LIST OF NEWSPAPERS COVERED

ASIAN AGE

BUSINESS STANDARD

DECCAN HERALD

ECONOMIC TIMES

HINDU

INDIAN EXPRESS

PIONEER

STATESMAN

TELEGRAPH

TIMES OF INDIA

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CONTENTS

AGRICULTURE 3-6

BACKWARD CLASSES 7-8

CIVIL SERVICE 9-16

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT 17-19

EDUCATION 20-22

ELECTIONS 23-35

EMPLOYMENT 26-28

ENVIRONMENT 29-31

FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS 32-33

HEALTH SERVICES 34

HOUSING 35-38

HUMAN RIGHTS 39-41

JUDICIARY 42-44

LIBRARIES 45

PARLIAMENT 46-47

POLITICAL PARTIES 48-49

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT 50-52

PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM 53

PUBLIC FINANCE 54-56

SOCIAL PROBLEMS 57

WATER SUPPLY 58

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AGRICULTURE

TELEGRAPH, MARCH 31, 2016

Golden yields - Focusing on agriculture alone will not improve farm incomes

Shubhashis Gangopadhyay

The recent budget talked about the government's plan to double farm incomes in the next five years. This will be done through investments in rural infrastructure, especially irrigation. About 50 per cent of land under foodgrain production in India is irrigated. This means that half of the foodgrain producing land in India faces weather uncertainties and, hence, those working on them face annual (seasonal) variations in income. These variations could be huge - from bumper harvests to complete wipe-outs if there is a flood or drought. Irrigation will at least mitigate the effects of a drought. Floods, however, can wreak havoc on both irrigated and unirrigated lands. The best interpretation of the government's promise, therefore, is one of doubling, in five years' time, the income earned by the farmer in a normal year.

The Indian landmass has been historically described as highly fertile. However, if we are to compare India's land productivity with that of other countries, the picture is quite dismal. India ranks 27 in rice yield, behind Brazil and China and 19 in wheat yield, behind China and South Africa. There is, thus, a lot of scope in improving Indian yields; indeed, if India could reach Chinese yield rates, we need only half of the current land devoted to rice to produce what we are producing now. Irrigation will certainly go a long way in getting us there.

However, public irrigation alone will not work. It also needs other inputs like fertilizers, seeds, labour and farm equipment. Farmers would also need better storage and marketing systems to move the produce off the farm and get the farmers sufficient value for their crops. All of these are costly and the farmers will need to have access to, and be able to afford the costs of, these complementary inputs. The recent budget does mention these though it is not clear how these would be addressed. The budget does talk of a uniform and modified Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee Act that states will be encouraged to pass. Such an act has been in the offing for quite some time now but, like the goods and services tax, all the states are not yet on board.

If the problem was simply a technological and marketing issue, and the government over the next few years delivered on its commitment, the budget promise could materialize. Unfortunately, focusing on agriculture alone may actually reduce, rather than increase, farmer incomes. Increasing agricultural output will lead to a fall in prices. This fall in prices is often more than the increase in yield, leading to a fall in the revenue (price times quantity) and hence, income, to the farmer. This is especially true for foodgrains which suffer from what economists refer to as inelastic demand.

This can be arrested somewhat by introducing minimum support prices for each type of crop. For the MSP to be effective, it has to be above the market price. The government will then procure at the MSP but release the produce to the market at a lower price. This will mean an

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increased subsidy bill. The MSP also has the added problem of distorting crop choice on land. This is evident in the falling water table experiences of Punjab which has become a major paddy producing area though it is, traditionally, not a paddy-producing region.

Earlier, we stated that if India reaches China's yield rates, we will need only half the land that we now devote to rice in India. If the farmers on the other half of the land did not produce any rice, then the income of those continuing to produce rice, on land with China's yield rates, will indeed double. Herein lies the crux of the solution the government needs to work out to double farm incomes. We need to reduce the number of farmers, the amount of land cultivated and the number of landless labourers working in agriculture. The latest census tells us that more than 55 per cent of workers are either cultivators or agricultural labourers (sometimes both). Coupled with the observation that agriculture and allied activities (which is more than farming) contribute 17 per cent to the gross domestic product, it is not very difficult to understand why agriculturalists as a class are at the bottom of the heap in India.

For those whose full-time economic activity is in agriculture, the most important asset is land. Ambedkar, writing as far back as 1918, had warned us of dire consequences if people were not taken out of agriculture. At that time, the British were held responsible for India's deindustrialization and forcing people back on to the land. Since land was the only valuable asset for a large proportion of the population, it was also the most important inheritance. Ambedkar was worried that, unless succeeding generations had other economic activities to turn to, land would continue to get sub-divided and fragmented and the farmers' lot would go from bad to worse with the passage of time. During Ambedkar's time, 71 per cent of the Indian population was in agriculture but many European countries also had more than 50 per cent of the population similarly occupied.

If we are to assume that all households had the same size (number of members) and the same number of workers, then 71 per cent of the population will mean that 71 per cent of the workers were involved in agriculture around 1918. After about 100 years since Ambedkar's warning, close to 70 of which has been without the British in charge, we have reduced the dependence on agriculture to one where 57 per cent of the workers are either cultivators or agricultural labourers.

So, we still have a huge pressure on land and it is getting worse by the day. This is because of two facts: (a) we have a growing population and (b) we are not adding new land to our land mass. The average holding in India in 1970-71 was 2.29 hectares; in 2010-11 it fell to 1.15 hectares. In 40 years, or in roughly two plus generations, the average farmer has half the land to cultivate. India describes its farmers as marginal (owning less than one hectare), small (between one and two hectares), semi-medium (between two and four hectares), medium (between four and 10 hectares) and large (above 10 hectares). In these 40 years, the number of marginal farmers have increased by 156 per cent, small by 84 per cent and semi-medium by 30 per cent. The numbers of medium and large farmers have fallen by 26 per cent and 65 per cent. And, the average holding in each of these categories has fallen, respectively, by 4, 1, 3, 5 and 4 per cent. In short, agriculture may not be the place where the rich are getting richer and the poor poorer.

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Focusing on agriculture alone to better the plight of farmers could become a lost cause. Since the amount of the productive asset owned by an individual is falling over time, the income earned by each owner is also decreasing. To arrest this decline, these owners must be given other productive assets, like education and skill and, of course, good health. This will enable them to sell off their land and move into other economic activities. Only then will those remaining in agriculture be able to earn higher incomes through higher yields. Otherwise, we will spend public money, increase yield and see our farm incomes continue to diminish.

The author is Research Director, India Development Foundation

BUSINESS STANDARD, MARCCH, 28, 2016PM promises 500,000 ponds for agricultureCalls for construction of small reservoirs to conserve rainwater

Pak visit finds no mention on Modi's Mann ki Baat Smart City plan more popular than Modi's 'Mann Ki Baat' Deposit gold in banks for nation's economic prosperity, says Modi On Budget eve, PM Modi talks of farmers Agriculture may get 30% hike in FY17 Budget

Given the prospects of drought in several parts of the country and the looming water scarcity

because of depleting water table, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday that the

government would help construct 500,000 khet talab (farming ponds) as part of the Mahatma

Gandhi National Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS) to augment water for irrigation.

In the past month, the PM has focused his public speeches on farmers' issues and youth of the

country as well as remembering B R Ambedkar. His monthly radio broadcast 'Mann ki Baat' on

Sunday was no different.

The PM stressed the need to popularise sports as youngsters constitute 65 per cent of India's

population. He said India hosting the FIFA youth world cup in 2017 was a great opportunity to

take football to all corners of the country. Incidentally, football is quite popular among the youth

in some of the states going to the polls in April - Assam, Kerala and West Bengal.

During the 30-minute broadcast on Sunday, the PM's intent to connect with the country's youth

was apparent as he spoke of the Indian cricket team's wins against Pakistan and Bangladesh in

the ongoing T20 cricket world cup.

Modi also appealed to students to pick up at least one skill during their holidays.

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Referring to the agriculture sector, he said water table was falling in parts of the country. He said

small reservoirs should be made to conserve rainwater.

In western Maharashtra, the crisis has deepened even triggering a law and order problem.

According to the Groundwater Surveys and Development Agency (GSDA), the water table level

has dropped to one metre in about 540 villages across 13 talukas in Pune district.

The PM also asked farmers to make use of the Kisan Suvidha app to get information on farming,

weather conditions and prices in wholesale markets. He also advised farmers to reduce the use of

fertilisers, saying "It will also reduce costs and increase output."

Modi noted that he would be in Mhow (Madhya Pradesh), the birthplace of Ambedkar, on the

occasion of his 125th birth anniversary on April 14. The PM, whose government has come under

attack for being anti-Dalit after the suicide of Hyderabad University student Rohith Vemula,

highlighted the government's efforts to develop five places associated with Ambedkar's life.

BACKWARD CLASSES

HINDU, MARCH 28, 2016Haryana: Haryana Cabinet clears Jat quota Bill

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The Haryana Cabinet on Monday cleared the Bill that proposes to provide reservation to five communities, including the politically-dominant Jat community.

The Bill is likely to be brought in the state Assembly later on Monday.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had said earlier that the state government would introduce a new Bill in the Assembly’s Budget session for reservation to five communities, namely Jat, Jat Sikh, Tyagi, Bishnoi and Ror.

Khattar had made it clear that the existing 27 per cent reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the state would not be disturbed. The OBC community is opposing inclusion of Jats in their category for reservation.

A five-member committee under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary was formed earlier this month to prepare draft of the Bill to grant reservation under the ambit of Constitution.

The Jat community has extended its deadline for the reservation demand till March 31.

The Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state had promised reservation for the Jat community and others after the recent Jat agitation for reservation left the state paralysed for nine days.

A total of 30 persons were killed and over 320 injured and property worth hundreds of crores of rupees was destroyed as the agitation turned violent. — IANS

HINDU, MARCH 30, 2016Haryana passes Bill to provide Jat reservationVIKAS VASUDEVAGovt. to hike quota for Economically Backward Class

The Haryana Assembly on Tuesday passed the Haryana Backward Classes (Reservation in Services and Admission in Educational Institutions) Bill, 2016, to provide reservation for Jats and five other communities in government jobs and education.

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar introduced the Bill to give statutory status to Backward Classes Block ‘A’, Backward Classes Block ‘B’ and Backward Classes Block ‘C’. The Bill proposed to give reservation to Jats and five other castes — Jat Sikhs, Rors, Bishnois, Tyagis and Mulla Jat/Muslim Jat — by constituting a new classification Block ‘C’ in the Backward Classes category.

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Mr. Khattar had promised quota to the Jats, following their violent agitation.

CIVIL SERVICE

INDIAN EXPRESS, MARCH 29, 20167th Pay Commission: Armed forces pitch for better compensation, common pay matrix

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7th Pay Commission: The absence of the military in the Empowered Committee has been a

major cause of concern for the defence services. Sushant Singh 

According to those present at the March 11 meeting, the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha spoke before the presentation by stating that the issues about to be raised are important as there is discontent among the rank and file.

At about 10 am on March 11, the three military chiefs were in the meeting room of the cabinet

secretariat to attend a crucial briefing. The Pay and Allowances Review Committee (PARC) of

the three services, comprising Major General rank officers, had been allotted 45 minutes to brief

the Empowered Committee of Secretaries to process the recommendations of the Seventh

Central Pay Commission (7th CPC).

