialso wish the Chairman and Members of UPSC, otherofficers and staff every success in their endeavours.




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⇒ ICON OF INDIAN SCIENCEThe significance of the Raman Effect was

recognized quickly by scientists all over the world.Professor RW. Wood of Johns Hopkins cabled Natureto report that he had verified Raman’s “brilliant andsurprising discovery” in detail. He declared that thisdiscovery which resulted from Raman’s long andpatient study of the phenomenon of light scatteringis one of the most convincing proofs of the quantumtheory.

When people made comparisons to the wellknown Compton effect, Raman prophetically statedthat his effect which involved molecular scatteringwould have greater implications than the Comptonscattering, which had to do with electron scatteringof photon.

Raman also recognized that his discovery wasimportant to firmly establish the new quantumtheory; because an explanation of the new radiationrequired the use of photons and their change inenergy as they interacted with the atoms in aparticular molecule. Raman also knew that there wasa more important result, remarking in his 1930Nobel Prize address that “ ... the character of thescattered radiations enables us to obtain an insightinto the ultimate structure of the scatteringsubstance.”

By the late 1930s, the Raman Effect became animportant method of nondestructive chemicalanalysis for both organic and inorganic compounds.The unique spectrum of Raman scattered light forany particular substance served as a “fingerprint”that could be used for qualitative analysis, even in amixture of materials. Further, the intensity of thespectral lines was related to the amount of the

substance. Raman spectroscopy could be applied notonly to liquids but also to gases and solids. And unlikemany other analytical methods, it could be appliedeasily to the analysis of aqueous solutions. It was aubiquitous technique, giving information on whatand how much was present in a wide variety ofsamples.

The use of Raman spectroscopy as a basicanalytical tool changed sharply after World War II.During the War, infrared spectroscopy was enhancedby the development of sensitive detectors andadvances in electronics. Infrared measurementsquickly became routine operations, while Ramanmeasurements still required skilled operators anddarkroom facilities. Raman spectroscopy wassidelined for a while because of Infraredspectroscopy. But with the advent of another greatdiscovery in the 1960s, that of laser, interest inRaman spectroscopy was again revived. Now it findsapplication in many diverse fields like medicalimaging and Biochemistry.

He was knighted by the British government inIndia and received the Nobel Prize in physics in 1930(among all the Nobel Prizes awarded, this must havebeen the shortest in duration from the time ofdiscovery).

Three years later, Raman left Calcutta forBangalore, where he was posted as the Director ofthe Indian Institute of Science (the first Indian tohold the post which was dominated by the British;his knighthood must have made it possible). Therehe continued his work on the Raman Effect andbecame interested in the structure of crystals,especially diamond.

In 1934, he founded the Indian Academy ofScience and began the publication of its Proceedings.

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While at the Indian Institute of Science (also calledthe Tata Institute after its founder), he tried to getmany leading scientists to work with him. It was thetime of the Second World War and many scientists ofJewish origin were f leeing from Germany. Hesucceeded in appointing the great theoreticalphysicist Max Born to an extraordinary chair ofphysics which he created at the Institute. But ininviting these scientists, he did not take thepermission of the Management of the Institute. Forthis and other reasons he was forced to resign theDirectorship of the Institute, though he managed toretain his Professorship. Max Born was alsohumiliated by the British higher echelon of theInstitute and he could not accept Raman’s offer.

There was also a painful difference of opinionbetween these two great friends (Born and Raman)over Born’s monumental work on crystal dynamics.Raman found Born’s highly mathematical treatmentin conflict with his more simplistic form of latticedynamics. Raman could have simply presented hisideas as a simple physical approach to crystaldynamics. Instead, he mercilessly attacked Born’stheory which made the protagonists of Born’s idea toget deeper into it. Finally it turned out that Raman’ssimple approach was actually a small sub-set of amore comprehensive Born’s theory. Born alsoinadvertently made a comment by criticizingRaman’s “experimentalist” attitude. It is a pity thatthe entire incident resulted in a never healingbitterness between two great friends.

In 1948, he became director of the newlyconstructed Raman Research Institute, where heremained continually active, delivering his last lecturejust two weeks before his death. His researchinterests changed in later years when he primarilyinvestigated the perception of colour.

Raman was not fortunate like Niels Bohr,whose research center in Denmark was partlyfinanced by the Carlsberg Brewery. He did not seekgovernment funding since he hated any interventionby government officials. So he started a companycalled Travancore Chemical and Manufacturing Co.Ltd. in 1943 along with Dr. Krishnamurthy. TheCompany teacher. His faith was fully justified sincethat student went on to become a noted physicist

who made many fundamental contributions inlattice dynamics. (Many “great men” after hearingthis episode, wanted to become part of it. They evenclaimed that they were with Raman when thisincident took place, and it was they who persuadedthe candidate to return the money! Some people arequick to seek cheap popularity!)

Raman was a kind hearted man. During athunderstorm, one of his lab assistants had to leavefor home late in the night. Raman promptly clothedhim with his own woolen sweaters and gave him hisown car to go home. He, however, hated the smellof liquor. So once when this same assistant enteredhis room after repairing a fault in his car, he mistookthe smell of petrol as the smell of alcohol. He wasabout to fire this unfortunate man when one of hisassociates bailed him out by testifying that he sawhim in the garage, servicing his car!

It is said that when he was offered a toastduring the Nobel function dinner, he replied:“Gentleman! You have all seen the Raman Effect onalcohol. Please do not expect to see the alcohol’seffect on Raman!” during its sixty year historyestablished four factories in Southern India. In 1947,he was appointed as the first National Professor bythe new government of Independent India.