The Empowered Committee is chaired by the Cabinet Secretary, PK Sinha and is meant to

function as a screening committee to process the recommendations with regard to all relevant

factors of the 7th CPC in an expeditious, detailed and holistic fashion. The Empowered

Committee consists of 13 secretaries, which includes nine IAS officers, one IPS officer and one

from Railway Board. There are, however, no military officers on the committee. “We are 29.7

per cent of all central government employees, as are the Railways. They have a member on the

Committee but we don’t. The IPS, with strength of only 4,675 officers, has a member,” a senior

military officer told The Indian Express.

The absence of the military in the Empowered Committee has been a major cause of concern for

the defence services. The emotions of those in uniform have been running high since the time 7th

CPC submitted its recommendations to the government in November last year. Military officials

monitoring various social media platforms told The Indian Express that they have been “shocked

at the vehement anger and outrage” among military personnel “not only against the civilian

bureaucracy but also senior military officials” over the recommendations of the 7th CPC.

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The issue has been discussed at the highest levels in the services where fears of things going

wrong, in case corrective steps are not taken to address the anomalies by the Empowered

Committee, have been expressed by the military hierarchy. These fears were the reason for the

three military chiefs to take the unusual step of being present for the briefing of the Empowered

Committee. Even earlier, immediately after the 7th CPC submitted its report, the three chiefs had

jointly written to the defence minister about their concerns over its recommendations.

According to those present at the March 11 meeting, the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief

Marshal Arup Raha spoke before the presentation by stating that the issues about to be raised are

important as there is discontent among the rank and file. Requesting the committee to look

favourably at the issues, he highlighted the fact that the status of the armed forces has been

downgraded in the 7th CPC, and for the military, status and honour is the most important aspect

of their service to the country.

The 25-minute PowerPoint presentation by PARC raised four demands before the Empowered

Committee. The first demand was for grant of a Common Pay Matrix for the military and the

civilian employees. The Defence Pay Matrix of the 7th CPC has only 24 pay levels while there

are 40 pay levels for the civilians. This means that all military officers will stagnate at the pay

reached after 31 years of service, which will, in turn mean that their pensions will be Rs 20,000

less than their civilian counterparts.

Senior civilian government officials say that due to higher number of ranks in the military

compared to the civilian bureaucracy, it is not feasible to have a Common Pay Matrix. They say

that the defence services were thus offered the option of a separate pay commission, which was

rejected by them. “Our attempt is to get fully integrated into the system, at par with the civilians.

Going for a separate pay commission defeats that purpose. We instead want to have a member on

the pay commission,” explained a military official.

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The second demand of the military pertained to Reciprocity of Allowances. A large number of

allowances are applicable to civilian employees but not to the uniformed personnel. In April

2009, the government issued a letter stating that all compensatory field and other allowances

applicable to the armed forces will also be applicable to the Central Armed Police Forces

(CAPF). But the allowances of CAPF have not been extended to the armed forces.

In its presentation, PARC furnished the example of a CAPF DIG in Leh would be earning an

allowance of Rs 57,500 while a Brigadier will get only Rs 17,000. Similarly, a military jawan

deployed for disaster management like flood or earthquake relief shall get no allowance while a

National Disaster Response Force will gets Rs 6,000 every time he is deployed, and a CAPF

jawan will earn Rs 17,000.

“The comparison with CAPF is not fair. Some of their allowances look high because of the

concept of detachment and special duty allowances. The military now wants the option, at every

place, to choose between either the CAPF allowance or the military allowance, whichever is

higher. This is prima facie not fair,” countered a senior civilian bureaucrat. The military’s third

demand is for restoration of weightage in pensions, which has been removed by the 7th C. The

weightage in terms of years of service, because of early retirement of military officials, was

removed by the 6th CPC but it was restored for JCOs and jawans in 2009 by a committee headed

by the then finance minister, Pranab Mukherjee. It was further enhanced by two years by the

government in August 2012.

The military also wants the disability pension to be applicable on a percentage basis as it is to

civilians. This was the case so far, but the 7th CPC has recommended a slab-based system for the

military. It means that while an Additional Secretary would get Rs 60,000 as disability pension, a

Lt General will earn only Rs 27,000.

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The fourth demand of the military is about other allowances such as the technical allowance. The

memories of a mutiny in the Indian Air Force in 1996, due to vast difference in the allowances of

pilots and others, are fresh in the minds of the military hierarchy. With the removal of Tier-2 of

technical allowance recommended by the 7th CPC, a pilot will get Rs 25,000 as allowance while

his technical counterpart will get only Rs 3,000 per month. This, the military fears, is bound to

raise discontent.

The presentation by PARC earned a word of praise from the Cabinet Secretary who promised to

go into the details. But the military is concerned as the pending six ‘core anomalies’ from the 6th

CPC have not been resolved so far. A committee of secretaries formed in 2012 to resolve those

anomalies, recommended that they be resolved by an expert body, the 7th CPC. But those

anomalies in status and parities were not addressed by the 7th CPC.

The 2012 committee of secretaries was formed by the government after then defence minister,

AK Antony wrote in June 2012 to the then Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, warning that

“There is growing discontentment among the Defence service personnel and Ex-servicemen

across all ranks, due to various anomalies in the fixation of pay and pensions. My apprehension

is that unless we take some corrective action, issue may take a bad turn.”

Four years down the line, the military hierarchy now fears that the former defence minister’s

words may turn out to be prophetic.

DECCAN HERALD, MAR 25, 2016PM tells officials to address public grievances in 60 days

Department heads must put a system in place to ensure public grievances are addressed in 60 days, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged. 

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Interacting with Secretaries and Chief Secretaries over video-conferencing under the PRAGATI initiative on Wednesday, Modi said the government gives top priority to address grievances of women and widows. 

Noting that redressal mechanisms are a major aspect of a democracy, Modi asked for focused action in a month to ensure most of the public grievances are disposed of in 60 days. “PM reiterated his directive for top officers to intervene in this matter,“ a statement said.

Following the Prime Minister’s directive, departments have been busy monitoring grievances for the past fortnight, with those like Highways even working on an app to receive and track complaints. 

Reviewing ease of doing business, Modi said states have achieved healthy progress towards luring investment. He called for further efforts to build on the momentum and create positive perception. 

On digitisation of land records, the PM asked officials to soon integrate land records with Aadhaar. He also asked them to  monitor the successful implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana. He also called for a district-wise review to know the number of services actually delivered online. 

PIONEER, MAR 25, 2016UP GOVT SUSPENDS OFFICERS OVER LACK IN MEETING TARGET

Cracking the disciplinary whip, the UP government suspended three District Excise Officers with immediate effect and suggested action against seven others for failing to meet the revenue target of their respective districts in the current fiscal.

Besides, Deputy Excise Commissioner of Lucknow was transferred and the government has ordered adverse entry in the character rolls of the erring officials.

Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had asked for review of the Excise department to learn about the ground realities on revenue collections. “The CM asked for the review after it came to light that revenue collection in Excise department has been abysmal in this fiscal in several districts and there was shortfall in almost a dozen districts,” a senior official said.

The review meeting was held on Tuesday and orders were passed to suspend the District Excise Officers at Jhansi, Agra and Lakhimpur Kheri districts for failing to meet the revenue target.  The axe also fell on District Excise Officers of Sitapur, Meerut, Kahnpur Nagar, Jalaun, Mainpuri, Allahabad and Sidhartha Nagar.

The CM also ordered disciplinary action against seven others for laxity in their work. 

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A government spokesman said that government has also ordered disciplinary action against Deputy Excise Commissioners of Allahabad, Agra and Kanpur divisions for their failure to monitor revenue collection regularly and take corrective steps as and when required. “Government has also ordered the transfer of Deputy Excise Commissioner of Lucknow and adverse entry has been given to all District Excise Officers where revenue shortfall has been reported,” the spokesman said.

As a corrective step, the government has ordered the setting up of a control room in Allahabad to keep it posted about revenue collections on a daily basis. This information should be passed on the Principal Secretary (Excise) and Chief Secretary on regular basis. Against the target of Rs 17,500 crore as revenue from Excise for 2015-16, the collection is estimated to be close to Rs 16,000 crores, thus there is a shortfall of Rs 1,500 crore. “This short fall has angered the Chief Minister because he wanted that the government should earn good revenue from Excise in this fiscal,” a senior official said. The Excise revenue target in 2014-15 was Rs 14,500 crore but the recovery was only Rs 13, 271 crore, a shortfall of Rs 1,282 crore. The target for the next fiscal 2016-17 is likely to be over Rs 19,000 crore.   

INDIAN EXPRESS, MAR 25, 2016UP chief secretary gets 3-month extension

The extension for Ranjan, whose retirement was due on March 31, was recommended by Chief

Minister Akhilesh Yadav was approved by the Centre this week.

Chief Secretary Alok Ranjan, who was recently in news after his wife Surbhi Ranjan received

the ‘Yash Bharti’ award for singing, has been given an extension of service for three months.

The extension for Ranjan, whose retirement was due on March 31, was recommended by Chief

Minister Akhilesh Yadav was approved by the Centre this week.

Ranjan, a 1978 batch IAS officer, was made chief secretary on May 31, 2014 by the Akhilesh

government after removal of then chief secretary Jawed Usmani, who is of the same batch.

Usmani had retired early this year and he is serving presently as UP’s chief information

commissioner.

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Asked about his priority in the upcoming months, Rajan told The Indian Express, “My focus will

be on law and order, energy, completing infrastructure projects such as the Metro, expressway

and Gomti riverfront development.”

While Ranjan is the only serving IAS officer of his batch at present, 1979 batch officer Rakesh

Bahadur, who was posted as state investment commissioner in Delhi, is said to be joining the

World Bank as an advisor and is due to retire in May.

Another 1979 batch officer, Vijay Shankar Pandey is posted as secretary with the Government of

India at the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals. Pandey is due to retire in December

this year. Another officer of the same batch Anil Kumar Gupta, who is Chairman of the Board of

Revenue, will retire in September.

PIONEER, MAR 25, 2016GOVERNMENT HIKES DA, DR BY 6 PERCENT

The cabinet on Wednesday approved a 6 percent hike in Dearness Allowance (DA) to central government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) to pensioners, effective from January 1.

 The decision, over the existing rate of 119 percent of basic pay/pension of the employees to compensate them for general price rise, was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

 This will benefit about 50 lakh government employees and 58 lakh pensioners, an official release said.

 It said the increase was in accordance with the accepted formula, based on the recommendations of the sixth Central Pay Commission.

 The combined impact on the exchequer on account of DA and DR would be Rs.6,796.50 crore per annum and Rs.7,929.24 crore respectively in 2016-17 (for a period of 14 months from January 2016 to February 2017).

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ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

TELEGRAPH, MARCH 30, 2016

Guarding the guards - This government does not want to move to a market economy

Commentarao

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S.L. RAO

Costly venture

In the last 12 years the amounts of money illegally diverted to private hands from national resources has reached astonishing proportions. A few of the most notorious cases are well-known. The comptroller and auditor general estimated presumptively that well over Rs 1.76 lakh crore was lost to the country in the telecommunications 2G spectrum scam, Rs 1.86 lakh crore in the coal block auctions; that Praful Patel as the civil aviation minister ordered the ailing Air India to buy 68 planes and not 28 as was originally approved, and in order to do this, Patel gave long-term perspective as an excuse while releasing valuable Air India routes to private parties; in 2010 the country lost Rs 70,000 crore in the Commonwealth Games scam. Welfare schemes also have been a source of much theft and diversion of national resources to private hands. The public distribution scheme is said to have made rich men of many officers of the Food Corporation of India. By creating millions of bogus ration cards to divert subsidized grains to the market, many bureaucrats and traders made big money. It is estimated that 40 per cent of subsidized kerosene for the poor is diverted for adulteration with diesel for trucks. Money from the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act scheme is said to reach perhaps 50 per cent of its expenditure to desired beneficiaries. Most government projects and welfare schemes experience a substantial diversion of resources illegally to private parties. These are said to include low and high level bureaucrats, politicians, ministers and intermediaries. Intriguingly, although there are many newspaper reports and other documentation, it is difficult to name anyone who was arrested and punished or whose illegally gained assets were confiscated.

The framework for the administration and regulation of economic policies and enterprises in India, with all the details of institutions, procedures, rules, approvals and so on that are laid down, was developed to implement the "socialistic pattern of society" from the 1950s to the 1980s. Over time, the rules and approvals became more stringent and many in number. In 1969, Indira Gandhi nationalized banks and insurance companies. It was declared to be a boon for the poor, for agriculture and for rural India which would now access credit easily. These opened a fresh avenue for which rules and procedures could be devised which would enable more theft by those who ran the system and the contact men who brought the two parties together. During this period, the government started or nationalized enterprises in infrastructure, basic and other industries. Wherever there was an existing, or more rarely, a new private sector enterprise, it was tightly controlled by government departments. All investments were subject to detailed government scrutiny and approval. Government approval was necessary to decide the location, capacity, technology, source and extent of import of technology and equipment, the royalty to be paid, number of employees and so on. An army of inspectors would separately descend in teams to detect and punish 'violations'.

"Socialism" required not only subsidies and freebies but also the promotion of equality. Taxation was almost confiscatory and prevented large accumulations of capital. Tax evasion, ' hawala' to accumulate capital illegally in overseas banks, became common practice for many businesses (and intermediaries and government functionaries). Rigid licensing led to under-invoicing of exports and over-invoicing of imports so that funds could be illegally accumulated

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abroad. With control over financial institutions, there was also their use for illegal accumulations abroad. When private domestic and foreign banks re-emerged in the 1980s, they were a fraction of the economy. State owned and controlled financial institutions dominated financial markets.

To an extent Rajiv Gandhi in the 1980s and, of course, P.V. Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh in the 1990s began unshackling economy and enterprise from the 'licence-permitraj'. From 1991 I was fortunate to head the National Council of Applied Economic Research, then the premier body for large-scale sample surveys on different aspects of the economy. As I looked at the data from household consumption surveys, I was astonished that no one had pointed to the dramatic changes in income and consumption trends. There was a surge in consumption of manufactured consumer goods, even among those that most manufacturers and economists had dismissed as "too poor". The world hailed this (mistakenly) as the rise of the middle class in India. Of course, it was not comparable to such a class elsewhere. Incomes were still low and even consumption was limited, but it had begun.

The relaxations in licence raj and taxation after 1985, especially after 1991, left intact the bureaucratic control structure of government departments. Control raj remains. The difference is that the pickings are now much larger as evidenced by the many scams and the financial condition of State owned banks.

With economic growth, many things that had little value in 'socialist' India became far more valuable (like coal, telecom spectrum, iron ore, airline routes, some road projects, toll ways). The investigative process of past years was not geared for this scale of potential and actual thefts. Government employees found it very profitable to collude with them. The judicial process was too slow and tended after many years of meandering trials to either acquit for lack of enough evidence, or to let off the accused with nominal fines.

Statutory regulators were created to rule on many issues which could lead to large profit, or to sell natural resources. However they had limited penal powers, and no authority to punish government servants. In any case, they were themselves retired bureaucrats who were reluctant to punish anyone and especially their tribe.

An exception was the Competition Commission of India, which had powers to fine malefactor companies in proportion to their turnover acquired by using illegal means (like price collusion). Though the CCI has fined many companies in cement, real estate, and so on, thousands of crore of rupees, very little has actually been recovered. Appellate courts and the tribunal have stayed them for years. This is a good example of a judicial system that has not understood the damage to the economy because of misbehaviour by enterprises

The present government is clearly wedded to the control raj created by the Congress. It has no intention of changing it or moving obviously to a market economy. It speaks against corruption but will not dismantle the systems and procedures that enable it to occur in a big way. It will not reform the administration and the police for which blueprints by commissions were not implemented by the United Progressive Alliance government either. There is yet no attempt to introduce individual accountability. No government (this one as well) has added the required

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numbers of judges and courts to more speedily handle the large number of cases. The biggest litigants in India are governments. In spite of promises, government departments continue to appeal against all unfavourable judgments.

Easing the doing of business in India seems to be purely rhetorical.

The author is former director-general, National Council of Applied Economic Research

EDUCATION

PIONEER, MARCH 29, 2016DET FOR DIPLOMA ENGINEERING COURSE TO END

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Haryana Government has decided that admission to Diploma (Engineering) course will be made on the basis of merit of qualifying examination as Diploma Entrance Test (DET) would be discontinued from the session 2016-17 onwards.

A spokesman of Haryana State Technical Education Society (HSTES) on Monday said that admissions to Diploma Engineering Course would be made on the basis of merit of Secondary School examination (Matriculation) or equivalent qualifying examination and DET has been discontinued.

He said that admissions to Diploma in Engineering Lateral Entry (directly in second year of Diploma Engineering) would be made on the basis of rank of Lateral Entry Diploma Entrance Test that is DET (L)-2016 which would be conducted online by HSTES in May. Admissions to Diploma Pharmacy Course would be made on the basis of Inter-se-Merit or Rank prepared on the basis of percentage of qualifying examination.

The Diploma Prospectus-2016 would be available online at HSTES website in April. Applications for admission to Diploma Courses would be invited online in April or May. A candidate applying for the courses or categories of Diploma Engineering and Diploma Pharmacy is required to visit the selected Designated Centre (Government or Government Aided Polytechnic) along with the required documents and get his or her online Filled Application Form Verified or Confirmed by the concerned Designated Centre, as Inter-se-Merit or Rank of only the Verified or confirmed Application Forms would be prepared, he added.

 

HINDU, MARCH 31, 2016VCs appointment: teachers may take legal recourseR. RAVIKANTH REDDY

Proposed changes are an attack on the autonomy of varsities as political appointments will try to overrule university administration, say academics

In all probability, the changes proposed by the Telangana Government for appointment of Vice-Chancellors and having different set of Chancellors for all State universities may end up in legal wrangle as senior professors are all set to move courts as soon as the Government brings in the Act.

Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao revealed the Government’s intentions to bring in major changes in appointment of Vice-Chancellors in the State including abrogating the power of appointing VCs by the Governor, and also diluting the Governor’s role in appointing independent Chancellor for each university. The present practice across the country is that the Governor is the Chancellor of all State universities. For all Central universities, President of India is the Visitor.

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“We are just waiting for notification of the law to approach the court,” says P.L. Vishweshwer Rao, former Dean of Osmania University and now associated with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). “The new law goes against the University Grants Commission (UGC) norms and may lead to a cut in development grants,” he says adding that a PIL is already pending in the High Court against the GO on reducing the mandatory 10-year experience as professor. The proposed changes are an attack on the autonomy of the varsities as political appointments will try to overrule the university administration. Some academics feel the Chancellors would be obliged to toe the Government’s line unlike the Chancellor who works independently.

“Appointment of Vice-Chancellor and Chancellor for same university will lead to confrontation due to two power centres,” argues Battu Satyanarayana, president of Osmania University Teachers Association (OUTA).

Since the Government appoints Vice-Chancellors to maintain social balance now, the appointment of Chancellors may also go the same way thus increasing the conflict between two different groups, feels a senior professor.

PIONEER, MARCH 30, 2016NATIONAL ANTHEM NOW MANDATORY IN SCHOOLS

Close on the heel of Union government ordering for the hoisting of national flags in all central universities, singing of the national anthem in the state run primary schools has been made mandatory by the UP government. The Union HRD minister after the February 9 incident at JNU where student’s leaders were booked under sedition charges had ordered for the hoisting of national flag in all central universities.

 The state government has issued annual calendar of activities for the primary schools and the students will now have to sing the national anthem `Jan Gan Mana ‘every day. According to the government order issued by the secretary basic education singing of the national anthem, written by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore has been made compulsory in basic education schools.

 Also, in the new academic calendar for the new session, it has also been said that on every Wednesday, schools will have to observe ‘swachhata diwas’ (Cleanliness Day).  On this day the teachers will apprise the students about the virtues of sanitation and hygiene.

 A sports period has also been made mandatory for the first four working days, while Scout and Guide programme would be undertaken on the two remaining weekdays. The state government also aims at promoting other extra-curricular activities like debates, painting, antakshari and others.

The GO   teachers are required to be present in the schools for two hundred days during the academic session and teach for 800 hours. 

For upper primary says that the primary schools the standards are 220 days and 1,000 hours respectively.

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ELECTIONS

ECONOMIC TIMES, MARCH 30, 2016Wildlife chosen as theme for voter awareness campaigns in West Bengal

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KOLKATA: The rich natural heritage of the geographicallydiverse West Bengal has now become a motif for the Election Commission to attract voters to polling booths. Each of the districts in the state have launched varied election mascots like tiger, red panda, rhinoceros, dolphin or even rivers like Teesta. Sporting a typical white Bengali dhoti is the mannequin of a tiger which is being displayed in various places as mascot of the voter awareness campaign in South 24 Parganas adjoining Kolkata. "We are lucky to have the national animal in our district which is part of the Sundarbans. We thought that tiger is the most appropriate creature which can represent our district and ask voters to exercise their right in a free and just manner in the upcoming Assembly elections," district magistrate Dr PB Salim told PTI. Besides posters and effigies, even men dressed like a tiger can be seen in voter awareness campaigns. The Election Commission had issued instructions to all districts asking them to chose mascots that would be used to spread awareness among voters, deputy Chief Electoral Officer Amitjyoti Bhattacharya said. In the hills of Darjeeling, where the cute little creature can be spotted on tree branches, the administration has made Red Panda as their election mascot. Similarly in Alipurduar district, which houses a number of forests in the Dooars region, rhino is the mascot. Jaldapara National Park which is home to the Asiatic one horned Rhinoceros is part of the district.

TELEGRAPH, MAR 25, 2016

Sums and solutions - Two questions form the crux of the Bengal assembly polls

Swapan Dasgupta

One of the consequences of democracy striking deeper roots is that elections have become less predictable in India. The sheer frequency with which ruling parties at both the Centre and the states have been ousted by quiet expressions of rage has made the political class nervous and more responsive to grass roots opinion. In the normal course this should have ensured that there is greater emphasis by governments on governance and delivery of state services.

Curiously, this has not always been the case. Both the Left Front in West Bengal and Lalu Prasad in Bihar managed to win successive elections, not on the basis of their track record in governance, but on the strength of their ability to mobilize either class or caste. However, in neighbouring Odisha, the understated Naveen Patnaik has prevailed for four successive elections almost entirely on the strength of his innate decency and the quality of governance. Indeed, in 2009, when he broke with his long-time Bharatiya Janata Party ally, the Biju Janata Dal was able to turn psephology on its head.

The validity of psephology - loosely translated for the purposes of this article as electoral arithmetic - in both planning and forecasting elections has often been questioned. My own experience suggests that politicians, especially those with a mass orientation, are inclined to discount psephology in favour of the 'chemistry' of politics.

This 'chemistry' is sometimes difficult to fathom. In last year's Bihar assembly elections, the BJP was convinced that the arithmetic of the Rashtriya Janata Dal-Janata Dal (United)-

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Congress alliance would be overturned by the realignment of forces after the 2014 general election. It didn't happen. The BJP and allies more or less maintained their 2014 vote share but a united opposition was easily able to overwhelm them through the first-past-the-post system. The chemistry in evidence at the hugely attended rallies of the prime minister, Narendra Modi, failed to defeat the logic of arithmetic.