Raman’s admiration for honesty and integrityis illustrated in a striking episode. While establishingthe Raman Research Institute, Raman invited manyyoung graduates to work with him. He even paidthem the to-and-fro charges to ensure that reallycompetent youngsters applied for the post. Once itso happened that a young graduate appeared for aninterview conducted by him. Being a bit nervous, hefared very badly in answering Raman’s fundamentalquestions, which of course, required a little bit ofingenuity that is not supplied in college education.(Clearly shows that college education in those dayswas no better than it is today!).

Furiously Raman asked him to get out, chidinghim for having come all the way from a distant placejust to waste his time. The very next morning, Ramanwas surprised to find the same person loitering nearthe cashier’s counter of his office. Raman angrilyconfronted the candidate and said: “Why are you stillin my campus? I thought that I threw you out





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yesterday”. The candidate said: “I am sorry sir, butyour cashier while reimbursing my to-and-fro chargesgave me some extra amount. I came to return it.”Raman grabbed the young man’s hand and said:“Please stay with me and be my assistant. I can teachPhysics to any one. But I cannot teach honesty!”

The incident also illustrates faith Raman had inhimself as a Unlike most traditional Indians of his day,he never believed in superstitions and despisedrituals. He never forced his sons to observe any of thetraditional customs that were strictly followed by hisfamily.

On the night of his death, his wife asked himto take the name of god. He replied that he onlybelieved in the spirit of man! Even on his death bedhe gave a sermon about the mahatma, Jesus Christand the Buddha and made a simple request to her:“Just a clean and simple cremation for me. Nomumbo-jumbo please.” What a man!

Two days before Raman died, he told one ofhis former students, “Do not allow the journals of theAcademy to die, for they are the sensitive indicatorsof the quality of science being done in the countryand whether science is taking root in it or not.” Thatsame evening, Raman met with the Board ofManagement of his Institute and discussed (from hisbed) with them any proceedings with regard to theInstitute’s management.

Raman passed away from natural causes earlynext morning, on 21st of November 1970. In 1986,the National Council for Science and TechnologyCommunication (NCSTC) asked the government ofIndia to designate February 28th as the NationalScience Day, to mark the discovery of the RamanEffect on 28th February 1928.

I joined the Raman Research Institute six yearsafter the death of this great man. I missed thechance of interacting with him personally, and all theinformation I have just narrated, came to methrough his close associates and information gleanedfrom existing sources. But I have one thing to beproud of - I still own the Olympus camera that heused to capture nature in all its glory (which Iinherited through his son, Prof. Radhakrishnan, whowas my friend and guide), This will be my prizeamong all my collections.

⇒ RADARThe oldest radar system was developed much

before man had even thought about it. Bats havebeen using a sort of ultrasonic sensor since ages. Batsemit a short ‘cry’ from their noses, receiving the echowith a set of two antennae. Tiger moths are alsoequipped with ears that can detect and jam theultrasonic signal of a bat.

Radar is an acronym for radio detection andranging. It is used to detect the presence andlocation of objects by the transmission and return ofan electromagnetic signal.

Heinrich Hertz’s experiments with radio waveslaid the foundation for the development of radiocommunication, and later, the radar. It was in 1904that Christian Hulsrnever (1881-1957) received aGerman patent for the Telemobiloskop, or RemoteObject Viewing Device. The device achieved ranges of3000 metres against ships, even before amplifiertubes were invented. It was offered as an applicationto prevent ship collisions, but didn’t attract anycustomer interest and fell into oblivion.

In 1920, R.C. Newhouse of Bell Labs got apatent, and his experiments performed throughoutthe decade eventually led to the radio altimeter thatbecame operational in 1937. In 1925-26, theAmerican physicians Breit and Tuve, as well as theBritish researchers Appleton and Barnett, performedmeasurements of the Earth’s ionosphere, using apulsed radio transmitter, which could be described asradar.

In 1935, Sir Robert Watson-Watt (1892 -1973) successfully demonstrated the detection of anaircraft by a radio device. An order for full-scaledevelopment of radar was issued later that year, afterit was realised that sound locators (which at the timewere the only means of detecting inbound bombers)could not provide adequate reaction time. This wasthe starting point of the world’s first operative radarnetwork, called Chain Home or CH in short.

The Chain Home became operational in 1937,well before the war broke out. Bombers could bedetected at ranges of 150 km and more. By 1939,several countries had more or less rudimentary, butoperational radars in their inventories. During theBattle of Britain (1939-1941), significant success was




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attributed to the Chain Home network, whichdetected incoming air raids and provided informationto guide interceptors to home in on the bombers.

Stealth Technology was invented in the 1940s,when German submarines suffered severe lossesbecause they were detected by airborne radars oncethey were on the surface. Technicians found that amixture of graphite and rubber could substantiallyweaken the radar echoes if it was applied as a‘Schornsteinfeger’ (‘chimney sweep’) coating on thesubmarine’s hull. However, this only worked whilethe subs were in the dry dock. Once the anti-reflective coating was wet from seawater, it was thewater and salt layer that reflected the radar signals!

By the end of the war, radar technology hadprogressed much. There was a chirp radar in

production, the monopulse principle was inventedand even a Synthetic Aperture Radar already existed.The Chain Home was used to detect the V2 rocketsafter they left their launch sites, hence it can also becalled the world’s first Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM)radar system. Among the few ideas that were bornlater than 1945 are the phased array antennatechnology and the concept of multistatic radar.

Today, even the police use radar guns to keepan eye on speeding traffic. These guns transmit radiowaves at a specific frequency. A portion of the beamreflects from the target vehicle and returns to theradar gun. If the target is moving, the frequencychanges slightly, a phenomenon known as theDoppler shift. By measuring this altered frequency,the radar calculates target speeds.





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