In the Delhi assembly election of January 2015, there was a curious combination of both chemistry and psephology. Here the BJP vote slipped significantly from 46.6 per cent in 2014 to 32.19 per cent in 2015. But more significant, a new political party - Aam Aadmi Party -took a sizable chunk of the both the BJP and Congress vote and swept the board by polling a monumental 54.34 per cent of the popular vote.

It is troubling to compare a state assembly election with a parliamentary poll where national issues dominate and national parties enjoy a bulge. Viewed against the 2013 assembly poll in Delhi that resulted in a fractured verdict and a short-lived government headed by Arvind Kejriwal, the results seem more confusing. The BJP vote fell nominally from 34.12 per cent in 2013 to 32.19 per cent in 2015. But the real collapse was that of the Congress. Its popular vote slipped from 24.67 per cent in 2013 to 9.7 per cent in 2015. The huge 25 per cent surge in the AAP was, it would seem, a direct consequence of the Congress collapse and the irrelevance of smaller parties and independent candidates.

Was Delhi, therefore, a triumph of chemistry or psephology? First, there was a phenomenal display of voter volatility and the notion of a 'safe seat' went through the window. Secondly, it is undeniable that Kejriwal captured the imagination of voters, with AAP polling over 50 per cent of the votes. Finally, the erstwhile dominant party, BJP, held on to its core vote but lost out owing to the de facto consolidation of all non-BJP votes behind the AAP.

Each assembly poll has its own dynamics and it is hazardous to extend the logic of one to another. Yet, there is a simple psephological logic that is applicable throughout India: unless there is a dramatic change in the chemistry, electoral arithmetic prevails.

West Bengal is one of the prime examples of this - as indeed are Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Before Mamata Banerjee split from the parent party in 1998, the principal opponent of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Front was the Congress. Before that split, the Congress vote (from 1977) varied between a high of 41.81 per cent in 1987 - at the height of Rajiv Gandhi's popularity - to a low of 35.12 per cent in 1991 - when it lost a chunk of its traditional vote to the Ram wave of the BJP. But this vote share - which may have even ensured a majority in fractured Uttar Pradesh - invariably proved inadequate to defeat a united Left Front.

It necessitated a blend of chemistry and psephology in 2011 to oust the Left Front. The Left Front vote fell from 48.41 per cent in 2006 to 39.68 per cent - a decline of 8.73 per cent. In 2006, the Trinamul Congress-BJP alliance had polled 32.30 per cent - a decline of 3.55 per cent from its 2001 performance - and in 2011, Mamata Banerjee's alliance with the Congress fetched it 48.02 per cent, with the Congress polling 9.09 per cent. Obviously, the chemistry of anti-Left sentiment and the charisma of Mamata Banerjee played a huge role in effecting this landslide

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victory.

In the context of the Left Front's tacit alliance with the Congress in the forthcoming assembly poll, it is pertinent to assess the independent strength of the Congress and the efficacy of its new alliance. After the TMC split, support for the Congress, fighting independently, varied between 7.98 per cent in 2001 and 14.71 per cent in 2006. In the 2014 election, the Congress polled 9.69 per cent, below the BJP that polled a whopping 17.02 per cent. Much of the Congress support came from the border districts of North Bengal. In the rest of the state it was a fringe player.

If we assume the Congress support to be around nine per cent, the TMC would seem to be under threat. In 2014, against its popular vote of 39.79 per cent, the combined tally of the Left Front and Congress was 39.64 per cent. On paper therefore, both sides seem evenly poised.

However, elections are not determined by simple arithmetic alone. First, while the Left and Congress undoubtedly enjoy an upper hand in North Bengal, Mamata Banerjee doesn't seem to be under any apparent threat in the rest of the state. Secondly, the ability of the Congress to transfer its vote to the Left - always the adversary, barring a brief spell in 1972 when the Communist Party of India allied with Indira Gandhi - is untested. I have little doubt that the Left votes will transfer to Congress candidates but there may not be any reciprocity. Finally, using the 2014 results as a base may prove misleading. Traditionally, the BJP has performed better in Lok Sabha elections than local elections. In 2014, courtesy the national euphoria around Modi, it polled 17.02 per cent and even led in nearly 24 assembly segments, including Mamata Banerjee's own. It is unlikely this is going to be replicated, not least because the local BJP failed to maintain its post-2014 momentum. It may recover ground in the 2019 parliamentary poll but the present election doesn't seem its take-off point.

In sum, the West Bengal assembly poll rests on two imponderables. First, will Congress voters transfer their votes to the Left? Secondly, who will BJP voters perceive as their principal enemy? Recall that in 2014, the BJP votes came from all the three groupings. It is hazardous to make election forecasts but history suggests that Bengal's voters are inclined to give the incumbent a long rope. The Congress won three consecutive terms between 1952 and 1967; and the Left won seven consecutive elections from 1977. The precedent suggests that Mamata Banerjee still has some more time at the crease.

EMPLOYMENT

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INDIAN EXPRESS, MARCH 30, 2016Starving MGNREGA

The MGNREGA was inspired by the Maharashtra Employment Guarantee Act, passed in 1977, wherein policymakers found wage employment as the best way to empower people against droughtWritten by Nikhil Dey , Aruna Roy 

As India faces the onslaught of another severe drought, and water, food, and employment dry up,

the government will claim that it is doing its best to cope with the adversity. But, given the facts,

that will be a patently false statement.

The cynical attitude towards the MGNREGA is an example of how policymakers are

deliberately and knowingly — by squeezing funds and subverting the legal mandate of the law

— causing immeasurable misery and suffering to people. Through the fund squeeze, the

government has consciously crippled the MGNREGA’s ability to help people facing drought.

Officially, the drought has affected over a third of the country — nine out of the 29 states, 248

out of 660 districts, 2,327 out of 6,800 blocks, and 96,954 out of 2,57,000panchayats. Unlike

natural disasters, such as floods and earthquakes, which destroy ecosystems in a few moments,

droughts take hold slowly and provide clear warnings to policymakers, thus giving them a

chance to plan and execute effective drought management strategy. Yet, once it settles in, a

mismanaged drought can wipe out economic progress made over decades, pushing an entire

generation back into abject poverty.

The MGNREGA was inspired by the Maharashtra Employment Guarantee Act, passed in 1977,

wherein policymakers found wage employment as the best way to empower people against

drought. The funding for the state scheme came from four taxes, imposed on those less affected

by the drought. The money so received went into a fund dedicated to the scheme.

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However, the MGNREGA hasn’t been as fortunate. Despite its proven success, the scheme is

itself facing a monetary drought. Some facts: A whopping Rs 10,588 crore is currently pending

in payment delays.

In other words, nine crore workers in 25 states are facing illegal delays in wage payments. More

than half of this amount is in drought-affected states.

The saddest part is that notwithstanding the government’s grand announcement — increasing the

number of workdays to 150 in the nine drought-affected states — all these states have a negative

cash balance. It’s hardly surprising then that only 5 per cent households have completed 150

days of work. This is conclusive proof that the government is ignoring the two most important

legal requirements of the MGNREGA — work on demand, and full and timely payment of

wages.

Despite its proven success, the scheme is itself facing a monetary drought.

The fund squeeze sets off a vicious cycle — delayed payments leading to lesser demand and still

fewer payments — resulting in helplessness and distress migration. The continued shortage of

funds severely undermines the credibility of the law.

State governments and local administrators, too, are in a quandary: The law requires them to

provide work but they don’t have enough money to pay the wages. Communication accessed

under the RTI Act shows that state governments have been unsuccessfully appealing for

adequate fund releases, and are being forced to ration funds for the year. This distortion turns the

law into a cruel joke.

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But drought-affected people are not the only ones distressed. Many company heads, who have

unpaid dues stacking up as bank NPAs, such as Vijay Mallya, too, have been forced into distress

migration! In the budget, there’s a full section on taxes forgone for the corporate sector. And on

March 23, Ravi Shankar Prasad, the minister for communication and information technology,

announced a Rs 14,724 crore Holi gift for government employees, with a 6 per cent increase in

their daily allowance. It’s clear that there are many competing priorities in India.

As prime minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri had suggested that the well-off should forgo meals so

that the starving could be fed. That noble thought never worked. The MGNREGA was an

attempt to institutionalise responsibility and move beyond such individual efforts. But this has

been systematically undermined, with disastrous consequences. The MGNREGA is not the only

measure required to fight a drought but an honest implementation of the law could make a huge

difference. There’s no substitute for an honest effort.The writers are social activists working in Rajasthan

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ENVIRONMENT

HINDU, MARCH 28, 2016Did climate change cause those floods?SUJATHA BYRAVAN“What experts are trying to do to understand attribution is to separate the climate signal from everything else.” File photo shows Rishikesh after the Uttarakhand floods in 2013.— Photo: AP

Determining whether extreme weather events are caused by climate change is crucial in planning for risks. Else, we will reach a situation in which corrective action may not be enough to protect us

Over the past several years, headlines on weather-related extreme events have included heavy downpours followed by floods, droughts, storms, heat and cold waves, and wild fires. Such events typically destroy lives, property and ecosystems while stretching the capacities of disaster management departments and coffers for emergency funds in various parts of the world. “Protecting people before and after major floods, storms, and extreme events is a core part of our business,” said Karsten Löffler, Managing Director of Allianz Climate Solutions.

Since one of the main impacts anticipated from climate change is an increase in the intensity, frequency or duration of extreme events, there is usually a lot of interest from the media and the public after an extreme event to learn if it was due to global warming. The challenge that scientists and insurers face in responding to such questions is that of “attribution” — that is, to what extent can one consider climate change to be the cause of an extreme event?

Most such events have one or more components that are not related to climate change. For example, incompetent forest management practices contribute to fires. Poor land use planning contributed to heavy downpours and floods in Chennai last year. Consequently, what experts are trying to do to understand attribution is to separate the climate signal from everything else. There are generally nine kinds of extreme events that are considered: heat and cold waves, droughts, wildfires, extreme rainfall, tropical and other cyclones, extreme snow and ice events, and severe convective storms.

Scientific studies of extreme weather events and their attribution to global warming may help various groups such as planners, emergency responders, policymakers and insurance companies. Better knowledge of the risk contributes to how communities, governments, investors and others prepare for the future, with regard to planning cities, proposed infrastructure, natural resources or food security.

Determining attribution

Can scientists tell if an event is caused by climate change?

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In order to determine attribution, scientists run climate models to simulate an event or they rely on the observational record from which they may estimate the statistical chance and magnitude of an extreme event. Often, they use both these kinds of approaches.

According to a recent report from the U.S. National Academies titled ‘Attribution of Extreme Weather Events in the Context of Climate Change’, “event attribution is more reliable when based on sound physical principles, consistent evidence from observations, and numerical models that can replicate the event.” All these conditions are not satisfied for every type of extreme weather event. Where long records exist, good models are available, and contribution from non-climactic factors such as human activity can be better considered, attribution turns out to be more robust. Scientists’ confidence in attribution to climate change varies among the kinds of events. There is greater confidence in attributing heat and cold waves, for example, over the other kinds of events described above. With regard to extratropical or mid-latitude cyclones and convective storms, it appears that there is little to no confidence in attributing them to climate change.

Another confounding issue is that there is a natural variability in the occurrence of weather events in any case, so scientists would be looking for a signal that is over and above the natural variability. For this reason, it is difficult for a scientist to be absolutely sure that a particular singular event has been caused by climate change.

As efforts to improve our understanding of extreme events improve, the ability for attribution is expected to improve. As in any other kinds of scientific studies, the accuracy improves with various advances including validation across different approaches, advances in modelling methods, and the accuracy of historical records of such events.

Fat tails and insurance

Global insurance companies were among the earliest groups in the world to ring the alarm on climate change. They are on the frontlines since their business is to estimate the risk of extreme events and then provide protection from their potential impacts. The profits they make arise from the fact that such events are rare. As their frequency, magnitude and impacts increase, the companies’ losses escalate. Some insurers are, in fact, limiting their coverage to those in areas with a moderate risk to climate change impacts and are expanding their business and activities to include solutions to climate change.

Scientists sometimes use the term ‘fat tail’ to describe extreme events. A normal distribution curve, what we know as a bell curve, shows a lot of variation near the average, but produces very few points at the far end of the curve. Biological parameters such as height of Indian women or men are examples of normal curves. In a fat-tailed distribution, on the other hand, portions of the curve that are distant from the average are thicker, and this implies that there is a higher chance of large deviations from the average.

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Climate models generally assume a normal distribution rather than a fat tail distribution around the mean, thus ignoring the low probability high-impact events. Economists and some scientists have been telling us that we need to be prepared for extreme temperature and weather events. Gernot Wagner and Martin Weitzman explain the implications of fat tails for climate policy in their book, Climate Shocks: The Economic Consequences of a Hotter Planet.

Many of the points discussed here may appear nuanced, perhaps not significant, and also difficult to address within the regular political cycles of 4-5 years. But it is the extreme weather events and their incidence that are beginning to increase our everyday experience of climate change. We do not have the capacity to appreciate a change in average temperatures over 50-100 years, but can see what havoc an unusually intense storm or severe drought can cause in our own lifetime.

International agreements such as the recent Paris climate pact and the global targets for sustainable development set goals for governments and political parties to enable nations and communities to address the risks the world faces in the medium and longer terms. We must address anticipated risks even before all our models become accurate enough to estimate every detail of climate extremes. Otherwise, we will reach thresholds beyond which making corrective improvements to deal with climate change may not yield the protection we need.

(Sujatha Byravan is Principal Research Scientist at the Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy, Bengaluru.)

We must address anticipated risks even before all our models become accurate enough to estimate every detail of climate extremes

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FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

BUSINESS STANDARD, MAR 25, 2016Banks-to-be step up scrutiny before hiring key personnelAspirants that will be entering banking arena this year have decided to go for a deeper scrutiny before hiring key personnelNupur Anand 

Should small PSU banks be allowed to die? Small finance banks poach talent from pvt, foreign banks Private sector banks see rise in bad loans RBI stresses on shared infrastructure for payments banks Digital wave makes banks re-align their hiring strategy

The small finance and payments banks aspirants that will be entering the banking arena this year

have decided to go for a deeper scrutiny before hiring key personnel. This practice that had been

so far typically limited to foreign and select private banks so far is now being adopted by smaller

niche banks as well.

"Now that we are beginning operations, it is very important for us to ensure that the top

management that we have can build organisations and, therefore, having these independent and

detailed verification checks have become important," said a top executive of a payments bank.

Experts believe that despite the fact that most of the firms that have been granted the small

finance bank licence are small micro-finance firms, the latter are still warming up to the

international practices of deeper background checks - a positive step. As a result, apart from just

employing the usual methods of a cursory check of background, educational qualification and

record at the previous employer, the new players are going in for more detailed checks, including

looking at ethical track records, team building exercises undertaken, judicial checks, and

leadership abilities.

"It is important, especially in organisations that are fast growing and the whole success of these

small banks is going to be on their ability to build scale. You are a small company and you are

hiring the 10 people who five years from now will be running the business, which will be 10

times the current size. So, the corporate governance standards, technology employed, and the

practices used by them will set the tone. And as a result, we are seeing huge amount of response

from such new organisations that are willing to invest in it," said Reshmi Khurana, managing

director, Kroll India.

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However, till now, these practices are mainly limited to the top management and board levels.

But experts say that banks are warming up to the idea of taking it to the middle level as well,

especially in certain operations which involve giving credit.

Last year, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had granted small-finance-bank licences to 10 of the

72 applicants. Small finance banks will be similar to existing commercial lenders and will

undertake basic banking such as accepting deposits and lending to the un-served and under-

served sections.

BACKGROUND CHECK

The small finance and payments banks aspirants that will be entering the banking arena

this year have decided to go for a deeper scrutiny before hiring key personnel

 

This practice that had been limited to foreign and select private banks, is now being

adopted by smaller niche banks

Experts believe that despite the fact that most of the firms with small finance bank

licences are small micro-finance firms, the latter are still warming up to global practices

of deeper background checks - a positive

HEALTH SERVICES

TRIBUNE, MARCH 29, 2016PCMS doctors over 50 not to be absorbed in govt medical colleges

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In a jolt to government doctors, the Medical Education Department has decided that the Punjab Civil Medical Services (PCMS) doctors crossing the age of 50 years will not be eligible for promotion to the post of medical faculty (assistant professor) in government medical colleges.

So far, postgraduate PCMS doctors, who are serving under the Health Department, were absorbed in medical colleges as medical faculty after completing three years of teaching as senior resident doctors.

According to the recent notification which is yet to be made public by the department, some major changes have been done in the policy when it comes to absorbing PCMS doctors into the faculty of Punjab medical colleges.

As per the notification, the government has decided that those who have crossed 50 years will not be eligible to join as medical faculty in government medical colleges.

“In the case of Punjab Civil Medical Services candidates, the maximum age limit for the post of assistant professor shall be 50 years,” said the notification. Earlier, there was no age limit.

There are more than 4,000 PCMS doctors in the state and around 25 per cent of them are postgraduates.

As per the notification, only those PCMS candidates will be eligible who have three years teaching experience as a senior resident, registrar, lecturer, tutor or demonstrator.

Though the retirement age of medical faculty in the state is 62, it has also been decided that if a person becomes director of the department, he/she will serve only up to the age of 58 and after that, the director will return to his/her previous post of medical faculty.

According to the PCMS Association, the move would affect a large number of doctors who have fulfilled the eligibility and were waiting to be absorbed into the medical education cadre, but with this amendment, they would be ineligible for the post. “Government institutes are already facing a faculty crunch. We had won this right after a long struggle. We oppose this unfair decision. We will lodge an agitation against it,” said Dr Gagandeep Shergill, senior vice-president of PCMS Doctors’ Association. Dr Manjit Kaur Mohi, Director, Medical Education and Research, said that it is the government’s decision and she can’t comment on it.

HOUSING

BUSINESS STANDARD, MARCH 31, 2016User friendly unified, simplified Building Bye-laws for Delhi announced

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Jal Board mobile app to be launched tomorrow Jat unrest: Delhi to feel pinch of water crisis from Monday Munak canal closure hits water supply in Delhi Delhi water crisis: Minister expects partial relief Delhi government plans bill to save Yamuna

No sanctions needed for plots up to 105 sq.mtrs; construction permissions done away with

Unified Building Bye-laws for Delhi, revised after 33 years were announced by the Minister of

Urban Development Shri M.Venkaiah Naidu here today. Elaborating on the new laws, Shri

Naidu said they have been made user friendly through unification and simplification of a host of

amendments made over the last three decades and integration of approvals by different agencies

into a single platform.

Shri Venkaiah Naidu further said that henceforth, building proponents i.e applicants can make

one single online application to concerned urban local body instead of approaching various

agencies there by reducing human interface and enabling approvals in just 30 days. He said that a

single window mechanism comes into effect so as to improve the ease of doing construction

business in the national capital as desired by the Prime Minister's Office besides promoting

investments.

Delhi's Building Bye-laws were last revised in 1983 and several amendments were made over the

last 3 decades resulting in complexity and even confusion in understanding various changes and

filing applications accordingly. To do away with this problem, the Bye-laws have been unified

for easy reference besides simplification of processes said shri Naidu.

The Minister said that building plan approvals have been streamlined through simplification and

integration of processes through following new provisions:

1.One common single application form has been devised for online submission by the building

proponents (applicants) to the concerned urban local body instead of applying to various

agencies like Airports Authority of India, National Monuments Authority, Delhi   Fire Services,

Delhi Jal Board, Delhi Urban Arts Commission, Delhi Metro, Power Distribution Companies,

concerned central ministries like Forests, Railways, Defence etc.

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2. Applicants will not be required to make required payments to various agencies separately and

instead can make single payment to the concerned urban local body electronically.

3. Seamless integration has been put in place so that concerned urban local body will obtain

approvals from other concerned agencies online there by drastically reducing the time taken for

sanctions besides eliminating human interface with various agencies. AAI, NMA, DUAC,

DMRC etc have been integrated for single window clearance. Central ministries concerned will

be integrated shortly. By this, applicants will not be required to separately approach these

agencies for approvals/No Objection Certificates.

4.Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change has now concurred to integrate approvals

by agreeing to empower urban local bodies to accord Environmental Clearence for built up area

up to 1,50,000 sq.mt as against the present norm of obtaining EC from State Environment

Assessment Authorities under that Ministry for built up area of 20,000 sq.mt and above up to

1,50,000 sq.mtrs.

5.SARAL Scheme : For residential plots of size up to 105 sq.mtrs, the plot owner need not obtain

sanction of building plans. He/she has to just to submit an undertaking intimating about

construction along with requisite fees and other documents to start construction.

6.Under risk based classification newly adopted for residential plotted buildings and

warehouses/storage facilities/godowns, architect/engineer is empowered to issue building

permits for Low Risk residential buildings (105-500 sq.mtrs) and Very Low Risk godowns of up

to 250 sq.mtrs. For Low Risk and Moderate Risk category buildings, local bodies will be

required to grant permits with in 10 to 20 days.

7.Approvals /No Objection Certificates by external agencies like AAI, NMA, Delhi Fire

Services, DMRC, Ministry of Environment etc., shall be issued within 15 days.

8.The number of documents to be submitted for obtaining building permits has been reduced

from 40 to just 14.

9.Procedure for obtaining Completion-cum-Occupancy Certificate has been simplified by

reducing the number of documents to be submitted by the owner from 36 to just 9.

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10.Obtaining permission for commencement of construction has been removed. Instead, the

applicant, who had already obtained building permit can intimate the concerned local body and

proceed with construction work.

11. The maximum time limit for granting building permit has been reduced from 60 days to just

30 days to enhance the ease doing business.

12.Local bodies shall prepare an automated calculator for building permit fee including

betterment levy, additional FAR etc and be made available on website for use by the applicants.

Promoting safe, green and sustainable construction :

In the context of climate change challenge, the Unified Building Bye-laws for Delhi -2016 seek

to promote green and sustainable construction practices.

-All buildings on plot sizes of more than 105 sq.mtrs have to conform to the mandatory green

building norms for obtaining sanctions. These include provisions for Water Conservation and

Management, Solar Energy Utilization, Energy Efficiency and Management. These measures

help in making Delhi more sustainable and environment friendly.

-New Bye-laws require measures for ensuring safety in terms of provisions for structural design

and earthquake disaster mitigation.

Other provisions:

-All buildings and facilities used by the public such as educational, institutional, assembly,

commercial, business, mercantile buildings and group housing etc., shall have provision for

universal design for differently abled persons, children and the elderly.

-Owners of plots of more than 3,000 sq.mtrs area shall construct public washroom complexes

with access from outside, in addition to other mandatory sanitary requirements.

-To present an aesthetically pleasing and vibrant environment, public art shall be promoted in

built up areas.

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HUMAN RIGHTS

STATESMAN, MARCH 28, 2016Free speech and politics

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Gyan Ranjan Saha

A group of faculty members of the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, have published open letters expressing their resentment over the recent imbroglio at Jawaharlal Nehru University over their right to freedom of speech. In their support, faculty members of Oxford, Cambridge and London School of Economics have also written similar letters. Strident views have been articulated and violence witnessed nearer home... at Jadavpur University. The net result is hardly conducive to the primary raison de’etre of these citadels of academic excellence. To say the least, it is a classic case of confusion getting worse confounded, as far as the common people are concerned.

There cannot possibly be any fruitful controversy about the inherent nature of the right to freedom of speech, irrespective of Article 19 (1)(a) of the Constitution. It is stipulated as an inalienable right with which no state, under any political persuasion, can interfere. With every right comes a set of responsibilities to ensure that the exercise of the right is not abused. It is in this perspective that the debate needs to be conducted. However, the political certitudes accompanying this right have been evolving over centuries, depending on the intellectual environment.

Everybody swears by the spirit of democracy; the rights of free speech and expression are integral to this concept of governance. The staunch followers of the Marxist political system also consider themselves to be avowed protectors of the right to freedom of speech. But the irony of their words is not lost on the popular imagination given the staggering difference between their words and practices. We shall not be able to forget the lessons of Budapest (1956) or Prague and Paris (1968) or Tiananmen Square (1989). We will also not be able to easily forget the acronyms of the Congress, such as PDA of 1950, and more recently MISA, ESMA, POTA, TADA and UAPA. Politicians, cutting across party lines, visited the disturbed campus of Hyderabad Central University to reiterate their resolve to uphold the right of the students to say whatever they consider appropriate. At JNU, they stood by Kanhaiya Kumar’s side, and raised a political storm. And yet they can be so indifferent when a hapless woman is abducted, tortured, raped and finally, killed in a village in Burdwan district, far away from the politically fertile fields of power-play. The reason for such indifference is that such crimes offer little or no scope for political pay-off. A speech is more potent than the honour or physical rights of a woman. Such ironies form the bedrock of political engagement.

In the context of JNU, the expression, “sedition” has been overused by the media and in political discourse because it helps the players to score political brownie points. Mr P Chidambaram sarcastically entered his mea culpa in a contemporary by suggesting that if Kanhaiya Kumar is guilty of sedition, then we are all guilty. Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code 1860, a so-called

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monstrosity bequeathed by Lord Macaulay to his successors, is the creature of the fertile brains of the law-enforcing agents of the Raj, left untouched and yet exploited in free India to “substantiate” the charge-sheets against opposition entities. The pre-trial incarceration of a suspect is always fraught with risks that the Delhi Police is facing. At JNU, the authorities have jumped the gun and taken a hasty and premature decision. It was hardly necessary to arrest the students. Delhi Police could have saved itself from considerable embarrassment.

It would be pertinent to recall what the great icon of liberal socialism, Jawaharlal Nehru, had stated in Parliament in 1951. But his words were not translated into action. His loyal successors did not amend the law which occasionally turned out to be handy. Even the young pretender, loyal to the legacy of the two previous Prime Ministers, has not uttered a single sentence against the provision. It is difficult to believe that the law-enforcement authorities are ignorant of the judiciary’s reluctance to approve the slapping of such invidious charges that can incur a life term for the accused. The power-players are out to reap as much electoral mileage as such incidents can generate. They are least concerned over the ultimate consequences on the future of the agitating youth whose prime objective of joining a university is to study and achieve academic excellence. They would much rather convert the centres of higher education into inviolable bastions against the potential assault by the law-enforcing agencies, as has happened in Jadavpur University. Can it be extended to provide shelter to persons accused of heinous crimes like rape and murder ? Will the Vice-Chancellor of a university be the arbiter of who and when such a person would be handed over to the police? One shudders to imagine such a situation.

In their anxiety to be heard, the protagonists often lose a sense of proportion. Afzal Guru or Yaqub Memon met their tragic end due to the judicial process which could well have applied the forensic tools, carefully considering the evidence brought before them. The dichotomy between morality and retributive justice has always been a subject of intense intellectual discourse. But the State has its own reasons to proceed and act in the manner it has often done. It cannot be based on the electronic evidence that voices were raised condemning the judicial conclusions. Does freedom of speech and expression condign anything and everything uttered in public, or even in private? If yes, then the whole fabric of nationhood gets eroded and public confidence in the legal system is jeopardised. It is time the politicians who have temporality been deprived of their perceived birthright to rule the country conduct a cost-benefit analysis of the ultimate result of their violent exertions on the nationhood of this country.

A minor footnote on the developments over the past few weeks may be in order. Slogans demanding freedom for Jammu and Kashmir have been raised in course of the agitation. Posters have come up on the walls of Jadavpur University, demanding freedom for not only J & K but for Manipur and Nagaland as well. There was once a robust movement against the Hindi

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language in the late 1950s and the Sixties; political leaders of the South had even demanded secession and creation of an independent Dravidsthan. Mercifully, this outrageous part of India’s political history was addressed with the setting up of the States Reorganisation Commission. The Award of 1956 was accepted. Is the country again getting ready to go into the question of Balkanisation ? The JNU agitators and their sympathisers need to contemplate the prospects without bothering about their political prospects in the next general election.The writer is a former member of the Indian revenue service.

JUDICIARY

HINDU, MARCH 30, 2016Judiciary, an old boys’ club

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PRABHA SRIDEVAN

An increased presence of women in India’s male-dominated judiciary will infuse public confidence in the courts and enrich jurisprudence

The under-representation of women in the judiciary came to light last year when Justice J.S. Khehar, while looking at ways to improve the collegium system, wondered aloud: “The ratio of female judges to male judges must be in the same ratio.” A written representation filed by the Supreme Court Women Lawyers Association before the Bench presented the numbers, which showed that Justice Khehar was off the mark — in the High Courts of India, there are merely 62 women compared to 611 male judges. This is piffle in these days of increasing sex ratio. One may ask, as Justice Khehar did: “What is the ratio of women and men at the Bar?” This is an important question, but numbers alone cannot determine quality and diversity. There are other questions that need to be asked too. How many women are designated as senior lawyers? How many women head law firms? How many women become judges? How many women become Chief Justices? Certainly, they will be fewer than men. Including women in the judiciary by making allowances for the ‘gendered’ hurdles in their path would be constitutionally wise. Such an effort would meet the golden bar of substantive equality. The demand is not a 50:50 ratio, but even the elusive parliamentary reservation of 33per cent of women seems far away.

Occupational hazards

There are High Courts in India that do not have even one woman judge. It was only in 1989, four decades after Independence, that the Supreme Court had its first woman judge. There have been five more since then. It is said that the elevation of one of them was very carefully timed so that a woman would not become the Chief Justice of India. It is probably baseless, but it is easy to believe considering the deeply entrenched male slant. The National Judicial Appointments Commission judgment states that the executive may hesitate to appoint someone because of their sexual orientation. The same Court vide the judgment in Suresh Kumar Kaushal v. Naz Foundation set aside the Delhi High Court judgment, and people of different sexual orientations were pushed back to status quo ante. The comment that the executive will hesitate to appoint a gay judge is interesting in this context, especially when the position of women is so unequal even after the collegium started making the selection.

This is not a problem unique to India. There is a conversation between Baroness Brenda Hale (Supreme Court of the U.K.) and Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Supreme Court of the U.S.) on YouTube. It is gratifying that they are introduced as two of the most distinguished jurists of our times and not as two women judges. During the conversation, they also explain what it is to be a woman in a man’s world. Baroness Hale says with a smile that even when she was first made senior judge, the law reports listed her below her male colleagues. And it was only after she entered the Privy Council that the rooms were remodelled to make a woman’s restroom. Similarly, it was only around 2000 that the Trichy District Court campus, one of the oldest district courts in Tamil Nadu, had its own restroom for women. Until then, believe it or not, women lawyers would run across the campus, even jump over the wall to go to some other building which had a restroom. These are the professional hazards that women lawyers face, so equality in terms of numbers follows later.

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An increased presence of women on the Bench would definitely expand the jurisprudence to be more inclusive, equal, and just. Justice Sotomayor’s dissent in Schuette v. BAMN is very powerful (In this case, the question was whether a state violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment by enshrining a ban on race- and sex-based discrimination on public university admissions in its state constitution). She argued that the democratic process does not in and of itself provide sufficient protection against the oppression of minority groups, which is why the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment exists. She dissents not because she belongs to an ethnic minority but because her life’s experiences have given her a deeper insight into discrimination.

When I became a judge, a reporter asked: “Madam, will you be deciding cases in favour of women?” I directed him to the three male judges who were elevated on the same day: “Ask them if they will decide cases in favour of men.” But to answer his question, of course the woman judge will not be biased towards women, but will understand the realities of the woman’s life with greater clarity. In her Schuettedissent, Justice Sotomayor referred to the testimony of the Dean of Admissions of the law school that there may be “a decline in minority admissions because, in her view, it is impossible ‘to get a critical mass of underrepresented minorities… without considering race.’”

The same is true of gender. It is impossible to get a critical mass of women on the Bench without considering gender. There are many deterrents for a woman practitioner of law who is an aspirant to the Bench, all created by the realities of history. They should be removed by those who make the selection by considering gender and its attendant issues. The glass ceiling is there not because women lack merit and ability but because they are women.

Arguing for inclusion

In a healthy democracy, the judiciary must be a mirror of the whole society. This is not an argument against merit but an argument for inclusion. Then the diverse experiences of such a Bench would flow into the decision-making process. Gender diversity will only enrich the jurisprudence. Claire L’Heureux-Dube of the Supreme Court of Canada was criticised as an ideologue with a feminist agenda for her decisions on “battered woman’s defence”, tax deductions for working mothers, and better spousal support provisions. But she said that it was not bias but equality and humanitarianism that lay at the heart of her views. Hearing the trial of Jean-Paul Akayesu on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, the then United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navanethem (Navi) Pillay, held that rape and sexual violence also constituted genocide and that sexual violence was an integral part in carrying out of the destruction of the Tutsi ethnic group. This was the first time that sexual violence was recognised as a war crime.

An increased presence of women will infuse public confidence in the courts and also in the selection process. It is undeniable that there is a kind of old boys’ club. In the West they call the Bench “pale male”. We can think of an equally catchy phrase. As Rajeswari Sunder Rajan says perfectly in A Woman’s Worth in Granta : “(But) there is a well-founded expectation that women litigants would feel less intimidated in the presence of female judges, and that women judges in turn would exhibit greater sensitivity to their grievances. A larger number of women in the

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judiciary would promote gender equality if only because their proportionate presence in the profession would itself reflect it.”

Prabha Sridevan is a former judge of theMadras High Court.

When I became a judge, a reporter asked: ‘Will you be deciding cases in favour of women?’ I directed him to three male judges: ‘Ask them if they will decide cases in favour of men.’

LIBRARIES

ECONOMIC TIMES, MARCH 29, 2016

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Charge sheet filed against Chhagan Bhujbal in Mumbai University library case

MUMBAI: In fresh trouble for NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal, the AntiCorruption Bureau (ACB) today filed a 17,400 page charge sheet against the former state minister in a case of alleged kickbacks received in the award of contract of central library of Mumbai University at Kalina campus here. Bhujbal is presently lodged in the Arthur Road jail after he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 14 in a money laundering case in connection with Maharashtra Sadan construction scam. He is in judicial custody till March 31. The ACB today filed voluminous charge sheet comprising documentary evidence against Bhujbal and six others, including officials from state Public Works Department, for criminal conspiracy, corruption, cheating and forgery under various sections of Prevention of Corruption Act and Indian Penal Code. The ACB case against Bhujbal and the other accused is that they caused huge losses to state government by leasing out a plot to a private developer at a very low rate for which the accused persons received huge kickbacks. According to ACB, the case involves a prime plot at suburban Kalina belonging to Mumbai University, which granted a fouracre plot to the State to construct a library. The PWD, under Bhujbal, allegedly issued tenders to construct the library in 2009 on one portion of the plot, and allegedly leased out the remaining land to a well known developer for 99 years, at Re 1 per square metre, which the ACB said is illegal. The revenue department was kept in the dark about this deal and the collector was not informed, the ACB has alleged. This is the second charge sheet filed by ACB against Bhujbal this year. The first charge sheet was filed in February against Bhujbal and 16 others in connection with the Maharashtra Sadan scam. The probe against Bhujbal began after the Bombay High Court while hearing a PIL by Aam Aadmi Party constituted a special investigation team comprising ACB and ED to look into the allegations. ED in its case had alleged that Bhujbal and his family received kickbacks for awarding various government contracts, including the Maharashtra Sadan in Delhi, to the tune of Rs 870 crore.

PARLIAMENT

TIMES OF INDIA, MARCH 30, 2016

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Massive jump in Telangana lawmakers' salaries

Hyderabad, March 29 (IANS) Lawmakers in Telangana will now get a monthly package of

Rs.2.50 lakh against the existing Rs.95,000 with the state assembly on Tuesday unanimously

passing a bill hiking their pay and allowances.

Members of both the houses of state legislature will get a hike of 163 percent in the package

which includes both the monthly pay and the allowances.

The monthly pay has been revised from Rs.12,000 to Rs.20,000 but the constituency allowance

has witnessed a huge jump -- Rs.2.30 lakh from the present Rs.83,000.

The Telangana Payment of Salaries and Pensions and Removal of Disqualifications

(Amendment) Bill, 2016 was passed effecting the hike in the salaries of legislators, legislative

councillors, chief minister, ministers, chief whip, whips and presiding officers of both the

houses.

The hike for the chief minister and others ranged from 60 to 72 percent.

Legislative Affairs Minister Harish Rao tabled the bill, which was passed with a brief discussion

which saw members cutting across party lines hailing it and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar

Rao justifying the hike.

The chief minister's gross salary has gone up from Rs.2.44 lakh to Rs.4.21 lakh. The pay has

been increased from Rs.16,000 to Rs.51,000 while the constituency allowance has gone up

steeply to Rs.2.30 lakh from Rs.83,000.

Ministers, chief whip and whips will get a monthly package of Rs.4 lakh against the existing

2.42 lakh. Assembly and council chairman will now get Rs.4.11 lakh instead of Rs.2.42 lakh.

For the state legislators, this is said to be the highest monthly package in the country, overtaking

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Delhi where the Aam Aadmi Party government increased the package of the lawmakers to

Rs.2.10 lakh last year.

Members from both the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and opposition Congress and

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hailed the hike.

The chief minister brushed aside the criticism over the hike and advised media not to project this

as a loot of public money. "By doing this you are demeaning your own legislators," he said.

The increase in salaries will put an additional burden of Rs.42.67 crore annually on the state

exchequer.

The chief minister said this is not even a perceptible percentage of the state's budget (Rs.1.30

lakh crore).

He justified the increase in salaries and allowances saying this was done keeping in view the

requirements of the legislators, and was necessary to enable the lawmakers to play an active and

positive role in the process of nation building and to remain free from corruption.

He pointed out that today's economic dynamics are different from what it was after the country's

independence. "Today there is no need for anybody to make great sacrifices. This is not an era of

sacrifices. We are all involved in the process of nation building," he said.

Rao said the lawmakers serve on many committees at the district level, have to attend meetings

and they have to bear the cost of travelling within the constituency and to the state capital.

"Every legislator will have several visitors every day. He has to arrange at least 50 cups of tea

every day," said the chief minister.

POLITICAL PARTIES

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STATESMAN, MARCH 31, 2016Adhir releases Congress manifesto

Focussing on ensuring human rights and the rights of citizens in the state, PCC president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Wednesday eleased the Congress manifesto for the state Assembly polls, days before the first phase of election begins.

Ensuring food security and rejuvenation of industry were lower in the list of election promises of the party while strong action against those committing atrocities against women and the perpetrators of Saradha chit fund scam and those involved in anti-national activities were higher in the Congress agenda.

Ensuring multi-party democracy, human rights and legal safeguard for every citizen were top most on Congress's election manifesto. We did not at all consider the poll manifesto of the Left Front, our electoral ally, the PCC chief said as he released the manifesto flanked by former PCC chief and Rajya Sabha member, Pradip Bhattacharya another Upper House member, Raj Babbar, AICC observer for the state Kunthia and party general secretary, Om Prakash Mishra who played a major role in chalking out the manifesto. Any conflict of ideology with the front will be ironed out, once the alliance comes to power, the PCC chief said. Besides promising to protect women's right, the manifesto promised to have 30 per cent of the police force as women.

Once coming to power, the Congress promised to expedite the probe and trial process of Saradha chit fund scam together with that of 2011 Teachers’ Eligibility Test (TET). A probe and action against the people's representatives involved in Narada sting operation is also a significant election promise. Underscoring its secular credentials, the Congress poll manifesto promised strong action against those disturbing the secular fabric of the nation. It further promised that there will be no discrimination on the basis of religious faith.

Echoing its parliamentary manifesto, the Congress promised to set up a separate department to protect the interest of those resident of the state living abroad. It did not deviate from Trinamul Congress's programme of supplying rice at the rate of two rupees and strengthening the rationing system. Turning its focus on rejuvenation of tea and jute industry, the manifesto promised to abolish urban land ceiling system and that of Entry Tax.

ECONOMIC TIMES, MAR 25, 2016Congress manifesto promises job to one member of each family in Assam

GUWAHATI: One member of each family in Assam will be provided jobs if Congress returns to power in the state, the party said in its poll manifesto today. Releasing the manifesto, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said, "If I come to power again, I will ensure job to one member of each

48

family. Our target is to give 10 lakh jobs in both government and private sectors in the next five years." The manifesto also promised to classify families as 'poor' whose annual income is less than Rs 2.5 lakh and give benefits accordingly. It said, if voted to power, Congress will fill all vacant teaching posts in schools and create two lakh more such posts in the next five years. It will also regularise services of all the employees within next five years. The manifesto promised special packages to small tea farmers, a special package of Rs 2,000 crore for the development councils, while Rs 1,000 crore each will be given to the hill and Barak valley districts. Also, Rs 500crore packages will be offered to each Majuli island. For those residing in 'char' islands, the Congress will dole out Rs 1,500 crore special package in five years, it stated and also promised to uplift the SCs and STs. The party also promised to distribute sugar through governmentowned subsidised supply stores. Regarding erosion by the Brahmaputra river, the manifesto stated steps will be initiated to recover the lost land through scientific research so that those areas can be utilised for industry and other purposes. It also said agriculture universities will be set up in Dhemaji and Bongaigaon. For Barak valley, Congress said a mini secretariat will be set up there and connectivity to the region will be improved. The poll document also promised that the government will demand the Centre to construct a new airport and set up a Gauhati High Court bench in the Barak valley.

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

HINDU, MAR 25, 2016In a first, PoK becomes PoJK in MHA document

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VIJAITA SINGH

For the first time ever, an official document of the NDA government has referred to Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) as Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK). The change is significant as it is in line with the Bharatiya Janata Party’s narrative on unified Kashmir, although it was thus far restricted to party pamphlets and manifestos.

The reference figures in the 2014-15 annual report of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), which was tabled in Parliament. Under the sub-head “Cross LoC Trade between J&K and PoJK,” the report says: Till 2015 December, 45,486 trucks have crossed over to PoJK and 28,891 trucks have crossed over to India’s side through these two routes — Srinagar-Muzaffarabad and Poonch-Rawalkote routes… Security clearance has been accorded for the visits of trade delegations from J&K to PoJK.”

Organiser , mouth-piece of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, has on many occasions referred to PoK as PoJK and even called for freeing it from illegal occupation by Pakistan.

ASIAN AGE, MAR 28, 2016President’s Rule in Uttarakhand, storm brews in DelhiCongress calls it ‘murder of democracy’, plans to move court

A day before the scheduled floor test of the Harish Rawat government in Uttarakhand, President’s Rule was imposed by the Centre in the hill state, citing a constitutional breakdown in the wake of a rebellion in the ruling Congress. Attacking the move, the Congress said it was a “murder of democracy” and said it would challenge the decision in court.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to let his “love of power overrule the people’s mandate”, but the Centre said that continuance of the Rawat government was “immoral and unconstitutional” after March 18 when Assembly Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal declared the Appropriation Bill “passed” in controversial circumstances without allowing a division sought by 35 MLAs, including nine rebel MLAs of the Congress.

President Pranab Mukherjee signed the proclamation under Article 356 of the Constitution dismissing the state government and placing the Assembly under suspended animation on Sunday morning. The Centre later appointed former CRPF director-general Prakash Mishra and former Union culture secretary Ravindra Singh as advisers to aid Uttarakhand governor K.K. Paul run the administration.

Condemning the imposition of President’s Rule in the state, Mr Harish Rawat said the PM’s hands were dipped in the “blood” of the “trampled” aspirations of the people and alleged Central rule was the result of a “premeditated conspiracy” hatched by the Centre to dislodge a democratically-elected Congress government in the state. He claimed the BJP was “thirsty for his

50

blood” right from the day he assumed office on February 1, 2014 and did not want his government to stabilise.

Welcoming the imposition of President’s Rule, former chief minister and rebel Congress leader Vijay Bahuguna said the Rawat government needed to be dismissed as it was involved in “corruption”.

The Union Cabinet held an emergency meeting Saturday night presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who cut short his visit to Assam to return to New Delhi for this purpose. The Cabinet considered several reports received from the governor, who described the political situation in the state as “volatile” and had expressed apprehensions over a possible pandemonium during the trial of strength in the state Assembly on Monday.

The purported CD of the sting operation done against the chief minister that was in the public domain was learnt to have been factored into the Cabinet’s decision, which considered it as a case of “horse-trading”. Union finance minister Arun Jaitley is believed to have briefed the President late on Saturday night explaining the rationale for the Cabinet’s recommendation. The Union Cabinet met amid reports that the Speaker had disqualified the rebel Congress MLAs that would have helped the beleaguered Rawat government in the floor test. With the dismissal of the Rawat government, Monday’s confidence vote has become infructuous.

“There can be no better example of the implementation of Article 356 (imposition of President’s Rule)... There was complete breakdown of the Constitution in Uttarakhand. There were very good grounds for the Union Cabinet to recommend President’s Rule in the state... The chief minister had lost majority on 18th (March) and his continuation was unconstitutional and immoral,” Mr Jaitley said on Sunday.

Without naming Mr Jaitley, senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal said “people will not spare those in the Cabinet who are well versed with the law and still took the decision”. He also asked: “What constitutes a constitutional breakdown? Were there riots in the state? Who will say whether the Finance Bill (in the Uttarakhand Assembly) has been passed or not? The Speaker of the Assembly or Jaitley... Then they say that there was a sting. First you conduct a fabricated sting and then you impose President’s Rule.”

Reacting to the Centre’s decision, senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said: “It’s a blatant and brazen display of authoritarian, anti-democratic and anti-constitutional mindset of the Modi government.” He said the Centre’s action was a “grim reminder of the threat the democratic institutions of the country are facing”, and accused the Modi government of having “breached all records in trampling democratic norms and constitutional traditions”. He also recalled that earlier the Congress-led Arunachal Pradesh government was also “toppled by sheer abuse of power and money”.

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Referring to the March 18 Assembly proceedings, Mr Jaitley said that in the 71-member Assembly, 67 members, excluding the Speaker, were present, out of whom 35 wanted a division of votes on the Appropriation Bill. The division was sought in writing in advance by 35 members who also voted against the bill, despite which the Speaker declared the legislation as passed, he said.

The finance minister said that governor K.K. Paul had also said he had “serious doubts” over what happened in the Assembly on March 18 and said his report had been a key factor in the Cabinet’s decision.

The Appropriations Bill empowers the government to draw funds for expenses from April 1 and if it is defeated on the floor of the House, the government has to resign.

In Dehradun, Mr Rawat alleged there was a money deal to lure the Congress rebels, adding: “Some people say it is Rs 1,000 crores, some say Rs 500 crores.” He said the BJP had decided not to let his government stabilise from the day he took over and “slashed my head” as the first opportunity presented itself. “The way we were being given repeated threats since yesterday, the way the governor was publicly issued a threat at a press conference in Delhi, it was clear that things were moving towards this eventuality. That the BJP was thirsty for my blood was clear from day one. They had decided  at the very outset that they won’t let the Harish Rawat government stabilise,” he said.

Denouncing the imposition of President’s Rule, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said the development was a “throttling of democracy” and one which “goes against the letter and spirit of Constitution”. He also questioned the timing, given that it was done when the floor test in the Assembly was “just hours” away.

PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM

STATESMAN, MARCH 29, 2016

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Delhi proposes ration card portability scheme for FPS

Delhiites will soon be able to buy ration from any fair price shop in a particular constituency as the city government on Monday proposed a card portability scheme in its annual budget.The scheme, which has been made operative at the Delhi Cantonment area on pilot basis, will "gradually be replicated" across the national capital, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said while preenting the budget.

He said that 5.57 lakh ration card holders have benefitted from the e-ration card facility through which people can apply and obtain ration cards in a transparent manner.

"The ration card portability has been made operative in Delhi Cantonment area on pilot basis which gives the option to the consumers to collect ration from any fair price shop (FPS) of his choice in the same constituency. This will gradually be replicated across Delhi," he said.

Sisodia said that a pilot project for installation of point of sale (POS) devices at 40 fair price shops has already been implemented where ration is issued after biometric authentication.

"This system will be replicated in 2,400 fair price shops in a six months' time to ensure delivery of food grains to the actual beneficiaries in a transparent manner," he said. 

PUBLIC FINANCE

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BUSINESS STANDARD, MARCH 29, 2016Social sector gets lion's share in Delhi Budget for FY17VAT on sweets, footwear, satchels, marble, e-rickshaws and hybrid cars reduced from 12.5% to 5%

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal (right), with Deputy Chief Minister & Finance Minister Manish Sisodia, leaves for the Budget session of the Assembly, in New Delhi, on Monday

DDCA controversy: Subramanium says Delhi govt probe legal AAP, Jaitley trade barbs over alleged cricket body graft Kejriwal calls Modi 'coward', 'pyschopath' after CBI raid on official's office GST sees divisions on threshold, panel to be set up to resolve issue AAP defamation case hearing at Patiala House

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi on Monday presented Budget 2016-17 with a

rationalised value added tax (VAT) structure, reducing the prices of readymade garments, shoes,

watches, sweets, snacks, and electric and hybrid vehicles.

The Arvind Kejriwal-led government said it has had a 17 per cent growth in tax revenue, 31 per

cent in excise and 21 per cent in stamp duty in 2015-16. The Rs 46,600-crore Budget for FY17,

presented by Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Manish Sisodia, pegs the Plan outlay

at Rs 20,600 crore. In keeping with the AAP   manifesto, education, health and transport sectors

got a lion's share of the total allocation. "The government is committed to reducing tax arbitrage

and will attempt to keep a uniform rate with neighbouring states," said Sisodia. VAT   has been

rationalised on all tobacco products, including cigarettes, at a uniform rate of 20 per cent. VAT

constitutes 65 per cent of the total tax revenue.

With social sector   being a thrust area, education has been allocated Rs 4,645 crore (23 per cent

of Plan outlay) which incidentally is the highest share among all expenditure heads. To boost

higher education, new campuses of Ambedkar University of Delhi will be constructed at Rohini

and Dheerpur.

Elaborating on its three-tier public health road map, the city government said it had allocated Rs

3,200 crore accounting for 16 per cent of the Plan outlay. The government stated it would lay

emphasis on setting up 1,000 mohalla clinics by the end of the year.

The government's promise to provide basic facilities received a major thrust in the Budget, which

has proposed that drinking water be provided to all authorised and unauthorised colonies by

December 2017 through pipelines. For this, Rs 676 crore has been set aside. The government

will continue with its scheme of providing 20,000 litres of water free of cost to each residential

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unit.

On the lines of the 'Amma canteens' set up by the Jayalalithaa government in Tamil Nadu, the

Delhi government will introduce 'Aam Aadmi canteens' that would provide meals for Rs 5-10. A

sum of Rs 10 crore has been allocated for the construction of these canteens. The transport sector

emerged as another priority area, receiving the second highest allocation of 19 per cent of Plan

outlay (Rs 3,943 crore). Sisodia also enhanced the one-time fixed subsidy for e-rickshaws from

the existing Rs 15,000 to Rs 30,000.

The AAP government has decided to continue with its 50 per cent power subsidy for all

consumers using up to 400 units, which covers around 90 per cent of total domestic consumers.

A provision of Rs 1,600 crore has been set aside for this.

VAT’S ON THE CARDS?

Value Added Tax (VAT) on sweets, footwear, satchels, marble, e-rickshaws and hybrid cars reduced from 12.5% to 5%

VAT on readywear priced over Rs 5,000 reduced to 5%

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Plastic waste invites 5% tax VAT on watches priced over Rs 5,000 reduced to 12.5%. VAT constitutes 65% of total revenue Financial revenue for FY16 grew at 17%, compared to FY15 Threshold limit of luxury tax  to be hiked from existing Rs 750 to Rs 1,500 per day per room Aam Aadmi canteens to be launched with Rs 10-crore budget Rs 100 crore earmarked for closed-circuit TVs (CCTVs) in classrooms Rs 114 crore for lighting 42,000 dark spots, Rs 200 crore for CCTVs in Capital 1,000 mohalla clinics, 130 polyclinics to be established E-ration card services to be rolled out. Point-of-sale devices at 2,400 shops Delhi to procure 1,000 non-AC buses, 1,000 premium buses and 248 minibuses

A sum of Rs 6,919 crore has been allocated to the three cash-strapped municipal corporations, which have had several run-ins with the city government for funds, in the Budget. "We hope the amount will be spent wisely," said Sisodia. The gross state domestic product of Delhi at current prices is likely to increase to Rs 5,58,745 crore in 2015-16 from Rs 4,94,460 crore in 2014-15, indicating a growth of 13 per cent, he added. The AAP government, which had come to power in the Capital championing the need for women's safety, announced Rs 1,068 crore for them.

SOCIAL PROBLEMS

ASIAN AGE, MARCH 30, 2016Jail or Rs 50,000 fine for touching bar dancersVivek Bhavsar | 

The Maharashtra draft law to allow licences for dance bars will be a stringent one, which suggests imprisonment of six months and/or a penalty of Rs 50,000 on anyone touching bar dancers or throwing money at them. In a meeting led by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis at

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Vidhan Bhavan on Tuesday, it was decided that the crime would be considered a cognisable and non-bailable one.

The CM has already formed a 25-member committee of all-party MLAs to review the draft of the new legislation. The committee was appointed after the Supreme Court rejected the state’s act to ban dance bars. In the meeting, a few rules were discussed which will be converted into a bill and will be tabled in the House during the ongoing Budget Session for final approval. Once the bill is approved, it will be converted into an act and will be applicable across the state, said an official. According to the official, installing CCTVs at the entrance of dance bars and on the dance floor will be mandatory. The owner will have to keep the CCTV footage for up to 30 days.The draft has suggested that if the bar owner or operator allows a bar dancer to be exploited, he will be penalised Rs 10 lakh or imprisoned for three years or both.

In the new draft, the dance bar will not be allowed to stay open after 11.30 pm. Earlier, it had allowed the dance bar to remain open till 2 am. It has also been suggested that three women security guards be posted and women waiters and bar dancers be asked to stay on after 9.30 pm only with their consent.

Narcotic drugs will not be permitted in dance bars. However, consumption of alcohol will be allowed. It will be mandatory for the bar owner to have a record of all employees, including the name, address, age, educational qualification, nationality and Aadhaar number.

The new draft also suggests that women under the age of 25 not be allowed to work as bar dancers. The bar owner will have to sign an agreement specifying the monthly salary including the contribution towards provident fund and other miscellaneous benefits with all employees. The owner will have to maintain register of all employees and their attendance will be recorded through biometric system. Vulgar dances or actions will not be allowed. The bar dancer will not be allowed to be skimpily clad and dace bars will not be permitted within the periphery of one kilometre from educational institutes and places of worship. If an illegal dance bar is found, the owner or operator will be liable for a fine of Rs 25 lakh and/or imprisonment for five years. The offence will be non-bailable and cognisable. The distance between the dance floor and the seating arrangement should be five feet and no person will be allowed to go at the dance floor, the draft has suggested. People who visit dance bars must be over 25 years and must have valid age and identity proof.

WATER SUPPLY

TRIBUNE, MARCH 29, 2016Water revolution: Community awareness and participation needed

The recent flare-up over the SYL Canal shows how serious the water problem is and threats it poses to peaceful co-existence. Water is the new weapon, which Haryana Jats used recently by shutting the supply to Delhi. Water politics is played, regardless of the consequences. In future as

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the demand-supply gap widens, water wars would become more frequent, more violent. In Maharashtra’s Latur district Section 144 of the CrPC has been promulgated to avert violence over water. Usable water is no longer available from at least seven Marathwada dams. The north-western and south-eastern parts of the country account for most of India’s groundwater-stressed blocks. 

The per capita availability of drinking water has declined sharply due to a rapid growth of population and its growing needs. Fast urbanisation has aggravated the crisis. This has not prompted matching efforts to either conserve water or penalise waste. Last year the Supreme Court heard a petition seeking regulation of groundwater extraction, but left it to the government to consider limiting its use, metering and charging its consumption. Water is not adequately priced and the well-off use it lavishly. New gated housing colonies are coming up boasting of swimming pools. Failing to recover costs, fund-starved municipalities find it difficult to invest more in improving access or plugging leakages.

The deficient monsoon rains in the two consecutive years have worsened the situation in the drought-prone regions. Dangers emanating from a depleting water table such as lower farm yields, installation of more submersible pumps and a consequent impact on rural incomes and livelihoods have not been fully recognised. These have not deterred policy-makers from encouraging the cultivation of high water-consuming crops like paddy and sugarcane, and subsidising water and power. According to the 2015-16 Economic Survey, the system encourages the use of more inputs such as fertilisers, water and power, to the detriment of soil quality, health and the environment. The way forward is to encourage community participation in preserving water resources, water conservation through small dams, regulation of water use and a shift to low-water consuming crops. We need to work towards a water revolution. 

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